Archive for March, 2008
WP Super Cache
WP Super Cache is a fork of the popular Wordpress plugin WP-Cache 2 that, apparently, does an even better job of caching than WP-Cache 2. According to the WP Super Cache site,
WP-Cache 2 caches the pages of your WordPress blog and delivers them without accessing the database. Unfortunately it still means loading the PHP engine to serve the cached files.
WP Super Cache gets around that. When it is installed, html files are generated and they are served without ever invoking a single line of PHP. How fast can your site serve graphic files? That’s (almost) as fast it will be able to serve these cached files. If your site is struggling to cope with the daily number of visitors, or if your site appears on Digg.com, Slashdot or any other popular site then this plugin is for you.
Given the spaghetti code that is WordPress, it is a bit mind boggling that something like this hasn’t been made part of the WP distro already. I know something like it is currently being planned, but WordPress can’t even withstand moderate traffic without noticeable performance hits if you’re not using some sort of caching plugin.
Tags: Wordpress
Gramlee.com - Editing By the Word
Gramlee.com has an interesting business model — you submit text to their site and, for a fee, they have professionals edit it for you. For $4.95, they’ll edit 250 words, while $49.95 will net you 2,625 words. Frankly, if I had a need for regular professional copy-editing, I’d probably find some freelancer and establish a longer-term relationship. But for one-offs of very important text, maybe this is worth it. I’d be curious to hear from anyone who has actually used Gramlee.
Greasemonkey Script for WoW Item Stats
This is a neat little Greasmonkey script that will pull in tooltips from Wowhead for any WoW item linked to on any web page.
Tags: Firefox, Greasemonkey, World of Warcraft
George McGovern on Health Care
George McGovern — of all people — has a fairly balanced and relatively free market op-ed on a number of hot-button issues facing the United States, including the health care crisis. As McGovern rightly points out, one of the reasons that health care is so expensive are all of the state regulations dictation what health care plans must offer,
Health-care paternalism creates another problem that’s rarely mentioned: Many people can’t afford the gold-plated health plans that are the only options available in their states.
Buying health insurance on the Internet and across state lines, where less expensive plans may be available, is prohibited by many state insurance commissions. Despite being able to buy car or home insurance with a mouse click, some state governments require their approved plans for purchase or none at all. It’s as if states dictated that you had to buy a Mercedes or no car at all.
In fact one of the more galling, but common state insurance mandates is for pseudo-medical interventions such as chiropractors, acupuncture, nautropathy and other nonsense. The Council for Affordable Health Insurance (which is a pro-insurance industry group) has a nice couple charts about mandates by state here (PDF download).
Tags: George McGovern, Health Care
BuySuperheroCostumes.Com
BuySuperheroCostumes.com has, well, pretty much all your superhero costume needs covered.
Tags: Comic Books, Superheroes
The Independent Scholars Handbook
The Canadian Academy of Independent Scholars is currently hosting a free download of Ronald Gross’ excellent book, The Independent Scholars Handbook (20mb PDF).
WoW ItemStats Pop-ups for Wordpress
The Bronze Kettle has a tutorial explaining how to use the ItemStats plugin for Wordpress to pull in WoW itemstats from WoWHead. Not sure if this works with the latest version of Wordpress.
Tags: Wordpress, World of Warcraft
Straws and Connectors
Rolyco’s Straws and Connectors looks to be one of the neatest building toys ever. Very cool, yet ultra-simple. A 705-piece box goes for about $40 online. I’ve ordered one for my kids and I to play with.
Tags: Toys
First Pics from Watchmen Movie
Interesting images from Warner Bros. Watchmen movie being helmed by Zack Snynder (’300′). One of the upshots of the film — regardless of how it turns out — is finally there will be Watchmen action figures.
The Comedian
Nite-Owl
Ozymandias
Rorsach
The Silk Spectre
Tags: Comic Books, Movies, Watchmen
CommuteByBike.Com
I’ve been contemplating bicycling to work since I live so close (about 5 miles). CommuteByBike.Com has been an excellent resource to decide how best to go about bicycle commuting if I decide to take the plunge.
Tags: Bicycles