January 2008

Following up on yesterday's post this is a quick and dirty guide to adding images to blog posts using imagecache and Lightbox v2. The effect of these together is to create an image like the one in this post. When clicked the image will display in an overlay on this page thanks to lightbox. Imagecache handles making a static copy of the image available and resizing the image to provide several predefined sizes.

It is possible to do similar things in much better ways. For example creating an image field and a template for displaying posts that include the image. This method is a quick and dirty method using a minimum of additional modules. With Drupal 6 the FlexiFilter module will make this method even simpler.

The first step is to setup the necessary modules (imagecache and lightbox v2). The imagecache handbook page has some information about setting up presets for imagecache. The latest version of imagecache has new settings that deprecate some of the old settings. See the image in this post for a glance at what is in the newest CVS version.

Sometimes it takes a simple reminder that Occam's razor or the keep it simple stupid principles apply to most things in the technical realm just as it does to the real world.

In the server meltdown last week the data was all recovered but some problems with the backups made it impossible to get all of the file directories. The net result was a friend's WordPress blog melted down. Or at least all the goodies were gone. In the process of renewing the site and getting it updated a tagging plugin no-longer worked. As we talked this afternoon I looked through the database and figured out the schema and what was happening. Quickly enough I hit on a few simple queries and realized I could convert the data.

After another backup of the database it was time to set about migrating the data. The first query is:

That runs perfectly and it was time for step two. Or it was really time for step one. Not a major WordPress user I am not terribly familiar with the community. But it hit me that I was probably not the first person to be doing this. Maybe somebody else had published the SQL to make this process easier.

It has been a busy 2008 so far. I spent the first full week of the year at the Lullabot Drupal API workshops in beautiful, rainy, Portland. It didn't take long to figure out that I also really wanted to head off to the themeing workshops in February as well. I came home ready to wrap up a couple of projects and spend countless hours working on patches and uber-cool modules and hacks for all kinds of sites.

All went well on Sunday as I moved several sites and did a little database trickery to make things hum along. When I shut down for the day early Monday morning things were buzzing right along. Murphy, however, was hard at work. A problem with the server resulted in the need to rebuild the whole box from scratch. Even more fun it is a remote server and the backups weren't working as well as they should have been.

A very sad passing this week. Fred Anderson was Mr. Nevada Boys' State. For decades Anderson has been the face of Nevada Boys' State both in Nevada and at national conventions. It is hard to imagine just what next summer's session will be without Fred's "oh golly" and recounting of how this year's group of kids is the best we've seen.

Fred W. Anderson

Fred W. Anderson passed away on January 7, 2008 at the age of 85. Born March 21, 1922 in Colrein, MA to Fred W. Anderson and Ida Larson Anderson. Fred moved to Fallon, NV in 1926 at the age of 4. He attended Fallon schools and graduated from Churchill County High School in 1940. After high school he worked for the railroad until entering the Navy in 1943. He was released from the Navy in 1946. Fred then attended Utah State Agricultural College from 1946-1951 (graduated in 1950) and entered the Army in June of 1951-November 1952. Fred also attended the University of Washington. He moved back to Fallon where he taught school from 1953-1981. During his school teaching years and to date, he was very active in the American Legion serving every office on the Post level, District level, and Department level. He also served as State Commander in 1971-1972 and as National Vice Commander over the 13 western states in 1975-76. Fred was the American Legion Baseball Chairman for 4 years, State Oratorical Chairman for 3 years, and was Director of Nevada Boys State from 1973 through 1992. He served as State Adjutant of American Legion 4 years between 1982 and 1987. Fred has been a volunteer at the Reno Veterans Hospital from April 1983 until present and was selected as Volunteer of the Year in 1995. For 3 years he served on the American Legion National Commission on Children and Youth and then served on National Security Commission from 1978 through the present time. In addition to this, Fred was an avid college football fan and enjoyed recording as many stats as humanly possible in one Saturday afternoon.

Fred is survived by his wife of 36 years, Ivy G. Anderson, step sons: Gerald York (Marlene) and Charles York, sister: Margaret Wheeler, nephews: John Gill and Jim Gill, grandchildren: Bryan York, Theresa York, Risa Lopez, Leanne Crawford, and Susan Alexander.

Fred was a very generous and caring individual who always put others first. He was a dedicated servant to the public and asked nothing in return. He will be missed but not forgotten by not only his family, but by all the others whose lives he touched.

A funeral service with military honors for Fred will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday January 12, 2008, at Walton Funeral Home Sierra Chapel, 875 W. 2nd St., Reno.

Published in the Reno Gazette-Journal from 1/10/2008.