Topics

101

DC Website Help and Extras / Search separation ... from all to topics?

« on: March 07, 2011, 08:28 PM »

Quite possibly I've missed this, but is there a way to limit searches just to topic titles? 

There are times when I don't necessarily want to see every occurrence of a term, just a list of topics containing the search term in the topic title.

102

General Software Discussion / A way to use DC products on Android?

« on: March 05, 2011, 09:15 PM »

Well, prolly not the compiled Windows stuff  , but maybe some of the AutoIt/AutoHotKey stuff?

Just bought a NookColor (Barnes & Noble ebook reader), and saw instructions from Tech Republic to convert to full-blown tablet.  Haven't found a lot of stuff for Android, yet, though.

What got me thinking was Ath's WinButtons for the March Fundraiser:  looked to be handy on the Nook's touch screen when not reading books.  However, my Google-fu is letting me down tonight - just cannot seem to adjust to this new discipline   - so I thought I'd ask if anyone knows of an equivalent to at least those two (2) languages.

Most of the AutoIt/AutoHotKey thingies I've seen here include source, so [presumably/hopefully] all that would be needed would be versions or equivalents of those for Android - I hope? - but nothing to accomplish such a translation has yet evinced itself  .  I'm a bit trepidatious about attempting such a translation, but so far I'm saved by lack of opportunity  .  Not certain which is more frustrating    .

103

General Software Discussion / I have to admit defeat ... I cannot format a hard drive ...

« on: February 27, 2011, 08:44 PM »

Folk,

This is embarrassing.  I'm trying to format a 1T [internal] HD.  Easus Partition Manager pukes, DOS-level pukes (from CMD line), Kubuntu/Ubuntu both puke  .

And they don't tell me why  .  

'Twasn't that many years agone that I could do a low-level format, but seems that ability has evaporated with time.  I remember RLL, MLM, maybe several others whose abbreviations no longer occur to me.  But I simply cannot format this one particular drive.  It once hosted WinXP, Win7, a couple of Linux distros.  But now I cannot format/clear it from any OS I have available.

HELP!?!P

BTW, just in case, I'm not trying to format it from an OS mounted upon it - it's been erased of all content, although I couldn't get rid of some of the Windows dirs.

(Modified for notifications  .)

104

General Software Discussion / In search of ... Disk Doctor equivalent & image analyzer/verifier ...

« on: February 09, 2011, 09:14 PM »

Folk,

I'm trying to find a couple of things:

• A reasonably recent equivalent to the old Norton Disk Doctor - you know, the one before Symantec hosed the Norton Utilities
• Something to check a disk image and verify its - validity?  wholeness? - anyway, verify that it is functional

A recent effort on another's machine convinced me to get off my ass and do something I've been putting off for a couple-two-t'ree years, i.e., reorganize this beast I call a server.  I has to HDs, a 1T and a 250G.  The 1T disk has a couple of bootable partitions, and the 250G a couple more.  What I wanted to do was to move the Win7 partition over to the 250G disk, then move or install - prolly install - a Linux distro on the other half of the 250G.  Then wipe the 1T drive and use it to serve files & local Web stuff.

Been backing up with Paragon v9, so it seemed simple ... just restore one of those images to the 250G.  Do any of you remember the early MS DOS days?  From v2.1 (where I started with DOS) there was a backup program ... it apparently worked ... but 'twas v3.x before they got the restore to work.  I had a serious case of deja vu ... none of the Paragon images would restore ... they kept complaining of cross-linked files - after, of course, running the job to completion .

So I decided to install Acronis True Image 2011, get the job done.  Yeah, right  !.  Acronis couldn't even finish creating the image before choking!

OK, CloneZilla Live to the rescue, right ?  CloneZilla did - I discovered later - transfer the files.  It did not transfer the MBR, nor did it install a Grub equivalent ... it too complained of errors, but they were different - and many.  After it finished, I rebooted the machine, got an MS message to the effect that I was hosed and should use the original CD/DVD.  I did that, clicked the Repair link, and voila, I had two bootable Win7 partitions.

So now I'm trying to find something that will let me examine HDs for errors, and something that can, somehow, verify that a disk image is good - if that's even extant.  I've looked for the Disk Doctor replacement for several years, now, but nothing found quite measured up .

And I don't know where to start looking for an image verification tool - 3rd party, that is, cause I've already seen the the built in tools are not reliable.

So, once more, I'm standing here, hat in hand, feet shuffling, asking for help .

105

General Software Discussion / In search of a partition identifier ...

« on: February 05, 2011, 03:28 PM »

Folk,

I thought this would be simplicity ... definitely misthought!

Been searching for something, preferably portable, that will identify the currently active OS partition.

OK, that's prolly not clear, so here's an example.

Take a desktop with multiple partitions on the HD(s).  Four (4) of these [bootable] partitions are loaded with the same OS, although there are variants within each.  OK, sounds stupid, but special circumstances make some sense of it.  Personally, I'd have done this with VMs, but, oh, well.

So what I'm trying to find is something that will let me identify the active partition w/o having to reboot.  Drive letters are not reliable in this instance, as they can be changed within each OS partition.

I really thought this was going to be simple, but it's turned out to be a bear.  Any thoughts that might be helpful?

106

General Software Discussion / Seeking advice on usenet and irc clients ...

« on: January 27, 2011, 10:13 PM »

Folk,

It appears that I'll shortly have need of an irc client, as well as a usenet client.  Google has not helped.  Oh there's information - too damned much of it! - but there's no way I could even begin to evaluate all that I've found before the contract expires  .

Last time I used either was over a decade ago ... mIRC was about all there was, save for a few homegrown clients, and I cannot begin to recall what I was using then for a news reader.

I'd like to find something reasonably versatile - cross-platform (Win/Linux) would be nice, but not required.  Free would be nice, but I'm not averse to a reasonable cost.

ChatZilla looks nice, but I've too many things now that run in a browser - sometimes I need the browser for other things  .  I'd really like to find something standalone, desktop client(s).  Same for the usenet client(s).  These will be running on Win7 x64 boxes or on an x86 Linux box, prolly Amahi or an Ubuntu variant (although the Linux flavours are subject to adjustment).

I know several of you are involved with irc, and assume, by corollary, that some of you are also involved with usenet ... when I was there, one kinda led to the other  .

Any recommendations would be appreciated - I need shortcuts/pointers at this stage ... I'm over-tested    .

107

General Software Discussion / In need of security advice ...

« on: January 01, 2011, 12:36 AM »

Folk,

I'm setting up a Web site for baby daughter to upload her pics - she's been exercising the EOS Rebel she got for Christmas a year ago  .

Being lazy, I decided to go with WordPress rather than build a site from scratch.

Baby daughter wants to insure that her photos cannot be captured by nefarious denizens of the Web.

I've been reading about no-copy  plugins 'til my eyes are starting to bleed, and I've tried several of the seemingly better ones, but I'm not particularly happy with the results.  I've just about decided that this would be better done via .htaccess, in spite of the fact that I'm not as conversant with it as should be.

However, I thought I'd ask here, see if one amongst you mavens of mystery/mastery might know of a plugin/process that might work.

The ones I've tried to date all seem to work well enough, although one of 'em provides many database warnings.  But the rub lies in clicking the thumbnail to produce a full-sized image.  The plugins have prevented highlighting, right click, most of the standard copy practices - until the thumbnail is clicked.  That provides the full-sized image just fine - but it's neither copy- nor right-click-protected.

At this point, I'm thinkin' that a modification to the .htaccess file might better serve the purpose, although I'm a lot weaker in that arena than I ought to be.

Oh, the reason for choosing WP is the ability to provide descriptive material for each photo, each being a separate post, in effect.  I've looked at some gallery apps, but they just don't work for her.  I've suggested photo sites - Flikr, et. al., but she doesn't trust 'em - nor do I, to any great extent.

Any suggestions as to how this aim might be accomplished?  As long as it doesn't require an ocular transfusion, I'm ready to try just about anything.

Addendum:  descriptive material might be just date and time, or it might be several paragraphs describing conditions, lighting, location, camera settings, and the like, hence the separate post concept.

108

Living Room / In search of a site much like answers.com ...

« on: December 21, 2010, 02:26 AM »

Folk,

Once upon a time, in the early days of the Web, there was a site whose URL I've lost.  This was back in the days when there were few TLDs, mostly .com, .edu, & .gov.  It was probably a .edu, but I really do not recall.  It was like unto ehow.com, answers.com, coolquiz.com, straightdope.com, didyouknow.org ...

It provided information such as

• the mayday emergency call is a bastardization of the French word maidez (sorry, I don't have accenting capability right now)
• the morse code SOS was not an abbreviation of save our souls or save our ship, but the shortest morse message that was unlikely to be confused with static, yet easy to remember
• various and sundry why is it and how to do it and how does it work gems.

For the time - mid- to late-nineties - it was a gargantuan site, so I'd not expect that it has gone under.  At least, I'd be very disappointed if it has gone under, although the Web doesn't seem too concerned about my disappointments  .

Anyway, considering the breadth of knowledge extant at DC, I thought that perhaps one of you might still recall that URL.  I'd be most grateful - for whatever that's worth  - to have it again.

109

Living Room / A curiousity: Intel's 'Core' processors ...

« on: December 19, 2010, 11:26 PM »

I'm really curious about this, but nothing I've researched gives me a satisfactory answer, so I thought I'd try it here.

My primary box has an Intel i7 processor, with Win7 64-bit OS.  A desktop widget, All CPU Meter shows eight ( channels (?).  By loading the CoreTemp utility, the widget will display CPU temp(s).  However, when I look at the CoreTemp data, it shows only four channels.  After noticing this, I've observed that of the eight ( indicators shown by All CPU Meter, each pair shows the same temperature, i.e., channels one (1) and two (2) are the same, three (3) and four (4) are the same ...

Now I'm curious about the CPU:

• How many cores does it really have?
• Why do I see eight ( channels while CoreTemp]/i] shows only four (4)?
• Why can I see, upon occasion, activity in the even-numbered channels?

'Nother words, "What the hell is going on here?"

Edit:  how do I display numeral eight in parentheses without showing a happy face?

110

General Software Discussion / Seeking a truly functional software KVM ...

« on: November 24, 2010, 11:39 PM »

I've been working with Maxi-Vi$ta, Input director, Synergy+.  None of them work as advertised when it comes to controlling multiple satellite systems.

However, that is not the problem.  The problem is that none of them load on boot.  Does anyone know of a software KVM that really loads on boot?

A KVM is useless if you have to have a separate or hardware alternative, no?  I seek a software solution that loads after the BIOS read, or after the OS loads, but before there's any requirement to log in.  After all, I can't log in if the system doesn't recognize the keyboard, can I?

Any suggestions?

111

Living Room / Anyone using Nuance's 'Dragon Naturally Speaking' or equivalent?

« on: November 21, 2010, 01:55 AM »

Got the results of some tests - which seemed overly extensive to me  - today.  Seems that I'm due for some abstruse carving & bleeding first part of 2011.  Said carving will render my dexterity pretty much absent for some number of months, so I'm looking for alternatives.  (I don't think there is a twelve-step program for the Web, and I prolly wouldn't enroll, anyway.)

Dragon is the only voice control system I've ever used, but that was several years agone, version 2 - 3? 4? - and I was somewhat underwhelmed.  However, some of the latest reviews - not on the vendor's site  - indicate that it has improved significantly with version eleven (v.11).

So I'm interested in first person experiences/opinions of that product ... or any alternative product, for that matter.

While I'd like to keep the monetary outlay as low as possible, I'm not too concerned about it if I can get something that works.  I'll likely get a Plantronics Bluetooth headset, as I tend to walk when I talk, so the product will likely affect the headset choice, and I'm open to advice in that arena as well.

This is not, in and of itself, time-critical ... but the sooner it can be resolved, the more time will be available for configuration and practice - reckon I'll need all the time I can get  .

112

General Software Discussion / Anyone familiar with Input Director?

« on: November 01, 2010, 06:48 PM »

Folk,

I'm running into a problem that doesn't show up in the FAQ, and the forum - if it's still active - seems to be down for last day or three.

When I try to set up the slave names, I'm getting a strange error message.  I can set up win73ggw as a slave from win74g3700.  However, when I attempt to set up win74ggw, the error message returned is that win74ggw is already registered as win73ggw.  Nothing I've read in the documentation - nor in the FAQ - seems to address this, and I'm at a loss as to how to proceed.  I suppose I could change the name of the box, but that requires much more reconfiguration on that box than I'd really like to essay.

I could prolly assign by IP address, but again, that'd be a lot of work as well as invalidating several other configurations.

The boxes in question are all Win7 Ultimate, with win73ggw being a 32-bit slave, win74ggw being a 64-bit [supposed] slave, and win74g3700 being a 64-bit master.  Standard assurances on RAM, disk space, CPU.

Anybody with a suggestion, maybe a cure?

113

General Software Discussion / Pros & Cons of Remote Libraries?

« on: October 25, 2010, 07:14 PM »

Folk,

Didn't find anything here on the topic, but perhaps did not search as diligently as I might .

I've been reading a book on HTML5, and it seems that there's a lot of use of various JS components.  I'm interested in opinions/discussion on the use of remote libraries, e.g., jquery or modernizr, as opposed to copying them to a local Web site.

One obvious pro is that you'll most always be using the most current version(s) , and an equally obvious con is that you are at the mercy of Internet traffic and remote server up time/availability .

So what other advantages/disadvantages do you see?  Which would you recommend for Web work?

114

General Software Discussion / Stupid question time, "Any way to *prevent* crapware loading on new box?"

« on: September 02, 2010, 08:05 PM »

Yeah, I know it's dumb.  But, just maybe ...

Finally got my new i7 box, a Dell Vostro 3700 laptop, and I'd really like to find a way to prevent loading of the [obligatory?] included crapware, rather than come back and remove it after the box completes initiating.  Searches have turned up the question, but no viable answers to speak of.  Did find a few that were technically impossible, a couple that seemed improbable, but none that could be effectively implemented, at least by me.

One of the improbable ones involved booting from a Live CD, deleting the offensive bits, then booting the machine naturally.  That requires a more intimate knowledge than I'm ever likely to have of both the OS and the appropriate install programs.  (For one thing, this box has a fingerprint reader, the software for which I'm unlikely to recognize even after installation, much less prior to install  .)  Yeah, with enough research I could probably identify some of the stuff I know is there, but ...  .

OK, enough about my inadequacies ... anyone know of a way to pre-clean a new box prior to initialization?

115

General Software Discussion / Seeking tracking software for downloads to local system ...

« on: August 13, 2010, 04:54 PM »

Looking for software to track downloads to desktop or laptop box.

Requirements/preferences:

• Track all downloads of software or documents except Web pages & the like
• Create real-time log including item name, type, source URL, date, time (optional, but handy), comments
• Store (database or [text] file) download history by date with read/unread flags
• Editor for selected date file - add/modify comments, flag as read/unread
• Searchable across dates for name, type, comment content, date range(?)

FlashGet (formerly JetCar?)- v1.9, as I didn't like the logging of the newer versions - provides some of what I seek - the detail record is very nice, but may be overkill - however, the information is not readily editable after the fact of the download, and it tracks only the downloads run through its interface.

I've seen a few other download managers with some logging capability, but they log only what comes through their interface.

This app needs to be able to record downloads regardless the downloading vehicle.  It should recognize downloads initiated by any browser - or any application update procedure - without recording Web pages and the like.  For instance, it should recognize and record FTP or HTTP downloads, but ignore the browsing maintenance pages, e.g., the actual Web data required for browser display.  I hope that made sense.

Rationale

On any given day, I am like to download up to fifty-sixty files.  Sometimes more, sometimes far fewer, but fifty is about as close as I can calculate w/o having some sort of historical record.  As I review these files, I need to be able to record some result of that review and have them removed from the active list.  I also need some way to check to see if I've already downloaded - yesterday, last week, last month ... - a particular file, then decide whether it should be downloaded again.

I was doing all this manually with a PHP 4.? script, an old MySQL database, and several different text files.  The process has been untenable for a while, but I could find nothing better.  Now, PHP and MySQL have both been upgraded, and the process is broken.  The script will not run under PHP 5.x, or perhaps it cannot talk to the newer version of MySQL - or both.  I've looked at the script - although I'm not allowed to edit it - and it is a real hodgepodge, so even if allowed, I'd spend more time editing than creating something new - assuming, or course, that I could.

All my searches have turned up are ways, scripts, applications to record downloads from a Web site or server in order to amass/analyze statistical data.  I cannot seem to find anything that works more or less in reverse, that tracks to rather than from.

Anyone aware of such a beast?  Or, perhaps, an amalgam that might replicate these tasks with less effort or time consumed?

Edit:  upload tracking would be nice, as well, but down is the primary need.

116

General Software Discussion / Problem: The connection to the server was reset ...

« on: July 24, 2010, 09:52 PM »

Folk,

Been meaning to submit this query, but keep forgetting.  The browser (FF 3.x) error message is, "The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading."

Several versions of Firefox, IE7 & 8, Google Chrome (non-beta), Opera v10.x, Comodo Dragon v?, Safari v?, all on a Win7 or WinXP SP3 box, all giving equivalent messages.  It's not consistent, but I might see it while trying to preview a post here, while trying to browse to a new Web site, or even when trying to view a page-in-work on my local version of Apache.

Many searches have garnered that it is not all that uncommon an error to encounter, and have indicated it's likely from one (1) of three (3) areas:

• the remote server disconnected, for a variety of reasons,
• the [local] DNS server interrupted the request,
• something local, such as a firewall, created the disconnect.

It's really frustrating, 'cause there's no clear indication where to look for causes.

I'm reasonably certain it's not a firewall (Comodo or the new MS offering) issue, but could be persuaded otherwise.
That it could be a DNS issue is not a stretch, considering Grande's performance of late.
Remote server issues seems realistic, save for the frequency, albeit randomness, of the occurrence.

OK, the question:  does anyone know of an error/trace logging software that will annotate where/when an error occurs in a Web request? 

Ideally, it would follow an HTTP(S) request from initiation to completion, but write to a log only when some error occurred during that process.  I'm thinkin' that someone, somewhere, has done this in order to validate Web/link requests, but have had no luck findin' the thing.  (If someone hasn't built it, they damned well should have  .)

Any hints welcome, a resolution would be fantastic!

117

General Software Discussion / Seeking old (98SE?) LAN aware Post-It clone ...

« on: July 22, 2010, 10:02 PM »

Folk,

Back around Win98/SE, there was a handy little app that was a network-aware Post-It note clone.  'Twas lost many crashes/upgrades agone, but I'd certainly like to find whether it still exists.

After I showed it to a compatriot in the Field Engineering department, it became somewhat of a mailbomb tool, as it would send notes to any registered network address, even if that address was currently off line.  Very handy, but also very frustrating if, when you logged onto the LAN, you suddenly received fifty (50) message windows     .

Dunno if it still exists on the Web, nor whether it would run with Win7, but I'd surely like to find it again.

If memory serves,

• it would store notes locally (history)
• it would send notes to a specified LAN user regardless of that user's online status (delayed delivery)
• it would allow near-IM communication (quick)
• it was a low-resource resident app residing in the System Tray (now the Notification Area  ).

I'm in a situation where such - the discrete history, in particular - would be extremely convenient:  much faster than email, but same history record could be maintained.

Anybody recall seeing it, perhaps recall a name? 

118

General Software Discussion / How to [partially] blur screenshots?

« on: July 20, 2010, 06:00 PM »

Folk,

I've seen this many a time, but was never curious 'bout how 'twas done.  Now I need to do it  .

You've probably seen screenshots of some app with some or all of the text content blurred, illegible.  Sometimes all of the text, sometimes all but one or two particular lines.

Currently there is a need to do this w/o resorting to GIMP or Paint.Net or the like - I hope!.  Need to take some screenshots of an application that would display information that need not be seen by others, but could display clearly certain elements of the application.  In some cases, I'll need to obscure parts of the text, but leave other parts clear and readable.

There must be some tool to accomplish this, but I wouldn't begin to know how to search for it.  Ideally, this capability would be part of a screen capture application, but a third-party tool would be acceptable as long as it's reasonably fast and simple, i.e. faster than using GIMP .

Example:

• I want to show toolbar configuration for an email client.  So I want to be able to accentuate the toolbar, but obscure the emails listed in the client screen capture. 
• Or, I might want to display a page of code with all the code obscured except the code relevant to a discussion/tutorial.

The idea is that only the specific elements under discussion are clearly visible.
Can anyone point to such a tool?  (Recently downloaded Screen Captor:  have not seen that capability available, but have not fully explored its capabilities.)

119

General Software Discussion / Error: Firefox plugin manager not working ...

« on: July 06, 2010, 09:12 PM »

Searches, here & Google, have done nothing.

Firefox v3.6.6 will run for 10-20 minutes, then it'll white out (Win7, 64-bit).

I've neither loaded nor updated anything in the last 2-3 days, just started today.  I kill the process, restart, and it's good for another 10-20 minutes, maybe half an hour at times.

Yeah, I could switch browsers, but some things I do require Firefox & some plugins.

I can probably live with it, but the constant restarting is really getting on my nerves  .

Anyone have ideas for circumvention?

120

General Software Discussion / In search of JavaScript book(s) for a kinda novice ...

« on: June 29, 2010, 07:57 PM »

Folk,

Seeking recommendations for one or more books on JavaScript.  Searches here have turned up a plethora of items, but none that I've perused seem to fit requirements.

A friend of mine, reasonably conversant with HTML/PHP/MySQL has decided she just has to learn JS.  She's asked me for book recommendations, but I simply don't have any.  She's not a hardcore web developer, but does well with most of what she attempts to do.

Looking, prolly, for two (2) types of books:  one would be a reasonable tutorial/instruction manual, the other would be a cookbook kind of manual.  I simply do not know enough about JS to make recommendations.  (Maybe I should get copies of whatever might be recommended?)

She's competent with HTML, perhaps a bit less so with PHP (but progressing rapidly).  Probably a mid-level (?) book on JavaScript - methodology, syntax, and the like - would be appropriate.  She also wants something similar to PHP:  Developer's Cookbook , of which she is very fond (as was meself, several years agone).

Any suggestions?

Addendum:  I've looked at O'Reilly, but simply cannot judge from the titles/descriptions.

121

General Software Discussion / Help Request: Php files on Apache server not loading right

« on: June 24, 2010, 05:40 PM »

Folk,

I give up.  I've been fighting this problem for a couple of weeks, now, and cannot deduce or find a resolution.

I've installed Apache 2.2, PHP 5.x, & MySQL on a 64-bit Win7 box.  However, PHP files merely display the page as PHP code, at best.  Both Apache and PHP are 32-bit, MySQL is 64-bit.  The box in question is an Intel i3 4-core, 4 GB RAM.
I had the same problem with Win XP, and I think I had it with Win 2K.  However, I do not recall what resolved it.

All the Apache and PHP forum efforts have been treated as RTFM, with an automatic assumption that the manual has not been read  .  Google [many] searches have revealed a significant number of resolutions - none of which have worked for me.  Some of those resolutions involved WAMP/XAMPP, but that hasn't worked, either.  I dislike using WAMP/XAMPP for several reasons, but I tried both, anyway.  The results were significantly less than optimal  .

Bottom line - one of 'em, at least - is that I cannot test a couple of gigs of Web code on the laptop.  While I can run against the server just fine, I'm not always connected to the server.  Since I'm likely to experience vascular surgery in the near future, I really need to get the laptop up to speed in this respect, as there is no reason carving my drumstick(s) should keep me non-productive (if ever I was that  ).

As I recall previous corrections for the older OSes, it was httpd.conf & php.ini corrections, but I cannot remember those for the life of me.  If needful to see those files, I can put 'em up on a site - they're too long to post here, methinks.

122

Living Room / Suggestions for a docking station?

« on: May 14, 2010, 09:29 PM »

This laptop configuration thing is growing <sigh />.  Now my navy buddy & his SO are talking about a docking station.  I've checked several online, and am leaning toward a Kensington K33926US, but thought I'd check with you folk, first.  I like this one because it has a 10/100 RJ-45 port, but that's just my belt-'n-'spenders attitude - it's not really necessary.  Anybody have any other recommendations?  The reviews I've found online have been pretty bad.

123

General Software Discussion / Pros & Cons of a headless server?

« on: May 10, 2010, 08:59 PM »

My naval buddy called this weekend, checking to see how the laptop(s) config process is going.

He's all gung-ho over something a shipmate fed him about a headless [Ubuntu] server.  Now he wants to do that with his home desktop system.  Granted, it would allow him a bit more room, i.e., no monitor or keyboard space, but I'm kinda dubious 'bout the concept.  He's wild about the idea, wants to admin with Webmin from his laptop.

I can perceive the advantages, but not familiar enough to identify the downside(s). 

The box he's discussing currently runs WinXP and is used as a kinda,sorta file server as well as a desktop machine.  Now that he has the laptop(s) he wants to convert it.

My preference would be that he install Ubuntu desktop, then add server components as needed.  That doesn't seem to be, in a home environment, overly insecure, and he was born, in the PC sense, A.D. (After DOS), so I've got a life-sized picture of trying to help him with command-line over the phone.  He's accustomed to a GUI, and I'm not certain Webmin would be sufficient.

Haven't found anything definitive, one way or the other, via Google.  Thus, I've returned to the wealth of knowledge that is DC for information. 

124

General Software Discussion / Connection refused? Where to look ...

« on: May 08, 2010, 04:41 PM »

Feelin' kinda sheepish over this one .  The error I'm getting is

Error 102 (net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED): Unknown error.

Seems familiar from a few aeons ago - say twelve (12) to fifteen (15) years? - but cannot for the life of me remember how to address it.

I'm hitting the server from one of the laptops I'm configuring.  The specified URL page loads, but has three (3) iframes, in each of which I get this error.  None of my searches have turned up anything informative, at least for this problem.  Thing is, I'm not certain where to look.  It's not HTTP, nor, as far as I can tell, Apache.  Thought it might be .NET since it's a Win box, but no juice there so far.  And if were .NET related, why do I think I remember it from the past?

This is not the normal server, btw - that's down for a partial rebuild , so I'm hitting my Windows desktop (Win7, 32-bit), which has Apache, PHP, PERL, Python installed.

125

General Software Discussion / Need some input on CMS for a kinda, sorta webby ...

« on: May 04, 2010, 12:26 AM »

Have a friend who is about to start a sailing school.  He has an established Web presence on sailing schtuff, decent page rank, reasonable traffic, all the little things that seem to matter.

Seems as though, lately, everybody and their {brother|mother|sister|father|friend|cousin|wife} is asking for advice  .  The Capt. wants to know some stuff 'bout adding his new business to his Web site.  I'm thinkin' he'd be best off with some CMS, but am hard put to recommend a suitable one.  I'm aware of Joomla, Drupal, have a bit of experience with Concrete5 (?), but hard put to recommend one to him.  Searched here, but nothing found seemed appropriate to this situation.

He's middlin' conversant with HTML, a bit less with PHP, but he did manage to put together a [pretty good] PHP/MySQL-driven sales page (with a bit of help), when he and his SO were selling jewelry and Chinese stuff , in order to record clients, addresses, email, and other such business info.  Now he needs to revamp - not totally rebuild - his sailing site to include references to, and content from, his training/school.  He can add appropriate links & static commentary, but wants to be able to display notes from the training classes.  Sea stories, as it were, important bits about his students, their questions, and his resolutions to those questions.  Mostly, these would be teasers to entice other students, ya know?  They'd change on a periodic basis, perhaps every class.

Strikes me that a CMS would be ideal, something his admin could do from his class notes, but don't have a clue as to which one would best serve his purposes.  Don't want to start a flame war - I've seen questions like this do so on other forae; don't think that would happen on DC - but I'd really like suggestions as to a CMS that would

• be easily adaptable to existing page(s)
• be simple enough that a low-rent admin could enter appropriate material w/o Web page knowledge
• be readily expandable in case his endeavour blooms

.

Thus, I'm once again asking for help.  (Oneathesedays I'm going to be able to help someone else - I hope and pray.)  Is there some CMS variant that would even come close to filling that bill of particulars?  Minimal learning curve, maximal adaptability?