Monstrous failure of my upgrade to 2.3.2 back to wordpress.com for now

Well, I’ve been trying like crazy to get my wordpress 2.3.1 to upgrade to 2.3.2.

so far, I’ve only managed to:

Delete my entire blog at http://www.ds4design.com

fail at upgrade a total of 5 times

Gotten VERY frustrated with the crew at Go daddy who have managed to: attempt to help me with my install, then fail, the next call,, another customer service guy inform me that they’re not allowed to help me, and the assistance provided was unsanctioned.

I’m really considering leaving GoDaddy and going somewhere more wordpress friendly (one of their reccomended providers).

It is bizarre, GoDaddy hosts, and does a 1 button install of wordpress (2.3.1) but they offer zero assistance when it comes to wordpress 2.3.2 yet there are known issues with 2.3.1 and it isn’t good to have that anymore (it can be hacked).

Any hints here would be awesome. Till then,, its back to wordpress.com (should I tell feedburner?! I guess so!)

How about that, Patriots and Giants! Who’da thunk it!

Food is a totally reasonable topic,, my ribs recipe.

So last weekend I made my pork ribs. I cook because it’s fun, a great way to be creative-ish, and well,, you get to eat it when you’re all done. Oh yeah, and being coated in hickory smoke is an aphrodisiac (ask my wife!)

(hang on a sec, eating raw chocolate chip cookie dough, don’t tell anyone!) Ok, I’m back,, and no time has passed for you.

Additionally the added bonus to making ribs was that my good buddy and his wife were coming over to share in the ribs and other ridiculously delightful foods. He’s a graphic designer so we swap hilarious design stories and generally find the most ridiculous music to listen to (seriously, if you haven’t found Johnathan Coulton yet, then I weep for you. (oh yeah, and the Dropkick Murphys).

So back to the ribs, I take two recipes I found a while back (Memphis Hogaholics, Best Odds, THANK YOU!) and combine them in a way that will make tears weep from your eyes, (if executed correctly). Then again, it could just burn a hole in your stomach that could sadden you in a way you don’t want to know.

Here’s what I did to 2 racks of pork back ribs (4 of us, each half a rack,, it was the first time I couldn’t finish!!)

Of course, the night before I pulled the membranes off (that weird cover skin stuff, it just gets in the way). Pro rib guys actually cut any of the little meat pieces that hang off,, ummm that’s rib meat, don’t cut it you goobers! Then I stuck each half a rack in a gallon ziplock, tossed in about 2 tablespoons of salt and 2 cups of water, shook vigorously and let em sit for the night (make SURE you seal up those ziplocks!)

Then about 10:00am I got out my rack,, of spices, and went to town.

First, the dry rub:
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon ground basil
2 tablespoons red pepper
1 tablespoon lemon peel
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika

4 tablespoons salt
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

Dry off your ribs, put em in new ziplocks and toss in a nice coating for each half a rack (if you do it right you might even have some rub left over for another dish!). Then toss your coated ribs into the fridge, you’ll need them later.

I think that’s about right (I’m going off memory and some “reference materials” I used. I typically adjust on the fly for taste at all times.)

For a wet mop, I use a 50:50 mixture of 1.5 cups canola oil and 1.5 cups apple sauce with a tablespoon of rib rub. Some cooks like to add some apple cider vinegar to the mop. I probably shouldn’t be called a cook, but I did add about half a cup of apple cider vinegar.

For the Sauce itself (which I’m still using on various things like,, grapes,, latkes, and anything else I can find that is edible).

5 ounces dark soy sauce (this is the thick stuff that’s hard to find but SO WORTH IT!)

1 small can tomato paste
5 ounces Worcestershire sauce

12 ounces catsup

1 ounce of your favorite bbq sauce (it’s probably got the dash of liquid smoke we’re looking for, you could do that instead)

1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup brown sugar
1 lemon — juice of
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon basil

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for 2
hours on your lowest setting in the morning. Then just keep it hot (NOT BOILING FOR GOODNESS SAKES!!) Over the day the sauce will bloom nicely (my wife was blown away at how the flavors changed in the sauce from the morning to the evening, don’t forget to taste it a lot!) mmmmm

To cook I simply tossed em on the ol’ gas grill. I did take some preparations though.

My grill has three grates, so I pulled the far left grate (it’s a gas grill with four burners).

I have a little smoker box that I shoved full of hickory chips and got them going nicely after cleaning and oiling my grill. I cooked at a temp of between 250 and 320 for about four hours I think. I was flipping around every 20 minutes (mopping carefully at each flip with the wet mop). I just used a simple brush for the wet mop, also I have a side burner and to keep my ribs from losing heat, just keep the mop hot and dab it on, it works great and they don’t dry out.

About 2 hours in I dropped in another batch of hickory for more smoke (it isn’t a true smoker, but I got tons of great flavor from a gas grill, something people will often tell you that you can’t really do)

For the last turn of your ribs slather them on the grill with your sauce like they’re the pope naked and you just want him to put some pants on!  Oh yeah, and the BBQ sauce will last you quite a while too!

Have a great day!

dot org, dot com,, sometimes it costs ya 30 bucks to learn the difference

So I’ve been trying to get this whole blogging thing to work. I’ve used blogger,, wasn’t too enthralled. So I came over to the WordPress side. There are actually two sides to it (yes, I performed a perfect ‘dingus’ and managed to make a sweet move,, not).

The difference in WordPress is that there is .org, and there is .com. I’ve been using dot com. A great service, I really like it.

Where I’m a moron (I’m sure you were wondering) was that WordPress.com (that I was using) does not allow any plugins outside of those that it already has hosted in it’s system.

“But wait!” you say,, There are all those plugins and themes for WordPress, don’t they work there?! Short answer, yes, long answer, the war of 1812 was fought with Canada, but that’s neither here nor there.

WordPress plugins (the ones where you CAN make money, and do neato stuff) are only available with your own hosting (I use GoDaddy) and downloading WordPress (the blogging software that needs hosting) from WordPress.org (note .org, not .com!)

I mistakenly bought the 15$ (it coulda been worse!)

Now (ok, I can be a bit of a slow learner,, stop throwing lit matches at me) I know that to use all the wordpress plugins with impunity (well, ok, they have be on the web. To do that, you have to use the WordPress.org download, then get it hosted somewhere (Godaddy), then you can use any of the fancy plugins and do whatever you want.

To Recap

WordPress.com=> You can write whatever you want, post whatever you want, and do lots of links, but as for monetizing it,, not so much.

WordPress.org=> Download it, host it, go nuts!! This is the way to do the whole “online business/blog” type thing (yeah, we’ll see how this all goes). So far, it goes slowly.

Next up, going through the 30daychallenge again with that wacky Ed Dale (Dan Raine too!). He puts the netmar in Internet Marketing!

I bet you can’t wait till I start podcasting too!! (ugh, I’ll probably just talk about Formula 1 all day).

I haven’t made an Open Social connection,, will you still be my friend?

Ahh, yes,,,

oh,, hang on a sec, I’ve got to get my Google phone,,,

No,, wait,, that’s really not here, or there either.

Yes, two things I was kind of excited about from the start, have fallen quickly into the Ho-hum category.

It’s rather sad is it not.

Open Social, does look good, with it’s shiny new name (thanks Social Graph!)

It does look like it will be doing us some good in the coming future. I’m betting four months from now, I’ll look up and be thankful that it’s all connected now. Right now,, I’m not so connected,, you know,, socially, (hint,, subscribe to my RSS).

Will I (and everyone else you know) have connected that which we’ve had, (Friendster), that which we’ve paid (linkedin), that which we play (Myspace) and that which we,,, think we’re coding a world beating app for (Salesforce/Facebook) along with that which we use to refer to our own data (Plaxo/RTM).

Or,,, will Open Social just end up as a beautiful pipe dream,, like the Spruce Goose, or dating 2 supermodels and having our wives be ok with it. Gosh,, it would be cool if it really opens it all up correctly.

One thing I will say,, it’s one hell of a shot, wherever we all end up.

Oh yeah,, I’m still seething about getting a really good, and smart phone. Months ago, my palm pilot died, after the cryin, weeping, then,, thankful realization that most of the data was still backed up on my hard drive and easy to drag to Plaxo, I dreamt of a magical device that’d do all that I’ve been hoping cough! (iPhone)

Sadly, I was quickly priced out of the game, won’t (can’t) switch from Verizon and thus can’t get a Centro, thus I await a Google phone answer, that apparently just fits in any old phone (that I’ll still have to pay full rates to surf from).

Hmmm, seems like I’m right back where I was (along with you). We’ll see where we are in a few months. Till then, I guess I’m still tied to a desk somewhere.

Some great new tools I’ve been playing with (Mint.com, Tagmindr-Del.icio.us)

So as usual I love to try out new services. Thanks to the folks at Mashable (you guys rock!) and Lifehacker I’ve found some new great tools.

Mint is a money management site (it’s brand new, don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of it).

It sounds scary at first: give us all your logins to all your money based places and then we’ll keep it all current and suggest ways to save money and show you reports of what you’ve been doing. Yes, they do have access to your stuff, the thing to know is that these guys are funded and backed by banks who have a vested interest in NOT losing your money (whew!) The really great thing about this is that it really helps you see where your money is and what it is doing in real time. If you’re like me you’ve got cards and banks spread in a few places and would like to organize what’s going on with them. Its a really great tool and I highly recommend it if you’re comfy working with your money online. The real trick on money online, is don’t give out your passwords, and keep them in a secure place, don’t use public computers, and if someone just calls and asks for your login,, DON’T give it to them! Be safe people!

Second, Tagmindr I’ve been asking for a service like this for quite some time. It’s not even a service really, it’s simply a tag added to your del.icio.us account that will publish to your specific feed at a time you deem necessary. Combine this ability to remind yourself to check a website, with Siphs.com and now you have a way to remind yourself of a website and send it to yourself and others by

1.Reminding yourself of it

2. click on the link

3.Go to the site

4.Send it to whoever needed it at that time.

Just think, you want to remind your mom to check out a website to pick out a perfect gift for your sister (like ya do) and there you have it! Simple reminders (all from free services mind you). What a great little trick!

Vote for your favorite designs then go Visit the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum!

So a few years ago I worked for a company called Sharper Image as a designer, (maybe you’ve heard of them?)

Their iconic piece the “Ionic breeze” is up for a Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum People’s Design Award.

This is a piece that has been around for years and everyone knows it by sight. Great lines, and functionally excellent, the Ionic Breeze is just a great piece of hardware. Please do go vote for it, and other favorites of yours by following this link.

Why would I do this,, hey, the designer is a good friend of mine, plus, he might tear my arm off and beat me with them like a wookie.

Who are you? You’re not Steve!!!

Click here to get your I’m not Steve shirt!!

You think you’re all that,, but are you Steve enough to get a Steve shirt?

There are two main models, the first, it just says “Steve”. Expected sales, 1 unit (yeah Mr. You Know Who)

For the Rest of us, there’s the “I’m not Steve” Shirt.

Simple, yes,, but let’s face it folks. Sometimes, you’ve gotta know where you stand. Sometimes it’s just on a floor in Cupertino, or it’s just somewhere else.

Click Here to get the shirt!!

Social Bookmarking

What tools do you use online (and off) on a daily basis to get stuff done.

This is one of those “Hey everybody, what are you using too” type posts, so please do comment!

As for me,, I use a lot of different software, mostly free, and when I’ve gotta pay for it,, I do. (plus I’ve been paying my podcasting bill lately too, more on that later).

Email, well, I’ve got a lot, (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Godaddy)

Google Reader, (seriously, my feeds list is full like crazy, but I get a ton of info in my eyeholes every day).

Del.icio.us, ooh I do tend to tag a lot! Check out my helpful link RSS feed for DS4tool (its the main link set for DS4 design and a good place to start for business startup prototyping references.

Twitter,, (ok, so I stayed off Twitter for quite a while (I’m looking at you SXSW) but I finally caved, and, wow, it’s just fun).

Plaxo, my Palm Pilot died, (my 5th pilot since 1996, I miss my pilot, I’m waiting till the Centro comes to Verizon, till then, my life is a tiny void, Plaxo has most of my data that I was able to extract,,, I’m never going to get back my recipes though,, I still weep for that category on my palm pilot,,, I weep). Plaxo works great, and they keep improving it. I wish they’d incorporate a neat little simple CRM package (it’s the perfect place and they do such a great job,, however,,,).

ZohoCRM,, I’ve got it, but I’m trying to get around to using it more.

Siphs.com a great way to email your friends things you find.

Remember the Milk (someday, I’ll get around to getting the pro model (especially when I get around to getting a smartphone/blackberry of some sort (ok, an iphone would be cool, but in all likelihood it’ll be a Palm Centro once they come out on Verizon)).

Plaxo, it does a lot, saves all my old Palm data and keeps it current.

As for social networks,, I’m in a lot of them (I only actively use a few). but I can always be found getting things done in terms of Linked in, Myspace, Facebook, Cork’d,mmm,, that’s all the ones I pay attention to.

eFax, good free fax number, then if you want to send a fax,, eh,, it’s pretty cheap, and the darn thing works.

CamStudio of course (don’t worry, soon there’ll be a cast of sorts!) Same goes for Audacity.

OpenOffice,, its lotsa fun, and more affordable than,, well,, if you were to buy some office software made by that operating system company it would cost much more than free.

There’s a bunch more that I do use, but that’s a start!

So what are you using? (yes, I want you to actually leave me a comment,, PLEASE!!!)

Dear Jeeple and Subarunians

Some people have noted,, cars can be fun (hint,, I’m one of them).

I love formula 1 (in a nearly inappropriate manner). Check out my buddies Brett and Corey over at Formulapod!

This year I attended the Jeepers Jamboree on possibly the most famous off road trail in the US (go ahead argue about it),, The Rubicon. Heck, I even won a $500 gift certificate there too! (and I didn’t even own the Jeep I was riding in!) Thanks Redneck Concepts!

I have friends that own Subarus as well.

These two cars are known for one thing, enjoyment of outdoor pursuits. These are the vehicles that people who live, work, and play outside love to use. Yet neither of these companies seem to have made much of an effort towards developing alternative fueled vehicles.

I can’t think of two companies that would benefit in terms of sales more than them. They have a dedicated outdoor constituent of people who would definitely be considered “green,” forward thinking, and environmentally concious. Yet they don’t seem to have vehicles that help this (though they are tending to be more efficient, they’re not in the hybrid or full electric game yet).

I’m just saying,, I’ll be in the market before too long, and I would love to get a high efficiency model from either comapny (especially after the jamboree,, jeep’n is a blast!).

That’s my bit for today, go out and have some outdoor fun!

Not Invented Here Syndrome,, what’s the cure?

Mine Mine Mine Mine Mine!!!

This is the whine of many companies, and their innovation strategies. It’s interesting, some companies when approached are more than excited to take a look at new ideas from outside sources (as well as signing simple NDA’s (Non-Disclosure-Agreement) that detail that they won’t share the I.P. independently developed and produced with outside developers own time and money).

It’s surprising that so many places dismiss an outside idea. Especially since many outer opportunities, while not fully able to fit with their company can, at least introduce new ideas, thoughts, and concepts to them. Granted, most that look at outer company’s ideas simply find an intellectual property work-around and knock them off to get in the same product category.

Companies should realize that the level of monetary benefit alone exceeds the simple “cost of signing an NDA” (which, to be sure is the simplicity of writing their name, and faxing or emailing a document back). At that point, they can receive the document, prototype, or presentation, and identify the next action (there you go GTDers).

The real thing that companies need to remember is that if someone truly brings you a good idea,, you will NOT LOSE MONEY ON IT. People are bringing you an idea (protected already by at the very least a provisional patent pending, to prove it is theirs). If someone has brought you a beneficial product design, give it a fair shake. You’re only supporting a small group (those who have brought you their idea), while you’re, likely large company benefits every time from an innovative product. With a new product in a new section of your product portfolio, you can always make more money on a idea that you manufacture in house. While the designer you are licensing to may require money, and a percentage of your profits, the money you will be making will always be more than they are making and can make your efforts more than worth your own time.

I would love some feedback on this, but I feel that I’ve got something here. As an independent developer, this is the only way for myself and others that do this sort of thing to succeed. People like me aren’t looking to “take all your money”. Our overhead is usually a computer, a small shop (think a few hand tools), our cost to live, the cost of patenting, and the time and effort to develop a product that seems to fit your company’s industry. It’s often vastly cheaper than having an independent design house do the work (though I do support them entirely), but more often these are people that are seeking you out, and have a passion to help you and your company. These are people that like what you’re doing and want to be helpful, just give em’ a chance is all I’m saying.

Sign that NDA.

See what they have to say.

At worst, make a friend, you never know when that idea will come up again, and be just what your company needs to get ahead!

Just a little food for thought for the day.

Happy Monday!