Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

My first bad moment with WordPress

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The latest WordPress upgrade to 3.1.1 is the first time I’ve ever had any problems updating, so it really took me by surprise. On the scale of bad technology moments, it was still pretty low (maybe 2 out of 10). I had two very recent backups of both database and files, one at work and one at home. I ended up not needing either one.

What happened is that all of my admin functions slowed to a crawl. The site itself was loading fine for viewers. But it took forever to publish a post, open a post for editing… or to do anything at all. After googling to see whether anyone else was having similar problems, I disabled all of the plugins and re-updated. Everything was back to normal speed, so I started adding back plugins one by one. When I got to the last one, I added it back to verify that it was the culprit. It wasn’t. Everything was still back to normal speed. It still is. So I guess I’ll never really know for sure what the problem was.

(NaBloPoMo | April ’11: 7 of 30)

Wrestling with technology

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I’m thinking about using Joomla! 1.6 for a major reboot of a website I maintain. So I’ve been wrestling with it all night. I just popped over here to make my daily post, and I see that WordPress 3.1.1 is waiting for me.

I’ve been a little lax about updates and stuff, so I’m going to make this short and take care of my updates and scans and backups and such before heading off to bed. Good night, and hope with me that I don’t break anything!

(NaBloPoMo | April ’11: 5 of 30)

You may have noticed a change in our tagline…

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If not, take a look up there, over a bit to the right. World domination is still a core value here. But now we’re going to take pictures of it, too.

One of my goals for the year is to gain some proficiency with the Canon EOS Rebel XS entry-level DSLR I bought last fall. Seeing as even the birds say “no photos, please” when they see me coming…

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…this might be a bit harder than I thought at first. I’m seeking professional help, though, and there will be much more about that in future posts. I’m taking some of Kent Weakley’s photography e-classes and they have given me a good start toward learning more about how to effectively use my camera.

I still have a long way to go, so I hope you don’t mind hearing about my progress (and hopefully it is forward progress, not lack of progress) in the days to come.

(NaBloPoMo | April ’11: 4 of 30)

Really? Ten issues?

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The tenth issue of The Total Rottweiler Magazine is being put to bed even as I type.

Hmmm, do they still say “put to bed” for sending a publication to the printer? The printer is here in Illinois, just two hours southwest of me. But I won’t be arranging for a courier or driving flats or film to the printer myself. Our editor Jane is in British Columbia, finishing up last-minute page corrections and uploading them to the printer’s server. I’m doing the final check and approval on those pages as she finishes uploading them. Everything is done online.

During the 17 years I have been in Rottweilers, many breed specific publications have come and gone. I still have fond memories of the original TRQ — The Rottweiler Quarterly. It may have often been way behind schedule, but the original owners always made good on subscriptions and advertising payments, one way or another. I can’t say the same for subsequent owners, and there are a few other now-defunct Rottweiler publications that out and out screwed over their subscribers and advertisers.

So I’m not surprised there was a place for us — so many others have bailed, some with honor and others without any class at all. And I’m not surprised that Jane has been able to keep the magazine going. She is one of the most determined people I’ve ever met. Her past life in accounting didn’t hurt either. I think a lack of knowledge in that area is what sent some of the other magazines to an early demise.

But it really did sneak up on me that we are just now finishing up issue number ten. Feels like a real accomplishment to hit that number!

(NaBloPoMo | April ’11: 3 of 30)