I have to say that it probably was not the wisest decision to migrate to WordPress when WordPress itself is in the process of a major migration. So, while the extensive availability and hackability of WordPress are a significant part of the software’s fascination, they are also a prime example for the problems that will haunt any distributed development project, but particularly if it is open sourced.

I like the advantages of WordPress 2.1, but the version has its problems as well. Just a couple of examples – the /category/-less Hack by Jörg Petermann, which I prematurely claimed also works effortless under 2.1 actually kills category RSS feeds, the Podpress plugin, albeit allegedly fixed for 2.1 doesn’t work or, according to the forums, at least doesn’t work as it’s supposed to be, my main admin page now displays parts of my blog using my blog’s CSS when logging in, but not when using a link from within the admin area, and the RSS templates seem somwhow messed up in general.

So, as much as being 2.1 in the age of 2.0 sounds appealing, being at the forefront of innovation clearly comes with a price tag. Make sure you’re willing to pay if you’re upgrading…

It’s a tad bit late, and I do know it. Don’t be too concerned with my timing though (well, at least not because of my posting this picture), I’m simply setting up my flickr moblog again, after yet another switch of my blogging software. While I did like Expression Engine a lot, I’ve mostly worked on WP lately and could not be bothered to really get to know the EE engine – my bad. Maybe I will at some point.

But for now, a happy 2007 to everyone of you, my gentle readers, let’s see what the new year is offering!

By the way, this picture was really taken on new year’s eve – fireworks over the Rhine.

There are some points of contention, mostly regarding API functions and spam protection, both of which worked rather well in MT and both of which I have a hunch are a little shaky in EE Core. Still, pmachine’s support was excellent, they helped me instantly, despite knowing that I am a EE Core user, or, in other words, some kind of free rider. So with a working Blogger API I decided to jump and install a Captcha image until I figured out a better, more accessible, way of discerning bots from people.

But either way, the days of scarce and only technical posts will soon be over. Stay tuned.

Wer mich da sehen will, sollte sich am besten beeilen, denn Robert Basic hat natürlich recht – über kurz oder lang wird die 25 peeps “Hall of Fame” ein ein digitale Briefmarkensammlung weiblicher Schönheit werden.

Aber das ist ja auch gut so…

Basic Thinking Blog – Warum wir Männer bei 25Peeps.com keine Chance haben?

PS – Wer will, kann mein Bild als Preview natürlich auch schon hier bewundern.

Unfortunately, the Air France flight that crash landed in Toronto a couple of hours ago (apparently all passengers survived and only a few are injured) did not wait until la rentr�e to run over the end of the runway and break up. So while CNN had already found a camera crew in Toronto, and Wolf Blitzer had already talked to passengers and witnesses, the Air France website still reassuringly read -

Aucun événement à signaler sur l’ensemble du réseau Air France….

I guess that’s one way of dealing with such events…

Toby, it turns out, is a rabbit, whose life has come under threat by two anonymous American students, who, according to savetoby.com and MSNBC.com, are planning to kill and eat Toby on June 30 unless they have raised at least USD 50,000 from donations and profits from selling savetoby.com merchandise on the web.

Of course, it is perfectly legal to kill and eat one’s own rabbits, and, to make a wild guess, I am sure this happens on a regular basis. Thus, savetoby.com is another data point underscoring a cynical point once made by Joseph Stalin: the death of one person is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic.

Despite the legality of killing rabbits, and despite the fact that there seems to be a built-in proliferation limit to such money making attempts, something in us will intuitively object to a business model that depends on emotionally blackmailing kids – but only kids?

Kids usually don’t own credit cards or paypal accounts, which are necessary to donate or buy savetoby.com apparel. And while there will probably be some cases where children passed on the emotional blackmailing to their parents and are thus at least indirectly responsible for a part of the USD 28,372 raised to date, the larger amount will have been donated by adults, which raises a couple of questions about human rationality, especially in light of the following quote from the website’s FAQ section:

Are these donations tax exempt?

I know alot of people out there are saying to themselves… “This site is awesome, and I want to help save toby. That being said, are these donations Tax exempt?”

The person out there saying this is obviously a smart, well educated member of the upper echelon of society. Unfortunately no donations can be written off against your taxes. I am not a non-profit organization. Sorry, but Uncle Sam needs his too.

Well, why a smart, well educated person would consider spending money to allegedly save the life of a rabbit on June 30th is beyond me. But more importantly, why do so without even the slightest possibility of monitoring that a) Toby is for real, or b) that the threat is indeed credible?. In some sense the fact that there are donations indicates that for those who donated the marginal (emotional) utility gained from “saving” toby must be at least equal to the utility the money could have provided when used for different purchases.

And that probably means two things: a) there are too many people with too much money who already own far too many things, and that b) they have the desire to do something emotionally fulfilling and beneficial with their money but don’t know how.

Of course, there’s the alternative that they just wanted to reward the entrepreneurs for coming up with such a clever way to get rid of their student loans, or that they simply want “to be part of this thing”. But, again, if that doesn’t raise questions about human rationality, what will?

Oh, just in case you feel you have more money than you need, feel free to give it to me. Remember? I’m a Toby, too.

But I wanted to tell you that at some point in the near future, this blog will be offline for a while due to a provider change. Of course, you will not be able to read this while the blog is offline, but in case you read this before… don’t be scared: I will be back.

And before I forget it – a happy new year to all faithful and occasional readers!

Well, from my experience, whoever claimed this correlation was probably just lucky. Personally, I can’t really see any change in the clickthrough rates – it’s still in the 0.1 % range, although other google ad users claim to have far better rates.

So I can confidently announce that this is not a money making blog, as opposed to the ones mentioned in this cyberjournalist report. But then again, it is also true that my little proto-diary has not yet shredded the career of any prominent politician…

For the moment, the average daily “turnover” of this blog reflects what it means to me – my very own two cents (well, Dollar cents…).

“C-A-F-F-E-E trink nicht so viel Caffee. Nichts fuer Kinder ist der Tuerkentrank, schwaecht die Nerven macht dich schwach und krank. Sei doch kein Muselmann, der das nicht lassen kann…”

The little verse means, roughly translated,

“C-O-F-F-E-E don’t trink so much coffee. Not for children is the Turkish drink, weakens your nerves, makes you weak and ill. Don’t be a Muslim (Musliman) who can’t help it.”

Today, kids are rather told about the possible Parkinson-preventive effect of caffeine. Maybe, in the future, the tides will again turn against the “liquid kiss of life”, as I tenderly call my first cup in the morning.

But for the moment, I thought, a bit of caffeine couldn’t hurt. And as spring approaches, I felt it was time to get rid of the blogs winter clothes. The left bar is a bit shorter than normally, but that will be changed in the coming days.

Hope you like it, too.

But don’t call the cops just now, my gentle readers.

As a matter of fact, I’m guilty of a crime that is not part of any tort law in the known universe. And actually, most people probably wouldn’t consider it a crime but simply a fun weekend. However, sometimes, things aren’t as simple as the seem on the first glance… so, in a way, yes, I am a traitor.

I am from Mainz and I am going to Cologne this weekend to celebrate this year’s carnival with some friends from abroad. And in a way, this is really bad, as Mainz and Cologne enjoy a healthy competition when it comes to the question which town has the bigger Rhenish carnival tradition. And being part of one of these traditions is like being part of a ‘family business’ – you do remember The Godfather, don’t you?

Well, I’m not really afraid of a concrete funeral. But I do indeed feel a tiny little bit guilty about the prospective enjoyments within the “enemy’s” heart. So I’m going to make it up: I will certainly make an effort to convert Koelsch infidels to finally say “Helau” instead of “Alaaf”…

And you best believe it takes a man to do that ;)

Dear Mac IE users – I know there are not too many of you reading this site, but if you read this, please let me know what it appears like on your screen.

Thanks.

For those who wonder – the server was down from Saturday afternoon on – and for lack of any explanation by the service provider, I can’t even tell you why. Before that, it had worked without any noticeable interruptions for 4 weeks. I hope it won’t happen again.

Still too hot. Still too busy. More later.