So I started getting back to reading newsgroups. Mainly just comp.lang.php and comp.databases.mysql to help hone my abilities. And the people in these groups strictly adhere to the “universal” newsgroup etiquette. I completely agree to the etiquette rules and believe that they are necessary to keep order to all of text-based Usenet.
For those who aren’t aware of this etiquette I hope to shed a little light on this topic. Below is a list of my own pet peeves of etiquette rules that seem to be constantly broken in many groups. Please note that this list is not an exhaustive list by any means.
1. Top Posting. Don’t do it!! You know when you reply to someone’s email and your message is on top of theirs? Well, that is a HUGE no-no in the Usenet world. Always reply below the quoted text! Why you may ask? Because the readers have no idea what you are replying to unless they scroll down, read the quoted section, and then scroll to the top to read your section. It completely disrupts the readers flow when trying to read your post. Many times your post won’t even be read.
2. Cross Posting. Many times people feel the need to post a thread to multiple groups. This causes two problems. The first is that you are most likely posting the message in multiple WRONG groups. Like posting a message in comp.lang.php, comp.databases.mysql, and comp.lang.perl when the post only concerns MySQL. People reading the other two groups do NOT want to read your off-group post! The other problem that it creates is unnecessary junk. Many readers do read multiple groups, and therefore receiving your post multiple times. Breaking this rule will often times get your message deleted as well.
3. Consideration. Be considerate. You ask a group of people a question that you receive professional advice. You need to realize that NOBODY is getting paid to answer you. This is a collective resource. A community of experts. I find that many times the OPs become upset at the community trying to help. When instead of receiving the answer they were looking for they feel that the group needs to cater to them. Also, what would it take for you to post a reply? I have seen many times when a question is asked, many answers are given, and the OP is nowhere to be seen. Did the problem get resolved? Did any of the advice help? Maybe you moved to South America.
These rules are typically followed in the majority of the programming-based groups out there. Yet lately I have been browsing over to some of the Microsoft groups. These people (mostly Microsoft-claimed credentials) have absolutely no regard for this etiquette. I just read a post where a gentleman gets wholly upset that the group is advising him take steps that he feels is not immediately directing him to his desired answer.
I think I figured out why this may be though. And if there’s anyone out there that has been more of an avid reader of the microsoft.public groups than me, maybe he or she could correct me if I’m wrong. With Windows Vista comes Windows Mail. In this Microsoft decided to inject their Microsoft Communities. This is actually just the lot of the microsoft.public groups. Now users can simply open up their default mail client and post a message across Usenet. Now given that MS only binds these ignorant messages to their own groups, which is fine for the rest. But in my opinion, this is ultimately polluting Usenet.
Sorry for such a long rant, but I have been catching up on my reading tonight and the above mentioned gentleman made me realize that a post was needed.
April 24 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
The other day I was looking at my domains in GoDaddy and found that a few of them were coming up to renewal. Renewals are charged at full regular prices, $9.95 for a .com domain. Being the frugal sort, I decided to start shopping around. I really wanted a package that allows free private registration for a real decent price. I was amazed at how many registrars no longer offer inclusive private registrations. I was even more amazed of the GoDaddy spawns, or sister companies, there were out there!
In the end, I decided to go with 1and1.com as they not only offered the best regular pricing ($6.99 / year) but private registration was included. I figured that it would be pretty unlikely to have any issues with a DNS-only service, even if it was with these guys.
Yet I do have to say though, you get what you pay for. Just making simple NS server changes seems to take HOURS as before it would only take minutes. And this isn’t due to DNS propagation either. Running a DNS query on their own servers can confirm this. Oh well. DNS changes very rarely anway and I can live with the initial “propagation”.
Next: My frugality persists. Host your sites and get your email hosted for free!
April 11 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
Since I have built a new PC, it was up in the air to what I was going to do with the one that was replaced. After some thinking I thought that I could make a Media Center PC. Now I’m not too familiar with the MythTV or BeyondTV feel, but I have always liked the Windows interface. So that’s the route I decided to take.
Let me explain my intent here first. I already have a Dish DVR box, so I am not interested in running a line from that to my PC and back to the TV. Why else run a Media Center then? First off, I have a ton of music. Secondly I feel that it would be simple way to store movies and/or videos and to play them directly to the TV. Lastly, and most important, I have all the seasons of Lost downloaded and I’m only at the beginning of the second season… :) continue reading »
March 29 2008 | Windows and General | 2 Comments »
I’m not sure why but I always need to look up the syntax of the ’scp’ command when I go to use it. Maybe it’s because I don’t use it enough on a regular basis. But regardless of the reason, this is how it’s used:
scp current_location.txt new_directory
Well, that’s the gist of it, but the whole idea is to transfer files/directories between systems. Logged in on server1, transfer a file to server2:
scp file.txt username@server2:/exising_directory
Or vice versa (logged in on server2 and transferring a file from server1):
scp username@server1:/path/to/file.txt /path/to/existing_directory
Or now let’s say you want to copy an entire directory. Just use -r:
scp -r whole_directory username@server2:/path/to/place/directory
And to specify a port, just use ‘-P number‘.
February 05 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
I’m sure that some of you have heard of Google Cash; an E-book that explains how to make Thousands running ads with Google AdWords. If you haven’t heard of it, run a Google search for ‘Google Cash’ and you will see what I am talking about. If you would like to find a torrent of the book so that you can scope it out yourself, try search for it at my other site: Qu3ry.com. Well, I’m here to admit that I read the book and was gullible enough to attempt trying it out on a small scale, and I’m also here to explain why it doesn’t work.
First off, the word content for AdWords is like crazy expensive! Say you want to run an ad for an online sports shop, so you choose a target like the Green Bay Packers and Brett Favre. So you go to CJ and register as an affiliate with the online retailer. Then you go to Google and start a new ad campaign. You pick all the variations of the search terms ‘Green Bay Packers’, ‘jerseys’, ‘brett favre’, etc. Initially the cost to get the ads to even show are usually around $0.15 to $1.00 per click. IMO this initial cost is so high you will never make up the difference. But what is even better is that after a day or so, Google hikes the cost per each word content. So now if you even want the ad to be displayed you need to start paying up to $10.00 per click! I’m not kidding! The hike that I have typically seen is around 500%-2000%. There’s no way that you can make any profit with prices like that! continue reading »
January 14 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
Taken directly from this Annoyances.org post:
Problem:
Running XP SP2 or higher, you try to run an executable located on another machine
on your network. Your accosted with a prompt: “The publisher could not be verified”.
You are forced to confirm that you wish to run this program… every time you run
it.
Solution:
Run gpedit.msc
Go to User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Attachment
Manager
Add “*.exe” to the “Inclusion list for moderate risk file types” setting.
“This policy setting allows you to configure the list of moderate risk file types.
If the attachment is in the list of moderate risk file types and is from the restricted
or Internet zone, Windows prompts the user before accessing the file. …”
In other words, this allows you to run an .exe from the Intranet zone without a prompt,
but it will warn before running one from the Internet.
(If you Google, a lot of people are instructing to add *.exe to the list of low-risk
file types, allowing .exe files to execute from anywhere on the internet. A lot of
other solutions that simply don’t work are floating around as well.)
December 25 2007 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
Need to copy a table in MySQL? Real easy to do, just run the following command:
CREATE TABLE new_table SELECT * FROM original_table
Not only does it copy the structure, it inserts each record from the original table.
December 13 2007 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
Have you ever attempted to host your own site only to discover that you need nameservers to point your domain name to? And then you discover that you cannot simply create your own DNS server to point at because registrars require at least two nameservers with different IP addresses. Then you need to check out EveryDNS. continue reading »
September 06 2007 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
Have you ever wanted to put a HTML link or any other HTML content in a signature of your email? It’s actually real simple.
All you need to do is create a new text document, type in the HTML content, and save the file with a .html extension. Then in your favorite email client (Thunderbird here!) you just include your file as your signature.
September 06 2007 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
For the longest time I have been a big fan of using OpenDNS‘ DNS servers. For any of you that are not familiar, you can point your DNS to their servers (208.67.222.222 & 208.67.220.220) and have about perfect domain name resolution. With some ISPs that I can name, this is a huge benefit. Also with their free DNS, you can manage a blacklist and whitelist from their site. Also available from their dashboard is the option to use their precompiled denied categories, e.g. pornography, drugs, etc.
Recently I came across other open DNS servers that were about 3x faster (for me), but they don’t contain any of the great features that OpenDNS supplies. The other DNS servers are: 4.2.2.1 - 4.2.2.6. Using traceroute I found that I reach all these 4.2.2.x servers in only 7 hops (~18ms) while I reach the OpenDNS servers in 15 hops (~50ms).
Since in my household a blacklisting option is a great plus, I decided to keep the OpenDNS servers enabled on the desktop machines and the router. On the other hand, my laptops and servers are now pointing to the newly found 4.2.2.x servers.
August 29 2007 | Linux and Website and General | 2 Comments »
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