ejabberd
Recently been playing with eJabberd and XMPP. The thought of being able to create my own IM server and client is so much fun.
Got a nikon and a macbook
It’s been a while since the last time I actually blogged. So, maybe, to get things started again on this side of the networked world I am very happy to say that there’s a lot of new things I got myself into.
Two weeks ago I bought a Nikon digital SLR. It was hard deciding which system to buy. Canon also makes great cameras. In fact, I know more Canon than Nikon users. In the end I went with the cheapest one I liked. I bought a Nikon D40. For a couple more bucks I could have got a Canon 400D but the D40 just feels right during the tests. I’ve been out shooting most of the time ever since. The shots? They’re crappy at best.
And just today, I finally decided to get a Macbook. I have a month old Acer that I’m using to communicate to my family back in the Philippines. The Acer Aspire running Ubuntu works -well, almost - perfectly. The trackpad is so dumb it’s jumping all over the place. It doesn’t have a on/off button I came to love from my Compaq Presario. Writing code in the Aspire is a pain in the ass.
Like the DSLR, I have been wanting to get a Macbook ever since. I just didn’t have any compelling reason to get one. The real thing is really a joy to look and touch.
I won in ProBlogger $54,000 Birthday Bash
No, not the $54,000. I wish I did. But I was one the the winners of the first giveaway from ProBlogger: Aaron Wall’s Seobook. Maybe through the book I’ll eventually get the $54,000.
It was so easy really. All I did was leave a comment and wait. I didn’t even intend to join as I was taken to Problogger from another blog. As far as I know winners cannot enter subsequent birthday bash contest except for the major prize which is still unannounced yet.
This is a chance to dust off my SEO hat or whatever was left of it. If I may say, I failed miserably in SEO. Not that I totally sucked at it. It was rather due to a shift in focus. I have chosen to be a programmer instead.
Testing Sideblog and KGArchives against WP2.3
I’ve tested Sideblog and KGArchives to be compatible with my WP2.3 test install. I will be upgrading this site tomorrow to the latest release candidate for live testing. After which, I’ll list Sideblog and KGArchives as WP2.3 compatible in the WP2.3 plugins compatibility page.
As long as I’m using WP, be rest assured that these plugins will be updated to the latest WP release unless WP incorporates similar features in the core as what happened with UTW rendering it obsolete.
I happened to browse the WP plugins compatibility page and it seems that some plugins I’m currently using are missing from the compatible list. That could pose a problem but not as critical as Sideblog. They’ll likely be disabled until their authors update them.
1 thing you need to know about WP 2.3
Others have 10 things. I only have 1: WP 2.3 is going to break a lot of plugins. So there. Go ahead check your plugins if they’re compatible with the next WP release 3 days from now.
I’ve updated KGArchives and Sideblog. They’re not final yet but you can have them tested with your WP 2.3 test install. And do report back the bugs you find. The plugins will not be compatible with Wordpress versions earlier than 2.3.
Get KGArchives v4.0 here: http://katesgasis.com/downloads/kgarchives40.zip.
Get Sideblog v4.0 at: WP plugin repository.
Upgrading Ruby in Ubuntu Without Using Apt
For some reason I need to upgrade the installed Ruby versions in my development PC and in slicehost VPS. Both uses Ubuntu: dev has ubuntu edgy, VPS has ubuntu dapper. Ruby is already in version 1.8.6 while the one in Ubuntu repository through apt-get is stuck at 1.8.4. So I upgraded by compiling Ruby source files.
Here's what I did:
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sudo apt-get install build-essential
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sudo apt-get install libreadline5 libreadline5-dev
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wget ftp://ftp.ruby-lang.org/pub/ruby/ruby-1.8.6.tar.gz
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tar -xzf ruby-1.8.6.tar.gz
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cd ruby-1.8.6
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./configure --prefix=/usr/local --enable-pthread --with-readline-dir=/usr/local
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make
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sudo make install
After compiling, Ruby will be installed in /usr/local directories. Run 'ruby -v' and check if it say 'ruby 1.8.6 (2007-03-13 patchlevel 0) [i686-linux]'.
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wget http://rubyforge.org/frs/download.php/20989/rubygems-0.9.4.tgz
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tar -xzf rubygems-0.9.4.tgz
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cd rubygems-0.9.4
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sudo ruby setup.rb
You might need to reinstall your gems. I'm using Rails so when I tried running 'script/console', I get something like:
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/usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb/completion.rb:10:in `require':
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no such file to load -- readline (LoadError)
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from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb/completion.rb:10
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from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb/init.rb:252:in `load_modules'
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from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb/init.rb:250:in `load_modules'
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from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb/init.rb:21:in `setup'
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from /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/irb.rb:54:in `start'
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from /usr/local/bin/irb:13
Weird because when I logged out and in again, the problem went away.
Trying out CakePHP
When I was evaluating PHP web frameworks that I would focus on and use on a regular basis, I didn't go with CakePHP. Instead, I went with CodeIgniter for reason that I was able make and run a sample app with CodeIgniter a few minutes after install while I was pulling hairs with CakePHP.
But not anymore. I had a pleasant experience experimenting with CakePHP over the last couple of days. It might be that I have I already know Rails which made Cake's approach fits my brain easily as Cake and Rails have lots of similarities.
Deciding which PHP framework to use on the next project will be a very hard decision to make for me. Cake's ActiveRecord implementation is better than that of CI. On the other hand, CI gives me full control of almost everything.
Moving Wordpress Data to Another Host
I just changed web host. I can't take prolonged daily downtimes. Downtimes for server maintenance is understandable. Doing it daily isn't. I still have 2 sites to move. They can probably wait a day or two.
Exporting and Importing data from Wordpress was painless. At first, I was thinking of using the builtin export/import feature of WP only to find out it has a maximum upload limit of 2MB. I have a 16MB XML file from the using the export feature. I could've hack it a little to accommodate the size but exporting to SQL using phpMyAdmin was easier.
Everything was setup in the new host befor I changed the DNS entry. So if you're reading this, then DNS info has already propagated to other servers.
On App Cloning
I did one ego-driven google search of the app I'm currently working on.. So far the results and feedbacks are good. I'm a bit surprised with some of the results. Our app was launched last March and I already see lots of requests to clone it in various freelance sites. Somehow, it made me feel good. We must did a helluva good job that people wanting to copy us.
I can't say the app cannot be cloned/copied. Heck, nothing's impossible nowadays. But the rates they're offering to clone us is unbelievable. One request offered $300. The lowest I found offered $100. That's nowhere near of what my boss pay us. The app may seem easy to replicate. Actually, it's a no-brainer. It's the resources behind it that's mind-blowing.
For now, we're going to enjoy being the only one offering such service. And even if they come close to copying the functionality, we're in the process of adding a serious feature that in itself is can spawn yet another app.
Sideblog Uploaded to WP Subversion Repository
I've submitted Sideblog to the official Worpdress plugin repository. Anybody interested in fixing or extending Sideblog can commit changes to the svn. This way, the issues that the plugin currently has may be fixed faster than before.
I still have the old versions if you're still on pre WP2.0. Just leave a comment and I'll give you the download link.