EasterEgg's Xanga

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 12:15:38 GMT

A sign of life

There used to be a time when I wrote scripts.

In part because I liked doing so, but mostly - quite frankly - because of all the attention I received, and of that, I received a lot more than I ever bargained for. Even now, while there hasn't been a sign of life on this site since more than a year, there are still over a thousand people who subscribe to it.

There used to be a time when it would thrill me to have that many subbers, but I have changed a lot since. It wasn't attention that I craved for, but something else instead, even though I didn't know that at the time. For a while, I mistook my poor ego-boosting little game for happiness. When you say that this is pretty pathetic, I'd say you're absolutely right.

I have since experienced, that the pursuit of happiness, may in fact well be the pursuit of a substitute thereof, when what you believe to be your heart's desire, once obtained, turns out to be utterly unable to quench the deepest thirst of your soul in the long run.

Sure, you may be happy for a while when you finally got what you always wanted. You may have found a relationship, the job you always wanted, a bigger pay check, the winning lottery ticket, local fame, or whatever it is you want most of all. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But disappointment kicks in, when it turns out that what looked so promising at first, isn't quite what you expected. In fact, it almost never is, and for some, it may never be quite enough, because the moment one desire is fulfilled, another one emerges. Happiness, it seems, is always two steps ahead of you, and so the pursuit continues.

I recently attended a lecture by an ex-convict, a former colonel in the military police who had become willingly involved in transporting drugs. All he had to do, was placing his signature and look the other way, and for that he made incredible amounts of money on a weekly basis. When asking him how satisfactory that was, he told me that it was never enough to him, and that all he could worry about was a) how to get more money, and b) how to keep the money that he had, safe. On top of that, he also had to look over his shoulder all the time. And no, this is not the preachy "crime doesn't pay" kind of talk, because in this particular case, crime paid a truckload of money. But ultimately, it didn't bring him happiness.

Happiness is not a matter of pursuing, getting or having anything, as I realized some time ago, but is rather a profound sense of wellbeing, calmness of heart, quietness of mind. It is that very state of being, which enables you to enjoy even the most seemingly simple things to a degree that only happiness will allow you. Even a glass of water can be tasty when you are able to enjoy it, but when you're stressed out, it is quite impossible to enjoy anything at all.

All I can say is that I have found my peace, in the very same reason why Christmas is being celebrated, and I'm a happier person because of that. I find that the deepest thirst of my soul has finally been quenched, and that happiness is no longer something that I need to pursuit. It isn't somewhere out there. It is right here, inside, where neither moth nor rust do corrupt it. Better is a handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit...

Merry Christmas, and above all, happiness to all of you in 2007 -- the genuine kind!

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Sat, 05 Nov 2005 16:13:07 GMT

Smiley Script: revised and updated

Over the past couple of days, several people have brought to my attention that the smiley script no longer functioned, due to recent changes here at Xanga. This issue even made it to the Xanga Help Files.

About time for me to do something about it. I revised the script, removed some chunks of code that had become obsolete, and fixed the problem. So here it is, up for grabs, an updated version of the smiley script. Enjoy!

One more thing: I would highly recommend that you keep the number of emoticons limited, if you want to change the set of emoticons in this script, or replace them with your own.

I've seen variations of the smiley script out there with 60 or so emoticons, often animated ones, which is cool and all, but even with a broadband connection, it takes like forever for the page to load, if it doesn't make your browser crash first!

In sum, go ahead, have fun with the script (as long as you don't take falsely credit for it), but take it easy with the smileys!

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Sun, 03 Jul 2005 17:45:08 GMT

Minimize your modules

Update
I have received many requests to adjust the script so that the top module will be displayed by default, instead of appearing minimized by default. That has been done now, and you can change that setting as you see fit. More importantly perhaps is a small but vital adjustment made at the suggestion of BrandonReese, who came up with a fix for the page scrolling to the top, each time a link was clicked. I have added that fix to the script, along with due credits.

Thanks goes also to anyone else who has taken the time to make suggestions for modifications or improvements.

Currently, I am far too pressed for time to keep up with this site as often as I would like, and with my Internet activities in general. I am aware that I owe several people an e-mail, and that I do need to go through this site to see what old scripts can still be used and which ones should be revised first. Xanga has changed a lot since I wrote scripts more frequently than I do these days. I can't just make the old entries public again. I will get to that, eventually.
For a final note, I hope you will all enjoy your summer!

It's been ages since I last wrote a script, but now that I've written another one, I'm glad I haven't closed this account permanently.

If you take a look at my left side bar you'll notice that all the modules are hidden, save the headers. If you click a header, the module will appear. Click it again, and it will disappear. Neat, huh?

Useful? Perhaps... it does make the whole left side bar structure more compact. If, for example, someone has an overly filled custom module, a visitor does not have to scroll down like forever in order to get to the subscription module. Other than that, it's just fancy ...

The script that generates this effect is to be found below. Select all of the code, copy it, and paste it in the website stats box at your look and feel page. Note though that if you have a Xanga skin, this script will have no effect. The script doesn't work in Opera.

One more thing. I'd appreciate if the copyright notice in this script will remain intact. That sounds almost too obvious, but you wouldn't believe the number of smiley scripts I have seen out there in which people have deleted or overwritten the original copyright notice...

Monday, May 16, 2005

Mon, 16 May 2005 17:55:35 GMT

Rearrange your blogrings

*** UPDATED ***

Bug fix; the script had difficulties dealing with blogringnames containing an asterisk. That problem has been solved now. I owe thanks to Master_Bob for bringing this to my attention!

I have found the following question on Xanga Help:

"Can I alphabetize my blogrings? Or customize the order of them by hand?"
"Sorry... we don't yet have support for alphabetizing or re-ordering blogrings in your blogrings module."

I believe that's where a little tweaking comes in handy ... I have written a script that will allow you to rearrange your blogrings, just as you see fit!

As an aside, I think it's quite fortunate that customization through JavaScript by users is still allowed on Xanga, but how much longer that fun is going to continue, is likely to depend on the measure in which everyone on Xanga is willing to respect Xanga's JavaScript Policy...

Anyway, the script to rearrange your blogrings allows you to:

sort your blogrings in reversed order.
By default, your blogrings are listed by subscription date, the first blogring you joined being on top of your list, but it's not unthinkable that you would rather prefer it the other way around -- the blogring you most recently joined being the one on top.
sort your blogrings in alphabetical order.
If you have your subscriptions sorted alphabetically (A-Z), then perhaps you would like to do the same with your blogrings? Continuity rules!
sort your blogrings in random order.
If you like change or randomness, or if it doesn't really matter to you in what order your blogrings are listed, then this option may be your preferred way of sorting your blogrings. They will appear in a different order each time you reload the page.
sort your blogrings in a customized order.
You decide in what particular order the blogrings will be listed in your blogrings module, regardless of subscription date. And the blogrings you leave out, won't even be listed at all (though they are still there when you view the source of your site). You are in complete control!

Currently, I have set the option to sort my blogrings in alphabetical order.

You can copy the source code below, and paste it in the website stats box at your look and feel page, but before you do, read the comments in the script, especially on how to use it. The settings are rather self-explanatory.

The website stats box however, is rather narrow, and thus not the best environment to edit a script. So, before you select and copy the script from the box below, you may want to edit it's settings first. Alternatively, you can copy and paste the code in Notepad, edit it there, and then add the edited version to your site.

Enjoy!