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New York State Roads

Started by vdeane, June 15, 2013, 12:20:17 AM

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vdeane

Quote from: dgolub on April 29, 2014, 07:16:12 PM
Quote from: vdeane on April 29, 2014, 04:48:18 PM
A word of warning: NYS Roads WILL be down at some point next month when I move.  When and how long is TBD.

Is that supposed to mean that you're self-hosting?
Yep.  On my nine year old desktop no less (it even has a floppy drive).  I do plan to upgrade in a month though.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.


dgolub

Quote from: vdeane on April 30, 2014, 05:12:33 PM
Quote from: dgolub on April 29, 2014, 07:16:12 PM
Quote from: vdeane on April 29, 2014, 04:48:18 PM
A word of warning: NYS Roads WILL be down at some point next month when I move.  When and how long is TBD.

Is that supposed to mean that you're self-hosting?
Yep.  On my nine year old desktop no less (it even has a floppy drive).  I do plan to upgrade in a month though.

I don't think I've ever met anyone else who's self-hosted a private site.  Static IP is hard to come by.

vdeane

It's not actually static.  Time Warner just doesn't change DHCP addresses often.  Periodically (once every 3-4 months) I have to change the DNS settings.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

vdeane

Looks like the site will be down a lot longer than anticipated.  My desktop chose this moment to die on me (I suspect the power supply is bad, but who knows), so I'm gonna have to order a new server.  :-(
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

vdeane

Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

J N Winkler

Quote from: dgolub on April 30, 2014, 08:29:51 PMI don't think I've ever met anyone else who's self-hosted a private site.  Static IP is hard to come by.

With dynamic DNS Web services available, you don't really need a static IP anymore to host a website on a home LAN.  The difficulties arise mainly from ISP terms of service.  My home ISP is Cox, whose TOS for residential cable subscriptions discourage running servers.  Cox blocks port 80 (the standard Web port) in the outgoing direction, port 445 (the standard SMB port, to force you to use VPN to log in securely to your home LAN versus making your network shares visible to the public Internet), and several other standard ports for server applications, but not ports 20 or 21, so you can run a home FTP server if you like sailing close to the wind.

Personally, I have a home FTP server set up on a ten-year-old Windows XP desktop PC, since that saves hassle all around compared to Dropbox (which doesn't work well for me because I refuse to install the Dropbox program) and the file-sharing sites.  However, I boot the PC and allow the server to run only when I have made an agreement to exchange files with a specific person.  I believe I have configured it securely by not using default passwords and by leaving security-oriented defaults in place (such as a slowdown in login transactions that takes hold after more than 10 failed attempts to login), but I don't really have the time or expertise to clean up the damage a random hacker could do if he or she managed to crack security by triggering a stack overflow or the like.

There are bots that roam the Internet and catalogue FTP servers (mine has already been found by one at the University of Bochum in Germany), and I'd rather keep mine off such lists; my log already shows multiple casual attempts to hack the server by entering typical default username-password combinations.  Moreover, Cox occasionally does automated port checks on its DHCP pool and I prefer to minimize the chances their bot encounters a login prompt when it checks port 21 at my IP.

Bandwidth is another issue, since up bandwidth tends to be quite limited on residential connections.  I can typically count on 55 Mbps down but only 13 Mbps up.  I have configured the FTP server with an up limit of 500 KB/s to ensure that outsiders' downloads from the server do not interfere with my routine nightly downloads, which a controller script launches at 6.01 PM and which can easily run for six hours every fourth Monday when the once-a-month scripts are launched.  500 KB/s is a bit slow however, so I will probably lift the limit to 1 MB/s, which still leaves 5 Mbps available for other purposes.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

vdeane

Lucky for me, I have Verizon FiOS, which doesn't block ports.  It hasn't changed my IP in the two months I've had it, and I've read that Verizon rarely (if ever) changes them even though they're technically not static.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

vdeane

As I mentioned in another thread, the Windows font renderer can't deal with the Roadgeek 2005 FHWA font I used, and as such, I upgraded to Roadgeek 2014.  Unfortunately, Internet Explorer 11 can't render that font properly either, so for that browser, I had to do... something else.  you could say that I've incentivised the switch to a different browser.

I just hope the FHWA doesn't kill me.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Zeffy

Quote from: vdeane on September 06, 2014, 08:20:34 PM
As I mentioned in another thread, the Windows font renderer can't deal with the Roadgeek 2005 FHWA font I used, and as such, I upgraded to Roadgeek 2014.  Unfortunately, Internet Explorer 11 can't render that font properly either, so for that browser, I had to do... something else.  you could say that I've incentivised the switch to a different browser.

I just hope the FHWA doesn't kill me.

Are you hosting alternate versions of the font on your server for Internet Explorer? If you wanted some sort of sign graphics for exit lists or whatnot, I'd be happy to help.
Life would be boring if we didn't take an offramp every once in a while

A weird combination of a weather geek, roadgeek, car enthusiast and furry mixed with many anxiety related disorders

vdeane

I don't know if alternate versions exist, since both 2005 and 2014 both glitch.  I was going to just revert to the default serif (this was already de facto happening on IE8 and earlier), but then I found out that Clearview also works fine, and that is so much more fun.  I'm currently using PHP to detect the browser and load an additional stylesheet for IE.  It works pretty well and keeps everything all-text.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

vdeane

Next weekend I expect to finish up the fictional Thruway AET project. The question is, where to after that? There are a few fictional things I could do (the ones on my todo list: NY 365 freeway, Québec-style numbering of NY highways, US 4 freeway, and an A-73 extension). I also wouldn't mind expanding the information section, but the question is what to add. I don't want to just duplicate something that's on another roadgeek site or wikipedia (though if the only information on an existing site is dated or incomplete, I might be willing to add it). Thoughts?
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

okc1

Quote from: vdeane on October 25, 2015, 04:18:31 PM
Next weekend I expect to finish up the fictional Thruway AET project. The question is, where to after that? There are a few fictional things I could do (the ones on my todo list: NY 365 freeway, Québec-style numbering of NY highways, US 4 freeway, and an A-73 extension). I also wouldn't mind expanding the information section, but the question is what to add. I don't want to just duplicate something that's on another roadgeek site or wikipedia (though if the only information on an existing site is dated or incomplete, I might be willing to add it). Thoughts?
I'd like to see plans for an affordable US 219 upgrade in Cattaraugus County. Eliminate 90 degree turns and bypass population centers.

0PCV1

Steve Reynolds
Midwest City OK
Native of Southern Erie Co, NY

vdeane

Hello denizens of misc.transport.road!

I would like to introduce my new website, New York State Roads, which hit the internets today (I sure hope the servers are Y2K compatible!).  On that site is exit lists and some information about the roads of NY as well as links to other sites; photo gallery and guestbook coming soon!  I particularly recommend checking out the NY 17 exit list; it took a while to put together.

http://www.nysroads.com/
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

dgolub

Quote from: vdeane on April 01, 2016, 06:44:12 AM
Hello denizens of misc.transport.road!

I would like to introduce my new website, New York State Roads, which hit the internets today (I sure hope the servers are Y2K compatible!).  On that site is exit lists and some information about the roads of NY as well as links to other sites; photo gallery and guestbook coming soon!  I particularly recommend checking out the NY 17 exit list; it took a while to put together.

http://www.nysroads.com/

So, that's your April Fool's joke, making the site look like it's from the nineties?

empirestate

Quote from: dgolub on April 01, 2016, 08:59:00 AM
Quote from: vdeane on April 01, 2016, 06:44:12 AM
Hello denizens of misc.transport.road!

I would like to introduce my new website, New York State Roads, which hit the internets today (I sure hope the servers are Y2K compatible!).  On that site is exit lists and some information about the roads of NY as well as links to other sites; photo gallery and guestbook coming soon!  I particularly recommend checking out the NY 17 exit list; it took a while to put together.

http://www.nysroads.com/

So, that's your April Fool's joke, making the site look like it's from the nineties?

Mine still looks like that.

vdeane

Quote from: dgolub on April 01, 2016, 08:59:00 AM
Quote from: vdeane on April 01, 2016, 06:44:12 AM
Hello denizens of misc.transport.road!

I would like to introduce my new website, New York State Roads, which hit the internets today (I sure hope the servers are Y2K compatible!).  On that site is exit lists and some information about the roads of NY as well as links to other sites; photo gallery and guestbook coming soon!  I particularly recommend checking out the NY 17 exit list; it took a while to put together.

http://www.nysroads.com/

So, that's your April Fool's joke, making the site look like it's from the nineties?
I didn't just roll back the appearance... I also rolled back the information, to the best of my ability.  That's why I called out the NY 17 exit list... it has all the various at-grades and whatnot that have been removed as part of the I-86 conversion (took me several hours to track them down).

I didn't go so far as to roll back coding methods.  The source code betrays the site's 2012 origins, but I figure few people would check and that would take WAY too much time.  It's amazing how few CSS changes were needed to give the site the 90s feel.  All I did was change the background, font style, move the navigation, and add a couple animated GIFs.  The bulk of the work was in the info.  Shunting the site over to the 90s version only requires a change in two lines of apache config.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

froggie

I'm disappointed.  Paper bag over head disappointed.  No mention of viatology.

dgolub

Quote from: vdeane on April 01, 2016, 12:37:04 PM
Quote from: dgolub on April 01, 2016, 08:59:00 AM
Quote from: vdeane on April 01, 2016, 06:44:12 AM
Hello denizens of misc.transport.road!

I would like to introduce my new website, New York State Roads, which hit the internets today (I sure hope the servers are Y2K compatible!).  On that site is exit lists and some information about the roads of NY as well as links to other sites; photo gallery and guestbook coming soon!  I particularly recommend checking out the NY 17 exit list; it took a while to put together.

http://www.nysroads.com/

So, that's your April Fool's joke, making the site look like it's from the nineties?
I didn't just roll back the appearance... I also rolled back the information, to the best of my ability.  That's why I called out the NY 17 exit list... it has all the various at-grades and whatnot that have been removed as part of the I-86 conversion (took me several hours to track them down).

I didn't go so far as to roll back coding methods.  The source code betrays the site's 2012 origins, but I figure few people would check and that would take WAY too much time.  It's amazing how few CSS changes were needed to give the site the 90s feel.  All I did was change the background, font style, move the navigation, and add a couple animated GIFs.  The bulk of the work was in the info.  Shunting the site over to the 90s version only requires a change in two lines of apache config.

It's just as well, since I'm not sure that nineties-era CSS would look right in modern browsers.

vdeane

I'm afraid I'm going to have to take my website offline indefinately.  My desktop was damaged in a power outage back in February and the power supply fan has been working weird ever since (it spins at the wrong rate and generates a lot of heat; it's actually safer for me to jam it with a paper clip, which is how i've been using it recently).  I had hoped that I could limp along until I can set up my next computer, but to do that, I have to wait until the release of Linux Mint 18.  Unfortunately, that is no longer possible - the problem spread to my case fan last night, and as such, I am no longer comfortable running my desktop when I am not home, and the development of Linux Mint 18 is moving at a glacial pace unprecedented in Linux Mint history, and it won't be ready for a while longer.

As such, as of later tonight, my website will be offline until the release of Linux Mint 18.  I have no alternative hosting available.  I investigated setting it up temporarily on my Windows 7 laptop, and determined that setting up a web server on the laptop is a needlessly complicated task and not feasible.  I can only hope that this issue is resolved sooner rather than later.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

vdeane

Finally back online as of last night!
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

froggie


vdeane

Linux Mint 18 finally came out, so I was able to set up my new desktop.  Smoother than normal, actually, aside from having to learn how to make the proprietary drivers/codecs play nice with secure boot.  Fewer Apache changes than with my last setup two years ago.

It's amazing how fast this computer is.  Google Maps no longer lags, for example, and Travel Mapping pages take noticeably less time to load.  Guess it's to be expected - the computer is speced for Cities: Skylines.

If anyone's curious, my new desktop is named LapisLazuli, after the Steven Universe character.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Rothman

Quote from: vdeane on June 30, 2016, 07:56:09 PM
If anyone's curious, my new desktop is named LapisLazuli, after the Steven Universe character.

So...not after a Minecraft mineral...
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

vdeane

Question: does anyone actually care about the archived April Fool's Day pranks?  I'm considering removing them from the site since they do sometime result in things being archived that I later decided to standardize another way, typos, etc. (heck, the viatology ones needs to be updated periodically when things break).  I'm also considering, however, archiving part of the 1999 site under the regular theme as a "historic exit lists" feature.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

vdeane

I think I might have forgotten about this thread when I started my photo gallery update thread (perhaps the mods could merge it?).  I'm pleased to announce that the new gallery is done!  This week, I also further improved the photo gallery accuracy and added photos for NY 7, NY 787, I-90 (Albany), I-390, I-90/Thruway, and a missing photo for I-66 (VA) that should have been added last update.

I also made minor updates to the mobile stylesheet, updated the header and footer, updated the home page, added an RSS feed, corrected a typo on the information page, updated the I-278 and US 4 exit lists, and updated the news archive.

Part of me is wondering if I should start posting my updates here as well, in addition to the site's news page, Facebook page, and RSS feed.

http://nysroads.com/
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.



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