Beware of 64 bit Windows XP
Windows XP 64 bit promises to be the operating system of choice for the AMD 64 chip but falls short. The primary problem is that many hardware makers still have not developed 64 bit drivers for their products making it very difficult to get a new system up and running. Therefore, 64 bit XP is still not totally ready for primetime usage by consumers. It is still only for geeks and IT professionals.
Dapper creates write once and reuse for content
As developers, we always try to write code once and reuse through various techniques of organizing, packaging, and distributing our code. Dapper has taken this philosophy to reusing content. This basically allows information to be published on one website and be used for all other websites that find the information useful in enhancing its services to its visitors.
This certainly is a great example of Web 2.0.
Problem with php_curl
System:
Windows 2000 Server SP3
Apache2
php 4.x
Problem:
Enabling php_curl caused error when starting apache.
Error message: Unknown(): Unable to load dynamic library 'php_curl.dll' - The specified module could not be found.
Solution:
Make sure to copy the following files from the php\dll directory to the windows\system32 directory.
ssleay32.dll
libeay32.dll
Google face recognition
Google is moving into added face recognition on photos in the future. They are already crawling the web and finding images all over the place. With this new feature they can link a person whose images had been posted on various website. Depending on how this information will be served up to the public, it can shave away a layer of anonymity on the internet.
Smart applications
We have been trained to deal with applications in a certain way. If we encounter a problem, we call tech support on the phone and explain what had happened. Without fail, tech support would not have enough information in order to answer our questions. It is not their fault since we usually do not have all the information to give them because we did not know what we should remember when the problem occurred. This way of reporting errors is so 90s.
It is time for smart applications. Applications should know what to do when an error occurs. The system knows when the error happened, what the user was doing, what type of data was entered, and which line of code caused the error. With all this information, the system should be the one reporting the error, not the user.
One place where I have seen this implemented is Windows XP. When an error occurs, the OS prompts the user to submit the problem to Microsoft. Web applications should follow suit but they should take it a step further. If someone is making an online order and an error pops up, that error can be sent to customer support and the site can bring up a chat screen to help the customer immediately. All the information had been sent to the support person so the customer does not have to spend time recalling what had happened then relaying the information to customer support. This method of handling errors can make the process a lot more efficient for support and more pleasant for the users.
Homeland security issued Windows security advisory
Homeland security is taking on the task of warning us that our computers are at risk. They just issued a warning yesterday that there exists a security hole in Windows that needs to be patched immediately. The security hole could allow someone to gain access to the computer and completely take control.
Ubuntu Security Update
http://www.net-security.org/advisory.php?id=6577
It is time to run an update on all Ubuntu systems if they have not been updated already.
Keeping your wireless network unsecured can save you from a pirating lawsuit
The RIAA just lost a lawsuit recently against a woman for pirating music. They lost on the premise that she uses a wireless network at home the she never bothered to secure. Therefore, anyone could have gotten onto her network and shared pirated music through her IP address making it hard to prove that she was the one committing the felony.
Crawled by Google fastest with an old domain name
Test:
I did a comparison a month ago between starting a new site using a newly registered domain name and using a domain registered two years ago but never had content except for a Godaddy default parked domain page. All pages and content were the same across both sites. They were both submitted to Google in the same manner. The only difference was the domain names of the two sites.
Result:
The site using the pre-existing domain name got indexed after one month while the site using the newly registered domain is still not indexed by Google.
Explanation:
It could be that the default Godaddy page was indexed by Google therefore their crawlers are already scheduled to crawl the existing domain while the newly registered domain just get placed into a queue when it was submitted to Google. At any rate, if you are thinking about starting a new website, it would be worth your while to look through any of the existing domains you have registered before going to a registrar to get a new domain name.