Moving away from PHP 4 to PHP 5

So, by default the good folks at 1and1 give you support for php 3-5, however 4 is the default. So, recently one of the plugins I use in my site upgraded to php 5 which forced me to continue using an older version. However, since I’m always a big sponsor of upgrade to the latest and greatest especially when it comes to software, I decided it was time to make the move. Doing a little bit of google work, I ran into 1and1’s official FAQ on how to do this, which is found here. However, that was not the first link which showed up in google. This guy had a pretty good write up and discussion about this change and 1and1 in general. Thanks to that .htaccess change I’m now humming along with php 5.

cheers,

david

08/11/2008 edit: Funny, a day after I posted this PHP 4 support ended with the last release of the 4.4 branch. Perfect timing!

Cisco’s Unified Communication Resources

So, for the last couple of weeks I’ve noticed a small community dedicated to Cisco’s UCCE. For the most part most communities relate to Cisco’s routing, switching, and security while the Unified Communication front is not very well represented.

So, I’ll try and get something started. I’ll try to post at least two features, issues, bugs, tricks I run into while working with this great piece of technology.

~david

I am waving hello.

So, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I have two hands. The bad news is that one of those hands is attached to a broken wrist. Per my ER release form:

Fracture of Distal End of Radius and Ulna

Yes, two broken bones… 28 years of playing soccer and this is my first major injury. I still consider myself lucky.

The pain is crazy and the Vicodin does nothing for the pain. Oh well, the things I hate the most so far are:

My productivity at work will go down… will need to learn to type with my right hand and nose.
Putting on deodorant with one hand is tricky.
No more soccer.
No more volleyball.
No more flag football.
No more training for my marathon.

Hope these 2-3 months of healing go by fast and that I don’t need any surgery.

david

Cross browser themes…

So, I had been running the same WP theme for a few months and not until yesterday did I decide to visit my own website using IE… what a monstrosity. The right column showed up at the very end of the page and a few things just looked out of order. Basically, it seems to be related to a way that IE handles some CSS, as opposed to Firefox and Opera. Needless to say, I’ve picked up a new theme called Barthelme and I’m really digging it. I might need to tinker with it a bit, but overall my site looks a lot better than it did before.

On a totally unrelated note, work has been kicking my butt. While I am one to usually turn the other cheek, I’m kicking butt at work too. It’s a vicious cycle of violence. :-)

~david

Domain Registration

So, I received a notice from my domain registrar letting me know that two of my domains were about to expire. So, I did what all sensible domain owners would do and renew them. The process went by relatively smoothly, if it wasn’t for the myriad of “opportunities” I had to buy other “exciting” and “perfect” domains for me. Seriously, why do I have to see all these available domains when I have what I want? If you’re curious about who I’m talking about, I’m sure you can guess. GoDaddy.com. Yes, I told them ocho cinco sent me.

~david

Neuromancer

"Neuromancer," the boy said, slitting long gray eyes against the rising sun. "The lane to the land of the dead. Where you are, my friend. Marie-France, my lady, she prepared this road, but her lord choked her off before I could read the book of her days. Neuro from the nerves, the silver paths. Romancer. Necromancer. I call up the dead. But no, my friend, " and the boy did a little dance, brown feet printing the sand, "I am the dead, and their land." He laughed. A gull cried. "Stay. If your woman is a ghost, she doesn’t know it. neither will you."

So, a couple of days ago I finished this book. The main reason I picked it up is because it is supposed to be one of the staple sci-fi books for geeks. Well, I can see why and if you read the paragraph above you can see why too. This book is confusing, from the beginning to the end, the book is just random. It is like a bad acid trip on paper. Reminded me a lot of A Clock Work Orange, except for a lot less untra-violence. Regardless, I’m done with it and can now move on to the rest of my books on my coffee table.

Asimov is next and I love that guy!

~david

I’ve been at it since 4:30 AM…

and I remembered reading something last night from the book that is currently on my reading list.

"Incredible that anything could happen to take away this bubbling energy, the zest that fills everything I do. It’s as if all the knowledge I’ve soaked in during the past months has coalesced and lifted me to a peak of light and understanding. This is beauty, love, and truth all rolled into one. This is joy. And now that I’ve found it, how can I give it up? Life and work are the most wonderful things a man can have. I am in love with what I am doing, because the answer to this problem is right here in my mind, and soon – very soon – it will burst into consciousness. Le me solve this one problem. I pray God it is the answer I want, but if not I will accept any answer at all and try to be grateful for what I had."

– Charlie Gordon "Flowers for Algernon"

The ramblings of a workaholic.