Somehow yesterday I caused my blog to implode. Yes, the error I got was "implode". I had been trying to invoke someone's tip on getting the Read More link to appear right underneath preview posts but the solution required monkeying with the modules. If you don't know Drupal this means nothing but basically I was getting into the guts of it. It went kaboom! Even uploading my old modules did nothing. In the end I had to wait until I got home after a writer's critique meeting to reupload my entire Drupal. That fixed it.

The VIFF is back and the online schedule and ordering system is up for people to browse. I'm right now making a long list (thirty I thought were interesting from the writeups) to pare down. As soon as I have a short list of picks I will post it.

http://www.viff.org/home.html

Those of you who know me know that this is one of the great yearly events for me personally. The single best time I've had at the VIFF was when I volunteered four years ago (I was out of work at the time) and so was able to see it behind-the-scenes and in the seats with the volunteer pass. This year working mostly full-time I won't be able to see the twenty films I see on average but I will do my best.

As you can see I've decided to launch a new blog and this time using an open source CMS (content management system) called Drupal. Drupal is a bit overpowered for what will essentially remain just a blog but I decided to learn it so that I can apply it to work. It also allows me to continue honing my .css and .php skills.

My previous experience is with Movable Type, which came with its own problems including a very wonky system of having to upload templates to their unique form-based content creation system rather than have it all work on your own local machine first. What I liked about Movable Type in the end was the ability to use php to include its tags throughout the site, regardless of whether it is within the Movable Type folder hierarchy or not. I used it for my last web contract: northshoreminorlacrosse.com.

That's me the 12 year old on the big machine. -- Photo by Thomas Milne.

Before you go: "oh joy" let me describe how this went down. Someone on my local Flickr photo club vandigicam posted an announcement of a Vancouver Museum tour called "Secrets of the City" in which a guide named John Atkin would take a bunch of people on a bus to a secret (oooh) location that the public normally has no access to.