I generally just upload a customized folder set that has the same themes I use on all installations and the basic plugins I setup for all of my clients.  I thought that somehow, Filezilla might have done something strange while uploading this folder set.

Figuring that since it was a new site and it would take more time to track this crap down then it was worth, I just re-uploaded a fresh Wordpress installation (keeping the old wp-config.php to save time).

The fresh Wordpress installation I had locally was outdated so the first thing I did was an automatic update inside of the Wordpress Admin area.  This went without issue.  Next I decided to install the plugins…. I waited, and waited, and then waited some more until finally I get hit with:

Could not copy file /public_html/blog/wp-content/upgrade/all-in-one-seo-pack/all-in-one-seo-pack/all_in_one_seo_pack-bg_BG.mo

No worries… I’ll just plug the error into The Goolges and see what comes of it.  At first I search on the entire error… which is kind of newbish, but for the extra 10 seconds it takes – I’ll search specific first before searching more general.

So, as expected – being specific yeilds no results

That’s ok… time for a more general search.  This time I search for:

Could not copy file /public_html/blog/wp-content/upgrade/

This end’s up giving me over 1,500 results… there’s bound to be something useful in there somewhere… So I check out the first link given to me by the all mighty, all knowing Google and I actually get some useful information… even though I have to scroll down a bit (It was a Wordpress Support Topic).

The end result that finally allowed me to install and update new plugins:

1. Login to the end client’s ftp account
2. Delete the /wp-content/upgrade/ directory
3. Create a new upgrade directory with nothing in it
4. Assign 755 permissions to the folder – If you don’t know what this means… you shouldn’t be charging people for websites.

Originally this was working ok, and then after one save BAM!  The damn thing crashed on me.  So I opened Dreamweaver back up again and it was working just fine, until again, I opened the functions.php file and it crashed.

I renamed the file to have a .txt extension and when I opened it up this time it worked just fine.  I started getting sick of editing the file as a .txt and then renaming it to .php to test it out on my local Wordpress installation so I took time from being neck deep in template tags and php code to see if I could find a solution.

Lucky for me I found it!

Issue

Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 crashes when working with certain PHP or ASP files in Code view or Design view after the clock goes back one hour, when Daylight Savings Time ends. The crashes only occur when selecting certain lines in Code view, or selecting certain objects in Design view. The crashes only occur in files that have PHP or ASP code, intermingled with HTML code. The crashes do not occur in Dreamweaver 8 or earlier (Ref. 229536).
Reason

The Dreamweaver CS3 WinFileCache-AD76BB20.dat file has been corrupted by the time change.
Solution

1. If Dreamweaver is open, quit the application.
2. Delete the WinFileCache-AD76BB20.dat file from the Dreamweaver user configuration folder. Note that on Windows, the Application Data and AppData folders are hidden by default, so verify that your Windows Explorer folder options are set to View Hidden Folders. The location of this file is as follows:
* Dreamweaver CS3 on Windows Vista:
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Dreamweaver 9\Configuration
* Dreamweaver CS3 on Windows XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Adobe\Dreamweaver 9\Configuration

This solution was found after looking through several forums and was taken here from the Adobe websites.

So if you are having the same issue, and it matches the problem description – try this out.  I hope it works for you and doesn’t slow down your work-flow as much as it did mine.

For about the past 6 months to a year I have been conducting interviews.  Some of the adjectives used by people to describe this interview are:

*Stressful
*Insightful
*Hard
*Depressing
*Educational

The interviews that I conduct are very much technical.  It almost reminds me of taking my certifications when I was in school.  Over the these past 6 -12 months I’ve probably done somewhere between 50 – 100 interviews, both in person and over the phone.  I was trying to think about what to write this week and decided to write a list of things NOT to do when interviewing and applying for a job.

As stated above, I run interviews that for the most part involve technical questioning so these suggestions will be slightly slanted toward these types of interviews.  However, I think that you will find that they apply to pretty much any type of job.

1.  Show Up Early… Just Not That Early

When I am interviewing for 6 open positions at a time, I rely on a strict schedule.  I might be phone screening new job candidates in 30 minute intervals between 9 am and 11 am, taking my lunch early at 11 because I have an interview scheduled from 12 – 2, and a follow-up with management about how all of the hiring is going at 2:30. Oh yeah… then I’ve got to look through the list of potential job candidates to see if any of their resumes catch my eye from 2:30 – 3.  At 3 I’ll probably have another meeting to go to followed by the another interview.

My whole point is, If I schedule you for an interview at 10:00 – don’t show up at 9:30.  That’s right, I said DO NOT SHOW UP 30 MINUTES EARLY.  15 minutes is even kind of pushing it… 5 – 10 minutes usually works best for me.  You see, if you show up 30 minutes early I will make you sit in the lobby for most of that time.

However, I will also feel obligated to not let you sit too long…. now I you have interrupted my schedule by making me come and entertain you for the next 25 minutes until everyone else that is scheduled to be in your interview shows up…. don’t make me entertain you, you want me to be in a good mood.

2. Shut Up and Listen

If I am asking you questions, let me finish the questions.  Nothing makes me more angry then someone I’m interviewing being disrespectful.  I’m trying to give you a job and if you think what you have to say is more important then me deciding whether you would be a good fit or not, then I don’t want to work with you.

Aside from being disrespectful, you miss a lot of really good information from an interviewer if you are busy talking or thinking about what you are going to say next.  Hell, I’ve flat out given people answers to technical questions during interviews, but they were so busy yackin’ it up that they had no idea that I had given it to them.

I use interviews to not only determine your technical ability, but also your ability to learn and adapt to new information.  If you are the type of person that won’t let people finish speaking, or are so wrapped up in your own thoughts and words that you won’t listen to me – then how am I ever going to teach you anything?

3.  Thou Shalt Research The Company

It’s funny that almost every time we ask someone to name one of our products in an interview they screw up their face, look to the ceiling, and then blink at us like we just threw them a huge curve ball.

If you put in just a small amount of effort trying to find out more about the company, you will stand out so much more then most of the other people applying for the job.  It tells me that you truly are interested in working for the same company I do, and not just tossing in a bunch of lines to see if something bites (even if this really is what you are doing).  I’m not a fish so show me you aren’t trying to stick a hook in me.

All it really takes is 30 minutes and an internet connection to get just a little bit of information on the company you are interviewing with… Google is your friend, well – at least it was during the phone screen when I heard you frantically typing to try and find the answer.

4.  If you lie on your resume, be prepared to lie to me during the interview

I don’t put a ton of stock in resumes.  People lie and keyword stuff the hell out of them all the time.  However, if you are going to write “Cisco” and “CCNA” all over your resume… you should expect to be asked at least a couple of basic router questions.

Sure you may have got your CCNA…. fantastic, but I could care less about a piece of paper that Cisco gave you.  I’m more concerned with whats in your head.  The point here is, if you don’t know the subject matter.  Or, if you no longer know the subject matter – keep it off your resume.

p.s.  I know when you’re lying to me during the interview

5.  Don’t Tell Me That You’re In It For The Money

If during an interview I ask you “Why do you want to work here?”, don’t tell me that it’s because the job pays more.  If you were smart enough to ask about the salary range before taking up everyone’s time for the interview – be smart enough to not tell me that it’s the reason you want to leave your old job to come work with me.

It’s already understood by most people that conduct interviews that you want the job for the money, but when you bring it up you make everyone in the room think “… and what’s to stop him/her from leaving here after we’ve invested time and money in them to work for someone else who pays more.”

Even if more money is the only reason that you do want the job, please be gracious enough to make up another reason.  I’ll get you started:

• I really like to learn new things and I think that this would be a great place for me to expand my knowledge.
• I am really interested in learning more about you’re product (bonus points if you name a specific product and give a reason why you are interested).
• This interview process has intrigued me and I am very interested in the things you guys do here.

Conclusion:

Ok, so this isn’t by any means your comprehensive guide on how to get a job based on your interview charm alone.  However, I hope it did give you some insight on what things are like from the interviewers point of view.  Bottom line is – don’t come off as desperate, use some common sense, and be polite to the people interviewing you.

Any little bit extra you can do to make yourself stand out from the crowd will help.  If you were someone who has been effected by the bad economy and you found this post looking for tips on interviewing for a new job, I wish you luck.

I encourage anyone else who has tips for interviewing (not finding a job) to post their suggestions in the comments below.

So why the hell am I writing about Jonathan Volk?  Because, I want to win the dual 22″ monitors he’s giving away.

If you want to know more about how you too can have a chance to win these monitors (and other prizes) – Click Here to read all of the rules.

I first started reading Jon’s blog when I was a member of PPC Coach and I’ve been keeping an eye on Jon’s blog ever since.  If you are expecting to get all of the secrets and tips to making money online, you won’t find it on Jon’s blog…. however, if you can read between the lines he has some decent posts that might help you in your online endeavors.

A good example of one of his posts that has some worthwhile information was a case study on sponsored tweets he recently did:

I decided to spend around $600 bucks on tweets to see what would be the best for marketing my campaigns if I decided to continue my marketing strategy on twitter.

I selected a few higher profile tweeters and a few lower profile tweeters. I wanted to try all spectrum of the tweetverse.

Click Here for the full post on his sponsored tweets experience.

In closing… Jon, if you’re reading this – hook a brotha up with some dual 22’s… I can be found on twitter with the name @ibeatdrums.

Recently I heard about getting paid for sponsored tweets, or ads, or whatever you want to call them.  Monetizing twitter was bound to happened, and I know that if I’m going to share my life 140 characters at a time I wouldn’t mind making a little bit of money off of it.

Currently there are two relatively easy sites (that don’t seem scammy) to use to sign up for sponsored tweets.  The first is Sponsored Tweets – this is the only one that I’ve had any offers on so far.  The other is ad.ly.  Both are very easy to sign-up/use.

Now, if you don’t have a lot of followers (the more targeted the better) then don’t expect the money to come pouring in.  Jeremy Schoemaker recently posted how he made $15,000 in one month using twitter…. Don’t expect this to happen to you.  Jeremy also has over 73,000 followers that are well targeted in the “make money online” market.

I currently have just over 120 followers, but I’m proud of that number.  I didn’t do it by following as many people as possible or using any sort of automation software and I’m hoping that this blog and my other drumming blog will help increase that number.  Therefore, any offers I receive for a sponsored tweet will be very low (if at all).

Luckily, sponsored tweets has just made a lot of offers to people below the searchable 200 follower limit.  I decided to accept several of these offers… not really for the money, but just to try the system out and see how they worked…. hell, if you want full disclosure – each of the tweets only paid me $1 each… equaling a grand total of $6!

Like I said, it was to try out the system and see how it works – more so then it was to get paid.

If you are interested in getting paid to tweet… click on the cartoon bird below:

(more disclosure – I make a small percentage off of people signing up with my link…. it won’t effect you at all)

Once you sign up, you will get a direct message if any of the advertisers want to pay you to send out their message.

Just follow the link you get in the direct message and login to sponsored tweets (Login is easy since it uses the twitter API).

Once you login, you will see the opportunities that have been offered to you.  Sponsored tweets will show you the twitter name of the person offering you the opportunity, the amount offered for the tweet, and either the exact tweet that will be sent out from your account or the objective/idea behind the tweet that they want you to write and send out.

Once you agree to tweet then your message will automatically go out at a scheduled time.  You will then be notified by sponsored tweets that you are $x.xx richer.

Now don’t get too excited at this point because payouts from Izea (the company that owns sponsored tweets) until you reach at least $50.

Overall I think the whole idea is pretty cool…. it’s a great way to market your product if you are an advertiser.  And if you are a regular tweeter, then getting paid to do it just makes it that much more fun.

Again, If you are interested in getting paid to tweet… click on the cartoon bird below:

This has also helped because I now have in car entertainment and was able to cancel my xm subscription.  I love listening to music, but when I’m driving I prefer to listen to talk.  Talk is dynamic and changes frequently.  Your favorite song, as great as it may be will never change.

Since there aren’t many talk shows worth listening to on FM and I get a horrible AM signal, audiobooks have been a great substitute….. until recently.

See, the ipod doesn’t like audiobooks that are over 12 hours long.  I recently accidentally lost my place in a book that I was listening to at almost 15 hours in!

So I looked around on the internets and found a solution that seemed much better then holding down the fast forward button (that would kill my thumb).  Essentially the solution is to hit the center button once you have selected your audiobook.  This will change the time scroll bar at the bottom to show a diamond.  Once this happens you can use the circle pad to scroll forward rather quickly, right?  Well, almost.

It seems that if you fast forward to anything after 12 hours, the ipod seems to think that you want to start this book all over again and switch to a different book.  Not only that, but it confuses the hell outta my lil nano because when I go back to select the original book I was listening to it can’t seem to get the right book (sometimes the right artwork though… weird).

So currently I have had to fast forward my ipod using the method described all of the way up to just under 12 hours and then hold the fast forward button to get to where I was…. sounds good right?  Wrong!

After about the 13th hour of holding down the fast forward button the ‘lil fella gets all confused again and starts over from the beginning.

My final solution:

• Restore the ipod to the original factory settings using itunes
• Remove all audiobooks, but the one that I’ve been listening to from the playlist that is set to sync
• Fast forward using the scrolling method to just under 12 hours
• Fast forward using the thumb hurting method to just under 13 hours
• Let it play and pray that I don’t let it run over the time that I left it at because I will more then likely have to start all over again.

If anyone else knows a better way, please for the love of god – let me know…. this has been driving me absolutely nuts!