California Dream 2000s: The environment, technology, art and design from San Francisco, California, 2000 to 2009.

WordPress revisions

I noticed recently that one of my WordPress sites had started skipping post numbers. It used to just go in order… 1, 2, 3 onward as expected. Suddenly post numbers were incrementing several at a time, seemingly randomly. What’s up with that?

I started looking around and found the database had multiple entries per post. A little more digging and I realized that WordPress 2.6 had added versioning (is “revisioning” a word?). Each time a draft was saved, WordPress would save it as a new entry with the post_type set to “revision” (versus “post” for the final version) and the database would increment the id by one. Mystery solved.

Versioning can be really valuable — it’s a key feature of content management systems and wikis — but for some of my blogs I only want my final version to be saved and available. So, how to turn it off?

In wp-config.php, simply add the following line to turn off revisions:

define('WP_POST_REVISIONS', false);

On a related note, autosaves can add extra posts in the database. A workaround is setting a high interval for autosaves, in wp-config.php:

define('AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL',600);

Once you have these changes in place you may remove revisions that have already been saved in the database by issuing the following command within mysql:

delete from wp_posts where post_type = "revision";

Before you do that, though, you may wish to list all the entries that are set as revisions:

select ID, post_title from wp_posts where post_type = 'revision';

And compare them to the entries set as posts:

select ID, post_title from wp_posts where post_type = 'post';

Jet fuel from algae

The San Francisco Chronicle has a story today about a startup that has produced a small amount of jet fuel from algae and feedstock.

Feedstock, such as switchgrass, is fed to genetically modified algae and the algae produce oil, once they’ve consumed more feed than they need, according to the article.

There’s no mention, however, of how algal oil compares to petroleum as far as creating pollution when burned.

The article states that the supply of oil from algae may be limited only by available feedstock supplies. Bigger issues would be how diverting feesdtock to fuel would change food production and availability, and the efficiency of the fuel output versus how much feedstock would be needed to produce the oil and how much energy and water would be used to grow the feedstock in the first place.

I tend to believe that we need to find ways to stop using oil, as opposed to finding ways to create more oil, but I think new ideas are certainly worth examining.

Link: San Francisco Chronicle SFGate

Hardware stores and hiking

I love hardware stores. I find it kind of amazing that they have so many fun, interesting, cool and unexpected items; that I can buy a single bolt or enough wiring and pipes to do up an entire house. There are three hardware stores near my apartment — four if you count the one that is on the next hill over. I like going to them and looking for project ideas. Sometimes it’s just hooks or picture hangers, sometimes it’s shelves or organizers, sometimes it’s a new idea for lighting or electrical projects and sometimes it’s coming up with a creative way to make toys and inventions out of common household items. I really like coming up with ways to store and organize things, clean, decorate, try new lighting or just manage the recycling and trash better. I like to do things that enhance my apartment without adding clutter, of course.

Last week I went to the hardware store and found a bunch of fastening gear for a home project I was finishing up. It usually takes me a couple trips since I tend to figure some of it as I go. That’s why the hardware store two blocks from my place is a good starting point. Of course it’s certainly no burden to walk another five or seven blocks to see if I can find the right items at one of the other two nearby stores (the fourth hardware store is eleven or twelve blocks away, which is still along a regular walking route, but doesn’t have the same “in my neighborhood” feel).

There are coffee shops and restaurants, a movie theater that plays indie flicks and a lots of small busonesses near my house and my hardware stores. Plus an odd grocery store that has fancy individual cakes (which I get once in a blue moon for a treat to share). Almost all of them are local businesses, not chains. I love my neighborhood.

I love August in the Bay Area. The weather is great, there’s lots to do and the sun comes up early and goes down late. It’s my favorite month.

I took the ferry out Angel Island a couple weeks ago to go hiking. I had done the perimeter road in the past, but this was the first time I had climbed to the top. I’m usually an urban hiker, but there are trees and dirt trails just a boat ride away. I plowed up the hill like a billy goat; the view was gorgeous at the top. I sat and ate energy bars and drank protein drinks, then headed down the other side and back to the ferry boat. Walker, hiker, urban foot-transit enthusiast. I chuckle when I see the Segway groups near Aquatic Park; do we really need vehicles that mimic walking?

It’s slowing down here. The crowds at the Wharf and Union Square are thinning out. I guess the kids are back in school or something. September and October are greats months here too, especially for the locals. I’m done with today’s chores, cleaning my apartment, attaching the hooks, taking things out and adding things in. Until the next hike to the hardware stores, of course.

Syllabic

Changing attitudes about finite resources

I get the impression that people — regular people — are genuinely changing their attitudes about energy, gas, oil, finite resources. Around the blogosphere people are writing about different fuels, new energy technologies, wanting governments to seek alternatives to oil. People seem to be accepting that it costs actual money to drive a large vehicle down the road, that maybe that’s not the best thing to be doing, and that there are other options that make more sense environmentally and economically.

Walkable cities are healthy cities

I read in the newspaper today that San Francisco has been rated the most walkable city in the United States. Yes, even with the hills. Maybe especially with the hills. I was walking up the hill to my apartment the other day and, as I got to the top, I remembered how hard that hill was the first time I went to see the apartment, and noted how easy it is now. I’m a Billy Goat.

Is ‘blogoshpere’ a real word?

I’m sort of amazed by all the blogs. People are writing about so many things… some are interesting to me… some are not… some are cleaver, insightful, delightful… some are not. This blog is interesting… maybe not.

Muni, Muni, Muni

I like it when Muni employees show a sense of humor. I heard this on the PA system at Montgomery Station this morning:

“Muni custodian, Muni custodian. Your services are needed at Van Ness Station. We have an extremely serious situation at Van Ness that needs your attention. We have a coffee spill.”

Vignettes

Marriage equality

I was working downtown in 2004 when Gavin started issuing same-sex marriage licenses. I always regretted not running up to City Hall to watch the marriages at that time.

On Tuesday we picked up a picnic lunch and went over to City Hall to watch a bunch of couples tying the knot and coming out the door to a crowd cheering and applauding. It was such a happy scene, and we wondered how anyone could be against committed couples getting married?

Then a walk, a nap, another walk, a nice dinner at a little French Bistro and a cable car ride. A special day, to be sure, but, in a way, just another day here in San Francisco.

Muni madness

Muni seems to be on the fritz lately. I’ve been riding the N-Judah a couple or few times a week as of late, and the trains are breaking down, the schedules aren’t being met and the crowding is heavy. I’ve also noticed that the NextMuni displays have been showing “ghost” buses and trains; the sign will say “arriving” and nothing arrives.

Postal

The Post Office did an interesting trick last week. Apparently they changed some of the drivers around, and they were leaving package notes from the wrong pads; folks were being notified to pick up their packages from Post Offices across town instead of their local office. I know of Sunset residents getting Pine Station notices, and Geary residents getting Sunset notices. The packages were, in fact, right where they were supposed to be. The woman at the Sunset Station on 22nd apologized for the mix-up, then started laughing: “You drove all the way from Pine Street?” I actually took a train and walked, which took a ton of time.

Life wants

What do you really want? That’s the questions posed lately to me about life, jobs and the future. That question seems hard to answer. What do I want? What do I need? I have so much, do I need more, or just something different, something new? I love change and hate change; it’s exciting to do something new, and it’s scary to do something new. I’m trying to think of the right cliche here (yes, I do like cliches; I think they’re an easy and effective way to tap into the group conscious)… lemonade from lemons, sailing with the current, playing the hand dealt. No, I think it’s more zen than that. Life is difficult. Life is dynamic. Life is amazing. Yes.

Sailing

I managed to get out for some sailing last weekend. It was blowing hard in the slot and we had a time of it, even with a reefed main. But docking at Angel Island and enjoying the summer feeling in Ayala Cove is always a treat. Even if we had to endure the slot again to get back. I love steady wind with calm water, like when we’re behind Treasure Island.

Still here

I’ve lived here long enough to sometimes forget to look around and see. But then I remember to remember.

State Supreme Court says same-sex couples have right to marry

State Supreme Court says same-sex couples have right to marry. The ruling was just announced, and what a great thing.

Let people choose partners that they love and build their lives with those partners. It’s just so obvious what is right here. It makes me sad that there are hate-filled people working against this; perhaps they need to concentrate on their own lives and leave other consenting adults alone.

Sans April

I try to update this blog at least once a month, and sometimes it happens a couple times a month. That has been the right balance for me here and I like it that way.

I missed April.

I was trying to think of what to write all month. Another abstract descriptive story of cable cars and windy San Francisco nights? Generalized tales of the people in my life? Which servers and operating systems I’ve been playing with lately? Working hard at my job? The weather, which is always of interest to me?

Not sure. This entry is one of those exercises in simply writing for the sake of writing. And, of course, so this blog has been updated within about a month. Sans April. Just taking action for the sake of taking action is perfectly reasonable to me. In fact, it’s a great tool.

Life is rolling along, complete with new challenges and changes. I’ve been walking a surprisingly navigable line between confidence and fear, new and old, changes and comfort. Yes, there are extremes, but I believe today’s extremes become tomorrow’s day to day life, and I like that a lot. To me that is growth.

All here at home, my place in the world, with the fog rolling over the hills, the Muni trains running in the tunnels, the tasks on my to-list making me tired and the soundtrack playing in the background with the sub woofer dialed way down so as to not disturb the neighbors too much.

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