Blog has been updated to WordPress v2.2.3 and other changes.

I’ve updated my blog to WordPress v2.2.3 which includes a few security updates, a couple of which were high priority, and some bug fixes. Like before, I only updated the changed files. Since vars.php was one of the updated files, I did have to edit it and force the $is_apache variable to be true since on my server, the server_software variable comes back with WebServerX instead of Apache. Following is the part that I changed:

// Server detection
//$is_apache = ((strpos($_SERVER['SERVER_SOFTWARE'], 'Apache') !== false) || (strpos($_SERVER['SERVER_SOFTWARE'], 'LiteSpeed') !== false)) ? true : false;
$is_apache = true;

If I do not do this, then it will not modify the .htaccess file if I change the permalink structure.

I have also decided to reduce the possible annoyance factor when loading my website by not automatically playing the random MIDI file that is loaded into in the media player in the bottom-left frame. You now have to click play in order to hear the song. All other “play” links on the site will cause the player to automatically start playing.

I am aware that my site still uses those evil frames and how taboo it is these days to use them, not to mention the difficulties some search engines have with them. I’ll investigate my options… I just don’t like a seperate pop-up window, tab or browser to be created when clicking on a “play” link. It just makes browsing the site so.. disjointed. Hmmm.. 😕

Site performing normal again and some website updates.

Well, the server seems to be behaving ok again. Haven’t seen the symptom again for two days now. Watch it happen again as soon as I post this, or tomorrow. LOL. Anyway, to make my main page more efficient, I am going to keep just including a static text file that contains my blog entries. I’ll only update that file when I actually update my blog.. like right after I make this post. My gallery image is still using the PHP Curl method. I also used to have separate log and counter scripts. I have combined both operations into the counter script in a more efficient way. I realized a better method of getting the actual referer (where a visitor to my webpage came from) which allowed me to get rid of the log script which was being called via an IMG tag. It’s a little tricky when using a framed website because the referer of the “main” page is always the “index” page that sets up all the frames and loads the menu, midi, and main frames. I am also now able to log the search bots as they visit my site. Normally, the search bots would not request my log script that was in an IMG tag. I also now save the count into a session variable so that it only counts a visitor once in a session.

In addition to all that, I have been playing around with Apache’s mod_rewrite and changed how my midi and some other items are handled so that now a normal looking link like http://www.markheadrick.com/midi/d/BeenThnk.mid is redirected to my midi database script for processing and the browser is none the wiser. Works better with search engines as well. Here’s what it looks like:

<ifmodule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
# BEGIN Midi
RewriteRule ^midi/d/([A-Za-z_0-9\)\(\-]*)\.mid$ php/mididb.php?action=download&id=$1.mid [L]
RewriteRule ^midi/d/([A-Za-z_0-9\)\(\-]*)\.kar$ php/mididb.php?action=download&id=$1.kar [L]
# END Midi
</ifmodule>

Well, I guess that’s about it as far as website updates go. :mrgreen:

Oh yeah, if you haven’t seen it, go see Bourne Ultimatum! That movie rocks!!!

Recent server issues slowing down site.

This will only make sense reading on my main website. Due to specific server problems, the random gallery image will most likely not display and my latest Blog entries will probably take around 20 seconds to appear. Hopefully the problem can be corrected soon, but expecting it to be awhile. A major cPanel and email upgrade may have messed up the DNS configurations. It’s taking like 20 seconds for it to find the IP address of blog.markheadrick.com and gallery.markheadrick.com during the page build process. My Blog and Gallery by themselves are working great. ARGH!! Bang head!

Until it gets fixed, I’ll just include a text file with the same information. Which I may just change to doing anyway since it is actually quite a bit more efficient. I’d only regenerate the information after updating my blog. I might be able to get around the gallery delay by writing some code to access the gallery database directly. Hmmmm… In any event, they do need to correct that problem. Actually, this has been happening off and on since August 4th and a few days ago it was fixed. But, I think these recent updates have undone the fix to the DNS configurations. 🙁

STS-118 Space Shuttle Endeavor Launch

On August 8th, 2007, the NASA STS-118 Space Shuttle Endeavor successfully launched to rendezvous with the International Space Station. Big Grin For those that missed it, here’s a video of the launch:

Now there’s something to watch on NASA TV, woohoo!! Green with Envy Let’s all pray for a successful mission and safe return back to Earth.

Thoughts and prayers also go out to the trapped miners and their families in Utah. 🙁