Since the upgrade I’ve noticed inconsistencies with these shortcuts. When I double-click on them, some would open in a new tab while others would open in a completely new window. Those who know me would initially think “You have too many tabs open, so it’s opening the overflow into new windows” – but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

I’m not sure if it’s strictly the shortcuts from after the upgrade that are exhibiting this behavior, or just some of them (I haven’t done enough testing). I do know that at a minimum that it is not a random behavior – it’s always the same shortcuts that open in a new window.

My IE preferences are already configured to always open links and pop-ups in new tabs, so that wasn’t it, and viewing the properties of the shortcuts didn’t see to help either. I figured I’d try to edit the shortcuts and see if I could figure out what the difference was that caused this behavior. Bingo! I should have looked a little closer at the shortcut properties.

The shortcuts that opened in new tabs were “.url” files, while the shortcuts that opened in new windows are “.website” files. There’s about twice as much data in the shortcuts that open new windows, and all had different GUIDs. The shortcuts that opened in new tabs seemed to have all the same generic content with the exception of the URL propertly. Also, the .website shortcuts are called “Pinned Site Shortcuts” while the .url shortcuts are called “Internet Shortcuts”. I was able to copy the URL from one of the new-window shortcuts and paste it into one of the new-tab files and save it with a new name and it worked beautifully.

What a frustration. Now I have to figure out how to create the appropriate shortcut types on-demand.

Here is an example of the contents of a .website file:

[{000214A0-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}]
Prop4=31,Page Title Here
Prop3=19,11
[{A7AF692E-098D-4C08-A225-D433CA835ED0}]
Prop5=3,0
Prop9=19,0
Prop2=65,2C0000000000000001000000FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF840000005C000000F0040000860300007A
[InternetShortcut]
URL=http://google.com
IDList=
[{9F4C2855-9F79-4B39-A8D0-E1D42DE1D5F3}]
Prop5=8,Microsoft.Website.1E0E98C3.ED613691


And here is an example of the contents of a .url file:
[{000214A0-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}]
Prop3=19,11
[InternetShortcut]
URL=http://google.com
IDList=


Server Error in ‘/’ Application.
Runtime Error
Description: An application error occurred on the server.[...]

We hadn’t recently patched, or performed any updates except for increasing the max allowed upload file size and timeouts (a client needed to upload LARGE files). The server application logs revealed something slightly more useful:

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: ASP.NET 2.0.50727.0
Event Category: Web Event
Event ID: 1310
Date: 5/6/2010
Time: 4:50:11 PM
User: N/A
Computer: ServerName
Description:
Event code: 3006
Event message: A parser error has occurred.
Event time: 5/6/2010 4:50:11 PM
Event time (UTC): 5/6/2010 8:50:11 PM
Event ID: 57cbaa6a1f804cb2aefe80de4ceec102
Event sequence: 5
Event occurrence: 1
Event detail code: 0

Application information:
Application domain: /LM/W3SVC/1965610693/Root-1-129176526056583668
Trust level: WSS_Minimal
Application Virtual Path: /
Application Path: C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\foldername443\
Machine name: ServerName

Process information:
Process ID: 1944
Process name: w3wp.exe
Account name: NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE

Exception information:
Exception type: HttpParseException
Exception message: Could not load file or assembly ‘System?Web, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a’ or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified. (C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\foldername443\web.config line 106)

Now, the web.config wasn’t manually edited by anyone, but the modified date matched the date & time when this problem started as well as the beginning of these ASP.NET errors. All the evidence seemed to point to what I can only assume was caused by a hiccup when the settings were being saved from IIS – that corrupted the web.config.

I found 4 or 5 randomly placed “?” in the web.config. I couldn’t just remove the question marks because they appeared to have replaced characters in the file instead of being inserted. I didn’t have a backup, but we did have multiple AAMs for this portal and I was able to look at another web.config. This gave me a better idea of what characters should have been in the file wherever I wasn’t able to make a good educated guess.

Note that I keep WordPress in its own folder to keep the files/folder structure on my webserver clean… It’s key in this upgrade method.

1. Always make a backup of your WordPress database before proceeding!
2. Manually download the WordPress zip file.
3. Open your FTP program of choice and upload the zip file to the same folder level that your WordPress folder resides.
4. Unzip the WordPress zip file on your webserver.
   • This can cause weird problems if you unzip it on your local computer before uploading.
   • It will unzip it to a “wordpress” folder, so make sure that this is not the folder name that you choose to keep your WordPress files in.
5. Compare the wp-config-sample.php of the new version, to your existing wp-config.php.
   • If there isn’t any new content (like new salt/keys, etc.), then copy your wp-config.php to the new folder “wordpress/”.
   • If there is new content, save the new wp-config-sample.php as your new wp-config.php and copy over your settings from your original wp-config.php. Then make any other changes needed for the new content.
6. Copy your theme folder from the old install to the new install location.
7. Copy your plugins files/folders from the old install to the new install location.
   • The new install already has Akismet and Hello Dolly – so you can leave these.
   • It’s a good idea to verify that your plugins are all compatible with the new version before doing this.
8. Copy over any of the other folders & files from your old wp-content (like “uploads”, “cache”, “backup-db”, etc.)
   • Up through this point, you’re still using the old version and have had zero downtime. You can choose to wait and finish later without having any impact.
9. Rename your old WordPress folder to something else, like “wp_old”.
10. Rename the new WordPress folder to the name of your old WordPress folder.
11. Open your browser and go to YourDomain.com/Your-WordPress-Folder/wp-admin.
12. You will be prompted to update your database if necessary.
13. Verify that everything functions.
14. Remove the “wp_old” folder.

Done! It’s not as fast as the automatic upgrade, but it’s great for the paranoid, or those who prefer to just perform the upgrade themselves.

Edit the page in which you would like the button to be displayed, or add a Content Editor Web Part in code view and enter code similar to this:

Click here:
Go to Another Page

Update: Strange. WordPress isn’t displaying the code properly, so until I fix it, just view the page source

I’ve been dyin’ for an Apple tablet PC – even signed the online petition hoping that’d help, but they’re still not making one (I add hopefully, “at the time of this post”). Granted, there is always the Axiotron Modbook, but that’s just not the same. First, it’s a modified MacBook – so you have to pay not only full price for the laptop, but then for the modification. That’s a bit out of my price range. And besides, I would much rather have a modified MacBook Pro. Then there’s the fact that it is strictly a tablet PC – no keyboard. And even though there’s an on-screen keyboard and handwriting recognition, that doesn’t help my efficiency in applications like Photoshop.

I did a lot of research on the various models out there, their specs, their prices. The Modbook, Lenovo, HP, Dell, Gateway. The Modbook was too expensive, but ran my OS of choice. The Dell’s processor was far too slow (about 1/2 the others) and supported the least amount of RAM – while surprisingly it was barely less expensive than the Modbook! So the Dell was right out. The Gateway was too heavy and didn’t have much in the way of redeeming features or specs – at least nothing better than the others. It all came down between the Lenovo & the HP.

I really wanted to give the tablets a try before I made a decision. I just couldn’t find any semi-local stores that had them in stock for me to look at. I called around – nothing. Apparently the tablets were either marketed as either business computers, or “multimedia” computers, and weren’t really popular enough to be kept in stock in stores?

Then one Friday after work on a whim I stopped by my local Best Buy and found the HP out on display! In addition to the display model, they had one left in stock – and it was on sale! I could hardly contain myself. It was a nice little machine, even a little style – and very affordable. So I bought it.

This was just the base model – nothing upgraded. The HP Pavillion tx2500 with a 2.0GHz processor – a little slower than I wanted. 5400rpm hard drive (instead of the 7200rom drive in the Lenovo) – but it did come with 3GB of RAM (upgradeable to 4GB) and Windows Vista x64 SP1. It’s not a bad little machine.

The resolution’s very nice – perfect for the size. The screen rotates/swivels 180 degrees so you can use the keyboard – or not. You can also rotate the display to better orient the way that you’re holding it (vertical/landscape). Very cool. There are ports out the wazoo, a tetherable stylus with its own storage slot in the front for easy access, and a multimedia remote with its own storage as well (I like not having to worry about losing things).

My complaints:
This is definitely marketed as more of a multimedia device than an artistic tool. The media drive is removable to lighten the weight if you don’t need it, but the laptop is a lot thicker/beefier than it needs to be because it has to accommodate it. It’s not really heavy, but borders on it for this size laptop.

It’s too bulky – it’s just really thick. It’s all about proportions. Why do I want to carry around something that’s the thickness of a larger laptop? It just feels wrong. I didn’t think I was going to say this, but I’d rather forgo the DVD drive for a thinner, lighter tablet PC. I just don’t use it to watch movies – I use it to sketch and work on my websites.

Another issue is that it seems to get warm quickly and the fans spin up a lot – and the fan is quite loud. This can get pretty annoying. The vents can kick out some serious hot air too. Sometimes I hibernate or shut it down just to make it stop if I’ve been working for a bit.

My biggest frustration however, is something that not everyone will run into. If you use this tablet PC in a coffee shop, at the office, etc., you’ll be fine. But if you use this say, in your living room to chill out while you work – then there’s a potential problem. It seems as though my Xbox360 remote can control my laptop to some extent. Initially I didn’t make the connection – I thought the laptop was just acting very strangely. One moment everything’s fine, and the next I hear the laptop’s fans spin up and I’m left confused, swearing that I had shutdown the laptop just an hour ago… I’d have to open the display and shut it back down again.

Apparently – if you suspend/hibernate/shutdown the laptop in the vicinity of your Xbox, then decide to play a movie… Simply pressing “play” will power up or resume the laptop! On top of that, Windows Vista won’t simply allow you to disable the IR port – and I’m not about to disable it in the BIOS. Or am I? Sticking a Post-It to the front of the laptop does look a little stupid and can lead to strange papercuts…