• First, run msconfig (hit the start button and type it in)
• Next, select boot.
• Then select ‘Advanced Options’
• Up the number of processors to the number of cores you have in your system, in my case this is 4.
• Hit OK
• Hit OK again on the System Configuration window.
• Reboot and see how quickly you boot!

And that’s it.   Told you it would be short and sweet!

Post Situation Analysis: Bye bye snapshots, bye bye VM configs. In other words quite bleak.

Rushed Solution: Mount the original VHD, create a blank snapshot, rename the snapshot files, and launch!

Rushed Solution == Bad Idea

If you have one base VHD with no snapshot, great! Mount it and off you go. If you have snapshots, you could be in for a rocky ride (you are already 25% stuffed transferring an RC hosted VM to RTM). True, it may work when mounting the last image as described in the rushed solution. What I found was that I got a BSOD on login, but after booting into safe mode and then rebooting again it was ok. The problem I encountered on VM’s with many snapshots (5+) was that at the point of booting up normally and logging in, the registry corrupted. Windows restored the registry, however this left the networking components and drivers for Windows in a completely unusable state (even legacy adapters), and the VM’s needed to be reloaded from scratch after copying data to new VHD’s, and mounting those in new VM’s.

Snapshots use a hierarchical structure (Each VHD/AVHD is basically appended onto the previous one) to keep track of changes without duplicating entire drives. The following info won’t get you to a state where you can flip between snapshots (it’s a sacrifice), but it will give you a working machine at the point that you needed it for data recovery purposes, with all data from all snapshot points.

This will merge the latest snapshot into the previous one. Repeat steps 2-7 for each snapshot level. Once you have merged all the snapshots and the parent disk is listed as the original VHD, you have everything ready to to complete the wizard for the last time. You now have the original VHD containing the complete snapshot tree. Finally set up a new machine with the VHD, and recover your data from the VM.

Note: Only Hyper-V in R2 recognises AVHD files in the Edit Disk wizard, if you are using 2008 R1, rename the AVHD extension to VHD.

Note #2: Thank you to all the various Hyper-V related sites that I trawled through to get to this information, unfortunately I cannot remember you all, by far the most informative in content and comments was on “Hyper-V notes from the field“, thanks Robert! Please visit this site too, as he has outlined a couple more ways in getting the VHD’s merged, I simply covered what I find to be the easiest method in my own terms for my own situation.

We arrived at the Bombardier depot off Allandale road just after 10am, and were led into the main depot by the friendly staff from the project. Coffee and snacks were served, and much mingling (and pokening) was done by all! After a while, we were addressed by the CEO of the Gautrain Management Agency, Jack van der Merwe and Bombela marketing manager, Errol Braithwaite, who took everyone’s questions regarding the train, safety, technology and various other aspects of it. After Errol’s speech, he introduced Sandy, who ‘owned and washed’ the Gautrains. We were then told (to our wide eyes) that if we scream “Ag please Sandy” really loud, we’d get to actually go on the train. Well, 200 people clearly made enough noise, and we were allowed our ride!

We started from the Allandale depot, heading out towards what we thought was the test track. What we didn’t realise, was that we were actually being taken to the Marlboro station. There was absolute shock when we realised that in what seemed like 3 odd minutes, we’d made it from Allandale to Marlboro, a trip that during peak hour would easily take 45 minutes. To be certain, we timed it on the way back, and sure enough from Marlboro to Allandale depot took 2:52.

The train itself is very neatly done up, with all upholstery in the train matching and branded to the Gautrain. The airconditioning keeps you nice and cool, and the air suspension and lack of bolted rails makes for a smooth glide along the tracks. Reaching 160km/h was also astonishingly fast, and felt like we were going only around 60km/h. The Gautrain uses 25,000 volts on running and accelerating, and so in the interest of the environment (and as someone put it, the “bunnyhuggers”), the trains are all equipped with a regenerative braking system which feeds power back into the circuit when the brakes are applied on the trains.

All in all this was an awesome experience, be sure to check out the Gautrain Facebook page and the Tweet Up On Rails topic for more feedback, pictures and information!

Why, in this day and age, do people want to make money / popularity / whatever by REQUIRING you to register? I have so many logins to remember as it stands… Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In (thank you TweetDeck, you ROCK!), Think Bike, MyADSL, and and and and and…. I don’t know about you, but I have ended up with quite a few passwords that I use in almost a rotation basis. Out of all of these, I have gained my “favourites”;

Think Bike, a niche forum, of which I’m involved in various subsections of it, including traffic marshalling and support services.
Facebook, is well, Facebook. Its the 21st century ID number and you pretty much have to have one. If you don’t, enjoy being left behind, particularly with recent patent awards…
Twitter, my little one-liner rant/share/cool/funky/link/share page which is nothing without Tweetdeck or Echofon…
Linked-In, something I’ve started getting into, the best spot to mingle with like-minded business people.
MyADSL, if you’re a South African and battle with your internet, this is your first stop.

I’ve digressed… I wanted to post and was required to register. Why? There is so much content being served on the Interwebz, why on earth would you want to capitalise on something, even if it is just gaining registrants, by restricting it! The best example of this and my thoughts towards it, would be something written by David Thorne (if you browse stuff or receive emails you should know the name) titled Simon’s pie charts…

Signing up for things is old, outdated and unnecessary. Getting back to the SSO side of things, I have recently (at work) been working on an SSO project relating to sign-ins. I wasn’t really aware of any of this SSO stuff before , but realised I myself was using it with Google’s various applications. It’s amazing how it sneaks up on you! Did you know that you are using the same login for the following things:

• GMail
• GTalk
• Google Analytics
• Google Webmaster Tools
• Blogger.com
• Google Docs
• YouTube

Yeah so I guess the Google prefix gives them away, apart from YouTube and Blogger.   This blog uses the MyScoop aggregator, which uses something fantastic, the ability to sign in with another account of yours via rpxnow.com!   This is a good idea, and as far as I’m aware from a newbie standpoint, a perfect example of SSO.   This allows you to sign in with your Google, Twitter, Facebook, Blogger (part of Google), Yahoo! or OpenID account instead of creating a new login (with new password, new spam and new username to remember).   There is the option to create a new username, which is a great option too, for whoever hasn’t got ANY of the other accounts…   This opens the door to any site without a ‘G’ in their prefix to use a single login!

The concept of SSO is just brilliant, imagine how much time you would save by not having to remember all your logins for all your sites?   Hmmm, come to think of it, when does one IM take over everything?   What are your thoughts on a unified login for everything?

1. Passing Trucks

This one is something that can catch you by surprise, always think ahead! If you are passing a truck, either on the left or the right, bear in mind that there is probably someone in front of the truck who cannot see you due to the width of the truck, or there is a gap in front of the truck as it moves slower than the rest of the traffic. Should there be someone who cannot see you, they are probably not going to hesitate to get out of the trucks way (I know I prefer not to be in front of a few tons of metal) and may well cut you off or worse, knock you off. The opposite applies to when there is a gap in front of the truck, invariably someone from the adjacent lane would like to take that gap, and then the same applies. GO WITH CAUTION!

2. Splitting Around Bends

During my commute, there are two gradual bends which I take with great care. One inside the Buccleugh interchange, and the other just past the Woodmead on and off ramps. That said, when you are splitting through a gradual bend, always bear in mind that the angle of people’s mirrors are completely different to what they would be should they be moving in a straight line. If you take a left bend as an example, the people in the lane to your left will most likely be looking at the doors of the vehicles on the right, and the vehicles on the right, are most likely looking at the left headlight of the vehicle behind them. It is for this reason that you should be extra careful, or alternatively wait in the traffic for the duration of the bend.

3. Showing Courtesy

This goes both ways, showing courtesy to cars and trucks, as well as showing courtesy to fellow riders. If a vehicle moves out of your way, give them a gesture of thanks, be it a wave with your clutch hand, a flash of your hazards (if your bike is so equipped) or my personal choice, a tilt of the head. Be careful the first time you tilt your head, it may be the most convenient, but target fixation can occur (you follow the lines of your eyes and if you are tilting your head, you may in fact turn the bike slightly)! Do not extend a foot out on either side, a. this looks aggressive to motorists, and b. this is often used in pack riding to indicate a road hazard on either side! When you are nice to motorists, they will be nice to you, and often someone who has been thanked for moving over will feel a warm fuzzy feeling and be willing to do it again. On the other side of the coin, be aware of your mirrors and of riders wishing to pass you. If you see a motorcyclist behind you, acknowledge him/her in some way, should there be no gaps, and when there is a gap, slow down accordingly and let him/her past. Do not move immediately back into the lane, as often there will be multiple riders behind the one who just passed you! Keep a look out, and move back into the lane when it is safe to do so.

4. Avoid Temptation

Following on from point 3, when someone passes you, resist the temptation to match their speed and stay behind them. For one, this will irritate the rider ahead of you, and two, this is probably removing you from your comfort zone. If you are no longer in your comfort zone, you will no longer be able to pull emergency maneuvers as quickly or as well rehearsed as you would when riding at YOUR comfortable speed. Should the rider ahead of you have to brake suddenly, there is a good chance you will go directly into the back of him/her, which is a situation that I can guarantee neither of you would like.

5. Avoid The “Suicide Lane”

This is referred to (on a 3-lane road) as the piece of road between the slow and middle lane. People generally split between the middle and fast lane, and as such, that is where motorists are expecting you to be. Often a motorist in the middle lane will see you coming and move out of your way in the only direction he can go, left. If you are splitting on the left of that vehicle, you can imagine what could happen next. The converse applies to this as well, if you are splitting in the “suicide lane”, you may well be endangering any riders on the other side for the exact same reasons. Bear in mind, that should a motorist knock a biker down, this could be an end to their life as they know it as well. Which leads me to my next point;

6. Not All Cagers are Evil

If I take my daily commute, between Grayston and Marlboro there is normally very slow moving traffic, often just above standstill. I have counted (don’t try this at home) and have found that in the space of 1km I will pass roughly 72 slow moving vehicles in the fast lane (so more for standstill traffic). I can then multiply this by 2, for the middle lane, giving me 144 vehicles that I have passed in the space of 1km. Multiply that by the 26km’s of highway that I travel (taking into account the same amount of standstill traffic as moving traffic) and you have 3,744 vehicles that I pass on average. That’s a lot of vehicles, and I hardly ever have a problem in a week, so make that 18,720 vehicles per week that do not give me a problem. Should I have one issue a week, that would be 0.005% if the vehicles on that road. Think about it (yes its flawed, but you get my drift).

7. Take Note Of The Sun

This one is very simple to explain, but not often thought of. Be very very careful should the rising or setting sun be directly behind you and the flow of traffic (this is a major problem on the N12 / R24)! If the sun is behind you, you will not be looking in your mirrors as chances are they are blinding you, so bear in mind that this applies to every other vehicle moving in the same direction as you!

8. Splitting At Night

This is a bad idea. A bad bad idea. A very very bad idea. Yes, there are lens covers for your headlight to make you more visible, but in a lot of cases, the same “sun” rules apply. If you are coming up through traffic where all the headlights are on, you WILL NOT BE VISIBLE. In standstill or slow moving traffic, ALL vehicles have only one headlight in a rearview mirror, and you WILL look like every other four wheeled vehicle on that road.

9. Don’t Look Down

Ok, look down a little, but do not fixate on the bike in front of you, and do not look directly at the road in front of you. Look ahead, and look up as well. It is not uncommon for vehicles to have something strapped to the roof rack that is leaning over the side or sticking out the back. Most people have seen the picture of the two gentlemen impaled on a steel pole, if not, you now have an idea of it. Keep looking, often people do not carry red flags or reflective triangles, and figure that they won’t get pulled over in peak hour traffic. The same naive people, probably also don’t figure that another vehicle will be passing between them and the adjacent lane. Arm yourself with forethought when looking ahead. If you see a vehicle towing a caravan, they may well have an extended mirror on the side of the vehicle, avoid these, aside from damage to property, these leave a nice mark in the morning.

10. Chill Out / Don’t Panic

Like attracts like, if you are riding rigid and panicky, chances are you are going to bump into something. The best advice I can give for lanesplitting is to start out slow over short stretches, and don’t get onto the highway until you are absolutely comfortable with splitting. There are plenty of double-lane roads where you can practice by making your way up to a red light when all the traffic comes to a stop. Take things as they come, should you bump someone’s vehicle, it happens. Stop, apologise to the driver, and 90% of the time they will be OK with it (provided you weren’t tearing down the road like a bat out of hell), the other 10% of the time, something can be done about it. If you do get cut off, don’t get even by breaking off the mirror of the vehicle or kicking the door in, as tempting as it may be. Practice as I do in the morning, and try to memorise at least one numberplate a day. This will train your memory so that when something does happen, you can head down to the nearest police station and lay a charge of reckless driving against the owner of the plate number that you have in your head. This may not have an immediate effect, but should something happen down the line and their record is pulled, you will have the upper hand, and not an assault/property damage charge.

There are plenty more points that I could go through, and I’m sure I will add more in another post one day. Please leave your wisdoms and comments on this post below, as I would love this to benefit fellow riders.

If you would like more info on rider safety etc, there is plenty of info over at Think Bike.

So yes, today we bought some more Microsoft hardware to add to the collection. I also seem, for the most part hopefully, to have converted Bonita to the quality of the products (hence the ‘we’ in the previous sentence). As it stands, between the two of us we currently have the following:

• LifeCam VX-500
• LifeChat LX-3000
• Wireless Mouse 5000
• Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000 (at the office)
• Another Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000 (now at home)
• Wireless Keyboard 3000 v2.0 (part of Wireless Desktop 3000)
• Wireless Mouse 5000 (part of Wireless Desktop 3000)

LifeCam VX-500

It all started with me wanting a decent webcam, that isn’t going to cause XP to hang on startup (yes, they do this), isn’t going to require additional software (normally something out of the ark, written in a language from the creation), and isn’t going to cause a BSOD and kill my PC.   I figured I was running a MS operating system, so MS hardware is pretty guaranteed to work, and when I found the LifeCam with incorrect pricing on it I figured what the heck (sorry unnamed store!).   I opened up the box, sure enough no driver CD, but none was necessary, AND there was a basic Microsoft headset supplied.   The term headset is used loosely, it was an earphone with a mic attached lower down the cable, but better than nothing, and a great easter-egg if you are just getting started!

LifeChat LX-3000

A while after the webcam, I happened to step on my Altec Lansing headset, rendering it pretty useless; not even insulation tape could save it.   I decided that I would go for a Logitech, as that is what I have at the office, and it ROCKS.   Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the Altec, it is a killer headset, but I figured that after 4 years, it had given decent service and I needed to try something in the USB line instead of 35mm jack.   Upon seeing the price of the Logitech, I realised it was a tiny bit out of budget, so when I saw the LifeChat at CNA for a tiny bit less but still out of budget, I reckoned I’d just slap it on the Edgars account and pay it off.   I have never looked back, this headset is the best thing of its kind.   It fits around your ears, instead of on them, so you can wear it for hour after hour; it also seals completely, so even at full tilt no one around you can hear it.   It comes with inline controls, as well as a Microsoft LiveChat button to launch MSN.   One thing that would be nice would be to be able to program this button to launch any service of your choice, but hey, for this kind of audio quality vs the price I paid for these, I’m really not complaining.

Wireless Mouse 5000

I used to have another brand of wireless mouse, which will go unmentioned here.   Suffice to say I had issues with it from about 2 months in, and eventually after putting up with it for 3 years it found itself on the wrong side of the bedroom, against the wall, with a fair deal of acceleration behind it (I was sick, and pretty grumpy).   Needing to purchase another mouse, and wireless at that, I was (and still am) of the opinion that if you want a wireless input device, you buy Microsoft or Logitech.   End of story.   So I trundled off to Centurion mall, and eventually found a Microsoft Wireless Mouse 5000.   What a killer little device!   It wasn’t the shape I was originally looking for, but it was nice and chunky (I like a chunky mouse).   It can easily be used in a left or right hand, and as with every other Microsoft device, it just works.   I have been using it now for probably around 6 months, and I have yet to replace the included batteries.   The 5 programmable buttons work like a charm as well!   The only thing that takes some getting used to, is that the 5-way scroll wheel does not have any sort of tactile response, it just rolls, but that is something that I absolutely love now!   It was due to this mouse that I recommended Bonita go for the Wireless Desktop 3000 as it was included in the package along with a great looking keyboard.

Comfort Curve 2000

At the office, I have been using a Comfort Curve 2000 keyboard on the off chance that it was lying around spare and my hand-me-down had shuffled off its mortal coil.   The curve took a good while to get used to, but yet again this is now something I cannot do without.   I despise typing on my laptop now as there is no curve, and I hit all sorts of random keys by mistake.   So, after getting fed up and finding the same keyboard at Game this morning, I bought it.   It has now inspired me to write this post, as I can’t stop raving about all the Microsoft hardware that is now sprawled out in front of me.   The Comfort Curve is Microsoft’s entry level keyboard, but still costs a fair packet more than its competitors for entry level, but you won’t get the, *ahem*, comfort with said competitors, nor will you get the programmable buttons at the top of the keyboard (you do need to download Intellitype Pro for reprogramming these, at around 15MB its worth it, and as mentioned before it won’t wipe out your machine).

Wireless Keyboard 3000 v2.0 (Wireless Desktop 3000)

The only piece of hardware at home now that I haven’t tried, is the Wireless Keyboard 3000 v2.0.   I think the main reason I haven’t tried it yet, is because Bonita is loving it so much and going on and on about it so much that I don’t think she would let me…   What I can say though, is that if Bonita raves about a keyboard, it MUST be good!   Again, all batteries were included!

So there you have it, our current arsenal of Microsoft products.   People complain that they have to pay exorbitant prices for the hardware, however it really is not that exorbitant.   Sure, their entry level stuff is more expensive than others, but you won’t find the build quality or support for the other stuff you can get, and their expensive stuff is leagues below the competition price wise.   People also complain regarding licenses, and I used to do so as well, however after using Windows 7 (and 2008 R2), I will gladly change my tune, however that is another post for another time…   If you have any Microsoft hardware, drop me a comment and let me know what you think of it.

1. Obtaining the Software

Everyone assumes that setting up Apache has to be a nightmare, and requires you to install Linux first, then customise it, then know how to use the command line interface to configure it and and and and…

The above used to be completely true, however quite a few places realised this and started offering all-in-one solutions that are incredibly quick and easy to configure.   My personal favourite has to be ClarkConnect Community Edition, which is now known as ClearOS Enterprise.   This is an open source system, based on Linux, which installs with a wizard, and offers such features as a caching web proxy, firewall, antivirus, antispam, file sharing (even for Windows!), printer sharing, bandwidth management and of course, MySQL and Apache (for a complete list, please check out ClearCenter’s website).

As with most things that are free, there is a catch, albeit not a very big one.   When you install the software, it will be completely active, however to receive software and security updates for your server, you will need to subscribe to ClearSDN, for the whopping price of nothing.   Only if you require corporate support do you pay, and for a home system, its pretty cut and dried that you don’t really need to have an immediate turnaround on support.   Also, if you are simply configuring a webserver, security updates are for the most part completely unnecessary.

So all you need to do, is visit the download page at ClearCenter and download the ISO file.   At 689MB, yes it’s big, but bear in mind its an ENTIRE operating system plus software.

2. Burning the CD

Next step is to burn the ISO to a CD, if you are on Windows 7 this can be done straight off the bat by inserting a blank CD into your drive.   It may be possible to do so in Vista as well, but I am proud to say I only used Vista for about 45 minutes when it came out and then I reformatted my machine and put XP back on.   Failing this, you will need to use something like Nero or Roxio to burn the ISO.

3. Obtaining the Hardware

This is always the expensive part of getting a server up and running (unless you are buying licenses).   If you take a look on Dell’s website, you will be greeted with price tags of over $1,000.   Don’t let this despair you!   ClearOS is really not that hungry, what with being Linux and all that, so you do not need a huge server.   If you don’t have a spare computer tucked away in a cupboard from a few years back, your best bet is to find a company that resells leased equipment that has reached end-of-life, I personally buy through RentWorks.   Here I picked up 2x Pentium 3 1Ghz rackmount servers (I gutted one to make the other more powerful) for the awesome price of R400, which is about $50 US, not bad huh?

An alternate to actually buying physical hardware, is to download VirtualBox, Sun Microsystem’s alternative to Virtual PC (and so much more flexible).   Install this, and you will be able to create multiple virtual PC’s within your own computer.   You can read more about it at VirtualBox.org.   For the record, this is how I will be doing my installation for the purposes of this post.

4. First Bootup

NOTE OF EXTREME WARNING (OR WARNING OF EXTREME NOTE)! INSTALLING ClearOS WILL WIPE OUT EVERY STORAGE DEVICE ON THE COMPUTER IT IS BEING INSTALLED ON (INCLUDING USB AND FIREWIRE)! MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING A SPARE COMPUTER THAT YOU ARE NOT GOING TO MISS ANY DATA ON!

Pop in the CD and boot off it.   The installer is very straight forward in a wizard type format, with every step explained.   You will get to a point where you are asked which mode ClearOS should operate in, Standalone or Gateway.

This is an important bit, if you have 2 network cards in your machine, you can select Gateway mode; what this does is allow you to use this server as a router/firewall/webserver/gateway onto the Internet, so you can actually use the ClearOS box to cache web content (and save you bandwidth!), filter out who sees what and provide you with network security for your home computers.   Should you just wish to host web content for internal testing, then Standalone should suffice.   For this example I am using Standalone.   In Gateway mode, it is worth noting that you can actually expose your server to the web and browse to it, which makes for a nice way of demoing sites to people for other opinions, however this takes a bit more knowledge of networking and IP address configuration.

If you already use a router to connect to the Internet, I would recommend setting your ClearOS machine to use DHCP to obtain its IP address automatically, but if you use a modem and this is the only network computer you have, set its IP address to 192.168.0.1, it will become a DHCP server in that case, and automatically configure your computer!

You will see that once you get to the software modules selection, that this system is quite complete and quite powerful!   With over 20 different modules ranging from VPN to mail to antivirus, you’re sure to be able to do quite a lot.   If you wish to play around, why not select every option?   Selecting all the options will only use around 1GB of hard drive space, so if you have that to play with, it really doesn’t hurt to install everything.   Just follow the on-screen instructions, and if you aren’t sure of something, just go with the defaults.   This system is quite robust, and is pretty difficult to break!

5. Finalising Install

Once the system is installed and you have rebooted, you will come to a red logon screen.   At this point, the system is ready to go.   Make sure you know the box’s IP address before you go back to your normal PC.   When you get back to your PC, open your web browser, and go to https://[your-servers-ip-address]:81/.   This will bring you to a login screen, enter the username ‘root’ and the password you selected in the install to log in.   You will now be guided through a 5-step wizard that will finish off your installation!

You may get a certificate warning when going to the management site, that is only because the certificate is self signed, there is nothing to worry about!

6. Web Management

Here is where the fun starts, you get to manage your server!   For the purposes of this post, I will only be briefly covering the Apache and MySQL portion of it, but as you can see there are MANY options to choose from.   Feel free to go through them and play around!

7. Enabling Apache

From the dashboard of your server, select the ‘Server’ option from the left, and select the ‘Web Server’ sub-option.

From the Web Server option, there are two buttons you now need to select, first select ‘To Auto’, this will start Apache automatically each time the system starts.   Next, select the ‘Start’ button to start the web server.   You will notice that the ‘On boot’ option changes to ‘Automatic’ and the ‘Status’ changes to ‘Running’.

Apache is now enabled!

8. Enabling MySQL

Next, select the MySQL sub-option from the menu on the left.

From the MySQL option, there are two buttons you now need to select, first select ‘To Auto’, this will start MySQL automatically each time the system starts.   Next, select the ‘Start’ button to start the MySQL server.   You will notice that the ‘On boot’ option changes to ‘Automatic’ and the ‘Status’ changes to ‘Running’, as per the web server options.

You will be prompted to enter a database password, do not lose this!

MySQL is now enabled!   (Are you sensing a pattern here as to how easy it is to enable the different services?)

9. Creating the Database

From the MySQL screen, you will see that there is a little notice stating that you can manage your MySQL database through another web interface

Select ‘Go’ to launch phpMyAdmin in a new window (your login username will be ‘root’).   From there you can create your new database from the ‘Create new database’ option.

10. Deploying Wordpress

The easiest way of deploying anything to a Linux server from Windows is to use WinSCP, it is leaps and bounds ahead of FTP as far as security goes.   You can download WinSCP from here (incidentally, it handles FTP as well).   The following install is based on the Famous 5-minute Install.

Next, download the latest version of Wordpress here and unzip it to a folder on your machine.  Navigate to the folder and rename the ‘wp-config-sample.php’ to ‘wp-config.php’.   Edit the wp-config.php file and enter your database details as follows:

• ‘putyourdbnamehere’ will be replaced with whatever you named your database in step 9
• ‘usernamehere’ will be replaced with ‘root’
• ‘yourpasswordhere’ will be replaced with whatever password you chose in step 8

Save the file and close it.

Next, launch WinSCP.   From the initial window, select ‘New’ from the right hand side, then enter your new server’s details and select login.

The first time you log in to your new server, you will get a warning that the server’s host key was not found in the cache, simply select ‘Yes’ to connect and place the host key in the cache.

You will now be greeted with a window similar to most FTP programs.   To get to the web folder, following the following steps in the right hand pane:

1. Double click the ‘..’ folder
2. Double click the ‘var’ folder
3. Double click the ‘www’ folder
4. Double click the ‘html’ folder
5. You are now in your website’s root folder (/var/www/html/)

In the left pane, navigate to the location where you unzipped Wordpress, and drag it across to the right hand pane.   A popup will open, select ‘Copy’ to begin.

Now you can navigate to your server’s Wordpress installation by going to http://[your-servers-ip-address]/wordpress/, there you can complete the standard Wordpress installation!

Read the documentation on Wordpress’ site to get a more comprehensive breakdown of installing to a subfolder or to the root.

Conclusion

So there you have it, you now have your own server AT HOME to run any form of staging or muckabout site!   I trust this post was informative and easy to use, I would appreciate any comments regarding it!

Windows XP

1. Click on Start
2. Click on Run
3. Type in “cmd” (without the quotes)
4. Press Enter
5. When the little black box opens, type in “ipconfig” (again without the quotes)
6. Your IP address will be displayed in the box

Windows Vista and Windows 7

1. Click on Start
2. Select the “Search Programs and Files” bar
3. Type in “cmd” (without the quotes)
4. Press Enter
5. When the little black box opens, type in “ipconfig” (again without the quotes)
6. Your IP address will be displayed in the box

Linux

1. Login to linux via the console (if you aren’t at the console, press ALT+F2, or F3, or F4 etc… until you get to the console!)
2. Type in “ifconfig” (without the quotes)
3. Your IP address will be displayed

should you need to scroll up in the Linux console, hold down SHIFT and press PG UP

That should about do it for now, hope this helps!   If you know Macs well, please pop us a comment on how to check there!

Wow. First hint you get, is something sounding a lot like Motorhead, but with a bit of an industrial edge. The vocals were something very different, not sure if it was the sound for the evening, but the dude’s voice is KILLER; you will need to hear it for yourself! The guitar work is sort of old thrash Metallica meets hard rock ala Rammstein, although none of that gives their sound any justice, they have created it and they own it! Really can’t explain their sound, like I said you will need to hear it, but last night I was full of 4 letter words describing their awesomeness; I will refrain from repeating that here though… This is one band I would love to see making a big dent in the local industry (and further).

battica took some pictures for the evening, I will see if I can wrestle some links from her…   You can also check out Broken Truce’s website here for pics and details.

I’m still not entirely sure how the little thing works, but it does and its awesome!   What you do, is plug your Poken into your USB port, and it will send you to the Poken website where you register.   During registration you get asked to upload a picture and provide info for your various social networking accounts, ala Facebook, Twitter, Skype, MSN, LinkedIn etc.   Once your details are in, you get a pretty little graph showing any contacts you have met.   Meeting contacts is the interesting bit!

When you meet someone who has a Poken, what you do is press the little button on your Poken’s ‘hand’ and touch the two together.   When the light goes green, you have connected with that person.   Next time you log in to your Poken account with your Poken plugged in, you will have the person’s V-card added to your profile, from which you can link to whatever social services they have listed!

You get the cute little character ones (I have a ninja, too awesome!   battica has the bee), as well as a more professional looking one that allows for more contacts to be made and stored.   When I figure out exactly how it works in the long run I’ll let you know, but in the meantime, here is my public v-card from Poken:

I’m going to carry on playing around with my Poken (that sounds so wrong…) and I’ll let you know how it goes. What a killer little gift to get! In the meantime, if you want one for yourself, let me know and I can put you in touch with one of the local resellers.