I just upgraded to version 2.65 of MovableType and this is a test of SharpMT’s compatibility with it. Given the Change Log of this release of MT – and the fact that nothing in the XML-RPC layer has changed – I expect SharpMT to continue to work with MT without any code changes.
Continue reading Compatible with MovableType 2.65?
All posts by Randy
Silent Night
Like What You’ve Been Reading Here?
If you’ve like what you’ve read here – and you like to read books as well as blogs – I recommend that you check out my book. Wait, what book? It’s been out for a little while and I’ve been plugging it here and there over the months but I’ve held off truly promoting if for some personal reasons. Those reasons are now taken care of, so I’m content to plug away.
<shameless plug>
Check out Memoirs of an Italian Geek, by R. L. Santi at iUniverse, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon – you can find out more about the history of the book at http://www.rlsanti.com/
</shameless plug>
And thanks for reading the site!
The Terror of Fruit Cake
Hah! Seems that the security checkpoints on the Canadian side of the US-Canada border are having a bit of trouble with the onslaught of holiday fruit cakes that are being shuttled by humans and via shipping services this year. The complaint is that the fruit cakes are too dense to be properly inspected by X-rays alone and that they are having to search these particular packages by hand. Either there’s some truth to this story – I saw it on a TV news report giving it a 50% shot of accuracy – or the Canucks have a oddly large sweet tooth for fruit cakes and want to raid the packages. I’m going with the X-ray problem… it’s more logical than wanting to eat fruit cake.
Virtual Spring Cleaning?
I’ve officially switched over to the IBM ThinkPad T41 and will get around to selling my Sony Z1A on eBay once the holidays are over. I know that might sound odd but I don’t want to get into a “I need it by the 25th!” issue, so I’ll hold off on it. Besides, it will give me a chance to make sure I got all the old bits off of it, before I restore it and send it away.
The thing that I’ve noticed is that I’m feeling a sense of “cleanliness” that I usually only feel after thoroughly cleaning a house… something about leveling a HD and rebuilding everything from the OS up seems to make me feel… good, in a clean way. Am I the only Geek that feels that on a clean install of your OS or am I still basking in post Return of the King goodness?
Review: The Return of the King
Having a Bit of “Down” Time (with an IBM T41)
Not much posting lately, but I don’t know that I’m to blame for that, per se – I’m keeping another running list of topics, actually, so things might pick up soon. Anyway, my hosting company had some major upgrades that they rolled into their server farms, which accidentally sent MT into a “confused” state. I eventually had to install Linux on a local machine here and convert some Perl files by hand. After that I pulled the trigger on a Christmas-present-to-myself: a new IBM T41 to replace my Sony Z1A which is my third notebook this year. Eep!
Continue reading Having a Bit of “Down” Time (with an IBM T41)
Whoops! + Done!
Seems that my hosting company is looking to make a number of significant upgrades to their platform which means that my server is going for a little ride. The problems are numerous but the tech staff at the ISP have been working hard to get the transition done quickly. So for the next couple of days, I’m going to take a hiatus on posting – I recommend a hiatus on comments as well as they might not be there tomorrow! When the site has been moved I’ll start posting again…
Update: All the moving is done and it looks like all of the server related stuff (like moving the data from MT which is a nightmare for non-Linux heads!) seems to be OK now too. Back to [un]business as [un]usual!
R.I.P. Pocket PC
Writing is on the wall for a beloved device former known as the Pocket PC (now Windows Mobile 2003 device). I hate to say it, but I feel I have to. After a seven year love affair with Windows CE I have finally decided that a hand-held device isn’t for me anymore. What’s worse is that my iPaq 1940 is only about three months old and I still believe that it’s the best Pocket PC out there…
Continue reading R.I.P. Pocket PC
And Who Says Snow Isn’t Helpful?
With the most recent bout of snow, it’s brought a site “enhancement”. I’ve noticed that the comments part of this site have gotten slower and since I can’t control the power of the hosting server, I can help prevent duplicate posts. Of course to do this, I also had to make a change to the core of MT… more on that below, but at least you don’t have to worry about double-clicking into multiple posts.
Continue reading And Who Says Snow Isn’t Helpful?
Whoa: Blizzard Warning?
Yep. Blizzard warning tomorrow night into Sunday morning. The Weather channel tells me to expect 4-7 inches of snow tonight. Another 6-10 tomorrow and an additional 2-4 tomorrow night. Someone forgot to the tell this weather system that it’s not winter yet – at least they also are saying that it will be 47 degrees again by Wednesday, so it’s not a complete pooch screw. Oh, it’s still a pooch screw, but at least this is going to continue all week. Don’t laugh – it happened last year like that. Of course this makes me astonished while people watching…
Continue reading Whoa: Blizzard Warning?
w00t: Flash the MPx200
I love it when the UberGeeks get involved with consumer electronics: it makes things so much easier for everyone else. Seems that the folks over in MPx200.org’s forums have a sticky post about flashing the Motorola MPx200 to use a non-AT&T version of the firmware. For those of you that bought it from someone other than AT&T, this isn’t a big deal. For those of us that did, this firmware is supposed to return the phone to a generic Motorola state. According to the posts online this means that the phone regains use of 900MHz band (huge in Europe/Asia) and some other software (including the “missing” picture/camera software) but it does not unlock the phone for use with other carriers; that still requires a code from places online. [I probably won’t bother trying this as the phone suits me fine right now, but you guys can feel free to play with it!]
Sikorsky Bridge Rebuilt, Sorta
Having just spent one hour and forty-eight minutes in a commute that was slowed due to one-eighth of an inch of snow in only certain parts of the highway, I thought that some former CT people might be amused (or amazed) to hear that the new Sikorsky Memorial Bridge has been opened on the Merritt Parkway and it’s no longer using metal plates for a driving surface.
Continue reading Sikorsky Bridge Rebuilt, Sorta
Abortion: Using the Right Argument to Support Your Stance
The other day someone asked me if I was Pro-Choice or Pro-Life and my response was simple: I’m pro-condom. I mean even though the question was fair enough when in context, it reminded me of when people ask your blood type or government party or something. After a couple of rounds of “no, come on, really” prodding, I defended my opinion by stating a simple fact: in Connecticut, I have no say in the matter. As a male, I have no legal recourse to force or prevent an abortion, as women have complete control this decision. In fact, the only thing I can do – and by law, I am required to – is pay a minimum of $75 each month for child support, regardless of marriage, common law marriage, living situations, or employment status. This of course completely side steps the whole issue of abortion but that’s part of the point, actually, and it’s still the best possible argument to this quandary which is something I wish more people paid attention too: to me there’s nothing worse than listening to someone incorrectly argue their correct point.
Continue reading Abortion: Using the Right Argument to Support Your Stance
Gypped: A Thanksgiving Day Story
More of a poll than a Rant and more for my US readers than not, but this is open to all (as usual) but I have the following question to ask: who had turkey on Thanksgiving Day? Did I? No, I didn’t – not one piece of white meat or a crumb of stuffing. Burnt? No, it was golden brown and looked pretty damned tasty; my uncle never screws up cooking the bird. Dropped? Shot? Fried? Eaten by dogs? No. We didn’t get to it. For some reason my family feels it has to show our Italian heritage by having pasta (and a lot of it) between appetizers and the turkey. It’s an all day event and has been for years on end – most years we end up taking some of the bird home – but this year there was no time left for it. I’ve argued that since we eat pasta all the time we could skip it – meaning that we should be American for a day – but I always lose this argument, and so I had no turkey this year. The pasta was tasty by the way, but that’s not the point… What I want to know is am I the only American that went to a Thanksgiving Day dinner and didn’t have turkey?