Monthly Archive for September, 2007

links for 2007-09-27

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on September 27, 2007
in Links
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links for 2007-09-26

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on September 26, 2007
in Links
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Wordpress 2.3 is out now - get it whilst it’s hot (maybe)

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on September 26, 2007
in Blogging
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Time for a new release of Wordpress. Wordpress 2.3 brings a long awaited feature, actual tags instead of categories. Word so far is that they are quite basic, and that the underlying tables for Wordpress are quite different to cater for them, so it is quite possible that it could break plugins you have in existing installations. This is the good thing about hosting Wordpress on your own webspace though, you can test it out properly. I have a few blogs, including a test blog. On the test blog, I can run upgrades like this, having turned all the plugins off, then turn them back on one by one to see that they works. Saves a lot of time debugging. Since Wordpress can be such an easy install, it’s really worth having such a testbed.

For more information about Wordpress 2.3, I’d really reccommend listening to Lorelle Vanfossen on the latest episode (#29) of the Wordpress Podcast. They really get into a good level of detail about what you can expect, and what issues you need to be aware of. I’ve installed a few .1 advances of Wordpress before with various levels of success (usually good to be fair), but having listened to this in detail, I’m feeling more cautious, and will test properly first this time. I’m probably a couple of weeks away from having chance to do this, but when I do, I’ll review the process and show my workings.

Pibb - The Social Network you never knew you needed

Published
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admin
on September 24, 2007
in Social Networks
. 1 Comment

I’ve been having a quick look tonight at OpenID. I signed up for one about six months ago, but I must admit, I’ve never needed to use it since. At the back of my mind I’ve been considering adding it to a blog, as it is an ID system I’d like to buy into. A post on Lifehacker today about the pros and cons of OpenID got me thinking about it, and I started reading round again, reminding myself how it might be used.

This was how I happened upon Pibb. Pibb is a social network which starts with the OpenID protocol, and then adds in forums, groups, messaging and IM. Imagine Facebook without all the junk, and which looks really pretty and clean. And to be fair, Facebook isn’t that ugly to begin with. It’s worth a look into, for one, it could be a good place for IM chat where you’re not able to set up a client. Ultimately it’s main attraction for me is that it just looks good.

links for 2007-09-24

Published
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admin
on September 24, 2007
in Linux
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links for 2007-09-21

Published
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on September 21, 2007
in Links
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The Easiest Way to install a LAMP server in Ubuntu Feisty 7.04

Published
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admin
on September 21, 2007
in Linux
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I’ve had to install a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) server before, and it can be quite a hassle. Well under Feisty 7.04, it seems like the process is a lot more painless. Thanks to the wonderful Ubuntu Guide Wiki for Feisty Fawn 7.04 (which is where I start for instructions on setting up most things in Ubuntu), I found this fantastic little tip. You can install a complete LAMP server package from the Synaptic Package Manager:

System-->Administration-->Synaptic Package Manager-->Edit-->Mark packages by Task-->LAMP Server-->OK

Then apply the packages update, and all is done for you. So far, it looks like Apache 2 and PHP5 have been set up for me properly. I’ll test some more, but this was a real timesaver compared to the last time I did this.

Google tries to be Delicious

Published
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admin
on September 20, 2007
in Google and Mobiles
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Google have recently launched Shared Stuff, a sort of competitor to del.icio.us. I’ve had a look at this tonight, and it’s quite nicely done. You drop a bookmarklet onto your toolbar, and if you want to save a page, it launches a new window, in which you can edit your description of the page. This then saves to your own shared page (with an RSS feed of course) and your profile. The whole thing works very much like del.icio.us, particularly when used in conjunction with their Firefox extension (where you get to add tags and your description).

The Google version definitely looks nicer, but I’m used to del.icio.us, it works well, the tagging is a very nice way to navigate your bookmarks, and I’ve been using it for so long I’m just loathe to consider moving elsewhere (have a look at my own del.icio.us page just to see how much I’ve got stored there).

I’ve also been looking at a Mozilla project, Joey. This is a similar idea at first, except it is designed specifically for sharing content from the web to your mobile phone. The idea here is that you can clip parts of pages, so text, images and even video, so that you can just download the element you need on your phone.

Having tried this out, it’s apparent that it is very handy for storing a bit of a timetable, or directions that you can call up from your phone. One thing it doesn’t work on yet is Google Maps, which is a shame, as that would be very handy. That is down to how the maps are generated, rather than being a single image, they are several squares which are patched together on your screen. Joey won’t let you grab them yet, but I’m sure in time they might get it figured out. It is very beta at the moment, but worth a look.

links for 2007-09-19

Published
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admin
on September 19, 2007
in Linux
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links for 2007-09-18

Published
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admin
on September 18, 2007
in Links
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