So for those of you who like to skip a release and wait for the point revision, you’ll be pleased to see that WordPress 3.1.1 is out. This fixes a few issues and closes some security holes in older releases, so you’re advised to update soonish.

So that’s it. This year marks the end of available sets of ipv4 addresses to be given out by IANA. From this point, ISPs are going to start to feel the squeeze unless they adopt ipv6 addressing. Of course a lot of the smaller ones (or even the bigger ones) are simply constrained by their carriers. My ISP is apparently going to start using IPv6 over the year.

Farewell IPv4, I will miss the days when you could remember an IP address.

For those testers out there, WordPres 3.1 has entered the first beta period. Grab it now. Some of the new functionality is AJAX in the admin screens, improved password reset, and easier internal linking to content. Remember to post issues into the beta forum.

Whilst messing around with ircd to set up a sandpit environment (as I’ve recently gone back into IRC to check out the WordPress IRC channels and wanted to remind myself about how a few things work.) I discovered that-

ircd-seven is used by freenode, but there is not a whole lot of information about it.
For example, why does it recognise that I have used /oper but not give me any rights? Well, when you install it, it seems that most people forget oper:staffer in the privset block. Without which, much stuff doesn’t work.
The config examples will suggest that “Connect” blocks are needed for your server to join to another server, but gloss over the fact that you need one for services to connect to it.
In a similar fashion, the “Services” block examples may claim that the service names don’t need to relate to valid DNS records, but what they do need to do is point to the actual address of your services. It can’t just be free-form text as the examples seem to suggest.

Armed with that small knowledge, I think configuration is somewhat easier, so maybe those tid-bits might help some other folk who want to experiment.

It’s nice to get a mention. And so it’s pleasant to read the WordPress support forum all-stars post on weblogtools collection, because I’m noted in there for my continued presence on the WordPress support forums, attempting to help folk out.

I’ve been frequenting the forums for a while now, and whilst some questions are beyond me, and I don’t have a whole lot of time, I do try to help folk where I can. I’ve lately been moderating there (as well as the Codex and Ideas sections) so it’s good to get a nod for that work, too.

If you’ve got some knowledge and time to spare, why not head over to the support forums and lend a hand yourself, maybe you can make the next list.