So there I was, quietly minding my own business, about to type up my latest post on this, SA’s finest blog. Alas, all of a sudden I noticed that my blog did not contain one single post. Okay, in the interests of clarity, I did not exclaim anything remotely like the effeminate “Alas” upon noticing the complete destruction of all my work… nay, it was more a case of a rather high-pitched and panicky “AG P*ES!”
536 posts… gone. One and a half years worth of wisecracking… gone. Needless to say I was rather displeased. And by displeased I mean… ummm… not happy? See the snappy catchphrase in the first paragraph.
“Well, that’s that then I suppose.” Coz there was no way in Hell that I was starting out again, from scratch. “Well, blogging was fun. What’s next?”
Sending out a panicky couple of tweets confirmed what I had feared – it was not a local connection problem or anything like that (Hey, don’t judge: I’m not an IT geek. Besides, I was grasping at straws). A reader from London (Hi PJ!) replied that the site was indeed gone. Kaput. Finito. In sy moer in.
Fokit. That’s the best part about the whole internet-thing: if you f@ck something up in the middle of your tiny little nowhere country, you can rest assured that it is f@cked beyond the same level of recognition the entire world over. ”The world on your doorstep. Broken. By you. FAIL.”
Just as I was about to pack it all in, trade the laptop for a bus ticket to Keetmanshoop and become a hermit, I figured I’d try one last time to Google a solution – a solution that did not involve me learning how to reprogramme the space shuttle in 45 minutes flat. Wouldn’t you know it: it turns out this is quite a common blog problem…
If you find that one day your WordPress blog contains no trace of you ever having written a single word, then (i) thank A. Fatih Syuhud, and then (ii) try the following (after your turn screeching “AG P*ES!”):
Login to your CPanel, which is located at yoursite.com/cpanel
Go to MySQL Databases
Select WordPress Database
Click Repair. Done.
Yes? Happiness?
Right, if anyone needs me I’m off to do a proper backup of this site. Because every image of Jessica Alba needs to be protected and safeguarded for all eternity. And because we only ever backup after we’ve had a problem, not so?
Right, time to whine. But before I do so, note that this product comes highly recommended, especially seeing as it’s R1000 cheaper than the other versions. It also seems to have the delays/lag reported with the prior models sorted out: definite PRO.
Dear Multichoice: your brand new PVR, the HD-PVR 2P, previously discussed here, is beginning to warrant a run-in with a sledgehammer.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great having access to the HD channels, and the ability to record multiple hours, pause live TV etc. is, as per your advertising, frikkin awesome (not sure you used those exact words, but that’s the gist of it).
I do however seem to have a few issues with it. I realise it was rushed to market just in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and may therefore have a few bugs to work out. Well here’s a thought: work them out already!
News24 – great to read the news at leisure on the telly. Unfortunately, 50% of the time the decoder crashes when exiting News24. It’s gotten to the stage where I will not access the service when something is busy recording as it usually means I need to reboot upon exit, thereby disrupting the recording of said show.
Series recording – not yet available. Fair enough: given the whole rushed-to-market thing I’m sure it’ll be available eventually. But the current alternative, time-based recordings, has the occasional habit of going haywire. Example: Lost. I set up the PVR to record Lost every Monday evening on Series. It records fine. Many times though when I check the next day it gives me a message that all future recordings were cancelled. Ummm… no they weren’t. Not by me, not by my missus, and presumably not by my 4-month old (she’s not exactly au fait with remotes yet).
That seems to have resolved itself lately. Now that error has been replaced by each episode of Lost (and every series set to record), for the next three weeks anyway, being listed individually. Fine, not a problem. But does mean that it’ll only record for the next three weeks? What happens in week four? Hmmm?
Last issue: the remote sucks. It is next to impossible to press ‘Play’ without accidentally causing the PVR to either Rewind or Fast-Forward. Fix the knoppie. I could go and buy a replacement remote (I see there’s a different brand that works perfectly as it has a slightly different button layout), but, quite frankly, if I’ve paid R2000 for a product I’m not forking out for a new remote too. Aight?
Whew! I’m done.
Other than that? It’s awesome. Clearly the above whines are software bugs (well, except for the remote thing), and will presumably be sorted out soon. Just thought I’d use this platform to hurry the process along…
Is Google about to launch a competitor to Facebook? It’s starting to sound like a possibility.
I first became aware of this after seeing the following paragraph from an article on memeburn:
Rumours are flying on the internet that Google is about to go head-to-head with Facebook with a new social network called “Google Me”. If so, then it’s a confrontation that has been a long time coming between the two heavyweights of the modern internet.
Hmmm…
Head over and read some of these articles about the rumour (if you care):
Apparently everyone now knows about the new Apple iPhone 4 antenna issues…
Right lads, you’ve got 8 months to sort this kak out – if recent reports that MTN will now also be getting the iPhone 4 (as opposed to the previous iPhone 3 Vodacom exclusive) are to be believed, I will be upgrading to that-cool-new-iPhone-with-the-FAIL-antenna early next year.
The original mass-market eBook reader (well, the original one to do very well in terms of sales anyway), the Amazon Kindle, has just had a rather impressive drop in price – falling from $259 to $189. This applies to both the American and the international versions.
Whether or not this ties into the staggeringly impressive sales of the recently-released Apple iPad and its associated iBooks app is unclear, but I feel it’s safe to assume that played a rather significant part.
If one is looking for a pure eBook reader, as opposed to the whole tablet with browser and video and apps and and and thing, then the Amazon Kindle is really a good buy, as it’s far cheaper than the iPad.
Those wishing to get their hands on one in South Africa will therefore be in for the following amount when ordering from the US Amazon store (exchange rate on 23 June):
That’s quite a lot cheaper than anything Mr S. Jobs can present to you…
I managed to test one out when they were first released, and it really is an impressive gadget. Amazon’s Kindle bookstore has a very good range, and most importantly, one can use the Kindle for about a week before needing to recharge it – a darn side better than the iPad’s 10 hours. Rather handy having that kinda battery life when travelling.
Apple has announced that it’s sold 3 million iPads -– less than three months since the device hit stores.
…
It would appear that iPad sales aren’t slowing down at all since launch – in fact, they might be accelerating. The company announced it had hit two million devices sold just 22 days ago, whereas it took the company 28 days to sell its first million devices, and another month to sell its second. With the device going on sale in more countries in July, those numbers could jump even faster.
Not too shabby. By the way, I see you still haven’t bought me one yet. What exactly is the delay? Maaitjie FAIL.
First iPhone 4 reviews coming in
According to Wired some tech journos managed to get their hands on the new iPhone 4, and their reviews are starting to come in. Here’s the crux of it:
The reviewers agreed that the iPhone 4’s hardware is state-of-the-art industrial design.
Detailed enough for you? Yes? No? Maybe?
Unfortunately the majority of the snippets deal more with moaning about America’s (apparently) rather rubbish AT&T network – seeing as the phone is locked to them, a la Vodacom here in South Africa, – and less about the phone itself.
Dear iPhone 4 reviewers cited in the article
There are other countries on the planet too. Yes, that is correct – Earth does not consist solely of the good ol’ US of A. Capeish? We want to know about the phone, not your FAIL networks.
The iPhone 4 goes on sale tomorrow (Thursday 24 June) in the US, the UK, France, Germany and Japan. And in South Africa? Who knows…
Just incidentally, I want one. In case you were wondering. So whenever you get around to buying me that iPad you promised, feel free to throw in an iPhone 4 for good measure. Thanks, you’re a legend!
As previously mentioned a few months back, those who purchased (& activated) Microsoft Office 2007 after 5 March 2010 are entitled to upgrade to the equivalent version of Microsoft Office 2010 for free.
Well, the upgrade became available yesterday, and I, ever the nerd, promptly went and got my paws on it. Will let you know if it’s any good within a few days. You do care, right?
What I can tell you right off the bat is that Microsoft has also officially released its own Office Web Apps – an online version of MS Office – in an attempt to thrash Google Docs at its own game. This in turn ties in quite nicely with the stand-alone version of Office, so I’ll be sure to give that a bash too. Time will tell if, for Microsoft, it’s a case of too little too late when it comes to online documents. I wouldn’t count on that though – despite valiant efforts by Google et al, at the end of the day Microsoft still owns your PC, you, your car and your goldfish.
An enterprising site has released Phoneballs – that’s right, a silicone cover for your iPhone with ummm… balls.
According to the manufacturers site, the features are as follows:
Provides a little something to tug on. We play with ‘em all the time.
Protects your data port from dirt and dust, yet easy to tuck back when you need to connect
Soft, grippy silicone case doesn’t add much bulk (well, other than those bulky balls!)
If they get dirty, just wash those dirty, sticky little balls with a little soap and water, they will come clean. You had better believe it!
iPhone NOT included – sigh… always need to spell this one out, don’t they? And all because some dick (oh very clever, given the context) will sue them when he opens the package (and again! Stu you’re brilliant!) and alas there is no iPhone included. What a tool! (okay, enough now.)
Have fun while doing a good thing. Remember, 10% of what we make here goes to fight testicular cancer!
So as per the final point, it’s all for a good cause. Get your iPhone a set in either BlueBalls or PeachFuzz.
Classic! 10 points.
— Note - and this note applies to many US-based online sales websites: The site states that “Due to popular demand, we are looking into international shipping”. So it might be a bit of an issue to get them at the moment. I really don’t see what there is to ‘look into’. Phone DHL. Say “Hi Mr DHL. I’d like to send this parcel to South Africa. How much? Okay, here’s the money”. Sorted.
This site is ‘made’ using Google Chrome (or Mozilla Firefox when Chrome annoys me). Thus, it looks fine on Chrome (really? You sure about that?)
Occasionally I’m forced to check out how it looks on other browsers. Enter… Internet Explorer. What a piece of canine excrement that is! I intentionally left out which version of IE I’m referring to as the problem seems to apply at all of ‘em.
Widgets take on a life of their own – some are centred, some are left-aligned, whilst others can’t really seem to make up their minds on any given day.
HTML tags (and here I’m treading stomping on I-don’t-really-know-what-the-hell-I’m-doing territory) seem to do completely different things in IE vs all the others. Okay, so I may be over-exaggerating just a teensy bit here – spacing does completely different stuff. The rest, well that seems fine.
“And just what is your point, dear whiny blogger dude?” I hear you ask. Actually, I don’t hear anything – you don’t care, but I figured I’d put this out there anyway to excuse the sorry state of this site’s appearance in IE. And that, dear bored-of-crappy-posts-about-site-layout reader, is my point right there.
Clearly I am making all sorts of schoolboy errors, and I can practically hear all the seasoned programmers out there sigh into their coffee, but it’s far easier to occasionally post something like this than actually try to figure out what it is that I’m stuffing up in such a newbie fashion.
