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.

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

As big as it gets

http://www.deepskyfrontier.com/

(…)9 quadrillion pixels wide by 9 quadrillion pixels tall.

A metaphor within a metaphor, this site makes one rethink the concept of vastness. In other words, we can tinker with the otherwise utterly unattainable immensities of the cosmos in our desktops, just because the designer (very intelligent designer, yep), has put them in a context that we can easily grasp. Try to scroll the page with the arrow keys: it will take you more lives than you can count to reach the end. Now grab the scroll bar with the mouse and get to the end in seconds, fast as if you crossed a wormhole (a mousehole, perhaps?). Incredible, isn’t it? All in all this is a marvelous site to visit: stand on its center and watch through the eons, and beyond!

ps. by the way, whatever you do, don’t hit the print page button 😉

Related Article: Small… but playful

Planet Perplex

http://www.planetperplex.com/en/index.html

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabridge Uinervtisy, it deosn´t mttear in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltter be in the rghit pclae

A firned of mnie tlod me abuot Plnaet Perplex, and I beleive it is a vrey itnersetnig stie and you wlil like it a lot. It cnotians a good seletcoin of amisung gmaes, mind tirkcs and inrcdebile iamegs that sruely will keep you entrteianed for aegs. Ejnoy! (geez, that was hard to write) 😀

Related Article: The number of the Rose

Zinc Mecha

http://www.zincpanic.com/

Japanese toy design is one of the last bastions of optimism in our increasingly luddite world-view. (…) we endeavor to be the most complete, thorough and accurate resource regarding anything related to Japanese toys

If you like japanese robots, you MUST visit Zinc Panic. This site features a huge collection of articles on japanese robot characters and toys of every kind you could think about. You say Mazinger? they have it. Evangelion? sure! Gundam? of course! You´ll probably have to fight the cool-looking, pixel-artsy, kinda-esotheric interface, but getting lost in the site is actually part of the experience, as the designers explain in the… er, helpful help section:

there is no end point, no goal to reach, within Zinc Panic.

All said and done: After quite some time exploring the site at my leisure, I recognize the great double effort made to build up a comprehensive database and a website with personality. I assure you, browsing through Zinc Panic will be a unique and rewarding experience!

Game developers spotted!

http://www.gamedevmap.com/index.php

Publishers, development studios with a staff of five or more, studios with previously published games, and studios under contract with a publisher are listed.


Gamedevmap is a growing database of video game companies. For the sake of general curiosity, you can spot at a glance the most prominent areas for video game developing -this is a little tricky though, since the spots don’t give visual information on the number of companies on each one of them-. However, I believe that this link will be most valuable for those interested in entering the business, since it saves countless headaches searching for the companies’ locations and sites. Beware that not every company is covered: the webmasters rely on the readers’ help to complete the list, so this could be your opportunity to add a spot! 🙂

Free icons collection

http://www.famfamfam.com/lab/icons/

icons for your new website or web application, at the best price there is (free!)

Finding free quality icons for your site can be not only tedious but many times frustrating. I spent quite a lot of time searching for “mail” and “print” icons for the articles, and after some time I ended up making them myself, with functional but modest results. Fortunately, I came across Mark James´site some days ago and it really made my day! Mark currently offers three different sets of icons in .gif and .png formats, all of them are free to use and you can modify them to your liking (there´s one more about to be released). Mark only asks for a link back in case you decide to use them, which seems more than fair to me since his icons are professional, varied and really cute. In the end I am using the “print” and “mail” ones, plus the little green flags and the “user” icon on the “readers online” counter. Thanks Mark! 🙂

ps. Alternatively, you may like to try this icon collection.

Counting Out

http://www.dprp.net/proghistory/index.php

The albums featured will either be milestones in the history of progressive rock, other influential albums, or just good examples from the catalogue of a certain band. Each article is designed to offer an insight into the background of the band, the musicians, the writing and events surrounding the recordings. Not so much a review but more of an in-depth feature assessing the impact made by these particular recordings.

“Counting out Time” is a site, part of the dprp (Dutch Progressive Rock Page), which offers a collection of articles on selected Progressive Rock music albums from the sixties to the nineties. Some of the articles focus on analyzing the music (my friend Ángel will probably Continue reading Counting Out

Art by Tucho

http://www.artbytucho.blogspot.com/

A few days ago my good friend Tucho Fernández opened his new blog, “Art by Tucho”, where he is regularly posting samples of his drawings and 3D models. Tucho and I worked together in the Glest project and he is now also working for the video games company Traganarion Studios. As for his art, the quality of his paintings is eloquent enough. I would add that he’s especially talented for drawing things of an organic nature, especially fantasy creatures and dinosaurs, but in my opinion that’s only because that’s his preference. I’ve been trying to make him draw robots and spaceships since I first met him, though, and the Battle Machine is the best example that he is equally skillful at drawing almost anything. 🙂