Category: Technology

Hello, database

A couple weeks ago my webhost (hey guys!) sent me an email saying I had to upgrade from MySQL 4 to MySQL 5 or else.  Heh – actually they were kind of vague on the “or else” part. It was more like, “Hey you’re missing out on great features in MySQL 5 (by the way we’re discontinuing support of MySQL4 January1, 2009)! Converting is easy! Do it today!”

So I did it. I created a new database and clicked the conversion button. Transfer old database to new one. Woo hoo. Easy enough.

Now, to update the PHP configuration file that connects blog to database. It’s a few lines of code that call the database and login credentials.

Unable to connect. I must of modified that stupid config file for 20 minutes. Fail fail fail.

Below, the login line of code there is one line of code that calls the host name, and commented next to that line of code it said something like, “99% of the time you will not need to modify this line.”

I was that 1%.

Hello, database.

As I giddily await for WP 2.7 I will drink this coffee

It’s not going to happen today but soon I will be guilted into upgrading my blog software. What happens if I don’t upgrade it? Something like – I can haz tedfoo.

This time though, I’m going to do something different. Instead of deleting the previous version’s files – I’m just going to overwrite with the new version. Shock-a-lock. Not recommended but these upgrades are the long death of this blog and oddly enough the only thing I can seem to write about with any clarity.

So keep it tuned here for the new WordPress upgrade to 2.7. It’s can’t miss blogging.

The nature of WordPress updates

WordPress is the software that powers my blog. It does a good job of things and it was easy to take my Blogger content and import it into WP.

Every now and then though, WordPress will come out with a new update (that’s good). Improvements and patches to the software. I think they went something like 65 days without a new update once. New record.

Anyways, the upgrade cycle goes something like this –

Totally awesome new FEATURES. Dood. You gotta get this update. It’s really really awesome. Killer tight new features. Doood.

And then like 2 weeks later –

DOOD! URGENT UPGRADE!  SECURITY BREACH UPGRADE NOW NOW NOW NOW! Dood and by the way? You can now totally customize the database error page. Awesome.

DIY

You know, upgrading WordPress is easy. Remove some files, replace them, and run the upgrade script.

I hate it when I forget directories. It causes mild panic when I get that stupid database error. No worries. Fix it up. Put the missing directories in.

Latest guilty pleasure? Instead of reading to Rhen at bedtime we’ve been watching YouTube Thomas the Tank Engine clips on my iPod Touch. I put the little earbud in his tiny ear and find a clip. He always points to the earbud and says to me, “I hear it in there!” We then settle in and quietly watch the clip.

Thank you Mr. Steve Jobs. I think the Ipod Touch is awesome.

Oh, and I still read a lot to Rhen.

Digital rights management smack you up!

My iPod (4G) has seen good times and bad times. It’s taken a beating. I’m not gentle with it and it is hard to treat it like the babe it was during those first few magical weeks . I take it with me everywhere. It’s thrown into my bag. Bounced off the dash board of my car. Played in the hands of a toddler and smacked against the breakfast table to resuscitate its ailing disk drive. No way I’m sending it back to Cupertino for the cool 200 some odd bucks to have it delicately refurbished.

Last night I got it into mind to reset the whole damn thing. It talked to the Apple servers, updated the firmware, erased the disk and reloaded all my songs. Simple enough. Baby is back.

However this morning I noticed it was skipping songs. Like a song would come up on the screen and then skip. Entire albums and single songs. I couldn’t make any sense of it.

So when I was coming home from work tonight I decided to put it on shuffle to see if I could spot a pattern why it was skipping some songs.

After about 10 songs it occurred to me that it was skipping songs I had purchased from the Apple music store. Hmmm. DRM was surely the culprit but how do I fix it?

When you reset the iPod it asks you to rename the iPod. Apple has it so each indvidual player is identified on your computer and authorized to play songs associated with that computer. Well, in my eagerness to start fresh I renamed my iPod something different which in turn broke the DRM link to my computer.

The Fix? Easy as pie. I synced the iPod again and changed the name of my iPod back to its old name and the purchased songs are now playing. The broken link being effectively re-established.

Sort of fussy on Apple’s part but I figured Microsoft would of made it like a billion times harder to bring those songs back if you could at all.

So, just thought I’d let you know. That’s how that works.

RIP you courageous memory called, “Sanity”. You never had a chance. Sniff.

Sure, the iPhone. I posted about it two down and now I regret it. Here’s what an iPhone looks like just in case you’re a hobbit.

I was telling another Mac enthusiast how great the iPhone is because it allows you to get away from your big computer and um, carry a little computer along with you.

Because God knows the world would end if we weren’t constantly poking at little screens, dialing up YouTube videos and listening to mp3s.

Um, you’re gonna need that file

WordPress (the software that powers my blog) updated a few days ago. I’m anal about keeping things current so I went ahead and replaced the old files with the new code. In my eagerness to be done with it I accidentally deleted a file I shouldn’t have. Luckily in my infinite nerdiness and one year stint in tech support I had the common sense to make a back up of it. Oh look! Website connecting to database again. All is good.

It’s Halloween and the temperature outside is just barely above freezing. I’m not sure if that includes the wind chill. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t. Yesterday I think we hit 72Ëš.

Well, it looks like Rhen is intent on opening his own Matchboxâ„¢ car dealership and tearing the house apart at the same time.