How to Stop Firefox 3 From Crashing on MSN.com

Posted on June 18th, 2008 in Microsoft, Web | 2 Comments »

Here is a quick and easy fix for an issue I have been running into with my newly upgraded Firefox 3. I noticed that every time I visited www.msn.com my Firefox 3 browser crashed. After some basic troubleshooting I realized that upgrading to the latest version of Microsoft’s Silverlight fixed the issue.

Click here to download the latest version of Microsoft Silverlight.

I hope that helps! Let me know if Firefox 3 still crashes on www.msn.com after installing the lastest version of Silverlight.

Microsoft Windows XP SP3 Now Available

Posted on May 14th, 2008 in Computers, Microsoft | No Comments »

Well it is official, Microsoft has released the Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) either via the Windows Update or Microsoft’s Download Center (website).

I’ve compiled a few quality links about the Windows XP SP3 as well as download information below. As with all my posts please feel free to post your comments (good or bad), I’m interested to hear what your opinions on the new service pack!

Windows XP Service Pack 3 Resources

Get Windows XP Service Pack 3

TechNet Subscribers:

Non-TechNet Subscribers:

Windows XP SP3 is now available to non-subscribers:

Good luck and of course backup your important files before making any OS upgrade - I cannot tell you how easy it is to lose everything in a split second.

How to Install OS X Leopard on a PC - iATKOS v1.0i Tutorial

Posted on February 15th, 2008 in Apple, Computers | 49 Comments »

A few days ago I installed OS X Leopard on two different PC’s, a Compaq laptop and a SuperMicro Dual Quad-Core Xeon powerhouse with 8GB ram. Both machines run OS X Leopard perfectly and the installation process was just as straightforward and easy as installing OS X on a Mac, only a few extra steps!

So how did I install OS X Leopard on my PC? Simple: iATKOS v1.0i

Do a quick search using your favorite torrent search portal for “iATKOS v1.0i” , download it, burn to DVD, pop that puppy into your test computer’s DVD drive and reboot**. During the install process there are a few extra steps so I will list what you need to do below:

# When the Welcome screen pops up click Continue

1. At the Terms & Conditions screen do not click Agree yet, click Utilities on the Apple bar at the top of your screen and then select Disk Utility from the drop down menu (Utilities > Disk Utility).

2. Select your hard drive’s partition on the left hand side then select the Erase tab on the right.

3. Now click the Erase button on the bottom right and click Erase again on the pop-up. When this is complete close the Disk Utility.

4. Now go back up to the Apple menu bar and select Utilities > Darwin_Boot

5. Type Y (yes) to continue, 1 for your HDD number (if your using the main HDD), and 1 again for the partition number OS X will be installed on (if your installing on a different partition enter that partition number instead of 1).

6. Type Y (yes) to install boot efi and type Y (yes) again to confirm. Once it this process in complete it will display [process completed] and you can now exit out of Darwin_boot.

7. Please read the Terms & Conditions for iATKOS v1.0i and click Agree (if you agree).

8. Now your ready to install OS X Leopard on your PC, just follow the on screen guide and your good to go!

Best of luck!

** I will not be held liable for any damage that results from this tutorial. If you attempt to install OS X Leopard (iATKOS v1.0i) onto your computer it is at your own risk.

UPDATE (June 19th, 2008): For your questions and/or comments go to the Peter-V Forum and post here: How to Install OS X Leopard on a PC - iATKOS v1.0i Tutorial - Forum Style

How to Setup a FreeBSD 6 Webserver - FAMP Server

Posted on February 2nd, 2008 in Computers, Servers/Hosting, Unix/Linux, Web | 6 Comments »

Here it is, the meat and potatoes of setting up a FAMP server (FreeBSD 6.3, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Perl). Keep in mind these instructions are exactly what I do step by step to setup a FreeBSD webserver. Originally when I started with FreeBSD I couldn’t find a solid source of reliable information on how to set all this up. Every time I would ask someone for some good instruction I was always directed to www.freebsd.org. I have to tell you it is extremely overwhelming for me at that time to even understand anything off of that site’s directions - as well written as it is.
Over the last few years I have come across some decent walkthroughs and tutorials but 90% of them were still either out dated or lacking 1 or 2 steps that can really jack things up. I have really tried to make this tutorial as straight forward as possible, no BS and no info that’s going to waste your time.

Before I install anything I always make sure I have the latest release of FreeBSD installed with the Developer distribution. Many tutorials out there tell you to install the bare minimum of FreeBSD with the “Minimum” distro, I recommend Developer. If you need a good step by step on how to install FreeBSD (6.2 & 6.3) then click here. Remember, instead of selecting the minimal option on the Distributions screen, choose Developer.

Once you have FreeBSD installed the steps below will show you how to setup and configure a full FAMP server. Good luck!

# cd /usr/ports/lang/php5
# make config
select: Apache
# make install

# cd /usr/ports/lang/php5-extensions
# make config
select: bcmath, bz2, ctype, curl, dom, ftp, gd, gettext, mbstring, mysql, pcre, posix, pdo, session, simplexml, sqlite, xml, zlib (also by default there are many options pre-selected including some of the ones listed here, make sure to leave those checked).
# make install

Usually after everything is done you will notice a few mysql errors appear, run this command:

# pkg_add -r mysql50-server

Now before editing any file on my system I always make a backup of it:
# cp /usr/local/etc/apache/httpd.conf /usr/local/etc/apache/httpd.conf.orig

Now let’s edit your Apache config file to get everything configured properly:
# edit /usr/local/etc/apache/httpd.conf

Change the default listen address to the IP address of your webserver.

#Listen 12.34.56.78:80
To:
#Listen 192.168.1.10:80 (example, use your machines IP Address)

Change the email address of the ServerAdmin to your email address or the address of the person in charge on this server:

#ServerAdmin you@your.address (use your email address)

Change the ServerName option, if you don’t have a fully qualified domain name please change this to the servers IP address:

#ServerName www.example.com
To:
#ServerName 192.168.1.10 (example, use your machines IP Address - for internal, intranet implementations)
Or:
#ServerName www.peter-v.com (example, use your domain name if you have one and your going to point DNS to that machine)

# Add a DirectoryIndex option:
DirectoryIndex index.php index.html index.htm index.php3 index.php4

# In the AddType section add the following for PHP:
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .htm .html
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps

Now exit and save, your all done with Apache.

# echo ‘/usr/local/sbin/apachectl start’ >> /etc/rc.local

Now let’s configure MySQL:

# cp /usr/local/share/mysql/my-medium.cnf /etc/my.cnf
# echo ‘mysql_enable=”YES”‘ >> /etc/rc.conf

# /usr/local/bin/mysql_install_db
# chown -R mysql:mysql /var/db/mysql
# /usr/local/share/mysql/mysql.server start

If the command: # /usr/local/share/mysql/mysql.server start doesn’t work or fails, try this command:
# /usr/local/etc/rc.d/mysql-server.sh start

# /usr/local/bin/mysqladmin -u root -h Hostname.domainname.tld password ‘YourPassword’
# /usr/local/bin/mysqladmin -u root password ‘YourPassword’

Example:

# /usr/local/bin/mysqladmin -u root -h webserver.peter-v.com password ’secret’
# /usr/local/bin/mysqladmin -u root password ’secret’

Now let’s install Perl DBI and DBD Support (which many apps need that run using Apache and MySQL):

# cd /usr/ports/databases/p5-DBI && make install && make clean
# cd /usr/ports/databases/p5-DBD-mysql50 && make install && make clean

Reboot.

That’s it, your all done and now you’ve got yourself a FAMP Webserver.

Tips:

If at anytime in this tutorial a command doesn’t work, try rebooting first. Sometimes after installing certain applications or components it is required to reboot before being able to utilize it. After a quick reboot it always works.

I would love to hear your comments and if you have any suggestions or issues with this tutorial please leave a comment, thanks!

FreeBSD

How to Stop Ubuntu from Asking for the CD During Package Installs

Posted on January 3rd, 2008 in Unix/Linux | No Comments »

Just got message from a loyal reader of mine asking if it is possible to stop Ubuntu from asking for the Ubuntu CD when he installs applications from packages. This is actually very simple, all you need to do is go to:

System>Administration>Software Sources

Select the “Third Party” tab and un-check “cdrom:” - reload your sources and your good to go!

How to Install GD Support for PHP in Ubuntu - Drupal

Posted on January 2nd, 2008 in Unix/Linux, Web | 1 Comment »

I am in the process of building a social site using Drupal and realized I didn’t have GD support for PHP5 installed on my server. I’m sure this is a common roadblock for people new to installing Drupal or even just PHP so here is what you need to do:

Open terminal and type in the following command:

$ sudo apt-get install php5-gd

Now restart Apache

# sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

There you go, you now have GD Support for PHP5 in Ubuntu. Get your Drupal on!

How to Install Cinelerra on Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy

Posted on January 2nd, 2008 in Computers, Unix/Linux | 17 Comments »

In the last three weeks I have received 8 requests on how to install Cinelerra on Ubuntu (Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon to be exact). So, this is how to correctly install Cinelerra on Ubuntu and add a little more memory for it to run in the kernel.

System>Administration>Synaptic Package Manager:
Settings>Repositories>Third-Party Software Tab:

Click the Add button and add this repository:

deb http://giss.tv/~vale/ubuntu32 ./

Close, Reload the search “Cinelerra”. Mark for install & hit Apply (to install). When that is done just close out of Synaptic.

Now open terminal and type (I use ee to edit but you can also use gedit):

sudo ee /etc/sysctl.conf

And add this line to the bottom of the file (this adds the extra memory for Cinelerra to run properly):

kernel/shmmax=0x7fffffff

Now save and close and run this command (instead of rebooting):

sudo sysctl -p

Now go to Applications> Sound & Video>Cinelerra and get your editing on!

Firefox 3.0 Beta 1 Now Available for Download

Posted on November 23rd, 2007 in Computers, Web | No Comments »

I’ve been playing around with Mozilla’s Firefox 3 Beta 1 and so far I like what I see (keyword “see”). The GUI is much more smooth and fluid but after several seconds it crashes - even in safe mode (with everything disabled). I am testing Firefox 3.0 Beta 1 on a Windows Vista machine so not much of a surprise that it crashed so I will download and install it on Leopard OS X and I’ll let you guys know how it goes.

So whats new in Firefox 3 you ask? Firefox 3 Beta 1 is based on the new Gecko 1.9 Web rendering platform, which has been under development for the past 27 months and includes nearly 2 million lines of code changes, fixing more than 11,000 issues. Gecko 1.9 includes some major re-architecting for performance, stability, correctness, and code simplification and sustainability. Firefox 3 has been built on top of this new platform resulting in a more secure, easier to use, more personal product with a lot under the hood to offer website and Firefox add-on developers.

More Security

* One click site info: Click the site favicon in the location bar to see who owns the site. Identity verification is prominently displayed and easier to understand. In later versions, Extended Validation SSL certificate information will be displayed.
* Malware Protection: malware protection warns users when they arrive at sites which are known to install viruses, spyware, trojans or other malware. You can test it here (note: our blacklist of malware sites is not yet activated).
* New Web Forgery Protection page: the content of pages suspected as web forgeries is no longer shown. You can test it here.
* New SSL error pages: clearer and stricter error pages are used when Firefox encounters an invalid SSL certificate.
* Add-ons and Plugin version check: Firefox now automatically checks add-on and plugin versions and will disable older, insecure versions.
* Secure add-on updates: to improve add-on update security, add-ons that provide updates in an insecure manner will be disabled.
* Anti-virus integration: Firefox will inform anti-virus software when downloading executables.
* Vista Parental Controls: Firefox now respects the Vista system-wide parental control setting for disabling file downloads.

Easier to Use

* Easier password management: an information bar replaces the old password dialog so you can now save passwords after a successful login.
* Simplified add-on installation: the add-ons whitelist has been removed making it possible to install extensions from third-party sites in fewer clicks.
* New Download Manager: the revised download manager makes it much easier to locate downloaded files.
* Resumable downloading: users can now resume downloads after restarting the browser or resetting your network connection.
* Full page zoom: from the View menu and via keyboard shortcuts, the new zooming feature lets you zoom in and out of entire pages, scaling the layout, text and images.
* Tab scrolling and quickmenu: tabs are easier to locate with the new tab scrolling and tab quickmenu.
* Save what you were doing: Firefox will prompt users to save tabs on exit.
* Optimized Open in Tabs behavior: opening a folder of bookmarks in tabs now appends the new tabs rather than overwriting.
* Location and Search bar size can now be customized with a simple resizer item.
* Text selection improvements: Multiple text selections can be made with Ctrl/Cmd; Double-click drag selects in “word-by-word” mode; Triple-clicking selects a paragraph.
* Find toolbar: the Find toolbar now opens with the current selection.
* Plugin management: users can disable individual plugins in the Add-on Manager.
* Integration with Vista: Firefox’s menus now display using Vista’s native theme.
* Integration with the Mac: Firefox now uses the OS X spellchecker and supports Growl for notifications of completed downloads and available updates.

More Personal

* Star button: quickly add bookmarks from the location bar with a single click; a second click lets you file and tag them.
* Tags: associate keywords with your bookmarks to sort them by topic.
* Location bar & auto-complete: type the title or tag of a page in the location bar to quickly find the site you were looking for in your history; favicons, bookmark, and tag indicators help you see where results are coming from.
* Smart Places Folder: quickly access your recently bookmarked and tagged pages, as well as you more frequently visited pages with the new smart places folder on your bookmark toolbar.
* Bookmarks and History Organizer: advanced search of your history and bookmarks with multiple views and smart folders to store your frequent searches.
* Web-based protocol handlers: web applications, such as your favorite webmail provider, can now be used instead of desktop applications for handling mailto: links from other sites. Similar support is available for other protocols (Web applications will have to first enable this by registering as handlers with Firefox).
* Easy to use Download Actions: a new Applications preferences pane provides a better UI for configuring handlers for various file types and protocol schemes.

Improved Platform for Developers

* New graphics and font handling: new graphics and text rendering architectures in Gecko 1.9 provides rendering improvements in CSS, SVG as well as improved display of fonts with ligatures and complex scripts.
* Native Web page forms: HTML forms on Web pages now have a native look and feel on Mac OS X and Linux (Gnome) desktops.
* Color management: (set gfx.color_management.enabled on in about:config and restart the browser to enable.) Firefox can now adjust images with embedded color profiles.
* Offline support: enables web applications to provide offline functionality (website authors must add support for offline browsing to their site for this feature to be available to users).
* A more complete overview of Firefox 3 for developers is available for website and add-on developers.

Improved Performance

* Reliability: A user’s bookmarks, history, cookies, and preferences are now stored in a transactionally secure database format which will prevent data loss even if their system crashes.
* Speed: Major architectural changes (such as the move to Cairo and a rewrite to how reflowing a page layout works) put foundations in place for major performance tuning which have resulted in speed increases in Beta 1, and will show further gains in future Beta releases.
* Memory usage: Over 300 individual memory leaks have been plugged, and a new XPCOM cycle collector completely eliminates many more. Developers are continuing to work on optimizing memory use (by releasing cached objects more quickly) and reducing fragmentation.

A more complete, yet “unofficial” list of Firefox 3 changes with their bug numbers is available at the Burning Edge website.

Click here to download the latest beta of Firefox 3.0 now!