WordPress 2.3
Posted on September 29, 2007
Filed Under Blogging, WordPress | Leave a Comment
Although WordPress 2.3 came out nearly a week ago, I decided to wait to upgrade it until this weekend, at a time when the kids were out of the house. After nearly 10 months as a WordPress user, I’ve learned that it’s best to pick a quiet block of time when I know that I will be able to finish what I start.
This was the easiest upgrade yet.
One thing that always bothered me about switching from the static MovableType to the dynamic WordPress was that the upgrade process couldn’t happen in the background. If a bad upgrade in MovableType made the admin interface inaccessible, the static HTML files were still there keeping the blog up for the world. Now the WordPress installation instructions point to the Maintenance Mode plugin as a suggestion, which replaces your blog’s main public view with a splash screen that lets visitors know you’re working on something, and it sends the proper http header for search engine spiders.
They also no longer say “deactivate all your plugins” as part of the upgrade instructions. WordPress will now deactivate any troublesome plugins when it upgrades. If it ain’t broke, don’t waste your time deactivating it. From start to finish, it took about 40 minutes which included my downloading a backup copy of my theme files and the database. The majority of the time was waiting while my slow DSL connection uploaded all the files via FTP.
The upgrade reported an error, but finished anyway:
WordPress database error: [Duplicate entry '910-1' for key 1]
INSERT INTO wp_term_relationships (object_id, term_taxonomy_id) VALUES (’910′, ‘1′)
Upgrade CompleteYour WordPress database has been successfully upgraded!
Quite some time ago I had installed Ultimate Tag Warrior but took it out when it wasn’t compatible with a WordPress upgrade. Now WordPress has its own simplified support for tagging. Truth is, I’m really bad about tagging. I remember to do it sometimes, most of the time I don’t. I find searching to be more effective than tagging, even when tagging is implemented more consistently than I’ve ever been able to discipline myself to do. So I’m guessing that the error had something to do with the new tagging architecture not liking some remnant of that old plugin that got left in my database. Oh well. Can’t see a problem anywhere else, so I won’t worry about it.
The new update notification system let me know that my WordPress Stats plugin was out of date. Every other plug-in appears to be working.
I love that the new “Advanced WYSIWG” menu has been taken to the full version from WordPress.com. No more going over to code view to set headers, or cleaning text through TextEdit before importing. It is also helpful for copy/paste between Word files without getting all that <mso> garbage that tends to come along for the ride.
Now that I’m done, how many seconds will it take for WordPress to release a security update, forcing me to go through the whole thing again?
Autism is Not a Curse: An Open Letter to Jenny McCarthy
Posted on September 28, 2007
Filed Under Kids, Life | 10 Comments
Dear Jenny,
While on the train yesterday, I read the cover story about you in People Magazine. Bravo for you and your beautiful son. Thank you. Anyone who is talking about autism and its very real effects on a family must be celebrated.
Your son is 5 years old, and as a fellow parent of a child diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, I know the joy and relief that comes out of seeing your child make significant progress thanks to intensive early intervention. That is the message of your book…Act early. Be relentless. It makes a difference. But you scare me when you talk about your child as if he has recovered from autism. Even the title of your book, “Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism” makes me wince a bit.
Autism is forever. When a deaf child gets cochlear implants, he is still deaf. What you are doing will help minimize the symptoms and stigma of autism in your son’s life, and will give him the best chance of leading an independent and fulfilling life. But you haven’t climbed the mountain yet. You’ve scaled a small hill next to the mountain. The mountain is still ahead of you.
Don’t ever think, even for a moment, that you have autism in the rear-view mirror. The experts will pat you on the back and say “job well done!” Don’t fall for it. Don’t take your eyes off the ball. You’re not fighting for today, you’re fighting for tomorrow.
I was in your shoes 6 years ago. I had a 5 year-old who thanks to intensive early intervention made incredible progress in a very short amount of time. On the day my daughter was diagnosed with Autism at 2.5, I was 9 months pregnant with her sister (who was born 6 days later). My daughter sat in the room with the pediatric neurologist and stacked blocks while refusing to answer the simplest of questions or even acknowledge that anyone else was in the room. So when the diagnosis of PDD-NOS came a few minutes later, I wasn’t shocked. Up until that point, I had somehow convinced myself that she knew all the answers, but just didn’t want to speak. I said those ridiculous words out loud, but deep down, I knew. I thought that because my pediatrician kept dismissing my concerns about her development, that she would miraculously start speaking and be “normal” one afternoon. Lesson learned: A mom’s instinct is never wrong.
For a year, I was overwhelmed with parenting an infant, getting services for an autistic child who couldn’t put two words together, and my father’s terminal illness. Then I started connecting to other parents, and I realized that a passive approach wouldn’t cut it. I found my advocate’s voice, and fought like the dickens to get my daughter the services I knew she needed. Watch out to anyone who stood in my way. A typical day would include a preschool program for 2.5 hours, a quick lunch and a nap for both kids, then an afternoon filled with therapy sessions. A typical week consisted of a combination of a couple a days of oral motor therapy, a day of speech therapy, and a couple days of occupational therapy, and a day of physical therapy. In between, we intensely worked on the most basic skills at home. It was more than a full-time job.
Shortly after this intense program began, she started to show amazing progress. Quickly. She put words together, and then those combined words turned into thoughts and sentences. She found connection to the people that were closest to her. She played with toys appropriately. She started reading. Every day was a new miracle. By the time she was your son’s age, the world of autism seemed like a distant memory. She was fully included in mainstream classes in school. She still required special education support for sensory and social issues, and she struggled in math, but there wasn’t a conversation we couldn’t have. Like with your son, it was a gift that she could explain to me what she was thinking and feeling while she was stimming. If I was a famous actress dating Jim Carrey, I’m sure I could have written a book about my daughter’s “healing” from Autism just like you did. There were teachers and therapists who questioned that she was even autistic to begin with!
But Jenny, children don’t stay 5 forever. Embrace the gifts you’ve earned to this point, but keep autism in front of you. Don’t let yourself think you’re going to push it completely away. Ever. Now at 11, my daughter has above average measured intelligence, is fully verbal, and is a joy to be around. When she was 2.5, I was told that she may never develop language. Now she will walk up to me, give me a big hug and say “I love you, Mommy” freely and easily. Her diagnosis is now officially Asperger’s Syndrome which is the high-functioning end of autism. Non-verbal language and subtle social cues completely escape her. That’s harder to learn when you made it this far on outstanding rote memorization skills. She can retell plot, but doesn’t get the “big picture” easily. Emotionally, she’s a lot younger than her 11 years.
She knows she has Asperger’s Syndrome and what it means (she reads books on the subject meant for adults), and “autism” is not a dirty word in our house. It’s part of who she is. I truly believe that to treat autism like a curse, to be ashamed of it, or to act like its symptoms are repulsive will destroy my daughter’s sense of self. Autism is just one of the many things that make her an incredible young lady, and I treasure every inch of her…including the autistic parts that cause her to obsess about a single topic for hours on end, retreat in social situations, or cry when routines change.
And you know what? I still have to fight aggressively to get her the support she needs, just as intensely as I did when she was 3. Now she’s approaching the age where I am trying to teach her to advocate for herself. My goal is for her to be able to say the words (in her own way, of course): I have autism. I can’t do it like everyone else, but if you give me the chance and you rearrange your expectations a little bit going in, I’ll do it better in the end.
Would I rather have two “normal” kids? Actually, I don’t know. I think my daughter’s autism has made me a better person. It certainly made me a better advocate. If my daughter cared about what people thought of her as other pre-teens do, would she have that same genuine sweetness she now possesses? I don’t know. I don’t have the ability to turn back time, so I don’t know what could have been.
All I know is that I wouldn’t trade my girl for anything, autism and all. I hope in 6 years after the many battles I know you still have to face, you’re saying the same about your son.
Updating the social nets
Posted on September 15, 2007
Filed Under Internet & Technology, Life | Leave a Comment
Last night, simply because I could, I imported my address book into the two social networks that I actually use…Facebook and LinkedIn. When I wrote my 12 Ways to Use Facebook Professionally post for Web Worker Daily, some thought I was saying to ditch LinkedIn. I meant no such thing. Sure, if on a desert island and forced to choose a single network I’d likely pick Facebook, but as I have no sand in my toes there’s no reason I can’t take advantage of the best both have to offer. Even if it means maintaining two profiles. This Lifehack article is along similar lines. Using Facebook professionally isn’t the same thing as using Facebook as your exclusive professional network.
Anyway, I was surprised at how many of my contacts have LinkedIn profiles. It gave me an opportunity to touch base with some folks I haven’t spoken to in a while. On both services, I like that my connections are a nice mix from different corners of my professional and personal life.
It’s not about numbers. For me, it’s about staying in touch with the people I know (or want to know), without having to sit there and think of what to say in an email or phone call. I only wish that the services had an option for women to indicate their maiden names, and then give the option to display that name when someone is searching school lists. Classmates does this, displaying names as we likely remember the person. I don’t want to add Weiler to my display name anywhere but in those class lists. I got married before I had a life online. I’m known (and Google well) as Judi Sohn and to be Judi Weiler Sohn or Judi (Weiler) Sohn on those services will just muddy the waters.
Hanging out for Carbonite
Posted on September 11, 2007
Filed Under Internet & Technology | 5 Comments
I’ve been a fan of Carbonite for backing up files on the PC side for a while. No file size limits and it just works. Simply. Quietly. Reliably. I’ve restored a few files easily. It never gets in the way. Even works great through Parallels. Best $50 I could have spent.
On the Mac side, I backup to an external drive. Still painless, but takes some maintenance. Plus, I’m connected to the Internet more often than I’m connected to my external drive. If I’m traveling or working remotely, I can’t backup until I’m home. Not ideal, but better than other Mac solutions which limit the amount of data I can transfer or they’re painfully slow, or both.
That’s why I’m still glad to see this on the Carbonite website:
We Are Working Hard on a Mac Version of Carbonite
We expect to have a version of Carbonite for Mac users in October.
I’ll forget that I think they originally promised the Mac version in August. If it’s half as good and reliable as the PC version when it finally comes out, it should be worth the wait.
Headset envy
Posted on September 10, 2007
Filed Under mobility | 1 Comment
Plantronics has done it again.
First they introduce the Calisto, which is a home-office phone that I absolutely love…so much so, I’m dragging my heels on returning my review unit until a little closer to the time that I can think about purchasing one for myself. The Calisto is a light cordless handset and Bluetooth headset that let you switch seamlessly between mobile and landline calls without juggling ears. The sound quality is outstanding.
Now they introduce a new Bluetooth headset for mobile phones that also does stereo sound (Voyager 855). I’m not as tempted by this one, because I don’t listen to music on my phone. I want a Bluetooth headset that will let me listen to stereo music on my computer, and then take mobile calls. It would require pairing with both my computer (or iPod) and phone at the same time, which this doesn’t appear to do. I guess I really want an iMuff. Can’t justify the expense at the moment. For now, I’ll juggle.
In the meantime, I picked up the Explorer 330 for around $50 over the weekend. I will be spending a lot of time in the car over the new few weeks and months. It’s an excellent Bluetooth headset. So much better than the Motorola headsets I’ve tried in the past. Pairs easily with my Blackberry. Voice-activated dialing works very well. Calls sound good on both ends and it’s reasonably comfortable.
