Web Talk

A new feature introduced by Wordpress 2.6 is the image caption which automatically adds under every picture in your blog a brief description of your choice. If you read well what I just wrote you should notice the term automatically. This mean that, by default, the aforementioned feature is always on and you don’t have any option to disable it. The code and , which encloses the IMG, OBJECT or EMBED HTML elements will translate into <div> and </div> CSS attributes to position caption, accordingly. Continue reading »

While trying to install recommended updates in Windows Vista you might get the following error message: “Some updates were not installed - error(s) code 800B0100″. This error is very frustrating because it appears regardless whatever you do and how many times you try to download and install updates, forcing you to stop the service once for all. The trick in this case is quite simple because the error seems to depend on the Windows Firewall itself. It is just sufficient to disable it not to get it anymore and download all the updates you want. Here is how to disable Windows Firewall:

1. Click Start.
2. Click Control Panel.
3. Click Security.
4. Click Turn Windows Firewall on and off.
5. Select Off (not recommended), click Apply and then OK.
6. Now you can  download and install the Windows updates again.

Windows Update is a Windows Vista feature which works in the background downloading the most important hotfixes from Microsoft in order to fix bugs and add services to your operating system. Nothing to say, Windows Update is a very useful application, but what about its annoying dialog pop up which reminds you that Windows can’t update important updates and service while the system is using them? Sometimes I think it has especially designed to bother people while they are working, since it appears when the only thing you need is working without anything or anyone harassing you. Anyway all this is going to change. Here is a little hack to stop it once for all.

1. Click Start.
2. In the Search bar type regedit and press Enter.
3. Look for the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Policies\ Microsoft\ Windows\ WindowsUpdate\AU
4. Right click in the right pane and create a new 32-bit DWORD called NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers
5. Give NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers the following value : 1 to prevent the system from automatic rebooting while users are logged on.
6. Turn your computer off and back on to apply the change.

I know, I know that I have already reviewed WPAU (Wordpress Automatic upgrade) in the past, but you know, I am almost compelled to write about this excellent plugin for Wordpress again. Above all since it is one of the few plugins I really like, care and use, without speaking about the fact that WPAU lets, really lets Web Talk live and survive in this tough Internet world made out of endless updates.  When last year I started looking for a good Content Management System, one of the biggest concerns of mine was to be able to find a software which came with a kind of automatic upgrade. After the bad, really bad upgrade experiences with Mambo and Joomla! I really craved for something easy to use. My only goal, here in the web, is write. I want to focalise myself on writing good reviews and guides. That’s it. That’s why in 2007 I started surfing all of the web looking for something easy to use which let me concentrate on my work. But, with my disbelief, I found out that what I was looking for didn’t exsit. At that point I made one last attempt in Google by typing “automatic upgrade” and after a few pages Wordpress Automatic Upgrade popped out, outstanding with all its wonderful features from the list of results Google gave me. And that’s how I ended up picking Wordpress as my blogging platform. (so, thanks Keith Dsouza, really thanks a lot for creating your wonderful plugin…come on, I know that you read this blog regularly!). Yesterday WPAU has reached its 1.2.0.2 version and a lot of improvements have been made concerning stability, security and bug fixes. But let’s see a brief list of its features.

• Upgrade your Wordpress blog  in a couple of easy steps! No special knowledge is required.
• WPAU is fully compatible with Wordpress 2.6 and up.
• WPAU only lets you upgrade if your WP is out-of-date.
• WPAU now uses Snoopy to download files rather than using regular PHP methods.
• WPAU alerts you when a new WP update is available.
• Automatic Upgrade option will only be visible to Administrators.

Keith Dsouza is also working hard on the next Wordpress Automatic Upgrade (version 1.3) and in his blog he anticipated some of its new thrilling features. Here is a list.

• Better user interface which will let see user see what is going on during the update in real time!
• Ability for users to choose the language of WordPress they want to download from.
• Internationalization support.
• Cleanup of code to make WPAU more faster.

If you want to download Wordpress Automatic Update, click here. If you want to visit the blog of Keith Dsouza, the author of this excellent plugin, here is the link.

3 months right after the birth of Wordpress 2.5 a new version of the famous Content Management System has been released in the wild! As a matter of fact Wordpress, with this new update, has reached version 2.6 increasing the number of its features and improvements. If you are a newbie you will be surprises by Wordpress user-friendly interface and the easiness with whom you will able to install it and start blogging. If you are a seasoned Wordpress’s user, you wouldn’t probability notice any big difference from the previous release but, believe me, there are a lot of improvements and fixes which out-stand for their importance and security value. Here is a quick list:

• Improved support for SSL access to the admin screens.
• Security enhancements, including cookies and database interactions
• When you select a theme, you will now be able to see it live with the changes you made (and with all the content you added) before putting it online.
• “Press This” bookmarklet feature. Thanks to this new feature you will be able to quickly post about the websites you visit while online. (It is just sufficient to drag the “Press This” link into your browser bookmark to activate the function.)
• Wiki tracking for edits. Now Wordpress lets you see who and what changes where made to your posts.
• More support for Avatars.
• Improved plugin management. New “bulk activate” or “bulk deactivate” plugin option.
• Updates to the new jQuery and jQuery UI libraries, updates to the latest TinyMCE editor, improvements to Page and Category management, and general performance enhancements.
• In this version where fixed about 194 bugs!!!

Here is a small video tour of the new Wordpress 2.6. Take  a couple of minutes to watch it. It is worth, believe me!

A lot of people are experiencing a weird issue while trying to update their Windows Vista with SP1. In fact, the operating system could nag you that important updates are available, but when you try to update the system through the “check for updates” button you get back the following message: “The Automatic Updates feature is not configured on this computer”. After that a button to enable automatic updates is provided, but once you press it, you are faced with this new message: “Security Center can’t change your automatic update settings”. At this point, no matter what you do, you won’t manage to download the updates successfully. Here is the hack to fix the issue:

1. Click Start.
2. Click Run… (if Run is not present on the bar, find out how to activate it by reading this article).
3. Type the following commands, and press Enter after each of them (also wait for the window saying the operation was  performed successfully to appear)

• regsvr32 wuapi.dll
• regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
• regsvr32 atl.dll
• regsvr32 wucltui.dll
• regsvr32 wucltui.dll

The new iPhone firmware 2.0 is available for download right now. Apple has posted a little warning about this update so, before proceeding, read it carefully: ” Normally if you choose to update, the iPhone or iPod touch software is updated but your settings and media are not affected. If your device currently has a software version prior to 2.0 (1.x) and you are updating to software version 2.0 or later, all data on your device will be erased in order to perform install the new software. In this case, iTunes will offer to create a one-time media backup of your device depending on what content is on your device and what content is stored in the iTunes Library you are connected to. You should ensure that you have enough free space on your Mac or PC to accommodate a backup that matches the capacity of your iPhone or iPod touch (4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, or 32 GB) if you proceed with the this backup.” You have to install the new firmware update  manually by pressing the Option key when pressing the “Check for Update” button in iTunes. If you want to download the update here is the direct link :iPhone1,2_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw (download link)

Source: macrumors.com

In some cases Windows Vista Search Indexing service may face an issue due to Windows Search Indexes which stops working all of a sudden without apparent reasons. At the same time the operating system could give the following error message: “Windows Search Indexer has stopped working”. Luckily for those users who have got this problem, Microsoft has just released a patch (KB952093) to fix it. If you want to download it here are the direct links (no need to pass through the WGA validation test): 32-bit KB952093 Update Package: Windows6.0-KB952093-x86.msu , 64-bit KB952093 Update Package: Windows6.0-KB952093-x64.msu. If you are looking for something more professional as far as search functionalities are concerned, take into consideration to download the free Microsoft Search.