WE HAVE GUESTBOOK, pls sign

I think you should just expect all posts are going to be late. I never seem to make my Friday deadline. But, I managed to get a guestbook working. Please leave some feedback if you have time.

Guestbook search

So I explored a bunch of guestbook options, but didn’t like any of them.

Atabook and Smartgb are popular options, however they generally require the use of iframes, and I didn’t really like that. The iframe wasn’t really respecting its parent’s element (css issues), so we had to move on.

I was also a little concerned with what the iframe’s javascript might be doing (independent of my site, like a bitcoin bot or something).

Another option, Chattable, had a really nice method of including custom css. But, for not apparent reason, decided to keep looking.

I was hoping to find a solution that would let me use javascript to talk to some remote server (API). I didn’t really find anything, so I rolled my own.

My solution

Edit: It failed, so I’m switching to an external solution. (I’ll try to see why it doesn’t work when I deploy it)

I signed up for Appwrite (as it’s been on my learning list for a while). They have a free tier which is all I need. I doubt I’ll get many posts as most of my site’s visitors are probably web scrappers. I also won’t add Captcha unless I find I really need it (bot abuse).

It took me a few days because I didn’t don’t understand CORs. I had to do some weird things on the server side function to let CORs work with temporary authentication.

There was also an issue where the Appwrite documentation’s starter function used an older format. I was also an idiot and sending my REST requests to the internal API instead of the external one. Happily all resolved, and I made my first pull request (a single line in some obscure documentation but it’s better than nothing).

Fun Fact: JWT tokens, used to authenticate requests, are an encrypted string. When decoded, you can see its expiration time. What I didn’t know was the expiration time is in seconds. So if you want to know when the jwt token expires, you’ll need to multiply the expiration by 1000. A javascript example is as follows:

var time = Date(jwt.payload.exp * 1000)

But after all that WE HAVE A GUEST BOOK!!! Guestbook page

Okay yes, it’s still kinda ugly, but it works. I’ll make it presentable later.

Webrings

I also looked a a bunch of webrings this week. I’ve summaries the ones I’m interested in below.

Aside from that, I found the following sites I want to give some publicity to (and will explore periodically).

I just need to setup how I want to be displayed on my site. Then I’ll reach out to the webring providers and and site owners (maybe) asking if I can join/link.

Prusa Core One L and multi material system

AHHHHH, JOSEF PRUSA IS THE BIGGEST TEASE ONLINE. I SWEAR EVERYTIME HE DROPS A FLIRTATIOUS PICTURE I SPEND DAYS THINKING WHAT THEY HAVE IN STORE.

So Josef Prusa has been posting provocative images on twitter hinting at the new tool changing system. The internet has collectively agreed it’s the Bondtech INDX system (link), which is a super compact, cheap, and wasteless tool changer system. (each replacable tool is expected to run about $25 as opposed like $150 per tool$).

Then, they go ahead and decide to drop the new Core One L. We’re talking about 200% increase in print volume, 500 grams lighter, and only 10% larger. Sure the multi tool system has not bee released yet (and we’re not sure how it would affect the price).

I’ve been wanting to upgrade from an Ender 3 to something faster, and with a multi tool system for a while.

Unfortunately, in Australia, it comes with a massive cost increase about $1,000. It doesn’t help that the Core One L only comes as a pre-assembled unit. Provided Prusa eventually releases a kit (usually about 25% cheaper). So, assuming the pricing tracks we’re looking at around $2,380 leaving about $600 for the multitool system $3,000 I’d highly consider the Core One L. But it’s still a lot, so maybe my max budget is like $2,300.

Here is a quick run down on the pricing differences. Noting these are Black Friday Prices (except the Core One L which is at full price)

I want the larger printer for like helmets, but I don’t know if I can justify it.

Personal

So, I’ll be doing some babysitting (so to speak), over the next week so I won’t have time to work on anything exciting. I’ll give next week’s post a skip.

When was the last time your made something a lot harder for yourself? Say, an overcomplicated solution where a simpler alternative exists (but didn’t occur to you at the time).

P.S. if the guestbook is broken sorry, I’ll have to fix it in 2 weeks.