Fatal error: Cannot override final method Mage_Core_Model_Abstract::clearInstance() in /app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Store.php on line 35

I’ve been getting this error in the server log at odd times on a Magento site that I moved to a new server recently. With almost no identical errors showing up in a Google Search, it was being quite a headache to diagnose. Basically at the checkout, users were being redirected back to the cart as soon as the shipping calculation occurred. Occasionally when editing a product, a Bad Gateway error also occurred. My assumption was it must be caused by an extension trying to override the core, however, the server had a lot of differences to the old one, Nginx instead of Apache, PHP 5.4.12 instead of 5.3, ISPConfig instead of cPanel, and the list goes on. I had no idea where to start.

I had an issue earlier where Zend in the PHP 5.4 was incompatible with a couple of lines of code in Magento, I had already fixed this, but I decided to try rolling PHP back to 5.4.11 and rebuild it just to see what would happen.

It solved it, I’m still not sure entirely what the cause was, but hopefully this helps someone else if they encounter the same issue.

I haven’t done a movie review in a while, but we saw Cloud Atlas the other night and I have to say, it is definitely worth a quick review.

Cloud Atlas is an intriguing movie by the Wachowski’s that definitely is not going to be for everyone.

It has a series of plots set in different times that all weave together to form the whole story. To start with it can take a bit of getting your head around, especially when the same actors feature in multiple time periods, but after about 30-45 minutes I found I was following them and engaging with them all fairly well. That seems like a while, but the movie itself is 172 minutes long, so it’s not short by any means.

The plot is a lot to go into, but it starts in the very distant future, with Tom Hanks introducing the story. We are then taken back in time and cut from scene to scene from 1849 to 1936 to 1973 to 2012 to 2144 to 2321 and then back even further into the future to where we started where Tom Hanks finishes the story. I’m not going to go into all of the different plots, Wikipedia already covers it, but the essence is that each story impacts on the next, they all relate and intertwine, even the big jump from 2012 to 2144 and to 2321. It’s all about how the events of one life can affect another.

It actually reminded me a lot of Michael Ondaatje’s “In The Skin of a Lion”, the way the plot spread over time and across characters that impacted each other. In many ways, similar Marxist themes could be taken from Cloud Atlas as well. I’m not going to go into that though.

As you would have gathered, Cloud Atlas is based on a 2004 book by David Mitchell, I think I’m going to have to find a copy and give it a read if I get time. Editorial Eyes has put together a read along on it that is quite interesting and gives more insight into what it is all about.

So in all, if you are up for a movie that keeps you on your toes and doesn’t ever feel like it’s dragging, despite being almost 3 hours long, Cloud Atlas is a good pick. I’d actually really love to do an in depth analysis of it after I read the book, but sadly I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Check out the trailer below:

Phase Two Dirt Scooter

At the shop we just had the first of our dirt scooters arrive, the Phase Two Dirt Scooter. I thought I’d share them because these things are awesome. I’ve never been big into scooters, I’m more inline, but I’m keen on getting one of these myself.

These scooters are blue and black with heavy duty wheels, decks, forks and off-road tyres. They are heavier than a standard scooter, and the deck is longer. They stand at 600mm from the ground to the top of the bars and take oversize bars in case you want to change them.

I personally think these scooters make a great adult/cruiser type scooter as well because you can go over any terrain without an issue and it is a much smoother ride on concrete and bitumen than a standard scooter.

We also have some others coming soon, including Royal Scout and MGP’s!

Related articles

• Phase Two Dirt Scooters Are Here

I recently got a new 13″ Retina Display Macbook Pro which does not have a SuperDrive. At the time this seemed pretty insignificant given that I couldn’t think of a time that I ever really use CD’s or DVD’s in it. I figured for any software installs, such as Adobe Creative Suite 5.5, I’d just use Remote Disc with my Mac Pro and install it that way.

It turns out there are a number of discs that do not work with Remote Disc, including music CD’s, video DVD’s and some copy protected data CD’s/DVD’s. CS 5.5 is one of these. I could not get it to work via Remote Disc. My Macbook would see it, I could ask the Mac Pro for permission to use it, the Mac Pro could grant permission to use it, and it would start to open it. I did this about 15-20 times. Each time it got to different stages of opening the disc. Sometimes it wouldn’t show everything, sometimes it showed the contents, sometimes I could even start the installer. Inevitably though, it would cease to be accessible relatively quickly. The error is:

The operation can’t be completed because the original item for “CS5_5 Design Prm 1″ can’t be found.

Replace “CS5_5 Design Prm 1″ with the name of your disc and you’ll have the same error.

After some searching around I found that this is a fairly common issue and is by design to protect certain content types, and presumably to protect revenue’s through the App Store and other download avenues.

This left me with a few options:

1. See if I could find the same version of CS 5.5 for download from the Adobe website or somewhere else and install it with my serial number.
2. Purchase or subscribe to the latest version of Creative Cloud; or
3. Try and create a disk image of my disks and copy them across the network to install on the Macbook.

Given that 5.5 is not exactly old, I don’t particularly want to get the new version yet, and given that we are presently capped, a 4gb+ download is not ideal.

I decided to try and create a disk images. As long as there isn’t anything that Disk Utility doesn’t like about it, this is actually really easy.

Disk Utility is in Applications > Utilities / Other (depending on which version of OS X you have). Alternatively, do a Spotlight search for it and it will usually be the first result.

Once it’s open, select the disk from the list on the left and click “New Image” from the buttons along the top of the window.

Disk Utilities Window on OS X Snow Leopard

A dialog will pop-up asking you where to save it. After you choose a location it will go ahead and create a .dmg file for you. Once that is done, copy it across the network, or onto a USB drive and open it on the Macbook.

From there I was able to install it as if I had direct access to the original disk. This might not work with all disks, but it definitely worked for this one!

If Disk Utility has trouble creating the .dmg file, another option would be to try Burn for OS X, a third party disk burning/copying utility. There is a tutorial on how to create a .iso disk image using Burn here.

It’s been a while since I’ve made some fractals. I’ve been wanting to spend some time being creative with them for a few weeks now. On Windows, I love Apophysis and the Flam3 system for generating video’s, so I’m really keen to find something similar on Mac. Running Apophysis and Flam3 through VMWare or Parallels doesn’t seem like the best use of system resources on something that can be very resource intensive. So I’ve been hunting around for native OS X fractal software. So far this is what I’ve found:

Free

• Mandelbulber – Seems like an interesting take on 3D fractals. I’m looking forward to having a play with this one.
• GNU XaoS – Seems to support some interesting fractals and the ability to create animations.
• Fracton – The gallery also has some interesting fractals.

None of the free ones seem to support the Apophyis/Flam3 type of fractals, though they do have some interesting results, I’m going to experiment with them some, I’m particularly interested in Mandelbulber.

Paid

• Fractal Domains – $20.00 – Looks like the fractals are pretty decent and lots of variations available. It’s not the Flam3 style of fractals, but they do look decent. There is a trial download available so I might give it a go.
  
• UltraFractal – $69.00 – The most expensive, it looks like it’s quite comprehensive with the ability to build some amazing fractals. Again though, it’s not the Flam3 style of fractals I’m really looking for.
• FractalWorks – $9.99 – Only available through the App store that I can see, so I probably won’t try this one since there is no trial. The fractals really aren’t what I’m looking for either anyway judging from the galleries.
• Fractal Architect – $23.99 – This one is also only available through the App store, and it does have a cut down version available for $5.99 that can be upgraded to the full version. This is also the only one I’ve found that generates Flam3 type fractals. It also indicates compatibility with Apophysis. So this one definitely looks like it could be the one! I’m reluctant to pay for it without being able to try it out first, but it does have very positive reviews.

Today the weather is completely different again! Cold, super foggy, and wet.

You never know what it’s going to be like here. Unfortunately I packed for hot weather…

Jindabyne Big Camp is always so full of surprises, I love it!

This year we have had all sorts of weather, from blistering heat to rain to freezing cold. I grabbed the screenshot above on my phone, it was -2 that morning!

It’s so good to get a break in such a beautiful place like this and the Adventist Alpine Village is such a peaceful place for it.

This year Tammy and I have had the added fun of planning our wedding too, it’s really starting to come together nicely.

Some things just standout more after reading them again, a few times.

In Exodus 23, the laws of the covenant are being put down. One of these is in verse 2:

² “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd

Isn’t this exactly what happened to Jesus in Matthew 27 when Pilate asked the people if they would prefer him to release Barabbas or Jesus and the chief priests stirred up the crowd, encouraging them to call for Barabbas?

Ironic given the stringent legalism of the priests.

I read through a few chapters of Exodus last night including chapter 20 which covers altars, and then the section in chapter 27 covering the instructions for how the altar in the tabernacle should look. There is a pretty stark contrast between the two descriptions.

Exodus 20:24-26 (NIV)

²⁴ “‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. ²⁵ If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it.²⁶ And do not go up to my altar on steps, or your nakedness may be exposed.’

Here the Lord describes how an altar should be made wherever he causes his name to be honoured.

It should be made of earth or stones, and if it is made of stones, don’t use a tool or dressed stones. In other words, it’s very simple, it shouldn’t be elaborate, it’s just materials found right where the Lord has caused his name to be honoured. Lastly, it shouldn’t require them to go up on steps to it. So, it shouldn’t be raised up.

This is quite different to the elaborate altar described in chapter 27, and extremely different to the temple altar built later by Solomon.

The way I understand this is that there should be no way for an altar itself built by an individual to distract from the worship of God and the giving of sacrifices. It’s not about the altar, it’s about the person involved and God. If the altar is fancy or raised up, there is a greater risk of it becoming an idol itself. In the tabernacle and later in the temple there are priests and Levites to assist in the worship services and with sacrifices to ensure everything is done appropriately and correctly, so her God allows for the elaborateness he deserves. For an individual, on their own, building their own altar, this is unnecessary and potentially detrimental. This description very closely fits the altars described as being built regularly by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob throughout their journeys.

I’ve been reading through Exodus again, and as always, new things stood out to me. One of them is in Exodus 4 and 18.

Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law is visiting the Israelites in the desert after they have left Egypt. It isn’t just him though, he has brought Moses’ wife and sons with him.

In Exodus 18:2-3 (NIV), it says:

² After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her ³ and her two sons.

Exodus 18:5-6 continues on:

⁵ Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the wilderness, where he was camped near the mountain of God. ⁶ Jethro had sent word to him, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”

So it explains that Moses did send them away and that Jethro was returning with them, but when were they sent away in the first place?

In Exodus 4:20, it says:

²⁰ So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt.

Obviously Moses took them with him when he went back to Egypt. So it must have been at some point after he got to Egypt that he decided to send them away. It makes sense to do so in order to protect them when he realised how challenging Pharaoh was and the challenge they would face in leaving. There are a range of other possible times that it could have happened though, it could have even been as early as when he met Aaron on the way back to Egypt.