Recent development indicates that the next version of WordPress will be 2.0. There's been a lot of activity, so it should be reasonable to expect a new release before Christmas. Of course I'm making wild speculation, and don't have any definite information. Matt or Ryan may have a different schedule in mind. The official release date remains When it's done.
I was pleasantly surprised to see my database backup plugin included! Thanks again to Owen for his help making it the successful plugin that it is. Several patches I've submitted have also been included, mostly as a result of the recent Bug Hunt weekend.
Of course, not every ticket I've opened gets favorable action: nofollow is still a fundamental part of the core code, even though it's a largely useless "solution" to a very real problem.
People without children can recognize the humor (or mind-numbing insanity) involved when parents tell stories about their kids. But it's just that, a recognition; some kind of dispassionate cerebral process. Other parents, though, have the gut-wrenching visceral response associated with having lived through the same thing themselves. Parenthood is the world's biggest inside joke.
Carina left for work early this morning, leaving me with the kids alone. I was preparing to hop in the shower, and the kids were supposed to be eating breakfast. They were sitting side-by-side at the kitchen table, working through their oatmeal. All was calm. I knew I was in for trouble.
skippy: "Girls, I'm going to go upstairs and take a shower. Please eat your breakfast, and then get your shoes on. Please be respectful to one another: no teasing, and keep your hands to yourself. Please try to work out any problems that may arise. If I hear any screaming or yelling, no one will get any chocolate tonight."
Both girls nodded their heads. I thought that perhaps this was a successful plan: encouraging them to work together toward the common goal of chocolate (of which we have loads, from ChocolateWorld in Hershey, PA).
As my foot hit the first step, I heard Tayler trying to attract Tyler's attention. I knew from the tone of voice she was using that she was going to urge Tyler to sit somewhere else, so as to avoid any trouble. This is, of course, a perfectly reasonable solution for an eight year old to devise. It is, of course, completely unreasonable for Tayler to move herself. Tyler refused to listen to her sister, and kept saying "No" in the middle of Tayler's sentences. By the time I reached the mid-way point up the stairs, Tayler was screaming at Tyler to pay attention.
After finally settling that crisis, I got in the shower. While rinsing shampoo out of my hair, I heard a knock at the door.
skippy: "Who is it?"
Tyler: "I can't find my <mumble mumble>".
skippy: "I'm sorry, I didn't understand you. Can you please repeat that?"
Tyler shouting: "I can't find my <mumble mumble>!"
skippy: "You can't find something. I don't understand what it is you can't find."
Tyler opens the door and says with perfect clarity "I can't find my blue pill."
skippy: "There's very little I can do about that right now. Please wait until I get out and I'll help you."
I got out, dried off, and dressed. I went downstairs to find Tyler -- still without shoes -- on the phone speaking to Carina's voicemail explaining that she could not find her blue pill.
A long time ago, I worked for a company called XeroxConnect. They were a consulting firm, and I was one of their consultants. At the time, I was gung-ho to earn my Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer title so that I could be assigned to the more challenging contracts. XeroxConnect paid for me to take the certification tests, for which I dutifully studied. I passed every test on the first try. I completed my final test -- and therefore earned my MCSE -- on the same day as Karl, another fellow in my office. We left the testing center and headed back to the office, anticipating the new challenges and increased responsibility we would soon enjoy. Our branch manager already had something in mind for us: he asked us to assemble some metal shelving units to help organize files in a spare closet.
Like the good engineers we were, we studied the assembly instructions, and took inventory of what we needed. Lacking the proper tools for this task, Karl and I headed to the hardware store to purchase rubber mallets. We also purchased the largest permanent marker we could find. Back at the office, before assembling the shelves, we labelled our mallets in a quiet, tongue-in-cheek ceremony.
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We stuffed the kids in the van Friday after school and drove to Hershey, Pennsylvania to visit Carina's aunt and uncle. We arrived around 11:30, and after tucking the twins into bed we had a pleasant chat over glasses of wine.
Today the girls went to an indian cavern, and I went to a pub to meet Owen and Ryan! We had a nice lunch, and it was a treat to meet two more WordPress personalities. (Someone should create #wordpress trading cards so that I can start collecting those of the people I've met!) The two burly guys on the other side of the bar shot us quizzical glances for the duration of our (geeky) conversation, finally culminating in undisguised scorn as the three of us whipped out our digital cameras and started taking pictures of one another!
After lunch, I joined Carina's uncle and we met up with the girls at Chocolate World! It hasn't changed at all since our trip last year, but it was still a lot of fun. This time is was noticably less busy, which made it more pleasant for me. The twins enjoyed it more this year, too, by all accounts. We stocked up on a lot of sweets at the store, which will undoubtedly be eaten way too fast once we get home.
On our way home tomorrow we're planning to make a detour to IKEA, to purchase a bunkbed for the twins. I'm sure that Carina will find a great many other things there that we suddenly can't live without!