Finally, 5 years after registering conoroneill.com and just having it re-direct to geocities, eircom and blogspot (in that order), I am now properly hosted with PowWeb. The value for money they were offering made it an easy decision. The import of the Blogspot Blog went disasterously badly yesterday as I did it on the latest 1.5.2 version of Wordpress which the importer did not like. Tonight I reverted to 1.5.1.2, did the import and then did the upgrade and it all worked swimmingly.
So this blog at http://conoro.blogspot.com/ is now for historical purposes only. Get your ass over to http://conoroneill.com/ from now on. I'm still on a bog standard default Wordpress theme with links to nothing. I'll get a more reasonable L&F on it over the next week or so. For the 0.00000000025% of people who read this blog with an RSS Aggregator like Bloglines, please subscribe to the Feedburner feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/ConorsBlog, rather than directly to the feeds on the site. Let me know if you spot any problems.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Importing from Blogger/Blogspot to Wordpress
I'm in the process of trying to move off a free Blogspot account over to Wordpress for my personal blog. I have yet to decide whether to use something free like Blogsome or get hosted with a wordpress.org recommended Host like PowWeb or an Irish host like Blacknight. If anyone has opinions on these alternatives, I'd be very interested in hearing them. If the Irish option is reasonable, I'd obviously prefer to go with that.
My concern about Blogsome is the lack of a business model to support their free hosting. PowWeb looks like a no-brainer but if the Blacknight alternative is competitive both technically and price-wise then I'd probably go with that.
But ignoring that for a minute, my biggest concern was that I'd be able to move all my old Blogspot posts and comments over to Wordpress. I have just done a trial run using instructions I found on Andy Skelton's site. It is as awkward as hell but it worked perfectly - I now have posts from 2001-2005 residing on my Fedora box at home after 30 minutes of fiddling.
The only other annoyance is that I have the conoroneill.com domain registered with Yahoo Domains. I then point it at wherever I happen to be doing my posts to. Ideally I'd like to move that over completely to the new host and not need re-directs. This looks messy so any tips there appreciated too.
My concern about Blogsome is the lack of a business model to support their free hosting. PowWeb looks like a no-brainer but if the Blacknight alternative is competitive both technically and price-wise then I'd probably go with that.
But ignoring that for a minute, my biggest concern was that I'd be able to move all my old Blogspot posts and comments over to Wordpress. I have just done a trial run using instructions I found on Andy Skelton's site. It is as awkward as hell but it worked perfectly - I now have posts from 2001-2005 residing on my Fedora box at home after 30 minutes of fiddling.
The only other annoyance is that I have the conoroneill.com domain registered with Yahoo Domains. I then point it at wherever I happen to be doing my posts to. Ideally I'd like to move that over completely to the new host and not need re-directs. This looks messy so any tips there appreciated too.
TCB Baby - Taking Care of Business
I finally got to see Bubba Ho-Tep recently. What an odd but completely beguiling movie.
I sat down to watch it with a bunch of pre-conceptions and expectations. A low-budget ($500K) movie starring Bruce Campbell as Elvis and Ossie Davis as JFK fighting a mummy in an Old Folk's home in East Texas - how could you not have ideas as to what sort of movie it would be? I spent a summer in Stuttgart during college working in an old folk's home. Most of them thought they were Leni Riefenstahl or Field Marshall Goering.
From the first frame I knew I had it all wrong. The plot moved forward extremely slowly, action was minimal, the movie was very short, much of it was a voice-over and the horror was totally non-horrific. Enough normally to make me hate it (I think it's why I cannot watch 99% of the stuff made in Europe - I sit there thinking "do something for the love of god"). In this case however, the writing was some of the best I have heard in years - not one word or line went to waste. The acting was superb with both Campbell and Ossie Davis at the top of their game. But most of all it is side-splittingly funny. Snot out the nose funny. Giggling hours later funny. And it's been a hell of a long time since I heard the word Kemosabe in anything.
They obviously managed to get a good distribution deal as we were able to get it in the Xtravision in Bandon. Don't watch it if you are tired but it is a movie not to be missed.
A few sample quotes courtesy of IMDB:
JFK: Just what are you getting at, Elvis?
Elvis: I think you know what I'm getting' at Mr. President. We're gonna kill us a mummy.
Elvis: Don't make me use my stuff on ya, baby!
Elvis: It'd been two presidential elections since I'd had a boner like that.
Elvis: LBJ is dead
JFK: Well, that ain't gonna stop him
[killing a scarab beetle]
Elvis: Never, but never fuck with the king!
Elvis: No offense, Jack, but President Kennedy was a white man.
JFK: They dyed me this color! That's how clever they are!
JFK: He had me on the floor. I had his mouth over my asshole!
Elvis: A shiteater?
JFK: I don't think so. He was after my soul. Now you can get that out of any major orifice of a person's body. I read about it.
Elvis: Oh, yeah? Where, man? Hustler?
Elvis: Now the two key words for tonight - "caution" and "flammable".
JFK: Also "watch your ass".
Elvis: T.C.B., baby.
I sat down to watch it with a bunch of pre-conceptions and expectations. A low-budget ($500K) movie starring Bruce Campbell as Elvis and Ossie Davis as JFK fighting a mummy in an Old Folk's home in East Texas - how could you not have ideas as to what sort of movie it would be? I spent a summer in Stuttgart during college working in an old folk's home. Most of them thought they were Leni Riefenstahl or Field Marshall Goering.
From the first frame I knew I had it all wrong. The plot moved forward extremely slowly, action was minimal, the movie was very short, much of it was a voice-over and the horror was totally non-horrific. Enough normally to make me hate it (I think it's why I cannot watch 99% of the stuff made in Europe - I sit there thinking "do something for the love of god"). In this case however, the writing was some of the best I have heard in years - not one word or line went to waste. The acting was superb with both Campbell and Ossie Davis at the top of their game. But most of all it is side-splittingly funny. Snot out the nose funny. Giggling hours later funny. And it's been a hell of a long time since I heard the word Kemosabe in anything.
They obviously managed to get a good distribution deal as we were able to get it in the Xtravision in Bandon. Don't watch it if you are tired but it is a movie not to be missed.
A few sample quotes courtesy of IMDB:
JFK: Just what are you getting at, Elvis?
Elvis: I think you know what I'm getting' at Mr. President. We're gonna kill us a mummy.
Elvis: Don't make me use my stuff on ya, baby!
Elvis: It'd been two presidential elections since I'd had a boner like that.
Elvis: LBJ is dead
JFK: Well, that ain't gonna stop him
[killing a scarab beetle]
Elvis: Never, but never fuck with the king!
Elvis: No offense, Jack, but President Kennedy was a white man.
JFK: They dyed me this color! That's how clever they are!
JFK: He had me on the floor. I had his mouth over my asshole!
Elvis: A shiteater?
JFK: I don't think so. He was after my soul. Now you can get that out of any major orifice of a person's body. I read about it.
Elvis: Oh, yeah? Where, man? Hustler?
Elvis: Now the two key words for tonight - "caution" and "flammable".
JFK: Also "watch your ass".
Elvis: T.C.B., baby.
I am the weaver
To quote the great Bill Hicks.
Yesterday I tried to create a new classic instant meal. I decided to traverse the extremes from MSG to Midleton by creating a masterpiece consisting of Koka Chicken "flavoured" Noodles, leftover sausages and Organic Rocket Pesto from the Midleton Farmers market. Oh dear, won't be having that again. A fuzzy Nokia crap-cam picture of the gourmet extavaganza:
Next week, I will give details of the current greatest instant meal of all time which I have eaten since I was a kid: Heinz Spaghetti Hoops nestling on a bed of processed ham delicately covered in a layer of grated cheddar with optional Chef Brown Sauce. Plate-licking-tastic.
I recently convinced OisÃn that the Heinz Hoops were in fact special Bob The Builder Hoops which consisted only of Travis the Tractor's wheels. I can't believe the poor darlin fell for it. He now demands Travis hoops in preference to Scooby Doos.
Yesterday I tried to create a new classic instant meal. I decided to traverse the extremes from MSG to Midleton by creating a masterpiece consisting of Koka Chicken "flavoured" Noodles, leftover sausages and Organic Rocket Pesto from the Midleton Farmers market. Oh dear, won't be having that again. A fuzzy Nokia crap-cam picture of the gourmet extavaganza:
Next week, I will give details of the current greatest instant meal of all time which I have eaten since I was a kid: Heinz Spaghetti Hoops nestling on a bed of processed ham delicately covered in a layer of grated cheddar with optional Chef Brown Sauce. Plate-licking-tastic.
I recently convinced OisÃn that the Heinz Hoops were in fact special Bob The Builder Hoops which consisted only of Travis the Tractor's wheels. I can't believe the poor darlin fell for it. He now demands Travis hoops in preference to Scooby Doos.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Woo hoo - free wine for Irish bloggers
I'll just have to give up the drink next week.
Hugh McLeod of Gaping Void fame has arranged for Irish bloggers to get their hands on free bottles of Stormhoek too.
Hope they give me some Sauvignon Blanc. New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon is pretty much all we drink but we have got some good bottles of South African Sauvignon recently which are far far better than anything coming out of Chile.
Hugh McLeod of Gaping Void fame has arranged for Irish bloggers to get their hands on free bottles of Stormhoek too.
Hope they give me some Sauvignon Blanc. New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon is pretty much all we drink but we have got some good bottles of South African Sauvignon recently which are far far better than anything coming out of Chile.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Argolon Solutions company web-site re-launched as a Wordpress blog
We are very happy to announce our early alpha re-launch of our company web-site as a Wordpress blog. We hope that releasing before completion will accelerate it's development. The main point of re-structuring as a blog is to try and create a community forum for discussing Enterprise Systems, in particular Enterprise Storage Software and Systems. Ideally many of those working in the Irish divisions of storage companies such as EMC, Dell, StorageTek, SUN etc will take advantage of the site and put an Irish spin on the discussions. Please feel free to make suggestions. It is still a work in progress and we hope to make major improvements over the next few weeks.
Argolon Solutions
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Argolon Solutions
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Sunday, August 07, 2005
Forde's of Wexford, Top 100? Not even close
We had our week down in Rosslare. I'd call it a holiday but there were 8 kids in the house. My lovely sisters and parents gave us the night off on Wednesday so we had to pick where to eat. Catherine wasn't in the mood for Italian so it was no to Dolce Vita. Heaven's Above sounded good. Dunbrody House was too far. Lobster Pot doesn't take bookings in the summer. A few reviews later and we settled on Forde's. But we left the house with my Ma warning us that they had an awful meal there a while back.
Service wasn't unfriendly but not exactly effusive. Focus was obviously on fish but the meat mains were a bit odd with multiple variations of steak. Catherine got prawn spring rolls to start. Rolls themselves were fine but the "salsa" was brutal. Crunchy veg and overwhelming taste of courgette. Salad was mediocre.
I had Duck Leg Confit. The duck was fine but again the saucing was pretty cack-handed. All I could really taste was pepper.
For main, Catherine had sole fillet. They did them as little roll-mops which unfortunately meant they were over-cooked on the outside and "rare" in the middle. Nasty and pretty tasteless. Came with a basil sauce. Now I adore basil but I'm not sure what it was doing in a sole sauce. I went for brill which was fine if a little bland.
The highlight had to be potato in a spring roll casing. What? I was only disapponted that it didn't have chips right in the middle with maybe a rice coating and spaghetti tails.
Desserts were parfait for Catherine and semi-fredo for me. What came out were two things of identical frozen texture. My semi was really just fredo. I could bitch about espresso coming in cappucino cups but that would be just mean.
So John McKenna thinks this is one of the top 100 restaurants in Ireland? Doesn't surprise me - the Bridgestone guide is good for addresses and telephone numbers only. I have read reviews in there which don't actually mention food at any point.
Of course Tom Doorley recently listed it as a must-visit in Wexford in the Sunday Tribune. I used to think Tom was one of those very bright people who feign bumbling cluelessness a bit like Boris Johnson. But the more I watch "The Restaurant", the more I realise that it isn't an act. This is a guy who reviews wine on afternoon TV but who doesn't seem to have correctly identified one grape variety in this entire series. His laughable attempts to guess origin and price are reason enough to watch the programme. So I don't think I'll be taking restaurant advice from him either.
So a meal for two with two drinks and a cheap bottle of wine in Wexford. How much? €126! They really are relying on never-come-again tourists aren't they? These guys are charging Tannery level prices for Coopers level food. A fine business head running the show there. Avoid.
Service wasn't unfriendly but not exactly effusive. Focus was obviously on fish but the meat mains were a bit odd with multiple variations of steak. Catherine got prawn spring rolls to start. Rolls themselves were fine but the "salsa" was brutal. Crunchy veg and overwhelming taste of courgette. Salad was mediocre.
I had Duck Leg Confit. The duck was fine but again the saucing was pretty cack-handed. All I could really taste was pepper.
For main, Catherine had sole fillet. They did them as little roll-mops which unfortunately meant they were over-cooked on the outside and "rare" in the middle. Nasty and pretty tasteless. Came with a basil sauce. Now I adore basil but I'm not sure what it was doing in a sole sauce. I went for brill which was fine if a little bland.
The highlight had to be potato in a spring roll casing. What? I was only disapponted that it didn't have chips right in the middle with maybe a rice coating and spaghetti tails.
Desserts were parfait for Catherine and semi-fredo for me. What came out were two things of identical frozen texture. My semi was really just fredo. I could bitch about espresso coming in cappucino cups but that would be just mean.
So John McKenna thinks this is one of the top 100 restaurants in Ireland? Doesn't surprise me - the Bridgestone guide is good for addresses and telephone numbers only. I have read reviews in there which don't actually mention food at any point.
Of course Tom Doorley recently listed it as a must-visit in Wexford in the Sunday Tribune. I used to think Tom was one of those very bright people who feign bumbling cluelessness a bit like Boris Johnson. But the more I watch "The Restaurant", the more I realise that it isn't an act. This is a guy who reviews wine on afternoon TV but who doesn't seem to have correctly identified one grape variety in this entire series. His laughable attempts to guess origin and price are reason enough to watch the programme. So I don't think I'll be taking restaurant advice from him either.
So a meal for two with two drinks and a cheap bottle of wine in Wexford. How much? €126! They really are relying on never-come-again tourists aren't they? These guys are charging Tannery level prices for Coopers level food. A fine business head running the show there. Avoid.
Unite Against Terror
An impressive site. Sign up here:
Unite Against Terror
Well worth reading Christopher Hitchins, John Strawson and Alan and Franziska Norman.
Unite Against Terror
Well worth reading Christopher Hitchins, John Strawson and Alan and Franziska Norman.
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Heists for Jesus
I shouldn't laugh, I really shouldn't, but I'm pretty sure the only Baptist church in Bandon is the one at the entrance to the estate in which we live.
Baptist pastor charged over bank robbery
If only we'd gone to his coffee morning, this could all have been avoided.
The fact that the BOI Bank Manager lives facing the Baptist Church sends this story into the realms of the completely bizarre.
Baptist pastor charged over bank robbery
If only we'd gone to his coffee morning, this could all have been avoided.
The fact that the BOI Bank Manager lives facing the Baptist Church sends this story into the realms of the completely bizarre.
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