One Transition Complete ~ Dozens To Go!

This morning I worked on updates to links within our legacy web site, ThePayton.Net, and built hooks into all web log references of that site so they point here to the new Blog. A few of my previous postings to that web log are ported to this new site but many still require going through an import process.

Import isn't really the best word to use . . . and that's primarily because something with the WordPress import functions aren't working as anticipated. It's odd. I jump through all the hoops and the process indicates "Import Complete!" But the legacy posts appear no where within the web space. This may be the result of how the older blog was published in the first place.

The original blog originated from my Blogger.Com account. Because I own several web spaces I opted to publish the Blogger Blog (say that quickly ten times without error) to ThePayton.Net instead of as a subsite of Blogger.Com. At the time I felt this option was the more personal approach which granted me greater flexibility in the future. Now I know such an approach was flawed. Best laid plans . . . C'est la Vie! And all those other great clich?s.

The end result of these oddities is a forced manual posting of all previous articles. [sigh] In fact, all the topics you see within this Blog so far were created manually. Well, manually in the sense that I had multiple editor windows open simultaneously and used copy/paste functions to suck out the old text and blow it into a new location.

Eventually all these outstanding tasks will be completed. Or perhaps by then I'll have new direction or ideas about how to better leverage the future, leaving old posts in the past . . . where they belong. Here's to the Future!

~SP

Why Oprah never had kids

My wife records The Oprah Winfrey Show and watches it as often as opportunity permits. It's not uncommon for her to get started on an episode, skim the highlights, and move on to the next episode in rapid succession until she's caught-up on her backlog of recorded episodes.

During these times I do my best to remain an understanding husband and grant her this well-deserved indulgence. After all, she works very had all day away from the home and doubly-so once the boys come home. She watches a few of the shows that interest me too and seems to enjoy them. However, I just cannot return the favor (for long) when it comes to watching Oprah with her. And I'll tell you why in a moment . . .

I think Oprah is an incredible person. She seems so down to earth and genuinely interested in helping those around her locally and all over the world. Every time I see her on television or read about her in print I gain greater respect for her as a person and for her altruistic manner. So when I saw the byline, "Why Oprah never had kids," I simply had to see what it was all about.

"We were in Soweto, a sprawling slum in Johannesburg, which actually stands for South West Township. Oprah seemed as comfortable here as she would be in a five star hotel. She walked right into the home of a couple of prospective students who had applied for entry into her exclusive Leadership Academy and had impressed her to the point she wanted to see where they lived and what their life was like."

Read the story to completion and I'll bet your response was as similar as mine. Awww, how sweet! [Sniff, sniff] As I instinctively wiped my eyes resulting from a touched heart, I finally regained my senses. Dang, that one sneaked right up on me. And that's why I don't watch The Opray Winfrey Show, it makes me cry like a baby! And what's worse is that it happens before you know it. There is simply no time to prepare yourself for the impending emotional gush. Therefore, I avoid that show like the plague!

Most women don't seem to understand such thoughts or reactions by men to emotional content like the Opray Show. But I guarantee every guy reading this note is nodding his head right now and saying, even if in silence, "you're right man ~ you're absolutely right!" The complexities of men and crying is best summed up by a story written and narrated by Tom Bodett. Ironically, the snippet is entitled "Men Cryin'" and is a great listen [11.2Mb].

Cryin' is good for the soul and an excellent way to cleanse the body both emotionally and physically. But for most men, such things must remain a private experience to be truly effective . . . I am one of those guys. And if you'll excuse me, all this talk about cryin' is starting to aggravate me. Time to go shoot a mutant alien!

~SP

Visual Simulations @ Digg Labs

Digg.Com is an amazing repository of information and commentary. It is by far my favorite social networking and news site on the internet today.

I listen to the Diggnation Podcast regularly because I get a real kick out of hearing to the interaction between Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht. They provide a summary of the top stories logged at Digg.Com during the course of the previous week. All while sampling premium beers from around the world. By the conclusion of the podcast, they are having a great time. Or in Alex' words, "Good times . . . good times!"

A new addition to Digg.Com (at least new to me) is the implementation of two simulations which provide visualization of activity at Digg.Com as users digg stories and post comments. These two Digg Labs simulations called Stack and Swarm are really fun to watch. You can see how users hop from story to story and the relationships presented graphically are great eye candy.

Take a look and let me know if you found them as enjoyable as I do . . .

~SP

The Missing Episodes?

Do you ever have difficulty keeping tabs on television shows of interest? Even with the advent of DVRs it's easy enough to accidentally erase an event, have a scheduling conflict, experience weather bulletins ruining the mood, etc.

Fortunately, some networks now support the viewing of previous episodes within a web browser. And this is a welcome option for those odd times when something just didn't go right with your recording.

Fox Streaming is one of the sites I've visited in the past because I'm an avid fan of 24. Season 6 returns in January 2007 so I have quite a wait . . . My most recent visit was to the Sci Fi Pulse Network because I anxiously await the premiere of Season 3 ~ Battlestar Galactica!

Once in the site I learned the next episode airs this coming Friday.

Hallelujah! I'm so glad I cruised over to the site.

~SP

AjaxWp - An enhancement for WordPress blogs

This looks interesting . . .

Perhaps later today I can experiment with this inclusion to this Blog?

Well see! It depends on how quickly I can get my work done on the mounting needs for "The Man."

What is AjaxWp?

AjaxWp is a lightweight JavaScript enhancement that adds AJAX functionality to WordPress blogs speeding up load times, increasing the responsiveness of the user interface and giving the blog an overall cooler look.

Out of the box AjaxWp requires minimal configuration and no
additional markup, other than the script inclusions in the header file
and a support PHP file. This allows AjaxWp to degrade gracefully and
leave the blog fully functional even for users with JavaScript
disabled.

~SP

WordPress and the Performancing Extension

The Performancing Extension for Firefox is a blog editor which operates directly within the browser. Some of it's primary features are:

• Works with all major blog software


• Easy WYSIWYG Editing


• Trackback, Technorati and Del.icio.us support

I think I'll test drive it for a while because it looks like just the ticket for my Wordplace Blog creation needs. Click the link above to get started on your own test drive today!

Tweaking the Site

I am attempting to import another web log I've been maintaining on one of my other sites. Thus far, the import procedure completes normally but the imported posts are invisible!

What's up with that?

~SP