Before you run any upgrade for Movable Type, always, always back-up your entries. I had this intense fear that I lost all my entries dating back to 2002 because I didn’t think to back-up my blog before updating MT. I thought about laughing it all off and starting fresh, but I am not that kind of man. I freaked the fuck out and kept myself unnecessarily up for nights at a time trying to remedy the errors.

DixieSys is my server host, only now it’s owned by 415 whatever. The point is, my problems began when my site was transferred to a new server. If your site succumbs to such a fate, your MT configuration will be hosed. And trying to re-configure your MT system will be hell.

use strict;
BEGIN { $ENV{'MT_HOME'} = '/home/james/domains/jhames.com/public_html/cgi-bin/mt'; }

See that lovely bit of code? I had to enter that into every CGI file because of the new server configuration. If you have to do the same, you can get your current working directory by running ‘mt-check.cgi’. Oh, and if you think you are going to find that solution in any documentation produced by MovableType, think again.

Now that I have my site up and running again, I am going to look into WordPress and its ability to manage multiple blogs. And if the shit works, then it’s goodbye MT and hello WP.

Lexi is a fellow vegan and has her own production company. She has worked in the industry for 10 years (you’d never know it) and truly enjoys her career. She went to school for chemical engineering and can tell you some horror stories about the foods we eat. Incidentally, maraschino cherries contain benzaldehyd and not formaldehyde, but you still have artificial food coloring to contend with.

Lexi and I traded contact information and now we’re friends on a couple social networks (!!!). This only goes to show that you should take every opportunity to talk with someone new ’cos you never know just who you’ll meet.

You should come here.

Our dear friends The Prids - David, Mistina, Joey and Maile - and two of their significant others - Kristin and Chris - were in a serious accident early Sunday evening while en route to Los Angeles on tour. A tire blew and they lost control of the van and it rolled several times. David was airlifted from the scene of the crash, he suffered a broken collar bone, broken ribs and has 6 staples in his head. Chris broke his arm in two places. Maile has a broken vertebra and toe and a severe cut with stitches on her knee. Joey broke ribs, Mistina suffered a concussion, and Kristin has a snapped joint in her collar bone.

As of late that night, everyone had been released from the hospital but David had to go back in the middle of the night and was released Monday afternoon. Maile is currently back in the emergency room.The rest are currently staying at a hotel in Fresno waiting to go home with their friends, Marshal and Kiisu, that drove down from Portland with a cooler full of vegan food donated by Food Fight (Portland).

A special paypal account has been set up to help out and donate directly to The Prids. They need help getting home and paying their hospital bills. If you can't help out monetarily, please repost this info on your blogs, etc. They could also use lots of vegan food and comfy cushions/pillows/bedding for their long ride home to Portland. Thanks!

You can learn more about the accident on Portland Independent Media Center. Please make a donation today, any amount helps.

If you have problems with the link, you can send a donation directly to donate@theprids.com.

1. I asked the Apple Store kid if I could use my iTunes library at home and office on my iPhone. He said yes. Kid lied.
2. I can’t use MP3 files as ringtones: I either have to accept the ringtones that came with my iPhone – “marimba” sounded like a toy box, I can’t take that seriously – purchase new ones for $2 on iTunes music store, or purchase software that converts my music files. Why can’t I just use MP3 files?
3. I can’t send a friend a text message with a photo attachment, I can only e-mail photos. Who came up with this?
4. How do I empty my browser cache and clear my history?
5. I have Bluetooth but my computer can’t browse my device.
6. If I allow the iPhone to join my home Wi-Fi, my computer loses half its access.

Yep, it seems like a phoenix, Nau will rise from the ashes. Six weeks ago the eco outdoor apparel company, that some had dubbed ‘Patagonia-meets-Prada’, closed its doors due to a venture capital drought. But today the company has officially announced, to paraphrase Arnie, “We’ll be back.”

Read the entire article

All I can say is thank God. With fall right around corner, Daddy needs to update his wardrobe and I only have one sweater from Nau. Jackets from Prada aplenty, but just the one sweater.

Dear Mr. Elliott:

First of all thank you for the letter of concern and second I apologize for you having to experience a sub par condition of our DT Seattle club. I can assure you that we take our cleanliness and member concerns very serious.

I am currently out of the office until next week but will address the situation as soon as I get back. There are never any excuses for our club to not be at the standard of excellence and obviously we have dropped the ball here.

Once I do my due diligence and get this situation fixed, I will follow back up with you to let you know what steps we have taken to make sure you or any other member never has to go through this again.

We do appreciate your patronage Mr. Elliott and please know that at 24 Hour Fitness we do care about making sure we have the best facilities and the best member experience.

Sincerely,
Steve Block
Regional Vice President

Lesson: every member of a company should recognize their brand and its value to the consumer. It’s not enough that an executive should understand what it means to uphold a company’s mission and values. Where the disconnect occurred between a regional vice president and a club manager is a soon to be an open employment opportunity.

Monday I received an e-mail from the club manager: I would receive a full refund of my prepaid membership. Never doubt the power of the consumer.

I want search engines to link their search results with this entry, thus I made a clear, concise statement about the gym. The club, to date, will not refund my entire prepaid membership and will not take any responsibility for its lack of hygiene in the locker rooms. I have no intention of taking a partial credit for my membership, 24 Hour Fitness is negligible for its unsanitary practices and placing their members at risk for exposure to pubic lice. I have already begun a widespread campaign to bring down the facility until my demand is met: online reviews of 24 Hour Fitness.

Taking search engine optimization one step further, I am linking this entry to my review of 24 Hour Fitness in Downtown Seattle on Yelp. I also posted reviews of 24 Hour Fitness in Downtown Seattle on NWSource, Yahoo! Local and Google. Within the past few days, two of my reviews are within the top 10 search results for “pubic lice locker rooms” and “pubic lice from my gym”.

24 Hour Fitness, as a brand and a service, cannot afford to lose consumer trust. Any slip in a company’s brand allows its competition a market advantage: money must be invested in public relations and increased advertising to win back the consumer.

My prepaid membership totaled $391.82.
24 Hour Fitness will easily spend that amount, and much more, within an hour in hopes of reversing the PR damage done.

Lesson for any brand: do not ignore or abuse the consumer’s trust. Especially in the electronic age.

I have been using Plurk and I think you should check it out!

• Accept my invitation
• Check out my profile

“Plurk.com – Your life, on the line”

Srsly? I love Plurk. Twitter iswas fun but trying to keep track of friends without a timeline proves difficult. Not only can I see when my friends post – plurk – a message, I can also comment on them. And, AND, you can toggle between public and private plurks.

Watching the site is obsessive—how can other social networks compete with this level of cool? Now if only Plurk will integrate with iTunes…

Opossum est un nom donné aux mammifères de la famille des didelphidés.

L'opossum est présent en nouvelle zélande , il y a été introduit par les premiers colons.

What I want to know is why someone would introduce opossum to New Zealand?

“Shopping in Urban makes you feel like you are somewhere radically Left-wing, an antidote to the corporate blandness of The Gap. But Hayne is a stanch conservative who donates money to Republican politicians, not least Rick Santorum, a now failed Senator whose views on homosexuality are both bizarre and old-fashioned. Hayne doesn’t give many interviews precisely because he’s afraid that college slackers who get to know him will suddenly realise that buying his clothes is like giving cash to George Bush.”

Now will everyone please stop supporting this company already? I mean honestly.