Looks like I keep exceeding the SDF web quota so if you come to the site and see the generic SDF homepage that'll be whats going on.

Might actually have to bite the bullet and move the site somewhere else.

As part of my quest I came across Pivot which is a Blosxom-like PHP weblog engine that doesn't require a database backend. It appeals to my desire to not have to fart about with SQL just to publish content ;-)

Now to find a half decent host (preferably in NZ that offers ssh, perl and php) that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Actually it might be Googles Coop - site bandwidth is apparently almost 50mb every few days which is pretty excessive for a small site. The only recent change has been the addition of Googles search engine. Might see what their tech support is like . . .

Ever since moving to static rendering on my perl based Blosxom site I've had a broken search function (Blosxom search is a perl module that interacts with the Blosxom cgi).

I finally found a nice and easily customisable alternative to 'rolling my own' - Google Co-op. Fill in a simple form, specify what you want to search and then customise the resultant search page by including the source for the form (about 5 lines) into your own page.

I haven't bothered to customise the results - I'm just glad to have a working site search :-)

There are a couple of good mapping tools on the web for New Zealand - Wises and the AA are the first two that come to mind.

I've found them a little clunky particularly with respect to finding specific locations in NZ.

These guys have kind of turned mapping on its head - Smaps is a new system which does a dynamic lookup on a location - the more information you enter the more refined the search.

Very cool.

Mainly so when I do a fresh Firefox install I know what plugins I'm used to having -

Aardvark - handy tool to deconstruct and troubleshoot web pages

Greasemonkey - script engine - I have to admit to not using this one at all

Viamatic FoxPose/Tabnail - gives you an OSX like Expose feature and miniature page graphics in the tab field (Tabnail seems to stop working when used in conjunction with one of these

AdBlock - customisable ad blocker

TabX - put a little 'x' to close each tab on the tab itself (like Safari)

SessionSaver - save a set of open browser sessions

NukeAnything Enhanced - contextual menu to zap anything in your browser window

Xinha Here - contextual menu to provide a full html edit window (very handy for blogging)

'Why' is either a complete loon or an utter genius.

In addition to writing Whys (Poignant) Guide to Ruby he has recently created Hobix which is a Ruby based weblog engine. Hobix seems to borrow heavily from the Keep It Simple Stupid philosphy of Blosxom with a few wonderful twists (your weblog is referred to as a 'blahhg'). Nice to see someone has a sense of humour about this type of thing.

A couple of cool Wiki tools that require minimal skills to get up and running

• Ruby based Instiki. Instiki is completely selfcontained and doesn't need apache or sql to serve or backend the wiki - you just need Ruby installed.
• Self contained CSS/Javascript Tiddlywiki.

The web seems to be abuzz with Googles new 'gadget' - still in Beta but it looks promising - Google Suggest.