Aquila Online

A minor refresh

// April 30th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Blog Stuff

As I mentioned in my previous post, the latest WordPress core update did not play nice with the theme on Aquilaonline. Suffice to say, I’ve had to do a minor theme refresh to get the various elements, plug-ins, widgets and other bits of code to work again.

In the process, I’ve had to kill some of my favourite (read: labour of love tinkering) widgets.

One of these used to show album art of the recently scrobbled songs on Last.fm. Took me ages to “perfect” the look and feel of the album covers, together with the placement on the site and corresponding links back to the track and artist info on Last.fm When I think about it, I wonder if anybody was really interested in what I was listening to? I guess the same could be said for people posting their top 5 artists/songs of the week on twitter/facebook or wherever.

Other than showing off to family members or providing some minor spectator value for the casual blog browser, I’m not sure the mere automated posting of recently played tracks actually influenced anyone enough to click and listen/buy/recommend the track/album/artist to others. Does a recommendation about a particular song or artist carry more weight in influencing others to take action?

I think the answer is yes. Personal recommendations and word-of-mouth referrals do carry a lot more weight. Perhaps instead of just automatically posting my recently played tracks, the focus should rather shift to genuine recommendations, research, interesting info that may be relevant to the audience.

Hmm… What do you think? Interested or not?

Hopefully most bits and bobs are up and running. I will however still be tinkering a bit with the theme until everything is satisfactory again.

** Update 10 hours later **
I finally managed to track down the problem.

If you’re using the Irresistible theme from WooThemes, the biggest issue when upgrading your WordPress core is that the idTabs jQuery script also needs to be updated. The old js file basically broke a tonne of my widgets, but after much tinkering (and referencing my regular backups) I got it all to work again.

Along with the fix to my tabs, I also managed to restore and restyle the fmTuner plugin . Now I can bore you a bit longer with my bad taste in music.

So that went well. Not.

// April 16th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Blog Stuff

Thought I’d do some housekeeping on the blog. Backup, upgrade, refresh the widgets, clean up links, update the pages that Google Adsense does not like (more about this some other time) and more.

The upgrade to the WordPress core and SQL files went well, but alas, my theme did not like it so much. Save for me having to go through pages and pages of code to upgrade all the bits that broke and get the theme up and running, it might be time for a bit of a refresh.

Watch this space. You might see some interesting and not so interesting things happen in the next few hours/days.

If cats and dogs blogged

// April 2nd, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Funnies

Excerpts from a dog’s blog

08:00 – Dog food! My favorite thing!
09:30 – A car ride! My favorite thing!
09:40 – A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 – Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 – Lunch! My favorite thing!
13:00 – Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
15:00 – Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
17:00 – Milk Bones! My favorite thing!
19:00 – Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
20:00 – Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
23:00 – Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a cat’s blog

Day 983 of my captivity

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets.

Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomited on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a ‘good little hunter’ I am. Bastards.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of ‘allergies’. I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now…