Here is a quick teaser. I’ll probably post more closer to launch (September 15th-ish).

The new theme is a custom Genesis child theme (from scratch). Thanks to the efficiency of Genesis I was able to create this theme start to finish in roughly 2 days.

To celebrate the launch of version 5, I am going to be releasing this Genesis theme – dubbed Cinco – (Spanish for five) for download later this week. I’m in the process of cleaning up my code and performing a few tweaks, then it will be ready for prime time. I’ll post later this week with a link when it is released.

Until then I hope you enjoy the new makeover.

There are tons of new features in WordPress 3, if you want to read up on things this is the most comprehensive overview I have seen  on WP 3.

Expect a final release in the next 30-60 days!

So what exactly have I been up to?

- Planned a week long vacation to Disney World in May with my girlfriend.

- Scheduled a week long  4-wheeling trip in the Colorado Mountains this July.

- Started learning CodeIgniter and am 2/3 the way through writing my first fairly detailed web app. For the record, CodeIgniter is fantastic. If you need more than a basic website, and WordPress does’t fit the mold, I highly recommend looking into CodeIgniter.

- Began to play with the Genesis WordPress framework. I love to buy themes just to look under the hood and learn from the authors. I have purchased Thesis, Genesis, a variety of WooThemes themes,  and a few of Matt Brett’s themes. They each have their unique aspect to offer. Genesis is no different. The documentation is still in development right now, but it has very good potential. Definitely worth looking into.

- Built and developed a directory based website on the Genesis framework. The side is about 85% complete and it has been great and educational project. I’ll have a more detailed write up once the site officially launches.

- Read the 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Farris. As someone who was previously big into the affiliate marketing scene, this book is great. I learned a lot of things from it and it is also quite motivational. I don’t think everyone will because to relate to it, but I cetainly did. I look forward to re-reading it in the coming months. I’ll try to post a more detailed review soon. I also started Reading Crush It and Rework.

- Following the development of WordPress 3.0. This is going to be – hands down – the best release to date. WP 3.0 beta 1 will be released this weekend with the goal of a final release in the next 30-60 days. Custom post types, custom taxonomies, WPMU merger, and a new default theme (twentyten) are just a few of the awesome features WordPress 3.0 will bring to the table. I recommend you check out beta 1 when it comes out this weekend.

To say I been keeping busy is an understatement, but I can’t complain. I’ll have some more ideas for posts in the can, so there should be fresh content going up soon!

For example, if you needed to change some information across the board in WordPress, going through each record is very time consuming and prone to human error. By simply executing a SQL query against your WordPress database, you can make the necessary changes quickly and efficiently.

13 Useful WordPress SQL Queries You Wish You Knew Earlier

What follows is a round-up of the top 10 readily-available monospace fonts. Many of these fonts are bundled along with modern operating systems, but most are free for download on the web. A few, notably Consolas, are part of commercial software.

Top 10 Programming Fonts via Hivelogic.

Looks like I am set for the next 3 months. I’ll report back more when I start reading them.

With the start of a new year, I’m taking a little time out of my vacation to make sure everything is safe, secure, and backed up.

First is the local backup copy. Being an OSX user, my application of choice is SuperDuper. If you are a PC user, Acronis has excellent backup software. SuperDuper is $30 and worth every penny. It lets me duplicate my hard drive to an external drive. In the case of a HD crash, I can simply boot of my external backup drive with no down time.

SuperDuper is the wildly acclaimed program that makes recovery painless, because it makes creating a fully bootable backup painless. Its incredibly clear, friendly interface is understandable, easy to use, and SuperDuper’s built-in scheduler makes it trivial to back up automatically.

A local backup copy is great, but that isn’t worth a shit if someone breaks into my house or a fire engulfs my residence. The second move is to have a remote backup copy. Online backups are really important, and up until about 3 days ago, were left out of my backup scheme. Not anymore. I am not backing up all important documents over the interwebs using BackBlaze.  If you are a PC user I recommend JungleDisk. Regardless you can look at this handy chart of online backup services to decide which is the best for you.

You download a tiny application that installs in three clicks and doesn’t require a credit card or any information to start using it. This online backup application automatically finds all your photos, music, documents, and other irreplaceable files—no matter where they are on your hard drive—and compresses and securely encrypts them. When you’re not using your computer, it sends them over the Internet to the remote Backblaze datacenters.

BackBlaze gives you unlimited storage and a handly little OSX to assist with backups for only $5/month.

So do yourself a favor and start off the new year right – make sure your data is backed up. I know I sleep better at night knowing that in the worst case scenario I can recover my files.

Just wanted to wish everyone happy new years. For me 2009 was one crazy year and I can’t even begin to imagine what 2010 has in store – yet I am both optimistic and excited.

A new year means new goals and new resolutions. One of them being to post more often.

Again, hope everyone had a great Christmas and I wish yall the best of luck in 2010.