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I've found WP-Tiger Admin to be one of the most useful plugins in my WordPress installation. It was just updated to version 3.0 and it looks even more gorgeous than before.

I've kicked $10 to the author of the plugin as a small show of my gratitude.

It turns out I'm going to have to wait to help a friend import from Blogger to WordPress. He has Blogger Beta, unfortunately, and the work-arounds are either too complex or too incomplete.

I'm hopeful that the WordPress 2.1 release can import from Blogger Beta - including comments, though this ticket - which remains without a milestone - doesn't give me much hope.

This, unfortunately, may be a "make-or-break" situation.

And I don't just mean right now, but overall, in general.

The MediaTemple (dv) upgrade (dubbed "(dv)3") has apparently slipped a few days to December 21. Still, I'm very much looking forward to the upgrade, as I've patiently waited for about two months now to move The Sand Trap over.

A release candidate software update to the HR20-700S DirecTV HD-DVR (version 0x108) enables, among other things, OTA programming access and "ViiV" capabilities. ViiV, of course, is Intel's little DRM-ish love-in, and as a Mac user - even one using Intel chips - I'm likely excluded.

Currently, people with ViiV-enabled computers can view their photos and play their music from a networked HR20. There have been some reports that installing Windows Media Player 11 and enabling sharing also works. Also, I've seen reports that installing TwonkyMedia on a computer running even Windows 2003 enables the appropriate forms of communication for sharing.

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Soon I'll be helping someone who has a blogspot domain export their entries. I'll then import them into WordPress and set the guy up with his own domain name.

I found these steps for exporting data from blogger, but I cannot walk this gentleman through these steps. He struggles with some of the more basic aspects of blogging, so short of me getting his username and pass and doing it for him, this probably won't happen.

Then, of course, I have to import the data into WordPress. Does WordPress do a reasonable job of importing Blogger data "backed up" in this fashion?

If anyone WordPresser has some helpful hints or wisdom, please share it. Thank you.

Update: Derr, I just noticed that WordPress' import will log into your Blogger account to do all of the importing. Can it be trusted to do the job smoothly?

"Regarding our iPhone" may be the single best thing Fake Steve has ever written.

I realize this is the reverse of how most companies do it. Just about everybody else starts with the product, and only when it's done do they go, Oh, wait, we gotta come up with some sort of ad, don't we? Which is why most advertising sucks, because it's an afterthought. Not here. At Apple, advertising is a pre-thought. And if we can't come up with a good ad, you know what? We'll probably not even do the product.

and

So what's the hold-up? Well, it's packaging. Here at Apple we don't just put something in a box and ship it. We put as much thought, maybe more, into the packaging of the product as we do into the product itself. What we're looking to achieve is this magical sequence that takes place when you open the box. How does the box open? Is there a tongue? Two side slots? What color is the box? Which grade of cardboard do we use? How does it feel to your fingers? And what about inside? How is the iPhone itself presented to the customer when the box first opens? Does it lie flat? Is it tilted up? Is there plastic over it? Do we put a sticky thing over the screen that you have to peel off?

Fucking brilliant! And probably miles closer to the truth than most people would guess.

Guide data on televisions (be it on the TiVo, DirecTV, the TV Guide channel, your local Comcast, Adelphia, Time Warner, etc.) puts lower-numbered channels at the top and higher-numbered channels at the bottom. In other words, the typical guide looks like you see to the right: 501 at the top, 512 at the bottom.

In many guides, the channel up and channel down buttons operate as "page up" and "page down." That is, pushing "channel down" will go "down" a page… but this goes up in number. So if you're looking at channel 501 and note that you want to go "down" three channels to channel 504, you have to press the "channel up" button on your remote three times.

In other words, why are guides on just about every system backwards? Why has this upside-down method become the default way we view our guides? I realize that most local channels occupy lower numbers and we are used to reading from top to bottom, but is that enough of a reason to force this backwards system on users or would putting things the right way result in less overall confusion and easier use?

WordPress' Akismet plugin, well, I'll let it speak for itself:

Akismet has caught 10,627 spam for you since you first installed it.

I "first installed" WordPress here around Halloween.

Today is my four-year "blogiversary." The very first post I made back in 2002 was called "I Hate Perl." I did then, and I still do now (well, I don't really hate it, I just prefer not to use it).

That preference extends to my blogging tool as well. Back in 2002, I was using MovableType. Today, I'm one week away from moving my other site, The Sand Trap, from MovableType to WordPress, having done the same here a few months back. The move will coincide with my ditching of Interland, which is now Web.com and which was HostPro when I signed up with them nearly six years ago.

For about a year now I've used the "official" Touareg-iPod connector from Apple and VW. It works most of the time, but "works" means:

• No ID3 tags or any song/artist/album info on the LCD.
• No way to select individual songs.
• Certainly no way to see any graphics (or video).
• Limited to five playlists (button 6 being "all").
• No way to interact with the iPod except via the controls.
• Slow communication with the iPod.

In other words, it's a solution because it plays music, but does nothing else to leverage all that the iPod can do with video, playlists and organization, or even ID3 tags and album cover graphics.

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For as long as Carey and I have been on the same cell phone plan with Cellular One, receiving text messages has been free. Sending them has always cost $0.10. I send Carey text messages during the day with ideas for dinner, schedules for the evening, etc. She could read them and save them without the hassle of looking at voicemail.

I used to send these messages via the Cellular One website, but then I began sending them via AOL Instant Messenger when that became available. Receiving text messages has always been free and was a large part of the reason Carey and I chose Cellular One.

This month, Carey and I were charged $1.50 for text messages. When Carey called to complain, she was told that a few sentences in our bill last month alerted us to this change and that our contract specifically allowed for such changes. Our cell phone bill, as you can imagine, is 22 pages long, most of which is set in small type, and roughly looks the same every month.

I intend to call back and complain, but if I can't get anywhere, so be it. But that leaves the question: how much will this cost Cellular One in goodwill? Instead of being proactive and sending a separate flier - or including a bright piece of paper separate from our normal bill with "IMPORTANT Update on Text Messaging" (or something) written on it, they just wait, knowing people won't read a few lines that occupy about 0.5% of their bill's text. And instead of saying "We're sorry. I'll credit your account $1.50, but please be aware of the charges going forward," we get this hardline "you should have read your bill" response. Instead of creating a solution, Cellular one created a trio of customers (me, Carey, and her parents all have cell phones on this same plan) who will switch to the hated Verizon as soon as possible!

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OTA, or "over the air" broadcasting, has existed for a loooong time. Starting last night, DirecTV HD DVRs (the "HR20-700S") began receiving a software update that let users tune in and record OTA broadcasts. MPEG-2 OTA broadcasts have a lot of advantages over the MPEG-4 local channels offered by DirecTV: they look a little better (see "HD-Lite"), have subchannels (for things like weather, news, and alternate programming), and often have more HD channels (like PBS in HD, which isn't carried by DirecTV as part of their "locals" programming).

But I couldn't care less about recording OTA broadcasts because OTA in Erie is a disgrace. Though Jack Tirak at the "Erie Media-Go-Round" has more to say on this subject than I ever could, the facts are simple: one Erie channel still hasn't started their full-power digital signal despite federal regulations requiring that this be done by July 1, 2006.

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Scott Stevenson has cancelled his TV service. Through the years I've read a number of blog entries or emails from people who have given up their TV viewing. Many of these posts seem to come from some assumed moral high ground or sense of superiority the author grants himself for casting aside the treachery of modern television. It's as if choosing to abide by the wishes of a previously masked inner-Thoreau makes one person better than another. Scott's post doesn't appear to come from such a place of, but past experiences has built in me a general response whenever I see an "I Quit TV" post. That response is even stronger when the "superiority" sentiment does pop its obnoxious little head from the ground.

The truth is I watch a fair amount of television. The average American watches something like 27 hours of television per day ((Yes, that's hyperbole. The best number I could quickly find is more like 4+ hours per day or 30+ per week.)) - I watch nothing close to that, but I do watch nearly every day.

Some I watch because it's entertaining. Some I watch because it's educational. Some I watch because it makes me laugh or to otherwise feel. Some I watch because it scratches an interest itch.

These are the same reasons people read books.

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Ever since I got the DirecTV HD-DVR, I've had the old DirecTiVo hooked up in the bedroom to Carey's old 19" TV. It's so old it just has a cable jack - no red/white/yellow composite input, let alone an s-video.

So, I'm looking for a good deal on a 27" or so TV for the bedroom. Our bedroom isn't terribly large - we'd be viewing the TV from about ten feet or so. The TV would ideally be a 16:9 TV that supported HD of some variety (720p, maybe 1080i). I prefer brand names (Sony), but the TV won't be used much, so I might be convinced to go with a second-tier brand like Samsung or something.

We have a Best Buy and a Circuit City nearby, along with Sears, JC Penney, etc. The only things that will be hooked to the unit are a DirecTiVo (currently - potentially an HD-DVR in the future) and an older DVD player.

Carey and I have a price point in mind, as this would be our Christmas present to each other, but aren't going to share it. Suffice to say it's under $1,000.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Please comment below.

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