Random and Opinionated Thoughts

by: Jennifer Zelazny

Web Development WordPress

wordpress update notification to the rescue.

I was working on a project for a client and downloaded a plugin that was advertised to do the exact thing I needed – but when I installed it on my development server (still running 2.2 for this client) the plugin did not work. After spending time trying to figure out what the issue was, […]

WordPress

wordpress 2.3 updates: afterthoughts.

I have not updated multiple web sites from WordPress 2.2.x to 2.3 and wanted to share some afterthoughts. I enjoy working with WordPress because of the simplicity of their upgrades. Eight out of ten sites sites I updated so far to 2.3 had no problems whatsoever. The two sites (this one was one of them) […]

Life

Cool Insect

This post was going to be about updating jappler.com from WordPress 2.2.x to WordPress 2.3RC 1, but on the way back from my daily walk with Triscuit (my greyhound) I noticed a super cool bug on the side of my house. I decided to share my picture of it instead of talking about the bugs […]

Software

Beautiful Charts, Diagrams, and Maps

How many times are you going to use that nasty looking Excel chart to show your data? If you are like me and are tired of seeing ugly charts, diagrams, and maps, check out: amCharts. Hmm, another example where 1. I do not have to use Office to get a chart and 2. it is […]

Business

Software Trends

In the past few years, I have used AppleWorks, Keynote, Open Office, Neo Office, Google Docs, and yes, Microsoft Office for my document, spreadsheet, and presentation needs. I have not been too happy with any of the options – but yesterday things changed. I downloaded the new version of Open Office (v.2.3) and I tried […]

Music Podcasts

What Am I Listening To These Days?

People that know me, know I like to listen to my music with the volume cranked up, that I work better with music in the background, and that I am passionate about great music. For the last few years, I have really gotten into vocal trance (dance music that is a bit more edgy/hard than […]

Games

back playing socom ii.

It has been at least a year – probably 2 since I stopped playing SoCom II but a few weeks Doug started playing again and got me interested again. I have to say, playing it on my new TV which is almost twice the size of my old TV is definitely nice. It is equally […]

Business

Managing a Business and a Life

I have now been “on my own” for five months. Five glorious months without hoping I could leave an hour early to take my son to the doctor, sending in my vacation requests six months ahead of time, and dealing with a lot of other ugliness that I had grown tired of. The last five […]

Serenity Now!

Not So Much Fun With DirectTV

I scheduled an appointment to upgrade to Directv HD. Mind you – I get something from Comcast almost everyday about switching to their service. I have been very happy with Directv for over a year now, but it seems their customer service is a bit lacking. I had a no show/no call appointment on Monday […]

Web Development

why is my web site slow?

If you have ever wondered why your web site was slow or how you could speed up your web site, check out: YSlow (Firefox extension). This plugin works with Firebug and will show you list of issues, and suggestions to improve speed. Check it out!