PHP Upgrade for 5.3

May 10th, 2011

Busy updating websites so they work in PHP 5.3
a somewhat boring task:
change each MySQL login password so it is stored in the new format
and update any depreciated code:
replace split with preg_split
replace ereg with preg_match
and wait for them to come to term!
Or postpone the problem till PHP 6 by ignoring all depreciated warnings:
error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE & ~E_DEPRECATED);
and do the job properly later…

Links:
PHP 5.3 depreciated functions
error-reporting

Census – Students to be exterminated

March 28th, 2011

According to the census form – if you are a student and have any part time or casual employment you will not be classified as a student but instead as a part time or casual employee with a very low salary.
I am still trying to work out if this is ‘conspiracy’ or ‘cock-up’?

Census Form

March 28th, 2011

Just finished filling in my census form, spent hours trying to work out the correct answer to enter into the box labeled “This Question left Blank Intentionally”.

Possible Answers:
YES – but then the box is not blank intentionally or otherwise.
NO – as the box is not blank.
TRUE – would reflect on the intention of the form designer,
UNTRUE – as the box is not blank but the intention was TRUE
FALSE – correct as far as the blankness of the box is concerned
DONT KNOW – can’t figure out what the question means, let alone the intention of the questioner.
PASS – maybe the best answer – this is the one I settled on.

any other possible answers interpretations – please comment below…

Inflation up again

February 15th, 2011

The Bank of England governor said that excluding the effects of the rise in VAT, the fall in sterling and recent increases in commodity prices and energy prices inflation would probably have increased at a rate “well below” the 2% target.

In other words if we exclude inflation from the figures,
our inflation rate would be zero!

I am now waiting for the company that announces massive director bonuses with a chairman’s statement the includes the quote “apart from the losses this year we are a profitable company”.

see full article

WordPress Upgrade – White Screen of Death

October 21st, 2010

Just upgraded my wordpress blog to the latest version. All seemed to go OK but when I looked at the blog all I got was a blank page. After a few hours of searching I finally got it up and working again. For any one else in the same position (and as reminder to myself for the next time!!)

1. turn off all plugins
2. after loading the new code dont forget to load any plugins and themes you are using

Probably best to install the new version over the old version that way all the plugins will still be there.