CHANGELOG for Nonsense ====================== I doubt anybody is seriously interested in this, but here it is anyway... Current version: 0.6 Released: February 10, 2001 ----------------------- CHANGES FROM 0.5 TO 0.6 ----------------------- [February 10, 2001] * An article on TechDirt.com mentioned a Slashdot Simulator over at BBSpot, while commenting "Yeah, well, when does someone make a Techdirt Story Generator? Huh?" Well, they asked for it... * Added a template for Humorix (http://i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/) * Added code to generate trademarks (either company names made from nonsense word fragments or prescription drug names). * Added the obligatory Haiku generator ----------------------- CHANGES FROM 0.4 TO 0.5 ----------------------- [December 21, 2000] * Toni Viemero pointed out that users could read arbitrary files on the system using the CGI interface. I changed the code so that all special characters (except dots and hyphens) are removed from filenames, which should prevent users from requesting files not in the current directory. * Added a "CGI Security" note to the README. I'd recommend that, if you actually want to use this on a public website, you should wrap it in a server-side include or customize the source code. * Added more improvements to the Slashdot simulator. Jon Katz ramblings are now produced, although this still needs some more tweaking. ----------------------- CHANGES FROM 0.3 TO 0.4 ----------------------- [December 14, 2000] * Peter Suschlik, peter@zilium.de, submitted small improvements and cleaned up some regex's. * Templates can now contain a header (anything before a line with "__BEGIN__") specifying meta-data, such as any prerequisite datafiles. * Added code to handle state variables; this a hash table of data that can be used to maintain context and make the output more realistic. * Created a template for the Slashdot homepage. It makes extensive use of state variables so that, for instance, the headline and body text of each article matches. * Cleaned up the code in places. ----------------------- CHANGES FROM 0.2 TO 0.3 ----------------------- [October 29, 2000] * CGI support contributed by Fred Hirsch (truehand@darkhart.com). The same Nonsense script can now be run as a command-line app from the console or as a CGI program from a web browser. * Created a form.html file that acts as a front-end to the CGI script for testing purposes. * Added 'bullets' and 'spacers' to go with each item in a list. * Added shows.data which creates television show titles. * Added "CongressCritter" to default.data; for when you want to poke fun at a member of the US Congress. ----------------------- CHANGES FROM 0.1 TO 0.2 ----------------------- [October 15, 2000] * Added newspaper.data which contains news, sports, tabloid, and other headlines * Created newspaper.html.template, which simulates the front page of a small town newspaper * Added cookie.data which contains silly fortune cookie predictions (the kind you would expect at an Americanized all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant) * Added insults.data incorporating that list of "Shakespearian Insults" that have been floating across the Net for years * Added "OrgPolitical" to default.data; this creates a grandiose name for a radical political organization * Command line parameter -F loads in all datafiles * It's now possible to embed newlines, braces, and other literal characters using the new {\character} tag --------- TODO LIST --------- [December 14, 2000] Some things I have planned (but may or may not get around to implementing): * "Letters to the Editor" written by ranting local-yokels that you might find printed in a small town newspaper * Horoscopes * Absurd patent applications (i.e. "Circular object built in such a way that all points are equidistant from a center point, allowing said object to rotate freely around a center axis." -- in other words, a wheel) * Term paper or scholarly thesis containing nothing but rambling, incoherent bullshit and illogical mathematical "proofs" * Random name for a rock band * More types of insults