Tag Archives: website

Shout-out to VaultPress

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I hope that somebody other than me noticed that my website has been down for a couple of days(!) There was a rather disastrous situation on Saturday night (NZ time) where I temporarily lost everything. However, I feared not, as I use VaultPress for my backups.

“VaultPress keeps your site safe. Every post, picture, and page. Every comment, revision, and setting. Everything.”

Due to some issue on my site or server I wasn’t able to restore it myself as you would usually be able to do easily. I submitted an “emergency” issue but I had to wait until Tuesday morning (NZ time) for the VaultPress support to come back online! Tuesday morning came and right on cue Brian emailed me. Within about an hour he had found and fixed the problem and restored my website.

So, I must give a shout-out to VaultPress and the superb service they offer. They say they are:

“The world’s best WordPress security, backup, and support.”

…and I think it might be the perfect truth. If you have a website or blog using the WordPress platform and your data is important to you, then VaultPress is the way to go.

SOUNZ moves forward, again

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SOUNZ, the Centre for New Zealand Music, has a fantastic new addition to their website - www.sounz.org.nz. Until now you have had three ways to explore New Zealand music – via browsing the music, the people or the events. Now, with thanks to NZ On Air, you can actually experience it.

This is a great new addition, here is why. No matter how amazing a piece of new New Zealand music is, people always seem to be cautious about grabbing hold of it and giving it a life. Looking at a sample score often doesn’t allow you to imagine it, reading about it or hearing from somebody else that it is a great piece doesn’t help either. To give you confidence you really need to have experienced the music yourself.

With this new addition you can do exactly that, view videos and experience the music – see the mallets moving, see the staging, feel the atmosphere and be introduced to new music in comfort. Chris Watson, a New Zealand composer, knocks it on the head by saying:

“I think moving pictures are, short of getting bums on seats in concert halls, the most effective way of communicating contemporary composition – and the YouTube/Vimeo paradigm provides an international, 24/7 audience.”

Of course composers with their own websites have been implementing video for some time, but for New Zealand music to have a central resource where you can put your feet up and experience the music is fantastic.

This new addition is aligned with two other projects: digitisation of audio held by Radio New Zealand Concert – a joint project between the Alexander Turnbull Library, Radio New Zealand and SOUNZ. And Resound, which is reactivating recording licences and auditioning them to get them on to Radio New Zealand Concert and making them available online such as on the SOUNZ website. Excellent!

So, go experience.

Contemplating the new website

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Well surprise surprise, the website now looks a little different. It’s probably not a good thing, but I can’t go for too long with my website looking exactly the same. I think the problem is that I’m always browsing through other peoples sites and I’m continually learning more about design and web stuff. Maybe I have too much time on my hands. lol I’m tempted to say I “really like the way it is now” but it just occurred to me that I say that after every new site goes up. lol Anyway if things don’t work or you have ANY feedback, please leave a comment or email me.