Like many others, I’ve decided to ditch b2evolution in favor of WordPress.  The biggest reasons were:

1. b2evolution has almost no protection against spam.  They have this goofy little centralized blacklist that’s maintained by one person and never seems to be up to date.  I had over 4,000 spam comments that I had to painstakingly clean out last night.  It took me four hours and this isn’t the first time that’s happened.
2. The development of b2evolution is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Now that the switch is over with, I’m extremely glad I made the switch.  Installing WordPress was the most painless PHP/MySQL install I’ve ever done with anything.  Ever.  The interface is clean and robust.  All of the feature you would expect it to have are included, and installing a plugin is as simple of copying a file or directory with an SFTP client.  Very cool.

For those who are considering taking the plunge, I’ll tell you now that WordPress won’t import b2evolution posts and comments without an additional script, but that’s not too hard to find, and I can make the script available upon request.

The only thing that still concerns me is my permlink URL.  My first problem is that I can’t get mod_rewrite to act correctly… I may be doing something wrong with .htaccess but I’ll have to mess with it more to see.  My second problem is that since my old blog is now offline (with this one in its place) I’m not entirely certain what format my old permlinks used to take.  I’ll get it worked out.  Anyway, I if you’re still using b2evolution, I suggest you switch.

Oh my god, I’ve never felt so busy in my entire life. Work has been keeping me incredibly busy, which is normal, but now I’m spending more and more time on other projects and I’m starting to see my personal life slip away from me. I just woke up after passing out from being awake for over 32 hours. I’ve lost my Friday night, and I’m going to have to leave tomorrow morning for Atlanta… I can’t wait for this to be over.

Meanwhile, I ordered my cell phone on August 22 and still haven’t receieved it. I really can’t stand the one I’m using.

I made her cry. I felt horrible. She knows I hate to hear her cry. I didn’t know what else to do, though.

Today I stayed late at work and ended up blowing out an onboard IDE controller (an expensive mistake). This is after lying on my back for about an hour fucking with the internals of this one PC. I was so mad. I got a call on my cell phone, but ignored it since I thought it was probably Joseph calling about plans after work. When I listed to the message a few minutes later, I couldn’t help but smile. No matter how badly my day is going, I can’t help but smile when I hear Danielle’s voice.

We talked for a couple of hours, and after a while, it started happening. Ever since she told me she no longer has more-than-a-friend feelings for me, I’ve tried to suppress my feelings for her in hopes of salvaging the possibility of an excellent friendship. It’s worked for the most part, kind of. I mean, I’ve been able to do it thus far, but every now and then it starts to kill me that we’re not together. My mind becomes filled with what-ifs, and all of my weaknesses and inadequacies are mentally brought to my attention. I start to question myself, and then think less of myself for being me. Anyway, while it makes me smile to hear her voice, and while I’m sure she means well, I end up feeling sad and regretful about half of the times we talk.

So my options were either to continue to suffer or to say something. I chose the latter. I tried to explain that as much as I’ve tried to be just friends, and as much as I love hearing from her, I can’t help but have feelings for her and have feelings of regret when I think about us not being together.

She started asking if this meant we couldn’t talk anymore or if this meant she couldn’t come visit anymore and whether or not this meant we couldn’t vacation together, etc. And then she started crying. It really made me feel horrible. I didn’t mean that we should never speak to each other again. I just can’t continue to do this to myself every other week. I didn’t know what else to do.

Fuck! I can be so fucking irresponsible outside of work sometimes! How do I stay on top of things at work and then come home and let important things slide? wtf?

Why can’t cops in America be casually bribed? Why can’t I pay speeding tickets online and just forget about it? Why must the state care how many speeding tickets I get? It’s not like it’s hurting anyone… If the state has a problem with me exceeding the speed limit, they should just fine me accordingly and leave it alone. Fucking point system.

It’s been a month and a half now since I’ve updated my blog. There’s so much that’s been going on with me… I’ll see how short I can make this… At work, my old boss is gone and I’m in his place. They gave me a $12,000/yr raise, a new management title, and let me hire someone. I’m excited, but I’m still eager to get back to school at some point in the near future. My camera phone is working. I can finally resume documenting all the stupid stuff my friends and I do. Some new opportunities have presented themselves in Birmingham. A non-profit organization wishes to paint the city with WiFi (wireless internet) and wants a friend and I to make it happen. We’re still negotiating, but this could be cool, if it works out. Anyway, life is good and all is well

I’ve been using the SonyEricsson T610 for over a year now, and I’ve loved it. However, the phone is truly lacking. If you’ve seen the images in my Flickr account, you know what I mean. On top of that, I think the screen is slowly degrading from being dropped too many times.

So anyway, Steven showed me his Sony Cyber-shot digital camera the other day at Ben’s house… That thing is great. It’s really small and it takes great pictures. It reminded me how much I miss having a nice digital camera. So I was on Sony’s website to check out the camera and something else got my attention – the new Sony Ericsson S710a. I don’t even know where to begin listing the features. It’s exactly what I’ve been wanting: a high quality digital camera, an EDGE-equiped bluetooth cell phone that sync’s with Outlook and Evolution on Linux, and an MP3 player, all in one! The screen is very high resolution. The camera has all the features of Sony’s Cyber-shot series cameras. The phone is capable of playing both MP3s and MPEG4 videos, and even includes a memory card slot… Built in FM radio… I could go on forever.

So needless to say, I had to have it. T-Mobile’s phone selection has gone down hill. Cingular is the only US provider that offers this phone. So, I found a locked phone on eBay for a little less than Cingular charges when you buy it from them with a contract. I also bought a service cable so I could unlock it to work with T-Mobile, since I’m too impatient to wait for my contact to run out later this month. I don’t really feel like giving up my GPRS service… I love being able to whip out my laptop anywhere in the US and instantly connecting to the Internet, and Cingular charges absurd prices for their GPRS.

So yeah… you have to check out the pictures in these reviews:

• Basic product info and specs
• A great review at Phone Scoop
• Another great review from Engadget
• ZDnet/C|Net review
• Images from Amazon customers

Hopefully I’ll have this unlocked in time for jello wrestling at our party this weekend. =]

I realized today that I hardly ever post to my blog anymore… I’ve just gotten out of the habit. Oh well.

This last week has been great. Work is going well. Things are winding down since I’m going to be heading back to school before long. Danielle dropped by for a visit the day before St. Patty’s Day. She, Joseph, Donald and I went to the Ale House and had a blast.

The Ale House has become my favorite drinking spot in Auburn. The atmosphere is casual and laid back, and the people who work there are pretty cool. The food is awesome. Oh, and they’re one of two micro-breweries in the state. Their Stout is probably the best beer I’ve ever tasted. Make sure you check this place out the next time you’re in Auburn.

On a completely unrelated note, last night was crazy… not like party crazy. Hopefully I’ll find the time to blog about it before I forget…

I’m exhausted, and I have to get up for work in a little over two hours, but I had too much coffee at some hole-in-the-wall waffle house knock-off on the way home. So, here I am awake.

Tonight marks Danielle’s last night in Alabama.

I got to see her tonight in Hoover one last time before she leaves. No matter how much I try to push the feeling of sadness away, I still feel like shit inside when I think about it. I can’t help but wonder if things would be different if my circumstances were different. What if I had a chiseled body? What if I had a real personality? What if I had money?

I wish there was something I could do to be desired by her.

Anyway, it was good seeing her again. Like I’ve told myself before, as long as she’s happy, I’ll be happy for her.

What a holiday. I think that was the broadest range of emotions I’ve ever felt in such a short span of time.

I fucked things up more than I’ve ever done with anything before, and unsurprisingly I don’t think I’ve ever felt this much regret. If I could do it all again, it would all be different, and I would do anything to make that happen. It’s completely my fault that I let things turn out the way they did, but there doesn’t seem to be a damn thing I can do about it now. I don’t know what else to say except that I’m sorry for screwing up.

The good news is that I’m the only one that feels this way, which means that this whole thing is good news for someone else.

Speaking of fucking up, I only have a job right now because my boss kicks so much ass. I was a little upset about the above and did something that was completely irresponsible. I’ve never done that before and I’ll never do it again.

Oh yeah, I think one of my close friends might have a drinking problem.

So, I’m not exactly feeling like I’m on top of the world anymore. But like Sorush says, the lows help you appreciate the highs, right? For the last four months, I’ve felt like I’ve been living a charmed life. I guess feeling like shit was long overdue.

Yes, I know that’s over 20 I‘s, but this is a public post, and I want to respect the privacy of the people involved in everything that was mentioned.

I hope your holiday went much better than mine.

There’s nothing I can do to repay Joseph and Justin enough for being there when I needed them. Thanks guys.

Joseph, Donald, and I are having the biggest party Auburn has ever seen for New Years, and YOU are coming. Yep… whatever plans you had are officially canceled. This will be much more fun anyway.

Click here for directions from anywhere… Ignore the estimated time — it’s usually only takes a fraction of the time it says. Kegs, indoor hot tub, and heated pool will be provided… bring a sleeping bag if you’re gonna crash here.

That’s all you need to know… Oh, my cell is (205) 401-4081 in case you get lost. Seeya Friday.