kirabug’s idea files

Ran some software updates over the weekend. We’re now on the latest Wordpress. I also fixed the comment preview box (and stuck it above the comment entry box so you can actually see it while you’re typing) fixed the problem where my server had stopped emailing people, turned Subscribe to Comments back on, updated the comment editor, and generally cleaned things up.

I also got about halfway through fixing the Navigate by Category plug-in with significant help from Nighthawk (thank you!) on the SQL.

I downloaded a forum that’s Wordpress-based with the vague general intention of integrating it to handle our comments instead of using the article-stype comments, but downloading is as far as I got.

Feel free to babble below!

I need to test some comment stuff… so here’s a thread just to comment in.

Work was, well, long. Very very long. But I managed to get a few last-minute items handled before coming home.

I came home to a sick husband, who’s caught some kind of cold/respiratory thing. Exhausted and achy myself I’m not sure I really did a very good job of taking care of him today. For that matter, I didn’t do much for myself, either.

The forum upgrade’s required a few small tweaks, plus Wordpress came out with a security update that I needed to install, but everything’s been successful so far. A few quick notes I forgot to mention before:

• When you register and post a comment, it sits in the moderation queue until I approve it. After that, so long as you don’t do anything to piss off the spam filter, your comments display immediately.
• I’ll probably eventually (maybe even shortly) start putting a “babble” thread up every day or two so folks can babble to each other even if I’m not actively posting.
• See the RSS and Comments RSS links in the left nav bar? If you want to keep up with the comments, those will give you overall views of what’s going on here, and each thread has its own specific comments RSS feed as well that you can check.

Anyway, I’m off until Tuesday so I’m hoping to relax, draw some comics, and gut a closet. And yell at the snow. And the Phillies. And maybe sleep now. Goodnight!

Three links Nighthawk thought I’d be interested in, and I am in turn passing on to you:

How to Take a Caffeine Nap

How much sleep is enough sleep?

The 5-Minute Productivity Breakthrough (which works fine for me as long as the Internet’s down, but otherwise I stop every minute or so to read another comic.)

Speaking of comics, Kiagi Swordcat has returned! Whoo!

I deleted over 1400 email messages from my mail software this evening. That added up to around 1 gig of hard drive space regained. (I’m down to under 10 gig and it’s making me nervous. In fact, before I emptied the trash can, I was down to about 4 gig.)

Two important notes for Mac users:

1) The same day that perpetual Mac-basher (and generally clueless individual) John Dvorak writes that he thinks Apple will switch to the Windows operating system HAH!HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahahahahaha…. whew! I needed that…. we achive a step in “being taken seriously” by the Windoid masses - that is, someone has developed a piece of malware for us.

Yep, that’s right. If you too are dumb enough to double-click any attachment sent to you, you could catch a Trojan Horse on your Mac.

Of course, for once, the malwarian in question actually used something that would tempt the average Mac user: the promise of leaked pics of Leopard (OS X 10.5). If your Mac is suitably protected with up-t0-date virus software (freaky!) you’re already protected.

Gawd, on days like this, I really miss As the Apple Turns. Jack would’ve had a ball with this one.

2) If your Mac isn’t protected by up-to-date virus software, you might actually want to consider getting some. Yes, yes, I know, the idea of having to install virus protection on a Mac is bizarre, but hey, better safe than sorry, right?

And yes, I know that installing Norton Antivirus feels like you’ve installed a virus. I’ve run it on many a Mac (just not one I’d actually own) and yes, I too want to strangle the damn LiveUpdate window that won’t go away (though I hear they fixed that in NAV10), and smack the software for interfering with everything.

But I learned this week that there are other options. A co-worker of mine pointed me to Intego VirusBarrier after he finally uninstalled Norton (and regaled me with stories of the “speed bump” he gained in the process). I’m installing it now. It’s won awards for performance and usability, it’s designed for the Mac, and from what I’m told, it will not, in and of itself, act like you’ve installed a giant virus. Whoo!

It’s a bit pricey - $69.95 - but you do get a $5 coupon for 10 days if you download the demo first. And Norton Antivirus is advertised at the same $70, so if you’re going to run antivirus, you might as well go all the way with it.

And finally, totally unrelated to the above, something the majority of the men in the audience don’t need to worry about: How to tell if your bra fits and how to tell what doesn’t fit if it doesn’t. Kudos to Plantnerd for providing that one.

Okay, that’s enough babble for a while. Plan for Sketchy Theater on Saturday and hopefully a new full comic on Tuesday.