There are some folks who believe that January 1st is "just another day". What's the big deal? It's the day after December 31st.

I don't. I think New Year's Day is kind of a day for reflection. Looking back on 2012, it's not a year I can especially rave about. For every high point there's been a disappointment or something underwhelming.

If you run all year round, you'll know that a run on a wintery morning is a totally different kind of beast. The ideal conditions are cold and crisp, but dry. The obstacles are one thing - icy ground is a challenge, making the ground slightly slippery underfoot, meaning you have to take a little more care with your stride. The tends to be slightly worse if you run in rural areas like I do.

So, you've got a brand spanking new MacBook and you want to configure the default apps to connect to your Gmail account and other Google services like calendar and contacts? Step this way, I'm going to show you how.

iPhone & iPad Users: You might be tempted to try the Microsoft Exchange trick that your iOS device can do which seamlessly connects Mail, Calendar and Contacts with Google automatically. This will not work on a MacBook!

Sunday morning, 30th September 2012, I found myself standing under the criss-crossed, vapour-trail etched skies of Ealing with my brother-in-law Gordon. Steam on our breaths and goosebumps on our arms, we were there for the first ever Ealing Half Marathon.

It wasn’t just Ealing’s first half-marathon, either. It was mine, too.

This is my first ever “year in review” post. Not that other years haven’t had their notable moments, but 2011 has seen a number of incredible changes for me. After a couple of fraught years where things have been up in the air, I feel like I’ve got a renewed focus and energy. And despite 2011 being marked by massive changes, it feels like those changes are just the beginning.

Oh, hello! If you're reading this, it's the first entry I've posted to my blog since upgrading the site to Drupal 7!

It's hard to believe that exactly one week ago I was preparing to climb Ben Nevis. In the spring, a friend approached me to see if I'd be interested in doing a charity hike up the mountain. And, since I was beginning to take my fitness more seriously, I agreed.

This past weekend, my hiking partner John and I went for our final practise walk in the Mournes. It’s all in preparation for a trek up Ben Nevis on Saturday 17th September to raise funds for the Ulster Cancer Foundation.

Something I'm going to share with you today is how to delete a batch of files in Linux (a CentOS distribution in this instance) using the built-in find utility and some regular expressions.

Use case: It turns out that the backup utility for WordPress doesn't delete old backups that it stores on your server. As these files build up, they typically consume a lot of space, and eventually fill up your hard disk.

As a blogger, the URL field in the WordPress comments form is a constant pain - either spammers are using it to drop shady links, or readers feel compelled to fill it with garbage just to fill in the field. Either way, it's a nuisance. But how do you get rid of it?