General Crap
Stuff that doesn’t quite fit in.
Hey, have you tried out Google+ yet?
2 months ago
by Burnspot
in General Crap
If you can’t pull yourself away from your Facebook farm or whatever you have going on over there, then I suppose this post isn’t for you, but if you’re interested in great conversations and following interesting people, then you need to check out Google+! In many ways, Google+ is similar to Facebook, but there’s a different air to it…I can’t exactly put my finger on what it is about it, but Google+ just feels more open, easier to work with, and it’s a bit less creepy than Facebook (privacy issues). If you have any sort of Google account like Gmail or Picasa, that’s all you need, so there’s no excuse to not at least have a look.
Yes, you can follow family and all of that, but more importantly, you can easily find folks relevant to what you do and what you’re interested in, follow them, and easily interact with them. It’s a lot harder to get this done in Facebook. Additionally, Google+’s circling method (the way you organize who you follow) is very easy to work with, plus it’s not quite as obtrusive as Facebook’s invite system. Really, Google+ is like Twitter, but without the 140 character posting limit and a few more options.
I’ve been involved with Google+ since it was a private More >
All’s Quiet On The Eastern Front
2 months ago
by Burnspot
in General Crap
If you’re a WordPress user, WordPress just released their 3.3 “Sonny” update, which I just put into use here…so far, nothing’s blown up, so I guess it’s all good. Other than than, things are pretty quiet around here. The weather’s getting colder, the wife’s wanting a divorce because life in Eastern NC sucks, and I’ve yet to do any Christmas shopping…what more could a guy ask for right?
So I had a leaky roof…
5 months ago
by Burnspot
in General Crap
Earlier this week, I noticed some water stains showing up in the ceiling. We just went through Hurricane Irene here and the town was hit particularly hard, so I figured perhaps there was some damage that I had missed during my inspection a couple of weeks ago. Upon inspecting the attic and roof, I found no visible holes…I chalked it up to hurricane force winds forcing water into spots it doesn’t normally go.
Fast forward to last night, we had a rain storm. I decided that, to be sure, I’d go into the attic and see if there’s any visible leakage. The attic is like a cathedral, so walking around and inspecting things isn’t so hard; I found no leakage over or around the area where the water stains were (yes, I know water travels too). From there, I decided to inspect the entire roof from the attic, just to be sure there were no unnoticed problems. When I reached the front portion of the attic, it caught my eye….the steady stream of water pouring in as if someone had partially opened a faucet. Luckily, the leak looked like it was over the soffet area and didn’t pose an immediate risk; there wasn’t much I could do about it anyway since it was pouring rain outside.
Today, I decided to More >
So There I Was…
5 months ago
So there I was, working diligently on a client’s website, another WordPress site, when I needed to refer to my own site (this one) for a plugin I wanted to use…I noticed my site was horribly out of date (imagine that). Okay, the latest post I had was back in June, so yes, that was out of date, but really, it was the plugins on the site that were out of date. In WordPress, this is usually not a big deal…you just hit the update button and Presto! it’s all done. Then I noticed one new update popped up after the plugins…the theme (queue dramatic music). I HATE updating themes because the process usually ends up killing any custom things I did to the theme in the past. Anyway, I said “what the hell” and hit the update button….blammo…the site went kablooey. I kind of expected that. Long, well not so long, story short, there’s a few screwballey things I’m still working out. I kinda like the new updates…they almost make me want to invest more time here…no, really! Guess we’ll see if a mountain moves…
By the way, my website uses the Mystique theme, from Digitalnature.eu in case you were wondering. Oh, and look, the site’s posts are now up to More >
WTF? No May Update?
8 months ago
Yes, apparently I blew off putting up any May updates…no worries, I’m absolutely sure that no one died from the worry. The month of May was actually a bit of fun as it involved FJR camping on one weekend and a car trip down to Austin, TX the next. In both instances, I survived, although there were a few times were I pushed too hard during the camping trip and nearly saw someone about buying a farm…if you know what I mean. I guess that’s what happens when one tries experimenting with various cornering techniques on the twisty roads lacing the Smokey Mountains. Anyway, I managed to tally a bit over 1500 miles on that trip and completely wear out my front tire…a sign of a good time.
The Weather Gods Conspire Against Us
11 months ago
by Burnspot
in General Crap
Well, it figures. For the previous week and a half, we’ve enjoyed spring/summer type weather with temps in the 70′s and 80′s, but now it looks like the weather gods have decided that we need to revert back to late winter for a bit, lol. We’re currently saddled with temps in the 30′s and 40′s, rain, and some snow just north of us. On top of that, my phone just buzzed with a freeze warning tonight and possible snow! REALLY? REALLY?…wonderful! Guess it’ll be a cold week of commuting this week as things don’t look to be improving too much as the week wears on.
At least Formula 1 and Indy have provided some decent television for the weekend.
Working Away
1 year ago
by Burnspot
in General Crap
No, there hasn’t been a death in the family, a forest fire burning the entire city down, or a big reduction in the price of beer (for you ’80′s band fans, hint hint), I’ve just been super busy! In the middle of December, the wife and I decided to launch a project and ever since, it’s been “nose to the grindstone” each and every night and all through the holiday vacation time. I guess the mode would be all work and no play for now.
What’s the project? Well, it’s an online ecommerce store! We’ve launched http://www.world-of-replicas.com, selling all sorts of movie replicas, Japanese swords, European swords, and other blades from all over. Yea, so I’m using a bit of my experience from working on my friend’s similarly-themed website, but I want to take it in a slightly different direction. At the moment, the main focus is on swords, both hardcore functional ones and the movie replica variety, but eventually, we’ll be pushing to expand beyond just those items and into more cinema collectibles. Should be fun…I know the experience of setting up a business has been interesting so far and I expect more “fun” to come down the pike; none of this would have happened without the big kick in More >
Unexpected House Guest
1 year ago
by Burnspot
in General Crap
So there I was, looking for a piece of equipment in the garage. I open up the bin holding all of our camping gear and lift out the tent. I saw something large hanging from the tent roll…an absolutely ENORMOUS spider!
This 5-6" fella was hiding in our camping gear box.
Imagine my surprise! I have no idea what type it is or if it’s poisonous. I left it alone after getting a good photo of it. Tomorrow, if it’s still there, I’ll find a way to get it out of the garage…intact.
The FJR Commute
1 year ago
My FJR's just waiting for 5pm to roll around.
It’s just like the old days when I was in the Corps…commuting by motorcycle again. Over the past year, I’ve ridden into work on occasion, but in the past month, it’s become a pretty much full time deal since we parted ways with my wife’s car to save a little money. Mind you, I’m not complaining…we still have one car left and yet I choose to take Feej into work even when my wife doesn’t need the car. The weather’s cold and/or rainy, but it doesn’t really matter…I’ll still ride. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but the feeling is similar to what I felt in those early commuting times…I feel compelled to disavow the car and just ride. Yes, the FJR is a machine that tends to suck you in and keep you for itself, it’s just that good. I’m not delusional though; if the weather is bad enough, i.e. ice on road, I’ll park my butt in the car and take the boring way into the office. But the allure of riding and the gas sipping yet powerful ways of the FJR add up to a very addictive concoction.
I suppose I’m fortunate in some ways; I don’t deal with much, if any, traffic for most of the 15-20 mile ride in to work and the majority of the ride winds More >
Ta Da
1 year ago
As mentioned earlier, I’ve decided to spring a new site on you…hopefully, it’s showing up for you now since I just changed the redirect to point to this sub-domain. Nothing special, just a pre-made template and a blank slate. The OLD BURNINGFILES section you see up in the main menu is all you need to access the old site and both of the galleries, which are still intact and functional. I won’t be adding a member gallery to THIS version of the site…so far (still debating it). I’ll be moving some articles from the old version of the site over to this version just to keep some sunlight on them, but those will come in fits and starts as I get the 301 redirects for each worked in.
You might be asking why or maybe you aren’t (I don’t really look at visitor stats and don’t really care), but the reasons for change are many….WP is easier to deal with when lazy, change is good, easier to post quick updates, etc, etc. I suppose another reason is that at the office, we advise many of our clients to use WordPress when they’re considering wholesale changes (we still do Drupal, but it’ll soon be doing a major version change to Drupal 7, so we’re waiting)…and it leaves less room for them screwing More >
