I'm putting this down so I don't forget mostly but thought perhaps others of you out there are interested in hosting/running a blog using SubText software. I hope this doens't come across too negatively becasue I do actually like the software.

As you can probably see, we are running an aggregated site with a home page that shows the most recent postings from all of our bloggers. Well, it appears, in this version of the software, you need to turn off the aggregate function in order to log in as the host administrator to add new a new blog to the site. Not a big deal but we aren't done yet.

When you add a new blog, in the configuration that I've got set up, it requires that you have created a directory under the images folder for the current domain for this user (named the same as the user's directory in the URL). Perhaps I'll go back and add this into the code if I ever get the chance.

But it also appears that the URL for the blog site, as set up in the host administration pages, is case sensitive. I ended up changing the Host field in the subtext_Config table manually and low and behold, it stopped complaining about not being able to find a mapping to the correct vdir. I had used mixed case but it seems to like all lower case better. I wonder if I had done this correctly when I set them up, if it wouldn't create the folders for me automatically. I'll give that a try and come back...

------ a short time later -----------

Well, that resolved the issue with non-directory creation. By using the correct case in the Host field (domain name) when configuring a blog, it created the directory appropriately.

One last thing to bitch about... The main feed syndication doesn't seem to be working when the aggregate function is turned on. When I turn it off and try and access the feed, I get an aggregate not configured properly. Oh well, I suppose I'll get this stuff sorted out sooner or later.

Aero-News Network reports that on a new start-up airline out of Germany called SmIntAir or Smoker's International Airway's. It's founder, Alex Schoppman, says his airline plans to fly between Tokyo and Dusseldorf, Germany initally.

The thought is that there are no other direct flights competing for this route and that smokers would be willing to pay more per seat to take advantage of the 138 first and business-class seats on one of the 747s that they intend to lease for this venture.

Time will tell if this business plan works out. I'd be interested in seeing what the demographics of travellers looks like here; mostly cigarette smokers or will cigar and pipe smokers jump on board?

Of course, you won't see them adding stops in the US anytime soon as you'd have no way to get your smoke lit what with the TSA's policy of confiscating lighters.

Alright, I've just about finished configuring the Let's Talk Cigars blog portal. I've been "massaging" the default template to get something that is a bit more palatable before turning it over to a designer to see if they can come up with something better.

We've selected subText as the blogging engine for our site and hopefully, people will come to love it as much as I do. Or at least I think I do. I'll be having to put up some tips to help neophyte bloggers out with their sites. I was also hoping that there was a way to easily override the CSS but it appears to not work the way I had anticipated.

Anyway, welcome to our blog and Let's Talk Cigars!