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SoapBoxNation.com - What's on your mind?

SoapBoxNation.com - What's on your mind?

I’ll get right into it– digitalflood Pirate Radio Volume 5 Episode 4 has been done for over 48 hours. I’m listening to it for like the fourth time and it continues to just absolutely grow on me. You will get a chance to hear it come this evening just a bit after midnight. Yes, 12/19/09 is go day for this our latest chapter in Pirate Radio perfection. I plan on working this evening on Volume 5 Episode 5 and the planned release day is 12/21/09 for that show.

This evening I did some web engine upgrades that are making the site perkier than ever. This included updating to the latest WordPress (2.9) and getting the plug in’s up to date as well. This puts digitalflood.com at code version 11.2.0 (Final). I’ve already begun contemplating what I’m going to do for df.com version 12 (ETA first part of 2010). I plan on keeping with WordPress as I absolutely love it. I will most likely move to an upgraded Linux CentOS server though because web traffic just keeps growing faster and faster. I’ve been reviewing several site lay out options in rough format so far, but no serious development work is going yet. I’m still pretty early in the “Concept Stage” of this project. Stay tuned for more updates as I move into actual production on version 12 of the site.

A while back I talked about DJ A.D.D. working on his own web project. He’s finally gone public beta with the site. You can check it out at: http://www.soapboxnation.com/. The site is absolutely addicting and a great concept. Basically it’s a public sound off forum where you can rant and rave about anything you want. We all love to argue (and even love it more when we’re right) so there’s no doubt this will catch on. Head on over. Sign up for an account and get raving. You’ll find me on the site as “digitalflood”.

Finally, congratulations to my friend Little Keith on the birth of Little Landon. Best wishes to you and your family!

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Firming Things Up

Mapquest - Losing people since 1996!

Mapquest - Losing people since 1996!

I spoke with Reverend Baker this evening via phone and we drew out the high level plans for his upcoming Pirate Radio session (Vol. 5 Episode 2), which is now due to drop some eight days and counting. The good Reverend has some pretty nifty plans for the show and I cannot wait until you hear what he’s thinking about. As with his past appearances, this one also promises to be a sure fire classic. Unfortunately I cannot let the cat out of the bag and reveal any of the details just quite yet. The wait will be worth it. Trust me.

I also had the chance to hang out with D.J. A.D.D. this evening. He’s up to some pretty neat things and about to go into public beta with a new web based project he is working on. I have to say I’m absolutely stoked about what I saw this evening. We went over some web site optimization strategies and I have to say even in pre-beta his web site absolutely rocks. I cannot wait to let you in on what he’s up to, but alas I will have to. Surprises are a lot better that way. I can promise you this much– the site is unique and at once also very promising as a catchy concept many will use. Stay tuned for more about that.

I also was sure to egg Mr. D.J. A.D.D. on about coming back to do a Pirate Radio show this season. With the web site development going on though that may not be an option, but he is sure that once things do calm down he’s going to be back and is even promising to deliver a new DJ mix set for the show. Again, I cannot wait.

There’s many things going on in the background right now at df.com and even more going on with our many collaborators. I hope you can make it out to the Armed Suspect’s 11/21/09 show I posted about this morning. I certainly wish I could, but it’s not exactly a great idea to go to a rock show with a recently repaired shoulder. They actually played a show in Warwick, NY about a week ago and I’m still kicking myself about not being able to go. I heard it absolutely rocked and I’m sure this one will as well.

You’ll notice starting with this post I’m adding what’s called “tags” to each post. This will, down the road, make it easier to find what you want on df.com using our in house search or another outside web search provider (such as Google or Bing) to find what you’re looking for. Eventually you’ll see a “tag cloud” appear on the left side menu (in a day or two). This will let you know what is a hot topic on the site right now and and again maybe help you find what you’re looking for quicker. Like many of the improvements at df.com, this is seemingly a baby step; but in the long term will deliver an even better df.com experience.

Finally, I leave you with my picture of the day. I dedicate this one to something I’m sure we’ve all had happen if you’ve ever used Mapquest.com for directions and ended up quite not where  you suspected. As always, thanks for checking and being patient.

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I Am The Definition of “Lazy”

I know what you’re saying– there’s been no News updates for like five days. What’s up with that? Well, if you’ve been staring at the DF.com Code Info page on a daily basis (I doubt you have– really I seriously hope you have better things to do) you’ll notice we’ve crept up everyday a few code revisions and are now at df.com version 11.6.1c. Most of that work has been seamless background web page engine tomfoolery such as:

  • I upgraded web engine to latest WordPress code to fix known exploits with Flash and Flash image upload tools to insure security best practices are maintained.
  • I did updates to various widgets and plug-ins that run our site’s many features such as the Artwork gallery, the script optimization tools I use to speed up web page loads, the security tools I use to keep the site from going down, and the comment anti-spam tools I use to keep the comments free of spammers and scammers.
  • I moved the DF Pirate Radio FAQ to the Music sub-menu for consistency/logical organization (previously under the About DF.com sub-menu). I also updated page’s content to reflect some better MP3 players that have come out since the page was originally authored.

More notably (and of entertainment value) I added additional videos to our YouTube channel, which can also conventionally be browsed on our site in the Videos section. Our YouTube channel has also been branded in our color scheme. We now have 36 videos in our channel including some of my seminal favorites from Skinny Puppy, Chamillionaire, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, and Jay Z. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Physically, I’m feeling a lot better. My range of motion and endurance is improving every day. Therapy continues to help a lot. So lack of updates has not been because of that. I guess the main culprit has been all the background work I’ve been doing on the site and our various third party social network profiles, as well as, my continued focus on my rehab exercises and PT visits.

Don’t be fooled though by the appearance of laziness because of lack of main page News updates. If you dig around on the site you’re always sure to stumble upon my latest experiment or some new content. You just never know what you’re going to find and you’re always sure to be surprised as to what I’m up to. Keeping it fresh; that’s what DF.com does best!

Stewie Griffin – “Everything I do, I do it for you”

Served from the DF.com YouTube Channel

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Bug Hunting

No sooner did I back up the latest version of df.com this morning when I realized that comments where not showing up on various pages across the entire site. You could comment on blog posts though and that lead me right to my page templates where I noticed the blog template software I used left out one very important PHP array that coincidentally enough called comments on pages. A little cut and paste action to fix that aforementioned snippet of code and now we have comments again across the site. Joy!

While I was at it, I added two more links to the Links & Propaganda section. If you’re a personal acquittance of mine and I somehow missed your web site be sure to drop me a line so I can add you to the page. I think I got everybody I know who has some sort of band or project going on linked up, but I’m sure I missed somebody (and no– it was not intentional).

Well– what you waiting for? Comment away already! 😉

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Picture Perfect

I went through the Graphic Art and Photography galleries in the Artwork section of the site this evening. I’ve added all the photo titles (when you hover over the thumbnail they show up) and the descriptions (when you actually click on the picture and it opens up). It’s something I’ve been meaning to do (and dreading). Better late than never.

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