# Could we mirror a page?



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

Since dbstalk is now on it's own server, would it be possible to mirror TNGTony's E* Channel list on the server (with his permission, naturally)? It seems that swiki sometimes goes down.


----------



## TNGTony (Mar 23, 2002)

I (with jbuff's knowledge) already have given "blanket permission" to anyone who wishes to re-post that page on their sites as long as it is unaltered at the time they copy it. It's on the copyright statement at the bottom of the page. If Chris wishes, he could copy the page to his server as it is. However this is an issue that we dealt with on the old server when he first linked to the EKB. First off, I author the page, but it doesn't just belong to me. It belongs to me, jbuff and the EKB. As long as the EKB exists, the page will originate there. All others (including the one I keep as a back-up on my personal web space w3.one.net/~tngtony/Dish/list.htm (case sensitive) will be replicas. I constantly make updates and changes to the list. It is much easier for Chris to link to the original site than it would be to grab the 400KB HTML code and attach it to his page constantly.

Since I started the monster list back when Dish had a grand total of 300 channels, I used the native Swiki programming language. Simple and quick. I decided to get fancy while still using the limited Swiki and I coded myself into a corner.  

Though still basic in format, the list has grown to a size in which all but the most basic HTML editors (read wordpad or other similar text editors) choke under the weight of the table (over 1100 rows). I just recently upgraded my system to Windows XP and Office 2002 (XP) Pro with the full blown Front Page program. I thought I would be able to use this GUI to make life easier. But no. It tries and grinds for a while. It begins to make the changes. But then I have to give the application the Heimlick maneuver to free the resources (hey at least XP doesn't crash all together like Win98/Front Page Express did 

The final result is I have to code the page in the Swiki language and submit it. Once the page refreshes then I can get the HTML code to do something with it. It just takes a lot of time per update for just the one page and I maintain several pages on Swiki (none as complex as the monster list). Basically, this is to say that even if Chris were to allow me to post the page directly, I'd have to decline due to the time commitment required.

I know it is frustrating how many times Swiki goes down and it never fails that the outages coincide with "big news" (the outages in December and January KILLED me! I had so many updates ready to go that had to wait. I was more than just a little frustrated with Swiki. At least it looks like in the last couple of months, they have become more stable.

See ya
Tony


----------



## TNGTony (Mar 23, 2002)

Mark,

I run an Intel PIII 700MHz with 224mb RAM and a GeForce 2 32MB DRAM right now. I'll probably dig for pocket change to buy a 256 or 512mb chip to replace the lowly 32 mb chip that cost a fortune when I got it eventually. The cideo card will stay with the computer until it bursts into flames! 

But the problem I have is not memory. With the swap file it handles it okay. What I really need to do is abandon HTML as an editing tool and use the native Excell or Access formats for editing and then convert that to HTML for publishing. It's just cumbersome.

I have also considered "losing" some info...cutting down the columns again to 5 or 6 sweezing the programming info into a few columns (If it's in AT150, it's in AT100 and AT50--and the Alaska package isn't long for this world). But I decided against that just because of how easy it is to see what programming package the reglar channels are in. I also didn't want to stick any additional program info (like the foreign and local channels) into the AT50, 70, 100, 150 columns so those that sort by the columns only have dots or AT info.

Once Dish removes the 700-800 blocks, I'm sure I'll be able to more easily convert.

I don't even want to think of what the chart will look like if the merger goes through and all local channels are uplinked! Over 2500 entries! EEEEHA! 

See ya
Tony


----------

