WordPress: Get post thumbnail image function

So I’ve been using the bdw_get_images function (thanks to John Crenshaw and RLM Web Design & Marketing) for a couple of years to generate thumbnails on the index, and sometimes the archives & search results, pages.  Recently I got a call from a client that they had inserted an image into a post but it was not displaying.  Upon further investigation I found that the image that was attached to the post in question had originally been attached to another page.  Since bdw_get_images pulls images by looking for an attachment whose post_parent is the current post and since post_parent is only set for attachments when they are first added, this caused it not to find the image.  I decided it was time I wrote a newer function that would work regardless of whether the image was attached to any other posts.  At some point I think I’ll develop this into a legitimate plug-in with some additional options but here is a basic function you can add to your functions.php file in your theme.

Microsoft Surface Pro will be a Major Success … but you’ll never guess why I think so

So lots of sites are reporting on their initial impressions of the Surface Pro following a limited press hands-on event at a hotel suite in Vegas while CES was going on this week.  By a lot I mean just about every major tech blog/site.  Here’s a few I rounded up:

• Surface Pro: an in-depth look at Microsoft’s super tablet - The Verge
• Microsoft’s Surface Pro Tablet Changes the Game - New York Times Blogs
• CES 2013: Hands on With the Microsoft Surface Pro - PCMag
• Microsoft Surface Pro hands-on – Engadget
• Hands On With Microsoft’s Impressive Surface Pro Tablet – ReadWrite
• Microsoft Surface Pro Hands-On: This Is What It Should Have Been All Along - Gizmodo

All of these reviews tend to be positive takes on the device.  Much is left to be seen (battery life, performance comparisons, etc.) but I think it is safe to say that this device has a chance of becoming a major success.  I base this primarily on one seemingly contradictory reason – negative comments.

SC Magazine changes their E-Mail Policies

I just received the e-mail below from SC Magazine’s parent company, Haymarket Media, in which they inform me that they are now going to send me promotional e-mails from their “business partners”.  If I had simply deleted the e-mail, as I was tempted to, without reading it then this change in my preferences would’ve been made with no interaction on my behalf.  Thankfully, I read the irritating e-mail and went to their site to “opt-out” of “receiving  any further information or offers that [SC Magazine] send[s] on their behalf.”

Job Interviews & Social Networks

There are numerous reports (here and here) out over the last few days condemning employers for asking interviewees to log into Facebook so that the interviewer can peruse their social networking activities or in some cases interviewers are outright asking for interviewee’s Facebook username and password.  Facebook for it’s part is condemning the practice in a recent post on the Facebook Privacy page.  Legislation is being proposed in Maryland and Illinois to ban the practice in those states and now Senator Richard Blumenthal (D – Conn.) is telling the Politico that he is writing a bill to ban it at the federal level.

Apple iPhone 4S, Siri, and the Magic of Apple Marketing

At this point can we all agree that:

A)  Apple’s marketing prowess is second to none

AND

B)  If it wasn’t the iPhone 4S would’ve been a huge flop?

Welcome to Tanknologix!

So I’ve been debating starting a blog for a while and while this one may never be read I felt the time had come.  Presently my thoughts are wrapped up in Security Awareness efforts since October is National Cyber Security Awareness month (NCSAM).  I will be posting some thoughts on NCSAM next week and once November comes I can begin giving my opinions on the current Mobile OS wars.  More to come…