I woke up to a WordPress database error yesterday. The error wasn’t caused by any changes I did to the site but something to do with the server.

I spent hours the night before working on this, a demo of using WordPress to manage a news portal.

With time to kill while waiting for the site to be fixed, I implemented something that had been listed in my “someday” list – customize the WordPress database error message and have the system send you an e-mail when your blog can’t connect to your database. I hate to admit it but I actually enjoyed the downtime as it taught me a lot as well as afforded me the time to play around with something I had long wanted to do.

The hack is surprisingly easy and I enjoyed crafting a database error page that I just might intentionally place wrong config data soon to test my planned addition to the error page.

Continue reading ‘Database down; spirits up’

I started working before the word processor as we know it today and the graphical desktop became mainstream. In fact, in my first few weeks on the job, I used a typewriter.

When I joined The Freeman, a Cebu City-based community newspaper, in 1996, its newsroom was using networked PCs running DOS. It took me a while to get used to writing using a “word processor.” I was scared at sitting in front of those green monitors and their menacing command prompts.

Back then, when reporters sat in front of the computers it was to write stories. The writing program occupied the entire screen and you could not multi-task. There were no games in our newsroom PCs and the Internet could only be accessed on one computer.

Continue reading ‘Back to basics’

I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of an online desktop, a workspace that is accessible on any computer with an Internet connection. Last year, I tried to set one up for myself using a variety of free services: from free online file storage to online notes and to-do lists. I ended up with a collection of various free services and scripts, gathered in an online start page, that I continue to use today.

The problem with this is that I have to log into multiple accounts to use various components of my setup. I tried Goowy hoping to get a more desktop-like online interface but it didn’t have online storage then (it now integrates your Box.net account, which is really a great feature) and it was so slow. After more than a month, I wasn’t using Goowy as extensively as when I started with the service.

I also tried the EyeOS.info service, a showcase of the open source EyeOS program. Again, it’s a great service and an even better script (it’s on my try to install list). The service also doesn’t have an online storage, which is understandable because EyeOS.info was started to showcase the open source project.

And then I saw Desktoptwo via a link in del.icio.us.

Desktoptwo is by far the closest thing to a desktop among the services I’ve tried. (Click on screenshots to view larger images)

Continue reading ‘Get a second desktop and access it anywhere’

I’ve released the nautica05-wordpress theme, a template based on the open source Nautica05 design posted at the Open Source Templates site by Studio7Designs. I used the Nautica05 template in turning this Cebu blog into a webzine, which I discussed in my previous blog post.

Nautica05-wordpress is a template for blog sites. I will be releasing later a hacked version of the template for use in webzines managed by WordPress. Nautica05-wordpress uses a two column layout by default but you can easily change this to three-columns by following the instructions in the nautica05-wordpress page.

Continue reading ‘Nautica05-WordPress theme released’

WordPress is a great tool for online writers. It’s simple and yet is such a pleasure to use. Yes, there are things that need to be improved but WordPress being an open source software, you can expect continuous improvements on it by the community.

The ease by which sites can be created and run through blogging software like WordPress allow writers previously without publishers to print their works online. The problem with using a blogging software to manage your website, however, is that the tool defines the character of your site.

Once in a while, I see blogs that seem better off presented as online magazines or news websites rather than as blogs.

WordPress, however, is an extensible website content management system that can be used to run magazine-type websites. Here are steps I took to turn this online magazine on Cebu from a blog into its current presentation. I’m still working on it, though, so you might encounter issues. (Update Jan. 9, 2008: I have redesigned the site. It’s now using an even better theme that I’m still working on. I will be releasing this theme soon.)

Continue reading ‘How to use WordPress to run a magazine, news website’

Refresh your boring Windows desktop by transforming it to resemble the sleek Mac OS X with the FlyakiteOSX transformation pack. The free software package automates the installation of tweaks, third-party programs, desktop themes and menus to make your Windows PC look and act like OS X (see screenshots below).

I tried the software and found the installation easy. I did not encounter errors when I installed it into my Windows XP with Service Pack 2 office computer. You need to restart your computer after the installation.

I was concerned that the transformation would be such a resource hog and would slow my system to the point that it becomes unusable. It did not. I was surprised that I did not notice any noticeable speed difference after I installed FlyakiteOSX.

Continue reading ‘Make your Windows PC look, act like OS X’