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Updates about the world or the blog at large.

Deja Vu? What Happened

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The more attentive readers will understand that I had some recent downtime yesterday. I don’t know what happened. Things worked fine in the morning before it came to a crashing halt. I spent the entire afternoon trying to isolate the problem (which I thought was a theme, then a plugin, then the installation) before calling it for the evening and raiding. That ended up in me getting my Vestments of Absolution.

A few more head bashing hours later, I came really close to just throwing in the towel and retiring entirely because I was extremely pissed and frustrated. My other blogs were working. Plusheal was working. But for whatever reason, this blog wasn’t. I tried wiping the database and restoring the backup earlier from the day. No dice. I tried wiping the entire WP install and restoring it again. Nothing.

Ended up wiping the install AND the database. Restored the database from Wednesday before Syd’s and Joveta’s post went up. That’s why you’re seeing them there again because I had to manually post theirs.

All I can say is, I won’t be renewing my contract with my current host. I have another year remaining. World of Matticus will be an unrestricted free agent blog next summer.

SYTYCB

Critiques will come out later tonight. Result will be released tomorrow. Next week, you’ll find out more about the latest addition to the WoM crew.

Twisted Nether: Wynnicus Podcast Now Available

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wynnicus-podcast

Clocking in at under 90 minutes, the Bre, Fim, Wyn, and Matt show is now available for download from the TNB website. If you were unable to catch the whole show (consider yourself lucky ^^), you can grab the edited and pared down version.

Highlights

  • Beta talk (lots of it)
  • Blogosphere highlights
  • Wyn
  • An saga tale

Don’t miss the epic saga

A tale of two Priests. . .

A broken promise. . .

A friendship tested. . .

More drama than the loss of a Hunter bow to a Rogue. . .

A betrayal that no one would have believed possible. . .

This is the must listen Podcast of the year. If you download only one podcast this season, make it The Twisted Nether Blogcast: Episode 16.

Note: I ran out of movie cliches. Anyone got any?

MEME: When Matt was a Young Warthog

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pumba

Kudos to Game Dame for tagging me with this excellent meme last week. Due to the lack of free time over the past week with school (and this blog thing breaking), I haven’t been able to p ost my version of things.

I have to confess.

I’m a little perplexed as to why she tagged me because of 2 reasons:

  1. I’m Canadian
  2. I’m quite possibly the youngest WoW blogger in existence and I don’t recognize these events.

In lieu of that, I guarantee you that this will be a very quick list.

Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

I wasn’t around for this event. In fact, I wouldn’t be around for another year. On the other hand, what I was around for was the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. I was in tenth grade and I had just woken up. It was around 730 AM for me at the time and I powered my computer to check out my news sites. Yes, at grade 10, I read news sites. My source? Fark.com. I woke up my dad about it and we flipped on the TV to catch what was happening on CNN.

September 11 attacks

This one I remember fairly clearly. I was in my drafting class working on various technical drawing exercises. The mood was different that day. It felt more somber and I had a feeling something was up. I didn’t get the opportunity to check the news that morning. Many of my classmates were crowded around various computers. I figured they were playing some SNES emulator game like Gundam Wing or Street Fighter. To my amazement, they had CNN streaming live on one of the terminals. Even more amazing, my teacher came by and actually stood there and watched along with us.

Hurricane Katrina

This happened during my graduating year. I don’t remember much about this one. To be honest, as a Canadian and an outsider, it didn’t have as much of an impact on me as the others did. I don’t know why and I can’t really explain it. I think it was because the event occurred over a longer period of time instead of striking all at once within a limited time window. I just can’t remember.

Reagan Assassination Attempt, John Lennon’s death, and Kurt Kobain’s death

I’m sorry gamedame, I’m just way too young for those.

What about you? Where were you at? And why not try these on for size?

World of Matticus Gets a New Face Lift

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rebirth

Of course, sneaky tech savvy blog readers (or even Google RSS readers) would have been able to access the blog while I was undergoing upgrades. That flimsy placeholder page does absolutely nothing to restrict people. Need to find me a maintenance mo

If my blog was my toon, I’d go all out on it trying to maximize rep and getting all the necessary gear to make it better. Looking at it now, I think I did a pretty good job! You can tell what how much a blogger loves their work by not only the way they write but how they present it.

Let’s discuss the set bonuses features about the new look, eh?

Front page
  • Same blue Matticus: The blues are staying. It’s the official colors of the Alliance and it’ll be the official colors of Matticus.
  • Featured video: On the right side, Wyn and I have the option of embedding interesting videos there that we think our readers would love. They don’t have to be necessarily WoW related. For example, if you play it now you’ll recognize the tune from the Macbook Air commercial (which I believe is very fitting for the occasion).
  • Individual author avatars: This wasn’t a problem months ago as I was the only writer. But with the embrace of a coblogger and accepting guest posts, identity becomes much more important. Cemented with 110 x 110 pixels of writers.
  • Headline ticker: Don’t miss out on the latest highlight reel posts. You’ll notice the massive billboard-like plugin at the top. It will cycle through 5 recent posts that we think you’ll enjoy!
  • Advertising: Yes, advertising has become a little more prominent. They won’t interfere with the content (due to tactical and strategic placement). However, if you don’t want to be exposed to them, why not subscribe to my RSS Feed or via EMail above instead?
  • Expanded blogroll: The recommended reading on the sidebar has been expanded to encompass more blogs. Criteria? Bribery.
  • Tag cloud: Categories have disappeared from the side. Instead, you can find random “streams of thought”. The cloud functions as a keyword type thing. Actively discussed topics are the ones that are in large fonts.
  • Refined categories: Instead of being on the side, categories now appear at the top beneath the pages. Mousing over them reveals a javascript powered drop down menu that will take you to the posts that match what you’re dying to find out more of.
Article page

I’ve not only refined the look of the blog, but I’ve taken care to add extra details to the post pages themselves. Take a gander:

  • Breadcrumb trail: Never get lost again! A breadcrumb trail at the top of each post will let you know where you are at all times.
  • Related Articles: Not sure where to go after you’re done? At the bottom of every post has a list of suggested reading to follow up on.
  • Share this: If you like a particular article or post, why not share it with a friend or guildmate? Supports multiple avenues like Digg, Stumbleupon, and Technorati. You can even share it on your Blogger or WordPress blog (Twitter and Typepad too!)
  • Gravatar support: Gravatar support has finally been implemented. Now you can have your own cool image to help distinguish you from the rest!
  • Comment and trackback separation: In the past, I found it confusing to read through comments and click on trackback links from other blogs. Sometimes I would forget to visit the other blogs because I was so enamored with the comments. No more! When viewing posts, you’ll see the comments by readers first and then link backs from other blogs and sites at the bottom.
  • Commentluv support: Not exactly new, but I never announced it either. If you’re a blogger who posts a comment, the blog will automatically try to pull the latest headline from your blog.
Temporary
  • Banner and header: That will change. I’m going to try and enlist the design skills and support of the same guy that designed the Plusheal banner.
  • Twitter: I found a nifty spot for it in the top right corner. I did a lot of changes to it but I can’t see the little Twitterbird icon. I hope it shows up. Otherwise people will wonder what that random block of text means.

Whew. Time spent? Well over 20 hours. Now I can stop tinkering, coding, and tweaking and get back to the real fun stuff of writing posts!

Actually, I’m late for my raid. Oof!