Ant Drewery

One of the things that prompted me to buy an iPod was finally being able to connect it through the factory fitted radio/CD in my 2005 VW Golf. I did consider replacing it with a unit that had a dedicated aux input or iPod connection but then you have the hassle of remembering to remove the fascia as a security precaution.

First I tried an FM broadcast gizmo that powered from my cigarette lighter. The sound quality was a bit hit and miss though depending on the strength of the local FM radio signals in the area you were driving through. I bought mine from eBay as they are technically illegal in the UK.

Next I tried an FM transmitter that you wire in-line with the car aerial. In theory this ensures a good signal with minimal interference. Unfortunately after removing my head unit I discovered that it has non-standard aerial connectors so this idea was a non-starter.

Finally I came across a product from Connects 2 that connects to the CD changer port to give me an aux input. My stereo has a built-in single CD drive so this seemed like a good option. Installation was easy and now I get perfect sound quality from any auxiliary source by connecting to the headphone jack of the device and switching to the CD changer. I can finally get rid of the CDs cluttering up my car and listen to podcasts during my commute.

I’ve just upgraded to Wordpress 2.0 and so far, so good. The upgrade process was well documented and went without a hitch. All my existing plugins continued to function. However, as stressed in the documentation make sure you backup your installation and database first. I do regular scheduled backups of my database using the Wordpress Database Backup plugin by Scott Merill. It backs up the database and emails it to me nightly.

I’m still playing with the updated admin interface but the main change I’ve noticed is WYSIWYG editing when writing posts, which is a welcome improvement. There are also some nice touches with the post preview and file uploads. This is only my first post with the new version but if you run your own Wordpress server the upgrade is worth checking out.