Fast, manual, incremental updating of WordPress

WordPress recently released 2.3.3 as an urgent security fix for 2.3.2. Rather than wiping all non-configured files from my development site, extracting the replacement files from the tarball, and re-uploading said files by FTP, I used the fast and precise approach: Only upload changed files.

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Use an intervalometer to detect footprints

While Alex was in town for the weekend, we used my camera's intervalometer to record tracks in my gravel driveway. I'm still playing with the images, but I've got a pretty sweet sample uploaded to BoF Labs.

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Proposal: Automatic verification of email address ownership

Many sites require email verification to prevent impersonation by spammers (and to ensure that a user can retrieve their password, should they forget it.) Since this practice is a bit of a hassle for the user and does not require any thought on the user's part (sign into email, see registration email, click link), it should be automated. I've written a proposal of how to implement this.

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Proper implementation of friend groups: Request for input

In my quest to bring the features of Livejournal (and other proprietary social networks) to the open, public internet, I'm stuck on how to properly implements friend groups. Friend groups determine which users are allowed to see your more sensitive blog entries. I've pulled together a description of several alternative models, and I'd like some input.

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