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WordPress 2.1.2… finally on my blog as well:-)

…or, in other words, the latest and greatest WordPress (namely, version 2.1.2), now works on my website as well:-)

All plugins are OK – the few I use include LightBox 0.6.4beta, Google Sitemap 3.0b6, WP-Shortstat 1.12a.

WordPress powers optimiced.com from January 1st, 2007. I like a lot WP from the moment I started to use it.

The first version I’ve installed was 2.0.5, and then WP 2.0.6 was out, then 2.0.7, 2.0.9, 2.1 “Ella”, 2.1.1… and only then I decided that it’s time to upgrade. I did.

But on the next day, after I have successfully made backup of the database and of the files and upgraded to 2.1.1, a serious possible security problem was discovered in 2.1.1 and news was spread we should upgrade as soon as possible to 2.1.2.

Well, I got lazy.

I used 2.1.1 for a few weeks and only tonight have decided that the right moment has come, and after a new series of backups and strict adherence to the instructions, I am already with 2.1.2 up and running :-) Same applies to the Bulgarian version, of course.

After my brilliant upgrades I celebrated with a cup of healthy tea and one beer from the fridge:)

After that I read some blogs (designers’ & developers’ blogs mostly)…

…and now I am sleepy as hell, so good night! More to come soon;-)

Posted on by Michel · 4 Comments

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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Posted on by Michel

The End of Winter (which never came)

Winter, by Joshua BryantSo winter never came to Bulgaria this winter… and now it’s almost gone.

No, the photo above is not mine, and it is not from some park in the city I live in… It’s just a thumbnail of a very nice winter paysage by Joshua Bryant (click thumbnail to see in its original size on Joshua’s flickr account). I almost envy him that he had had such a winter – snow and all…

I look now outside of the window. Everything is bathed in sunlight, it is almost 20 degrees Celsius outside, no snow, no wind, and the trees will start to blossom soon, I guess. Lots of days in January, February, even in December, were like this one. I’m a cyclist and the whole winter I was able to ride without problems, without freezing, without the usual battle with snow and ice on the roads… So I should be happy. Or should I?…

It is strange, not natural, somehow. Usually, during winter in Sofia, there are lots of cold days, with snow, fog, freezing wind, temperatures dropping way below zero degrees C… and now?

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Posted on by Michel · 2 Comments

The End of the ‘No’ Week

:-)I drink my Jacobs Cronat Gold coffee now (mmmmh…), with honey and cream, and think how beautiful Life is:)

My experiment is over – the week without coffee, black and green tea, beer, wine, chocolate and other things, which contain caffeine, tanine and alcohol:)

And here come the long-awaited results from this experiment:

  1. I survived;-)
  2. I feel good:-)
  3. Everything is much tastier to me now:-)

I may repeat the experiment, one day. But now…

…I plan to have some crispy potato chips tonight (or fried potatos), together with some nice, cold beer, mmmmh;-)

Posted on by Michel

Comet McNaught says Goodbye

The comet McNaught and the Milky Way (see the photo in its original size on the NASA website)Lately I wanted to say a couple of words about the comet McNaught. What decided me finally was this extraordinary photo, published on the 12th of February on the APOD website (click the thumbnail to see it in its original size). The shot was taken in New Zealand, at the end of January. You can also see part of the Milky Way – our home:)

This comet was called by many “the most photogenic comet of our time” и “the great comet of 2007”, and not without a reason.

The comet McNaught and its long tail - see the photo in full size on the NASA websiteNow the comet moves away from the Sun and the Earth, but it still can be seen in the Southern hemisphere. Not a long ago was published a photo in which the tail of the comet stretched on almost the whole Southern sky – its lenghth was 150 million kilometres, or approx. 1 astronomical unit (AU)!

You should also see one incredible montage from 3 photographs of the photographer Antti Kemppainen!

Enough about Space for today… Now I go to the window – it’s true that the comet cannot be seen anymore from our latitude, but I can at least wave to it with my hand, right? :-)

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Note: The Astronomy Picture of the Day, supported by NASA, is a very valuable resource – on this website every day is published one photograph or image/illustraion of our Universe, together with a short explanation by a professional astronomer. Some photos, especially those made by the Hubble telescope, littereally can take your breath away with its beauty and depth… and they make you realise, how small we are, people:-) I visit it often – there’s always something to see and discover:-)

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Happy St. Valentines’s Day… or sort of:)

See more cartoons by the same author (reodorant.com)

First, happy St. Valentine’s day to everyone;-)

Sorry for the dark accompanying image, but I couldn’t restrain myself – this artist (a recent discovery of Ani’s, btw) brought me to tears from laughing with his black humour, but maybe my it’s just due to my fatigue (too much work lately), the tries of the French flu to get hold of me a second time this winter, and my slightly dark mood…

We exchanged already a couple of presents with Ani (including a very interesting book by Bernard Werber) and plan to have a great evening, supper and all and pondering upon the meaning of the Universe over a cup of orange juice (the reason being my recent vow for no caffeine/wine/tanine/beer for one week;-)

Posted on by Michel · 2 Comments

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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