Month: August 2005

Careful

Just got my first “phishing” email which alleges to have come from PayPal. It doesn’t.

The subject line reads: Your account will be suspended!

It reads:

Dear Paypal User,
In accordance with our major database relocation, we are currently having major adjustments and updates of user accounts to verify that the informations you have provided with us during the sign-up process are true and correct. However, we have noticed some discrepancies regarding your account at Paypal. Possible causes are inaccurate contact information and invalid logout process.

We require you to complete an account verification procedure as part of our security measure.

It then asks you to click a link which, I can assure you, has nothing to do with Paypal. I’ve let them know about it, but I’d advise you to be careful if you receive something similar.

Top tip: If you use Thunderbird as your email client, the REAL email address is displayed, in this case whilst it looks like it’s coming from service AT paypal DOT com, it’s really coming from service AT mythtv DOT lan. Alternatively, switch your email client to use a plain text view as most of these “phishing” emails come in HTML format. You’ll soon see the real details hidden away behind the “click this link now!” text.

August 22, 2005

Nonentity Bloggers

Apparently this idea is all my fault.. or at least the fault of the fine readership of this very site (ok, I can’t really lay claim to this at all but that won’t stop me trying!!).

I like the idea though but have to admit that, and I’m not sure why it’s only struck me now, but as when Vaughan mentions “those self-important bloggers who like nothing more than discussing their own self-importance are utterly tiresome and painfully dull” I suddenly “got it” (it may be catching, beware).

Creating a “blogosphe…” (ick) to help them feel more accepted and less of an outcast is why the A-list exists – the stereotype of a pizza munching, Gatorade slurping geek is true!!

Except it isn’t really but hey, it’s a nice thought.

Anyway, I see that www.nonentitybloggers.co.uk isn’t taken… yet… and I guess a button would be nice too, right? Or is that kind of against the spirit of the thing? (I was going to call it a “movement” but don’t want to attach any labels).

August 22, 2005

Linkeroo

So I’ve been trimming that big ole’ blogroll (on the left), trimming the chaff/dead and adding in a few that have been on my “Auditioning” pile for a while.

Which means I need to find some new sites to “audition”. But who? Over to you, dear reader, anyone I SHOULD be reading but don’t have linked? Anyone you think I’d enjoy, anyone you think would be a good addition to the list? Quality rules (with the exception of some of the layabouts whom I link to purely for historic reasons and not because they bribe me).

One site per commenter please, but not your own site!

August 22, 2005

Weekender

Grass cut – check
Weeding done – check
Long walk round Balloch Park in glorious sunshine – check
Lunch and lounging in the sun at my parents – check
Dinner at sister-in-laws with Louise’s Mum & Dad – check
Arsenal vs Chelsea – check
Count of Monte Cristo (the film) – check
Started new book (Lanark) – check
Completely bloody knackered but had great weekend – check!

How was yours?

August 21, 2005

Upgraded

What I did (for Lyle and anyone else).

Usual caveats apply, if you’ve done a lot of hacking then YOU need to know what YOU’VE changed. This is all taken from the WordPress Upgrade documentation. Worked for me.

The Preparation
1. Backup your database and the files on your site.
2. Download the WordPress ZIP file for 1.5.2.
3. De-activate all plugins on your site (will make your site look funny until the files are upgraded). I’d suggest taking a note of them as well, just in case you need to upgrade them too (I didn’t have to).

Note: It is NOT necessary to run install.php or upgrade.php as no changes are made to the database. As with all WordPress upgrades, the contents of your /wp-content/ folder should remain intact and unchanged.

The Upgrade
1. Delete /wp-admin/ folder.
2. Delete /wp-includes/ folder
3. Delete all the wordpress files in the root directory where the root index.php file is found. DO NOT DELETE wp-config.php. Note: My WordPress install is in a separate folder, I deleted all the files in my “WordPress” folder, leaving the remaining folders intact.
4. Download and extract the new version.
5. Upload the appropriate folders – /wp-admin/ and /wp-includes/ – and the files they contain.
6. Upload all the files in the WordPress root directory to your WordPress folder.
7. Re-activate your plugins.

Done. Hopefully. Was a breeze this time round, the docs could still do with a little “dis-ambiguating” and I guess it’s about time I used my membership of the doc team to good effect!

August 19, 2005

Snippets

R.I.P. Mo Mowlam. Sad news indeed, one of the “good” politicians. I won’t say anything about who should be attending her funeral, but he had better!

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Thanks to all who commented on yesterdays Top 100 post. Despite it being a subject many don’t see any value in it has still managed to stir up the most comments of the week. I’ll stop there rather than read anything into that…

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Extras. Getting funnier, even though the “star” of last nights appeared for all of 5 minutes. Has to be the most cringeworthy thing on telly at the moment, and has managed to up the “laugh out loud” count (or LOL for our txt spk redrs). Even the small lines are improving – particularly the throwaway “Pig” insult. Subtle.

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HaloScan news. There is now HaloScan News and HaloScan Help will be formally announced soon. I’m preparing myself for some backlash once the help pages are opened up but they should help people. If you want a brief sample of what I do as a part of my day job have a gander.

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Forgot to record “Ever Wondered About Food?” last night, which Graybo says was quite good. It’s presented by Paul Merrett who I know from the “The Best” cooking show, which is something of a guilty pleasure (what an awful photo of the lovely Silvana that is…). Another guilty pleasure is …. no no, I’ll save that for another time.

P.S. Graybo – I did look but how the hell do I get that SPEWS thing to let me leave comments? It just blocks ALL blueyonder IP addresses, surely there is a whitelist or something?

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That’s yer lot for a couple of days. Busy weekend ahead and an upgrade to WordPress to fit in somewhere. Have a good weekend everyone.

August 19, 2005