The ~jg5/blog/etc structure used for this site is accomplished using the mod_rewrite engine in Apache.

I wrote my own CGI-based editor to make updates and posts to the site, but I could not figure out why javascript would not work on the redirected path, but worked fine on the direct file path (eg. it works fine for cgi-bin/post.cgi, but does not work for blog/makeapost).

Here's the kicker: Whenever you use a rewrite rule for Apache, the directory you accessed in the browser is the relative path used for the site. So, if you include any files, it's better off to just use the absolute path to them, even if they're in the same directory. Technically, I guess I should have been doing this all along anyway.

Oh well, I'll never learn.

For the past week or so, I've been hitting a wall with my diet. My weight hasn't really fluctuated much beyond a pound, and my chart is starting to level out some (but is still a confident down-marching trend):





One thing I've learned over the course of this diet so far is that sometimes, you come up against an obstacle and it seems entirely impossible. When you lose weight, your body naturally stops and plateaus sometimes, and your weight doesn't really fluctuate while your body readjusts some stuff internally and gets ready to move on. But psychologically, living the diet day by day, and watching the trend line start to run from your goal projection, the process is excruciating and dreadful.

But I'm picking myself up from the woe of seeing the same two numbers on the scale every day, and throwing myself relentlessly at the diet. I've even started using the calorie spreadsheet again today, to really help me nail my shortfall every day. Hopefully, within a week, the trend will resume its free-fall and dip back down.

And while I'm on the subject of diet...

Today at the Commons they had a Health Fair or something along those lines, with lots of little booths and a whole lot of stuff I wasn't that interested in (although they were giving away hand sanitizer at one booth, and that stuff is a gift from God in the eyes of a messy college student).

One of the booths had a little hand weight analyzer, or whatever they're called, and I assume they were trying to sell these. It's got two little handles with metallic contacts, and you grip them with both hands after turning the device on. A few seconds pass, and it tells you your percent body fat and a few other tidbits of information. I was actually kinda surprised how little people knew anything about this process, so here's a little rundown.

The process is called Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA), and it's being used more and more by everyday citizens. In short, the device runs a small current through your body, and determines the electrical impedance. Water and fat react to current in different and well-established ways, and by inputting your height and age (on most BIA tests I've used anyway), you can get a very reasonable estimate of percent body fat and percent body water (Most tests seem to be within +/- 2% or so).

I really like the convenience of BIA (and avoiding the embarrassing process of having all the fat on my body pinched between calipers) , and I really appreciate the ability to measure my percent body fat, because Body Mass Index (BMI) is a rather inelegant way to estimate fitness, and was never intended as a numeric measure of health. A lot of bathroom scales (mine included) include this functionality right in the scale, so you can step on, get your weight AND your percent body fat, and get on with your day. I find I like to take my percent body fat about every 5 pounds I lose, which is something on the order of 2 1/2 weeks. My scale's busted and being RMA-ed right now, but when I get the new one back under warranty, I'll resume measuring my body fat as well as my weight for a good idea of my progress.


Wish me luck on breaking my temporary difficulties, and keep checking back for my progress!