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AFdN Updates

Information concerning the website

New Project – Flickr for Video

This is just a short announcement. I’m currently working on a Flickr-type concept for videos. I do know that there are some Flickr type companies already out there, but none of them have what I want. So, time to invent the wheel. I’ve started to lay down some code, but nothing worth showing yet. Check back for a preview in a couple weeks (around Halloween). In the meantime, I’m starting a contest to name this yet-to-be named service. The winning entry will receive a lifetime subscription to the yet-to-be named service. EMAIL me your suggetions. Winner will be announced after the 31st. Feel free to submit as many suggestions as you like. Multiple suggestions per an email are OK. If you have any suggetions for my new project, definitely send them along. Really good suggestions may even be rewarded!

Countdown Timer Version 1.0

It’s taken some time, but AFdN Countdown Timer has finally reached maturity…well, at least version 1.0. There are some big changes that you will need to know about before you upgrade to version 1.0!

Changes affect those who upgrade:
First and foremost, data from versions 0.95 (inclusive) and before will not work with version 1. I tried to make it work, but it was too hard and too complicated. If you have tons of dates and don’t want to write them all down, it should be easy enough to write a small script to move them. If there is enough feedback, I may even write it. The data is stored in an array in the WordPress Database called “afdn_countdowntracker”. If you call the array foobar, then the old data was formated like this:

thisOldDate = $foobar[$i][“date”]
thisOldText = $foobar[$i][“text”]

The new data is formated like this:

thisNewDate = $foobar[“oneTime”][$i][“date”]
thisNewText = $foobar[“oneTime”][$i][“text”]

or

thisNewDate = $foobar[“recurring”][$i][“date”]
thisNewText = $foobar[“recurring”][$i][“text”]

In short, an addional array was added. So, before you upgrade, write down all those important dates. Second, the template tag has been renamed to follow better coding standards. It is now called afdn_countdownTimer, there are still no parameters to pass to it.

For those installing Countdown Timer for the first time, welcome! It should be pretty easy to install. Just download the phps file. Once you’ve downloaded it, rename it with a .php extention and then upload it to your WordPress plugins directory. Go to your WP Admin panel and activate it, then go to your Options panel and click “Countdown Timer” and customize it. Don’t forget to add
<php afdn_countdownTimer(); ?> to your sidebar.php file or wherever you would like to put it.

I am but one man with only so many ideas. If you don’t see something you like, leave a comment and it will usually get it.

Before I forget, I need to throw out this warning for those of you who are somewhat paranoid. There is a new feature that, if enabled, will ask my server if there is a new version of the plugin availible. It is a simple HTTP POST request to http://www.andrewferguson.net/wp-content/dl/wp/version.php
(view the source here). The file looks another file called version.inc (found here) and then returns an appropriate string. No data is collected except for standard Apache web logs. Of the standard logs generated, I do not parse them to see who is checking for updates. If you want, you are more than welcome to write your own version checker, or run my version from your server, and remotely call the version.inc file.

That’s about it. Check the change log for a very concise rundown of changes and upgrades.

AFdN updates

I added a section that lists my 100 most recent links I’ve added to del.icio.us.

I’ve also integrated my flickr photos into the site thanks to Elijah Cornell‘s absolutely wonderful FAlbum plugin for WordPress. As a note, there seems to be a slash missing in the Rewrite Rules. So if you’re gettig a Error 500, that might be it.

Another Blog

Well. I thought one was enough…but it’s not. I know have two blogs! This one and tech.andrewferguson.nethttp://www.weeklytechroundup.com or Weekly Tech Round-Up (WTR). It’s for my new radio show on Mines Internet Radio. I’m treating them as completely separate entities so the casual blog reader won’t need to read both of them to stay in touch with my life. WTR is a half-hour show that covers the latest news in the technology sector over the previous week. Maybe one or two articles covered on WTR might (and I stress might) end up over here. In short, there is a bucket of things that I find interesting, there’s a bucket of things that I think that you might find interesting, and then there is a bucket of things that the CSM community ought to find interesting. The latter is what WTR is geared towads. So enjoy that!

On the Docket

With school now started, I’ve added “On the Docket” so you know what my schedule is and don’t try to call me in the middle of class.