Get a sneak preview of WP Super Cache before 1.0!

WP Super Cache 1.0 will be out soon(ish) but I need testers to bang on the development version available on the download page.

This version should be significantly faster if you have a lot of mobile visitors, plus it adds support for https secure pages. The speed came about by saving those files as static files in the supercache directories rather than the old “legacy caching” of WP Cache. You’ll see files like index-mobile.html(.gz) and index-https.html(.gz) in those directories. Be aware that if you use a flat permalink structure the plugin opens the root supercache directory for reading to find the index* files. This may or may not be an issue with directories containing a very large number of directories (10,000+ for example).

HTTPS support is built into the mod_rewrite rules so those files are served by the web server directly, but PHP serves the mobile clients. Only now you’ll be able to cache many times more mobile pages than before. There’s negligible speed difference between PHP and mod_rewrite modes anyway in normal operation.

There’s also a handy little “donotcachepage” GET parameter now. Add that, giving it the value of a secret key from the Advanced settings page and the current page will not be cached in any way.

There is lots of new code in the plugin. It’s running fine here, and a few other people have had no problems but I need more feedback. If you have a development server please give this a go, and if it works ok I believe it’s good enough to go live, under supervision. Don’t go install it on a Friday afternoon…

With the upgrade to WordPress 3.2 I moved this site and my photoblog to a Multisite install so I’ve been looking at making Supercache work better in that environment too.

I also installed Varnish as a front end cache and woah, I’m impressed. Setup was fairly easy though it’s still not 100% right. When I make posts the following page is a blank page except for the blog title, and when I (as a logged in user) leave a comment I get a 500 error and wp-comments-post.php doesn’t redirect. I’m still trying to debug those issues. I mentioned this on Google Plus a few days ago but expect a follow up post on Varnish with docs in the near future.

Now all I need is traffic. I should blog more!

I bought a 4 pack of Sanctum I…

I bought a 4 pack of Sanctum. I already have an idea of who I’ll give the extra 3 copies to, but if anyone that I play with regularly is really interested in the game please leave a comment here.

Not tweeting this post, only for those few of you who actually read this blog! 🙂

Edit: 2 copies gone (David and Duck), one left. RPS blogged about the sale, here’s their wot i think review and here’s TotalBiscuit’s review:

My Favourite Android Apps

I’ve used a Samsung Galaxy S since August last year and in that time I’ve downloaded and played with lots of apps and games. Here are a few of my favourites.

  1. Tweetdeck
  2. Dolphin Browser HD
  3. Kindle and FBReader
  4. Amazon Appstore and Android Market
  5. Reddit is Fun
  6. GO Contacts/Dialer/Launcher EX/SMS Pro
  7. CardioTrainer
  8. WordPress
  9. aCar
  10. Juice Defender
And some games
  1. Galaxy Domination (not on the market any more, now here!)
  2. Cut the Rope
  3. Guns ‘n’ Glory

Besides those, there are so many apps on my phone now that it’s ridiculous. I recently started using the Google+ app, and the Amazon Appstore gives away a free paid app every day so that’s my first port of call shortly after 8am every morning. There’s also getjar.com who have a free ad-supported version of Cut the Rope, as well as many other apps and games.

I used to play a lot more games, I’d dive into Galaxy Domination any chance I’d get but now I’d rather read a book in the Kindle app or FBReader, or check out the latest Reddit posts on “Reddit is Fun”.

If you have a phone with a fairly big screen (the Galaxy S has a 4 inch screen) then reading on them is a rare pleasure. No more fiddling with bookmarks or holding the spine of a thick volume open. Go on, head over to Amazon now and pick up a cheap ebook. You might just like it!

You might wonder how much has this all cost me? I’ve bought quite a few books on the Kindle store (I still think it’s wonderful that I can visit Amazon from my phone and buy a book), but I’ve only bought 2 apps. Those would be aCar (purchased through the author’s website) and just last night I bought Juice Defender Plus. As I mentioned in a previous post on battery saving tips that app shuts off the various radios in your phone when not in use, switching them on momentarily for syncing on a regular basis. The free version turns off the 3G connection when the screen is locked, but not wifi. The paid for version  does that and it’s well worth it. Battery life sky rockets after using this app!

TF2: Tips for playing scout

You should watch this video on Youtube as cvnmcvnmcvnm1234 has posted annotations to it which I don’t think appear here. Great set of tips to go along with hectic gameplay. Via this post on Reddit. If you’re new to Team Fortress 2 then you’ll want to visit NewToTF2!

Here’s a great scout gameplay commentary that appeared on Pixelenemy so some of you may have seen it already.

Here’s a big list of video guides to TF2 for your viewing pleasure. So much! Brain Overload!

Watching as Greece falls apart

Athens has become a battlefield of late. The country has to save 28 billion Euro by 2015 or risk default. I’d ask how the hell that happened but then all you have to do is look at the mess Ireland is in. Sure, they’re very different situations but the end result is the same. Recession and austerity.

How did things get so bad in Greece? This post might go some way to explaining things.

You see, as precipitous as the rise in national debt has been over the last couple of years, it is still amateur stuff compared to the way we piled on the debt between 1981, the year of ??????, the Change, ushered in by a massive 48% majority, (Time coverage here) and 1993, when the Maastricht rules finally started to bite and we were forced to pull the handbreak on our burgeoning government budget.

Didn’t the Irish Government do something like that in the 70’s? Borrow and borrow and borrow again? Cue Charlie Haughey’s famous quote in 1980. Even though he was living the high life the rest of the country suffered through a bad recession in the 80’s, as it is now..

I don’t know what’s going to happen in Greece. The impression I’ve got from the media here is of a country of self employed people who mostly don’t pay taxes and where jobs go to family members (rather than on merit), of a massive civil service that people aspire to join rather than go into private business (due in no small part to the fact that family members get the best jobs). How depressing but as an outsider looking in I don’t know what’s fact and what’s fiction!

For more, follow some English speaking Greek people on Twitter:

Photos of the protests: 1, 2, 3, 4.

These days will pass, but I have a feeling the EU and the world at large will be a very different world.

The Wonderful End of the Minecraft World

I just found out about a new mod for Minecraft, Kataminey Damacraft or Katamari Damacy for Minecraft. I have to be honest and admit I’ve never played that game but I have played “The Wonderful End of the World”, the same sort of game on PC. Basically you’re a little ball and have to collect as much of the world as possible.

I’m not going to install it on my Minecraft server but I will give it a go on a local world. (via)

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