I have a wee problem that I find quite irritating.

I look after a number of blogs, all running Wordpress, and running on a mix of servers.  On a fairly regular basis, plugins, or even the core code needs to be updated and that is fine.

My problem arises with the plugins.  In order to do an automatic upgrade, I have to go into each server in turn and change permissions on the “wp-content” directory, from 755 to 777.  After the upgrade, I have to remember to revert to 755 again.  Failure to do this results in a message telling me that the update could not download to the temporary directory.

Is there a way around all this faffing with permissions?  Is there a plugin or something that will automate the process?

It’s not exactly a critical problem, but a resolution would make life a little easier!

There are times when I seriously wonder about this site.

Three posts in December, two in November?  Frankly it is going nowhere.

There are times when I seriously wonder about the other site too.  Blogging can be a bit of a chore at times, and I confess I have been tempted to call it a day.  In fact, most days, I get up with a firm resolve to give it a rest, at least for a couple of days, if not longer.

But then the bug bites.

An idea comes into my head, and I have to write it down.  It is a strange compulsion, but it must be obeyed.  Quite often, I hate myself afterwards for my lack of resolve.

I have always had a small compulsion to write things down.  I kept a ‘journal’ (diaries are or women!!) for the best part of thirty seven years.  I never missed a day, despite all the entries being very similar.  The fact that I had nothing to write on any day never stopped me – I still had to write.  I finally stopped last summer, but that was simply because the medication I was on at the time made it next to impossible.  It’s difficult jutting down what you did in a day, when you can’t remember!

I suppose the reason I keep this site going is that it is doing no harm just sitting here.  I wouldn’t save anything by shutting it down, and in fact would lose a (tiny) income if I did.  I suppose my hope is that when the recession passes that advertising will improve?  Certainly, this site’s Alexa rankings have improved enormously, despite the lack of activity.  It has gone from 1,588,769 to 394,931 in a matter of three months which should improve any advertising chances?  Why it has risen so high is anyone’s guess.

If I shut down the other site, on the other hand, I would lose considerably.  Anyway, it is a handy outlet for random thoughts and musings and frankly, is a lot of fun at the end of the day.  I think that one is there to stay.

The problem with this site is that I rarely have anything to say.  It was intended as an outlet for my more serious ponderings, but since I gave up the web design business, my serious mind seems to have retired.

Maybe I should send this site in another direction?  Maybe I should concentrate on some particular aspect of something?

I’m stumped.

Any suggestions are welcome!

I have been keeping a track of advertising on Head Rambles.

Just out of interest, I plotted earnings against the ISEQ Index of Irish shares over the same period.

Quite a remarkable correlation?

The only problem is that as shares fall, advertising rises.

Shares are rising.

I just hope the correlation doesn’t hold true for too long?

I like messing around with software, trying new ideas and pushing it a bit beyond the limits.

I saw an interesting idea the other day for people who have Woopra Analytics in their sites, and Google Earth installed.  It’s a very neat integration of the two.

Essentially, all you have to do is add a Network Link to Google earth in the format http://localhost:9565/yoursite.com, obviously entering the appropriate site name.  Give it a low refresh rate (five to ten seconds) and sit back.

The effect is quite mesmerising.

As visitors arrive on your site, so little pegs appear on Google Earth, giving the visitor’s identity and their location.

The above snapshot shows three simultaneous visitors, where two are overlapping.

Needless to say, the location is actually the location of the ISP, so for example Grandad appears as a Dublin location, which is incorrect, but is near enough on a world scale.

As an application, it is not really of much value.

But it’s a lot of fun to watch in a busy period!