I absolutely love the open-source project Gallery2. It’s full-featured, extensible, and compatible with a number of CMS and blogging systems. But all this goodness has a drawback: maintenance. Every month or two I have to backup the database and source files because of a security update. Then I realize I have over 300 MB of images on my host that I should be backing up in the event some yahoo hacks the site.

One day it dawned on me: I don’t have time for this.

Whether Gallery2 is the best thing since sliced bread or not, I take photos for enjoyment and maintaining software doesn’t fall into my definition of fun.

I started to rebuild my photo galleries in Fotki. It doesn’t have all the bells-and-whistles of Gallery2 but they maintain the system, back it up, even provide a means to sell photos and purchase inexpensive prints. After months of rebuilding my photo albums the Fotki-based photo gallery is ready to show.

You may notice the gallery looks nothing like a generic Fotki site. I spent a couple of hours hacking my WordPress theme to work with Fotki’s co-branding feature. Aside from a few errant DIV tags which Fotki needs to fix, it was easy and didn’t require me to learn the syntax of a theme engine.

Finally I can focus on taking great photos, which is after all, the point of a photo gallery.

EDIT: At the moment the photo gallery does not match because I can’t make up my mind about a blog theme. One day I tell you.

According to EarthLink’s web-based order status page, my DSL connection went live today. (Thanks to my Nokia E61 for being able to reach the web sans a land-based line.) Unfortunately my equipment hasn’t yet arrived but I noticed my old Zyxel DSL modem (still powered on) showed an active DSL link. Hmm…

Since the Zyxel is already configured as a bridge I changed my Linksys PPPoE parameters and, voila!, it works. EarthLink was supposed to provide me with downstream speed of 3.0 or 6.0 Mbps rather than the typical 1.5 so I headed over to the Speakeasy broadband test to see what I had: 1.5 Mbps / 256 Kbps. I can live with that since it’s $25 less than what Covad was gouging charging me for the same. Maybe I’ll get more bandwidth with the Earthlink modem when it arrives – we’ll see.

When it comes to technology I like having a contingency plan. Why? Because when you need your computer, ISP, or printer in an emergency they don’t work. I’m too reliant on my Internet connection for everything, so when I bought a Nokia E61 smartphone I wanted to utilize its ability to act as a wireless modem when my DSL goes down or there isn’t a Starbucks in sight.

Scouring My-Symbian and All About Symbian I finally came across Ross Barkman’s home page chock-full of GSM modem scripts for the Mac. Of the many Nokia scripts to choose from, the one which worked for me had nothing to do with Nokia. It’s called “Generic 3G CID1″ and worked flawlessly.

Your mileage may vary, but this is my hardware and software configuration:

• T-Mobile with Unlimited Internet plan
• Nokia E61 Smartphone
• Mac PowerBook G4
• Belkin Bluetooth 2.0 USB adapter
• OS X 10.4.7
• PPP settings
• Account name: (blank)
• Password: (blank)
• Telephone number: internet2.voicestream.com
• PPP Advanced Options: (all unchecked)
• TCP/IP settings: (blank/defaults)
• Bluetooth modem settings: Modem: Generic 3G CID1 / Enable error correction: (unchecked) / Wait for dial-tone: (unchecked)

It’s possible these settings can be tweaked to work better or faster, but they work. You can forego all this and purchase Nova Media’s launch2net which works flawlessly but you can’t beat free.

Years ago, Verizon’s inept workforce couldn’t install DSL in my residence. In the end it was only Covad who could accomplish this amazing feat by removing a $3 noise filter from my telephone line. It turns out they were also the only provider to give me 1500 Kbps rather than 768 Kbps. The only catch: $65/month.

Now it seems Verizon has gotten their act together and even Earthlink offers DSL up to 6 Mbps – all for $40/month. Without much hesitation I called Earthlink and placed my order, expecting my self-install kit to arrive 5 days later. Every few days their Order Status web site said “we sincerely apologize for the delay in your order, please call our support department for more information.”

Not sure the point of a web site which can’t inform you of problems, so I called in. And waited. And waited. I started to think Covad’s short hold times were worth the extra money and finally got through to a fellow with a foreign accent.

After some research he discovered that DSL cannot be installed on a telephone line where DSL is already installed. This makes sense but I’m at a loss why no one at Earthlink was monitoring this. I could have been waiting forever for the installation to take place.

I figure I may now be in a bargaining position with Covad. I called and asked to “match Earthlink’s price and retain my business.” I was told politely that “Covad doesn’t compete on price” and I could upgrade my service to 3.0 Mbps for another $10 a month. Apparently he didn’t get that I was looking to spend less money on my service.

I told him that Earthlink would be using Covad’s circuits. He didn’t budge. They’d rather lose $65/month and revenue share $40 with Earthlink. Sounds like bad business to me but they must have a strong subscriber base to turn customers away.