Some websites are blacked out today to raise awareness about SOPA. I think this is great because I share WordPress.org and many other organizations’ opposition to SOPA. But I also share Mashable’s sentiment about it being a slight bummer if you wanted to be productive and use online tools today like Wikipedia. Stan at Mashable just posted a great bit about how to access Wikipedia during the blackout. He suggests disabling JavaScript. It’s easy to do, and here’s how to disable it in Safari.

Click the image below to view the screenshot of the Safari Preferences panel. You’ll find the JavaScript settings under the menu Safari > Preferences, then click “Security” pane, then toggle the settings off to disable, then surf.

Just don’t forget to re-activate your JavaScript settings after you’re done surfing the blacked out sites. You’ll especially want JavaScript active if you have a blog to maintain! All the buttons and formatting images are powered by javascript, and you’ll wonder, “Who broke my WordPress?”

This video tutorial is for you WordPress users out there who might encounter, or who blood well have encountered issues after updating to the latest version of WordPress  3.3 —specifically issues with uploading media into posts and pages. “Sonny”, as it is called, is quite slick, but there are issues if you don’t empty your cache after updating WordPress. I updated to the latest WordPress version and was frustrated when I couldn’t get the upload media window to work. I wanted to insert an image, and just got a black screen. I wish I had read this super helpful troubleshooting list before updating:

http://wordpress.org/support/topic/troubleshooting-wordpress-33-master-list?replies=5

The solution to the WordPress 3.3 upload / insert media bug in Safari (perhaps in other browsers too) is to simply empty your cache. All of us web designers / webmasters  using WordPress should be doing this regularly—regardless of which browser we use—but it’s especially important if you’re using Safari on the Mac, as I recently discovered. I created this tutorial is for you mac folk out there.

Feel free to watch the whole video, which demonstrates adding an image into a page before and after the WordPress update. I showcase what happens to the add media window after updating to 3.3, but you can jump ahead if you wish to 4:30 min:sec to see the empty cache solution. Hopefully you watch this before updating to 3.3 to prevent any frustration in the first place.

Happy blogging.

The London Street Footbridge West Neighbourhood

This Heritage Home and Tree Tour was the second walk I developed as part of the Shifting Gears program, run by Peterborough Green-Up. The purpose of the walks was to connect neighbours, learn cultural heritage stories, and discover natural heritage features throughout the neighbourhood. The London Street footbridge west neighbourhood, knowns as the Dickson Mills neighbourhood, is filled with an abundance of historically significant homes, heritage features, and a strong connection to the river.

I created an accompanying map of the walking route and have posted the link to it below. If you’re interested in the transcript or would like a guided tour of this neighbourhood, please drop us a line or email. Happy walking!

While I no longer coordinate this fantastic program at Peterborough Green-Up, it is still near and dear to my heart, and I love chipping in and lending a hand whenever I can. When I left, the Urban Forest Program also lost their webmaster (moi) and they don’t often get a chance to post their activities or notices on the Green-Up site. So, here I am spreading the news about this Wednesday’s public meeting being held by Green-Up’s Urban Forest Program to review and interpret this year’s inventory results. I’m sure they’ll also take a look at the year ahead and share news about the City of Peterborough’s urban forest strategic plan. Details of the public meeting follow. Maybe see you there!

We wish to invite anyone interested in the results from this years “Our Urban Forest” program to a public information meeting.

When?

Wednesday November 16, 2011 @ 6:30PM-8:30

Where?

Main Gym @ Queen Elizabeth Public School (830 Barnardo Ave., Peterborough, ON)

Who?

Anybody interested in the Urban Forest Program. This event is open to the public

Outline:

6:30-7:00: Meet & Greet with light refreshments
7:00-7:45: Program overview and neighbourhood inventory results
7:45-8:15: Discussion of inventory and recommendations, community feedback and questions

We look forward to seeing you there.

Vern Bastable
Urban Forest Coordinator

Peterborough Green-Up
378 Aylmer Street North, Unit 4
Peterborough, Ontario K9H 3V8

(705) 745-3238 ext. 211

urbanforest@greenup.on.ca

“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world”

The Peterborough Field Naturalists have posted the questions and candidates’ responses on the PFN’s website, at www.peterboroughnature.org.

Go straight to the results PDF by downloading that here.