This is officially the first post on the new dreamhost server.
I’m so far pretty happy about this move. The speed is ok. Even though I’m giving up some control over software configuration – but in exchange I also get rid of the headache of maintaining my own server, which is time consuming.
Time will tell how happy I will be. But so far I’m happy about what I can get for less than $5/month for the first 24 months – because of promotion (normal price is $7.95/mo).
Archive for July, 2005
First post on new server
Wednesday, July 27th, 2005Upgrade clean-ups
Monday, July 25th, 2005Just so I don’t forget, there’re a few more things need to be done after an upgrade/move:
- Reload the mySQL database from backup – “source wp.backup.sql” after mysql login.
- Make sure wp-config.php points to the right database if that is changed.
- Modify index.php under default theme to add back the “by author” line;
- Update permalink so it works again
Web Hosting
Friday, July 22nd, 2005I decided to pick a professional web hosting for this blog site. As fun as it is to manage the server box myself, it does have two disadvantages:
- It is a time-consuming act just to keep up with the latest software and patches;
- Just the electricity bill alone is more than the monthly fee for web hosting. I figured I spend about $16/month of electricity on running the Linux server 24×7. I found dreamhost only cost $7.95/month to get started.
Well, two good reasons are more than enough for me to take action. Dreamhost, here I come!
WordPress upgraded
Wednesday, July 20th, 2005To the latest version. It is pretty easy to follow the simple upgrading instructions with a few catches:
- I customized the default theme to add header picture, random photo and XML links, have to remember to copy those back from the backup of the old site (the files get overwritten);
- Any other changes to the default files – so it’s a good idea to keep all the files in the old version in, just rename the top folder before you unpack the new version.
You can actually have both old and new versions up at the same time, just in case you find the new version missing some files, you can still copy them from the old version.
Group BBQ
Monday, July 18th, 2005Last Saturday we had a group BBQ at my house. 20+ adults and 5 kids showed up, really put my event hosting capability to test. With everyone’s help I think I did OK. The main improvement I need to make it to get more wine glasses and remember to put the wine charms on. That just showed that I’m not yet a big wine drinker yet.
For group event like that, when conducted on weekends, it is very important to open the invitation to family and significant others. It is also beneficial for team members to interact with each other’s family members. A rare occasion to get to know the other half of someone you work with everyday.
Company event
Thursday, July 14th, 2005We had a great company event Thursday. During the all-hands meeting, we took a “Mission Impossible” style agent dossier approach introducing all the members on the team to the whole company. Mostly focusing on what R&D work each member has been doing, but new format and some light-hearted comments really make people lol.
Following the meeting, we played scramble golf in the nearby golf club. Four people get into each team and played a 9-hole with best team shots. This allows good player as well as golf newbies to enjoy the game more or less equally. It is a great team bonding event that had everyone very much energized.
Leadership
Tuesday, July 12th, 2005A good leader/manager encourage debate by asking questions. But in the end, he/she needs to make a executive decision. A really good debate most time doesn’t end up with consensus since each party believes in very deeply their point of view. An executive decision is neccessary to settle the matter and let both size know the direction they need to be going.
I’ve just seen some examples of this happening in the last two days. I think we have a great leader.
Blogging Through Email
Monday, July 4th, 2005I finally got the email posting to work. It is still not fully automated
yet – need a cron job to periodically retrieve the postings from the
mail server. But this is the important first step.
–from my email account
House Cleanup
Sunday, July 3rd, 2005The cleanup project starts to pay off. I found many interesting small items such as the missing manicure tool Qing’s been looking for and three unused gift cards.
Technology advancements make many things obsolete, such as all the paper maps we’ve collected over the years. Overall, I’ve removed three big boxes of paper waste.
Golf lesson
Saturday, July 2nd, 2005I went to the driving range today. Gary the pro gave me 1 hour of very useful instruction. Now I can much better relate my posture to how well I can hit the ball. This kind of feedback is very important to me. I can then go to practice on my own following the instructions.
Golf instructions:
- Grip – left hand, heal pad on top; right hand cover left thumb, right thumb goes to left of the shaft.
- Stand in front of the handle, keep club head flat and perpendicular to direction.
- Posture – slight knee flex, butt up and out, work on my arching of the back. Chin up, long arms.
Swing
- Parallel to the ground, parallel to the target, club head in front of chest
- Throw water over shoulder, don’t get wet, arm extension; weight on top of a flexed right knee.
- Down (and inside)
- Hit, big follow through (stand up tall)