foolishnotions.net

my mac has been really sluggish lately. i didn’t really know what the issue was until tonight.  i found out that i only had 50 mb of space left on my hard drive….

and, what happens when a hard drive gets too full? well – - everytime i would ask it to do something it kept spinning it’s wheels trying to figure out what in the world it would rearrange in order to squeeze in one more task.   simple things like opening a window or running spell check took – - F O R E V E R -  if they happened at all. i had no idea i had pushed poor old mac so hard. my ever-dependable, always faithful, mr. resilient was willing… but he just couldn’t get it done.   i was beginning to think it might be some big hairy scary issue… like bad hardware or a corrupted operating system or something awful. come to find out i just wasn’t paying attention. today mac gave up the crux of the problem very simply…

“my scratch disk is full.”

ooooooh! is that all????

so, it took be about 1 minute to dump about 5.5 gb worth of information i had backed up earlier. now he’s back to his perky self. ready, willing AND able to go to work.

i don’t need to spell out the personal parallel here, do i? ya’ll are pretty smart. let’s all just take a minute.  can we? not yet?  [[sigh]].  ok – but i’m not making any spell check promises until i get that minute.

This book just moved to the top of my “want to read” list and thus makes my Christmas list. This book has kept popping up on my radar… but I never read what it was about until this morning. Here is an exerpt from deadlyviper.org (which is a fabulously awesome site to look at, by the way).

“Deadly Viper is an initiative dedicated to beginning a strategic conversation on the issues of radical integrity and grace. Our focus is to develop leaders who are having intentional, transparent, and honest conversations about key character issues.

Deadly Viper is no-holds barred. It’s for the radical, risk taking, gutsy leaders who are kicking butt and taking names. Even if you’re in the middle of your finest hour, basking in a pool of success, there might be some personal integrity stuff you need to think about. It’s very possible your character weapons have dulled and your integrity muscles have become flabby and soft. And you haven’t even noticed.”

Sounds like it could hurt a little. Now I just gotta finish reading this big stack of wonderful books I bought with my birthday money this summer so I can make room for more! I’m about halfway there!

For all you who have hosted domains running WordPress… here are my favorite WP-Plugins. For all of you running the free wordpress blog… you should be warned – - – you will really want to get your own domain after reading about all these fun goodies (not to mention themes – - glorious themes). For all of you running blogger [[sigh]]…. i really don’t know how you can stand it, but we’re thrilled to have you around all the same. Here they are… my fav’s…

1. Plugin Installer
   This is the first plugin I install for all wordpress blogs. Installs and uninstalls plugins from plugin admin interface. Must have.
2. Page Link Manager
   Lets you select which pages show up in your page navigation. Very handy!
   
3. Commentluv
   I love, love, love this one! Just found it. It posts a link underneath each comment to commenter’s last blog post – - thus spreading a little comment luv…. you’re welcome . I know, I know… you love me too. Unfortunately it doesn’t back-track. So let the comment luv commence!
4. All in One SEO Pack
   A must have. Because you are all optimizing your blogs – - – RIGHT???? Man, that post has been sitting in my drafts for waaaaay too long now. Soon… I’ll post it soon.
   
5. Brian’s Threaded Comments
   This is smooth. Allows you to respond to specific comments instead of the usual “in order” way. Makes communication with your commenters a little more personal. I’m hoping someday they will make it so it will send an email to the person you are responding to so they will know without having to subscribe to comments (which noone does). That would make it almost the perfect WP plugin.
6. Dofollow
   Yet a little more love for your commenters. Tells spiders and bots – “YES!!! DO follow my commenter’s links… i LOVE my commenters”. Again, you’re welcome.
7. Kill Preview 2
   This is a good one too. Makes that pesky “preview” (which really does no such thing) at the bottom of your “write” panel – - go away. Benefit? You don’t have to wait for it to load e v e r y t i m e !!!
8. iWPhone
   This one makes iPhone users happy. Reconfigures your posts so that they can read and navigate (and comment) easily.
9. Podpress
   This is the only way to podcast (mostly because it’s the only one I could figure out . But really, it’s perfect for getting listed on iTunes and others. Very robust and comprehensive interface. Great for just everyday multimedia posts too.
10. Popularity Contest
    This is also a new one for me. Shows up underneath all your posts as a popularity percentage calculated by counting links, comments, clicks, etc. You can also put a widget in your sidebar showing your most popular posts. Lots of potential with this one. Lets readers find your best content quickly.
11. WP-DBManager
    Gotta have it. Backs up your blog and emails it to you however often you tell it to and has database tools to help keep your blog healthy and speedy.
12. WP-Sticky
    Haven’t used this often – but nice to have when I want it. Make a post “stick” in the top position of your blog.
13. WP-Email
    Word of mouth! Email this post to a friend (or, invite a friend, as I am getting ready to use it on the Imagine Christmas Site).
14. Link Harvest
    I kind of like this. It compiles a list of all the things you have ever linked to and orders them from most frequent to least frequent. Makes a cool snapshot for your readers of where you link.
15. Google Sitemaps
    You may think you don’t need a site map, but those spiders and bots love them. Just install it – you don’t ever have to look at it again or show the whole world. Just let it work it’s magic behind the scenes… it updates automatically.

There you go… have fun! (don’t forget to comment so you can see your link go up in all it’s glory!).

NOTE: due to an inordinate amount of spam being directed at this post i have disabled comments for it.  spammers remain – forever – - – dorks.