Just a few minutes ago I upgraded my WordPress installation from version 2.05 to the latest available version (2.1 Ella). In total, including backup routines and uploading, it was all done in less than 1 hour. I followed the detailed instructions like a zombie, and it paid of as it went flawless.

After logging back on I was probably a bit to enthusiastic, as I was expecting to see a complete new wp-admin with overwhelming functionality and design. Basically it all looks the same, but after clicking around there’s definitely something going on in the background that makes this upgrade worthwhile. Just tried the spell checker but it didn’t work at all, fortunately as a Firefox user this really wasn’t needed as FF already has a nice multilingual spell checker plugin to do just that. See a description of the British English and the US English dictionaries for more on this (other languages available also).

Below is a list of plugins that apparently work with the new release:

• Akismet Spam Count
• Articles
• Contact Form ][
• Download Manager
• Fuzzy Recent Comments
• Fuzzy Recent Posts
• Popularity Contest
• Search Hilite
• Share This
• SimpleCode for WordPress
• WeatherIcon
• WordPress Database Backup
• WP-SlimStat
• WP Movie Ratings
• Youtube Brackets

I’ll keep testing throughout the week and post back here if I come across something worth mentioning besides the obvious notes from the developers.

SimpleCode wasn’t working after all, but an update is availble at the same location.

Over the years I’ve built and repaired more computers than I care to remember, both professionally and while helping out friends and family. This article will try to point out some common symptoms, what’s causing it and the most likely solution.

Note! Please don’t try to solve hardware issues yourself if you can’t name at least three components inside your PC and/or are familiar with a screwdriver (not the drink). You should also be very cautious about static electricity as this might short-circuit your PC (kill it), so use special gloves or keep one hand at the side of the cabinet (at least occasionally) while working inside.

Part I, as the title refers to, will be targeted towards motherboard (MB), RAM and hard disk (HD) related issues. If one or all of these fails the most common symptoms are:

I have just finished setting up a brand new theme at Blogvaria and are naturally very curious as to how this new layout will work with the forthcoming release of WordPress 2.1. I do hope it’s only a matter of upgrading some of my favourite plugins, but then again you never know…

The new theme is based on Qwilm but I decided to add a nice photo (taken in my country of origin Norway) at the top of the page to “live it up” a little. I’ve also strongly modified the CSS to make headers and links stand out more. I’ve also tried to make sure positioning etc. works with all browsers (even IE), and so far it looks okay.

Ares is a free open source file sharing program that enables users to share any digital file including images, audio, video, software, documents, etc. After a very long time running on 1.9.x versions the release of Ares 2.0.1 five days ago was a welcome upgrade.

This article will try to point out how I believe you should/could access a remote PC. The main factors are Safe and Easy. I will also introduce a great service that allows you complete control from anywhere (where there’s an Internet connection anyway) in the world.

When managing servers and various hosting accounts over the Internet (whatever network) you would normally connect using FTP, SFTP, SCP, or something similar. My favourite apps are FileZilla and WinSCP. But what if you need to install or update something that would require you actually be at “the other end”. For instance if you are installing new software, or doing other stuff that would require you to look at the computer screen, reboot, system maintenance etc.