How to Install or Move PmWiki Website to WebFaction
Installing/Moving PmWiki Website to WebFaction - I became so frustrated when first using WebFaction for hosting as I couldn't get my PmWiki website (this website) to work. Finally got it installed; here are some things to remember...
How to Fix Mouse Freezes ~ Mouse Stops Working Randomly in Windows
My computer mouse had been freezing and randomly stopped working for a few seconds. Happened all the time, whether I had lots of programs running or none. After some investigation, I found an approach that worked on my Windows Vista OS.
Google+ Keyboard Shortcuts
Google+ Keyboard Shortcuts: Some of the same keyboard shortcuts that worked in Gmail also worked in Google+. Here's what seems to work so far...
Google+ Text Formatting Tips
In using Google+ in noticed some in my circles were able to format text in their posts a little. I couldn't figure out how&emdash;no formatting options appeared in the editing box&emdash;but after a little searching (strangely couldn't find this in Google+ help) I found these tips...
How to View Unread Email in Gmail
Twitter - Tools, Bookmarks, Apps
Free Video Conversion Software Tools
DVD-R and DVD+R ~ What's the Difference?
"As of June 2006, there is no physical difference between a DVD-R/-RW disc and a DVD+R/+RW disc."
~ About.com
There are technical differences between DVD-R/-RW and DVD+R/+RW recorder formats.
The DVD+R/+RW format offers extra functionality for those who record their own movies.
HTML Code Prevents Browser from Using Cache
Prevent Page Caching in Browsers - Surprisingly, there isn't an easy, 100% reliable method and success depends a bit on the type of content you are targeting (Flash, vidoe, images, text). Here are some approaches to try...
Which Video File Formats Can I Upload to YouTube?
YouTube Supported Video File Formats: For some reason, it's a little hard to find the list of supported video file formats for YouTube. This is what I finally found in their help library:
Why am I logged in twice on my Mac?
QUESTION: I've noticed that sometimes I appear to be logged in twice on my Mac computer, and that seems to be interfering with Java apps. How do I stop this from happening?
Creating Round Corners In Photoshop
How to Clean Windows Computer System
How to Print Screen on Mac OSX to Clipboard
How to copy selected area of screen to clipboard
- While holding down Shift-Control-Command-3
- Hold down mouse button drag cross-hair mouse cursor to frame area of screen to be copied
- Release mouse button to copy to clipboard
Mac OS X - Bookmarks
PmWiki - Bookmarks
How to Stop MediaMonkey from Overlapping Tracks - Crossfading
I love the MediaMonkey player, but it bugged me that the beginning of the next track always plays over the end of the last track. This feature is called "crossfading," but it was not clear to me how to adjust it. Here's the path to the crossfading settings...
How to Password Protect Computer Hard Drive
I hear that password protecting your computer's hard drive is not the best protection--it can be thwarted by skilled computer hacker--but it's easy to do, so why not? Became standard practice in the companies I've worked for recently. Risk: What do you do if you forget the password?
Print and perform the following actions to reset your Hard Disk Password:
Drupal 6 Installed Modules
ISO Image Files
- Help2Go - Mount ISO Image File with Free Software
- Help2Go - Create ISO Image File with Free Software
Firefox Extensions / Add-ons I Like
Firefox Browser
- NoScript :: Firefox Add-ons
- NoScript's unique whitelist based pre-emptive script blocking approach prevents exploitation of security vulnerabilities (known and even not known yet!) with no loss of functionality...
- SearchWith :: Firefox Add-ons
- SearchWith extension allows you to search selected with various search services. It adds a "Search With" sub menu on the context menu (right-click menu) with a configurable list of search services that can be used to search the highlighted text. Also enables you to view the html source of selected text.
- Picnik :: Firefox Add-ons
- Very cool integration with picnik.com online photo editor. May take the place of picasa for editing some blog images.
- View Source Chart :: Firefox Add-ons
- Draws A Color-Coded Chart of a Web Page's Source Code.
- Update Notifier :: Firefox Add-ons
- Notifies you when updates are available for your extensions and themes. Allows quick access to your extensions and themes and the ability to check both types for any updates. Easily configurable for automatically installing updates when available...
SEO Tools
MKV Converter - MPEG DVD IPod
- MKV converter? - Yahoo! Answers
- Convert AVI/WMV/ASF/MPEG/MP4/DIVX,RMVB Converter
- SourceForge.net: convert ogm, mkv to avi with subtitle
- SourceForge.net: MkvMagic
- MKV Converter - Convert MKV files to MPEG,DVD,iPod etc
How to Download Binaries from Newsgroups
Emailed instructions from Stav.
Get Windows Media Player Plugin Working On Flock - Vista
I can't get Windows Media to play on Flock browser. I found these instructions recently, but can't say they have worked yet for me...though they do provide some clues. Hope others have more luck.
A version of Windows Media Player is included with most Windows installations and the WMP plugin files needed for certain webpage content are normally included. In some cases the plugin files may be missing, however, and
Windows Vista installations do not include the WMP plugin files
- Users may be incorrectly directed to reinstall the WMP program, which is not a solution since reinstalling or updating Windows Media Player does not add the missing plugins
- To check for the WMP plugin, type about:plugins into the location bar. There should be an entry for Windows Media Player Plug-in Dynamic Link Library (File name: npdsplay.dll) and two entries for Microsoft® DRM (File name: npdrmv2.dll and File name: npwmsdrm.dll). If you do not see these files, follow these steps:
- If some or all of the files are missing, you can download the individual files from dlldump.com and place them in the Windows Media Player directory (usually C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player):
- Reopen your browser and see if the WMP plugin is now working. If it isn't, follow these additional steps (Windows Vista users, go to the last step):
- A Windows Media Player Plug-in for Netscape Navigator installer (not supported on Windows Vista) can be downloaded here and should resolve the issue [3] but the included files are older versions. After running the installer, copy the more recent versions of npdsplay.dll, npdrmv2.dll and npwmsdrm.dll from dlldump.com to the Windows Media Player directory, if they were replaced by older versions.
- If the Windows Media Player plugin still does not work, copy the npdsplay.dll, npdrmv2.dll and npwmsdrm.dll files to the installation directory plugins folder; for example, to the C:\Program Files\flock\plugins folder in Flock.
Monkey Lab's Radio
Your Source To Underground Music
Live Music 24/7
http://monkeylabsradio.com
Programs/Software on My Computer
md5sum Instructions - Windows
- Install md5sum.exe in MS Windows OS.
- In Start menu, select Run
- Input
cmdin form and press <enter>. - Navigate to the directory containing the files to be checked. (Use
dirfor directory file listing andcdto change directory). - Enter following command and press <enter>:
- The result should look something like this:
md5sum Resources
- md5sum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Good description of the encryption approach.
- etree.org | md5sum.exe - Convenient md5sum application.
Access Network Security Cameras with Google
Access Network Security Cameras with Google - You can access unprotected network security cameras using Google:
Google this search string (including quotation marks):
"inurl:viewerframe?mode+refresh"
Try some of the results. A success will have a camera image with a remote-control-like interface on the left side of the screen. Below is a video version of these instructions.
(:metacafe 762582/google_trick_2:)
Our Servers Won't Go Down on You Either
Hubba, hubba, hubba. Sex sells servers for QSOL.COM. In poor taste...but gave me a laugh :)
Drupal Upgrade Access Problem - Solved!
Drupal Upgrade Access Problem - After following the instructions for upgrading (logging in as user=1; site on maintenance mode; etc.), I ran the update.php script. It ran fine, but when I tried to access my site, I could only see the site maintenance/offline message--the update logged me out!
Solution - To log in again, enter:
http://www.yourdrupalsite.com/?q=user
This presents a login page. I successfully logged in as user=1. After that, the upgrade went smooth.
A.I. - Spielberg Directs for Kubrick
A.I. Movie poster
AI - Artificial Intelligence - Haley Joel Osment portrays a "mech" (robot) child who forms a unique, unbreakable obsession (love?) for his human "mommie." Steven Spielberg directed this emotional sci-fi story. Stanley Kubrick co-produced the film, but died before shooting started. Heard a rumor Kubrick was slated to direct; not sure that's true. Surely, it would have been a different story with Kubrick at the helm.
Frances O'Connor plays Osment's "mommie." It's a terribly emotional role. Programming a machine to "love" a human is one thing. But will the human love the machine? What happens if the human can't?
These are the questions posed in this film. I was quite stirred up by the end. Is love between a human and machine possible? Is hate? Are we prepared for such relationships?
Life Before Computers
Rec'd this by email. Quite funny and spot on.
An application was for employment
A program was a TV show
A cursor used profanity
A keyboard was a piano!
Memory was something that you lost with age
A CD was a bank account
And if you had a 3 1/2 inch floppy
You hoped nobody found out!
Compress was something you did to garbage
Not something you did to a file
And if you unzipped anything in public
You'd be in jail for awhile!
Log on was adding wood to a fire
Hard drive was a long trip on the road
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived
And a backup happened to your commode!
Cut - you did with a pocket knife
Paste you did with glue
A web was a spider's home
And a virus was the flu!
I'll stick to my pad and paper
And the memory in my head
I hear nobody's been killed in a computer crash
But when it happens, they wish they were dead!
XML Notes
- XML Tutorial
- Gives good overview of XML. Referencing sections with more depth.
- XML DTD
- Tutorial calls this old school and says XML schemas are the future.
- XML Schema Tutorial
- Schema are described as superior method of defining document elements and data structure than DTD.
- XSLT Tutorial
- Better than using CSS for XML docs.
301 Redirects Using .htaccess
I needed to redirect some posts from an old blog to posts on this wiki/blog/notebook, but I didn't want to lose any Google page rank accumulated by the old blog. After a quick investigation, I found the way to do it on my hosted Apache system.
Flickr Batch Download Utilities
I love flickr. It's great for sharing my photos, and for finding some wonderful imagery to support my posts (per creative commons licensing in most cases).
But I was bummed that I couldn't batch download my flickr photos to my local machine--until I found these utilities:
Long Tail - Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson
Having a discussion about Anderson's book at work. Will place notes here.
Creating demand on developer sites that fit down the curve.
We're living the long tail, in terms of content and traffic. People find out content without us focusing on that. But not intentionally. What can we do with niches, what we
linking, 80% based off links to your site, 20% the content,
specialize it? PHP general, then specialize: PHP for DB2
Redirecting Drupal to Root Directory
Redirect Drupal to Root - I feel so silly that I couldn't figure this out. I installed a test copy of drupal in a drupal sub-directory (http://www.example.com/drupal/). After testing, I wanted the drupal site to be live from the root (http://www.example.com/) WITHOUT moving drupal files to the root. After some searching and false leads, here's what worked for me...Your results may vary.
Creating Transparent GIFs with GIMP
Transparent GIFs with GIMP - Really love this open source project, GIMP. Great substitute for Photoshop -- and it's FREE!
Here's how to create a transparent GIF using GIMP...
Solve Drupal 5.X Login Problem
Human Computer Interfaces
Ubuntu Troubleshooting
PmWiki Access Keys in Firefox
How To Break DRM
Web 2.0 According to O'Reilly
Firefox Shortcuts
Drupal
CSS Cheats and Tips Links
Why People Think Computers Can't Think
Solve Drupal Login Problem
I had trouble logging into my drupal 4.7.4 blog. I'd login on homepage, then as soon as I tried accessing an administrative page, it would dump me to a login page.
This post on the drupal.org forum site offered possible solutions. However, it does involve adjusting core files, which is ridiculous. Must be another way...
How to Import Large MySQL Data Files
How to Import Large MySQL Data Files
One Step: Use BigDump
I've been so frustrated at the file size limits for uploading large MySQL data files, and BigDump is the answer. Works like a charm.
More details below...
SEO Glossary
SEO K.O.O.L. Method
SEO Keyword Choice
SEO Information
How to Create a Symbolic Link in UNIX/LINX
How to Fight Spammers in PmWiki
Note from Pico, a really kind and clever PmWiki user, on handling spam. Could be useful for PmWiki installations in general.
Hack Windows XP Home To Windows XP Professional
Hack to Change Windows XP Home to Windows XP Professional
Enable the features found in Windows XP Professional on your Windows XP Home Edition installation with this hack. It will allow you to turn your Windows XP Home CD into a Windows XP Professional CD.
Note: If your Windows XP CD does not contain Service Pack 2, you might want to Slipstream Your Windows XP CD first as you will not be able to upgrade an installation after using the CD.
Internet Is A Denial Of Service Attack On Your Brain
Intriguing perspective on the how the Internet is a denial of service attack on your brain.
Quotes
"We found that mental performance, the capability of the brain, was also reduced. Workers cannot think as well when they are worrying about e-mail or voice mails. It effectively reduces their IQ," says Wilson.
Wrist Computer From 1984
Seiko's 1984 wristwatch computer for very early adopters
Getting Real By 37 Signals Full Text
Getting Real By 37 Signals
Memory and Forgiveness in Humans and Computers
Memory and Forgiveness - I'm reminded of the book The Singularity Is Near, where author Ray Kurzweil forecasts that computers will match the processing power of the human brain by mid-century or 2050.
Kurzweil predicts we will be able to "download" skills, as represented in The Matrix. Think of that. But will it be any better than our current approach? Will we forget the skill as we do now and require multiple "downloads" to keep it up? Or is one download enough? I suppose it depends on the process of forgetting...and our process of storing information...So many questions.
The Wiki Way - by Leuf and Cunningham
The Wiki Way: Quick Collaboration on the Web by Bo Leuf and Ward Cunningham.
Been looking for this book for quite a while now. As with Hidden Connections, I found it at a used bookstore today.
I first encountered the wiki way on Wikipedia.org, where anyone--even me--can edit and add articles. I started a few stubs, enjoyed watching them evolve, even when my precious writing was updated. Almost always, the evolution of the articles made them better. Of course there comes a point of diminishing returns.
So I played with installing various wikis, including Wikimedia (wikipedia's engine) and PmWiki, the PHP script running this wiki. Wikimedia was a monster. Huge resource hog, database driven. PmWiki was relatively resource light, no database, flat file, which at first I disliked, but as I read the developer's reasons for choosing flat file, I bought into the idea. In fact, I've become very enthusiastic, in large part because updates are a breeze. I have a Drupal blog that is MySQL driven, and version updates are a nightmare--mostly because of the damn database.
If GM Built Cars Like Microsoft Builds Software
Yet another fantastically funny email. I wonder if the story behind this has any truth.
For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on. At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated:
In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued this press release...