May

27

Things I learned moving my blog to a new hosting service (it’s easy!)

Filed Under Blogging, How to | 3 Comments

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Things I learned moving my blog to a new hosting service (its easy!) (image: 2526037333_07b840e3ec_o)Over the last few weeks you’ll may have noticed that I’ve been and twittering about my blog from the .net to .com.

A few years ago I managed to grab BradGrier.com when it came open, but I’d not decided what to do with it until recently. I’d been having some performance issues (my blog, that is) and decided to test a new hosting provider.

So, the issue. How to move the blog, keep the same look and feel, not lose any Google Juice, and not lose any feed subscribers. Not a trivial set of considerations!

Of course, I turned to my good for advice:

  • How to Move Your Wordpress Blog To A New Web hosting - great technical advice on backing up and restoring your WP blog
  • Use the WordPress Database Backup plugin - I wrote about it recently when my blog crashed, but backups created with it are entirely suitable for use in blog migration
  • Redirecting incoming traffic to the new blog - well, since I’m using the same data structures and permalink structure, the only is one from .net to .com, this was quite ; a .htaccess 301 redirect as described here and here. Slightly technical, but not really too tough.
  • subscribers was also quite , since I use Feedburner to manage subscriptions: simply the Feed Title and Original Feed URL on the Feedburner Feed Details page. DO NOT THE FEED ADDRESS as this will disconnect your readers from your feed — a bad thing :)

A couple of other observations:

  • Set up your new blog/destination site first. Complete importing your data and building your look and feel. Yes, also duplicate posting to this site. You will want to make sure as your readers move they don’t lose any …especially for the tardy ones.
  • Immediately the Feed address in Feedburner. Any new subscribers will never notice, as you are posting to both sites right?
  • Prominently post about the fact that you are your blog. Add a widget or two to the sidebar (make them obvious) to alert your readers to the fact that you are . You want them to begin to identify with the new URL, not the old one, as soon as possible.
  • After a week or two, close commenting on the old feed, with a message directing readers to the new site.
  • After another week or two implement 301 redirects. And test them! @hownottowrite and @lijit both recommended, through twitter, this HTTP header scanning tool and FireFox plugin to validate the redirects (thanks again!).
  • Finally, remember every place you’ve ever used the URL / name, and it.

So, after all that…did you notice? :)

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May

14

Engaging in ‘high risk’ activity - moving my blog

Filed Under Blogging, Doing, Web | 2 Comments


Engaging in high risk activity - moving my blog (image: 20562069_7cf1e2aaec_m)I’ve decided to take the plunge and move my blog to a more traditional .com type (rather than the .net that I currently use). I’m going to keep the .net for more esoteric things, private server, etc.

If you’re this on the old blog (blog.bradgrier.net), then please jump over to the new one, bookmark it, and check it out to make sure it works as you expect. You can find it at blog.bradgrier.com.

The dot-com is more , have a standard ‘expectation ‘of a site or blog when it has a .com address. A .net address seems to have a different ‘expectation’. And I felt the need to try out a new provider.

So, this will mean a bit of :

  • feeds - already moved my feedburner redirects so there should be no disruption
  • Incoming - not sure what to do about this yet. Incoming add value to your ranking, so this transition will cost me some of that precious Google Juice
  • Site duplication - some of the articles I’ve been about domains suggest maintaining duplicate sites for a few months. I’m thinking about this. It may work, but I’d customize the so that some sort of ‘ moved’ message is appended to the feeds etc

But, I’m not the expert here, just the guy doing the work. Do you have any thoughts or opinions about domains? What should I watch out for? What should I do differently?

: David Asch

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Apr

29

Password management is not a simple task, for me that is

Filed Under Doing, In the life, Web | 2 Comments


Password management is not a simple task, for me that is (image: 2291139919_cd960c5aa0_m)I’m having trouble keeping track of all my passwords. Being the good little net / junkie that I am, I tend to sign up for every demo or beta that there is…just to try them out.

Here’s the problem: they all want a password. I’m lazy. I give them all the same, disposable password, thinking “hey, if it’s compromised, no worries, it’s not the one I use for my banking..etc”. Now that’s not very secure. I’ve since changed my ways. I have hundreds of passwords.

For a long time now, I’ve been using Password Safe on my home , an open source password ‘vault’ that securely encrypts your login id, password and other attributes or notes you want to keep about sites you log into regularly. I keep the data file on a server, and Password Safe running on those loads the data over the network.

But lately I’ve been using a Drive to keep my documents and applications handy as I move from computer to computer to work computer. I’ve also installed a portable manager / system called PortableApps. Unfortunately Password Safe doesn’t have a PortableApps version.

So now I’m KeePass - the newer on the block. It has quickly garnered a large and vocal following, and for good reason. Here’s the features list:

One of the cooler features is (with a plugin) the ability to import Password Safe data, so I can now carry my hundreds of passwords with me, as I need them.

Eventually I’ll probably install KeePass on my home , point them to the single data file on my server, and replace Password Safe.

Another option, one that I’m just starting to explore, is password vaults. I’ve recently set up a PassPack account, but am having issues with the CSV import of my existing password file.

The concept looks , seems secure, but I’m in no hurry to convert yet. PassKey is working for me right now.

Now here’s a , what do you (do you?) use to keep your passwords safe yet convenient? ? Offline? Paper??

courtesy: Anonymous Account

Apr

8

Are Canadian telemarketers quaking in their boots? Maybe.

Filed Under Web | Leave a Comment


iOptOut logo. Woot!My position: telemarketing is annoying and should be eliminated. DO NOT WANT!
My reasoning: I did not for the call; hence it is an intrusion. It uses up my resources (time) without my request or approval. I did not for you to call me offering a home audit for an alarm company. My current is fine thank you. Don’t call me. I’ll call you.

As a result, my is locked on Do Not Disturb. I don’t hear the calls — all incoming calls go directly to mail. Nice and quiet now.

But why should I have to have a that screens my calls? I pay my company a fee just to add telemarketers to my ‘blocked’ list. I’m paying for the privilege of having a peaceful dinner at home.

Soon all this may , as will implement a Do Not Call list.

The government passed legislation in 2005 mandating the creation of a do-not-call registry. The registry is scheduled to take effect in mid-2008, yet many Canadians may be disappointed to learn about the exemption of a wide range of organizations (registered charities, with prior relationships, political parties, survey companies, and newspapers). Under the law, exempted organizations are permitted to make unsolicited telephone calls despite the inclusion of the number in the do-not-call registry.

So, there’s a loophole, and a rather large one at that. But wait…there’s more!

Canadians now have their own Do Not Call (iOptOut.ca), hosted by renowned --rights law professor Michale Geist. iOptOut (still in beta) is a where Canadians can register up to three numbers and addresses as part of setting up their iOptOut profile.

Once the profile is set up, iOptOut members select organizations to be notified of their preference to opt-out of marketing communciations. Just select an industry, say Newspaper, check all, and an will be sent to all registered newspapers indicating that you no longer want them calling or emailing you for subscriptions. By law they must comply.

As I understand it, ’s do not call legislation (and the official DNC registry) allows some organizations to be ‘exempt’ from the legislation. iOptOut fills that exemption hole.

How does iOptOut work?
iOptOut contains a database of organizations, all of which are exempted under the current law. When you register with iOptOut you create a personal list of organizations that you wish to opt-out from further marketing. You provide your name, telephone number(s) and address(es) and we send a message to each organization, on your behalf, asking that they remove you from their active marketing or polling lists. You could send a message to each organization yourself individually, but there are hundreds and the appropriate contact information is often difficult to obtain. iOptOut allows you to do this in bulk, opting out of dozens of organizations with a few clicks.

Do I still need to register my number with the “official” do-not-call registry once it is operational?
Yes. IOptOut complements the forthcoming do-not-call registry by filling in the gaps created by exempted organizations. You will still need to register your number with the do-not-call registry once it becomes operational.

So, I’ve opted out. We’ll see if this reduces the number of calls coming in from ‘Manitoba’ or ‘Ontario’. Unfortunately, there’s no way to opt out of incoming telemarketing calls from outside of . Savvy telemarketers will soon switch to services hosted in the America, or offshore. Sigh.

Quotes courtesy iOptOut.ca FAQ and Michael Geist’s blog.

Feb

23

Lunar eclipse rekindles my interest in social astronomy

Filed Under Photography | Leave a Comment


Lunar eclipse rekindles my interest in social astronomy (image: )
Credit: Lance Taylor

The February 20th event where the drifted between the Sun and the Moon was an interesting one for me.

After Tess mentioned the night before that it’d likely be visible here (, , ), and that we do have a nice little telescope, some binoculars, and a couple of cameras, that maybe we should make an effort to actually watch it.

Lunar eclipse rekindles my interest in social astronomy (image: )So, after a quick exchange with a couple of friends, an impromptu eclipse party was set up on a good ’s driveway (hi Scratch!). It was also fortunate his driveway faced east, right toward the rising moon.

Now to the part. This was coordinated over the course of a few hours during the day, mostly by .

The degree interest, and participation was awe-inspiring. Ranger Bob brought out his atom-smasher 8″ scope with camera mount. He also brought a few other scopes and binoculars. Ranger Bob wins the Gear award :)
Another had a digital camera mounted on the scope, and recorded over 2000 frames to be compiled into a movie.

Lunar eclipse rekindles my interest in social astronomy (image: )Tess and I brought our gear, Scratch had a few items of optics, as well a few other brought support supplies, Coffee and Donuts. The driveway looked like the pit at a shuttle launch!

Neighbourhood families wandered by. Kids kept oohing at the view through the scopes and binoculars.

Lunar eclipse rekindles my interest in social astronomy (image: )The most interesting part of the evening occurred when we realized we were getting some glare on Ranger Bob’s scope from the overhead streetlight, right above us. Out came a large black umbrella, and turns were taken holding it up to shield the scope.

You can sort-of see the umbrella (the blurry thing) just below the moon.

But for me, the evening wasn’t just about the planetary event, though that was , it was about hanging out with friendly, like-minded and sharing the .

I need to do more of that :)
For more info on the event and many more photos, check out:

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Feb

13

Jott now offering local Canadian phone numbers

Filed Under Social Media, Web | 4 Comments


Jott now offering local Canadian phone numbers (image: logo_beta) I’ve wanted to post about Jott before, but have held off because this wasn’t available outside of Toronto. Contrary to popular , many Canadians live in towns, villages and cities other than Toronto.

To bring you up to speed quickly, Jott is a telephone-based -message-to-text that utilizes human and recognition to create reminders, and text messages. Just call one number, leave a message for the system, addressed to yourself, someone in your address (including a group), or even leave ‘tweets’. Leave the message and a few minutes later it’s transcribed and delivered.

So, no? But only for those in the “Centre of the Universetm” for the rest of us, it was a long distance call to Toronto to use Jott’s . And in , long distance rates are not all that inexpensive.

Now, things have changed. Earlier today I received this :

We are happy to announce that local numbers are finally here!

As most of you know, we have had a Toronto Jott number (647-724-5814) for some time and have been working on acquiring more local numbers across .

Still confused as to why we are not releasing a toll number? Jott requires caller ID to know who is sending a Jott to what contact information. In an effort to protect your , most mobile providers have blocked caller ID information from being passed to toll numbers. This leaves the alternative of using local access numbers across the country, so that everyone can send Jott messages without having to pay long distance fees.

Below is the list of available Jott numbers in . Find the number in your area code and program it to your speed dial today!
AURORA : +12898020110
CALGARY : +14037751288
: +17806287799
HALIFAX : +19024828120
HAMILTON : +19054819060
KITCHENER : +15199572711
LONDON : +15194898968
MARKHAM : +12898000110
MONTREAL : +15146670329
OTTAWA : +16136861502
QUEBEC CITY : +14189072209
SAINT JOHNS : +17097570047
SHERBROOKE : +18193401636
TORONTO : +16477245365
TORONTO : +14168001067
VANCOUVER : +17787868229
VANCOUVER : +16044841347
VICTORIA : +12509847093
WINDSOR : +15198000031
WINNIPEG : +12042728154

Now I’m a much happier camper. The only downside is if you a lot, you’ll need to keep these Jott local numbers handy.

Welcome to the rest of the Great White North Jott!

Jan

5

Logitech G15 Keyboard upgrade (v1 - v2)

Filed Under Doing, In the life | 7 Comments


Logitech G15 Keyboard upgrade (v1 - v2) (image: 300px-G15) After a lengthily exchange with Logitech customer support (started October 22, 2007), I’ve just received my replacement Logitech G15 keyboard.

The key problem (pardon the pun) was that the black paint on a few of the keys was wearing off, allowing the backlighting to shine through obscuring any key lettering. This was around a year old..maybe less.

Now, since I’d started the process, Logitech updated and revised the G15 with:

  • Logitech G15 Keyboard upgrade (v1 - v2) (image: 300px-Logitech_G15_v2)Reportedly improved paint
  • Orange backlit (the first one was blue)
  • Reduced the number of programmable Gkeys from 18 to 6(!)
  • Reduced the size of the LCD display by appx. 40% though keeping the number of pixels HxW
  • Removed the ability of the LDC display to swivel
  • Removed the volume control wheel

Frankly, I was hoping for them to send me another v1 G15. I was comfortable with the footprint it had (huge), I liked the availability of all those programmable keys, and I liked the size of the LCD display.

But now I’ve got a v2, and here are my initial impressions:

  • Key depress feel is soft…maybe mushy?
  • sits differently on my …I have to hunt initially to place my fingers on the home row properly
  • footprint is smaller. I like this. I now have more for my mouse and Wacom Bamboo tablet.
  • LCD Display is very slightly out of alignment in it’s housing. Not too noticeable, but when I do it’s a minor annoyance.
  • The drivers and were easy to install and setup
  • Logitech maintained compatibility with LCDStudio, so my custom displays run properly
  • Not sure I like the smaller LCD display…we’ll see how it goes.
  • I *think* I’ll like the orange backlight. It seems to glare less.
  • The volume buttons work ‘ok’, but the wheel seemed nicer — like the wheel on an . Upside is I can still use the wheel/spot on the Wacom Bamboo :)
  • Marketing: the Box and some literature do NOT mention that the has 2 USB ports. I was worried because the v1 G15 does have these, and I didn’t want to lose the ability to plug in thumb drives..etc.
  • Am I missing the extra 12 macro keys? I’m not sure yet. The layout is different, but since I also have a Nostromo n52 , I’m sure I can map any missing functionality over to it.
Logitech G15 Keyboard upgrade (v1 - v2) (image: ) Logitech G15 Keyboard upgrade (v1 - v2) (image: )
Logitech G15 Keyboard upgrade (v1 - v2) (image: ) Logitech G15 Keyboard upgrade (v1 - v2) (image: )

Conclusion: For now I’d say I’m satisfied. The process took a while, I’m not convinced the paint on this will last better than the last. The reduced LCD display size could be an issue…but I’ll reserve judgement on it for now…and I think I like the orange backlight.

Sep

19

Canadians save more money ordering books through Amazon.com

Filed Under News | 4 Comments


image courtesy cote
 courtesy cote

In , are sold at retail with two, or maybe even three prices printed on the cover; US and . Often the price is up to 20% higher.

In today’s economic world, the US dollar is almost on par with the dollar, so this pricing model is, from the consumers perspective, flawed. Why would I buy a in a retail for 20% more, when I can buy it , have it delivered to my door, and pay 20% less in the process? As well, the retailers often discount even more…so your savings may be more.

In June, when the exchange rate was 1.064 USD -> CAD, I posted “How Canadians save money when buying books through Amazon.com. Now, with the rate being close to par, and many starting to think about Christmas shopping, it seemed time to update the situation.

So, it seemed prudent to whip up another spreadsheet, this time in Google Docs, to explore the situation…below is the result. Please forgive the lame layout, I’m not a spreadsheet guru, just someone looking for answers :-)
First off, I chose 4 items that I’m somewhat interested in. Then, entered the prices and the exchange rate I recorded during the day on Sept. 18th, and then laid it out to include information about the shipping price point. No sense paying for shipping if you can get it for nothing.

So here’s the result.

Canadians save more money ordering books through Amazon.com (image: ) retailers faired quite poorly. Their minimum purchase for shipping was higher, and even once the exchange rate was factored in, their discounted retail price was higher than .com.Also interesting, if you rank the items in terms of priority (top item is must have, next down is second..etc), you’ll have to purchase two items from .com to receive shipping, and two to three items from the retailers. But, your minimum purchase price to receive shipping increases from between five to 10 dollars!Bottom line, if you’re buying more than a couple of items, and don’t need them instantly ( shipping may take a couple of weeks), .com is the way to go.

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