I’m writing this because if you are like me and experiencing issues with canonical errors on a new Drupal site, a killer SEO problem, much of what you will find on Google will reference two types of fixes, however the one you need probably won’t pop up.

I found this very annoying as SEO with Drupal is such a saturated topic. But it wasn’t until I was looking through the documentation for the module XML Sitemap that I found out what was causing the canonical error, my settings.php file.

To fix the canonical error of a Drupal site, make sure in your settings.php file that you uncomment the following line:

$base_url = ‘http://www.yoursite.com’; // NO trailing slash!

With a typical install of Drupal you’ll most likely find this file in var/www/html/sites/default/settings.php

So that’s what I had missed, but this alone is not the only thing you’ll have to do. You may have already done it, but next is editing your .htaccess file to uncomment the following lines (note: they are not next to each other, though if you have no .htaccess file you can just make a text file with this info)

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase / //note: this is if your site runs from http://www.yoursite.com and not http://www.yoursite.com/drupal other wise use RewiteBase /drupal
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^yoursite\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.yoursite.com/$1 [R=301,NC,L]

This should typically fix things, but I went a step further and placed the following in my themes page.tpl section:

Likewise, if you are looking for the “essential” SEO modules, I’d advise you to read this great post on the subject of SEO for Drupal here.

You should also have an account with Google.com/Webmaster and under your Site Configuration select Settings and then tell Google that you prefer www.yoursite.com for your site instead of yoursite.com

-fin-

The following is in regards to my posting on the Things to do page on SanJose.org here

Team San Jose supports Pink Poodle “… sort of

“Have you ever been to a strip club that let you hose down a fully nude nubile in a shower tub only inches in front of you?”

Nope? Neither has IA, but that didn’t stop the folks at Team San Jose, the beleaguered nonprofit that runs the city’s convention center and several downtown theaters, from listing a visit to “the lovely ladies of the Pink Poodle gentleman’s club” as a top recommendation on the group’s website, www.sanjose.org.

IA found a disclaimer on the site: “These pages do not in any way constitute official Team San Jose content. The views and opinions expressed in the pages are strictly those of the page authors.”

But we’d bet most casual readers might not realize that.

Also, IA has to note: even though a jaunt to the Pink Poodle and other “adult’s play” activities are listed on the website under the category, “Things to do in San Jose,” the infamous strip joint actually sits in an unincorporated pocket of Santa Clara County. We’re just sayin’.

I had to laugh at the Mercury News’ Internal Affairs section mentioning this. They seem to forget that SanJose.org, and Team San Jose, exists to promote all of San Jose’s, and to an extent much of the Bay Area’s, activities, nightlife, culture, etc. and this includes the Pink Poodle. While TSJ has always been a little more conservative than sites such as SanJose.com which features the club with photos of the dancers and has a directory of adult places, it doesn’t make sense to try and ignore these legitimate businesses that many visitors and locals enjoy going to.

And as far as the Pink Poodle being in an unincorporated area of Santa Clara County…really? The intersection of Bascom Avenue and San Carlos is smack in the middle of San Jose, so I really don’t see how anyone would dissociate that corner from San Jose at all, regardless of this small block’s zoning.

Maybe the writers of IA should try visiting this venue more often, my wife and I would be more than happy to pay for your first semi-private dance.

Only in the Bay Area… So I was just walking downtown and passed the Convention Center atrium when I saw the usual homeless group hanging out eating at one of the benches. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but as I passed I realized that one had a cell phone, on speaker, and was talking to a woman on the phone, who is apparently a person at his banking/financial institution to help him transfer funds from one account to another.

I immediately slowed my pace to confirm this and as I walked on I couldn’t help but call my wife and tell her what I just witnessed. Of course, it goes without saying that this required an immediate blog post.

I soloed the San Jose Pride last weekend, which was an interesting event, I actually wish I could have stayed longer through the night as things began to get more entertaining the later it got. However, I ended up visiting some family with the wife and that was enjoyable as well. Photos of the event are on the Team San Jose Facebook page, as many of you know I am have become the amateur event photographer in addition to the web operations, content producer with occasional B2B cross promotion organizer – can I get an el oh el?

This week was Zombie-O-Rama, photos on the TSJ Facebook as well, and while I had hoped to get done up for the event, I ended up running out of time. Apparently, this happens when only several hundred other people wanted to get their zombie makeup done at SLG Boutiki as well. Of course the bigger let down was of the people I invited, none could attend, so I was again flying solo.

I still had fun though, and tonight is the last Music in the Park. While I am not really a fan of reggae music, I’m hoping to get some better photos of the crowd tonight. Honestly last week’s event had a lot of homeless and thug looking people during the opening act and I just couldn’t get a shot that I felt was appropriate or good. Hopefully tonight will be better. Actually I am sure it will because if nothing else I have a couple beautiful ladies coming with me that I can use.

My title makes me chuckle to myself and I can’t help but feel very juvenile, though I find that to be one of the best frames of mind to be in to keep my healthy mental state.

In any case, a while back I witnessed Miss Saigon at the Montgomery Theatre. While it had its flaws during the course, I still feel it’s a rather ambitious production to put on in that theatre and the cast and crew did an amazing job, especially with the storming of the embassy and helicopter departure. It’s also worth mentioning that the person who played the Engineer did a fantastic job and he was by far the most memorable character to me.

Unfortunately this was yet another flying solo journey and I have no commentary to offset my own opinions.

However, more recently, as in last night, I attended Menopause the Musical at the California Theatre with the wife, Shaun and Mindy. I didn’t stop laughing the entire show. While as a man I will never have to go through any of these issues, though I may have to deal with them being married to a woman, it was amusing to see my wife enjoying the show. On the downside, after the laughs my wife began to contemplate more on her own future and aging in general which led her to lose the joy she had gained during the show.

The songs were interesting I found, as I had gone in knowing nothing about this musical, I find it worth mentioning to those that don’t know, all of the songs are popular songs you will recognize, but have different words and themes changed to reflect the symptoms and feelings the characters on stage are experiencing during “The Change”.

In other news, I’m excited for Zombie-O-Rama next week. If you are in the bay area I highly recommend you attend, either as a zombie, spectator, or perhaps a zombie hunter. I’ll be there with the work camera and perhaps even a little zombified.

I had hoped to have more energy and enthusiasm in this, but I’m very tired, but I felt I needed to make a post…

Friday began with the wife and I grabbing a couple drinks on the CA Theatre Patio, before hitting Motif and then back to the CA Theatre for the last of the summer movies Cabaret, which was enjoyable, though arguably not one of the best movies ever made from a stage production.

The evening continued for us as we witnessed Rykarda Parasol playing on stage and stepped into Anno Domini’s gallery showing Fernando Chamarelli _ Pangea_ A very enjoyable evening, although cut short by the wife almost falling asleep standing up.

This past Saturday was one of my cousin’s birthdays which was fun as we hung out in Butcher Park for some time. This was followed by a trip up to the lovely Savannah-Chanelle winery where we celebrated a friend’s birthday and participated in a wine tour, followed by some bocce ball.

Which led to Sunday where I visited the HempCon exhibit happening in Team San Jose’s South Hall big blue tent, which wasn’t nearly as interesting as I anticipated it to be, but I had an enjoyable time and took some photos.

After a discussion with a friend of mine who recently acquired his “green” card a couple weeks ago, I found myself curious about the process one has to take to be recommended for the use of medical marijuana and so I set out last week to find out for myself the answers to the many questions I had.

I took a look through the San Jose Metro at the many places advertising as dispensaries, but I needed to find a doctor to recommend me first. Some places seemed to advertise that they had a doctor on hand to recommend people, but when I called they were quick to tell me that the doctor was in an office located near them, not with them. I later found that part of the law legalizing the use of medical marijuana in CA has prohibited dispensaries and doctors working together or even notifying their patients of each other’s locations, regardless if they do happen to be two doors down from each other.

Eventually, thanks to Google, I found myself in a doctor’s office off Winchester Boulevard near Valley Fair mall. I had called earlier that morning to see if they accepted walk-ins, which they do, though I was able to make an appointment at 12:40pm the same day.

When I arrived I was given about ten pages worth of questions to fill out. The first few consisted of medical history, the next were about criminal history (had I ever been convicted of a drug related crime?, etc.), and the lastly there were some questions about any drug related recreational habits I may have had.

For purposes of full disclosure, I had severe migraines in 2006, which I was prescribed 800 milligrams of ibuprofen to take three times a day, a month later I had developed an ulcer and was put on Aciphex and a reduced diet for 30 days, in early 2007 I was diagnosed with testicular cancer, had my left testicle removed, did three weeks of radiation and now I go in twice a year for blood and urine tests in addition to my yearly physical. Currently, as reported on my forms, I have a high stress job with long and sporadic hours which is hindering my ability to sleep at night and causing a higher than normal amount of anxiety.

After filling out these forms, and providing them with a copy of my driver’s license, I had to wait for over two hours until the doctor was ready to see me, apparently my appointment scheduling meant nothing. When he did finally consult with me, we spent about twenty minutes going over the questions I had filled out on the forms, and then he asked me to give him a typical day in the life of me, which I did. The result was that based on my medical history, my lack of criminal activity (I found out later that ex-felons, people convicted of drug-related misdemeanors and those on probation for any criminal activity are not allowed medical marijuana) and my over all disinterest in the recreational use of drugs made me a candidate for the use of medical marijuana.

I was then asked to pay a $150 consultation fee, cash or debit, no credit, which I wonder if I can write off. Once done, this resulted in me being issued a three month temporary certificate. For the record, the certificate is what is required by the police if you are stopped, it is also this certificate which gives you access to dispensaries and allows the purchase of medical marijuana. While they did give me a wallet sized card and a glove box post card sized sheet with my information on it, I was told that neither of these would help me in the event I didn’t have my certificate on me and are simply a novelty. Also, my certificate is only good in Santa Clara County. I am not able to purchase, carry or use outside of this county without having to apply for another certificate.

While the three month certificate was issued to me, it will be extended up to twelve months once they receive copies of my medical records from my primary care physician. I was told this was because they need to make sure that I have consulted with my primary care physician about my stress and made sure that there are not any other medical problems with me. Since I recently had both my yearly physical and other tests I have the files being sent over later this week.

I then hop in the car and proceed to the dispensary near Bascom and Fruitdale in San Jose. I am greeted at the door, a metal mesh with a deadbolt in front of another door with multiple dead bolts, by a man in a security shirt. He asks me what I want and when I tell him I just got my certificate he says that I can go inside. Once inside I’m greeted by another very large security guard who asks me what I’m doing, but once he saw my paperwork relaxed and became very genial. They take a photo copy of both my certificate and my driver’s license and then I am asked if I’d like a tour since this is my first visit. I accept.

The security guard takes me around to the shop area and shows me two very large LCD screens with an excel spreadsheet open showcasing about thirty different strains of medical marijuana. The prices are broken down into grams, eighths, quarters, half ounces and ounces. The prices ranged from as low as $25 for an eighth to almost $100 for an eighth, as this was the quantity I was looking for I didn’t much pay attention to other sized prices.

I ask him about the strains and he proceeds to provide me with a dizzying amount of knowledge on how each is grown, the type of effect each has and many other hydroponic information I’ve forgotten. As far as what became relevant to me was that there were two primary strains, Sativa and Indica. Sativa is used as a day-time strain as it gives a mild effect without making the user sleepy. Indica, is the opposite of Sativa and provides a heavy effect and helps the user fall asleep. I ended up purchasing an eighth of each strain, they had specific names such as Mango and Cranberry, and these were based on other factors in their cultivation, but my choice was based purely on the security guards recommendations of one that would help me fall asleep and one that would relax me without making me fall asleep.

My purchase came to $90 total, cash only, and I was issued a receipt, which I plan to investigate if I can write off come tax time. Since it’s my first visit I also received a complimentary pre-rolled joint of mystery weed. I’m assuming it’s the left over shake from the containers at the end of the day maybe? In any case I head home with my medical marijuana in the trunk.

It’s worth mentioning here, what should really be common sense, but while the certificate allows for me to purchase, carry and use medical marijuana, I am NOT allowed to carry it in the front seat of my car, smoke while operating a vehicle or heavy machinery, smoke in a public area such as a bar patio or street. Bottom line is that it’s a medication I need to take in the privacy of my own home. This should be obvious, but I felt it worth mentioning.

Once home I try out the mystery joint. It smokes like a cigarette and provides a mild effect that gradually increases over the course of the next hour. I watch a movie with my wife, the Losers, and then I decide to try out the Indica strain I purchased as I get ready to turn in for the night. I smoke this out of a tobacco pipe I had in storage. The taste is very mild, but I feel the effect kick in quickly and within thirty minutes I’m feeling drowsy. I fall asleep and honestly have one of the best nights of sleep I’ve had in a month.

In the morning I go for my jog, work out for twenty minutes and shower. I then try out some of the Sativa strain via my tobacco pipe and I feel a very mild effect. I go about my day and for the most part things are normal, except that I end up continually snacking on and finishing a bag of pistachios throughout the day and evening. Saturday evening I try my Indica strain again before I settle in.

Sunday comes and I go through the day without trying either of my new medications, though I meet up with some friends visiting from SoCal and we spend most of the day drinking mimosas. Eventually I get home later that evening and take some of the Indica and Monday morning I wake up with energy and relaxed. So far, so good.

While the medical marijuana has definitely helped with removing the stress I usually carry with me over the weekends, the real test will be this week and seeing how it eliminates the stress of each day and into the next.

Stay tuned.