So about a month ago I tried upgrading to the latest version of WordPress (2.7.1), but it went bad. I tried fixing it but ran into some problems.
It wasn’t high on my priority list, and I’ve been really busy since then, but I finally got around to fixing it. Basically I had to delete everything in the directory (instead of just the folders and files that the WordPress upgrade tutorial states) and the database. Then I uploaded the latest version to the server, created a new database, ran the setup procedure, and restored the backup using phpMyAdmin.
Now I just need fix my theme, get my plugins installed, and I’ll be set.
Blogging isn’t a big issue for me personally, but I like to put my ideas out there every now-and-then.
So a friend and I had an idea the other day, to setup a personal music server so we could have private access to our digital music collections from any Internet connection. ¬†I thought, “there has to be some open source project out there that we can use for the server.” ¬†I was right. ¬†I found Sockso, which seems to be the best project out there.
It runs on Windows, Linux or Mac, with a nice GUI or no-GUI command line.  Thinks I like (at first glance):
Let’s you stream within the browser using a Flash player, has various player options
Very impressive interface including “ImageFlow” (similar to browsing album covers on a iPod Touch)
User management system, including restricting listening only to registered users
Nice indexing and search features
Allows users to upload new music
Self-contained music and web server
So hopefully my friend and I will be able to put together our own private music server. ¬†I’ll let you know how it goes.
So the business purchased our first “netbook,” the Asus Eee PC 900 series: 900MHz Intel processor, 1GB RAM, 16GB solid state hard drive, bundled with the Linux operating system.¬† It was about $330, it’s amazing how inexpensive computers are becoming.
So my first impressions involve a bit of amazement and disappointment.¬† I’m amazed that people can not buy a small computer with a wireless card, VGA port, USB ports, and other basic personal computer needs, for so cheap.¬† It’s also nice to see that Linux is becoming more accepted by mainstream consumers, thanks to some nice user interface design.
I’m disappointed in the Eee PC’s performance in running Windows.¬† Perhaps I did something wrong on the install, but I performed a normal install of Windows XP Pro SP2, upgraded it with all the latest patches (including SP3), installed all the drivers from the include discs, however, the computer seems to constantly run slow.¬† For example, it took about 1.5 hours to install Office 2007, this install normally takes about 10-15 minutes on even a slow computer.¬† But the strange thing is that the resources of the computer were not heavily used AT ALL!¬† Most of the time it seems to just pause doing any work, the CPU would sit idle for minutes, then do some work, then sit idle again.¬† There was about 600MB of RAM free the whole installation.¬† This slow performance in Windows occurs constantly.¬† I will click something like the start button (when nothing else is running) and it will take a few seconds just for the button to depress.¬† I’m wondering if I did something wrong with the install, or if perhaps there might be a hardware problem.
Overall I love the concept of these small netbooks.¬† Those of us who live and work with computers often need to find the right type of computer for particular tasks.¬† This device would be great for those who travel frequently but don’t require a full-sized notebook, and only need basic web browsing, communications, and office applications.¬† We plan to configure and test this device as a computer/network technician’s on-site tool, configured with all the computer and network tools and diagnostics.
There seems to be a lack of good, standardized ways to document information systems for small-medium businesses.¬† I’ve seen a few templates on the Internet, mostly Word documents that only give a taste of all the information needed to document, or Execel documents that try hard to provide very detailed documentation but end up being too confusing.
A good Word documenat may be the easiest way to do documenation right now and present it in a readable format for a client, but I see a need for a system, some program, that will assist in either manally collecting all the information needed, or pulling information from existing systems, then assembling it to an easy to use interface and printable format.
I’m in the early stages of putting together a project for solving this problem, check back for updates.
