User:Daveh

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  • Real Name: Dave Humphrey
  • Who Am I: Original founder and webmaster of the UESP since its creation in 1995 (and the Daggerfall text FAQ before that)
  • Where Am I: Currently living and working in Toronto, Canada though I do a lot of travelling throughout North America (for work)
  • What I Do: My day job is for the Pressure Pipe Inspection Company. Short story is I inspect large water distribution pipelines. Chances are I've walked through a pipeline that you get your water from (don't think on that too much). You don't want to know the long story...
  • Current Interests: Besides the usual ES stuff, I'm lately doing a lot of woodworking and ultimate frisbee
  • Age: Born in 1973 I'm 35 at this edit
  • What I'm Playing: Team Fortress 2 (as Reorx [UESP]), EverQuest (SoD expansion), Fallout 3
  • Where I've Been Lately: Dallas TX, Mexico City MX, Phoenix, AZ
  • Where I'm Going Soon: Mexico City MX, Quebec/Vermont/New Hampshire, Louisville KY


Contents

[edit] Site ToDo List

The following are tasks specifically needed to be done myself, either because I'm the site admin or simply because its something I'm interested in. Also see the UESPWiki:Task List page for general tasks which can be done by any editor.

Task Description Status
Database Backups
  • Change Wiki image backups to an incremental scheme (daily incremental, weekly full)
  • Backup of DungeonHack data directory (in place, needs confirmation)
  • Monthly backup rotations
  • Weekly offsite copies of primary site backups (in place, needs confirmation)

Mostly Done

  • On-site backups in place and working
  • Off-site backups/mirroring in place and working (uesp2.net)
  • Finalized regular onsite daily/weekly backups (needs verification)
  • Added 80GB hard drive to secondary mirror/backup
  • Secondary MySQL slave fixed (was just a full drive)
  • Upgraded internet connection for secondary server (from 0.7 to 7 Mbps)
Site Map

I'd like to have an overall sitemap page that lists, in a heirarchy, all the main pages in the site. There may be some utilities to help with this, including Google, which needs to be looked into.
  • Installed the CategoryTree extension which sort of does what I want
Upgrade Wiki
  • Continue upgrades as available
  • Work on method to easily merge our dozens of custom changes in the MediaWiki source to newly released versions (diff/patch?)
  • Currently running 1.10.0
Site Uptime
  • Continue to ensure site uptime remains as high as possible
  • Text/pager notifications in case of site issues
  • Look into getting a Squid cache setup

Mostly Done

  • DoS/throttling Apache modules in place, configured reasonably, and tested
  • Server monitored with e-mail notifications (mon.itor.us)
Server Upgrade Look into a possible server upgrade in the future.

Done, August 2007!

  • Created plan for migrating data from server to server if needed in the future
Files Need to figure out how best to handle file uploads within the Wiki. Still a lower priority but would be nice at some point.
  • Some initial design done
Link Pages Some link pages have been added but still an ongoing process to find ES sites and keep the pages up to date.
Dynamic Maps
  • Create better OB map tiles (blue water, including towns, color adjustments)
  • OB expansion maps (Shivering Isles)
  • OB Interior maps?
  • OB ingrediant locations or overlays?
  • Other OB locations like specific items, NPCs, etc...?
  • Custom mark markers, routes (similar to the Google MyMaps feature)
  • Similar Morrowind online map (including expansions)
  • Is a Daggerfall online map feasible?
Tamriel Dates There is some ES site (TIL I think) that displays the current date in Tamriel fashion (3rd of Morning Star, 3E 403). Would be a neat addition to the site. Find the site, who coded it and ask permission to use it on the site.
  • Someone has actually written up from Java code for this but I just haven't had time to look at it and add it to the site.
Advertising
  • Work on alternate ad layouts to test for what works better in the future. Testing time will probably have to be at least 2-4 weeks to get a good estimate of its effectiveness.
  • Work on possible uses of extra site revenue.
  • Different advertising agencies (other than Google AdSense)
  • Basic AdSense ads on the main site and forums
  • Revenue/expense pages created and kept updated
Offline Content Many Wikis offer offsite and database snapshots for download. Look into getting this setup. Database/image dumps are easy since we can just use the latest backup which are already in place. Look into getting an offsite version of the site available (MediaWiki can create offline HTML/PDF versions of the site I believe).
  • Looked into and tested creation of offline HTML content successfully
File/Image Server Look into setting up a file/image server for the site (i.e., files.uesp.net and images.uesp.net). This would run on the same physical server (for now) but would be a seperate web server with minimal options to reduce the memory consumption of each server instance (to server files/images you don't need most of the currently used mods/options enabled).
  • Installed Lighttpd web server
  • Most Wiki and OB map images now served from this server
Misc Things
  • Change full text min word length to 2 and monitor performance
  • Redo MW NPC export including leveled lists
  • Monitor time drift on server (ntpd)
  • Get server e-mail working (POP server)

[edit] Ideas/Notes

Just a place for me to jot down some general ideas:

  • Mod Ideas
  • Faction with semi-random quests (ala Daggerfall), many medium-large pre-randomly generated dungeons
  • In-game strategy (ala Civilization). Build 'cities' within the game, gather resources to create buildings, gain prestige to get involved with the province politics (quest line).
  • Luggage (ala Pratchett's Disc World). A large trunk follows you around with a mind, and set of sharp teeth, of its own.


[edit] Computer for Oblivion (Jan 2006)

I actually haven't upgraded my computer for a while now. Some parts are well over 2 years old (like the video card). I could simply get a new AGP video card but that would limit my potential upgrades in future years. So the two main options are upgrade decently now in time for Oblivion, or upgrade later in the next 6, 12, 24 months...I think the choice is obvious.


Item Model Cost (CA$) Notes
Motherboard ASUS A8N-SLI 150.00 Preferrably the regular, but the deluxe (recommended, 200$) or premium are good
CPU AMD X2 4200+ (Manchester) 500.00 Only slightly more expensive than an AMD 64 3800+ and I've noticed my system is usually CPU limited recently
Video Card Leadtek 7800GT 256MB PCiE 480.00 A good card which should perform well for a year or two.
Alternate BFG Geforce 7800GT.
RAM Kingston 1GB 400MHz (x2) 270.00 My current 1GB is used up fast when I'm running 3 instances of Everquest.
LCD Monitor Dell 2005FPW 750.00 I have a nice 19" CRT but I hear good things about the wide screen Dells and they are relatively cheap. After christmas I may be able to get one cheaper as well.
Power Supply Antec 500W 90.00 I think I have a 400/450W currently but if I don't I'll need one.
Mouse Logitech G5 50.00
Keyboard Logitech G15 100.00 Just got this and it's a great keyboard at a really good price.
Total 2390.00 Quite a price, but it should do me well for a few years and should be easily upgradable.

[edit] Handy MediaWiki Queries

  • Count of Daily Edits
     SELECT COUNT( * ) , LEFT( rev_timestamp, 8 ) AS revdate
     FROM `revision` 
     GROUP BY revdate
Add a WHERE rev_minor_edit=0 to not count minor edits.


[edit] Useful Commands

  • List Processes Using Port 80
fuser 80/tcp
  • Memory Usage
free -m
top
  • Disk Usage
df
du

[edit] Links

Links I always seem to need but never remember...

Retrieved from "http://www.uesp.net/wiki/User:Daveh"
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