I decided over the weekend to have a go at running my own install of Wordpress 2.6, with an aim to perhaps hosting my own blog again, with the obvious gains in flexibility and monetization.

Let’s just say that it was frustrating.

The most frustrating part was the permalink issue. All known and posted fixes failed to resolve the issue of getting the permalinks to match those seen in this blog, which is the content I would be migrating. There is no clear and simple fix for those of us who just want the software to work, without having to spend two hours hacking.

I will try again when 2.6.1 is released, but it strikes me as odd that this made it out the door. However, I have seen worse unintended features appear in released software.

Tags: bugs, frustration, wordpress, wordpress 2.6

The Site Statistics | Web Analytics Index measurements have been running now for about 2.5 days, and I wanted to make some general comments on what I am seeing.

The methodolgy for testing is straightforward. I chose sites | services that allowed you to create a free (if limited) account to track your Web visitors, and allowed you to make these statistics available to for anyone to look at. Using this this, a measurement was established against the landing page that visitors would see if they chose to look at these publicly available statistics.

I am using this blog as the placeholder for the tracking “bugs”  used in this index (see the right-hand column).

From the graph above, it is clear that ShinyStat is the performance leader in this space. They have the smallest overall page size as well as the fastest and most reliable performance.

It is important to note that services such as WebTrends, Omniture, WebSideStory and Coremetrics are not included, as they are beyond the reach of most bloggers, and do not provide a public side to their data. Also, Google Analytics is not included, as they do not provide public access to the collected data.

The collected data is available in GrabPERF as both the Site Statistics Index, and as individual measurements.

Technorati Tags: Web analytics, web metrics, shinystat, onestat, statcounter, sitemeter, GrabPERF, Web Performance

Tags: analytics, ARIN, blog, bugs, data, EAD, Google, GrabPERF, GrabPERF.org, HTTP, IE, IM, it, LAN, measurement, metrics, Om, One, performance, PHP, pr, run, statistics, Technorati, testing, tracking, visitors, web, Web analytics, Web Performance

The CTO of the blogosphere asks: What kind of software would you like developed?

Option 1: Build a product in 12 months that is simple and easy to use but only meets basic requirements. Upon completiion, this company will only fix bugs and provide minimal updates every six months; training through FAQs and some simple documentation; and support through basic email, forums, but no phone contact. The cost to you to pay for the development and ongoing support of this product is low.

Option 2: Build a product in 24 months that meets all the requirements including features that you might want to use in the future but is complex to configure and use. Upon completion, this company will fix bugs and provide enhancements or new functionality through a elaborate support agreement that includes frequent updates every three months; extensive training through onsite, manual and online and support through 24/7 phone,email and web. However, the cost to you to pay for the development and ongoing support of this product is high.

Option 3: Build a product in 18 months that is simple, basic and easy but an open architecture is developed that will allow others such as end users or other developers to make it as complex as they would like it through the development of addons and extensions. Upon completion, this company will fix bugs or enhance existing functionality only and provide moderate updates, training and support through a combination on in-house and community resources. The cost to you to pay for the development and ongoing support of this product is a little more expensive than Option 1. In addition, you will be on your own regarding support and future development of any additional functionality that is provided by third parties.

Only an idiot or a dinosaur would build software under Options 1 and 2.

Tags: 3G, blog, bugs, community, customers, extension, HTTP, IE, IM, IP, it, Om, One, online, PHP, pr, update, users, web

I noticed that a new version (4.1.12) of MySQL was up on their site last night. I grabbed the RPMs (Yes, I am a binary-loving weenie, not a hardcore source jockey) and installed them.

For those of you who install MySQL from RPMs know that it takes 4 packages to get all of the components up and running correctly. I got 3 of the 4 running no problem.

The one that bombed is the one that contains the main server binaries. All sorts of backtrace and coredump type errors, and then no response from the DB. So I re-installed the previous Server RPM, and I am up and running. I just figured I am an idiot and moved on with my evening.

This morning, I went to the MySQL site. Lo and behold, all of the 4.1.12 downloads have been pulled.

I don’t feel like such an idiot anymore. And I am not alone: here are the Severity 1 bugs for MySQL 4.1.12. Two of them are identical to what I was seeing.

Tags: ads, bugs, components, HTTP, IE, IM, ISP, it, mysql, Om, One, PHP, pr, run, search, server