mission drupal 5

i am a geek on a mission[1]. mission drupal 5 to be exact.

the tactic:

• read INSTALL.txt word for word.
  
• try to understand it.
  
• you will do well young one.

the frontline operation:

• download, extract, and copy the resultant drupal 5 folder into a directory within your root directory. check - using ftp program.
  
• create the drupal database. umm. where? how? oh... i finally found it on cpanel's MySQL account maintenance, no need to delve into phpMyAdmin.
• create the drupal user. check - easy once you know where to look, similar to creating the db.
• link the user to the db. check! now the db configuration looks like the configurations for the other db's i already have installed.
  
• run the install script. install script? i must run it? but when i point to the folder it doesn't do anything. it gives me an access denied. *help* go back to the beginning...
  
• "move the contents of the directory". hmm. maybe i shouldn't have moved the whole directory, but only it's contents.
• ha! it works! but now to give access to the settings.php file. also helps if you take note of the location of the settings file ;)
• voila! see how it runs!
• remember to restore the access permissions on the settings.php file

• configure drupal. *tears fill my eyes*... it worked! i can see the config screen.

the outcome:

• i win!
• drupal 5's so pretty!

[1]actually, the use of the word geek when referring to me is very liberal. considering i haven't done much *real* programming in yonks... i am an enthusiast...

shaun of the dead

call me crazy, but i could've sworn i saw shaun last night. yeah yeah, i can hear you... but you don't understand. i mean shaun from back in the day when i was young and innocent and just starting out at varsity. yeah, that's right, i knew shaun before he became a "rock star hacker". what a trip down memory lane. guess now would be the time to delve back into the embarassing bits of back then... so:

- shaun was a gangly geeky cute shaggy haired dude, and i'm not afraid to say he has certainly improved with age ;) as have i, because:
- i used to have much shorter spiky gelled hair and wore glasses back then! ugh. something i'd like to forget. and no, you may NOT see ANY photos...

ha ha... ummm. ok, i've embarassed myself (and shaun possibly too) enough for today.

dude, i thought you had dropped off the side of the planet... welcome back!

singles vs property ads

I am looking for a young independent employed single female to share a 2 bedroom upstairs apartment with.

hmmm... if i didn't know that this ad came from private property, i'd have marked it as spam. surely there's a better way to word the ad? just a thought...

p.s. i had a chuckle at the inclusion of the "independent" parameter... independent as opposed to... clingy?

celebr-8

yay! i just found out today that my right eye improved by 0.5... that may not seem like alot... in actual fact, it's not... but when you have eyes like mine, it's a miracle... ;)

madam & eve say it all...

27

cerebra is starting the year off with a bang, in a big way... they're launching tonight. and the 27 dinners are launching on saturday in joburg. yay!

27 is a get together, held on the 27th day of each month for geeks, marketers, entrepreneurs, writers, media practitioners, speakers - well, just about anybody who is keen - to share ideas and news and opinions over food and drink. Alternating between Jozi and Cape Town, 27 is open to anyone who wants to attend (and/or contribute).

I really can't wait for the dinner... think it's going to be awesome to be able to put some real-live faces to the ramblings i read. i might even be tempted to prod a few of 'em just to make sure they're real... ha ha... erm. ok.

27 jan is also a special day personally... it's my dad's birthday! :) i'll be spending most of the day with him at a course. and i'm really grateful he doesn't mind me going to the 27 dinner, instead of his birthday dinner. :) i've actually been telling him all about this new media revolution thing... and will be setting up a blog for him for one of his businesses soon. it's awesome to be able to share a passion with your pops.

friend or foe?

ok, i'm starting to feel freaked out...

i've received numerous missed calls from a "withheld" number on my cellphone in the past week. quite by coincidence i haven't been there to answer the calls. but still. there must be over 10 calls by now... and they never leave a message.

don't you think that's freaky?

happiness at work

i've been corresponding with the author of my favourite blog, alexander kjerulf, recently. his blog is my favourite not only because it deals with one of my passions - happiness at work (everyone should be happy at work, really!) - but because his topics are so relevant... so apt. and it's down-to-earth too...

anyways, he asked me a few interesting questions about working in south africa, which really had me scratching my head - probably because i don't have much experience in the corporate world. so i thought i'd pose his questions to you, and see what you have to say. what are your experiences? how do you perceive things to be in south africa?

here's what he said:

*snip*
I would like to know more about what work is like in South Africa.
*snip*
What I'm wondering about is the general mood at work. Are people
generally happy at work in South Africa? Are bosses nice and caring or
tough and authoritarian?

Do people quit if they don't like their jobs, or do they accept jobs
that suck because "that's just what work is supposed to be like"?

If course it can be difficult to generalize, but I'd like to hear your take.
*snip*

my general opinion is that there is a vast majority of people unhappy at work... people who just accept work for work's sake. this is illuminated by the service levels we experience in our beautiful country... we have so much to give, and yet it often (too often) falls flat.

so what do you think south africa? how do you feel about your job?

restored

*phew*

i finally managed to restore drupal to it's original state! (i hope) i tried to update drupal, and it really just bombed out. you can see my frustration here.

finally, the answer to my problem lay in the error log, which pointed me to the include files. somehow these refused to copy over properly from the backup. eventually i managed to go through each one by one, and replaced those that were not of the same file size as the original in the backup.

ok, sanity prevails, and i am going to bed.

south african skies

gauteng did you see the amazing sunset, and ensuing dusk today? i had the privilege of driving home from my weekend away as the sun was setting. just stunning, a perfect "malibu sunset" (if there is such a thing). bright red-ish orange half-round sun disappearing into the horizon against a perfect sky.

and the moon. the moon was as wafer thin as the sun was large. it seems that aquila managed to capture the moon and some of the dusk...

*grumble*

drupal. 6 letters, and so much pain.

i upgraded the drupal installation on victoire.za.net, as fantastico requested, a few minutes ago. and now. well now it's messed up, that's what. now i have to go and fix this mess.

*grumble*

*****update*****
ok, what now? i followed the instructions given to restore in case of emergency, and now nothing displays on victoire.za.net... bah. another late night. the instructions below:

- delete all the files listed in /home/***/public_html/fantastico_fileslist.txt
- delete /home/***/public_html/fantastico_fileslist.txt
- Untar /home/***/fantastico_backups/.backup.*****.tgz
- Empty the database ***_drpl*
- Import the file /home/***/fantastico_backups//backup.sql into the database ***_drpl*
- Move /home/***/fantastico_backups/ to /home/***/public_html

I'm just a little unsure about that last point, because the backups folder only has backup files in it, but i did copy the files that were backed up from the .tgz file into the public_html folder.

any ideas? re-install drupal and forget about the changes i made?

*grumble*

Ginger Spam Salad

yum.

spam. spam. spam.

spam i am.

please tell me that i am not the only person on this planet who thinks it's disgusting that gmail gives out spam recipes when browsing your spam folder?

then again... maybe that's where all the deleted spam goes... to be re-assimilated into spam recipes.

any other explanation is beyond reason...

behind the scenes footage

mr p has kindly authorised my uploading of our most glamorous behind-the-scenes moments whilst out sailing... well at least his is glamorous! just notice how many times i proclaim to be cold... and all that giggling whilst mr p nearly drowns!

intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6cSu80sf44

karl's bomb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SowF44saXXs

smile! (also known as "cccooolllldddd!")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs3L6jKdSEU

bad victoire! (also known as "cccooolllldddd! 2")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT7itIgkMQI

peter strikes a pose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sopx9yS8WNg

do i look glamorous?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdcx0wt8e5k

well there you have it, victoire & friends' most famous movie moments. anyone brave a soundtrack suggestion? :)

*edit
so after all the effort of embedding my YouTube videos into this blog post it seems that they are too large for the blogger frame! and that last video didn't want to display. i have no idea why. i've replaced the embedded video with links to YouTube... sorry for the inconvenience folks!

celebrities... now cloned!

this is just crazy... i can't believe how natasha sazonova so accurately identified the similarities between these celebrities! she basically takes photos of various celebrities, puts them next to each other and describes why she thinks they could be twins...

I don't know about you, but I'm constantly noticing strangers who look like my friends, objects that remind me of some other objects and celebrities who look like twins of other celebrities... I'm beginning to suspect that Hollywood is cloning celebrities just to have a spare in case if something happens to one.

although there are many that are uncannily spot on, some of my favourites are:

bernadette peters & madonna







dana ivey & susan sarandon








helen hunt & leelee sobieski







helena christensen & cameron diaz (wow... i can hardly tell the difference!)









jason lee & joseph fiennes (double yum - jason lee is one of my favourite actors for his role in american cuisine)








marsha thomason & eva longoria








eric mcCormack & tommy lee jones & adrian paul ( i think i could like the neanderthal look)





meryll streep & natascha mcElhone







michael douglas & bill pullman








natalie maines & charlize theron (yay it's our benoni girl!)







peter greene & ralph fiennes








rupert everett & matthew perry (rupert is a favourite in the "chick flicks", he plays those romantic comedy roles so well!)






scarlett johansson & naomi watts (i find naomi so stunning)

tagged - your life as a movie soundtrack

aquila posted an interesting and agreeably distracting mission, and tagged any takers.

the premise is this, to come up with your life's soundtrack all you have to do is put your music library on random... my problem is that i have imported music from all over the place, some of which i have never listened to before. i mean, where'd the grease soundtrack come from?! i did however listen to each song in the context of its scene, and it makes more sense than i expected! judging from my soundtrack my life would make a pretty wacky, sometimes ironic, art movie. somewhat like me.

if you do try it please remember to add a trackback, i'd love to see what your soundtrack is...

So, here’s how it works:

1. Open your music library

2. Put it on shuffle

3. Press play

4. For every question, type the song that’s playing

5. When you go to a new question, press the next button

6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool - I know you have Celine Dion in there somewhere…

01. Opening Credits: Look at me, I’m Sandra Dee – Grease OST

02. Waking Up: With or Without You – U2

03. First Day at School: Silent All These Years – Tori Amos

04. Falling in Love: a true story of a story of true love – the books

05. Fight Song: the nurse – the white stripes

06. Breaking Up: King of glory – WOW Worship

07. Prom/Matric Farewell: Passage de recherché - scanner

08. Life’s Okay: All along the watchtower – Dave Matthews Band

09. Mental Breakdown: Track 07 – Maxwell Embrya

10. Driving: Mall Radio – Max Normal

11. Flashback: Live Forever – Michael W Smith

12. Getting Back Together: Be here to love me – Norah Jones

13. Wedding: heartstrung - chill

14. Birth of a Child: Praise Medley (Psalm 150) – CeCe Winans

15. Death Scene: Inmigrant - Sade

16. Funeral Song: Fools gold – lock, stock & two smoking barrels soundtrack

17. End Credits: I bow down – Travis Cottrell

lone wandering

i decided to go for a bit of a drive around my suburb last night. everything was just perfect for it. it had just rained so the smell of rain and wet soil and plants was fresh. i wound down the window and took a very laid-back drive. it was all rather pleasant until i got stuck behind a driver who didn't understand how stop streets worked. nor the gas pedal for that matter. and i thought that *i* was driving slowly. i actually did feel bad for getting annoyed though... i mean i wasn't in any sort of hurry, i hadn't anywhere to go. time was on my side. and yet, spending an extra 2 minutes at each stop street before we went our separate ways was so agonising. i have become *such* a joburg driver!

my aimless driving eventually led me to the nearby "lake" (that's what they call it, i use the same term for lack of a better noun), and decided to park and take a stroll in the deepening dusk. it was so peaceful, as if i was in my own little world. i noticed that they had done some landscaping since my last visit, with rocks and indigenous plants. really lovely.

the water birds had all gone to roost in the trees perched on the little island already, and were making quite a fuss with their pre-slumber calls. it's amazing how many birds can fit into those trees!

the sky was spectacular, the clouds reflecting blushing reds to light orangey-pinks to deep purple hues as the day drained away. and the fountains in the middle of the lake, with lights reflecting off of the dancing water, emphasising the splashes and ripples as they hit the surface once more, provided a fair amount of amusement as i watched from the wooden bridge. what is it that holds me in awe of water shot out of its source? all the while the gurgling of the run-off into the river below me provided a chorus or two. i found the occasional splashing noises (as that of a fish flopping about in shallow water) disconcerting though!

finally when all was quiet except for the murmur coming from the patrons of a nearby restaurant, and a lone duck making his presence known out on the waters, i returned home to make pancakes.

sail away...

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

what seems a lifetime ago i posted this quote on my "about me" page (soon to be resurrected) on victoire.za.net... and then i got the opportunity to do just that these holidays! i went sailing - for the first time ever - on the vaal dam.

and what an adventure it was... the three expeditionists mr p, mr k, and i started off early on a sun-shiny monday morning full of excitement. we were almost there when the rain hit us, and fearing that we were going to be rained out we assured ourselves that it was all part of the adventure. it cleared up just in time, and we put on our brave faces when faced with a yacht full of bird poop, which had to be washed off!

as for the rest... it was mostly sun, wind, sunscreen, and cool waters.

i got to sit at the helm and steer us into the blue yonders... believe me it's not as easy as it looks! especially when the winds come up, the whole boat starts tipping, and you have to counter-steer!

i got to sit at the front of the yacht with my legs dipping into the water as we rolled over the waves, and got a little more wet than i bargained when a really big wave hit!

i learnt to tie knots. seriously. the first rule of sailing is "know how to tie knots". ok well maybe that's not the *first* rule, but i'm sure it's pretty close to the top. i learnt to tie knots under the patient guidance of mr k. man that guy has a gift in patience. and now i practice my l33t knot tying abilities at home on the blinds. a really useful ability to have i am sure. and i need to stay in practice just in case i *have to* go sailing at the spur of the moment! ;)

and this little gem of an embarassing moment occured, which i promised mr p i would not tell anyone about. all i can say is that my bottle of sunscreen was safe through it all, and mr p survived! :)

we anchored in a bay and had lunch and a long swim. the water was wonderful... but i kept wondering whether anything was lurking in the depths, watching me (the plumpest of the 3), waiting to strike...

mr p and i were dragged (me first, him after i had proved it was safe enough ;)) behind the sailing yacht, holding on for dear life till my arms ached. (i have hilarious video footage of this, i just have to get permission to publish it...)

and then the rains came! wow. what a storm. thunder. lightning. water. rain. us in the middle of it all. large waves jostling our little yacht about. tipping us till the water came up the window and threatened to hurl mr p and i across the cabin. being the only girl onboard i got to stay inside the cabin through the whole storm whilst the boys kept us afloat. after the storm had passed the wind died, and we ended up with the engine put-putting us back to land.

what excitement! what an exploration! what an experience!

Explore. Dream. Discover.

and i am wonder woman...

and supergirl. at the same time.

Your results:
You are Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman 75% Supergirl 75% Spider-Man 65% The Flash 65% Superman 65% Robin 55% Catwoman 50% Iron Man 40% Green Lantern 35% Hulk 25% Batman 20%

You are a beautiful princess with great strength of character.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...


seems mike has better legs than me! :)

the iphone has landed...

well now you have seen everything. that's right, apple has launched their iphone. and it looks like it blows all the other mobile phones out of the water. i mean "multi-touch"- use your fingers instead of a stylus... need i say more.

read the full story over at ed burnette's dev connection

blogalog

i have discoverd mybloglog... and i'm hooked! so far i've stumbled upon some interesting blogs, mostly south african for a change, and exchanged some words with a few cool bloggers. networking... gooood... :)

on that note, i'm going back to work tomorrow. i have mixed feelings about it - really could've done with just one more week of lazing about on holiday... but then a full month at home is pushing it - and i am looking forward to going back at the same time. i'll be wrapping up a big project, getting my interior design (first non-it project in a while) sorted out... yep, it's going to be an exciting year. and what does that have to do with you? or blogging at all? i'll tell you... i probably won't have as much time as i have become accustomed to for blogging. i won't have internet at home for some time, at least until i organise my new cellphone contract, which is probably going to happen at the end of january. ah man, i'm going to miss this!

victoire.za.net under construction

if you've tried connecting to any links to my home site you would've noticed that the content, everything, has disappeared. i have been planning to update the site for a while, i want to make a victoire portal of sorts, but haven't quite known how to do it before. well after checking out paul's 3puppies, listening to him go on and on and on about drupal and blogs and... ;) i decided to "just do it", how hard could it be?

this is where i'm at... a default drupal screen...

i have been trying to get filezilla to connect to my server for ages. honestly, been struggling with it all morning... and then i download ipswitch ws_ftp and it works. one time. so i will have a new theme soonish.

and then i'll see.

*update:

well... let me know what you think... i'll be updating it as i go, but the basics are there.

so much to do in the last days of leave i have!

two years of blogospheres and cyberspace

this past december i celebrated 2 years of blogging. you see i posted my very first post on blogger on the 21st december 2004, here. i will have to do a little more research to figure out if i posted anything before then on my long forgotten first blog. nope. would seem this is history folks. :) and proud of it.

ag no...

it is with great sadness and indeed, regret, that i inform you...

the traffic in joburg has returned. i saw it with my own eyes. rows and rows of cars. on their way home. at 16:50 this afternoon. the bliss of tranquil, empty december streets is over. safe driving folks!

happy hippy hoppy new year!

it's 2007. hope you've had a great one so far.

new year's eve in new town. very cool... sabc2 new year's eve concert with vusi mahlasela, kelly (?), and kabelo. fireworks. dancing in the square. the only whities in sight... not so cool: a rasta kissing me on the side of my face as i turned away, asking me for my number. at least he called me pretty lady. then trying to feel up my ass as i danced. and ducking other amorous youngsters after some caucasian lovin'... the citrus lounge. men with tops off. trying to impress other men. dancing and some fancy footwork with uriah, a proper dance-off. one of the more adventurous/crazy new years eves i've had. fun.

must make more plans this year... or not...