I decided I would like to have more control over the site and opted to host my own domain and run WordPress. I had to manually fix a few links and recently had a major issue with my plugins (it is now fixed) everything is finally migrated over.

I will be adding new features and content to the site as well as a new theme hopefully in the coming weeks.

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As of late, I’ve been looking into going back to school. It seems the Ottawa region is flooded with support analysts who have been laid off and the demand doesn’t meet those levels. Perhaps I can either supplement my skills, or maybe it’s time to move into a new career. We shall see.

I recently pieced together a new song concept demo, which can be found on my MySpace page – it’s the track labeled ‘Boneyard’. Check it out.

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After a poking around the xml template for my site, and playing around with the Digg code, I’ve figured out how to add a Digg button to my posts.
Listed below is a quick how-to for adding this functionality to your website too.

1. Make sure your blog is set to enable Post Pages and you are using the new Blogger, not the classic version
2. Go to the customization section of your blog, on the Template tab select Edit HTML
3. Make sure to click Download Full Template and save a backup copy to disk – just in case.
4. Put a check in Expand Widget Templates.
5. Search for <p><data:post.body/></p>
   Update: November 5th, 2008

   It has come to my attention that some templates use a slightly different formatting. If you cannot find the text listed above – try searching for <data:post.body/> and follow the rest of the instructions.

6. Paste this on the line directly before it:
   <div style='float:right; margin-left:10px;'>
<script type='text/javascript'>
digg_url=&quot;<data:post.url/>&quot;;</script>
<script src='http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js' type='text/javascript'/>
</div>
7. Preview your template to make sure it looks right – the Digg icon should appear at the top right of all your posts. Hover your cursor over it and make sure the link URL matches your post URL.
8. If all looks well, click Save Template and then View your blog

Happy DIGGing!

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One of the things I like is label clouds. It’s a nifty concept which before now I was never able to add to my site. I cannot take credit for coming up with it – I just followed the step-by-step instructions listed here. Note this requires you to be using the new version of blogger and already have some labels configured with your posts.
In case you are not aware, a label cloud is a list of blog labels where the more frequently appearing ones are made larger, thus giving an instant visual indication of the most popular labels.

I’ve also added a Digg button, but I’m still working on figuring out how to code it for individual posts on a blogger.com site.
Edit: I now have this working.

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I’m still working on purging stuff, developing a quit-smoking plan, learning PHP/MySQL, and trying to find some time to relax.

I would like to do more writing here, but sadly I am likely to be working on one of many websites or rumaging through stuff.

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How did I do it?

I left layout mode and edited the HTML, where I found the .css element for the “header-wrapper” and “header” sections. I cloned them and renamed them – “billboard-frame” and “funkydj” respectively.

#billboard-frame {
    width:730px;
    margin:0 auto 1px;
}
#funkydj {
    margin: 0px;
    text-align: center;
}

Now scroll way down into the body of the HTML and find the “header-wrapper” tag. Below that div, you add a new section:


<div id="billboard-frame">
    <b:section class='funkydj' id='funkydj' maxwidgets='1' showaddelement='yes'>
    </b:section>
</div>

You can save, then go back to layout mode and add an HTML element into the new section you’ve created below the header. Voila!

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This is just a dry run, there may be more changes to come. Any comments or suggestions?

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Over the past few weeks I have been concentrating on job-hunting¹ and a large amount of C++ programming. With the switch from Effexor to Prozac I’ve not had as much ability to focus, so the interviews I had last week took priority.

Beyond that, I did manage to snag a contract for a month-and-a-half. As usual, I can’t say much about it due to security reasons. The beauty of this contract is that if I can do a grade-A job, there’s a potential of two different full-time positions I may be kept on for. No idea on the exact start date at the moment. I’m looking at possibly two-to-three weeks from now.

So as happy as I am to have found a source of funds until the Summer at bare minimum, I have the next three-to-four weeks until they’ll likely be giving me a paycheck. Actually, I need to double check the documentation they provided, but I may actually be getting paid weekly for this contract. There is a good potential for overtime with this job, and I am never going to have to work on a Sunday². The positives are generally outweighing the negatives right about now, and it’s validating to be able to get into the kinds of contracts I’ve been picking up lately.

For those who may have worried that my SSRI experiences may have fried me entirely, fear not: I’m still alive!

^{1: I was using terms like “support analyst” as bait.
2: I loath working on Sundays. Not for any religious context, nor because the bus service is horrid.}

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