Everything Great is *Nixbased

As many of you have probably been reading Google has released a web browser called “Chrome”. It first caught my attention due to the innovative way in which Google accidentally announced the launch on September 1st, via a comic book illustrated by Scott McCloud and designed to show the positive features and architecture of their new product. The 38-page comic landed in the mailboxes of a few Europeans due to a “mailroom error”, was scanned and then uploaded to the unofficial Google blog Google Blogoscoped for all to see. As if a browser by Google wasn’t enough to get people talking, using a new approach like a comic book to make product announcements and explain it’s features is great for visibility in the blogosphere. Google released a blog entry later the same day confirming that “Chrome” was not a hoax and in fact would be released on September 2nd.

The browser which can be downloaded from Google’s Chrome page, is based on the open source web browser engine WebKit, the same browser engine that Safari uses. It is a browser truly fashioned with the Google mindset as it is light weight, using a smaller memory footprint than both Firefox and Internet Explorer (this can be compared by typing “about:memory” into the address/search bar)  and is very clean  from a user interface perspective.

The install process is straightforward with almost no need for user intervention, only needing the user to to close their current web browser so it can import bookmarks and passwords which is an inspiration to other developers when it comes to install processes, not to mention it lends it’s self well to those whom are new to computers.

The only thing I am REALLY missing with Chrome is the Add-ons and Greasemonkey scripts I have become so accustomed to in Firefox, well that and the fact it doesn’t have a Linux or Mac version. It is however much better than IE 8. All and all considering it has only been out less than 24-hours I think Chrome has an amazing shot at consuming a large part of the web browser market if the ability to use add-ons is incorporated. To see a more in depth (and informative) first look at chrome visit the Lifehacker entry titled Google Chrome First Look.

Every living organism needs a source of food (energy). For some organisms it may be cellulose, lignin, or another chemical compound but we as humans see our energy sources as so much more than groups of chemically bonded elements at fixed masses. We use food as not only an energy source but as a social tool, a personal comfort, and sometimes even a reason for living. These things and others make the way cuisine is viewed by our species unique and should, at least in theory, put a large amount of importance on the quality of ingredients offered at our local supermarkets. It should also put a great deal of importance on each persons ability to take great ingredients and in turn produce a few great, but fairly unique meals. The problem is, neither of these issues seem to receive such importance.

Side note: If using food as a reason for living seems odd, I recommend reading about Bernard Loiseau.

In the past on this blog I have touched on the way a massive amount of the population is eating (see: Fast Food, Fast Death) but more recently I have been paying more attention to an issue or two which run even deeper than bad choices on the part of an obese populous. The food sold in the supermarkets today is over preserved, lacking nutrients, generally processed and often overpriced, to add to that men and women alike are often no longer taught how to prepare a great tasting and nutritionally balanced meal, nor do they often take it upon themselves to learn such skills.

Food Quality

In Anthony Bourdain’s book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly he reveals tales of pre-packaged food’s only in need of some heating being served in restaurants and old, decaying food items from previous meals being used to prepare meals for brunch specials just to save on the bottom line. It seems the supermarket isn’t much different. Everything is genetically modified, produced for mass consumption, preserved for days of travel with even more preservatives added for extended shelf life, boxed in fancy packaging with misleading pictures on the front and sold for a gross markup above and beyond anything reasonable. What tops it off is that they use so much salt and are so afraid of real natural flavors that everything either tastes like sodium or is bland to suit the generally underdeveloped pallet of western civilization, this “food” tastes like shit and isn’t much better for us nutritionally speaking.

We do have the choice to eat organic, but what “organic” really means depends on the country you are purchasing the items in. In Canada come December 14th, 2008 according to http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/orgbio/stainte.shtml:

• Only products with organic content that is greater than 95% may be labeled as: “Organic” or with the Canada Organic Logo and/or the designations “Canada Organic” and “Biologique Canada”.
• Multi-ingredient products with 70-95% organic content may have the declaration: “% organic products.” These products may not use the Canada Organic Logo and/or the designations “Canada Organic” and “Biologique Canada”.
• Multi-ingredient products with less than 70% organic content may only contain organic claims in the product’s ingredient list. These products may not use the Canada Organic Logo and/or the designations “Canada Organic” and “Biologique Canada”

In the USA the USDA has implemented standards which include four different labels for organic items. The “100% Organic” label means it is a single ingredient item which is totally organic but can still contain added salts, the “Organic” label is for multiple ingredient foods which are 95 to 100% organic and “Made with organic ingredients” means 70% of the ingredients are organic. The last label is “Contains organic ingredients “ and can be applied when the items ingredients are less than 70% organic. The laws on what can be added to the product before it hits shelves and the practices which are allowed in organic farming seem to be slightly unclear and ever-changing. Another point of confusion is that there are different certifying agents accredited by the USDA and CFIA, agents such as the CCOF use more restrictive standards than some others and it is possible to buy items which are both CCOF and USDA certified in the USA. Though organically grown items and organically raised livestock do seem to be the proper way to go to avoid ingesting chemicals we do not need nor want in our bodies it isn’t an easy switch. Organic food also means higher food costs due to lower yield, more regulation on animals per acre etc. Many lower income households can not afford a price increase on basic necessities, making the option to eat all organically produced foods one left to those more fortunate.

Another increasingly popular option is to buy locally produced food items. This is one that everyone can afford, it is often both more cost effective and a healthier option then the items offered at the large scale grocer. Organic or not, buying local means not only less preservatives being used on your food but supporting the local economy and small farmer. Less preservatives means fresher food, which in turn means more nutritional and better tasting ingredients.

Time to Cook

Now that I have touched on quality of ingredients the second issue comes into play. Everybody needs to know the basics of food preparation and cooking. It really does not take much to prepare a meal that others will enjoy, converse over and possibly even compliment you on. It is common to hear people say they can’t cook, that they mainly eat out or let their other half do the cooking. I don’t really get why. If food is so important and can spark such emotional ties then everyone should be taught at least the basics, we aren’t talking professional chef level cooking here after all.

Like most other things anyone can learn to cook by reading some books, in this case cook books or  web sites and practicing technique as well as different combinations of ingredients. The first step however is the right equipment. It doesn’t take much and you can acquire things over time as you need them, for example you probably won’t need a clay cooker or automatic meat slicer when cooking basic meals and learning what works best, remember the K.I.S.S principle.

What You Will Need

Though it really depends on the type of food you are planning to cook some basics are mandatory:

• 1 chefs knife, as big as you can handle
• 1 boning knife
• 1 pairing knife
• 2 sauce pans, a 1qt and a 3qt
• 2 skillets, a 8 inch and a 12 inch with a lid
• 1 large saute pan
• 1 roasting pan
• 1 stock pot, go large anything over 8qt
• 1 Wok
• various sizes and shapes of baking dishes
• 1 baking sheet
• 1 mixing bowl set
• 1 dry measuring cup set
• 1 liquid measuring cup set
• 1 measuring spoon set
• 2 spatulas
• strainers
• wooden spoons
• standing grater
• slotted spoons

You will also need a few other utensils depending on what you are cooking, but those are the basics in my opinion. To each person this can differ.

When it comes to pots and pans I prefer cast iron where as others prefer stainless steel or copper. However with cast iron be sure to season it correctly before use. As for baking dishes the two best choices are often glass or stone but it can depend on the dish being made. Knives are a whole other beast and one where personal preference is biggest. Japanese and German knives are the most common when talking quality. A cheap set of knives just won’t do if you want to be precise, use less effort and be quick. Global, Misono, Wusthof, Henckels, and Kershaw’s Shun line are all reputable brands and others do exist but I recommend trying any knife before buying it, some manufacturers tend to make some styles of knife better then others depending on a persons preference. For sharpening purposes a few options exist but I do recommend sending them out to a professional to be sharpened. If you are  the adventurous type, doing some research and trying out the options available to you (on some cheaper knives to start) would be a good plan as many options exist from sets of wetstones and  sharpening stones which you use freehand to knife sharpening systems. A honing tool is also required but I will leave you to reading about that yourself. A great resource for knife sharpening information is Knife Maintenance and Sharpening.

Conclusion

Now that the needed tools have been covered it’s time to find some recipes and give it a shot. As mentioned pretty much anything about cooking can be found online and in cook books. Just use Google and don’t be afraid to try new techniques and ingredients. With some experience you will be cooking great meals in no time at all. If you can’t make time to learn this new skill it may be a good idea to examine what you are spending your time doing. Cooking is a life skill, watching T.V, doing extra work to impress the boss or playing that new gaming console is not.

Since the dawn of time the way the beard has been viewed from civilization to civilization and time period to time period has differed. In ancient Greece it was a sign of virility, in ancient India a symbol of wisdom, and within the Germanic Lombard tribe it was a religious tribute to Odin. During the American Civil War Generals sported full beards more often then not and prominent political figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Alexander MacKenzie were unshaven during their time in office.

The beard was, at these times not only socially acceptable but often expected. It became a sign of manliness. However as time progressed and the media began to depict men as clean shaven the beard growing trend began to die. The long standing positive attributes associated with the bearded man gave way to the misconception that only the unhygienic and lazy members of the male gender were the only ones whom would grow prominent amounts of facial hair.

However the social stigma associated with growing a beard in the 1980’s and 90’s seems to have been lessening over the past couple years. The beard is becoming fashionable again as men are feeling the need to reclaim their masculinity in an overwhelmingly feminine culture. Everyone from professional models and stars to your everyday man are now trying their hands at growing beards in all shapes and forms.

Though psychological studies have suggested that a beard impacts negatively on how women see men as possible partners one must not discount the past when beards were popular and the existence of personal preference, some women like them and some do not. When psychologists conduct studies which generalize the emotions and interpretations of an entire gender it is time to wonder if the psychologists conducting such studies and psychology its self are any more credible then religious zealots preaching their misguided beliefs without concrete proof. In my opinion based on my experiences with the opposite sex as a bearded man, it is all about personal preference.

Though the bearded look does not suit every man and some men do not have the genetics to grow a great beard it it a very masculine ability and a great way to feel more manly without the risks which come with partaking in some other primal instincts and urges (think rape and pillage). If you can grow a great looking beard, can understand the basics of a proper neckline and don’t end up looking like a serial killer I say give it a shot and see how it goes. You maybe surprised by how great you look and the feeling it gives you.

If you don’t feel a full beard is best for you or that growing such would possibly end with your closest family and friends fondly calling you “patches” for years to come I recommend you check out this:

Keep in mind at first your beard will feel much more coarse then when it is grown out and any cutting does make the hair more blunt edged than not doing so. As the beard grows it becomes rather soft and will not give your significant other “beard rash”. A few sites do exist which feature communities of men whom are growing beards and these communities can often answer any questions you have on the subject. To find these communities a Google search should do the trick.

So if you are a man the time is now, try some styles and let me know, what style of facial hair is right for you?

I like many of my generation and generations before it remember growing up in a world where we were allowed and even sometimes encouraged to explore, test boundaries and maybe even have a little fun in the process. It seems in the world today this mentality has been lost. Parents are told more and more to put locks on cupboards and cabinets and constantly warned about the negative influences that exist outside the “safety zone” of their own home.

My questions are numerous such as: Why are we now a society living in fear? What will the impact be on the social interaction and social dynamics of generations to come? and Is this trend to blame for some of the lack of children’s ability to perform well in school?. It is a rather obvious observation for me that children are not as fragile as some “experts” and parents seem to think. As mentioned all you need to do to see this is review the methods used by generations passed when raising a child.

Parents of toddlers putting “child proof” locks on cupboards and gates in doorways is nothing more then a convince for the parent, or so it seems at first. By doing this you may solve the current issue of a child possibly injuring its self by getting into the cleaning supplies but in reality this child is trying to explore, understand and learn. What happened to actually watching the children and teaching them what is allowed and what is not? Why don’[t parents use and stick to telling their child things like “no don’t touch” and therefore solve the real issue of the child not knowing what it is and is not allowed to explore? It is my thought that the active roll of both parents in the workforce today may contribute to this. Parents return home from work and neither has the energy to fight with a toddler whom is set in his or her own way.

Children need to play and explore boundaries to help learn how things work, to help foster the existence of creativity as they age. By not being given such a chance to do seemingly “dangerous” things such as build ramps to jump bikes over rivers or climb the big oak tree, children will not learn the critical and creative thinking skills needed to thrive in both the educational arena and the next step known as a career.

If these kids are kept indoors more due to this “fear” parents seem to be living in they become sediment, this leads to obesity as we have seen in recent years. The other impact of being indoors so much is lack of face to face social interaction. Without this interaction it is hard to believe that a child would grow to be a well-adjusted, contributing member of society. These children seem to be becoming more disconnected with the community and instead using electronic communication to fill that void.

This brings me to the final question which has been plaguing me; “Why are we now a society living in fear?”. This is the one I have a really hard time coming up with an explanation for. It maybe due to the influence of some writers and editors whom focus on some of these issues or even the rise in the lack of peoples ability to think for themselves. Maybe even a lack of life experience. Whatever the reason however it is a cancer which is rapidly spreading and in my opinion needs to stop through proper education and a little ability to take responsibility for ones own offspring.

I would love to hear your opinions on this matter so please leave a comment if you have anything to add.

This was set as a page but due to the restructuring of a few things on this blog I have decided to add it as a post. Please enjoy.

Echostar 1/2 (148w)

Dish: 18″ (30″ Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Circular

AMC-8 (139w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

AMC-7 (137w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

AMC-10 (135w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Galaxy 15 (133w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

AMC-11 (131w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Echostar 5 (129w)

Dish: 24″ (6ft Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Circular

Intelsat Americas 7 C-band (129w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Intelsat Americas 7 Ku-band (129w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Linear

Galaxy 13 (127w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Horizons 1 (127w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Linear

Galaxy 14 (125w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Galaxy 10 C-band (123w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Galaxy 10 Ku-band (123w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Linear

Intelsat Americas 13 (121w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Echostar 9 (121w)

Dish: 30″
LNB: Linear

AMC-16 (119w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Low-band Circular (not the same Circular as used for 110/119!)

Echostar 7 (119w)

Dish: 18″ (30″ Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Circular

Anik F2 C-band (111w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Anik F2 Ku-band (111w)

Dish: 30″
LNB: Linear

Echostar 8/10 (110w)

Dish: 18″ (1.2m Alaska/Canada/Carribbean; 30″ Hawaii)
LNB: Circular

Anik F1 C-band (107w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Anik F1 Ku-band (107w)

Dish: 30″
LNB: Linear

AMC-15 (105w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Linear

AMC-1 C-band (103w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

AMC-1 Ku-band (103w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Linear

AMC-4 C-band (101w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

AMC-4 Ku-band (101w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Linear

Galaxy 4 C-band (99w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Galaxy 4 Ku-band (99w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean
LNB: Linear

Intelsat Americas 5 C-band (97w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Intelsat Americas 5 Ku-band (97w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Linear

Galaxy 3 C-band (95w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Galaxy 3 Ku-band (95w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean
LNB: Linear

Intelsat Americas 6 C-band (93w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Intelsat Americas 6 Ku-band (93w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean
LNB: Linear

Nimiq 1 (91w)

Dish: 18″ (30″ Alaska/Northern Canada; 1.2m Hawaii; 6ft Southern US)
LNB: Circular

Galaxy 11 C-band (91w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Galaxy 11 Ku-band (91w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean
LNB: Linear

Intelsat Americas 8 C-band (89w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

Intelsat Americas 8 Ku-band (89w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Linear

AMC-3 C-band (87w)

Dish: 6ft
LNB: C-band

AMC-3 Ku-band (87w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Linear

Nimiq 2 (82w)

Dish: 18″ (30″ Northern Canada/Southern US/Carribbean)
LNB: Circular

AMC-5 (79w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Linear

SBS-6 (74w)

Dish: 30″ (1.2m Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Linear

Echostar 3 (61.5w)

Dish: 18″ (30″ Canada/Carribbean)
LNB: Circular

I have cut back on watching television for the last few years. I actually cut back to the point that I had no T.V service, not cable, not satellite and not even rabbit ears for analog (or analogue) “terrestrial” television. However recently I have felt the desire to have some form of television service. To decide on which type of service to choose I did plenty of research to find the most cost effective option which would suit my needs. Generally my needs are UFC, a few network T.V shows and the odd movie, everything else is a plus. Via the research I conducted I noticed that the cable T.V service provided in my area is both low in quality and high in price, satellite service is much better quality but the subscription costs are much higher then the service is really worth. Analog is not even an option as digital switchover is happening world wide and will be mandatory in Canada as of August 31, 2011.

So what’s a man on a budget to do? Should everyone on a budget stick to streaming media on the Internet or avoid T.V all together? I think not!. The solution to those of us with a little lump sum of “spare” cash but not much extra to cover an ongoing monthly bill is Free-to-air (FTA) television using a MPEG 2/DVB receiver. FTA consists of free unencrypted satellite broadcasts from many satellites. Many types of channels are offered such as: Public educational broadcasts on AMC 3 (87°W) and Ethnic-language broadcasts on Galaxy 25 (97°W).

The ability does exist however to flash some FTA receivers (Set Top Boxes or STBs) with customized firmware allowing a user to freely view pay television such as Bell ExpressVu and DISH Network. The process differs depending on which receiver is used but most require nothing more then some software and a straight DB9 RS232 female to female cable or Null-Modem 9 pin RS232 female to female cable. Some receivers such as the Viewsat 2000 Ultra even have a USB port which allows new firmware to be flashed onto the unit via a USB jump drive.

This isn’t perfectly legal mind you so most people call it “testing”. If your still interested here’s what you need to be looking at. Obviously you need a receiver or multiple receivers if you have multiple T.V sets you wish to run your satellite connection to. I recommend the Viewsat 2000 Ultra if you don’t need DVR functionality and the Viewsat VS Pro if you do need that functionality. The Viewsat 9000HD is also available if your looking for a High Definition FTA receiver. As you can tell I am a fan of the Viewsats as they are currently one of the most popular brands and have very fast updates when the “service” goes down. FTA receivers flashed to receive services like Dish Network do on occasion go down when the company implements new electronic counter measures but the programmers whom release the modified firmware are always well on top of it with a new fix. Other receivers are available from manufacturers such as Conaxsat, Coolsat, Dreambox, Pansat, SonicView and many others. I do recommend researching any STB your considering purchasing. You can do so by reading forums and talking to others whom have used that particular model. These people can also point you to the right place to purchase the STB your looking to buy, it is important that the business you buy your STB from is well known and trusted in the FTA community as many STBs are sold branded as one model when really they are cheap knock offs or “clones” of that receiver. These “clones” tend to not perform as well as the genuine models and should be avoided.

You will also need a satellite dish or multiple dishes and a low-noise block (LNB) or multiple LNBs depending on which route you wish to take. This is where things get a little tricky. The most common sizes of dishes for “hacked” FTA are 18” such as the Bell ExpressVu type, which can pick up Dish Network or Bell ExpressVu as well as Echostar 3 , 30” which can get actual FTA satellites like AMC-16, elliptical 18″ x 23″ which can pickup multiple satellites at one time given enough LNBs are mounted on it, and even bigger such as the 6 foot and larger dishes. Generally speaking bigger is better. If you wish to just pick up Dish Network or Bell ExpressVu the 18” dish with a circular LNB will do fine. If you wish to pick up both Dish Network and Bell ExpressVu a elliptical dish with multiple LNB holders and circular LNBs would do well or multiple dishes could be used as well. Depending on which satellite your aiming at you need a specific type of LNB and size of dish. Many lists to pinpoint which equipment is needed to use which satellite already exist on the web but here is one I feel is pretty complete: http://www.nixbased.com/dishnlnb/.

When using multiple LNBs you will need a Diseqc switch to connect them all to 1 receiver, think of it like a splitter you would use on normal cable T.V (but it’s not). You will also need cable pigtails from each LNB to the Diseqc and enough cable to run from the Diseqc to the receiver. The Diseqc switch and cable are not the places you want to go cheap in your setup. The Centuari EMP is a great waterproof model Diseqc switch and RG6 cable with high quality connectors should always be used. The connectors most installers prefer are the EX6XL. It is possible to use common channel lock pliers for installation of these connectors but I would not recommend it. Using a coaxial stripper and a compression tool will ensure a better connection and less chance of issues down the road.

The final thing to think about is pointing the dish correctly at the satellites you wish to receive. On the Internet many calculators can be found to help you discover the proper adjustments but my favorite one is http://www.dishpointer.com/. This calculator uses Google Maps and is pin point accurate which makes dish alignment a breeze. A more in-depth explanation of dish alignment can be found here: http://www.sat-sales.com/free_to_air_satellite_installation.php.

In conclusion, for a few hundred bucks, some patience, a little planning and a lot of research you can easily get setup with an FTA system which will incur no monthly fees and provide you with plenty of T.V viewing pleasure. I hope this post has helped a few of you whom maybe new to FTA and if you have anything at all to add please do leave a comment.

So Elite XC Street Certified on February 16, 2008 was yet again another event designed for those who know next to nothing about MMA. For a long time everyone has heard talk of a Kimbo Slice Vs. David “Tank” Abbott fight but most of us already knew the outcome without ever seeing the fight happen. Tank is old, out of shape and generally washed up. Suffice it to say the fight was a short one with Kimbo beating Tank like a child in “protective custody”.

Otherwise the night was filled with stand up battles just like this one such as Brett Rogers Vs. James Thompson where Rogers KO’d Thompson to start off the night. The Yves Edwards vs. Edson Berto was possibly the most impressive KO of the night with Edwards landing a jumping knee while resisting a single leg takedown for the KO.

Scott Smith looked rather tentative in the first round of his fight against Kyle Noke allowing Noke to land jab after jab with very little counter punching. As round two started however they engage in an exchange where smith hands a hard right hand which knocks out Noke.

The Antonio Silva vs. Ricco Rodriguez which was the last fight leading up to the Tank and Kimbo battle was a boring one. Ricco is one of these guys that I feel is an amazing ground specialist but has not really taken MMA seriously in many years. Overall the fight was a disappointment. Rodriguez looked rather sloppy the whole fight and couldn’t seem to get in a rhythm. The fight ended with Silva taking a split decision which was the right call.

Not much ground game happened that night as I really think the card was designed for those fans who don’t understand or like the ground. In the Ricco/Antonio fight their was some sloppy takedowns and 1 or two submission attempts but overall the event was what I expected. They used an over the hill fighter to promote a match no true MMA fan really cared about.

Why has MMA came to this? Is it a side effect of the growth in popularity and the sport going mainstream?

Since my last post alot has happened. First off the forum I was upgrading I no longer am associated with. Alot of lies were spread about the situation by some people (intentional or unintentional with some I do not know) but out of it all came a new forum started by myself and my buddy Sammy from Sammy Gregg Reptiles. The new forum is located at http://www.thereptilerack.com/.

The forum is based on phpBB3 and canverPortal as I learned a great deal about it during the last project. I decided to go with some standalone knowledge base software called KnowledgebasePublisher and scrap the gallery idea all together. Between Sammy and myself we have added many mods for various things like custom profile fields, SEO, quick reply etc. We are also planning an arcade modification when the one we are looking at gets validated by the phpBB3 team. We are also doing very well so it is all working out great.

I did run across a new site as well which is pretty neat. The site is http://reptilegeeks.com. It is a social networking site similar to Myspace or Facebook but targeted at the reptile community. It seems kinda fun, I’ve only been a member for a day or two but the flash games and all the new content give me something to take my mind off of other projects. If you wish to add me as a friend my profile is located at: http://reptilegeeks.com/Tuxx.

Also recently some news has come up about the possible banning of Boas and Pythons in the USA. The thought of that happening is scary to say the least. So many reptile keepers and breeders would be shut down if that happened and the industry thrown for a big loop. Everyone in the industry stands to lose something if this idea makes it into the law books. The impact would be incomprehensible. For more information on that topic check out http://www.thereptilerack.com/reptile-law/topic135.html. We are doing our best to stay on top of that topic and will post any new information as it becomes available.

In other news I’m working on changing up my business strategy this year to fill a hole in the market that I’ve noticed recently. I won’t say what it is quite yet but I will say the future holds some interesting changes. Until then I’m closing Herpfeeders to work on said changes. Everyone with orders in will get what they ordered as usual but we will not be accepting any further orders until the mystery changes have been made.

I’m off for now, I have many things to do and not enough hours in the day to do them.

So, we are well into 2008 and this is my first post of the year. I really have been staying busy so far. I have been meaning to post but as some of you may have noticed the domain needed a registration payment, the issue with that is that it’s on a business partners account and his CC info was out of date. None the less, sorry for the delay.

The bulk of my time has been spent between two projects, the one I’m going to focus on in this post is the reptile site upgrade. So, I’m an Admin on one of the biggest reptile related sites on the web. I’m the guy that takes care of the server and makes sure the hamsters whom power the site get fed (and don’t get eaten by the snakes). The site is about six years old, running on an old version of PostNuke with PNphpBB2 as the forum and PhotoPost as the gallery. I know that sounds bad enough but it was also modified by the previous Admin to the point that it almost scares me to think about the security aspect of it all. I’ve tinkered and tinkered over the past year or so to keep this beast running but I’ve always known it was all a temporary fix for the upgrade that was really needed.

About a week and a half ago I started the process of going from the out of date PostNuke/PNphpBB2/PhotoPost combo to a site built around phpBB3. To do this I would need to convert from PNphpBB2 to phpBB2 and then finally phpBB3. It isn’t a hard conversion but with over 1.5GB in database between PNphpBB2 and PostNuke I knew it would take awhile to sort out what to keep and what to delete. If you need to know how to do this it goes like this: open the database, remove any prefix that isn’t phpBB related (example: Nuke_ ) on the phpBB tables via search and replace, then use the converter in phpBB3 to convert it. One thing to note however is that to use the converter you need to upload your /modules/PNphpBB2 directory to a location which is accessible by the phpBB3 script. The passwords won’t be converted and you may have a little date issue after 1st login that can be fixed by fixing the date/time format in the DB but all and all it’s not a hard conversion just time consuming.

If you need more details then that it’s time to pickup a basic web design book.

The tricky part comes when trying to figure out what software you want to use in conjunction with phpBB3. phpBB3 has only been stable since 2007-12-13 so most of the bridges for CMS’s are in the beta stage or broken. They did have a VERY long beta test so the software is however extremely solid. Another problem that has always been common among the phpBB community is that a MOD will be started, make some good progress, and then die. My strategy was to start by finding a portal instead of a CMS, this limits complexity of future upgrades and cuts down on the amount of code (and therefore less possibility of multiple vulnerabilities).

I went through a few portals starting with canverPortal I tried a few others like Stargate Portal (KISS Portal) but ended up coming back to canver due to it’s widespread use and less issues when trying to install. The portal is actively in development and already has a nice feature set, I really can say I’m please with it.

Next I installed the Mini Knowledge Base MOD. I’m not 100% sure I’m keeping this one but it is an interesting little MOD. The problem is, it does not seem to be being actively developed.

The next step was to find a photo gallery MOD that was suitable for a rather large userbase (these users love to show off the reptiles they have). This is where I’m having issues. We run a optional paid gallery service along with our free account gallery option. In PhotoPost you can set a QUOTA on each group for space used. I want to use a phpBB3 MOD to stay with my centralized plan but their does not seem to be anything similar I have found out there in a MOD. The next option for a gallery would however be Gallery2. I have used both Gallery and Gallery2 in the past and with exception of the weird way that permissions are laid out it is a great photo album.

In the meantime I used Colorizeit! to edit the ProSilver theme (yet again staying with this theme to keep things rather simple) and found a member of the site whom is a graphic designer to do the header image based off of my color scheme from Colorizeit!.

The project has however been put on hold until the site owner decides what they are doing with the entire site. Some personal issues have came up on their end which I was not fully aware of when I started this little project but I do hope things work themselves out as finishing this project would be a nice accomplishment.

P.S. Just a little side note but for those of you updating from older releases of Wordpress like the 2.2.x branch to the 2.3.x branch it is best to follow the upgrade path (being a security professional you would think I would keep everything up to date but that is a whole other post).

So tonight is the eve of a new year. This post is a short and sweet version of my goals for this year.

• #1) Focus on the end result of what I am trying to do.

This is an important one for me. Instead of going off and doing something unimportant like playing a video game I need to put 100% into what I am doing to reach financial stability. I have a bunch of projects and I need to focus on one at a time, getting them done and available to the world.

• #2) Get in shape.

I used to be in great shape but as of the past few years I have let this take a back seat. It is time I got off my ass with no excuses and put what I know about fitness and nutrition to work. When I take care of my body I am able to work at a higher efficiency then when I don’t so the bottom line is that it is time to find a solution to working out here at home. Back to the farmboy training!.

• #3) Advertise and make the sales.

Advertising my businesses and products has always been my downfall, it is time to really learn and put into use the tricks in the advertising industry to get the sales I want.

• #4) Hold myself to a higher standard.

I have been letting myself off way to easy on some of my failures recently. It is time for this to stop. I will hold myself to a higher standard then anyone with everything I do.

• #5) Get rid of all the unneeded material possessions.

I have way too much stuff that I do not need nor use. I am lacking space in my small house and I really need to donate, sell or trash anything I haven’t used in the last 6 months. Getting rid of the clutter is step one in the “Getting Things Done” method of organization and I really need to embrace this. Time to strip down all those old comps and say goodbye to all the unneeded junk.