indeedle » Technology

Backups

Cody — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 09:57:45 +0000

Ok, after a particularly stupid moment a week or so ago (where my fancy backup script was deleted by my fancy backup cleaning script [who then went and deleted himself {he's a male apparently}]) I have gotten things back to normal. Now the site backups are running again.

Every few hours a database snapshot is being taken and saved, and then I’m emailed. Every so often I will download some copies to my local hard drive for safe keeping.

Once a day a full backup of all uploads as well as the database is created, and once again I’m emailed.

These are done automatically, and at set times. No more fear about things vanishing.

At the same time I copied all the files over to a new user account that has a nice folder structure (thank you symbolic links!).

Vodafone

Cody — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:00:59 +0000

I’ve always been happy with my Vodafone plan and mobile, I’ve been a customer for several years. Right now my mobile is dying (my own fault) and I’m slowly looking around for a replacement. I’ve decided I’d like to get some sort of Smartphone, as I am a tech geek and do like the features.

In comes searching the Vodafone website. Not only are their data plans insane (mobile data charges in New Zealand is ridiculous. Scratch that – mobile charges in New Zealand are ridiculous), the way their website is presented is a bit confusing. I’m fine with that though, I managed to find my way around.

What has cooled my opinion of Vodafone was how the iPhone launch has been handled. It was poor at best, and I’m not the only one who believes this. The whole handling of the iPhone 4 debacle by Apple turned me off the iPhone (a hard thing to do fyi, the iPhone 4 looks like a geek dream) and the way Vodafone handled the launch turned me off of them.

I guess it’s time to start looking at 2 Degrees or (and I do shudder at this notion) Telecom.

XP Hosts File

Cody — Sun, 02 May 2010 20:52:04 +0000

C:/PATH TO WINDOWS/system32/drivers/etc/hosts

I use my hosts file in conjunction with my local network (to give names to my different computers without use of a DNS Server) as well as my XAMP installation (to run different development websites locally).

The host file lets you bind an IP address to a specific name. Usually your browser will check the hosts file first before contacting your DNS Server for the IP address.

The format is simple, IP – tab – Space separated list of host names.

Eg: 192.168.1.4 bender.home

Each new IP should start on a separate line.

Just a note: I only run XP for now, so I’ve no idea where this file is located in Vista or Windows 7. If you know, give me a bell

Webmin for Ubuntu

Cody — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 05:23:25 +0000

If you’re playing around with Ubuntu Server I would seriously suggest you check out Webmin, it rocks.

I’ve got an old PC I got from my school (for some cans of food). It’s too hold to run Windows successfully, but it is perfect to use as a Ubuntu server to muck about on.

Definitely try the Webmin interface, it makes managing the system a breeze.

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/ubuntu-serverinstall-gui-and-webmin-in-ubuntu-810-intrepid-ibex-guide.html

Verizon forcing Bing on Blackberry Users

Cody — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:16:14 +0000

I’m an admitted computer geek, meaning I gladly take that label. Part of this responsibility (of geekiness) involves using different types of technology, not sticking to one thing. At home I run Linux on a machine as well as Windows on my personal laptop.

I also hold grudges when things annoy me. It’s silly, but if a program or company does something that really ticks me off, I may find myself going to their competition just to spite them. I’m sure I’m not alone there.

One example I can think of is with the browser search engines. I run Firefox, and I have my search engine set to Google as I like using Google to search, as well as Google for the keyword search. A year or so ago when GaiaOnline.com released their toolbar I installed it. Even today I’m still not sure how it happened, whether it was an unfortunate accident or intentional. Whatever the cause, the toolbar seemed to have some sort of contract with Yahoo. Upon installation my search changed to Yahoo, and worse (in my opinion) it changed my keyword search to Yahoo. The search bar could be changed back, however the keyword search was forced. If you switched it back (something you have to actually edit the config for Firefox) it would be forced back to Yahoo when the browser restarted. After reporting this, it was never fixed.

After that I’ve refused to use Yahoo (if I’m able to avoid it). Seemed tainted to me.

It looks like Bing (Microsoft) is heading in the same direction. Verizon has removed the search options from their Blackberries meaning users are forced to use Bing. Of course, forcing a specific setting (especially when forcing people to use a particular company’s software) when it was previously optional will cause users to hit the roof. Which it has.

Bing looks interesting, and I have tried it. But it doesn’t have that spark that’d cause me to jump ship from Google. The fact that it’s looking to force people on phones to use it just cements Google’s place as my search engine. I’m not a fan of tactics like these.
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