WordPress 3.0.1

Posted on July 31, 2010 by ken

tbbs-land now runs the latest, not-so-greatest WordPress. Version 3.0.1. The 3.X WordPress as been a disappointment to me. The automatic upgrade of plugins just fails to work,  a little spinner shows up, along with a message saying that this upgrade could take a while.   I can’t deny the truth of that statement; I only fear that I don’t have enough remaining days on earth for the upgrade to complete. In addition, the auto plugin updater puts the whole blog in maintenance mode, so visitors get a This site Down for Maintenence message.  I then have to kill the update, ssh out to my blog host, and delete the .maintenance   file in the blog root directory. What a PITA.

I hoped that the latest WP would provide a fix for this. It didn’t.  But whee. I have the latest.

-k-

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Since When?

Posted on July 3, 2010 by ken

I typically use ScribeFire to update this old blog. At some point, I know not when1 ScribeFire no longer accepts tags on new posts. I can supply categories, Technorati links and the like via SF, but not a tbbs-local tag.

Or maybe SF accepts blog-local tags, and I’ve forgotten how to do it? That’s probably the most logical conclusion.

This post brought to you via the WP admin post facility.

-k-

1 Infrequent blogging causes one to forget.

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From the Changelog

Posted on July 3, 2010 by ken

I previously documented my first, and thus far only, patch I submitted to Fedora. It was trivial; I’m not up for any awards or anything. But it was a good feeling, and I hope I can contribute some more substantive patches as time goes on.

Anyhow, my humble effort is now in Red Hat 6 Beta, as this snippet from the system-config-kickstart changelog for version 2.8.3-1 reveals:

- Fix an import error (#530739, nelsoninva AT gmail.com).

And another minute of my allotted 15 minutes of fame goes by the board.

Pardon my geekish giddiness, or maybe my giddy geekishness, but this feels good. And I fervently hope for more such good feelings.

-k-

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When an Upgrade alone does not Suffice

Posted on July 3, 2010 by ken

Well, then, you change themes, put up a new header, delete plugins that you’ve forgotten what-the-heck they do, rearrange widgets, and just have a blog gardening afternoon.

The theme is the (now) default WordPress Theme, twentyten. Header graphics credit, as always, is atop the right-hand sidebar.

WP 3.0 suffers from some non-working(at least for me) items:

  • Upload of new theme headers can be charitably categorized as erratic. Works sometimes; usually doesn’t.
  • Updating installed plugins from the admin panel has never worked for me.

Other than the spiffy theme, I see no compelling reason to take the WP3 plunge, save for the transient geek thrill of running the latest and greatest.

Color me transiently thrilled.

-k-.

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Obligatory Post-Upgrade Test Post

Posted on July 2, 2010 by ken

Well, we’re running WordPress 3.0 here in tbbs-land. The upgrade itself was routine. I deleted the recalcitrant SimpleTags plugin post-upgrade. It is allegedly WP 3.0 compatible; the automatic upgrade ran and ran and ran, with no discernible progress, nor any evidence that something was amiss. After 10 minutes, I stopped it, deleted the plugin, and we’re back in operation.

Now, I just need to write something on occasion.

-k-

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Another Memorial Day Legend

Posted on May 29, 2010 by ken

As I warm up the pipes for the sing along tomorrow, here’s the ’08 version..

-k-

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Back from the Farm, off the Facebook

Posted on May 29, 2010 by ken

I have completed my journey through Farmville, and have permanently deleted my Facebook account. The FV affliction turned into a huge, pointless time sink. FB is the AOL of the 21st century, an unreliable, slow, buggy, spam-filled, closed system that attracts folks like moths to a candle. I’m done. Kaput. Goodbye. So Long. Pound sand, FB.

If you have Google search suggestions turned on, start keying How do I into the search bar. Chances are, one of the top two suggestions to complete your query will be delete my facebook account.

Do it. Just do it. Or forget the Google, and head here. MLB is still farming away, I’ll start preaching to her.

Meanwhile, I’ll return my attention to this other time sink, this old blog. Which I shouldn’t have neglected.

-k-

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Things I don’t Need, but Want, #1056

Posted on May 29, 2010 by ken


Race fans get presented with an array of appealing products, the latest of which is pictured here. That there is a grill, a 1:1 scale version of a racing engine. Saw the ad on SpeedTV, and checked out the website, an unfortunately Flash-laden affair.

Check it out: Hot Rod Grills.

Even MLB likes it. I like it. I don’t need one. I want one.

-k-

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Uses for Facebook

Posted on February 27, 2010 by ken

OK, I’ll sheepishly admit I have a Facebook account. For my money, FB is a 21st century AOL, slow, quirky, noisy, and spam-filled. A cacophonous virtual din. Still it’s used by millions of people who see some value. To them, rock on and enjoy. Perhaps I’m too generationally challenged old to appreciate all the bells and whistles.

Nevertheless, there are a couple of FB uses that I do like. The first is the ability to retrieve photos, like the one of my beautiful granddaughter that I used in the previous post.

The only other way I use FB is to play the most egregious time sink game I’ve ever encountered. A TWAC’s holy grail. I speak, even more sheepishly, of:

Oh, the hours I’ve flushed away clicking those tiny plots, laughing at the out-of-scale nature of things on Farmville1, and marvel at a place where brown cows yield chocolate milk, and where such items as grain silos, small ponds, and even other houses can be stored in a tool shed.

Still, those days will soon be coming to an end. I’m a level 44 farmer, I can plant, buy and give away anything in the store. I’ve gathered all the ribbons I can realistically gather2. I say soon, because I want to master at least 10 crops. And have a villa. By the time that happens, though, Farmville will probably have some other gimmick to keep me in the fold.

Once a TWAC, always a TWAC, I guess.

-k-

1 Brown geese are half as tall as a dairy barn, for instance.

2 After I get the Cat Lady one.

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Happy Birthday, Ericka!

Posted on February 27, 2010 by ken


My eldest granddaughter turns 18 on Feb 29th. There not being a Feb 29 this year, we observe her b-day near the end of the month.

This is no longer the little girl I took for her first ride on the merry-go-round1, or who helped Great Grandma Nelson “rearrange” her cupboards, or who, wearing a cute little straw hat, took my hand as I walked her down the concourse of the Wichita airport. She’s no longer the Barney loving toddler, whose eyes lit up, and who said “Barn-bee” when I presented her a stuffed rendition of the purple monster.

Pardon my stroll down memory lane, and waxing a tad nostalgic. Ericka is now a beautiful young lady, more of a world traveller than I’ll ever be2, and who points out websites where Grandma and I can watch TV shows we missed and forgot to Tivo. She is also better at HTML than I am. Far better.

She’s graduating from high school in June; so I can start dreading TSA indignities as we make plans to attend3. But we’re planning to be there.

I’d like to say “Happy Birthday, and make your Grandpa proud.” But that is selfish on my part; it’s her life to live, and if she can do that, remain happy, and be the best person she can be, while maintaining that beautiful smile you see, that will make this old Grandpa very proud indeed.

Happy Birthday, Ericka Nichole!

-k-

1 I figured she’d hate that, and cry when I put her on the carousel pony, and held her upright, or she’d really dig it, and cry when the ride was over. It was the latter, and I took her another ride, as did Grandma.

2 She’s been to the Philippines, for crying out loud.

3 Or take the Amtrak, maybe. California is too far for a Search for America Tour.

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