Posts
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IE Bug Fix & Google Ads
I noticed the other day that there was a bug in my layout under IE, this has now been fixed. Now I just need to fix the display error with my bags Ad on the front page of the site.
This week I’ll also be implementing Google Adsense advertising. Not something I really wanted to do, but it will cover at least some of my expenses!
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Rugby, Walk the Line, And Comments
Not had a blog post for a wee while so going to get some random stuff here:
For a change Scotland won the rugby! We actually bet the French in the 6 nations! The boys did real well, although their form did start to fade a bit in the second half. Thanks to the wonders of the internet I got to watch the game at work. 20-16 was the final score. Video highlights can be seen at the BBC Sport site. (Picture from BBC sport website).
After the pub (To celebrate the win in the rugby) I went to the cinema with some of the guys from work. We went to see Walk The Line at the fabulous Cameo Cinema. I really like the work of Johnny Cash, and this film was an excellent dramatisation of his life. I challenge you not to tap your feet during all the musical numbers!
Finally, I have updated the comments system on my blog. I can now ban IP addresses of those who keep posting unwanted messages, or those with consistently bad language. That’ll keep certain bike shop employees from misusing the system! You know who you are guys!
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Freshair Is Back!
The Edinburgh University student radio station, Freshair, is back on-air! The started broadcasting online yesterday, and are set to continue until the end of february. Hosting a mixture of programs, it is always worth a listen, even for those into more alternative music. There are various streams available on their webpage.
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Winter
Did 65 miles on my own in the wind yesterday. Was a good ride, but my neck is a little sore today, I really need to get a helmet without a peak, save me straining my neck on the road bike. The two bridges (Kincardine and Forth) is a great ride, even when the weather isn’t all that great.
If you’re feeling a bit down about the whole winter thing, and using it as an excuse to not go outside, see this list on the Howies website for reasons why winter is so good. Number 10 is similar to my reason for enjoying the wind and the rain. :o)
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Mac OS X Backup
Yesterday I while attempting to rename some video files in iTunes, I found that it hangs the whole iTunes apps for several minutes before the operation is complete. Why should this take so long?
To cut a long story short, I ended up with a corrupt iTunes Music Library file, resulting in iTunes crashing every time I tried opening it. Luckily I have been backing my entire home folder up on a weekly basis, so I don’t have to worry about loosing too much.
I do this by zipping my entire home folder into a gzip file, and storing it on my samba server. The terminal command I use for this is as follows.
$ sudo tar -cvzpf /Volumes/backup_location/backup/todays_date.tgz /Users/usernameThat is intended to be all on one line, copy and paste will pick this up. You’ll be prompted for an your administrator password, then it will get to work. Insert your own location and username to complete this. If you have many users you can always zip the entire users folder. The date is just a personal preference so I can keep several weeks worth of backups.
This has saved me once so far, and is definitely worth doing.
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Ratings
As you can see, along with all the info at the bottom of my posts, I have added some stars for ratings. There is no connection between these and the backend as yet, but I’ll get that working later on.
The new backend is looking good, with the blog being powered by it already. An object orientated approach does make for some extra processing overhead, but it’s worth it for the ease of organisation, and control over what different elements of the system can do.
Update
Ratings now work! My iTunes inspired ratings stars look pretty nifty, and actually work now! Now onto creating the gallery I’ve been talking about for so long…
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All Shiny 'n' Stuff!
Just picked up my new Hope Pro II Rear hub from work. Is so nice and spangly (and trademark blue) I though I’d give you all a look!
Will get a rim and some spokes, and hopefully have it built up later in the week.
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New Address
Thanks to the nice people at dyndns I now have a far friendlier URI which should be easier to remember! I’ll be redirecting all requests for pages to the new address which is: http://douglasfshearer.dyndns.org.
This month will see some significant changes to the way my login and authentication works, so as to allow better cacheability of my pages. Also expect lots of disruption in the next week or so, as I move my code to a more object-orientated structure.
New Features
I added a favicon icon today (In the address bar), a simple affair which serves the job well enough for the moment. There is also now a page generation time at the bottom of the page, mostly to allow me to tune my code to be as fast as possible.
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Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone! Hope it was good for you, and that you’re not all feeling to festively plump.
Was out on my bike on Christmas day itself, and what a cracking ride it was! Snow everywhere, and some awesome riding. Where was I? The pic to the right is a clue, but that’s all I’m allowed to say for the moment.
This is the first post I have submitted using my new BBCode script, so now anyone who has used a forum before can add posts to my blog/news engine. Progress!
Enjoy your new years, and don’t get too drunk!
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4Gb Hitachi Microdrive For Sale.
Hitachi 4Gb Compactflash Type II Microdrive.
Formatted in FAT32, mounts on my Mac and Windows PC. Should work with any camera that supports FAT32 formatted microdrives, most digital SLRs do. Check your specs to ensure it is going to work as I cannot accept refunds. Comes supplied with protective case as pictured.
Has been tested successfully in a Pocket PC, on my Mac, and on a PC. Was used for about a years light use to store MP3s. Selling due to lack of use.
Now sold. Thanks for looking.