Category: Updates

So where did 2016 go?So where did 2016 go?

I think the theme of 2016 for me was procrastination regarding this site. I had planned on reviewing The Force Awakens when I got back from Christmas vacation, but I kept putting it off. I certainly did not stop listening to, reading, or watching Sci-Fi. The last movie I watched was actually Rogue One, which was great! I guess I’m a bit selfish, as I certainly could have carved out the time to write reviews, but I had other priorities. I was working with my wife on a  job search that took up almost all most of my free time, and hers. What free time I did have was spent watching TV to unwind after applying for jobs. We didn’t start keeping track until June, but between then and October we applied to 50 different jobs. In the end I found possibly the best job out of them all, in an area we want to live. Hopefully in 2017 I can possibly circle back and write up some high level reviews of stuff from 2016. My commute now is just over an hour on public transit, so I’ll be plowing through audiobooks like crazy at roughly 2 hours a day. I’ll try to take some time for posts about new books, movies, and games in 2017, but no promises!

Happy 2013!Happy 2013!

Well, we made it to 2013, narrowly avoiding the much anticipated Mayan Apocalypse. I’m not usually one for making New Year’s resolutions, but I am going to do my best to make at least two posts per month from now on. I’m still getting used to having much less free time since the birth of my daughter. Hopefully as she gets a bit older, I can incorporate some Science Fiction in her learning process. I’m already looking forward to Halloween. I’m not sure yet what to dress her up as. Any suggestions?

Anyway, I hope you all have a great 2013, and wish you will come back to see some more frequent reviews.

Comments table crashed, HostGator to the rescueComments table crashed, HostGator to the rescue

I finally upgraded my WordPress install today, and like a responsible web admin, I backed up my database and also my file tree. After my upgrade I noticed that my comments were all gone! I grumbled a bit and figured I’d extract the files from my backup. I opened my file up and noticed there were no comments. Doh! Where are they? I checked my backup from June, no comments. The latest backup I had with comments included was from February. The phpMyAdmin console showed the table “in use”. Not sure exactly what to do, I opened up a quick Live Chat with my hosting provider, HostGator, and noticed that I was #1 in queue with what, 147 agents available? My problem was fixed in less than 5 minutes. The fix also recovered a few comments that were posted after my last good backup.

I apologize to those of you that tried posting comments the past few months, because they were all eaten up due to the table being locked. I’m not sure what happened, but the support guy told me how to fix it myself if it ever happens again. Essentially, there’s a GUI in the cPanel to check and repair individual databases. I work with MySQL quite a bit at work, but I wouldn’t consider myself a DBA. Now I need to find a better WordPress backup plugin, because I think it should have thrown out some type of error if the table wasn’t readable.

Anyway, I’d like to take this opportunity to recommend HostGator. If you need hosting, please check them out. Any signups done through my link will help pay for my web hosting. Also, you can use code SCIFI25OFF for 25% off your first order. They offer 1 click WordPress installations if you are looking for something like that.

Here are my steps prior to all WordPress upgrades:

1. Backup Database via Plugin, also can be done through phpMyAdmin
2. Open cPanel and through File Manager, copy my WordPress directory “/installdir” to another directory like “install2011backup”. I think you can only do this quickly if your blog is not installed directly into the root /  – note, this takes just SECONDS, rather than downloading thousands of individual files
3. Run upgrade, hope for the best

Here is how I restore

1. Restore Database via phpMyAdmin
2. rename install directory to /install-bad
3. rename backup directory from /install2011backup to /install

Do you have a blog? What is your disaster recovery plan?

Following the Twitter TrainFollowing the Twitter Train

I haven’t really messed with Twitter much, but figured I could at least post updates on where I’m at in my reading as I’m going along. I’ve added the new “Tweet” buttons so you can quickly tweet any interesting posts you see here. I also plan on posting here more often than I have been the past year. I want to try and get back into the groove of posting interesting stuff between reviews like I used to. There have been some amazing developments in AI, robotics, and nanotechnology that I really should have mentioned before.

I’m going to be tweeting all of my posts, but not sending all of my tweets back here. That would make my main site too messy. Want to see what I’m up to?

Follow The Science Fiction Review

Also, I haven’t yet replaced my StumbleUpon button since I went to this new theme. I’m looking into a plugin that has other social bookmarking features as well.

Installing a fresh new theme for 2009Installing a fresh new theme for 2009

I’ve been dissatisfied with my current theme for a while now. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a fresh look? I haven’t really touched the site design since I re-launched the site about 2 years ago with the new blog format. Please bear with me while I tweak the site with “Suffusion” by Sayontan Sinha. I’m very impressed with it so far. There are so many easy to customize options. Let me know what you guys think!

Back from vacationBack from vacation

I had so much going on the past month!

• Family came to visit from May 1st to May 10th for my college graduation
• I relocated to a new city for a new job May 17th
• Went to a wedding in Minnesota on May 24th
• I start my new job tomorrow, June 2nd

I’m really not sure how much free time I will have with this new job, but I will try to keep updating with interesting posts once a week. Also, I’ll do my best to stick with a book review every 2-3 weeks or so. Here is my list of upcoming books I hope to review soon:

1. Neuromancer by William Gibson
2. Tau Zero by Poul Anderson
3. Manta’s Gift by Timothy Zahn

I’ve also decided I’m going to go back and review short stories in Asimov’s Robot and Foundation Universe in the order of Johnny Pez’s Insanely Complete Fiction List that I have hosted here. I’m not sure when exactly I’ll start that project, but most likely I’ll post entries here and there as I complete them.

Testing new hostTesting new host

Please bear with me as I’m working on doing some final touches on a move to a new web host.

–edit–

Well, it looks like everything is up and operational!