I’ve been using it for the past month or so, seems to improve performance on my computer. Your mileage may vary though.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=874a414b-32b2-41cc-bd8b-d71eda5ec07c&DisplayLang=en

It has been a while, but WordPress 2.5 is almost here. It’s been a while since a major update has been released (2.3 was released in September 2007; there was supposed to be a 2.4 released in January 2008, but everyone was busy with the holidays, and it was delayed, then decided to skip it).

I’ve been paying attention to the development of 2.5, and even submitted a patch for one of the smaller bugs. My patch wasn’t used (other didn’t like the way I worded something), but the issue was still fixed. I still paid attention though, and left feedback on other issues (and still plan on doing so, plus eventually learning PHP so I can potentially help with some actually bugs that aren’t just wording issues).

A lot of work has been put into 2.5, but in my opinion, the biggest change won’t be seen in the frontend by visitors. Those that write on WordPress systems will notice a big change as soon as they log in, because the backend has been completely redesigned. Everything is still there, but in a different place. The lmain links have been reorganized based on how often they are used, with the main links on the left, and the less used links over to the right. However, I won’t see those menus because I use ozh’s Admin Menu Drop Down plugin since I can get to anywhere in the backend when using it.

One small change that went in was how the post slug is edited. This is the part of the URL that specifies the post. For instance, this post’s slug is wordpress-25-almost here. In prior versions of WordPress, this was edited in a box labelled slug, but if you didn’t know what the slug was, you had to go look up what is was, or just try it out and see what happened. In 2.5’s Write page, under the Title section it shows you what the Permalink will be, and gives you a link to edit. Clicking on that link will allow you to change the slug, and since it doesn’t use any fancy terminology, the first time user will be able to edit the slug without confusion.

Another feature that I like, since it means I don’t have to install a different program and another plugin, is the gallery feature. Now it doesn’t have some features I’d like, such as displaying the description as a caption, but having a gallery function at all is a good first step; I hope that it is built on a little more and improved. The pictures below of the admin section have been inserted using the built-in gallery. Read the rest of this entry »

… and thank god for that. This semester seems to be bugging me for some reason, and I don’t konw why… but I should probably figure that out soon. So what do I plan to do for my time off? Most of it will be spent sleeping and being a bum, but I do have a few things planned. One of the things that I’m doing is going to the NAGA New England tournement to watch a friend or two or three compete. This was supposed to take place the weekend that I was home for my birthday, but it got postponed when a pipe burst at the venue (or something like that).

Other things I want to get done over the break include:

• Get a job for over the summer
• Build something. I used to love building models and (especially) Lego sets when I was younger. As time went on, the sets I wanted got more expensive, so I kind of gave it up. Since I’m getting a little extra money from working tonight, I figure I might as well spend it on either a Lego set or a model (if there are any that I want when I go to Wal-Mart next).
• Figure out where I’m putting stuff when I move out of the dorm. It’s either figure it out now, or wait until school’s over and figure it out then, since I’m living at home next year (school only provides 3 years of on campus housing). There actually isn’t all that much to figure out, but it’s more of doing the next item…
• Clean my room and the area where the downstairs computer is. Both are a bit of a mess as they’ve just been places to throw stuff and worry about it later. My computer is going in one of those two areas, its just a matter of where I’d rather have it.

And I’m sure I’m going to have to do some other things around the house… but hopefully not much.