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WordPress 2.3 Update

webmaster — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:41:58 +0000

I’ve just successfully completed my WordPress 2.3 update. As far as WordPress updates go, this was a pretty big one. So big, in fact, that I actually followed the instructions and disabled (most) of my plugins to be sure the site worked after the update. I knew however, that disabling my plugins would just leave my site riddled with little “function x does not exist!” crumbs. So I employed a new plugin to aid me in reclaiming a clean site – Maintenance Mode. Very helpful. It’s something that exists in a lot of CMS software, but was left out in WordPress until recently. This little piece of code allowed me to demonstrate a splash page (which a few of you might have noticed earlier today) whilst I wreaked havoc on things behind the scenes.

The update went through with no problems, though I had some issues with incompatible plugins that weren’t actually generating errors. To make a long, technical story more easily digestible, I can summarize by saying you need about 16MB of memory allocated to PHP’s script execution in PHP 5.2 and WordPress 2.2.2 (including WordPress 2.3). You’ll also want to update plugins that hit deprecated tables in WordPress such as the Google Sitemap Generator and the WordPress Database Backup. Both of these have current versions that address this problem. I also migrated over from the Ultimate Tag Warrior to WP 2.3′s integrated tag management features. It’s not quite as slick as what UTW had put together, but it’s working and I have great expectations for its extensibility with additional plugins. At any rate, it probably goes without saying that you should not keep UTW enabled with the new version of WordPress – I had heard some people didn’t have any problems with it, but I don’t see how as it makes calls to non-existent (deprecated) tables (e.g. post2cat).

Equifax Customer Service is Just Lip Service

Olaf — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 17:41:31 +0000

In an attempt to make some mid-year resolutions, I am trying to be more diligent about managing finances and monitoring things like my credit report. I wasn’t the victim of an identity theft crime, but then again, how would I know? I just decided that I should take an active interest in things like…er…interest. Finances in general have never been a strong-point for me. I make money, spend money; my financial management program is akin to most people’s attention to filling up their gas tank. When the car turns on its light saying, “here’s the thing, I’m nearly out of gas and we’re in the middle of nowhere. This isn’t just your problem now, it’s mine as well,” I start thinking about when and where I’m going to get more gas. I believe they call this “living paycheck to paycheck.” I don’t know what percentage of the population out there does this, but I would make a guess – based upon the percentage of individuals using credit – that the number is pretty high. I’m not doing so well on the general financial management aspect of things. The notion of a budget is quite advanced for me. It seems to take a considerable amount of time to construct, monitor, and adjust it consistently. On the credit report detail, against my earnest efforts to do this right, I’m being thwarted.

I have just about written off Equifax completely. If it weren’t for their industry reputation and reliance, I would drop them altogether. As it is, I feel like I have to live with the service problems because Equifax is the behemoth and I’m the peon.

Screw that! They pissed me off today for the last time – hence this negative post. I even made up a new word for my discontentment. Flog (fart log). It’s a blog (web log) a la Monty Python. Equifax, I flog in your general direction!

I ordered the Equifax Score Watch (TM) monthly subscription to give myself a way to watch my score as it changes month-to-month and access free and discounted credit reports when it’s appropriate. The ordering process seemed professional enough until the end. It was unable to process my credit card to pay for the service. I thought it a fluke at first and even gave it another card to try. I became concerned that perhaps I was being taken for a ride – giving up credit information to evil hackers at the very place I thought I was safe. I did some digging and couldn’t find any signs of tampering. It seemed that Equifax was just unable to process credit cards. Having returned to place the order in the next day or so, I was met with success – confidence restored – and the order was handled promptly and correctly. The goods were delivered instantly and I was able to enjoy my Score Watch product immediately. After just a short while of playing around with the account features, I started getting pages that indicated that Equifax was having some application problems at the business logic layer. The interface worked perfectly, but most of the account-related functions were no longer working. Frustration. I go away and come back the next day to meet the same type of problems. I discover that I can work around the problem by navigating back into the details from the order summary link. It’s a minor issue to me, but a frustration nonetheless. I assume it’s just related to some heavy-use patterns that Equifax is experiencing.

Then I find a real case for contacting support. The credit report (provided by Score Power within Score Watch) gives you very granular details about your credit history. There’s a summary that effectively tells you what positive and negative factors there are that creditors may use. I try to look into a negative factor and I can’t find it in the details. Maybe it’s there and I’m unable to figure it out, or maybe there’s a problem in the correlation between Score Power and my credit report. That’s what I want to find out. I contact support via email (my preferred avenue to begin things) to ask about the problem. It takes through a form in which it asks some personal information such as your social security number for account verification and such. It seems logical, though I would prefer if it just linked my account number to the contact form. I get an email the next day stating that they can’t find my account and that they need additional information from me. That infuriates me. I’m supposed to be dealing with a professional company. Why am I using a half-assed application unable to facilitate the management of its customers? I give them what they need anyway. How else will my problem ever be solved? Now, five days later they reply with what surely is an automated form response to my inquiry:

Dear Mr. Gradin, …

Our records indicate that you ordered the Equifax Score Watch (TM) monthly subscription. This
subscription includes two free Score Power (TM) reports, one at enrollment and one to be used at
any time during your subscription, and discounts on additional Score Power(R) reports.

Please note, as the Credit Report is a snapshot of your file as of the date you purchased, it will
not be updated during the time is viewable. In order to view your updated credit report, please follow the instructions
listed below

Please visit our website, www.Equifax.com

Click on Customer login.

Enter the User ID and Password and then click “LOGIN”.

Under the heading “Equifax Member Center”, click on “Equifax ScoreWatch (TM)”, your FICO (R) Score is already visible.

Click on ” Score Power (R)” on the menu at the left side of the page

From this point you are able to view your Credit Report or to pull a new Score Power (R) at the
discounted price…

If you need further assistance, please contact us…

Seriously?!? Do you think I would have contacted support to ask about a problem within the application if I couldn’t figure out how to access it? Do you think I would have contacted support to ask how I might purchase additional products? Plan B is to call Equifax support to work through the problem. I’m sure I can get to the bottom of this…eventually, but if you’re a company offering email support, staff it with support personnel.

I replied to the email with an inappropriate remark on the service representative’s ineptitude. I’m reminded of Despair’s apt words of wisdom on motiviation.

Improving a Working Process

Olaf — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 18:03:34 +0000

Why would anybody engineer a toilet that works like this? It has been done – I’ve seen pictures! But why?!? I believe this is a good candidate for Darren’s Hall of Technical Documentation Weirdness. I do like the apparent pleasure a segregated movement brings the man in the first picture. I think more than anything, sitting on the frontal bowl of the toilet would bring some discomfort as pictured in the next frame.

Meet a New Book Every Day

Olaf — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:26:00 +0000

Grab the nearest book.
Open the book to page 123.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post the text of the sentence in your entry along with these instructions.
Don’t search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Do what’s actually next to you.

“Range patterns match from the first occurence of one pattern to the first occurence of the second pattern, then match for the next occurence of the first pattern to the next occurence of the second pattern, etc.”
– Ellie Quiqley, UNIX Shells by Example

This idea was brought to you by firetie, Navid Azimi, and Sean.

If you happen to continue this meme into the blogosphere, try and continue the link references so everyone gets a copy of your quote in a Trackback Ping.

Trading Spouses: The Eclectic Edition

Olaf — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 03:19:43 +0000

Is anyone watching this show?!? Tonight’s episode of Trading Spouses on the FOX Network must have been the best comedy drama on TV in a long time! I didn’t even see the whole thing, I just came in for the finale. The gist was that they put a fanatical Cathoholic woman into the home of New Age hippies – Universalists perhaps – and watched the fun! The woman totally freaked out in ways I could not have imagined. I started to think it might have just been an act. She tore up her $50,000 check and dispersement instructions to rid herself of the demons. Idiot. I noticed in the epilogue that she reconsidered later. I think they should have kept their money. Mrs. Perrin got her chance and threw it away. The drama part was when her children were subjected to her over-done act of hostility towards the D’Amico-Flisher family. From what I understand, the Perrin family seemed to like Mrs. D’Amico-Flisher, so they were reasonably jolted when mom came home and screamed fire and brimstone at everybody. Worth a watch if FOX is still showing the clip from the outburst.

*UPDATE* The Wikipedia has some referencial data on Marguerite “Psychosis” Perrin. Looks like her fame has brought some unwanted attention. Way to go FOX.

And also Perrin’s appearance on Access Hollywood.

JB Lotteries, MCC Construction Corporation, & The Manchester Register

Olaf — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 12:44:29 +0000

What could JB Lotteries, MCC Construction Corporation, and the Manchester Register all have in common? A scam, it would seem. I received a letter in the mail yesterday shipped 2-day FedEx Express from one Aimee Bird with JB Lotteries in NewYork. The envelope is accurate, the material inside is convincing. It also comes with a check enclosed for $4,822.59. The idea of the message is that I have won some money in a lottery and this is the first payment from the lottery. To receive the rest of the money, I need to contact JB Lotteries’ attorney to pay a 4% EU regulatory tax on the winnings. Not suprisingly, the mailing address at the bottom of the letter is somehwere in Manchester, UK. The address is actually an address for the Manchester Registrar, a company dealing with funeral preparations or something. I can’t be sure that there isn’t a 3rd floor as the address indicates, but my hunch can probably be resolved with a phone call to the Registrar. The phone number matches up until the prefix. The prefix seems out of the range for this part of Manchester, but I’m wondering where it connects. The website, www.jblotteries.com, points nowhere (registered, but just locked-in). Here’s the real problem. The check included with the packet seems real enough. It is written from the MCC Construction Corporation and has what looks like a valid check routing and account number on it. If it is valid, then MCC has got to be mighty pissed. I could cash this check and get some money from this construction company out of Colorado. The people that setup the scam must have had something to do with this company at some point recently to have such mal intent towards them. Let this be your warning, should you receive a similar package in the mail.

Here’s the letter’s transcription:

Dear Olaf Gradin,

On behalf of JB Lotteries, I would like to congratulate you on this wonderful occasion. At the drawing that took place on the 1st of September, 2005 you have been selected as our secondary prize winner. You are being awarded a prize in the amount of 94,000.00 US Dollars, a part of which is already included in the winner’s package that you have received.

Our international lottery is sponsored by several Internet websites, and is held for promotional purposes. As a customer of one of our sponsors you were automatically registered with our lottery.

Below are instructions on how to receive the rest of your winnings. Our lottery is officially registered in the European Union, therefore there are some formalities that must be completed before the final check can be drawn.

Enclosed in your winner’s package is a check in the amount of $4822.59. According to EU regulations, lottery winners from outside the European Union must pay a nominal tax of 4%. Unfortunately, due to current regulations, we cannot pay this tax for you from your winnings. You must pay the tax yourself in person or through a legal representative. To make it easier for our winners to claim their prizes, we work together with a local law firm which takes care of all the formalities and pays the tax for the winner.

Attached is an EU Tax ID application, which must be submitted to the EU authorities together with the tax payment. Our partner law firm, Joel Mann Attorney at Law, will file the application and deposit the tax payment on your behalf. Please fill and sign the attached form and fax it to 1-866-739-0162 as soon as possible. Thereafter you must contact our partner law firm by email at jbservice@joelmannlaw.com and follow their instructions.

This process normally takes 2-3 business days. Thereafter we will Fedex you your final check. Your personal Winner ID is 3442239213. You must fill in this number on your EU Tax ID application.

Best Regards,

Claims manager
Lindsey Jackson
JB Lotteries
lindsey.jackson@jblotteries.com

Letter head footer:
47 Lloyd Street, 3rd Floor, Manchester M2 5LE, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (161) 660-7198 – Fax: +44 (161) 660-7198
www.jblotteries.com