The Bipship - Keen Utilities and More

Here is where to post about the latest Commander Keen fangame or modification you've finished, a new website you've made, or another Keen-related creation.
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ckguy
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The Bipship - Keen Utilities and More

Post by ckguy »

I am in the process of making a website for my various Keen tools and other creations. It's rather empty and lonely at the moment, but you can check it out anyway if you want to:

http://www.bipship.com/

I'm not a huge HTML/CSS/Javascript/Flash/PHP wizard, so the site's gonna look kind of plain. I'll try and liven it up with some more pictures at some point, but right now my focus is on getting some more content. :)

The story behind this is that yesterday I to said myself , I'm just gonna make a NearlyFreeSpeech account, 'cause it is nearly free after all. I started to fiddle around with stuff, downloading and trying out an FTP program, etc. Then, last night, while mildly intoxicated, I thought, What the hell? Why not get a domain? It's less than $12 to get one with the 'RespectMyPrivacy' thing enabled. So I got one, and then this morning I realized I had better make some content, or my new shiny domain name would be a complete waste of money. ;)

So, that's the story. I do actually plan on rounding this out a bit more, and making one central repository of my Keen files, instead of having them spread out over:
  • A Freewebs account
  • A Wikispaces account
  • A CKFS account
  • A Googlepages account
So, I'm not there yet, not even close, but I still wanted to share with you guys. Registering your first domain is a bit exciting. :D

(edit) Small update!

From now on, beta-testing things will be uploaded to a special subsection of the website:

http://protected.bipship.com/

There's nothing really there, currently, but right now you can log in with

Username: bipship
Password: protected

I know that something like this is not really required at all, and I could simply share the URL of the file with only the betatesters, but this is more fun. :-)

At some point when I am want betatesters for something, I'll ask who wants to be one, make accounts for them, and remove that 'bipship/protected' one.

Hehe, I know I'm going a little overboard on unimportant details, but it's fun.
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KeenRush
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Post by KeenRush »

This is a nice surprise! :) Great name for a site, I think. The current design is simple but good.
My newest mod - Commander Keen: Sunset: viewtopic.php?t=8568 | codename H.Y.E.N.A.
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Commander Spleen
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Post by Commander Spleen »

That layout has a strangely oldschool Geocities feel, but still manages to be a classy layout. That itself is an achievement.

Great to see all your stuff in one place finally.
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ckguy
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Post by ckguy »

Thanks guys. :) I'm happy with how it's shaping up. At some point, I'm going to have to sit down and just fill in lots of content. I've been kind of avoiding that by fiddling around with CGI and stuff.
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Post by KeenRush »

What is your 'technique'? PHP?
My newest mod - Commander Keen: Sunset: viewtopic.php?t=8568 | codename H.Y.E.N.A.
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ckguy
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Post by ckguy »

I'm using Python, actually. I have one script called index.cgi in the main folder, which pieces together the page from other files.

In fact, I put a script in http://www.bipship.com/script/ whose sole purpose is to read and display the other script, so you can look at it if you want.
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Post by KeenRush »

Thanks, I've been wondering how I could use Python and stuff, having the same host with same possibilities... :)
My newest mod - Commander Keen: Sunset: viewtopic.php?t=8568 | codename H.Y.E.N.A.
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Commander Spleen
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Post by Commander Spleen »

Long live NFS! :celtic

I've not tackled Python yet. Does it have any particular advantage over PHP when it comes to websites?
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Post by KeenRush »

I don't know, but I think dealing with strings and stuff is easier in Python. Although, there are downsides too...
My newest mod - Commander Keen: Sunset: viewtopic.php?t=8568 | codename H.Y.E.N.A.
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ckguy
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Post by ckguy »

Yep. I <3 NFS.

I'm going to look into PHP. I know nothing about it, but I just downloaded the official manual, and the 'embedded code' thing sounds interesting. I may or may not switch to it. We'll see...

(edit) I like PHP!

The website is now operating from a PHP script instead of a Python one. Let me know if you run into any snags. :dopekeen

(edit again) Aaaand now the script may be seen at http://www.bipship.com/index.php.txt.
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Commander Spleen
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Post by Commander Spleen »

Nice. You caught onto that quick. Now all you need is a MySQL database so you're not relying on text files for everything. But the existing solution seems to be working fine for now, so you're probably better off continuing work on the content first.

Long live PHP! :D
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ckguy
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Post by ckguy »

*sigh* More script developments, instead of added content:

I've written my first internet script that I actually feel proud of. :D

http://upload.bipship.com/

I wanted to be able to let people upload files (possibly temporarily) onto the server, but wanted more control than something like File Thingie would give me. So I decided on something I call 'upload tickets'. I randomly generate some and give them out to people. Each can be used to upload exactly one file onto the server. Currently, the script on the upload page has a debug section at the bottom where the current valid upload tickets are listed. (Of course, this will be gone in the final version, once I actually decide who/how many tickets to give out.) All files have the download ticket prepended to the filename before uploading, which means that there won't be any naming conflicts. (It will also let everyone know who uploaded the file because the tickets I'll give out to people will start with their name.) All files currently go to http://upload.bipship.com/files/ which has directory listing enabled. The max size you can upload is currently 2megs, but that information could also be built into the upload tickets. (But isn't currently.)

So, I've put up 5 upload tickets for you guys. Try them out, make sure stuff works, and don't be a ticket hog!

Lastly, does anyone see any way to exploit this script and upload random stuff without a ticket? I think the size limit can be circumvented in its current state, and I'll fix that sometime soon-ish, but I don't think any more than that is actually possible.
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Post by KeenRush »

You've gone crazy with this stuff, it seems. :crazy Hm, can't think of anything, it should be safe, at least the idea. Interesting one. I have absolutely nothing to upload, though...
My newest mod - Commander Keen: Sunset: viewtopic.php?t=8568 | codename H.Y.E.N.A.
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ckguy
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Post by ckguy »

Some changes to the uploading page ...

Also, more importantly, I HAVE CHANGED MY EMAIL ADDRESS. It is now bipship (at) gmail (dot) com. As I mentioned in the xkykeen2 comp thread, my old account is completely inundated in spam. I've changed my profile here accordingly.
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Malvineous
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Post by Malvineous »

If you've just bought bipship.com, why don't you use something@bipship.com as your e-mail address instead? If you like Gmail you could just forward your bipship.com address over there...

Edit: Oh, and you obviously don't run Firefox with tabs, or use multiple windows in IE - the way you've linked to subpages using POST scripts blocks anyone from navigating your site properly with tabs or multiple windows. (And for the record, anyone can still link to a subpage if they just reproduce the same POST form as you're using.) If you don't want to worry about URLs changing, either set up a custom 404 error page to redirect back to the homepage, or use a redirect script with a GET parameter (e.g. view.php?page=downloads) so that if you move files around, you can just modify one script. At any rate trying to maintain all that will be a real headache, and once you decide on a structure for the site the URLs don't change that often anyway...
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