Saturday, February 23, 2008

Amazon Associates Web Service

I've been struggling with the Amazon Associates Web Service for some time now, using the simple "3.0" version with some online resyndication tools to create some pretty useful dynamic content. (At least I think it's useful!)

When I learned that the deprecated 3.0 version would expire this March (March 1? March 31? I don't know.) I broke down and ordered Jason Levitt's The Web Developer's Guide to Amazon e-Commerce Service, but didn't get serious about "Migrating from Amazon ECS 3.0" until quite recently. Big mistake!

While Levitt's book is extremely useful, it is a bit out of date, which wouldn't really matter much if Amazon's support for older ECS 4.0 versions was better. Unfortunately, there are a lot of holes in Amazon's documentation of the many sub-versions (or "subversions") of ECS 4.0 denoted by dates in YYYY-MM-DD format.

As if to make a bad situation worse, Amazon has timed the rollout of it's newly renamed Amazon Associate's Web Service to coincide with the expiration of AWS (E-Commerce) Service 3.0 -- Yikes!

I've yet to see any indication that A2W (as they like to call it) is anything more than an incremental 4.0 upgrade, but it does serve to further muddy the documentation waters.

There really seems to be no alternative to really learning XML and XSLT fast. Here are a few of the books I'm using in this quest:

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Great Valentine's Day Gifts

When people say that holidays have become too commercialized, they're probably talking about Valentine's Day. (Christmas is a lost cause by now!) The greeting card industry has been pushing Valentine's Cards since the 19th century, and since the schools are now involved, kids are pretty well locked in now.

If your girlfriend says she "doesn't want anything," beware! She may think she really means it, but women all want to feel special, and when all her girlfriends are showing off the expensive gifts they received, you're going to be in the doghouse. Depending on the stage your relationship is in and your station in life, the cliche items -- red roses, boxes of chocolates, trashy lingerie, books of love poems, heart-shaped jewelry, exotic perfumes ; may either be just too cliche -- or mandatory. You'll have to figure that one out.

The thing is: you're looking for something that is both sentimental and personal. I know -- you spend sooo much time dwelling on sentimentality... Just pick something from the varied Listmania lists below, or if that doesn't work, try some More Listmania® Lists

Now, ladies: If your man says he really doesn't want anything for Valentine's Day (apart from the obvious.) He probably really does mean it, but he's forgetting something. He'd really like to get through this most sentimental and sensitive of holidays with his masculinity intact. A guy can only tolerate so many candles and love songs before he begins to focus on RED MEAT!!!

If your situation calls for a gift, consider something unromantic and utilitarian. Tools are generally appreciated, possibly a nice red Swiss Army Knife or a Leatherman tool. Then there are always performance auto parts, or barbecue accessories. Most men would appreciate just about anything, as long as it was more macho than frilly!

Kids' Valentine's Day Listmania

Teen Valentine's Day Listmania

Adult Valentine's Day Listmania

Valentine's Day Book Listmania

Since most people think of books when they think of Amazon.com, they are "probably" a little over-represented here.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Growing Mushrooms

The recent popularity of Mycelium Running by mycologist Paul Stamets has set off a flurry of activity around here. Suddenly, the idea of cultivating mushrooms, specifically Morels has gone from "crazy," to "logical," and is rapidly approaching "imperative." Swell.

Mushrooms require consistently moist conditions and deep mulch, so growing them fits right in with raising worms, but that's another story. The important point is that cultivating fungi is consistant with the practice of organic gardening, and a great human-scale method of carbon sequestration. Given that mushroom varieties other than the common Agaricus bisporus are typically gourmet items, cultivating these valued delicacies is a practical way to put some variety into your cooking, or possibly even starting a sideline business.

By all accounts, the two "must have" books for mushroom cultivation are Stamets' Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms and Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home (with J. S. Chilton). That being said, there is every possibility that you can get acceptable results with far less research. Your local agricultural extension office should have some basic materials, and after all you are just facilitating a natural process. Just as anybody can put some seeds in the ground and enjoy a beginner's gardening experience, there's a good chance that you can put down some appropriate wood chip mulch or log, (see 100 Edible Mushrooms), get a mushroom kit, and stand back!

Now obviously the more you know the better your results will be, but don't let an obsessive desire for immediate perfection become an obstacle to getting started! The worst that can happen is that you'll have to start from scratch and try again. You might also be interested in:





Friday, January 25, 2008

Get True Uninterruptable Power with Tripp Lite

Most uninterruptable power supplies would be better termed shutdown power supplies. They protect your computers and other sensitive electronic equipment from disatrously abrupt shutdown during breif power outages, but they typically will only sustain operation for a few minutes while power is restored, either by the public utility or on-site generators. Then, when their meager batteries run low, they signal your computer to shut down normally. This is all very worthwhile, but it won't allow you to run internet servers reliably, or even continue your dungeon-crawling if online gaming is more your style.

What you need is a Tripp Lite APS2012 2000W UPS, or if you're serious about converting to off-grid power, perhaps it's 48-volt cousin, the 2400W APS 2448. These units take the admonition "batteries not included" to new heights, but that's a good thing. You can outfit these with deep cycle marine batteries (the kind electric trolling motors use) or, if you're installing the unit indoors, large SLA batteries designed for electric wheelchairs and scooters. Connect as many as you think you'll need in parallel to add up to the desired Ah rating. (1 Ah = 1 Amp current x 1 hour)

Note that one user commented that he was "only" getting 18 months to two years battery life with this unit, which he felt might be due to overcharging since the unit continuously supplies a float charge to the batteries. It seems that it would be easier to cycle the entire unit off (i.e., on battery power) periodically by adding a simple lamp timer to the circuit, than to modify the unit internally as he suggested. If you add a cord to the hard-wired junction box the unit comes with, be sure you get the "hot" and "return" lines right. Most equipment will work if these are reversed, but it negates the effectiveness of the ground line. You can check all this with an inexpensive circuit analyzer. You will also want a power usage meter to ensure that you are operating within specifications. (Since published power requirements are necessarily conservative, you might find that you can support more equipment than you thought.)

Now that you're thinking along the lines of serious batteries, chargers, and invertors, you might want to take the next step, and recharge using solar panels and an appropriate charge controller. That discussion will have to wait, though, while I delve a litle deeper into Amazon's new Home Improvement Section.

Before you settle on this solution, though, you shold be aware that complete standby power systems are much cheaper than they were a few years ago. Once an item available only for mission-critical commercial installations, they have become commonplace in new home construction. The increased volume has brought the per-unit cost down to a few thousand dollars, so you might just want to put your whole house on standby power.

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