Author Archives: filosofo

“filosofo” is the nom de guerre of Austin Matzko.

WordPress Relocation Without Editing the Database

Here’s a tip I picked up on the WordPress hackers’ list: you can change the “siteurl” WordPress option simply by adding define(‘RELOCATE’,true); to the wp-config.php file and browsing to wp-login.php. The “siteurl” option—or what’s called “WordPress address” under the admin options menu—is a database value that refers to where the actual WordPress files live, as […]

Happy Second Blogiversary to Me!

I’ve been somewhat slack in posting recently, partly because I’ve been incredibly busy, partly because I’ve been spending a lot of time at various doctors’ offices recently (I’ll blog more on that soon, I hope), and partly because of the tacit rule of blogging that the longer between posts the more significant you think your […]

WordPress Database Backup Re-release: Version 2.0

With WordPress version 2.1 scheduled to appear later today, I’m releasing a new version of the popular WordPress Database Backup plugin. Originally developed by Skippy who’s now working on projects other than WordPress, this plugin has been bundled with WordPress installations for about a year. But today users downloading version 2.1 of WordPress will discover […]

Installing Wine on Ubuntu Edgy (6.10) 64-bit

Using a 64-bit operating system is somewhat like being left-handed: you feel with some justification that you’re orbiting among the elite, but the world is designed against you. Installing Wine on 32-bit Ubuntu was a breeze: just a couple lines of APT. However, for 64-bit systems you have to compile Wine yourself. Even following the […]

New WordPress Plugin: Google AdSense Targeting

Thanks to this article [Edited July 29, 2009: the old link is dead and now a spam site], I learned that Google AdSense—the ads many use on their blogs, including me—has a way to focus your AdSense ads on the most relevant content. The problem is that blogs often discuss a variety of topics, and […]

Putting a Stop to Traffic Signals?

The Telegraph describes how a Dutch town gave up traffic lights. Strangely enough the result was reduced accidents and increased traffic flow. The project is the brainchild of Mr Monderman, and the town has seen some remarkable results. There used to be a road death every three years but there have been none since the […]