Nov 14 2008
I got an email this morning advertising a free event in Dublin tomorrow for Drupal users and developers.
The full event details can be found in Drupal Ireland Meeting – Dublin.
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Nov 14 2008
I have always been a very organised person for most aspects of my life, regardless of whether these aspects are real-world or digital. Unfortunately, I am also quite a forgetful person :( So notebooks and diaries were always a big part of my life! These ingenious tools enabled me to know where I was supposed to be, when I was supposed to be there, and what I was supposed to be doing there!
So it made perfect sense for me to buy a PDA when they first became available. That was so long ago that I cannot even remember what make and model it was! I am probably one of the few people who had a PDA before I had a mobile phone! Since then I have had several, but I usually use each one for a few years. I normally wait until there is a significant technological advantage to me in having a new one. So the technological advantages that have caused me to upgrade to date are:
Finally, I suspect the next technological advantage that will cause me to upgrade will be a touch-screen, mainly because it will only require one of my hands. The fact that they look so slick is an added bonus :)
So what do I currently use? A black HTC P3600 (otherwise known as the Trinity) running Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0. HTC actually make a lot of the branded PDAs for other well known manufacturers. This is what it looks like:
HTC P3600
I am not going to write a full review here, because there are already plenty of reviews online. Also, I do not think that it is still available to buy! Instead, what I will do is write about the features that I use most often, the useful applications that I have installed, and the bugs I have found in it that are not well documented anywhere else on the Internet!
Perhaps the single questions that I am asked most frequently about it is “Should I get one?“. My answer to this is always “Yes, if you are the sort of person that currently makes lists on paper and keeps a diary“.
In general, mobile phones and PDAs are devices that I have a strong personal interest in, and I have worked with them in the past in a professional capacity. So I expect to write about them a lot on this blog!
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Nov 13 2008
I was aware last February that Microsoft had made an offer for Yahoo, and that this offer was subsequently rejected because Yahoo felt it was too low.
I was not aware of the specifics of the offer, and I certainly was not aware of how it compares to the current market value of Yahoo. Then I came across the figures this afternoon…
Microsoft offered Yahoo approximately $31 per share, and this was rejected. Fast-forward to today, and Yahoo shares are trading at approximately $11 per share!
I am guessing that Microsoft must be feeling that it was very lucky, but I wonder if Yahoo is lamenting its decision!
Nov 13 2008
Enterprise Ireland have listed some of the Irish Web 2.0 companies that are currently making headlines in Web 2.0 in Ireland. It is good to see this support!
I think that there are some very innovative Web 2.0 companies. However, I often feel that their innovation is based on an easily replicable novelty rather than on a solid technological differentiator which is difficult to replicate.
I think that one of the amazing things about Web 2.0 is that it can be used to describe any technology, depending on the mood of the person using the phrase. I really love the way Web 2.0 is often used as a synonym for “cash cow” in business models. In fact, I see this happening a lot!
Nov 12 2008
There seems to be differing opinions on how Categories and Tags should be used within WordPress. So now that I some experience with both of these I have decided to go with the following principles:
Consequently, the number of Tags is likely to grow very large, and it is likely that a substantial number of these Tags will only be used once. So I will keep this under review.
The Tag Cloud shows a maximum of 45 Tags by default, as described in the wp_tag_cloud() documentation. However, this can easily be increased to any maximum number using a parameter.
I had expected that I could parametrise wp_tag_cloud() as part of my theme, but I could not find any way to do this!
Instead I had to modify one of the WordPress PHP files. There appeared to be two approaches:
wp_includes/category-template.php as described in this WordPress Support thread.wp-includes/widgets.php as described in Modifying the WordPress Tag Cloud Widget Font Size. (Be careful of the incorrect apostrophe character!)I am not sure what the relative advantages and disadvantages of these approaches are, but I chose the second one.
Nov 12 2008
I have now started using pretty URLs for my permalinks. This took me a long time to get working, but I have to admit that this was my own fault :o
Configuring permalinks within WordPress is straight-forward, and it is described in Using Permalinks.
My problems occurred because WordPress could not create the required .htaccess file due to the way that Blacknight has installed WordPress in a different directory to the one that appears in the URL.
In trying to solve my problems, I learned a lot about .htaccess files! I thought that these Stupid htaccess Tricks were very useful.
Everything appears to be working perfectly now, but there is still one thing that I do not understand. My .htaccess file contains the following three lines:
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /blog/index.php [L]
There are many pages, such as htaccess rewrite code explanation, that describe these three lines. It is the explanation for the third line that confuses me:
Rewrites any request with 1 or more characters to /index.php, which launches wordpress and handles all redirections and what to display.
Firstly, the RewriteRule documentation states that the matched pattern is replaced with the substitution string. Furthermore, the Regular Expression documentation states that the period will match any single character! So what exactly is happening here?
Secondly, how does it rewrite the request to /index.php? Is it appended to the URL, or is it sent as a POST variable?
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Nov 11 2008
I read an interesting article in The Irish Times over the weekend (but I was too busy to write about it then :o ) The article reports that the head of the Irish Police (known locally as Garda) has asked Vodafone Ireland to provide the Internet browsing details of all of its customers. Furthermore, he wants all of this information in real time! The full article is Garda chief asks mobile phone firm to retain web-browsing data. Apparently, Vodafone are being asked to do this as a “good citizen”, or as a small favour!
I think that this is a typical example of how things are often done in an unofficial way in Ireland, where the rules (or laws) are not seen to have any relevance! I can imagine the reported conversation between the Garda Commissioner and the Vodafone Representative:
Garda Commissioner: “Right lads – could you do us a favour? We need all the Internet browsing details of all your users in real-time.“
Vodafone Representative: “Do you have a warrant for that?“
Garda Commissioner: “Nah – don’t worry about warrants. Sure we are the Garda! That’ll be grand.“
Although the article is not very clear, I think that the police want the full contents of every webpage that is viewed. It is a mystery why they want this information in real-time. In fact, it is a mystery to me why they want this information at all! Surely a targeted approach (with warrants) would be more efficient!
There are also so many ways of circumventing this proposal using software that is readily available in the Internet. So I do not think that it will deter serious criminals.
All of this is especially pointless when you consider that one can (and criminals do) legally buy a prepaid mobile phone without providing any identity information.
So who is this new measure really targeting?
My take on it is that it is the bright idea of somebody who wants to grab headlines with a great new security measure, but that this person has no concept of the practical use or implications of the idea. It certainly would not be the first time this ever happened!
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Nov 11 2008
I came across a very innovative YouTube page recently containing a video promoting the Nintendo Wii.
The video is Wario Land: Shake It – Amazing footage!
You need to watch the video to the end to see what I am talking about! I presume that the effect is created using JavaScript.
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Nov 08 2008
The BBC are reporting that Microsoft stopped issuing new licences for Windows 3.11 at the beginning of the month in The end of an era – Windows 3.x. It is really hilarous to consider the hardware requirements for Windows 3.11 now:
Apparently Qantas and Virgin Atlantic are powering their in-flight entertainment systems using Windows 3.11. I really wonder if they are powering more of their onboard embedded systems using Windows 3.11, and if this would cause people to be more cautious about flying with them!
I have not seen Windows 3.11 in use in a long time, but I do remember it fondly…
Nov 07 2008
Amazon has announced the seven finalists in the Amazon Web Services Start-Up Challenge. The idea behind this competition is to encourage start-up companies that base their products on Amazon’s cloud computing infrastructure. The seven finalists are:
The main prize for the eventual winner is $50,000 in cash, $50,000 worth of Amazon credits, and a potential investment from Amazon.