Category: site notes


password protecting posts

I’ve decided to start writing about stuff that I don’t want the entire Internets to read so I’ll be password protecting posts that I feel are more private in nature. Please leave a comment or email me if you’d like for me to email you the password.

Worpress issues solved (I hope)

I spent a few hours fiddling with WordPress today and I seem to have fixed the issues with my blog template. I installed the new 2.5 RC1 over my old 2.3 installation (that solved the duplicate entry issue) and switched to a new template (that solved the about page not showing up). After trying a few WP templates, I finally settled on Hemingway – simple, classic, minimalist. I actually loved my old template but change is always good.

issues with WordPress

This post has a double purpose – first, if you don’t read my blog through RSS, apologies for the mess around here. WordPress started acting up a few weeks ago and I can’t seem to fix it. If you can’t tell what’s wrong, my WordPress template for some reason isn’t showing the button for the about page, the mini about in the sidebar, and displays the same post twice in the blog post page. The second purpose of this post is to see if anyone has any idea how to fix this. I posted the issue to the WP forums but got no response. :( I feel like I’ve tried everything that I know given my limited knowledge of WordPress and PHP. It is driving me crazy!

six years

I’ve somehow missed it yet again – my six year blogiversary!  I started officially blogging on October 1st, 2001.  I’m amazed that I’m still blogging and have somehow managed to turn it into a professional interest.  A lot of things have changed in my life since October 2001 – I don’t live in IL, I’m in my late 20s, I’m not in college, and I work in a different field.  Lately, my blogging has been fairly sporadic and other social media formats have taken more of my time (flickr, Facebook, Twitter).  As cool as the explosion of social media has been in the past few years, I still miss how exclusive blogging used to be.  I miss reading blogs that were authentic – not commerical enterprises.  I miss the social connections that I was able to make at that time, simply because there weren’t that many other people participating in this medium.  There’s something about this format [large text box + one:many + my own space that isn't part of something else] that I still find engaging and so much more effective at communicating my ideas and documenting my life.

blog? what blog?

Hey, look, it’s that time of the year where I apologize for ignoring my blog!  I can’t believe I haven’t blogged for nearly two months!  When I was conducting research in grad school, I didn’t consider blogs to be active if they hadn’t been updated for a month.

I’ve become one of THOSE bloggers.

Alas, I’m not sure how much of my life needs to be documented in this format anymore – what with posting to flickr and twitter on a weekly basis.  And now it seems everyone that I know and their mother is on Facebook  . . . and well, there is only so many hours in a day.

I have been fairly busy over the past couple of months.  In case you somehow missed it in my flickr stream, I finally moved to my new apartment in Mountain View.  The move went smoothly and I unpacked in record time (2 days!).  The apartment is great and it has been kind of fun being on the other side of town and getting to explore that.  For instance, I now have a new grocery store – yes, City people, these are the things that are exciting in the South Bay.

I did have a lot of little issues when I first moved in (like the dishwasher stopped working one day and then the washing machine stopped working one weekend) but everything seems to be fixed now.  The number of maintenance requests that I had filed had gotten so bad that I could just see the leasing office people grimace every time I walked in there with yet another one.

The weekend before I moved, I went down to San Diego to visit Tracey and Erin.  It was really fun getting to hang out with both of them, especially since I’ve known them from two totally different periods in my life (grad school and elementary school).  We did A LOT over the weekend . . . and I even ended up with a pretty bad sunburn.

Aside from moving and the San Diego trip, I finally caved in and bought an Xbox, which has probably been the most fun entertainment purchase I’ve made in years (it has also been consuming a lot of my free time, hence the lack of blogging).  I’ve been mostly playing San Andreas and the Xbox has now replaced my dead dvd player.

I’m going to be on vacation starting Wednesday through the rest of the week for a grand Midwestern tour.  I’m going home for a couple of days then heading to Iowa for Matt & Maggie’s wedding.  Yay, Iowa!  I really can’t contain my excitement about this vacation – Edwardsville AND Iowa in one week?!? :p

I EATS IT!

I’ve created a custom 404 page for both noor.bz and this blog.  I used the same page for both sites.  See if you can find it! :)

so much for posting ACTUAL content

blog

I sat down tonight to actually write a couple of blog posts I’ve been thinking about for a few days. Horrified by the sheer ugliness of my blog skin, I decided to put my web design freak on and redesign the skin. I’m happy to report that even after several years of minimal web design exposure, I still haven’t forgotten how to use Fireworks or update style sheets. I’m pretty happy with the end result. I also updated my stale about page and redesigned my favicon.

Of course, user feedback will be duly noted and ignored accommodated. ;)

comment free-for-all

I know I haven’t been doing a great job of updating this blog lately but the lack of comments on my recent posts is depressing!  I think it is time to have a comment open-mike night.  I’m always curious about who is actually reading this blog (if anyone).  So, if you’re reading this post right now, leave a comment with your name, blog, and how you got here.

pardon our dust

I’m going to be upgrading my WordPress installation today. Expect wonkiness.

Update: wow, that was easy. The new admin panel looks so different.

Oh behave!

Since Akismet does a pretty good job controlling comment spam (it misses one or two every now and then) and I haven’t had any problems recently with abusive comments, I’ve removed comment moderation. That means that as long as you provide your name and email address, I don’t have to approve your comment for it to appear. Of course, I can always go back and delete your comment. Remember, I’m the dictator around this here blog.

So enjoy your new earned powers my little minions and leave as many comments about the Yoplait Whips! Chocolate Mousse Style Yogurt* as your heart desires.

* Even after posting it in February, the Yoplait Mousse post still receives comments from people whom I don’t know. I’m a little suspicious by the overly positive comments (“I enjoyed every spoonful”) and wonder if Yoplait is gaming my comments. How anyone could enjoy every spoonful of this stuff is beyond me. I still shudder when I see it in the dairy aisle at Safeway.

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