Tips and Tutorials

While searching for computer manufacturers that offer Linux laptops, I was happy to discover that Lenovo has a selection of ThinkPads that can be ordered pre-configured with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. As a result, a new page has been added to the Goodies section: Lenovo Coupons / Coupon Codes.

The current list of Lenovo laptops with SUSE is a bit sparse (only three models) but the coupon codes work for any of the models listed, regardless of OS.

Personally, I'd rather run OpenSUSE and load it on Lenovo X300 ThinkPad. Either that or stick with Ubuntu, which is currently my operating system of choice. The selection of ThinkPads with Linux will undoubtedly expand to include more models as more people start using Linux. One of the obstacles to getting up and running with Linux can be driver support. As more manufacturers start supporting Linux with drivers, the whole experience will be smoother and there will not be any excuses left for wasting money on a proprietary operating system.

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Well, well. It looks like Facebook just got a chin tuck! The website was recently reworked to make the user interface better. Does this mean we can finally customize / customise our Facebook profile pages?... Nope. Is it time to get out the BOTOX? Well, there is more than one way to skin a Facebook.

Keep reading to find out how to customise your Facebook profile.

The following is a mini-review of the Dell XPS M1330 and my experience running Ubuntu 64-bit Gutsy 7.10 on this laptop over the past two months. Before getting the XPS M1330, I had been using Ubuntu 32-bit on my Latitude D830. I'm one of those people who actually needs two laptops. The Latitude D830 is my workhorse stay-at-home computer with dual-pointing devices and expansive 1920x1200 resolution screen. The XPS M1330 is my thin-and-light secondary laptop that I use when away from home so I don't have to tote around client files and data. I also need the M1330 for testing web designs, since it has a more standardly used screen resolution.

At first, I installed the 32-bit version of Ubuntu, since I had the install CD lying around. I had ordered 4GB of RAM to upgrade my system, which hadn't arrived yet. After receiving the RAM, I started thinking about installing the 64-bit version of Ubuntu, so I could have access to all of the RAM. Most 32-bit operating systems only allow you to utilize between 2.75GB and 3.5GB of RAM, depending on your motherboard chipset. While pondering Ubuntu 64-bit I did some research and it seemed that the general consensus was to stick with 32-bit for the time being, due to incompatibilities and whatnot. I figured I had nothing to lose and decided to give Ubuntu 64-bit a shot.

What do IE aka Internet Explorer and the word DIE have in common? Well, you don't have to look that close to figure out that IE comes at the end of DIE. What can we deduce from this? It's quite simple really, IE should DIE. And, what do IE5, IE6 and IE7 all have in common? They all suck and of course, they should all DIE.

Which version of Internet Explorer is the worst? In my opinion, IE6, or Internet Explorer Sux as I like to call it. Technically IE5 and lower versions are worse than IE6. But, the fact that so many people are still using IE6 makes it the worst browser.

I don't think I am exaggerating when I say that Internet Explorer is a menace to society. Microsoft is doing a disservice to humanity by providing their crappy browser with its lack of proper support for web standards and buggy display issues as the browser that comes bundled with Windows.

According to Net Applications, the Operating System Market Share for all Windows Versions was 91.46% as of January, 2008. Downright dismal! Fortunately internet users are catching on and using browsers other than Internet Explorer. Browser Market Share for Internet Explorer was 75.47% as of January, 2008. Still, that is 75.47% too many IE users.

Somebody ripped off the new Themebot layout!

As you may have read earlier, the layout for Themebot was updated recently. I was checking my Google analytics this evening and saw a noticeable amount of traffic coming from a site I didn't recognize. The referring URL is: freeipodsforstudents.co.nr. Free iPods eh? Decided to pay them a visit. Hmm, something looks familiar.

At one time or another, nearly every web master thinks about how to make (more) money on their web site. The challenge is that most people who surf the internet expect things to be free. The internet was formed on the idea of free access to information. Scores of companies are willing to subsidize the cost of building out a website and gathering an online community without charging a dime. Why?

Because people are not interested in frequenting a site they have to pay for (unless it is for porn). If somebody stumbles upon a web site with an entrance fee, they will quickly browse to another site and are almost guaranteed to find exactly what they are looking for free of charge (yes, even for porn). Although it may be lucrative, there will be no Bot porn on Themebot. Sorry. NO BOT PORN! So how is a web master supposed to make money?

It is rare for a Dell coupon code to come along that can be used to save money on a Latitude notebook. I've personally owned laptops from several manufacturers and I've also worked on many brands of laptops over the years. I have primarily owned Dell notebooks since 2000. Some people have had a bad experience with Dell, like any other company, but I have not. In fact, they are one of the few companies that have earned brand loyalty with me.

Anyhow, I had been planning on upgrading my main laptop for a while now and just purchased a Latitude D830 after receiving an email with the coupon details. This coupon code is for 10% off. Once my order was complete, I configured a brand new Latitude D830 with the exact same specs, just to do a price comparison. I saved a whopping $732.16 total compared to the exact same laptop configured new! Not a bad deal.

The following is an honest review of Site5 web hosting. I signed up for a MultiSite Dynamite account with Site5 on October 14th, 2006. It was a stormy night and there was an ominous, eerie silence throughout the internet (just kidding).

I previously had an account with Godaddy before trying out Site5. After a couple months, I became fed up with their insanely slow servers. Perhaps Godaddy has improved since then, but at the time it was obvious that they were overcrowding their servers. Don't get me wrong, Godaddy is great for managing domain names, but there was no way a database driven site would work with their hosting due to the abysmally slow pageloads. I started shopping around and did some research on Site5. I was initially drawn in by their statement, "NO OVERLOADED SERVERS". After transferring a web site to Site5, I was quite pleased with how snappy the pageloads were. Exactly two months later a terrible thing happened.

I recently installed Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty on my Inspiron E1705/9400 laptop, which is my workhorse computer. I tried several different distros: PCLinuxOS, OpenSUSE, Mepis, Fedora and KNOPPIX, before deciding on Ubuntu. At this point I am using nearly 100% open source software. There are a few Windows programs I can't live without, namely Quicken and Photoshop. WINE didn't work for me when I tried to install Photoshop CS2. Also, problems were reported running Quicken through WINE. There isn't any open source software that can compare to Quicken when it comes to accounting. The Gimp - although an excellent photo editing program - just doesn't have all the tools necessary for a web developer. One of the biggest drawbacks to using the Gimp as a replacement for Photoshop is the lack of Save for Web functionality. Photoshop does a much better job of optimizing/compressing images for use on the web.

The following guide provides a walk-through for setting up automatic backups of your mySQL databases using the AutoMySQLBackup file bash script. After reading the guide, it should be quick and easy to implement. This is an indispensable tool for webmasters. Once the backup system is in place you'll have daily, weekly and monthly backups of your mySQL databases neatly organized in a private folder on your web server. They are automatically rotated so that they don't eat up your storage space. Anytime you download a backup of your home directory all of the database backups will be included. This is much better than creating manual backups and can be a huge time saver if you have multiple databases.