wget -mkpEK -D www.allshepherdrescue.org,cloudfront.net -H -t 3 \
     --restrict-file-names=windows http://www.allshepherdrescue.org/

This goes into mirror mode, changes relative links to the proper form, fixes the query string urls to static ones, and downloads all files from the domains in the -D parameter.  The manpage details all of this.

I usually use Ruby for this because it offers Hpricot, a very nice and fast scraper and XPath interface. This time, I resolved to find something that does RSS generation better, and I stumbled upon RubyRSS, which happens to be in the core ruby distribution!

Here’s what I ended up with after about an hour:

Now this is impressive if you look at the fail of html id and class attributes coming out of the original page. I had to base everything off of the links to the items that were not images, and then the structure up the tree from there (see the liberal use of .parent). I’ve rediscovered that Hpricot is awesome (_why, come back to us!), and that it truly only takes 30 lines of code to generate a nice RSS feed in ruby. The resultant RSS feed for MDShooters Classifieds site is here.

And now, yet another RSS feed generator: MD Super Ads

Here’s the code:

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if no one ever upgraded to Web 2.0? I mean, really, what have we gained. Here’s a list of things that I personally find really stupid about the phenomenon:

Lists

I think there’s a list for everything now. Everyone wants to be David Letterman. Here’s a lists of lists of things, found on Digg by searching for “10 things”:

• Top 10 Things Americans Want but Can’t Have
• Procrastination: Ten Things To Know
• Things Everyone in IT Should Know
• Things No One Gives Microsoft Credit For (But Should)
• 16 Names Of Things You Never Knew Had Names
• Things Republicans want you to forget

Now, lists are all fine and dandy, but nowadays, most lists people put up are simply a ploy to get traffic, show more ads, and make money. Now, I have no problem with this at all – profits are the best incentive. But, really, it’s getting a little insane. Instead of lists, which are easy to skim, why not hide all your points in some real writing? Many of my friends and I, who are internet addicts, have realized that our reading speed and comprehension have suffered over the years due to the way we surf, which is skimming everything for that small chunk of information you want.

Social Bookmarking Icon Diarrhea

This picture says it all:

Really Big RSS Feed Images

Giant Footers

Here’s one:

Nobody looks at the bottom of your site. Sorry.

Lame Layouts

How to waste 2/3 of the screen

How to waste 3/4 of the screen