update 120308
Have been tweaking the blog. Gone back (for the third time, or is it the fourth?) to the Cutline theme. This theme has always worked for me. It’s clean, simple, and I get a kick out of my random header images. I also cleaned up the sidebar a bit. Gone is the Digg news feed; instead it sits above the header image along with my other links (including a link to my shared items on Google Reader). Also, the Photos link no longer links to Flickr; I upgraded WordPress along with all plugins last Sunday (long overdue), and now my images are viewable once again on this site. You can still go to Flickr.com to see my photostream there as well.
Flickr plugin not working
Since upgrading to WP 2.3, I’ve had difficulties getting my albums to display on the “pics” page. If you came from Joe Tan’s site by clicking on the “Tenyjr.com” link, you already know my page doesn’t work properly. That is why the “pics” tab is no longer available. When I find the time, I will work on resolving this issue. In the meantime, there are plenty of working samples on Joe’s site and on the Flickr group.
white, clean, and neat
I’ve upgraded WordPress, and this will be the third time I’ve chosen to go back to the Cutline theme. Of all the themes I’ve used, this one is the easiest to manage and customize. And it’s easy on the eyes. I went with black not too long ago (for monitor-power-saving reasons), but I just wasn’t happy with it. For my return to Cutline, I trimmed the header images (and removed the text depicting the site name) and kept it random. I plan on creating a static home page; this will be the simplest way to get my Flickr photos displaying nicely on my site.
junior's flexible
I changed my theme again. I like the darkness of the previous theme, but it wasn’t flexible. I’m referring to the width of the page; if you’re desktop setting was at 800 x 600 or less, you’d have to scroll to see the rest of the page. This one is flexible, regardless of your desktop setting. It has a simple look to it, and I’m able to throw my trademark header image at the top, too. I don’t plan on changing themes again anytime soon (I absolutely hate it when D changes his MySpace layout everyday), but I will probably be tweaking the colors so it’s all evenly balanced.
back in black
Well, it’s taken a week for me to transfer my domain and my files to GoDaddy. I pray I don’t have to do this again anytime soon, because it’s not an easy process. I nearly forgot to back up my database; I seriously believed I lost all my original posts and thought I would be starting all over. Then I played the waiting game before my previous registrar would approve my transfer request to GoDaddy. Then I had some issues with installing WordPress; I hadn’t done it since I first established this blog 2 years ago, and I don’t recall it being difficult the first time around. (more…)
ten hours a day
I’ve completed my first week working a 10-hr shift. Surprisingly, the day moves along pretty fast. I’ve got a lot on my plate, so staying busy makes the day move quickly. However, my time takes a big hit at the end of the day. A year at the helpdesk spoiled me; clocking out at 2:30 PM allowed nearly 3 hours of “me” time before dinner. Now I get home at dinnertime. I eat, shower, and unwind in front of the TV (a bad habit I’ve acquired thanks to my buddy Scott). In bed by 9 since I need to be up at 5 AM.
Of course, working this shift means a day off each week. So I took Friday off. Christine happened to have the day off as well, so we capitalized on it by doing some Christmas shopping. We got a handful of presents, so it was a day well spent. I’d hate to be out shopping on weekends, so having these days off during the week will be a wonderful plus.
And, yes, I’m back on tenyjr.com. It’s paid for, so I should use it. I’ll continue to post on both teny jr dot com as well as on tenyjr.wordpress.com (since I’ve pointed everyone here). In the spring, I will go with a different host (especially after the Vizaweb debacle). I’m thinking of using a new domain name. “Teny Jr” is known only amongst family, and it doesn’t make sense unless you know its history. So I’ll need a new domain name: “neil.com”, “tenyearsgone.com”, “whatdoiputhere.com”. I need ideas, so if you can come up with something catchy, simple, and it has to do with ME, then by all means, shoot them my way!
recovery
Nearly 48 hours after going down, Vizaweb is back online, as is every site hosted by them (including mine). No one knows what happened; Vizaweb doesn’t even acknowledge the downtime (I did receive an email that a ticket was opened with support, but this was AFTER my site reappeared).
Vizaweb – Gone dark with no explanation | digg story
For fear of it going down again, I’ve gone ahead and backed up my blog entries and imported them to WordPress.com. At first chance on Saturday, I will back up anything else I have on their servers. I will post one last time at teny jr dot com to point everyone in this direction instead.
last post on tenyjr.com (for now)
Nearly 48 hours after going down, Vizaweb is back online, as is every site hosted by them (including mine). No one knows what happened; Vizaweb doesn’t even acknowledge the downtime (I did receive an email that a ticket was opened with support, but this was AFTER my site reappeared).
Vizaweb – Gone dark with no explanation | digg story
For fear of it going down again, I’ve gone ahead and backed up my blog entries and imported them to WordPress.com. At first chance on Saturday, I will back up anything else I have on their servers. For now, this will be my last post. If you’re looking for me, please visit tenyjr.wordpress.com.
change is a good thing
Yes, I’ve changed the theme of my blog yet again. Thanks to Chris Pearson on creating a great WordPress theme! Cutline is clean, simple, yet interesting. I’ve disabled viewing pics on my website for the time being (they can still be viewed on Flickr). I also removed the Digg page, since I figured I can list my Diggs on the sidebar to the right. More things will be added and removed as this site is always a work in progress. Next thing to improve on: content.
time for change
update – I’ve gone ahead and changed to a basic theme due to more problems with K2. This theme will be temporary.
K2 was great while it lasted. It’s a very complex theme, and I don’t know enough (nor do I have the time) to keep it going strong. If you use Internet Explorer, you’ll notice the font size change in my sidebar (just under my Netflix movies). I’m tired of things “breaking” in different browsers.
I’m currently working with several different themes. I’m very fond of the previous 2 themes I had, but I’d like to move forward instead of back. For me, it’s a challenge to make all my pages work together well. Hope to have it up and running before our FL trip in 3 weeks. That’s right, baby – sun, surf, and sand!
Haven’t updated in a while – look for an audioblog before the holiday. Really, I mean it this time.
lightbox js
Update 6-5-06: My site is struggling to load up thanks to the Lightbox plug-in. Because of this, I have disabled the plug-in to speed up loading times. So the image below will load, but not with the cool overlay effect. As much as I like Lightbox, it’s not worth the trouble of revamping my site just for a cool trick. If you want to see Lightbox in action, check it out here.
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Took the site down for some “maintenance” on Sunday. I’m currently using Joe Tan’s Flickr photo album plugin for WordPress. This plugin allows me to take images I have stored on Flickr and display them on my website. I never thanked Joe and Silas Partners for a great plugin; thanks guys!
What I was trying to do yesterday was implement a javascript known as Lightbox JS. It’s a very nice script that allows an image to be viewed using an overlay on top of the current page. It’s very neat, but it involves some knowledge of CSS and HTML. After finding this plugin (thanks to Zeo), I have been able to get it to work from within a post.
But because I’m using K2, it’s a lot more difficult to implement with the photo albums due to other javascripts in place. K2 in itself is complicated. I may end up changing my theme again if I want to use the lightbox feature for my photo albums.
To see what I’m talking about, click on the image below.
Neat, huh?
something different
Trying a new theme, “K2“. It is a popular theme for WordPress 2.0, and I thought I’d try something new. I may go back to the “black” theme, but it needs tweaking. So for a week or so, I’m gonna try this out. One thing I don’t like is you can’t identify the links unless you mouse over them; I’ll need to fix the CSS to make it user-friendly. Feedback is always welcome!
update 022106
Weird day at the helpdesk. Got all kinds of weird calls, and I felt befuddled. I’m glad it calmed down as the work day came to a close.
I’m enjoying the new laptop. I’m still trying to get used to it, as opposed to the main family PC. I like the keyboard very much, but the touchpad is not as easy as I thought it would be; a wireless mouse for my birthday might be good.
I’ve finished transferring the majority of my files to the laptop. The next big project I’ve got is upgrading to WordPress 2.0.1. After the upgrade, I’ll revise the blog’s theme.
I’m giving up the iPod for Lent. I’m in the process of converting certain AAC files to MP3′s. This way, I can still use my smaller MP3 player. Now some may think this is cheating. I didn’t say I was giving up music; just the pod itself. I take it everywhere I go, and it has well over 10 gigs of music. And I’m also losing the best feature – the smart playlist. My other MP3 player doesn’t even support playlists. That’s gonna suck. I’m gonna have to start listening to “albums” again.
Monday’s “hour” of 24 was another dull one for me. Too much indecision from the President, a lot of sneaking around behind the boss’s back at CTU (that happens a lot), and not enough Jack. When Jack did show up, he knocked out his fellow CTU agent Curtis and took out 2 bad guys and a helicopter with no more than his pistol.
Just finished watching the ladies on American Idol. A few good performances, but I couldn’t tell you who. Also saw Italy’s Enrico Fabris take the gold from Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick in 1500m speed skating. That might teach someone to keep their mouth shut.
update 012206
A lot has been happening, particularly at work. I’m still trying to keep up …
Major projects are going live in the next few weeks, starting with the biggest one on Monday. I think this one scares us all the most; it affects the entire organization, and management waited til the last minute to realize how important this system is. Now the entire place is freaking out.
We’re experiencing more change. We lost our secretary at the beginning of the month; we’ll have a new “assistant” start on Monday. Terrible timing, but we need the help. We’ve been interviewing for 2 more system administrators to assist our current one. I just found out Friday that one of our techs might be filling a slot, which would open up his position. I like what I’m doing at the helpdesk, but I prefer to be running around putting out fires. Another door might be opening for me.
MIA on tenyjr.com
audioblogs (no time)
new photos (no time)
WordPress 2.0 (no time and too new)
What I’m watching:
NFL Playoffs – I like Pittsburgh to go all the way, beating Carolina in the Super Bowl (sorry to my in-laws). Highly unlikely, but that’s what I’d like to see.
Lost – you either love it or hate it. I love it.
24 – ditto. If you haven’t watched this show, where the hell have you been the last 4 years?
American Idol – I hate this show. I’m only watching because we talk about it at work.
The Godfather Part II – I remember seeing this over 15 years ago and thinking to myself, how can this be better than the first? It was so depressing. But I watched it again yesterday, and now I know. It is still depressing, but the contrasts between Vito Corleone and his son Michael make the story so powerful. If it weren’t 4 hours long, I’d watch it again today.
I visited the Dell kiosk at our local mall Friday night. I got to see with my own eyes and touch what could potentially be mine soon. The salesman was very helpful and very honest on what is new, neat, and necessary. As soon as I got home, I customized several more laptops. I’m now down to 3 candidates:
It will most likely be the 6000, but if they can knock off some unnecessary options and up the warranty, I’ll go for the M140.
The dog is going through some phase. He gets up every other hour in the middle of the night to go out and chase something. He’s been doing this for a week now. Last night, CL tried locking him up in the guest room. He barked for a good hour or so. She let him out of the room, and he went straight to the door to be let out. After he got it out of his system, she locked him back in. This time, he started scratching at the door. We finally let him loose; he slept in our bed.
He didn’t wake us up to go out again.
databases
My databases are fixed!! Hopefully you are seeing the site the way it should be seen. Thanks to WP support, I figured out I needed to repair the tables. Now things seem to be back to normal.
Off to Cutters I go – hope to see some of you there 
recap/update
What a day. What a week. It’s all a blur. And I still have another day (damn).
- My partner’s off, so I have extra duties on my to-do list at work. My boss asked – no, I should say – begged for my help this afternoon. Offered me overtime. I said, “Sure!”
- Opportunity awaits: I put a bid in on a position (tech support) within the organization. Only 2 fellow co-workers know I’m contemplating this change. If they offer it to me, a few factors ($) will decide it for me.
- D’s been lacking some thought to the consequences of his actions (and his words). Hopefully, his mother and I have gotten through to him after two rough nights this week. Plain and simple – don’t make me angry. If it makes me mad, then don’t go there.
- I’ve tried twice in the last week to record my own podcast/audioblog via the MD recorder, but the results have been … eh. I may try again this weekend.
- Pretty soon, the current photoblog with My-Expressions.com will be gone since my free trial will be ending. Been working on a new one using WordPress. Don’t know why I didn’t think about using WP before. No sense in paying if I can do it myself. It’s going well, but I’m gonna need some help on some issues with archiving and EXIF details (camera data). When it’s ready to go, I’ll throw it out there for viewing.
- $2.58 a gallon. I don’t let my tank empty anymore. I just top it off every week when I think the price is low enough before it jumps again. This way, I only pay 5 or 6 bucks instead of 30 to 40. Last time I did was a week ago; it was “cheap” at $2.43. This is nothing if this expert is right about 2006.
- It’s hot outside. Again. If it’s not hot, it’s raining. If it’s not raining, it’s hot. This must be what it’s like in the Philippines. Can’t do anything really, unless you enjoy being sweaty or wet. Forecast says heat index of 110 for Friday. Poor Salem – his daily walk has become a weekends-only ritual.
TGIF tomorrow. Make the most of it, and the weekend will reward you.
always backup your data
Thought I lost my site due to a database error. The error was one I can’t fix; only my host could. But I tried to be fancy by putting in a “technical difficulties” page. Instead, I made my main page disappear. Errors and all. Thankfully, I found a saved page in my WP directory. Always, ALWAYS backup your data.
theme switcher deactivated
I turned off the theme switcher because it wasn’t working properly. What it’s supposed to do is allow the reader their own theme preference. But I discovered that when they click on a link to a post or a page within my site, it reverts back to my main theme. That’s not supposed to happen. So I need to research the WP forums for a fix; I also bought a book at Borders last night on PHP. As soon as I can reconfigure the plugin, I will reactivate it.
theme switcher
I implemented a plugin for WordPress called the Theme Switcher, located in the right hand column towards the bottom. With this, you can change the theme of my blog. Actually, I’m using the same themes as this one, so the only changes you’ll see is the color style. I need to configure the settings on other themes in order for the blog to display all my links, Flickr picbox, etc. That’ll take some time. Once that’s done, my blog can take on a new personality just by the reader clicking on what theme they would like to see. The Journalized theme is my favorite layout and it will be my primary theme. Pretty soon, I’ll have more to choose from.
almost there…
I was able to post with a pic to my blog via cell phone. I’m so excited I got it to work! There’s only one thing bugging me – the “little” instructions on how to use Verizon Wireless that are automatically sent with each message my phone delivers. I need to figure out a fix to remove all that gibberish so it’s just the title, post, and pic. Gonna need to take some time to figure that out.
I did find out that Flickr can allow you to post to both your Flickr account and your blog via cell phone. I tested it just as I left work; it posted on Flickr, but not here. If I can get Flickr to post here, I have nothing to worry about and my moblog is all set up. In the meantime, I have one method that’s flawed but works, and another that’s nearly perfect but doesn’t work. Geez.
almost there…
I was able to post with a pic to my blog via cell phone. I’m so excited I got it to work! There’s only one thing bugging me – the “little” instructions on how to use Verizon Wireless that are automatically sent with each message my phone delivers. I need to figure out a fix to remove all that gibberish so it’s just the title, post, and pic. Gonna need to take some time to figure that out.
I did find out that Flickr can allow you to post to both your Flickr account and your blog via cell phone. I tested it just as I left work; it posted on Flickr, but not here. If I can get Flickr to post here, I have nothing to worry about and my moblog is all set up. In the meantime, I have one method that’s flawed but works, and another that’s nearly perfect but doesn’t work. Geez.
another theme change?
Been messing with the theme for my site again. I like this layout a lot. Hope you do too – comments are always welcome!
journalized-sand theme courtesy of mike little
finally, the weekend
Glad this week is over. Need to see a doctor about all the pain I’ve been having. And besides laundry and yard work, I’m gonna relax this weekend. Been playing with the “theme” for my blog, and I’ve changed it a couple of times. I like the way this looks (Kubrick theme), but I also like the notebook theme! I can’t make up my mind. I want this site to look good but be user-friendly as well.
I’m also working on an audio blog page. This page will be strictly for when I’m on vacation. I won’t be able to update the site, but I will post via cell phone as to how things are going. I may even post pictures, since I’m getting a new camera phone!! Can’t wait to play with that new toy.
I don’t think I will post another podcast until I know what I’m doing. D and I will probably try another show when the time is right. In fact, we will probably record on the way to see Episode III and after the show, so stay tuned.
wordpress
I did it!! I LOVE using this! WordPress is so easy to use. I can blog, manage my web pages, and do so much more! This is a great application, and it’s FREE!
Blogger – I enjoyed using their service, but this allowed me to use my own space, and have a different look to my site. I still have a lot to do as far as my photos, podcasts, and other crap I’d like to mess with. But I’m so psyched I was able to get this to work!
