Merge of First 49 Filmographies

As I write this Sam is busily merging conceptually identical job titles, character names, and people using an early prototype of the Merge Tool.

Here are two wiz bang examples:

Characters: James Bond
People: Peter Jackson

Privacy Policy Posted

It is our intent to protect the privacy of our editors. We have posted a page describing our policy here.

Applications automatically accepted

Turns out we have been accepting everyone who has taken the time to apply.

Since we can always roll back our database, we have opted to take the advice of one of our founding editors and drastically simplify the application process.

Now all we need is to verify your email and any old name you opt to submit and voila-- you'll have instant access.

SQL Tuning

Last night I did some SQL tuning and reduced the time to lookup an internationalized string from 20ms to 1ms. This is really making the filmography pages load fast!

Basically all I did was:

-- track down the slow queries
-- examine them for fields that could take advantage of additional indices
-- trial and error (create indices, vacuum analyze, explain analyze) until the explain decided to use the new indices

Editor Dashboard Cleanup

The Editor Dashboard page has a new layout. I've tried to include everything an Editor would need to know to participate in the project.

How to use the data

Sam has put up a page explaining how to use our initial PostgreSQL data format. This document is intended for coders who will be writing their own apps to query the data.

We still need to provide source code so folks can create their own mirrors.

Public browse tool

Sam just created a page where the public can browse all the films in the db.

The page also lets you know who made the last edit on that film and when the edit occurred.

Our hardware and software specs

I have created a page describing the software and hardware we use to run the As Open project.

Forum threads for input & introductions

We have created an input forum where we ask for any and all feedback and suggestions.

Also I have created an Introductions thread introducing myself and inviting members of the As Open community to do the same.

Status & Updates

Our alpha launch was last Friday 7/23/04. Since then we've made it easier to input new filmographies, created tools to allow all editors to translate film titles & people's names, view the edit logs, and insert new data to an existing filmography.

Clearly we've got a long way to go. To get there we need continous feedback from current and potential members of the AsOpen community.

-Stephen

Created AsOpen.org blog

Welcome to the AsOpen.org Blog!

Thanks to Sam for setting this up!

This blog supplements the AsOpen forum. Specific issues can still be addressed in the forums.

Info on the latest updates and site status will be available via this blog.

-Stephen