Lots going on out in space. Progress on the Webb Space Telescope (not renamed, despite protests) continues, so far without technical problems. A suspected black hole turns out to not be one. And a rocket is about to crash into the Moon.
Contrary to earlier reports, it is not a piece of SpaceX debris, but Chinese junk.
P.S. Oops! I missed one. A new weather satellite has been launched and will reach geo-synchronous orbit.
Everything with this WordPress installation is updated and working as well as is presently possible. Updates are delivered directly from WordPress, and Bluehost’s plugin is integrated with the WordPress Dashboard. I am running the version of the PHP program interpreter that WordPress says it supports. Which is saying something, considering the technical struggles I had, and how very close I was to packing it in and walking away. So I am concerned by this message from Bluehost.
Hi DOUGLAS,
In an ongoing effort to bring you the very best products and services, Bluehost is excited to announce that we will be upgrading our servers to newer versions of PHP. In addition to improved data processing, which can boost site speed and performance, you also gain increased security. Newer versions of PHP have more frequent security updates to help protect your site against unwanted hacks or malware.
When will it happen?
At some point during the upgrade window, March 2 to March 4, 2022, your account will be updated, and older versions of PHP will no longer be supported. You may experience a brief disruption in service, but we will work to upgrade your site quickly with the most updated version of PHP software your website will support.
Do I need to take any action?
To avoid a negative impact to your site, we recommend that you upgrade all of your web installations to the newest PHP software available before we move your account.
If you look at the link above, WordPress says it supports PHP 7. Bluehost intends to update to PHP 8, as stated here. This is what WordPress developers say about PHP 8.
WordPress is not fully compatible with PHP 8.0 or 8.1.
After the update, will Prattling Before the Pratfall go offline? Will the .htaccess file for the Apache HTTP service continue to work? Will the SQL database play nice with the updated PHP? Honestly, based on past experience I expect all heck to break loose. So for posterity here is my screen as it appears at this moment, with everything working and Bluehost about to bill me this month to renew for another year.
Follow-up: I pre-emptively updated to PHP 8.0 manually, and the site has lived to tell the tale.
Computers don’t create effects, people do.
There’s still plenty more here that requires my attention, both paperwork and household repairs. But I’ve gotten through enough of it that I can return to doing some light blogging. I’m hoping to be able to also indulge some light jogging this year.
My German-made Thorens turntable is now 39 years old, and so far it has required only minor maintenance that I have taken care of myself. This video is about restoring a German-made 1959 Volkswagen. Whatever happened to white sidewall tires?
When my parents ran a florist shop in Wisconsin for a few years, my father bought a ’59 Volkswagen bus for the business. There’s a brief glimpse of one that looks exactly like it at 6:00 into the video. There was no gas gauge, and when the gas started to run out you had to turn a valve on the floor to open a small auxiliary tank, then look for a gas station.
I have just made one of my occasional checks of YouTube to see if the complete Rolling Stones in Mono playlist is still there, and yes it is. The Rolling Stones have 2.5 million subscribers on YouTube, but I am one of only three subscribers to the mono collection. This is crazy! It isn’t a playlist that some fan threw together, it’s official. I bought the set for $110 as a collection of 96 kHz/24-bit FLAC files. In MP3 quality it will cost you a hundred bucks, and the CD set goes for over $200. But here it is, complete for free.
The attention paid to curating and mastering this set in original, true mono was unprecedented. Read all about it here: https://theaudiophileman.com/stones-mono/
This is some silent Technicolor test footage done at RKO in the 1930’s. Most of it is rather mundane, so the video will start at the good part, with Dolores del Rio encountering a creature from Son of Kong.
