As I was creating my previous post, I went to upload the preview for my screenshot. Normally, this would go without a hitch except for the awkward changing of the hyperlink after the upload to the location of my screenshot in PV:Gallery. However, the new Wordpress 2.5 apparently has a new system. The control for uploading media is in the form of a pretty sweet Thickbox modal window and is much more AJAX driven than the old one. However, when uploading the preview image, I hit a brick wall. I was given an error as WP processed the upload that “An error occurred in the upload. Please try again later.”

Trying again later, I was given the same error.

Fortunately, I found a great fix for this small bug. All that it requires is editing the .htaccess file in the Wordpress root folder by adding the following code snippet to the beginning of the file:

After reuploading the .htaccess file, the upload worked like a breeze. Even better, this new interface makes it much easier to change where the image is linked to.

Source: Honkiat

It has been about 5 months since I created a Facebook account and was amazed by the user-friendliness and solid coding of the website, as well as the innovative API that allows for the development of applications by both Facebook and by third parties.

Well, many have seen in the news few months ago that MySpace has implemented a feed that shows you what your friends have done such as updating their profiles. This feature was taken pretty much completely from Facebook; as many may remember the controversy over this action feed sometime last year over concerns of stalking.

But in any case, MySpace has once again started its photocopiers. It, too, is creating an API for applications.

I remember last month seeing a box labeled “Apps” on the right hand side column on the “home page” you get after logging into MySpace. However, when clicking on “get apps” I was presented with the annoying “An unexpected error has occurred.” In any case, now, a beta of the MySpace Apps system is up and running and it is striking similar to that of Facebook’s. The mainly 3rd party applications, which includes Superpoke, are placed on one’s profile, similar in a manner to that of Facebook. Even more so, like Facebook, each application is represented by a little 16×16 icon. Moreover, when you add an application, you get a Facebook-esque AJAX modal window prompting you with a few check boxes about whether to allow the app to access your information.

While I commend MySpace for improving their services and transitioning the website into something truly Web 2.0 grade, it is startling the way they are going about doing this. The new features they have added are blatant ripoffs of innovations that Facebook created. If they are to create a truly excellent service, they themselves need to create something new and innovative. It is even more interesting at how similar the look and feel of the action feed and application systems are on MySpace when compared to the originals on Facebook. Unless there is some behind the scenes agreement between Facebook and MySpace currently regarding these services, I predict at one lawsuit battles quite soon.

Before I get started on my rant, a few things first. I know that I have not been here for a long time. The past few…months (I guess), have been quite hectic, busy, and critical. The worst of it is over and I think I have more time on my hands now to get back to work updating this blog and gallery, both content-wise and software-wise.

Anyway, there has been a stir caused by the announcement and beta-release of the iPhone Software Development Kit by Apple. Since the iPhone and the subsequent iPhone sans phone aka iPod Touch were released, the hacking community went straight to work bypassing the restrictions Apple has been widely known to put in their devices. Thus the iPhone/iTouch Jailbreak scene was born with a focus on unlocking restrictions and allowing users to install applications and greatly extend the capabilities of both devices, unwilling to wait for the release of the official SDK that Steve-o promised soon after the release.

Now, the SDK has been “released.” With a subscription fee, one can gain access to developer tools to create applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch that one can distribute through the so-called “App Store” either for free or for a price. Sounds great? But, as always with Apple, there is a catch.

Unlike the free-for-all development in the Jailbreak community, Apple has placed several disenchanting restrictions on software development with the iPhone SDK. These restrictions include prohibiting more than one app from running at the same time, prohibiting 3rd-party API’s, and restricting distribution to the “App-Store.” Although the last is somewhat understandable, it is ironic that they would not allow more than one application to run at the same time as one of Apple’s major selling points of the iPhone/iTouch is the multitasking abilities of the mini-OS X that these devices run on.

As a result, I can safely conclude that the Jailbreak community will not die, as some have feared. On the other hand, the release of the SDK may actually bolster the movement. In any event, we will see when the final SDK and the 2.0 software that allows for SDK-created apps to come in June.

~DC

Apparently there will be a new administrator control panel design with the next version of the blog software, Wordpress version 2.4. While this looks nice and is a good change from the current style (which I have tried to replace with modifications such as SpotMilk), this new style is still under heavy construction by the WP team. While it does not resemble the concepts of the Shuttle Project that announced to replace the WP-admin style, I still look forward to seeing the completed new style and the new features of Wordpress 2.4. Once again, great job Wordpress team.

~DC

Whew…Wordpress Upgrade to 2.3 went without incident…I think. At least, I did not encounter any errors and such. In any case, everything’s back in business. Some of the new features in 2.3 are quite interesting, such as plugin update notifications…and tags! (woot!) Speaking of tags, I have already modified Haiku to support Wordpress 2.3 tags.

The only problem (albeit a small one) I found so far is with WPG2 where the header.php template is used instead of wpg2header.php so as a result, things are shifted a bit over. However, somehow the template use switched back to wpg2header.php before the WP upgrade a few minutes ago so hopefully it does that again this time.

Anyway, again, if you find any problems, please bring them.

~DC