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Dmoz Dead

Since at least October 23, 2006 users have been unable to submit a site and editors unable to login to dmoz.org due to technical problems.

Motsa writes:

We are currently experiencing technical problems with our servers. Currently the public pages are static pages that have been generated from a backup. This means:

(1) the public pages do not reflect the most recent updates made to the directory;

(2) scripted pages, including site suggestion and application forms, are not functioning; and

(3) editors are unable to check the status of new editor applications.

We do not currently have an ETA for the resolution of the technical difficulties. We will update this announcement when the system is fully functioning again — please do not start threads asking why the system isn’t working properly or when it will be available again. Thanks.

For those of you in the dark, dmoz.org is also known as The Open Directory Project. The ODP is the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web.

Google and other search engines use the listings on dmoz in their rankings because the sites are human-edited and generally not spammy.

I noticed this shortly after I started my first blog One Ditty A Day. The earliest indication of downtime on the net I could find was October 23rd.

Apparently an old backup static version of the directory is running. All scripted functions are shut down.

Not sure if it is related but research.dmoz.org is also down.

People on the net have been writing about the death of dmoz for years now because of how slow the process is and how editors are approved. Perhaps this is finally it.

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Walmart Photo Center

Recently the kid had a project to do which involved some family photos. Rather then give up our precious photos we scanned them in and went to print them out only to remember we didn’t have any printer ink.

So off to walmart.com I went. We had five scanned images to print, along with two that were taken with our digital camera.

The first thing I had to do was somehow get the images to walmart. At the store they have a kiosk which accepts all sorts of formats, some of which I’d barely heard before. It accepted the xD cards my camera uses, along with CD’s and DVD’s. I’m not sure if I saw a USB port or floppy drive, but the device seriously had about a dozen recepticles for dongles.

This option is obviously for the more active and mobile members of the species. I opted to just sit at home and visit Walmart’s photocenter.

I filled out the form to sign up for their service and was immediately gifted with ten free prints. Shortly I was uploading the photos and a few clicks later they were on their way.

The webpage was quite easy to use and didn’t hiccup once. You can order prints in multiple sizes and quantities. Prints can be sent to your nearest store in one hour for a bit more, or mailed to you for a bit less. We opted in this case for the one hour in store pickup, after all walmart was footing the bill.

We did end up having some problems, apparently the computer in charge of recieving my photos at our local store was down the night I sent the pictures, I had to resend the next day after recieving a phone call from them. This also caused a bit of confusion at the register because I had two orders up there. In the end it was all figured out and all I lost was a bit of time.

The pictures came out very good. There was no visable difference between the scanned copies and the originals. The pictures taken on the digital camera were sharp and clear and honestly a bit better then the film pictures.

One picture was oddly resized due to my overzealous photoshopping beforehand. Your picture will be blown up to 4×6 if that is what you ordered. I should have adjusted the picture accordingly.

Overall I’m quite happy and of course can’t complain a bit about the price. But since they are only twelve cents for a 4×6 home delivery I will definitely be buying again.

And I don’t think I’ll ever touch a film camera again. Film is dead, long live digital.