Posts from — November 2007

Sigh…What a ride.

Scot, K9JY

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For those of you who like working a bit of DX while contesting, one of our “entities” just got a whole lot smaller. I had not realized the extent of damage from Hurricane Dean on Aves Island, but it is significant.

Passed on from one of the reflectors I am on, you can see the devastation of the island from the hurricane.

Check it out over on the YX0A site — it’s something to behold with before and after pictures.

Scot, K9JY

Well, what started off as looking for the problem with a database error I was receiving upon upgrading to the latest version of WordPress software used on this blog has resulted in major changes to the site.

It started simply enough — upgrading the underlying WordPress software to 2.3.1 using a one-button upgrade button from my host last weekend. Easy — but then the normal upgrade stuff started to happen. First, not all the plugins (plugins are snippets of functional code) work in their current version. Upgrade the noted ones and then install them on the five sites I have.

Then, some of the plugins simply don’t work with this version of software and the authors haven’t upgraded them to match the new code. Hard to complain — the plugins are for free.

The critical plugin that didn’t work for me was the “share this” plugin found at the end of each of my posts. It took me all week in my spare time to find another version because sharing stuff is a good thing. The first one I found and tested didn’t work. The second one, found in the “Bookmark Options” link below is the one I ended up with.

Then today my theme kept breaking the underlying database — so I changed themes, at least for the time being. I had found it on my travels for the new plugin. The theme offers up rotating header pictures and a lot of white space — very different from my previous theme.

Then I also added a “subscribe to comments” plugin that allows you to get subsequent comments to yours in your e-mail (I do nothing with your e-mail except protect your privacy). It’s great for following a conversation without having to check back on the blog.

The final thing you will notice is that the old header had some direct links — especially to the K9JY WriteLog User Site. You can still see all of those links on the left by K9JY Resources.

Summary of changes since last Saturday:

• New theme with rotating header pictures and a lot of white space for easier reading
• New social bookmarking plugin under “Bookmark Options”
• New “subscribe to comments” plugin
• Five updated “under the hood” plugins for the site
• Upgraded WordPress software

And I had a little turkey and and dressing in the meantime.

Hope your contesting is going well! If you get a chance, click on over to the site and take a look at the new look.

Scot, K9JY

A fun thing to check out while working the contest: Get Scores.

Yes, interfaced into the site are stations who are sharing their live scores on the web. Here’s a partial screen shot from the site as I am writing this on Saturday afternoon at 2100Z:

A little reminder from one of the reflectors I belong to: E51 is up and working stations and will be in the CQ WW CW contest working the deserving.

While you’re at it, check out the preparations at the South Cook Island blog — George, K5KG, and Ron, KK9K, are great operators and I hope they are having a blast.

Scot, K9JY