Wordpress has an auto upgrade built in to allow one click installs of the latest version of itself, plus a similar system to update the plugins. For an age this would rarely work on my install (or Cat’s for that matter) and I just put it down to it being flakey. It was very annoying trying to update a plugin only to have it fail time after time.
However I have another account with the same web hosting provider but on a different server, and I found that the auto update not only worked everytime, but could update the entire system in seconds. One click and SPLAT — it was done!
I’ve had my site (and Cat’s) moved to the same server, and the difference is like night and day. It works incredibly fast, and so far, hasn’t failed once. So credit to the people of Wordpress for making such a good system, albeit one that didn’t like my previous web server 
Happy days!!
First of all, if you do not know what Dropbox is, I suggest you check out this video which does a great job of explaining it…
We’ve been using Dropbox for a few months now, to solve all of our file storage/sharing needs. I wanted to share it with people because it really is an excellent service that just works. You can even get a free account (like we have) which gives you 2GB of space, more than enough for most people’s needs.
There is a Dropbox client for Windows, Mac, Linux and even the iPhone which sits in the background and automagically keeps all of your files synchonised with each computer, and also keeps a secure copy on the internet should you need to access your files from somewhere else.
If you want to sign up, and the 2GB isn’t enough, use this link to get an extra 250MB — https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTI3MTI1MDg5
When you sign up you will get your own referral code which gives you an extra 250MB each time someone signs up. What are you waiting for?
I had the pleasure of seeing this film a couple of week’s ago. One of my friend’s back at Mercedes had offered to loan me the DVD on a few occasions but I had never taken him up on the offer. Cat had seen the film before, and it scores highly on IMDb (even making the top 100 films of all time — after my list had been compiled sadly).
The film is set in 1944 after the Spanish Civil War, and is centred around a young girl called Ofelia. She loves to read and thoroughly believes in the stories she reads. Her widowed mother and her travel to live with her new stepfather, a cruel and sadistic Captain in the Spanish army, who is seeking out the rebels in the nearby woods and mountains.
Ofelia ends up meeting a faun who tells her she is a Princess from the underworld and must complete three tasks to return back home.
The film takes place in both realms so to speak. In the “real” world, the story of Ofelia’s evil stepfather is played out as he does everything in his power to track and slaughter the remaining rebels. He is also the father of Ofelia’s unborn brother, and the film portrays complications leading up to the birth.
Like many films, I didn’t really have any idea as to the plot. The film is shot entirely in Spanish, but with subtitles written by the director himself. If anything, this made this a better film for me, and I don’t think I would have taken to it so much had is been in English.
The film is a visual masterpiece, something you would expect from Guillermo del Toro, the director also behind the Hellboy series of films. All of the actors do a great job, and I was thoroughly engrossed throughout. If you haven’t already seen the film, I cannot recommend it enough, especially if a friend offers to loan you the DVD
Rating: 10/10
Summary: A fantastic fantasy
IMDb: El laberinto del fauno
Buy it from: Amazon
I normally start my post along the lines of how long it has been since my last update. It’s been a while but I do have some valid excuses this time!
The house move went well, with lots of hard work from everyone, and many journeys between my parents and our house. We didn’t want to live out of boxes for the next 6 months so we spent a lot of time unpacking and putting everything into the proper place. It’s starting to feel like home a bit more now. It’s such a step up in size from the old one that sometimes it feels like a struggle to go from the ground floor up to the top of the house!
The other thing keeping us busy has been our new business. We’ve been attending lots of workshops which have been very useful, and also free. We’ve also joined our local Chamber of Commerce which should hopefully prove to be a good source of leads.
On top of that, Cat has been getting larger each day and is able to do less and less around the house which means I have plenty to keep me occupied.
I have a few things to blog about and my new year’s resolution is to post more — probably more short posts than very few long ones as things currently stand.
Anyway, here’s to 2010, and I hope it’s a good one for you all!