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Pixie frenzy
Well, I got the Nibelung user list updated. I never hurry with the updates - they are strictly for my benefit, so that I have a record of which users have verified their email addresses and so forth. In other words, it's not as if the rings stop functioning if I neglect to sort through my logs and emails. And, like so much else here, if I can neglect it, I assuredly will.
Fifty-seven users, not counting me. It would have been fifty-eight, but I had to delete a ring today. I waited as long as anyone would have a right to expect - you're supposed to have a week to verify your email, and that's that, and it's been several months with no word from this person whatsoever. I hate pulling the rug out from under someone. I even sent a second message saying, "Hey, reply or I'll have to delete your ring -" and I think I waited another month after that one. Oh, well.
And there was an interesting case where I got a verification message from someone, but when I went back to look, there was no ring. Well, that's why I have a log. Turns out he had deleted the ring on the same day he made it. He had a number of error messages - I hope he didn't delete the ring out of frustration!
I mean, it's always a nagging thought when you design something like this: It seems obvious to me, but what if it's actually cryptic to everyone else? One of the few chunks of Worldly Wisdom I have taken away from ten-plus years in source code is that you should never trust your own opinion on the ease-of-use of your code. (Of course it seems intuitive to you - you wrote it!)
And users aren't much help, because they never tell you about the things that work, and don't always tell you about the things that are broken. They'll just stop using it and never tell you what they didn't like.
There are at least three users who don't have any sites in their Nibelung list. I know, because I see the messages in the log file where they have tried to start the ring (more than once, days apart) and it's said, "Sorry, can't go into ring mode, you don't have any sites listed to go to!" I wonder: Are they missing something obvious, or is there a way I could have been clearer? Well, fifty-plus people managed to figure it out as opposed to three, so I guess it's obvious enough.
Anyway. Fifty-seven users. Only one user has deleted his/her own ring; I've deleted two for non-response; and only one person has chosen to hide his/her ring from the world, which pleases me, because the idea is to share the goodies. On the whole I consider this project a success. So I rescind my old gripe about how every time I build something, no one comes. Even if all the Nibelung users decide tomorrow that the fun's worn off and they don't want to use it anymore, I feel like I've gotten ample recompensation for my time.
Of course, I sell my time low. I won't tell you my salary, but it's a matter of record that I believe I am somewhat overpaid. My co-workers do not like me to say that very loudly, as the consensus around here is that this department is vastly underpaid, for computer professionals. I believe I've discussed this before.
This comes back to my thoughts about Hollywood salaries and such. I have never swallowed the rule of "charge what the market will bear." It seems unfair to me. I'd rather charge what I'm worth.
Of course, "what I'm worth" then goes into a self-esteem sort of issue, and we all know how lousy I am with those. There are those who would argue it the other way 'round: What you're worth is precisely what others are willing to pay. If people are willing to pay that much for your services, then you must be worth it.
Well, no. Actually, I think I do pretty good work (when I work), but if I were to take some of the fees I've seen my peers take for computer consulting, I would feel like I was living a lie.
This line of thought comes about because I was doing updates to Colette, the journal-writing pixie, yesterday afternoon. I wrote a raw editor, called Voltaire, to go with Colette. That way the three impudence.com escribitionists can now call up entries that have already been posted - to fix typos and so forth. This saves angst on their part and mine, since the previous method was
The moving finger writes, and having writ,
Moves on; not all your piety or wit,
Can bring it back to cancel half a line,
For only Columbine can change a bit.
(Apologies to Fitzgerald - and Khayyam too, for that matter.)
The next step with Colette is to make it possible for users to change their settings directly - then to edit their templates and other standing documents via the web - then to set up a help file and some "starter" pages for new users. Ultimately, the only part which will require sending files to me is any optional images the user wants on their pages.
In short, I am finally turning Colette into a real system, instead of something that is highly tweaked for three users, and something of a pain to deal with. And why am I doing it?
I haven't the foggiest notion. Possibly because of some things Deb and Amy said to me. Possibly because I'm still peeved at Diaryland getting glory. Or possibly because I'm just in a pixie frenzy right now (yes, I'm still working on the game too!) and I need an outlet for this energy.
Certainly I do not intend to publicize it widely - if I had fifty journallers on impudence.com, I couldn't handle the overhead or the traffic costs. I can handle a few more (and will probably solicit a few in person), but I know my limits. It is not my intention to spend my entire allowance of free time maintaining web sites.
Despite appearances to the contrary.
© Columbine
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