Henry's blog

With the version 2 release of the ever-popular Mint web analytics software two days ago, a part of me got to thinking, are stats I already get for free with a combination of a WordPress plugin called FireStats and Google Analytics really worth $30, just so that they may be delivered in a more attractive package?

Well, unless I’m terribly misinformed, and there’s some killer feature of Mint I’m unaware of, I really don’t think so. But, then again, another part of me got to thinking that there is that jaw-droppingly beautiful interface, and the UI is the most important thing next to, of course, functionality…

Still, 30 bucks, who am I kidding!?

I was playing around with the status service Twitter the other day. I’ve known about it for a while, though hadn’t signed up until recently. Basically, it’s a quick and easy way to inform your friends (or whomever else, for that matter) of what you’re up to, or alternatively check on their status (all of which can be done via IM, text message, or through the site itself). As the site puts it:

Consider Twitter the medium between your friends and yourself; we just relay the information.

Aside from its convenient intended uses, I think an interesting aspect of the site is the many ways in which you could adapt it to fit your needs. You could this by simply being creative (read: makeshift link/tumblelog–hey, that’s a good idea), or by utilizing software that makes use of Twitter’s API. One interesting use of Twitter that I’ve seen is syndicating your blog’s feed through the service, with each Twitter update being a new item in the feed.

Twitter’s been fun to use so far and is really quite a good idea, if not, heh, a bit stalker-friendly (though you can set your profile to only be viewable by friend). I’ll have to see how my use pans out, though, and typically my litmus test is whether I still use it throughout the course of one week when I have other things to do than play around with status updaters and other fun time-wasters!

This is a screenshot of the del.icio.us homepage at about 3:30 PM today. Somehow I’m thinking 7 different CSS galleries is a tad excessive!

I saw The Pursuit of Happyness yesterday (and no, they “y” in happiness isn’t a typo, and is explained in the movie ) and really enjoyed it. Here’s a quick breakdown:

• What I knew: it was based on the true story of a father trying to better his already unstable and difficult life while still trying to keep his son and himself afloat.
• What I expected: it to be ok, sort of sappy.
• Bottom line: very good, sincere, and interestingly, a lot of it was actually true, as far as locations and events are concerend, versus most films said to be based on a true stories.

Overall: - certainly worth checking out if in need of the kind of movie that really makes you feel for the characters.

Check out this hilarious webcomic from Glen where he comments on the “hip” deodorant Axe (the scent of which many of my male classmates reek smell).

At last, my mountain of homework has been reduced to but a fairly large hill. Don’t you just love school?

Wow, I haven’t laughed as hard as I did in a long time when I watched some of the hilarious video ramblings of Phone Guy the other day.

So who is Phone Guy? Well, this particular phone guy’s secret identity happens to be that of 43 Folders‘ Merlin Mann, but I’m sure there’s at least one phone guy you know of, if not personally. A phone guy, you see, is simply enough the guy who’s always on the phone, wherever you go–restaurants, lobbies, parks, you name it. Of course, in addition to this, a true phone guy will always be talking far too loudly than is comfortable for those surrounding him, and the way he speaks will almost sound like he’s intentionally ensuring you hear his conversation, as if that’s the only way he knows of to get attention.

So, if you’ve got a couple of minutes to spare, and you need a good laugh, then check out the site, and prepare to spend 30 Seconds with Phone Guy.

About 15 minutes ago I attempted to upgrade this blog, which runs on WordPress, to the newest version released today, version 2.1. I had read that the database schema was changed in this release, and that it may render some plugins incompatible. Unfortunately, what I failed to realize was that my stats plugin, FireStats, was incompatible, and when I upgraded, my installation was not only fairly odd-looking in terms of the admin UI, but my main blog didn’t even function. In the end, I had to revert back to version 2.0.7, which thankfully wasn’t all too difficult.

The moral of this story? If you intend to upgrade to WordPress 2.1, I strongly suggest that you first ensure any plugins you use are on the official compatibility list, which can be found here on the WordPress wiki.

Recently, I’ve been reading a few different webcomics, which are prime examples of self-publishing and cutting out the middlemen (syndication companies, publications) on the web. In doing this, you are thus delivering your content directly to your readers and, in a sense, are creating a relationship of sorts with them. I think that’s pretty cool. If you’ve never read any before, some of my favorite webcomics worth checking out include:

• A series as odd as its name, Toothpaste For Dinner
• The long-running Joy of Tech, featuring witty commentary on the world of technology
• “A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language,” as its description reads, the hilarious and quite topically random xkcd is probably my favorite out of the three

Now that I’ve shared my list, what are your favorite webcomics, if any?

After toying around with various non custom WordPress themes for the past month or two, dissatisfied, about two weeks ago I sat down, and with my minimal design chops began constructing what you’re seeing right now. It’s a big change for the site, aesthetically and also functionality-wise (read: there’s actually a sidebar now). In addition, I’ve switched from Textpattern to the WordPress platform to manage my blog’s content.

I really couldn’t be happier to finally have a blog that looks and feels such that I can actually be proud of it.

Sidenote: I’ve done only minimal testing with this design, so I’d really appreciate it if you could either contact me, or leave a comment, if you encounter any issues.