WordPress Hacks

Posted & filed under The Internet, This website.

This is just a note for future reference or a possible quick fix for those who experience the same problem: after upgrading to WordPress 2.6 earlier today, all my special characters became a garbled mess. As I use quite a lot of them—don’t you just love crème brûlée and em-dashes?—that is quite unacceptable. Commenting out line 7 in wp-config.php (change it to //define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8');) seemed to fix it.

For a client at work, I’ve done some WordPress (Mu) hacking in the last few weeks. One thing they wanted was to display all users with a specific role in the sidebar. I (crudely) hacked something together right in the sidebar template to do that, but while searching for some information, I came across several requests for something similar. If I can find the time and motivation, I might just upgrade that hack to a plugin.

While I might have some time off next week, I doubt it’ll happen then. I’m in dire need of break at the moment, and not just of WordPress.

Sleepy time

Posted & filed under Life.

Tomorrow afternoon, I have an appointment with an anesthesiologist. As far as I know, we’ll go over the list of questions about my health—which basically is a long list of “no’s”: no medicines, no medical conditions apart from my knee, no allergic reactions to anything, no nothing—and if he or she (I have no clue exactly who I’ll be meeting) thinks I’m physically up to it, the operation can go ahead.

There was exactly one section I had to think over for a second. First they asked if I am nervous about the operation. Well, no. Not a bit. If it fixes the problem, bring it on. The next question was if I am nervous about the anesthesia. Well, no, not really, but I’m just not quite looking forward to the part where they jam a big fucking needle up my spine.

And then I realized that I don’t mind the operation, but that I’d rather not have all the fuss that comes with it. So, if there are any volunteers for the epidural, the hopping around on crutches and the four to six weeks of revalidation / physical therapy, you know where to find me.

First lines: Animal Farm

Posted & filed under First Lines.

The first time I read Animal Farm was back in high school, when I had to read a load of books for my English classes. Since then, I kinda figured out that I only like reading when I don’t have too, so it’s safe to assume I found it a drag. Luckily my teacher allowed me to skip a book in favor of a bunch of song lyrics, as they’re kinda poetry and short stories and all that. Had the best exam ever discussing the finer nuances of Guns N’ Roses’ “My Michelle”.

But, ehm, Animal Farm. What is there left to say about that book that hasn’t been said before? Well, not much I guess. But I just love the cover. (Scroll down a bit. I got the matching Nineteen Eighty-Four too).

George Orwell — Animal Farm
Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the popholes.

First lines: Soul Music

Posted & filed under First Lines.

Maybe I’m a bit prejudiced here—just take a look at that cover, add to that some nuggets like one out of three ain’t bad and I remember everything. […] Every little detail. As if it happened only yesterday. and top it of with a motorcycle crashing after seeing that sudden curve way too late ¹—but the fourth book in my Pratchett Appreciation Course is the first one I totally dig.

So, more Pratchett for me? Probably.

Book read
Terry Pratchett — Soul Music
Firs line
This is a story about memory.

¹ Just in case you still don’t get it—a link. [back]

Things I learned this week (five)

Posted & filed under Link dump.

  • The joys of eating home-made crème brûlée totaly outweigh the hassle of making home-made crème brûlée.
  • While I knew about American football, I never knew there’s such a thing as an American football indoor league. And apparently, you can rent out the space in the black stuff beneath your eyes as advertising space.
  • In other sports—and I’m using the term very loosely here—related news, there also is such a thing as a World Nettle Eating Championship.
  • Arthroscopic surgery—which we call a ‘kijkoperatie’ in Dutch—does actually involve more than just looking. Who knew?
  • LOL: In November, … the people of San Francisco will also vote on a measure to rename one of the city’s largest sewage works the George W Bush Sewage Plant, to provide a “fitting monument” to the outgoing commander-in-chief’s achievements.
  • The Door to Hell is a very large cavern underground filled with a poisonous gas in Turkmenistan. When discovered, the gas was ignited, expecting it to burn off in a few hours. Thirty-five years later, it still burns.
  • Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton’s It was a dark and stormy night is said to be the canonical opening sentence for bad novels. Enter the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, where people try to write the most horrendous opening lines for fictional novels.