We are back!!
It’s been a long month but after a couple of early glitches and a fight between WordPress 2.6 and PodPress the first official episode of the AGP is out.
We all missed doing regular shows during the forced hiatus and it showed in the show. There’s a lengthy out-take at the end of the show. If you haven’t subscribed to the new feed yet, do it now! Either by RSS or through iTunes.
During the recent upgrade to WP 2.6 I noticed that the old “Add Image” button was missing. This is something I use quite a bit because it’s quick and simple. Call me old fashioned, but I don’t particularly care for the new Media-bar uploader.
After some searching on Google and the WordPress.org forums, I came across a relatively easy fix. To restore this button, and add a few others, you can install the TinyMCE Advanced plugin. TinyMCE is the editor that’s built in to WordPress’ visual editor.
Once the plugin is added, all the functionality you had before will be restored, along with a ton of cool new neato features!
WordPress 2.6 launched earlier this week and among the new features in this seemingly solid build is a significant security enhancement for how WP handles cookies.
Essentially what it boils down to is WP has separated cookies used for accessing the admin interface through HTTPS (SSL) and regular unsecured HTTP. This allows for login information and the login cookie to be secured through the encrypted stream on every access.
The details are in Ryan Boren’s blog and get into a fair bit of detail.
For those of you who are regular readers, and listeners to the GGP have probably noticed that I’ve missed out on my show notes posting for the last three shows (GGP #85, #86 & #87).
What I’m wondering is if you folks find any value in me re-posting this stuff on the blog? Shoot me a note in the comments. 
This week CityTV was cited by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council for failing to uphold the copyright of a man who published photos on Flickr under a Creative Commons license. Though the ruling doesn’t actually compel CityTV to atone for their actions by crediting the photographer (Joel Charlebois, aka uwajedi).
When CityTV arrived on the scene to do a story about the burglary, Charlebois says that he “refused [a reporter's] request for an interview….[and] asked him to leave.” Charlebois did, however, say that he “had taken pictures of the perpetrator and was looking forward to posting them on [his] Flickr site”; the reporter “was interested in seeing them,” so Charlebois gave him his card, but, he says, not permission to use the shots in any way. [torontoist]
The photos are of a man who allegedly tried to break into the photographer’s home. After posting the Creative Commons licensed photos to a couple of groups on Flickr, they were run by CityTV on their newscast without providing any attribution despite the fact that they were aware the Charlebois had taken the photos.
It took nearly nine months for the CBSC to make its ruling. In my opinion, the fact that it doesn’t actually compel CityTV to fix their mistake but merely acknowledge it fails to uphold the spirit of the CC license. As Duane Storey observed:
If I were to use CityTV footage on my blog without attribution, I would bet I would get a nice cease and desist letter forcing me to take it down in no time. That they think the laws should be different in each direction seems characteristic of most large media conglomerates these days. [duanestorey.com]
This sentiment seems to be shared by a number of individuals including Charlebois himself. Must it be up to independent media such as bloggers and podcasters to show the “professionals” how to properly attribute work? Was this simply a case of laziness on CityTV’s part or is it a symptom of a deeper disdain for those who don’t actually get to carry a press credential?
Pictures are worth a thousand words, or so the story goes. When writing blog posts or any other kind of content on the Internet images are a big key to making the content more understandable and more interesting. A great way to help manage the images that you use for your site is to make use of a photo-sharing website like Google’s Picasa or Yahoo’s Flickr.
I’m partial to Flickr myself. One of its advantages is the large community around it that helps to support each others photographic endeavours. Another is the more recently added Piknic photo-editing service which allows you to make changes and adjustments to your photos directly on the website.
I recently put together this quick “how-to” for a friend of mine and decided that I might as well share it with the world. Without further ado, here is a step-by-step how-to on adding Flickr images to your WordPress blog.
n Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kmsquared/2195515600/
To add links back to the image in Flickr…
WordPress 2.5 is out, warts and all, for public consumption today. Many users are opting to wait for a burn-in period to take place before taking the plunge. Several major updates from WordPress have had a point-release take place within days, usually to fix a security flaw.
I have installed it on the sandbox where I’m playing around with the Options theme and won’t be applying the upgrade here until I’m ready to move everything over, including the theme.
The biggest complaint from most is the redesign of the admin pages. People don’t like change. There is added functionality and a brand new layout to the admin screens. After having played with it for only a couple of days, I find myself fumbling around a bit still… but overall the new look isn’t too bad.
Many of the links I used most often are now displayed in the main admin toolbar (blue links) while the less often used links are in the grey bar at the top of the page. These are the high-level nav buttons like the dashboard. I think this design will indeed prove effective for people who spend quite a bit of time in the admin console, but will be more difficult for casual users to adopt.
I’ll be posting updates to both the Random Image Selector plugin and the Admin Links Widget in the near future to ensure compliance with the WP 2.5 code.
I’ve been contemplating an update to the look of the blog for several months now. I know it’s only had the current incarnation since the summer, but I’ve always liked things to feel new and fresh.
The trouble had been finding the right WP theme. Many of the ones I like visually didn’t have enough support for gadgetry & widgetry. Being the geek that I am, this is something I prize. Secondly, and more importantly to some, I wanted a theme that would actually pass XHTML validation and be a bit less of an SEO roadblock (that, and I’m a bit of a perfectionist geek).
I found, though a fortuitous series of bounces the Options theme by JustinTadlock. XHTML compliant, full of widgetable sections and completely customizable through CSS. Perfect. Now I just have to get some help with the design work… ’cause I suck.
Until such time as I can find a viable (read: worthwhile) ad service to help offset the costs of the blog, I will no longer be subjecting readers to ads on the blog.
After nearly 9 months of Google Adsense, I’ve managed $3.56. Since Google requires $100 in your account before they will pay out, I’m on schedule to be paid out in Late 2028. A bit too late to cover costs of blogging (though it would make a nice almost 50th birthday present. :razz: )
The Amazon and TTZMedia affiliate programs have also had similar results with a payout from TTZ media due sometime in 2048… and that’s only a $25 payout.
In short, I don’t get enough traffic, and my readers on average aren’t the type to click on enough ads (hell most use Firefox and AdBlock Plus!) to provide an income stream.
An added bonus: the site loads faster now! :mrgreen:
For the next couple of weeks I’ll be filling in for a friend of mine over at Ho Yummy, a food review blog with a Vancouver slant. The site’s owner Gigi is a good friend of mine and she’s taking a few weeks off.
I’ve always been a bit of an “admin” guy… ever since I found a fun summer project of setting up my own BBS, the old modem kind not the new-school telnet revival. I’ve always gravitated towards this type of thing, because it gives me a chance to “look under the hood” and see how things work.
Anyways, if you’ve got some time, pop over to Ho Yummy in the next couple of weeks and see what’s going on. I may even slide in a review of my own! 