A jump from WP 4.9x. to 6.2.x and move to https (SSL)

Finally. Our personal blogs are now updated (from WordPress 4.9.x to 6.2.x), Classic Editor and Classic Widgets plugins are installed, https certificates added (transition from http → to https), MySQL tables updated (thousands of http entries replaced with https), a few minor issues fixed.

Next — find/tweak better themes, start blogging more often. And follow more RSS feeds. :)

And kudos to @gonzomir who is a true master of the Web, WordPress, and the server command line craft, and who helped me and @molif pull this off successfully! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oh and also — fix one critical PHP error in a plugin of critical importance! Update (one day later): The critical error was fixed! :)

https://twitter.com/optimiced/status/1661851873941368832

Things (that it’s smart) to avoid

After midnight:
1. Two double cups of coffee (sudden caffeine over-dosage!),
2. 4xdose of work (writing code) till 3-4 a.m.,
== you won’t be able to go to sleep till 5 a.m. (guaranteed!), you will turn in bed all night, plus (a bonus!) you probably will wake up at 7 a.m.!

In general:
1. no.mo.ney,
2. Lack of sleep, lack of rest,
== you look in the mirror reee-e-e-el bad!

These are my wise thoughts for the moment, this morning. :-)

Now it’s time to go stare at the screen again, I guess…

Merry Christmas

A great cover of White Christmas, performed by Enrico Trevisan:

Merry Christmas!

Enrico doesn’t sing professionally, but this performance of his is touching the heart, and this is the most important thing, I believe!

Merry Christmas to everyone! :-)

(found via molif)

A Short Story: To Speak or Not?

Sorry for not writing much here lately (in the English version of my optimiced.com blog).

Some important things happened. The story, in short:

The statute of national park of mountain Strandja was about to be changed so that some companies to be able to build big resorts and hotel chains there.

Many people here in Bulgaria are against this decision and suddenly it became an activity, something like a flash-mob (unorganized civil protests). Many young people who care about the preservation of the nature started to protest peacefully, and their meetings were very quickly and spontaneously gathered after calls in a few blogs and Internet websites (including official media).

I felt involved as I care about the nature in my country, Bulgaria, and because this subject is important for me, too, I started to blog about it, using information from all around the blogosphere – copying it & quoting it.

I also went personally on some of these “flash-mobs”, made photos and posted them on my blog. I also posted a couple of reportages, including my comments on the “Strandja” case and on the ongoing peaceful protests.

I never thought this could be something illegal – many official media wrote about the remonstrances and numerous bloggers did it just like I did, many of them even used stronger language than me and aggressive words, which I don’t like.

Last week I received summons to visit the Sofia Metropolitan Police Department and absolutely not aware what is this about, I just went with questions in my head, but with a clear heart. There they asked me about my website (my blog) and about the Strandja protests. I had to write some explications and also signed a warning protocol, saying that I should not write in my blog anything that could call to disorderly conduct (like unofficial protests) and so on. I saw a line in the police documents, saying “the website www.optimiced.com must be investigated (watched constantly)”. I read on the top of the documents in front of me the name of the National Service for Combat against the Organized Crime, which indeed puzzled me.

Am I part of some criminal organization or maybe I was an organized criminal without even knowing it myself? I don’t know. But fact is, that me and my blog suddenly became a matter of investigation for the Bulgarian police :-(

Also there were printed sheets of paper from another blog of a guy, who wrote as well about the Strandja case, and he is also a journalist. On the stairs one of the police officers told me “in private” that I should be more careful what I am writing about in future, because journalists have a better defense against possible prosecution and I am just an ordinary person, an independent blogger.

That was the story in short. I had the feeling that it’s somehow strange that our police and also the National Service for Combat against the Organized Crime are so busy with investigating people like me, while there are so many criminals out there, but what do I know? I am just a man, now concerned in what kind of a country I dreamed to have kids?

I decided to tell the story on my blog and I did it.

But I wasn’t prepared for the avalanche of comments and people feeling concerned by this precedent, because the whole blogosphere felt that this as a strike against the free speech in the virtual world in Bulgaria. Now my only wish is all of this noise to end, but alas.

I said “no” to some media (a lot of reporters wanted to take interviews from me), because I didn’t want to became a media star. One TV said that I was one of the organizators of the protest, which is not true and is ridiculous.

Nevermind, I agreed for a short appearance in a morning broadcast on the Bulgarian National TV (www.bnt.bg), just to show that I am not “virtual”, but a real person, and also because I was told that in the studio we’ll have as a guest a representative of the Police. But they just sent something like semi-official statement, where all the mentioned reasons for the investigation against me and my blog were so weak that even I can tell you they will not stand in the court.

I don’t want to sue anybody for libel, even if I have the right to feel dirty after all this witch-hunt.

I only want this to come to an end and my name to stop being used like a chewing-gum from the media. I still believe that I didn’t break any law with my writings here.

If somebody thinks the opposite, there is court, please, prove these non-sense accusations.

–Michel
free blogger, writing on www.optimiced.com

London, UK, or why I didn’t write for one month

London, UK - Big Ben at nightSome may wonder why suddenly I stopped writing in my blog.

Some may even wonder if I am alive or not:-)

Well, to make the long story short, I’ll explain in brief here the reason for my silence and what happened since February 21st:

I had to fly to London, UK (via Milano) on February 26th, and I came back to Sofia on March 6th. It was a trip related to my work, so I hadn’t much free time in London for sightseeing – actually, my only free time there was in the early morning, while walking to the office of GreenNet, late in the evenings, while walking back to the cheap hotel I stayed at (near King’s Cross), and also one free week-end…

After my return, work and some problems caught up on me almost 24/7, so I hadn’t no free time for blogging or anything else (let me just say that only yesterday me and my wife saw for the first time some of the photos and videos from my trip… and some more are yet to be seen)…

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The Week no-Coffee no-Beer no-Wine no-CocaCola no-BlackTea no-GreenTea no-Chocolate :)

Illustration to the No Week, by MichelYes, I am firmly decided. It’ll be this week. I start right now. This morning.

The experiment will continue exactly one week, or 168 hours. From Friday to Friday.

I will exclude from my daily diet everything, which contains caffeine and alcohol, also tannin. Any stimulating or calming chemical substances.

I won’t drink coffee. Regular coffee, and also decaffeinated coffee. Nor soluble coffee. No coffee at all.

I won’t eat chocolate. Nor waffers. You won’t be able to seduce me even with Lindt pralinés (although this one will be tough, If you’ve tried Lindt Lindor, mmmmmh… then you know what I’m talking about;-)

In the evening, I won’t drink a beer or two to relax. The wine also will be included in my “black list”. Same for the tea with some honey and a bit of whiskey, before going to bed.

I won’t drink green tea as well, as it contains caffeine and tannin. Nor black tea. Only herbal infusions and Rooibos tea.

You won’t be able to tempt me with some Coke, too.

Everything which is stimulating and calming goes into this list. You won’t see me even with my favourite Aldo Morelli bent pipe, blowing small beautiful smoke clouds to the wind (not that you can see me with it often, anyway, but this way the list looks more impressive;-)

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