Brain Enema of a Savage Mind

WordPress App on the iPod Touch.

I’ve only ever once used the official wordpress app on my iPod touch, and this post makes it twice. I really do want to like this app but I can’t help but feel there are some things lacking about it.

One thing I pick up on right away is the fact it doesn’t list all the tags I’ve used in the past, allowing me to select ones I want from a list. It makes it a touch inconvenient having to remember the different tags that I use as I don’t want to always keep adding new ones, or having to go bag and fix the tags later.
The other problems I have with it are things that are lacking in the writing of a post. Seemingly I can’t use the more tag or split something in to multiple pages. Also missing is an easy way to add links, and especially to shorten them. These are small things, but things that really should be part of a mobile app.

I know the app is a work in progress and it’s not as if WordPress has massive developer resources that they can throw at the problem. Still I’ve seen some well thought out and feature-filled apps released by just a couple of developers so I don’t think it’s much to as to see a WordPress app with a little more usability.

I’ve got some high hopes for version 2.6. Hopefully I’ll be blown away.

Damn, I Got Pwn’d!

It appears I fell victim to an SQL injection hack on this website.  From the looks of it, it either happened late last night or early this morning.  I actually only caught it as quick as I did because my page was loading so slowly I checked to see what the hang up was and found it was attempting to connect to some weird ass site.  Looking that site up online I found that many WordPress sites hosted by my provided had fallen victim.  An improperly patched version of SQL perhaps?  They have a notice on their site about it, though they don’t go in to much detail, though it’s pretty obvious it was something on their end.  Fortunately they gave very good instructions on how to quickly remove the attack.  Then I went through the tedious nature of changing every password associated with my webhost and this blog.  Nothing like 16 character completely random generated passwords.  Password managers are a wonderful thing.

All seems to be right.  Looking through this page and back posts reveal the malicious site in question is no longer linked anywhere.  Anyone can screw up, but if it happens again I might be looking about for a new web host.  For now, however, it seems no harm, no foul.

Baby in a Construction Site.

Before the construction began I was worried that Gabriel would have problems with all the banging and assorted symphony of power tool noises. I was wracking my brains to come up with places to go to give him a reprieve from all the chaos. If anything, he’s been dealing with it better than I have.

It hasn’t been so bad, really. It’s just I find myself constantly relocating around the house in search of a room where they aren’t banging away just outside. This of course involves not only moving Gabriel with me, but also an army of little toys, seats, mats, blankets, and other assorted baby paraphernalia. This of course makes it a bit of a production number for me. I’m the one looking for little escapes for awhile. As for Gabriel, he’s napping away on his play mat while they tear large sections of wood siding right outisde the window.

Whatever you Think, You’re Never Ready.

Denise and I didn’t decide to have a baby lightly.  To be honest it took me awhile to warm up to the idea at all.  It’s safe to say that babies have always petrified me.  Small kids, yeah, not so much of those either.  I’ve always had a tough time around them, and until Gabriel was born I had never actually held a baby before.  Nuts, I know, but there it is.

I have no regrets about our decision.  Watching him being born was one of the most singularly happy days I’ve ever had.  It’s impossible to not believe in miracles when you watch that tiny little person being born.  A life being brought in to the world.  A life you helped create.  There aren’t words in any language that I know of sufficient to describe that feeling.

Sure, before he was born I read a lot about babies, and did some research.  I really knew next to nothing about babies in general let alone how to care for one.  I wanted to do my best to be ready for the experience.  During the entire pregnancy I knew he would one day have to come on out of the womb, but it wasn’t entirely real.  That feeling that I was going to be a parent hadn’t quite registered in my brain.  There were brief moments where I began to see the light, before some part of me slammed that door, locked it, and pushed several dresser sets up against it.

I had braced myself for it as best as I could, and the second he was born that all went right out the window.  Any last bit of of prepared that I had felt evaporated like a drop of water fizzling away on a hot skillet.  My feelings of happiness were tempered by feelings of absolute terror.  I’m not sure it’s possible to ever be ready for when you’re first child is born.  You can go through all the motions, do all the leg work, but once that moment is upon you and there’s no denying that everything is absolutely real, the game changes.

Four months later there are still many moments throughout the day where I find myself wondering what I got myself in to.  But still, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Lord Stanley’s Cup

Tonight the quest for the Cup reaches it’s final stage.  Representing the East is the Philadelphia Flyers, a team few people ever considered to be a contender.  After coming back from a dramatic down 3 games to none to beat the Bruins in 7 games the Flyers have shown they have a team chemistry that makes them tough to handle.  When Boucher went down, so did the spirits of a lot of fans, but not of the team.  Leighton played brilliant, playing his first ever playoff games.  He was dominant against Montreal, earning two shutouts.  On the other end of the ice Niemi has been the story in net for the Blackhawks.  Replacing Huet as the go to guy in the playoffs he has been solid, rebounding from some soft goals to put on a stellar performance.  The Blackhawks dominating offense is filled with youthful energy.  That energy led to the 4 game sweep of the San Jose Sharks – a team with a high flying offense of their own.  They shut the big guns of the Sharks down and completely dominated them on ever inch of the ice.

The Flyers are going to look to keep their team system running, attempting to control the pace of the game.  They’ll have to set the pace in order to slow down the fast transitional play of the Blackhawks.  Chicago is going to need to be a little less fancy, and do a bit more dump and chase, using their advantage in speed to win the race to the puck.  The Flyers control is going to shut down center ice and make it hard to control the puck in to the zone.

I feel this series has the potential to be a very close one.  Neither team can afford to spend much time in the box, as both teams have been dominant on the power play.  In the end it’s likely to come down to which unlikely goaltender can keep up their momentum.

At the end of the day I give this series to Chicago – probably in six games.