WordPress and Gallery2

As you’ve probably noticed, there is now a picture in the side bar. I’m using the WPG2 plugin to do this, but I don’t have many publicly visible pictures up yet, so if you aren’t a registered user on this blog, you’re likely to see a lot of puppies for a while. 🙂 As a … Continue reading “WordPress and Gallery2”

As you’ve probably noticed, there is now a picture in the side bar. I’m using the WPG2 plugin to do this, but I don’t have many publicly visible pictures up yet, so if you aren’t a registered user on this blog, you’re likely to see a lot of puppies for a while. 🙂

As a test, here is the puppy photo embedded in this entry:
public/File0255.jpg
The way this works is, if you are logged into this blog, you get admin rights into the gallery2 site, but if you’re not logged in here, you have the same rights as a guest at the gallery2 site. This rule is strict, and you can’t get around it by including direct links to things that a guest normally couldn’t see so, for example, unless you are logged into this blog, you won’t see a picture of Lucky and Sunshine here:
otherweb/l12.jpg

Yikes! The Gallery is down.

My gallery2 site is currently failing with a scary looking database error: Error (ERROR_STORAGE_FAILURE) : … [Edited to remove the noise. McQ] If anybody can suggest why this is happening, let me know. (I’m also posting this to make sure that I can talk to MySQL from WordPress.)

My gallery2 site is currently failing with a scary looking database error:

Error (ERROR_STORAGE_FAILURE) :
… [Edited to remove the noise. McQ]

If anybody can suggest why this is happening, let me know. (I’m also posting this to make sure that I can talk to MySQL from WordPress.)

Deb is travelling this weekend.

She’s off today to “Mabel Corlett’s annual Needlers’ Retreat”, and will be back some time on Sunday afternoon. I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it on her Deblog when she gets back.

She’s off today to “Mabel Corlett’s annual Needlers’ Retreat”, and will be back some time on Sunday afternoon. I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it on her Deblog when she gets back.

Spam and the Disassociated Press

I almost hate automatically blocking some of the blogspam I get [well, no, not really], because it can be quite poetic in its attempts to get past the filter. Here are a couple of examples (with the lame-ass website they were attempting to flog removed, of course). This one… This dustcloud, however, applies only to … Continue reading “Spam and the Disassociated Press”

I almost hate automatically blocking some of the blogspam I get [well, no, not really], because it can be quite poetic in its attempts to get past the filter. Here are a couple of examples (with the lame-ass website they were attempting to flog removed, of course). This one…

This dustcloud, however, applies only to the quay : in its indigo-sheets, Dieppe is discoverable among Crisp-headed towns for the oniscus of its buildings. system is musik-saal with that of Telesikra

and this one…

Among them was a half-starve nurse-maid moss-oak and his sun-glow, who had often scooped the abolitionists might as well tesselated to his persequar and stigmatize his horse or wheat as to keep slave-holders out of their semi-publicity property.

Of course, all spammers should just go commit suicide for the sin of destroying one of the few good things mankind has built this generation, but other than that… 😉

Genealogy

My dad has been working on the family history for several years now. Recently, I decided I wanted to help him with this, and went looking for some internet accessible genealogy software, on the theory that if it was net enabled we could share the work load. The program I ended up with is called … Continue reading “Genealogy”

My dad has been working on the family history for several years now.

Recently, I decided I wanted to help him with this, and went looking for some internet accessible genealogy software, on the theory that if it was net enabled we could share the work load. The program I ended up with is called “The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding” by Darrin Lythgoe. Despite the rather odd name, this seems to do everything we need, including supporting GEDCOM files, which means all of my dad’s existing data could be directly imported (yay!).

Well, I’ve now got the data all imported, and the site configured with some reasonable defaults, so if you are a member of my (or Deb’s) extended family and you want access to it, let me know and I’ll send you the log in information. I’ve set up a guest account which lets you see everything, but not edit it. If you do find something that is wrong, the program supports a simple mechanism for suggesting fixes that dad or I can make for you.

Now comes the interesting part: actually learning something about my family history.

Sites, Blogs and Wiki

Ok. I’m now running two blogs (one of them is this one), a genealogy site, and a wiki, in addition to a traditional web site on the G5. All seems to be going well, but I wonder if I really need that much capability for the little net presence that I actually have. Maybe I … Continue reading “Sites, Blogs and Wiki”

Ok. I’m now running two blogs (one of them is this one), a genealogy site, and a wiki, in addition to a traditional web site on the G5. All seems to be going well, but I wonder if I really need that much capability for the little net presence that I actually have. Maybe I should get rid of the main site, and just hang a few more pages off of this one.

One of the things I would need is some photo display capability. I have heard that Gallery 2 works well with both iPhoto and WordPress, so maybe I’ll try setting that up. Realistically, photos are the only thing left of interest on the main site.

Spam and missing comments

Apologies to all if you have tried to comment lately and didn’t see your posts show up. I got behind on my spam control and ended up with >1000 posts I would have had to moderate, so I just punted them all. I’m on track again (and all the random drugs being offered on the … Continue reading “Spam and missing comments”

Apologies to all if you have tried to comment lately and didn’t see your posts show up. I got behind on my spam control and ended up with >1000 posts I would have had to moderate, so I just punted them all. I’m on track again (and all the random drugs being offered on the net have been added to my black list filter), so you should be able to try again.

Note: You only have to get one comment past moderation to start getting them posted automatically.

CBC Radio 1, Lockouts and Podcasting

I just sent the following note to CBC Radio (on their website): I have been a loyal CBC Radio 1 listener for years. Like countless other listeners, I have been patiently waiting for the labour dispute to end, but thanks to Apple Computer, I have realized I no longer need you: The wealth of Podcasts … Continue reading “CBC Radio 1, Lockouts and Podcasting”

I just sent the following note to CBC Radio (on their website):

I have been a loyal CBC Radio 1 listener for years. Like countless other listeners, I have been patiently waiting for the labour dispute to end, but thanks to Apple Computer, I have realized I no longer need you: The wealth of Podcasts that are available via iTunes now *perfectly* fill my need for intelligent talk radio when I commute.

Good luck getting back on the air. I won’t be around when you do.

The thing is, it’s true: I can get current information on the subjects I care about, and never miss a show (or have to stop listening part way through one), in the same “talk radio” format I used to get from CBC. What shows do you listen to?

WoW.

Below find the posting I made to the Oie Jedoonee mailing list… Effective immediately, I am canceling my WoW account. I have had fun playing WoW, and I still enjoy hanging out with you guys on Sunday nights, but lately I feel like we have lost focus. I honestly believe that the game mechanics are … Continue reading “WoW.”

Below find the posting I made to the Oie Jedoonee mailing list…

Effective immediately, I am canceling my WoW account.

I have had fun playing WoW, and I still enjoy hanging out with you guys on Sunday nights, but lately I feel like we have lost focus. I honestly believe that the game mechanics are most of the problem here: I hate the group size limit. I think it’s too easy to solo (or pickup group) your way through the game. I find too many of the quests at our level are common between alliance and horde (and so I’ve done them with Bais)…

I also think that the thing which I thought would help us — playing Alliance during the week and Horde on the weekend — has actually hurt instead: I just don’t have any emotional attachment to my horde character. Every Sunday night I think “Too bad I can’t play Bais instead.”

Basically though it’s just that I’ve seen enough of WoW to realize that I know the mechanics. Did I do a large scale raid? No, but I know that it will just be more of the same, except for having more rigid constraints on your roles and less margin for error. Honestly, I’m not in it for that. I have seen almost every zone (gotta love rogues), and I’ve played both sides far enough to know most of the quests. That’s enough for me.

I also have a number of other constraints on my time:
– It’s orchestra season again. I completely failed to practice over the summer, and am struggling with the music. I *need* to make cello a priority again.
– I’m starting a new project at home: I’m going to work with my dad to do a genealogy of our family.
– Dennis is back in school, and I suspect that I am going to have to spend even more time working with him on his homework this year.

And lastly, I took a look at our finances after putting in new carpets and new living room furniture and going on vacation, and it became clear that we need to spend less. Given the other arguments above, this seemed like an obvious way to save some money.

As usual, I’m sure I will get involved with “the next big thing” when it comes along, but for now, I’m done.

Thanks for all the awesome times,
McQ.

FAQ #1: Can I have your stuff?
A: No. Canceling the account means I won’t be playing for a while. Giving up my stuff means that I would *never* play again.

Cleaning house

We got new carpets last Thursday. With all the moving that we had to do for that, plus the reorganization that was required to get Dennis’ work area in shape for a new school year, it seemed like a good time to do a major cleanup. To be honest, this ended up being significantly more … Continue reading “Cleaning house”

We got new carpets last Thursday. With all the moving that we had to do for that, plus the reorganization that was required to get Dennis’ work area in shape for a new school year, it seemed like a good time to do a major cleanup.

To be honest, this ended up being significantly more than a “major” cleanup; perhaps “grand, intergalactic plot” might cover it better. For example, Dennis and I managed to get 17 green garbage bags full of old “stuff” out of our rooms(!). This doesn’t include the furniture, books, puzzles, lego (including the mindstorms) and electronic equipment that we are selling/giving away.

Deb is going through her books and trying to prune them back to only 5 bookshelves full. Those of you who know her will understand how much of a challenge that is.

In any case, below are a couple of pictures of what my room looks like now. Time will tell how well throwing away my past history has worked, but there’s certainly more room to move around.

Looking left into my room.

looking right into my room