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Tech stuff
The LaughLab project involved
two primary tasks, and several secondary administrative jobs. All
of these were controlled from three Apple OS X Servers and a number
of remote client machines. Due to the nature of the tasks they became
known collectively as the Mirth Inspector.
The two primary tasks were:
Collecting jokes
Jokes were entered via the web and saved into an OpenBase database
via WebObjects, and were then ready to be included in the main survey.
Each submitted joke was only included into the main survey database
after being vetted and deemed suitable for submission. This process
allows us to remove all incomplete submissions and bogus entries.
Suitable joke submissions were moved to a separate web enabled database
which contained the jokes and formed the basis for the LaughLab
review web pages.
Collecting joke reviews
The joke review process started with a user entering a few personal
details together with 5 brain teasing questions. After this data
has been entered the user was presented with 5 jokes, picked at
random from all those previously submitted, and asked for a giggleometer
rating on each. Data from this process was then saved into a database
and used by us to find the ‘funniest joke in the world’.
Technical
The LaughLab project was hosted on two Apple G4 OS X 10.0.4 Servers
that ran WebObjects 5 and OpenBase 6.7 to collect and store data
respectively. We also used one additional OSX Server as a backup
medium for the online databases and as a platform for code to be
updated and redeployed, if any amendments or additions were required.
We would like to thank all those who gave their help during the
development of this web site. A special thanks to Scott from OpenBase
and all those on the OpenBase developer list group.
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