Asian Tiger

I received an email from a reader named Susan. This is how it goes:

Dear Amos,
I have recently upgraded my personal blog from Wordpress 1.2 to 2.0 instead of taking it to version 1.5. Kind of daring if I may add. Anyway, I realised that when I use the upload function in Wordpress2, I noticed that the images were not published in full but rather in the form of thumbnails (sic). What can I do?

Thanks,
Susan.

Well Susan, Wordpress2’s image upload function’s limitation has been brought up in forums around the world particularly by members who have been using Wordpress for a long time such as yourself. However, there exists a popular image plugin called the IImage Browser that is partly compatible with Wordpress2. The plugin is able to work in WP2, however, you will need to turn off your WYSIWYG function. Maybe it’s a small price to pay for a great plugin such as IImage Browser.

And finally, nope, I did not spell IImage wrongly.

2 weeks ago, I decided to change all the tires to my utility vehicle (the original wheels came with Silverstone’s Powerblitz series). This is my 2nd tires change and I opted for Goodyear’s Duraco GA series. I have always been a fan of Goodyear’s tires since the days of my sedan. On my sedan, I used to have Goodyear’s Eagle GA Plus but unfortunately, for reasons unknown to me, Goodyear stopped production of these magnificant tires.

Pricewise, the Silverstone tires are relatively cheaper than those of Goodyear’s but after using the Ducaro GA, I have had no regrets paying the extra dollars. Here are the comparisons between the 2 brands (yours truly’s personal experience).

The comparisons:

1. Noise Level - the Ducaro GA is far more quieter compared to the Powerblitz
2. Road Grip - Somehow, I felt that the Ducaro GA has a better grip compared to the PowerBlitz as I was able to take corners at higher speed
3. Softness - I don’t know how to describe this attribute but I used softness. When going over potholes, the PowerBlitz has a hard crash-type of feeling whereas the impact of running over a pothole on the Duraco GA is much lesser. The Ducaro GA seems to soften the impact which makes driving more enjoyable.
4. Price - The Goodyear is retailed at a higher price

To all my dear readers: Happy New Year!! May the year 2006 bring you good fortune and success.

In conjuction with the new year, I have added a favicon to my blog. If you do not know what a favicon is; it is the little picture beside the URL of this blog. Here’s a screenshot of AmosWong.com’s favicon (in red circle):

Some say that having a favicon is like putting on cosmetics. This is only partly true. More importantly, having a favicon on your blog allows the visitors to quickly identify your site in their Favorite folder among the other bookmarked site. Take a look at the example below:

If you do not have a favicon currently and you are interested to, here’s how to can do it.

1. First, you will need an image. Any image will do provided that it is royalty-free and not copyrighted (meaning, you cannot use Coca-Cola’s corporate logo as you favicon).
2. Go to Chami.com’s Favicon Tool page.
3. Upload you image by clicking the “Browse” button and click “Generate Favicon”
4. After Chami’s tool completed the generation, you will be presented with the link to download you favicon. Click the download link and save the favicon on your computer. (You can also test your favicon by clicking on the “Test in Browser”
5. Unzip the contents you have just downloaded and upload the favicon to your webhost (”public_html” folder, for most of you).
6. You will now need to edit your header.php of your wordpress blog. Depending on the theme you use, locate the header.php folder and edit the file by adding the following code:
   

   

7. Save your header.php file
8. Hard refresh your browser by pressing the Ctrl+F5 keys. You should now be able to see your favicon next to your URL.

Note: If you wish to change your favicon, simply replace the .ico file with another. Enjoy.