Living in a Lighthouse – Part II
When it rains… look for Rainbows When it’s dark… look for Stars If there is a Part I, there has to be at least a… Read More »Living in a Lighthouse – Part II
Living in a Lighthouse – Part I
It isn’t often that one gets to live in a lighthouse. Ashwina wanted to find out what it feels like to live in one. So,… Read More »Living in a Lighthouse – Part I
Better Search v2.2.4 – security fix
I have released version 2.2.4 of Better Search (v2.2.3 was a short release) which fixes one very important security issue that was reported by Ryan… Read More »Better Search v2.2.4 – security fix
Add to All v1.4.0
I’ve updated my handy plugin Add to All in the WordPress.org repository and existing users should be able to update this plugin from within the… Read More »Add to All v1.4.0
AutoClose v2.0.0
I’ve released a major update to Auto-Close Comments, Pingbacks and Trackbacks a.k.a AutoClose v2.0.0. The last update to this plugin was in 2015 and this has continued to work with the newer versions of WordPress.
Autoclose is an easy to use WordPress plugin that allows you to automatically close comments, pingbacks and trackbacks on your posts. You also have some buttons that let you delete post revisions, delete pingbacks and trackbacks.
I was cleaning up broken links on Techtites and realised most of these were pingbacks and trackbacks. I wanted an easy way to just delete them all! Hence, AutoClose v2.0.0.
You’ll need to reactivate the plugin
The plugin file has been renamed from ald-autoclose.php to autoclose.php which will cause WordPress to deactivate the plugin when upgraded. You will need to activate this again from the Plugins page.
The reactivation should also upgrade the plugin settings to v2.0.0. You can also Network Activate the plugin on WordPress Multisite and it should upgrade settings across all the sites.
Read More »AutoClose v2.0.0
Migrated to The SEO Framework
I’ve been running Yoast SEO on this site for a very long time. It is a feature rich and powerful plugin and has been one… Read More »Migrated to The SEO Framework
From Mumbai to Pune
After a week in Mumbai, Ashwina and I set off to Pune to spend time at her place with her Mom and Dad.
I like going to Pune because, unlike Mumbai, I get to spend a lot of time resting and relaxing. As expected, this holiday also delivered the same. I even had time to work on my WordPress plugins as well as catch up on office work.
Purchasing a car
Ashwina planned to buy a car in Pune for her parents to replace a very old Maruti Suzuki Alto. She had shortlisted the Maruti Suzuki Ignis and we had the vendor send us a test drive vehicle on Friday.
We decided to go ahead with the Ignis and paid the booking amount on Saturday followed by the rest of it on Monday. The car was ready to be collected promptly on Thursday morning.
Saturday night live
We met Saby on Saturday evening for dinner and drinks. Dinner was at The Sassy Spoon in Koregaon Park.
The Sassy Spoon turned out to be a bright and rather alive place with a good atmosphere and music. I had a rather funky pani puri martini which is essentially the pani puri masala water with a kick. We also had chicken and prawns for starters and I dug into Ashwina’s Goan sausage mac and cheese for mains. In short, we really enjoyed the food and drink at The Sassy Spoon.
Read More »From Mumbai to Pune
Holiday in Mumbai
Ashwina and I embarked on our annual visit to Mumbai and Pune on Feb 1. In 2018, we visited India in March. However, this year we decided to stick to our Feb schedule.
To Mumbai
We booked ourselves on premium economy with British Airways as this was the best deal we could find. Unfortunately, as I did the bookings in October, we couldn’t take advantage of the reward flights and the Amex BA voucher. Speaking about reward flights, I feel that British Airways has gotten quite miserly about them!
I’ve always loved Heathrow Terminal 5 and we took advantage of my status to use the First check-in and security which opens up directly into the lounge! We got some food into our bellies before heading out to do some shopping at the Duty Free.
The flight was definitely one of the most uncomfortable ones I’ve been on. BA used an older plane on this flight which meant even the premium economy felt like economy. The food wasn’t very great either!
We landed in Mumbai after a painful overnight flight to bright sunshine and a relatively empty airport. As a result, we went through immigration swiftly and waited a bit for our baggage before taking a taxi home.
Read More »Holiday in Mumbai
WordPress plugin updates – Jan/Feb 2019
Over the Christmas break, I spent quite a bit of time rationalising my WordPress plugins including closing several plugins which I decided I won’t be… Read More »WordPress plugin updates – Jan/Feb 2019
Happy New Year 2019!
Sitting here on the final day of 2018, I’d like to wish all my regular and irregular readers a Happy New Year 2019. Keeping with my long tradition, here’s my life in review post for 2018. Do you agree with Dilbert’s view on resolutions? I know I’ve barely kept mine from last year.
Work
Work takes up a significant portion of our lives, mine included. 2018 was a long year for me at work including a tonne of projects, long hours and quite a bit of travel.
Life
2018 involved quite a bit of travelling for Ashwina and me.
India
We started the year with our annual trip to India. India was slightly different this time around. Since both Dad and Arun were in town, Ashwina and I booked a long stay at the ITC Maratha in Mumbai. Our stay turned out to be fabulous with excellent service, good food and we both got lovely gifts from the hospitality team there.
After Mumbai, we headed off to Mangalore. The first time for me after over 30 years! We toured quite a bit especially visiting a few churches.
Pune followed Mangalore where I managed to get some rest. We also met with Rhea for dinner on one day and Saby on another.
We headed back to Mumbai for a day and then returned to London getting Mom back with us for a few months.
