Eric Mann

  • Self-Funded Line of Credit

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    I was thinking this past week of ways to save money, and I realized lately how “odd” my primary strategy seems to other people.  I’m in the process of paying off my credit cards, so when I need to make a large purchase I give myself a self-funded line of credit. Basically, I give myself

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  • The Death of the Idea

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    What value is there in an idea that never sees the light of day?  Many times, we come up with fantastic ideas.  The next great American novel.  The next great web project.  The next multi-billion dollar disruptive innovation.  But 99 times out of 100, the idea dies in its infancy. We create a great plan,

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  • A Rookie Attempt at Cron in CentOS

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    For years, I used shared hosting systems exclusively for all my websites.  They were affordable, easy to manage, and required zero effort on my part to set up and maintain.  Unfortunately, I have a habit of rapidly outgrowing hosts and usually have to migrate to bigger and better servers about once a year.  I finally

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  • WordPress and Ajax

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    This post is long overdue. For that, I apologize. Now, on to the fun! Everyone knows I love WordPress.  I build my websites on the platform.  I write plug-ins for other sites.  I recommend it to all of my clients.  I’ve even contributed code to core. Let’s stipulate for now that I think WordPress is

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  • Communion and Shaving

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    Not two things you’d typically put together in a single idea, are they?  But I’ve come to realize that the act of shaving and the Christian tradition of communion have quite a bit in common. I start every morning with a good shave.  I wake up, splash some hot water on my face, lather, and

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  • Why Open Source? – Part 2

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    Last month, I joined with several developers in explaining my reasoning behind working with open source software.  Like many others, I am involved in open source projects because I enjoy working with the community.  Last night, I only reinforced that. For some time, I’ve been hosting all of my various WordPress websites on a multisite

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  • Open Source Decision Making

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    Earlier this week a member of the WordPress community, Jacob Santos, aired his concerns with WordPress’ decision making process on the oft distracting WP Hackers mailing list.  His argument, in response to a WordPress.org forum thread regarding 2011 roadmaps, comes from the idea that WordPress development is not driven by community input. On the one

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  • Merry Christmas

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    I’m never really been a fan of Christmas music.  Chalk it up to two winters working retail in large malls and shopping centers, listening to endless reprises of the same tired old music over and over and over and … you get the picture.  You can only listen to recordings from the 1950s or a

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  • A Quick GPL Overview

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    From time to time, the GPL comes up in less-than-friendly conversation regarding WordPress.  Everyone has their own opinion of what the license means, and strings of “but I am not a lawyer” litter every discussion.  This turns any lively discussion into a heated debate because “well this is what I think” quickly turns into “you’re

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  • Fear

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    I’m afraid of heights.  No, that’s not quite right.  I’m really afraid of heights.  More so than any other thing or situation I’ve ever come across, being up high terrifies me in a way few can ever understand. The thing about this kind of fear is that it’s irrational.  I have no reason to be

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