Don’t you wish that all you needed to get technology to work is a bigger hammer? Having worked for nearly 15 years in the high-tech industry, you’d think I’d be used to things not working the way I think they’re supposed to. Would that it were so.
Take pretty permalinks fer instance, making the permanent address of a Web page look like this
http://brianvhunt.com/brians-blog
instead of this
http://brianvhunt.com/?page_id=109
Search engines like pretty permalinks. If I’d hosted brianvhunt.com on a Linux server instead of Windows IIS, it would have been a snap to choose pretty permalinks because it’s a setting you select in WordPress.
Instead, I spent what felt like half a lifetime searching the web and e-mailing people whose brains are already wrapped around languages like C++ (which I understand far less than the Japanese and Arabic that I don’t really speak). Finally, through a lot of trial and error (often making my web site disappear entirely) I got pretty permalinks to work with some C code and a server-side installation of a third-party DLL. How often do you get to say that at parties?
If none of that makes sense to you, count your lucky stars.
I’m not a software developer but I’m not a complete schlump (at least when it comes to technology). I tell friends and family who are complete tech-schlumps that if some piece of technology is not working, it’s not their fault — it’s poorly designed. How ironic, because when I can’t get something to work, I tend to blame myself.
But I have to say, finally solving a problem that had bedeviled me for days was immensely satisfying, especially since I’ve never done any C programming before. It was a great sense of relief and now I have that in my toolbox. I mean, I can’t program in C but if you’re silly enough to use WordPress on a Windows IIS server and can’t get pretty permalinks to work, I’m your man.
Photo © Christine Clifton-Thornton
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Good – I should certainly say I’m impressed with your website. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs and related information. The site ended up being truly simple to access. Great job…
magnificent points altogether, you simply gained brand new reader. What might you suggest about your publish that you just made a few days ago? Any sure?
Will i website as much as this, through my website page? I’m going to collect as many sources of tips as i am able.
I’ve been exploring for a bit for any high quality articles or blog posts on this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this site. A href=”http://www.ifundacja.pl”>Fundacja Reading this information So i am happy to convey that I’ve an incredibly good uncanny feeling I discovered exactly what I needed. I most certainly will make sure to don’t forget this site and give it a look on a constant basis.<
Hey there, You have done a great job. I will certainly digg it and individually suggest to my friends. I am confident they will be benefited from this site.
Nice read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he just bought me lunch since I found it for him smile Thus let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch!
Its wonderful right here. nice research. I\\\’ve been looked the advice for a while. thanks