The long Upgrade: Taking WordPress from 2.0.4 to 4.7.2

I started this blog in 2005, running on WordPress 1.5. As it was then already customary (but not nearly as easy as it is now), I chose a theme and modified it extensively, adding several plugins along the way. After working on the blog for about two years, I moved on to different things, and it has rested mostly untouched, running on wp 2.0.4, for about a decade; that is, until last November I got a warning from my hosting provider that several files were infected with a virus.

In all honesty I was lucky that it took so long for serious issues to arise, and even luckier that I could get things back to normal, but unfortunately for me, “normal” still meant a blog with more holes than a Swiss cheese. I thought on closing it for good, but many articles are still current and I felt indebted to the people that Continue reading The long Upgrade: Taking WordPress from 2.0.4 to 4.7.2

Announcement

I am proud to announce that from tomorrow on this site will feature interviews by Jorge Sergio. Here’s a little about him:

A passionate synthesist and music connoisseur, Jorge is a reference in the field of “independent new musics” -quite broad term!-, and he regularly writes articles on new releases and interviews musicians from every corner of the world. Jorge is currently managing the site Articmist.

Look forward to Jorge’s articles, starting with his interview to Canadian artist Heather Dale.

Optigami

http://www.rksdesign.com/index.php?page=gc/gallery10

(…) a collapsible eyeglass and self-encasing system

Foldable Glasses= Opti-gami! Actually all glasses I know are foldable, but these “concept glasses” do something better: they fold in the middle in a way so that the arms encase the lenses, thus protecting them from scratches. One could perhaps argue that as a result the arms themselves are perhaps too big, but the solution is clever and convenient. The whole RKS site is worth a visit: they design all sorts of cool products for others, they make some of the best-looking guitars I have ever seen, plus they have coined the term “psycho-aestetics“, in their own words

(…)a proprietary design methodology in which a product’s design creates a promise of physical and emotional benefits to the user as well as guides us to address the product’s key attributes and consumer desires.

… a design that makes you feel better, powerful… that path can only lead to making electric guitars, obviously! XD

Bringing Molecular Structures to the Real World

http://chem.sci.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp/v7n1/nagao/

modelling the structure by means of up-to-date 3 dimensional molding method offers an effective teaching aid.

(Freely “rearranged” from the babelfish translation of the page above.)

I highly recommend that you take a look at this article even if you don’t know japanese, since its pictures (scroll down a bit) beautifully illustrate several techniques currently used to make real objects from 3D models. In this case the subjects are molecular structures: these techniques not only bring them to a human scale but also to the human world, thus helping scientists twice. Furthermore, some of the machines used, like the Roland mdx scanner and milling machine, are getting cheap and easy to use enough that in a near future they may become as common as photocopiers!

All that is to know about… Swickis!

(or almost) XD

http://www.eurekster.com

A search engine that learns from your community’s search behavior.

In a nutshell, a Swicki is a search engine which gets gradually biased by the community that uses it -which explains the wiki wicki side of the word. I´ve spent a few days now using it, so what comes next is a report on my own experience on how to Continue reading All that is to know about… Swickis!

On Virtual desktops in Windows

“If only windows had a multiple desktop system, how happy would I be!”, I have thought to myself quite a few times… I wish I could have a tidy desktop, free of the zillion files that clutter almost all the available space, but if I moved those files I would surely lose track of them.

So, is there any app out there that could allow one to keep several different desktops within the same computer? As far as I know, the answer is “yes and no”, but at least the “Yes” side of the story could be enough for many users: Continue reading On Virtual desktops in Windows

Reading between the lines

Subliminal messages allow us to communicate something without being direct, and are usually quite effective in reaching the target. Let’s practise!

Imagine there are rumours of a vacancy in the executive bureau of the company where you work. You want to make your boss understand that you are the most capable person for the post. Your boss has his/her car in the repair shop, and you offer to lift him/her (because it’s on your way home). How can you tell her her/him about your aptitudes without saying anything, but only playing five songs? Continue reading Reading between the lines