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Flash Player 10.1 first impression

Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 12:14 AM
Other Stuff by John (Article #250)

I plugged the new Flash Player 10.1 beta into my home theater PC this afternoon. You can find the beta at http://labs.adobe.com.

My #1 impression: a significant reduction in tearing using Hulu.

The big thing this release is supposed to offer is offloading H.264 to the GPU. The beta offers this feature to a limited set of video cards (mostly ATi Radeons 4xxx and nVidia GeForces 8xxx and above).

I'm running an ATi Radeon 4650 with 1 Gb DDR3 RAM in my HTPC. It has a slightly overlocked Wolfdale Pentium Dual Core running at 3.1 GHz (stock 2.8) with 2 Gb RAM running Windows 7 Ultimate. It is a capable performer, handling upsampling DVDs to near Blu-Ray quality. It doesn't bat an eyelash at the big ugly of the HD world: 1080i full bandwith OTA ATSC MPEG-2 (essentially, CBS OO stations).

But, Hulu has had enough tearing when the system is running wireless that it is noticeable. Far from unwatchable, but still not desirable for scenes with a lot of heavy panning and action.

The Flash 10.1 beta all but ended this problem. Except for the here and there slight glitch, it works. And even the glitches really require a committed effort to spotting them. While still not ideal, they will be very easy to ignore in casual viewing.

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Re-familiarizing myself with Visual BASIC .NET

Monday, December 15, 2008, 1:14 AM
Other Stuff by John (Article #233)

First off, yes, I know I am a hardcore LAMP stack pimp. If there's a job to put together with LAMP, I'll do it that way.

Well, this particular job, integrating the brick and mortar retail side with the web store so that the inventory is one piece, only employs the MySQL part of the LAMP stack. LAMP just doesn't integrate very well with thermal receipt printers, cash drawer kickouts, scan guns and all the other toys it takes to scan a UPC, reduce inventory and print a receipt. Of course, I am madly in love with MySQL. MySQL is arguably the best database ever for quick and dirty solutions.

So, I decided to dust off some Visual BASIC for the first time in a couple years. Now, my initial survey of potential solutions made me realize something quick: however awesome my old copy of VB6 is, it is out-dated. So, I bit the bullet and got a copy of Visual Studio 2005 (acquiring older versions tends to be cost-effective; for example, new versions of Photoshop offer very little if any any bang for the many, many bucks you spend -- any version from PS6 up will do).

My primary motivation in finally moving to .NET was driven by the fact that the means of connecting MySQL to VB.NET are miles easier and more trustworthy than the means for connecting to VB6. Not the least of which, the main plugin is distributed by Sun.

In my rundown of problems with the connector, nothing was too difficult.

I have to admit, I found the incompatibility between non-query and querying SQL connections a tiny bit obnoxious. Obviously, doing the majority of my coding with PHP, it's a bit foreign to me to have to drop a connection, re-establish it, and then proceed simply because the type of SQL statement I wish to handle has gone from a SELECT to an UPDATE or and INSERT.

I know PHP is arguably the most forgiving programming language since QBASIC, but it still seems a little cumbersome to have to trash a connection and re-establish it like so:

conn.Close()
conn.Open()

SQL = 'UPDATE sizes SET qty = qty +1 WHERE id='' & qry & '' LIMIT 1'
myCommand.CommandText = SQL
myCommand.ExecuteNonQuery()

It seems like a lot of screwing around to accomlish something that can be done in two lines of code with PHP + MySQL.

Whatever the case, that's how it happens. In VB.NET, you gotta can your MySQL connection from your SELECT statement and start a new one before you can proceed with your UPDATE or INSERT. It's lame.

But, truth be told, you can be lame all you want as long as you're consistent. And VB.NET, for all its flaws, is consistent.

The other big item that annoyed me was the printer issue transitting from VB6 to VB.NET.

First off, let me say I completely understand Microsoft's motivations in trying to imrpove Visual BASIC's printer interaction. VB6 required that you dig deep into the system calls to accomplish anything beyond sending some text to the primary printer. And, of course, the primary appeal of Visual BASIC is rapid application development. Dicking around with system hooks isn't RAD. Not by a long shot.

That said, I don't understand the absence of reverse compatibility with the basic VB6 printer command:

Printer.Print('Whatever')
Printer.EndDoc()

This was brain-dead easy to implement. And the vast majority of VB apps do not require advanced printing functions.

To Microsoft's credit, they did make it easy to shoehorn a solution in, using the Visual BASIC Power Packs. With a bit of code:

At the way beginning of your form's code:

Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic.PowerPacks.Printing.Compatibility.VB6

And in the actually element's code:

Dim Printer As New Printer

Printer.Print('Whatever')
Printer.EndDoc()

So, all said, it is a minor inconvenience.

Beyond that, once I shook off a little rust and learned a few quirks worth of difference between VB.NET and VB6, I was off and flying with my point-of-sale software. It now pulls names and prices and reduces or adds stock all in conjunction with the input from the scan gun. It kicks out a nicely formatted receipt to the thermal printer, which in its own turn kicks out the cash drawer.

It really is just that damned easy.

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PlayStation 3 browser pops up in logs

Friday, July 18, 2008, 12:05 AM
Other Stuff by John (Article #223)

Mozilla/5.0 (PLAYSTATION 3; 1.00)

Hmm... Not that I care deeply for the PS3 as an internet browser client, but it was interesting to spot it while randomly checking web logs. Oddly, this individual was search for PA Lottery results from two days ago. So, this person has it together: slow to check things, playing the lotto and spending on a PS 3. Sounds like the life, doesn't it?

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What I've been working on lately

Tuesday, July 1, 2008, 1:30 PM
Other Stuff by John (Article #219)

I have recently produced two new websites for clients and am working on two new sites of my own.

The two for clients are DuBoisBride.com and Royers219AutoSales.com. Neither site is very glitzy, but both are function-driven. DuBoisBride.com is a redesign to improve the functionality of the registration system for an annual bridal expo. Royers219AutoSale.com, as the name suggest, is a car dealer website.

The two sites I am currently working on for my own reasons are MakeABase.com and GeneratedNames.com.

MakeABase.com

MakeABase.com is intended to allow users to embed database tables in their own web pages with no coding, similar to how you just copy and paste some JavaScript in order to embed Google Maps on your own web pages. I set up a demo of an embedded DB table running on a GeoCities website. And, yes, it gets around cross-site scripting issue without using any hacks or zero-day stuff. It is 100% valid, safe JavaScript that does the job. It isn't a true AJAX app, because the only good way to handle the system was to ditch being asynchronous and working over ActiveX.

The process of building a new DB is simple. Take a spreadsheet (right now it supports Excel XLS and Comma Separated Values CSV file formats), upload it and then copy and paste the JavaScript into your web page.

GeneratedNames.com

GeneratedNames.com is a website that uses a dictionary to help you generate domain names for your website. You enter you preferred keywords and then it gives you a series of definitions. You select the definitions that most closely match your intent, and then it fires off a list of related words. You select the words you like and then it remixes them to generate a list of potential domain names. You can then check to see if the domain name is registered. If it isn't registered, then it offers the option to register them through GoDaddy.

GeneratedNames.com still has a way to come before it is really production ready. MakeABase.com is closing in on being ready to test with other users.

Of course, the bitch with MakeABase is that if it generates any interest, it isn't going to take long for it to outstrip the server it now running on.

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Fixing an open relay on Postfix

Sunday, May 11, 2008, 3:05 PM
Other Stuff by John (Article #202)

On some levels GoDaddy really sucks. One of those levels happens to be their almost craven willingness to leave the base install of their virtual dedicated servers in a deliberately sorry state in order to pressure customers into paying for their assisted support plan.

GoDaddy leave their virtual dedicated servers open to being exploited as open relays. Of course, the default limit for relayed emails per day is 1,000. So, you can see where a spam attack could become a source of real angst very fast.

Yeah, I get that if you purchase a server without a support plan that you are expected to be able to admin it yourself. But, it is lame to willfully deploy crippled servers that act as open relays for spam email, and are thereby a nuisance to many more than just the customer refusing to buy an assisted support plan. It is at best lazy and at worst a disgusting brand of cynical capitalism.

In the past I have asked GoDaddy tech support to address the issue and they have accommodated. Apparently this policy of accommodating making the internet less spammy is now over. I emailed them twice asking them to fix the problem and got no joy at all. GoDaddy apparently just didn't give a damn that they are aiding the spread of even more spam across the internet.

Classy, huh?

So, time to suck it up and learn what I needed to do to fix Postfix so that it wasn't acting as an open relay.

Here's what you need to do:

Make a copy of the main.cf file found in the /etc/postix/ folder on your server. Small hint: if you don't know how to access this folder, you probably shouldn't be screwing around with main.cf for Postfix.

Then add to it the following lines:

smtpd_helo_required = yes
smtpd_delay_reject = no
disable_vrfy_command = yes

smtpd_helo_restrictions = permit_mynetworks,
reject_invalid_hostname,
reject_unknown_hostname,
reject_non_fqdn_hostname

This forces any incoming request to pause and identify itself. It also prevents the incoming request from trying to verify user names that might be on the server.

Upload the new main.cf file to the server and then restart Postfix. Once you have done that, go to Abuse.net's website and plug in the name of your mail server to test for any relays that might still be open.

All of this is based on info I found here. I trimmed this down to the first two suggestions because you really should limit how crazy you get attacking Postfix. But, if you need more robust ideas to handle a much larger scale attack, there are some good suggestions there.

For point of reference, my relay was passing 238 from midnight until 5 pm yesterday. Now, a fair number of those are legit, but this is the weekend and every website on the server in question is a small website. So, there is no justification for that much traffic.

Today (a Sunday) I checked the relay and it has passed five emails.

Tada! Problem fixed.

And with a big no thanks to GoDaddy. Yay.

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The joy of errors: 426 Failure writing network stream

Monday, May 5, 2008, 1:00 AM
Other Stuff by John (Article #200)

I was FTPing files in order to tinker around with installing ImageMagick on my server. Doing a build from source was not particularly successful, so I decided to see if the RPM installer would give some more joy. In the process of attempting to upload the RPM file onto the server, the FTP process got really snippy.

And then it started kicking out: '426 Failure writing network stream'.

I restarted the server and the error went away, until I tried to upload that same RPM file. So, I figured, OK, something is making the FTP process gag. So, I restarted the FTP process and all was well. Of course, I'm a dumbass, so I tried FTPing the RPM again. After all, we all know that servers ignore you twice just to make sure you're serious about uploading the file.

I'm still kinda curious as to what the deal is with this one file that makes it cause my FTP service to flip out and die. I don't have any answers, but I thought I'd share and see if any of the passers-by had a similar problem and ever figured out what the hell the deal was.

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There's a word in Spanish my server doesn't understand

Thursday, February 7, 2008, 11:18 PM
Other Stuff by John (Article #182)

Buscar... it's an interesting word. It's Mexicanese version of "Search". It is also an important word if your website has any significant amount of Spanish language content on it.

I was surprised to see that my web stats package, when processing search queries, no lo comprende que "buscar" es el mismo typo como "search". Of course I obfuscate that in Spanglish because... well, I have issues. My apologies for butchering a language that doesn't belong to me -- I've been listening to Molotov lately, and learning Spanish from them is about the same as learning carpentry from a monkey brandishing a chainsaw.

More on-topic... I don't know why, but it just strikes me that a web server built by GoDaddy, a company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, would have some kind of Spanish-language support in handling web stats. So, if a Spanish language search engine uses "buscar" in its choice of CGI queries, those go untallied by my web stats as searches.

Maybe I'm just being snotty, but I'd like to see what folks are buscando on my websites.

I know for most readers of this blog this will be a minor inconvenience not being able to tally Spanish language queries to their websites, but I still thought it was a bit limiting.

At some point I need to build my own log analyzer anyhow. Obviously, one more thing to toss in there would be Spanish language support. Of course, if I do that, how long will it be before people request I open source it and add support for Micronesian pidgin English?

Just a matter of time.

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The great server migration of 2008

Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 11:51 PM
Other Stuff by John (Article #169)

UPDATE March 11, 2008: I've added a rundown of the basic process I've used for backing up servers here.

If you use GoDaddy for a virtual dedicated or dedicated Linux server, there's a pretty good chance you've gotten this little message in your Inbox:

*** REQUIRED OPERATING SYSTEM UPGRADE REGARDING FEDORA CORE 2/4 ***

It's a sexy message, for sure. One of the nice things about GoDaddy is that they offer a virtual dedicated server that is just as good as running your own box, minus the outrageous bill for business grade broadband access. One of the downers, though, is that GoDaddy is pretty committed to upselling you toward an assisted support plan.

Of course, I'm not looking for anyone's help with my own server. So, I began the great server migration of 2008.

The easiest way to run EXPUNGE for IMAP

Friday, January 4, 2008, 6:05 PM
Other Stuff by John (Article #164)

WARNING: This is serious Linux admin stuff. If you're just looking for CSS snippets,pass right on by this article. Don't dig into any of this unless you already know what an IMAP server really is and why any of this matters.

All that aside... SquirrelMail and IMAP aren't the happiest of friends. The particular fault is the manner in which subfolder get bloated if a webmail user only uses webmail, or use just webmail and POP3 mail from Outlook or Thunderbird. The most common problem arises when the Trash folder (not a feature that IMAP supports in its own right) get bloated. Not the hardest thing to have happen with the flood of modern spam. This becomes a real bitch because SquirrelMail isn't always able to run the IMAP EXPUNGE command, and consequently the user loses the ability to even view the Trash folder, let alone delete the contents. Depending on the version of SquirrelMail 1.x.x vs 2.x.x, the=is can be more trouble. SM1 doesn't do a very good job at all of coping with the EXPUNGE issue.

So, the question then becomes, what is the easiest way to run EXPUNGE on a mail account?

The NFL is not very online friendly

Monday, September 3, 2007, 12:29 PM
Other Stuff by John (Article #161)

From Advertising Age:

Unlike on cable TV, where the NFL Network continues to clash with carriers over broadcast fees, the NFL has secured a dominant position online, having successfully forbidden all other sites to carry its highlights, as well as limiting the amount of press conference footage that can be aired.

Yup. The NFL really gets this internets thingie-ma-jigger. I'd be intrigued to see if this policy extends to takedown notices being sent to YouTube. Generally, if I want to find a clip of anything old from the NFL that is where I go looking.

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Welcome!

Wonder where to start with your web design business?

This blog follows along with my efforts to build and grow a website design business, Pro Content and Design.

The goal of this blog is to fill in blanks that may be empty as you get your business rolling.

This blog, particularly the source code section, is not intended for beginners. If you are not comfortable with databases, Ajax, DOM objects and other advanced methods, I strongly suggest you go take a look over at W3 Schools before even reading -- let alone tinkering with -- any of the code here.

I hope this blog has some value to web designers as they attempt to get their businesses going.

Good luck, and happy reading.

Thank you,
John Crawford
Pro Content and Design