It was not a perfect fit for my needs so I made some modifications to the original script.

• First, I have hardcoded URL (more than one in an array) in the script. Then I added a FOR loop that checks all the URLs.
• My email is also hardcoded, it makes the spreadsheet neater.
• Finally, I only need a flag (entry in the sheet and email) when a site is down. I don’t want to know if it’s up so I filtered out “200″ responses.

One last thing I’ve done in Gmail is adding a filter to highlight the emails sent from the script (Mark as important, starred and add a specific Label).

The email once filtred in Gmail.

Here is my version of the script, feel free to copy and change as you see fit!

/** Monitor Sites's Uptime **/
/** based on: Site's Uptime **/
/** By Amit Agarwal 26/03/2012 **/
/** http://labnol.org/?p=33232 **/

function isMySiteDown()
{
var url= new Array();
url[0] = "http://one.example.com";
url[1] = "http://two-example.net";
url[2] = "http://www.google.com";

var response, error;

for (var n=url.length-1;n>=0;--n){
try {
response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url[n]);
} catch(error)
{
var msg = "[UPTIME] " + url[n] + " is DOWN";
insertData(error, -1, msg);
return;
}

var code = response.getResponseCode();

if (code!=200) {
var msg = "[UPTIME] " + url[n] + " is DOWN";
insertData(response.getContent()[0], code, msg);}
};
}

function insertData(error, code, msg) {

var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
var email = "youremail@address.net";
var row = sheet.getLastRow() + 1;

sheet.getRange(row,1).setValue(new Date());
sheet.getRange(row,2).setValue(error);
sheet.getRange(row,3).setValue(code);
sheet.getRange(row,4).setValue(msg);

if (code!=200)
MailApp.sendEmail(email, msg, msg+" "+error);
}

We got the old photos (1961) from Charles W. Cushman, “An American, [who] travelled the world for 30 years, including a visit to Dublin.“.

The 2 photos I decided to work with are of the front of Trinity College and the Bank Of Ireland building. This corner of Dublin has changed a lot in 50 years, more trees, signs, traffic lights,… Anyway, here are the results.

The first one is a polaroid of the old on top of the new. There were too many elements on the photo to manage a different montage.

The second one is a real mix. Some road, pedestrians and 2 modern Dublin Bus are included in the 1961 street view, this is working well.

You can see another “photofusion” by visiting my daughter’s website.

Raphael

I wanted to order a new Canon DSLR. After looking at different online shops, I decided to use expansys for 3 reasons:

• The prices were similar to all the other shops
• I have used them a lot before and they always been good in term of price and delivery time
• they had everything I wanted in stock (very important!).

So, on Friday 23rd of September I placed my order and paid with Paypal. I immediately received the order confirmation… all good, all good!

On Tuesday 27th, seeing that my order had not moved an inch since Friday, I sent the following email:

I immediately received (good sign, no?) an answer :

Strange, I had been careful to pick only items said to be “in stock”…  They seem sincere and quick to respond so I decided to give them a few days, I was not in a hurry to get the camera.

On Wednesday 28th, I received good news:

At last, the camera was going to be dispatched, only a few more days of patience.
But by Monday 3rd October, the order still had not moved so, I asked about it… Yes, I am starting to get impatient!

Again, I was quick to receive an answer but it was a very disappointing one…

I am starting to get very annoyed now… especially because the stock levels on the product page were still (and still are as I am posting this) at 10 In Stock Now. I replied to this last unsatisfying email to ask for more details…

At the same time, I tried to get some attention from their twitter account @expansysUK with the following tweet:

I received the mandatory PR blurb asking for my order number to be sent by DM, I obliged but it didn’t get very far…:

I got one email with no updates at all on Thursday 6th October, they were just letting me know that they had no news and they didn’t know, even remotely, when I would be able to receive my order. I am sure there must be more than one supplier for Canon cameras in Europe, so I asked:

To which they replied:

I am happy to know that the entire purchasing team is working for me and I am confident that they will find one Canon kit for me… but will they?

I have stopped asking them about my order for a few days and it seems that there is some updating going on. Today, for one of the items in my order (an extra battery), the delivery time has been updated to 880 days… Yes, 880 days… Just under 3 years…

As you can see, it also says that the camera will ship in one day but it has been like that from day one (2 weeks ago)…!

I am not sure what to say, obviously this is a bug but this is telling you a lot about the accuracy of their stock level and delivery time.

I am still not sure what to do at this stage, a two week delay is not the end of the world and there are worst things to worry about in life. I am afraid that my only choice is to cancel the order and try to get a refund.

My main issue is that I am very disappointed with expansys. I will certainly never order from them again, I will not recommend them anymore like I did a lot in the past and will make sure to share my experience with as many people as possible… “Do Not Trust Their Stock Level” I will shout!

If anyone from expansys is reading this post, I would strongly suggest you to improve by implementing the following:

• Do not list in stock items you don’t have in stock (simple really)
• Change supplier for Canon DSLR
• Do not try to sell too many things you can’t deliver. You started with phones and now have lots of other electronic devices, but it doesn’t seem like you can handle it.

Raphaël

UPDATE (Thursday 13th October): The order only took two days to come from Marseille to Dublin (via Germany and UK) and all is good. All this is water under bridge now!

On side note, expansys should really work on the accuracy of their stock display.

The list of names to search in the calendar is in the script, it could be also done by having the list on the count spreadsheet and grabbing it with a getValues().

// List of names to count, could be from a range on the spreadsheet
var CheckNames = ["Bob","Bill","Joe","Mary","Company"];

The script takes the full calendar and places everything in a matrix in which it will search for the names.

var CalendarSheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName("Calendar");
var arr_allNames = CalendarSheet.getRange("A2:X32");
var allNames = arr_allNames.getValues();

Regular expressions (RegExp) are defined for each name to be searched. The script looks for: name, name.5 (for a halfday) and company (for a company day counted for everyone).

var regExp = new RegExp(Names[k]);
var regExpHalf = new RegExp(Names[k]+"\.5");
var regExpcompany = new RegExp("Company");

Then, the script goes through recursive loops to count days based on conditions built from the regular expressions defined above.

for (var i in All){
for (var j in All[i]){
//Add 1 for one name
if (regExpHalf(All[i][j])){daysTaken=daysTaken+0.5;}
//Add 0.5 for name.5
else if (regExp(All[i][j])){++daysTaken;}
//Add 1 for company day
else if (regExpcompany(All[i][j])){++daysTaken;}
}
}

Then, it displays on the second sheet (called “Count”) the results, first the name and then the days taken.

// Display name
Countsheet.getRange(startRow + k, 1).setValue(CheckNames[k]);
// Display days taken
Countsheet.getRange(startRow + k, 2).setValue(daysTaken);

To make sure the script runs when it should, it has to be triggered. This can be done from the “Triggers” menu in the script editing window. The best option is to have it running each time the spreadsheet is edited. You could insert a notification if you wanted to monitor the script.

How to setup the trigger

Here is the script in full:

// Opensource, feel free to copy, adapt,...
// April 2011 - raphael@savina.net
//
// List of names to count, could be from a range on the spreadsheet
var CheckNames = ["Bob","Bill","Joe","Mary","Company"];
// Header for results
var columnNames = [["Name","Days Taken"]];

//Get all the data from the calendar sheet
var CalendarSheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName("Calendar");
var arr_allNames = CalendarSheet.getRange("A2:X32");
var allNames = arr_allNames.getValues();

//Define range for results
var Countsheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName("Count");
var startRow = 2;

//Call count
function countDays(){
Countsheet.getRange(1,1,1,2).setValues(columnNames);
// Call with 2 arrays are arguments: Names to check and content of calendar
count(CheckNames, allNames);
}

function count(Names, All) {
//Set variable dayTaken for count
var daysTaken = 0;
for (var k=0; k< Names.length;k++){
// Define regular expressions for each case
var regExp = new RegExp(Names[k]);
var regExpHalf = new RegExp(Names[k]+"\.5");
var regExpcompany = new RegExp("Company");
for (var i in All){
for (var j in All[i]){
//Add 1 for one name
if (regExpHalf(All[i][j])){daysTaken=daysTaken+0.5;}
//Add 0.5 for name.5
else if (regExp(All[i][j])){++daysTaken;}
//Add 1 for company day
else if (regExpcompany(All[i][j])){++daysTaken;}
}
}
// Display name
Countsheet.getRange(startRow + k, 1).setValue(CheckNames[k]);
// Display days taken
Countsheet.getRange(startRow + k, 2).setValue(daysTaken);
// Reset count of days
daysTaken = 0;
}
}

Raphael

I had to wait for the price (monthly subscription + local calls) to come down before our family budget could accomodate this large expense. The company was fcnet (they are still in business) and my first email address was very complicated, no one could understand it. It might have been due to the fact that only a few people knew what it was for.

The major milestones:

• First time online.
• Dialup for free with no time limit and better speed (V92!) from free.fr.
• Buying my domain (savina,net) and having an easy to give email address.
• Cable modem with a decent speed and a fixed monthly cost not linked to the time spent online. Also not using the only phone line in the house, no more busy tone.
• Broadband coming in Ireland (long-awaited!).
• Wifi to connect computers and phones to the same connection without cables.
• Using Google App for email, Docs, Calandar. Stop using an email client.
• Android smartphone (Nexus One) with g3reat internet access and usable browser.
• Cable modem with decent web 2.0 speed (30MB).

I am looking forward for the next 15 years, I am not sure what to expect…

Raphael

The template used for the export is Antracite but with some tweaks. First, I have created my own banners using different covers. Then I have changed few things on the index and details page.

The statistics page was not included in this template so I have added it (meta tag and link on the page).

Raphaël

To rent this house for a quiet holiday in France, please see our listing on Airbnb.

Pour louer cette maison pour des vacances au calme en France, passez par notre annonce sur Airbnb.

Digitus est une marque qui propose plein de petits accessoires pour votre ordinateur: Récepteur TV, Lecteur de carte CF en ExpressCard, des sacoches en néoprene de toutes les couleurs,…

Et tout ceci à des prix plus que raisonnables, vous pouvez commander sur ordishop.com (nouveaux produits ajoutés tous les jours).

I found in Ikea the BRODER range, it allowed me to have 3 sturdy shelves (max load 4o Kg). The posts are 204 mm high. The all thing is fixed (2 screws) on the top of the door so it is easy to remove leaving no traces/holes.

The cables are hidden behind the 2 posts with cable ties. I have also fixed a power strip with a switch on one post to cut the power to everything and save on electricity!.

On the top shelf, you can see the projector, it is on a support to give it the right angle for the screen. I had also to adjust the vertical keystone to made up for the distortion due to the height.

On the second shelf, I have placed the wii and a laptop used as a HTPC. To help controlling the laptop, I have place a track ball on the third shelf.

On the bottom shelf are the BluRay player, DVD player (for Zone 1 DVD), the control unit of the Logitech z-5500 and the trackball connected to the laptop.

The total cost was €69 (cable ties and power strip excluded):

On the technical side, here is how everything is connected:

Raphael

Here they are again:
First, you should install a widget on your home screen to stop/start “Mobile Network” that will let you control when the connection will happened, otherwise it will access every time it needs to check something on the internet which can be often.

Go into settings under “Mobile network settings”, then in “Access Point Names”. You will need to create 2 APN, one “Vodafone ISP” and one “mms”. Any setting not listed is to be left as “”.

First one, for the internet access, will work for mail, web, FTP,… This is not the “limited” one for WAP phones but the real deal.

Don’t forget to save from the menu, if you press back the setting will not be saved.

The second will allow you to send MMS:

Again, do not forget to save.