Author Archives: Peter

MovableType: Closing time?

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Today, ***Six Apart|http://www.sixapart.com/*** has announced a new pricing and licensing scheme for MovableType. You can read the pricing information page ***here|http://secure.sixapart.com/***. Basically, what it boils down to is that if your MovableType installation has more than a one user and/or more than three blogs, you’ll need to pay to use it.

SixApart provides this ***interactive selector|http://secure.sixapart.com/licensehelp.html*** to help you figure out what your pricing scenario would be, based on your usage of MovableType. Currently, prwdot.org has four active blog users and three active blogs. According to the selector page, I would need to purchase Movable Type 3.0 Personal Edition Volume License I, for US$119.95 in order to cover our usage.

In the words of The Simpsons’ Moe Szyslak, ‘B-whaaaaaaaa??’

What does the paid version get you?

* Download for Movable Type 3.0 Developer Edition and Movable Type 2.661
* Professional support fron Six Apart
* Ability to promote your site on the Movable Type “Recently Updated” list
* Generous limits on weblogs and authors
* Application updates and fixes (not including major upgrades)
* A guaranteed path to future versions
* Access to fee-based services such as installation, advanced support, other services

The only thing I see of real “value” here is the professional support, which I’ve never needed in the past. Do they plan on making the product more difficult to use? In any case, I can see their plan having some success with people who are actually generating revenue from their MovableType installations, or who are taking donations to run their site… but what of the droves of people, like me, who run a moderate-sized installation with no additional funding source other than their own paychecks.

It reeks.

As many former MovableType users have, I’m already checking out ***WordPress|http://www.wordpress.org/***. I know ***Mike|http://www.refugeisland.net/*** loves it, as do others. So it’s certainly a worthy candidate. I’m also open to any other suggestions.

Phone Pics

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I used to have a ‘PCS Blog’, to which I could post photos directly from my ***Sanyo SCP-8100|http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/PhonesAccessories/PhoneDetails.jsp?selectSkuId=sanyoscp8100*** camera phone. However, I have recently discontinued the Picture Mail service on my SprintPCS account. Cancelling this service does stop me from sending images directly from the phone, but I am still able to take photos on the phone, and store them in its internal memory. It’s just a matter of how to get them from the phone onto a computer. I already have a cable that connects the phone to any computer with a USB port, which I previously used in Mac OS X to connect to the internet over Sprint’s PCS Vision service. I just needed some software.

Enter ***BitPim|http://bitpim.sf.net/***. BitPim is a cross-platform tool (Mac OS X 10.2/10.2, Windows 98/2000/XP, Linux) that allows you to download contact information, calendars, ringtones, and images from compatible phones – sort of a (very) poor man’s PDA sync software. Compatible phones include several LG and Sanyo models. I was able to use BitPim to connect to my phone and offload the photos onto my computer! Hooray!

So I have set up a ***Phone Pics|http://gallery.prwdot.org/phone_pics*** gallery in which I can showcase these photos. The quality is far from that of my regular digital camera, but you can’t expect too much from a sub-$200 device that combines a tri-band, dual-mode phone, calendar, contact book, game-playing device, and digital camera.

Enjoy!

McMarketing

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I don’t think I need to say anything – just read about new ***adult-centric Happy Meals|http://money.cnn.com/2004/05/11/news/fortune500/mcdonalds_happymeal/index.htm?cnn=yes***.

MVPs (Most Viewed Photos)

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If you haven’t taken a look at our photo gallery lately, stop on by World Wide Photography.

I have added a new feature that allows you to see the top photos based on the number of views they have, as well as the latest photo comments, random images, and more. You’ll see these links near the top of the photo gallery, just underneath our spiffy new logo!

Speaking of the new logo, I have also created a “web badge” version of it which you’ll see at the top of our left hand navigation bar. If you would like to link to our photo gallery, feel free to use the image with your link:

World Wide Photography

Night Out

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Every so often Becky and I splurge on a night out in the city. We don’t spend a ridiculous amount of money, but certainly a bit more than we would going to Taco Bell and renting a video (nothing wrong with that either, mind you).

Last night we went to ***Pho Pasteur|http://www.weseatyou.com/restaurants/704/infotomhazen/www/Dunster/index.htm*** in Harvard Square. A Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Pasteur is one of our favorite dining spots. The prices are fairly reasonable, and the food is different and lighter than the usual Asian fare. We had the “Goi Cuon” as an appetizer – pork and veggies wrapped in a chewy rice roll. I had the “Com Chien” (Vietnamese fried rice with shrimp, pork, chicken, eggs, and mixed veggies) as my entree, and Becky had, I think, the “Hu Tieu Xao” (Stir fried flat rice noodles with sliced chicken, red and green peppers, onions, broccoli, green beans and snow peas). Yum.

After dinner we went to hear ***Mike DiBari|http://www.mikedibari.com/index.asp*** at his regular Friday night gig at the Oceana Restaurant in the ***Boston Marriott Long Wharf|http://marriott.com/property/propertyPage.mi?marshaCode=BOSLW***. It was his two-year anniversary of his regular gig there, so we came out in support to listen to his music, have some dessert, and relax. Mike’s trio, for those who don’t know, provided the music at our wedding reception and is really fantastic.

No photos from last night, but be sure to keep checking out the recently-renamed ***World Wide Photography|http://gallery.prwdot.org/***, including the ***grab bag|http://gallery.prwdot.org/grab_bag***, which I add to periodically with random photos from here and there.

Our Website Survey Results

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Sixteen (16) people responded to our survey before the cut-off date. Here is a summary of the data we received:

Demographics

  • 69% of respondents were female
  • 14 of the respondents were in their 20’s
  • One respondent was in their 40’s
  • One respondent was 70 years of age or older

Computer Usage

  • 63% of respondents said they mainly used Windows to browse our site
  • Only one out of the 10 Windows users did not use Internet Explorer
  • Only two of the six people who did not usually use Windows used Internet Explorer
  • Most of the respondents check their email via the web

Familiarity

  • 38% of respondents do not know either Becky or me very well
  • From the 62% of respondents who do know at least one of us, one knew both of us equally well, four knew Becky better, and five knew me better
  • Three respondents said their interests were more similar to Becky’s
  • Four respondents said their interests were more similar to mine
  • Six respondents said their interests were similar to a little bit of both of ours
  • Two respondents said their interests were not similar to either of ours

Site Viewing Habits and Feedback

  • Most respondents visit our site a few times per week
  • 86% of respondents liked or loved our recent website redesign from Huemor, one person disliked it, and the rest were either indifferent or undecided
  • 44% of respondents would like to see a change in the colors on our site
  • 25% of respondents would like to see a change in the page layout on our site
  • 19% of respondents would like to see a change in the graphics and images on our site
  • One respondent wanted to see a change in the fonts on our site

Site Content Preferences

  • 8 of 16 respondents wanted to see more photography
  • 6 of 16 respondents wanted to see more daily life anecdotes
  • 6 of 16 respondents wanted to see more reviews
  • 5 of 16 respondents wanted to see more crafty stuff
  • 5 of 16 respondents wanted to see more recipes
  • 5 of 16 respondents wanted to see more personal opinions
  • 4 of 16 respondents wanted to see more religious discussion
  • 4 of 16 respondents wanted to see more humor
  • 3 of 16 respondents wanted to see more geeky stuff
  • 3 of 16 respondents wanted to see more family stuff
  • Only one respondent wanted to see more political stuff

Lima Beans

  • 5 respondents said that they like lima beans
  • 4 respondents said that they do not like lima beans
  • 4 respondents said that their like or dislike of lima beans “depends” on other factors
  • 2 respondents indicated that they “though this was about our website!”
  • One respondent told us to “leave the beans out of this.”

Observations

  • Our typical site viewer is a 20-something female, using Internet Explorer
  • I rarely test my coding changes on the browser most people use, and yet I rarely get complaints about our site not working in that browser. I must be doing something right
  • We update our site slightly more frequently than most people visit, so most people are probably reading a chunk of new posts with each visit.
  • People older than their 20’s, for the most part, didn’t respond to our survey. I can think of at least eight people who regularly visit our site, are 30 or older, and did not complete a survey. I have two theories which may explain this. First, as you mature, you have a growing social life, family, and career. This leaves you with little time to browse the web, and even less time to fill out a survey. Second, many of the age 30+ people I can think of may feel that Becky and I know them well enough that their response to the survey is unnecessary.
  • Photography was the most requested content in the survey – 50% of respondents want to see more on our site. However, we already have a great photo gallery, with over 3,500 photos. Isn’t that enough? If you wanted to see more photography, in what sense do you mean?
  • For the 44% of our viewers who wanted to see a change in the colors on our site, what specifically would you like to see change?
  • For the folks whose interests are not similar to mine or Becky’s… how did you end up at our site, and responding to our survey?

If you have any responses to questions I’ve raised, or any other comments on our survey results, please leave them in the comments section of this post by clicking on the ‘comments’ link below.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Photo Manipulation

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In celebration of ***getting my camera back|http://prwdot.org/?p=archives/001765***, I have started taking photos of pretty much anything. I’ve created a new album in our photo gallery in which I can put these photos. It’s called ***Grab Bag|http://gallery.prwdot.org/grab_bag***. Go ***check it out|http://gallery.prwdot.org/grab_bag***.

In addition, I have made a few tweaks to the gallery software itself. You should now notice a pleasant blue shaded background, as well as slick drop shadows underneath each image. I’ve also renamed the gallery “World Wide Photography” for that extra little bit of punch. Bam!

Every One A Capone

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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has made available its complete list of tax delinquents. You can ***see the top ten business and individual delinquents|http://dorapps.dor.state.ma.us/disclosure/home.asp***, or ***search for delinquencies by delinquent type and/or the city|http://dorapps.dor.state.ma.us/disclosure/home.asp***.

See if your favorite restaurant is on the list, then boycott them until they pay up! Or, see if your friends and neighbors are on the list, and refuse to return that hammer you borrowed until they cough up the dough!

Hours of fun!

Camera Back!

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I got my camera back today! Hooray!

I kept copious notes of the whole process, for the benefit of other Canon users who may run into the “E18” error that ***I experienced|http://prwdot.org/?p=archives/001725***:

The Timeline

April 19: I contacted Canon customer service, and spoke to a representative named Donna. After discussing the E18 error on my camera, she entered my personal information into their system, and told me to send the camera in to the Powershot service center, using a traceable, insured shipment method, along with a letter explaining the problem and a copy of the original receipt. As my camera was still under its original 1-year warranty, she said that the problem would most likely be fixed at no charge to me.

April 20: Sent camera via FedEx 2 Day from Mail Boxes, Etc. I included a detailed letter which noted the name of the representative I spoke to, all of my contact information, and the serial number of the camera which I was sending.

April 22: Camera delivered to service center in Elk Grove Village, IL

April 26: Canon performs initial inspection and evaluation of camera.

April 28: Canon completes their repairs to my camera.

April 29: I receive an acknowledgement from Canon that they will be performing the repairs to my camera at no charge to me, under the terms of the 1-year warranty.

also on April 29: Canon sends my repaired camera via FedEx 2-Day.

May 3: FedEx attempts to deliver package to our apartment, but nobody is home, so they leave a Door Tag.

May 4: We sign the Door Tag and FedEx leaves the package later in the day.

The Results!!

I must say, Canon was very meticulous in repairing and returning my camera. Not only did they return the camera, but they also returned the letter and receipt I had originally sent. In addition, they removed the mailing label from the package I had sent, and returned it in their package.

They included a letter with their package, with details of the service they performed. A couple of excerpts:

“The service on your equipment has been completed. As part of Canon’s commitment to its customers, you can be assured that your eequipment has been returned to Factory Specifications.”

“Replaced the optical unit.adjusted,updated,cleaned and ck all functions.”

Canon seems to have done an excellent job bringing the camera back to factory specifications. In fact, it is performing even better than before. When the lens retracts, extends, and zooms, it’s much quieter and smoother than it was when I originally purchased it.

Now that I have had the camera repaired through the warranty, it has a new “repair warranty” which lasts for the next three months. So hopefully, if anything else happens to the camera, it will be soon. I expect that it will be fine, as long as I don’t drop it or bump it or anything like that.

Let the [digital] photography resume! 🙂