I got an awesome new job at BlueMile Networks. I’m still a PHP Developer working on their back-end billing systems and such. To put it short: IT’S FUN! I love the place, I love the people and finally, after a very long period, I’m actually having fun working.

iBetaTest.com on the other hand suffered from some neglegence. I didn’t have much time lately to take care of it and push the latest updates, but I’m slowly getting back on track with that as well. Everyone who’s used it — loved it. It’s definitely an awesome service, and with over 50+ cool new features which I plan on pushing very soon - it’s only going to get better.

On the other front - Sali is finally done with school! My baby is now a licensed Dental Hygienist! In the next few weeks she’ll be looking for a job and when the double income starts to kick in, I think we’ll all be able to kick back and relax a bit

Oh, her grandparents are coming this week from Russia, for good! That should be quite fun.

As on the Gadgets/WebDev dept:

• My main phone is now a BlackBerry Bold 9000 (AT&T)
• My iPhone 3G just got JailBroken (and soon unlocked) and I use it as an iPod only
• I moved onto Windows 7 RC on my Windows PC (see Toys), runs AWESOME!
• I moved onto Mac OS X Snow Leopard Beta (WWDC Build) on my MacBook Pro
• I completely moved all my Web Development to MAC!
• I use Coda for PHP and all Dev related tasks, and Versions for SVN repository connection

That about summarizes it . Until next time then… Take care!

It finally happened and for now everything went according to plan. I must admit, a bit better than according to plan .

In just 5 days I got over 1600 registered beta testers, over 60 developers (about 15 apps in the system, 4 of which are public), and every day the unique visitors count grows exponentially! Today, I had over 3000 unique visitors.

I am also very happy to see some GREAT reviews of iBetaTest.com throughout the World. I read about it in Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Check and English - and all these reviews seem to really praise the system.

Couple of ours ago I also published a Web Forum, so users have a place to chat while developers populate the system with apps.

Sincerely, I’m quite happy. My Workaholic New Year’s resolution seems to be working just fine .

I’ll write here when I get another chance. Can’t make any promises. There’s ClickaPost.com to be taken care of, updates for iBetaTest.com as well as the new iBetaTest.com Blog

All right,

That’s about it form me for tonight. Time to shower and go to bed, for the first time in weeks, before 4am!

http://iBetaTest.com

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NWULS0

What’s even more amazing is the amount of accumulated wealth for Bill Gates (and anyone who was smart to invest into this “new thing” 25 years ago).

Windows, here’s to you and to 25 more. Hopefully, Windows 7.0 comes out glorious next year, and Windows 14 on your 50th birthday .

Last week while listening to TWIT, Jason Calacanis (of Mahalo.com) mentioned a really interesting service which I think everyone should use.

I sincerely HATE voicemail. The reason is that it takes longer time to dial and listen to it than to read the same text in an email. Visual VoiceMail on my iPhone helped out a bit - but again, I have to open up a VoiceMail app, click on the thing, and still - listen (sometimes for longer than I’d like). Then you do not hear the number so you replay the damn thing over and over.

The Solution: PHONETAG.COM… I kid you not, this is one of the best services I ever used. I do not mind paying for things that make my life fun again. Here’s the winning scenario:

It comes down to price in the end. If you receive a bunch of voicemail I think even $29.95/month is worth it (for the unlimited plan).

• You get a phone call which goes to a voice mail.
• 20 seconds later your voicemail comes via email (or via SMS) transcribed into text - together with an MP3 file attached (in case you want to save it or listen to it).

For $9.99 you get 40 transcribed messages a month.

If all that is still too much, for $.35 cents a message (up to 40 messages a month) you can get the service on pay-per-message basis. This plan is working for me at the moment very well.

There’s a free trial too. If you hate voicemail as much as I do - you will thank me in less than a week for writing this post! Everyone reads text faster than listening to voicemail. 

Hope you have fun (and save some time and money).

There are just couple of things missing. The title sums it up, the only things I really need in my TiVo (besides the NetFlix playing capabilities coming up soon), are the ability to add custom folders and store the shows there, and ability to set the TiVo’s Suggestions not to record Standard Def programs, but rather only things that come up on HD channels. SD = what a heck is that?

Sincerely - this would be like couple of lines of code for them to make it work - that’s how simple it is (assuming they do not even have to even give us ability to name the folders, but just make one special folder, call it “Saved shows” and let us “move” any of the items right in there.

Too much to ask? I’ll email them and let you know what they say .

The skinny on this beast: Acura TL S 450HP Turbo Charged 3.5L V6 Engine; 6-gear transmission, 2,200 pounds. Car uses electrolysis to convert water into gaseous hydrogen which is then mixed with 91-octane gasoline to improve fuel economy and minimize the carbon emission pushing this beauty up to 200 miles per hour.

Need I say more than the pictures below? The only thing prettier than it’s front is it’s butt!

Via: Geekologie

Update: dummy be forgot to mention the price: $150,000. If that’s too little, $100,000 more gives you extra 150 horsepowers .

With a huge win over John McCain, Barack Obama
wins the US elections and becomes the first
African American president in Nation’s history.

This clearly shows that everything is possible in this wonderful
country and it further affirms my decision
to come to this great land over 10 years ago
when I was just turning 18.

I was maybe too young to follow the elections in previous years, or maybe, as some of us will agree, none of the elections were as interesting and fun as this one, but I am sincerely glad the guy I was backing up prevailed.

Also, one of the main reasons this is such a historic event is the fact that without the technology behind the scenes, I sincerely doubt Obama would have ever been able to reach as many people as he did and get his message across. With his awesome website at http://my.BarackObama.com and biggest following of anyone on Twitter (http://twitter.com/barackobama), he started a new trend which I sincerely hope continues.

I hope he takes this success and the technology that helped him get in touch with people (and ultimately get elected) into the core of the United States so that the “connection” we all now have with him can continue while he runs this country into a better tomorrow. He oppened the doors for millions of americans to get in touch with him and have their say - I hope this door stays wide open so “we the people” can be heard.

About two years ago, or maybe even a bit longer, I got myself an HP LaserJet 1020 printer for about $120 USD. I needed something that printed documents “fast” (compared to the ink jets) and something that would last a bit longer than the usual ink jet cartridge. The solution was to find a laser printer which would not burn a hole in my pocket like almost everything else I get.

Little did I know that 2 or more years after I purchased it I will still be running on the original toner!!! I use this printer all the time, have printed thousands of pages on it - and it still keeps on printing. I really have no idea what’s going on but I’m loving it, and furthermore, I am dubbing it - The Magical Printer!

If you need a simple LaserJet - HP’s 1020 series is the way to go. Nowadays they got 1022 and what not, but I suppose those are the same printer inside.

It did warn me couple of times the toner was running out, I just took the toner out, shook it left and right, and put it back in. This seemed to trick it for another 3-4 months. I’ve done this many times .

While I had thought of selling it at times (especially when I could not find the correct drivers for it under Vista and Mac OSX), I still kept it for sentimental reasons. Times have gone by, drivers came back, and it’s happily printing when ever I need it .

Anyone else out there with stories of a Magical Printer or some other gadget that just keep on keeping on?

It was found in about 8 years ago (year 2000) when the mining company pumped out the water out of 30×90 feet cave. It turns out the cave was filled with mineral rich water which encouraged the amazing growth of these beautiful crystals. The temperature inside is ridiculously hot at around 136 degrees Fahrenheit (58C), which is quite unusual for the caves. All the ones I went to were quite cold .

Check out more at National Geographic’s web site.

Lucky suckers at Bit-Tech.net got themselves a brand new Core i7 (Nahelm) processors and pretty boards to go with. The successor of Intel’s Core 2 CPU’s truly brings innovation and speed we all hoped for.

Just a year ago I built myself a ridiculously fast machine. To day I have never had a slowdown or something the machine could not do in a snap - but I admit, when it comes to editing movies - while 3 hours for an H.264-BluRay encoding of a home video is not too long, I’d definitely like it a bit faster.

From what I could see on Bit-Tech - H.264 encoding speed is cut in HALF compared to my overclocked Core 2 Duo E8400 running water cooled at 4GHz. Now that’s something I really like and something I could benefit from.

The Core i7 965 @ 3.2GHz is $999, Core i7 940 @ 2.93GHz is $562, and the little brother (which most people will buy) Core i7 920 @ 2.66 is at respectable $284 USD.

Some people may complain about this, but I think I can live with this pricing structure. Main reason: all these CPU’s carry 8MB L3 Cache (1MB L2) and support the new Tripple DDR3 setups. The best part: they are MADE for overclocking.

I think about June, July next year I may be jumping on this bandwagon. My Core 2 still has much to offer until prices settle a bit and more choices on motherboards and cheaper DDR3 RAM prices arrive.

More at: Bit-Tech.net

Read - PC Perspective. “Nehalem Revolution: Intel’s Core i7 Processor Complete Review”
Read - Techgage, “Intel Core i7 Performance Preview”
Read - Maximum PC, “Core i7 Dissected and Benchmarked”
Read - Computer Shopper, “Intel’s Core i7 Debuts: Systems, CPUs, and Motherboards Reviewed”
Read - HotHardware, “Getting To Know Intel’s New Core i7, Video Spotlight”
Read - TechSpot, “Intel Core i7 920, 940 and 965 Extreme Edition review”
Read - Custom PC, “Intel Core i7 - all you need to know”
Read - SlashGear, “Gateway FX6800-01e Review”

I am from Europe so I am really into all kinds of breads and anything made of dough . During Christmas time most of US department stores (JC Penny, Macy’s, Marhsall’s, etc.) get a very special treat: Panettone.

Panettone is a typical bread of Milan which Italians (and me) enjoy during the Christmas and New Year’s. They make it only around this time so if you like it once you try it - stock up on it for a full year; at least that’s what I do . The breads are well packed and expire in about 6-8 months so they are perfect for storing for later.

If you’ve never ate it - check it out. I think you’re in for a treat. If you find one  you do not like - try another brand. Not all are made equal. Make sure it says Made in Italy on the bottom of it too - the recipe is quite secret.

More about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panettone

Last Saturday, Sally and I went to The 2008 Tour of Gymnastics Superstars, a show we both were looking forward to since before the Olympics were even over.

We really enjoyed watching the Olympics, swimming and especially gymnastics were on our TV almost all the time. Heck, we even bought the 52″ Sony Bravia XBR4 mostly so we can watch the Olympics in style .

Maybe we expected too much from the Tour, or maybe we were just too excited about it, but in reality I must admit - whoever organized this whole deal is simply AN IDIOT.

Imagine, you have a group of young gymnists, the best gymnist in the whole World, and instead of having them showing off in style, you go and make a mockery of the whole deal by having some stupid kiddie bands (KSM and Jordan Pruit) blast more than 7 songs as if we went to see a cheap (and heckuva loud) High School musical.

I kid you not, out of thousands of people at the arena you could count on fingers of one hand of how many people loved seeing these singers.

To put an insult on the wound, from 17 awesome gymnists out there, we saw maybe 5 individual performances out of which 3 were worth-while watching. If they were scored, they would not even pass the qualifications.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that this was not a gymnastics event but rather more of a prolonged party for winning the bronze and silver medals, but it was so dumbed down that I really hated it.

Nastia did one double bars routing which was very nice to see (especially since we had floor seats right next to her), AND THAT WAS IT for double bars! After that Shawn and Nastia did one or two individual high-bar routines, and then one together - just dancing around.

Now that I mentioned Dancing - you will see 98% of dancing in this tour and 2% of real gymnastics. If you are down with that, and with listening more than 7 songs by screaming kiddie bands - you’re in for a treat.

I admit - it was really great to see these kids in person. It was amazing. I personally cannot wait for April and some real gymnastics competition - but in my opinion - the Saturday’s performance was a waste of $200 bucks.

Furthermore, I sincerely hope that gymnists get a good chunk of this since we all know most of them quite need it. If that is the case - I am glad I spent $200 bucks.

P.S> Watch out for the floor seats. Your arena may have a really funky seating chart. We had 4 sections for floor seats, the two closer to the stage and AWAY from the double bars (closer to the high beam and pomel horse) were a GREAT place to sit at. The other two, next to high bars and double bars, SUCK! Don’t get those, you’ll be better off sitting on the side in regular seats .

P.S.2> Nastia Liukin is a lot prettier in real life .

Get tickets and show times: http://www.gymnasticssuperstars.com/cast/

First thing that it’s missing is support for GD library, which, if you are looking to manipulate images via PHP, is simply essential.

While there are a bunch of other ways to run PHP (XAMPP, MAMP and others), I like using the Apache and PHP that come with Leo and build on top of that (like a true geek).

Here’s how to compile GD for your PHP…

Requirements

• You must have Apple’s Dev Tools installed first (meaning X-Code). This is available on your OSX Install DVD or from Apple’s Web Site.
• You also need X11 SDK installed.  The best way to do it: install X11 client from OSX DVD and then install the Dev Tools - this way SDK will be installed for you.
• Backup your system… We don’t want you screwing things up and having no safe point to return to, right?
• I assume you have not manually updated anything related to GD, libpng, libjpeg and freetype so far (if you have, make sure you adapt these instructions to the changes you made).
• I also assume that you have PHP5 ENABLED on your Leopard Machine. It’s quite easy to do and Tyler can help a bunch on this. In short: move the /etc/php.ini.default to /etc/php.ini, and edit /etc/apache2/httpd.conf and remove # in front of LoadModule php5_module.

Installation process

• Open a terminal window and create a new folder for storing your source files and building future apps. While most people use /SourceCache, I like using a folder called “.sources” in my Home directory. So, let’s first create it and then go into it by typing the following in terminal:cd ~
  mkdir .sources
  cd .sources
• Next step is to download libjpeg (the only one missing) so GD can work properly, type:curl -O http://www.ijg.org/files/jpegsrc.v6b.tar.gzNote: that’s an O as in “oh”, not a 0 as in “zero”
• We also need the PHP source so we can compile the GD from there. 10.5 ships with PHP version 5.2.4 originally, but if you run 10.5.5 like I do, chances are you have 5.2.6! Make sure you know which version you have first - so you can download the correct PHP source. Do so by typing:php -vNote: the top line should tell you something like:
  - PHP 5.2.6 (cli) (built: Jul 15 2008 23:16:51)
• Now that you know the version you got, get the correct file below:For 5.2.4 type:
  curl -O http://www.opensource.apple.com/darwinsource/10.5/apache_mod_php-43/php-5.2.4.tar.bz2

  And if you got 5.2.6:
  curl -O http://www.opensource.apple.com/darwinsource/10.5.5/apache_mod_php-44.1/php-5.2.6.tar.bz2

• Now it’s fun time, let’s take care of libjpeg first:Unpack it by typing:
  tar -xzvf jpegsrc.v6b.tar.gz

  Enter the folder and copy the config files to it:
  cd jpeg-6b
  cp /usr/share/libtool/config.sub .
  cp /usr/share/libtool/config.guess .

  Now we need to configure it, make it and install it, so copy and paste the following command into the terminal (this will make the 64 bit version - which is what works for default Apache installation):

  MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=10.5 CFLAGS=”-arch ppc -arch ppc64 -arch i386 -arch x86_64 -g -Os  -pipe -no-cpp-precomp” CCFLAGS=”-arch ppc -arch ppc64 -arch i386 -arch x86_64 -g -Os  -pipe” CXXFLAGS=”-arch ppc -arch ppc64 -arch i386 -arch x86_64 -g -Os  -pipe” LDFLAGS=”-arch ppc -arch ppc64 -arch i386 -arch x86_64 -bind_at_load” ./configure –enable-shared

  That’s all one line, when complete, type:
  make

  Now, before installation we have to make sure couple of crucial directories exist, so type this:
  sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/include
  sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin
  sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/lib
  sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/man/man1

  And it’s time to install libjpeg by typing:
  sudo make install

  Note: you will have to enter the password when calling commands with sudo since installation has to proceed as root.

• Now that we got that out of the way, we need to get back into the .sources folder, unpack the PHP source, get into the GD folder, and do some fun stuff:cd ..
  tar -xvf php-5.2.6.tar.bz2
  cd php-5.2.6/ext/gd

  Note: above I assume you got 5.2.6, if you downloaded the 5.2.4, kindly replace 6 with of 4 in the above commands .

  Now run:
  phpize

  And then this one line command:

  MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=10.5 CFLAGS=”-arch ppc -arch ppc64 -arch i386 -arch x86_64 -g -Os  -pipe -no-cpp-precomp” CCFLAGS=”-arch ppc -arch ppc64 -arch i386 -arch x86_64 -g -Os  -pipe” CXXFLAGS=”-arch ppc -arch ppc64 -arch i386 -arch x86_64 -g -Os  -pipe” LDFLAGS=”-arch ppc -arch ppc64 -arch i386 -arch x86_64 -bind_at_load” ./configure –with-zlib-dir=/usr –with-jpeg-dir=/usr/local/lib –with-png-dir=/usr/X11R6 –with-freetype-dir=/usr/X11R6 –with-xpm-dir=/usr/X11R6 –with-gd

  When it all compiles, type:
  make
  sudo make install

• Now the fun part is over. I will assume that you already have PHP5 enabled on your MacOS as mentioned under requirements, so:Edit the php.ini file
  sudo pico /etc/php.ini

  Add the following after all “extension=blahBlah” directives:
  extension=gd.so

  Then find:
  extension_dir = “./”

  And put a semicolon in front to disable it, so it now looks like:
  ;extension_dir = “./”

  Save your php.ini file (Press CTRL + O and then enter).

• That’s it. Restart your Apache Server (System Preferences -> Sharing - and uncheck and check back the Web Sharing item).
• Test that GD is installed by typing this in console:
  php -r ‘phpinfo();’ | grep GD

  If GD is there, you should see this output:
  GD Support => enabled
  GD Version => bundled (2.0.34 compatible)

  If it isn’t - make sure you followed all the instructions correctly: Especialy the part of editing php.ini file and restarting your server. You should also check the Apache Log since it may help telling you if the compiled GD object is corrupt. Do so by typing:
  tail /var/log/apache2/error_log

Hope this helps you out My next tutorial, MySQL and mcrypt, so stay tuned .

Much thanks to: Kenior and TopicDesk.

Now, this is simply impossible, especially since when booting in Vista the system automatically uses the faster Nvidia 9600M GT card with 512MB RAM. This baby should fly, rite? While it certainly does, Vista does not wish to give it a passing grade

If the graphics performance was accessed correctly, I would guess the whole system score would be at least 5, if not a bit higher. It certainly feels that the machine really flies, and I’d know: my other machine is liquid cooled 4GHz Core 2 Duo based on Nvidia 790i running 64bit Vista with 4GB of RAM and VelociRaptor drives.

Check out the screenshot for the system rating. Everything other than graphics shows up not too shabby.

Stay tuned for a in-depth review on how Vista runs on new MacBook Pros. Sincerely - I love it

If you are looking to put a website on line, one of the hardest things will be finding a good, reliable web host.

Choosing a web host is not a trivial thing. There are many aspects to consider besides the price, which most of times matter more than the price you pay for hosting. Here are some tips on what to look for:

1. How reliable the host is as a company?
   - There are many fly-by-night hosting companies, and many more ran by students, often reselling and overselling the allocated space they pay for on, usually, shared servers. While not all of these are actually bad (I started like this myself in 2004), they are risky. There are ways to research them before making a mistake. Besides the following tips, check how long they’ve been in business, how long has their domain name been registered for (domaintools.com), how many sites do they host, are they maybe even registered with Better Business Bureau, are there any reviews on-line?
2. How reliable is their network?
   - Most providers like to brag about Tier3, Tier4 networks, the bandwidth their data center receives, etc. Check out on their site to how many ISPs are they connected to. What are the connection speeds, uptime guarantees, etc. You do not want to host with a provider who is connected to the World with only one line. Look for names like Level 3, UUNET, XO Communications, and TimeWarner (for hosting in the US). If there are any pictures of the data center provided - make sure they’re neat and pretty. While these could be fake, there’s still a chance they could not be Most of the network downtimes happen because some idiot trips over a wire!
   
3. How reliable and knowledgeable is their support staff?
   - You will find this to be one of the most important factors in your long-term relationship with a hosting company. At times, you will need things ASAP, questions answered, servers rebooted, or maybe even more. Try contacting the support department and asking them some questions prior to signing up. Take a note of the response time it takes, the tone and language they respond in, as well as the technical expertise of the person. Also check where their support is located at? In India, or in the very data center your server is located at? [Disclaimer: I'm against outsourcing of US jobs!]
4. Do they offer a FREE phone support?
   - Most web hosts are slow when it comes to responding on emails. You can expect to wait anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours for a response on average for any given host (and this is actually good, some take longer!). At times there will be emergencies, or, to put it simply, you are maybe more of a phone person. It’s important that there is some other way of contacting your web host besides email. What if they are located in Florida, a huge hurricane hits them and cuts out all of their network connectivity? They’re in Cali? Earthquake is a big possibility; phone lines usually die last
5. Managed versus You’re On Your Own… [mostly for dedicated servers]
   - If you do not think of yourself as an expert when it comes to hosting, server administration, etc. - make sure you get Managed hosting. This simply means that your hosting provider takes care of everything for you, from some software installation, updates, services configuration, troubleshooting, etc. at no additional cost. These servers are usually a bit more expensive, but the price is worth for what you get. If you are unsure what you are getting with Managed vs. Unmanaged, contact the provider and ask them what’s the scope of their support. Many people hear too many times, “We’d love to help you but what you are asking is out of the scope of our support”. This is usually followed by: “However, our administrators can do this for you, but it will cost $90/hour”.
6. Features offered vs. Features you need…
   - You will notice that most hosting providers nowadays offer pretty much same features. Huge amounts of hard drive space, generous bandwidth allocation, unlimited emails, databases etc. If you already have a website, or are planning to have one made, look for features required by your site.
   1. If it is PHP based, is it PHP4 or PHP5?
      - most still render all .php files with PHP4 compiler by default, and PHP5 is available if your site uses .php5 extension. Will this work for you? Can you change this behavior?
   2. If it is Ruby on Rails or ASP.Net - does the host offer full support for it? It’s trivial to install Ruby on Rails on a server and offer it, but a good installation is more than that. If you need ROR hosting, make sure you get the host specializing in it. Best configurations are Apache for static files, and Mongrel server, or cluster, for Rails applications.
   3. Backup, backup, backup! Do they offer it? Where is it stored? How fast can it be restored? What’s the price? These are a must ask questions if you value your site and it’s content and are not planning to make your own backups manually.
7. Control Panels
   - While this could fit into features in the previous section, it is so important it deserves it’s own. Control Panels are a wonderful thing. They let you control your website through an easy-to-use web based interface and make the usually not so trivial tasks a piece of cake. When you need to add more domains, subdomains, parked domains, password protect directories, setup Web Disks, install 3rd party applications with just a couple of clicks, manage databases and users, you will mostly rely on the Control Panel which lets you do all of this. There are couple of choices these days, but my suggestion is: cPanel
   - cPanel.net is an industry leader when it comes to this. The latest version (v.11) even offers integrated Video Tutorials for almost all of the features. Friendly “Wizards” are integrated to make the management more than easy. Especially if you are new to hosting - make SURE to get a web host which offers cPanel. If you are into installing 3rd party applications (blogs, forums, wikis, etc.) most hosts which provide cPanel offer it with Fantastico DeLuxe add-on which lets you install over 50 of the most popular Open Source web applications with just a click of a mouse! You will LOVE this!

   Other popular Control Panels are: Plesk, Helm, Ensim and H-Sphere, and most of them offer on-line demos which you can test drive and see the features. Once again, I’d like to stress that you won’t find better than cPanel. I simply cannot live without it

8. Plan for your growth!
   - Make sure you ask what happens when you reach your allocated resources. While hard drive space can easily be increased, bandwidth is a different sort of an animal. While some may just bump you automatically to a higher plan, others may silently charge your fees or even shut down your site. Make sure you ask your host these questions:
   1. How much do they charge for bandwidth overages? While some charge per GB (anywhere from $0.10 to $1.00), others charge per Mbit (megabit), which is roughly around 350GB.
   2. Is there a cutoff? Most dedicated servers come with 100Mbit links. If you overuse it they may bump you up to a Gigabit link! What’s the price for that?
   3. If you need to grow rapidly, say your site just starts getting 1000s of users a day, can the current host accommodate you? Can they easily switch you from a shared environment to a dedicated? Can they easily upgrade the resources on a system you are on? What’s the downtime for all these things to take effect, if any?
      
9. Shared vs. Virtual vs. Dedicated vs. Clusters
   - these are in this order for a reason.
   1. Shared hosting
      This is the most popular kind of web hosting people tend to get. Prices are just about right, resources plentiful, but outcomes can be annoying. Shared hosting is a tricky business. While some hosts have adequate multi-cpu, multi-core machines, powerful enough to host 100s or even 1000s of users, many host the same amount of users on a machine just a bit faster than your home PC. Checkout what hardware are their machines based on and roughly how many users per machine there are. Don’t settle for less than 500GB space and less than 10-30GB in bandwidth.

      
      The good:
      - very affordable and with a good host - the best choice you can make for smaller websites.

      The bad:
      - if you start using too many resources (CPU, RAM) - they’ll just bump you off the net or offer an upgrade to a dedicated server.

   2. Virtual hosting
      - we live in the virtual age and this type of hosting is gaining a lot of traction. It’s usually cheaper than a fully dedicated server, more configurable than shared hosting environment, and you get some guarantees as in how much CPU and RAM your services get. It’s usually a nice step up from the shared hosting. The good:
      - all just mentioned.

      The bad:
      - in my opinion, and from some of my experience while testing virtual hosting with a couple of well known providers, I find the server’s initial response times low. I just think that a winner is clear when you compare a software based network adapter and a hardware network card of a dedicated server. There’s only so fast one can go. I might be wrong but this is why I do not like to go with Virtual hosting.

   3. Dedicated servers
      - if you are serious about your site you will look to get no less than a dedicated server. They are really great! I have a bunch of them for me and my clients and here’s why I like them… The good:
      - you get to control every single aspect of the server, from what software is on it, what services are running, to fine tuning the memory allocation (in my case) PHP and MySQL are allowed to use. You get to set the server just the way you want it to perform!
      You also get better customer support (hosts seem more eager to please those who are shelling out more money). You also get a choice of the server specs: you choose the Hard Drives, RAM, CPU power, etc.

      The bad:
      - if you don’t get a managed server (read #5 above), you’re pretty much on your own so you better know what you’re doing. Securing a server is not a trivial thing. Other than this, how can there be anything bad about a dedicated server? That’s like saying there’s something bad about having a computer in general

   4. Cluster based hosting
      - together with virtual hosting, cluster based hosting is another very interesting choice we face. There are cool looking hosting providers with even cooler looking websites and names spanning out of nowhere and offering cluster based hosting. Surely,there are others which have been around for a long time too. It does seem this is a new trend lately, and here’s what you should know… The good:
      - clusters are designed to spread the services (web servers, database servers, etc.) over multiple, specialized servers making them easier to protect, optimize, manage and restore. Another cool feature they usually add is integrated load-balancing for these services. They become one giant system capable of scaling horizontally. The benefits you see as a customer are that your site can receive a bigger allocation of RAM or CPU power at a moment’s notice - and scale vertically (grow in resources) with no downtime.
      
      The bad:
      - while hardware problems can be taken care of, they do happen and can bring down services. The more hard drives you have (and these clusters can have hundreds), the more chance of them dying. As you know, it’s not a matter of IF the hard drive will fail, but simply WHEN. A well configured cluster accounts for this by itself (thanks to replication), and keeps on going; that is, if it is configured well!

      - Another possibly negative issue is that some Cluster-based hosts do not provide scaling. Your site has a set amount of CPU cycles and RAM it can occupy during any given time period, and if you go over - they suspend your account or offer to move you to a higher priced plan (sometimes even on a different cluster system). When it comes to cluster hosting - make sure you know exactly How MUCH you’re getting for your money’s worth. While clusters are amazingly powerful machines, it does not mean you are getting the full power of this - but rather just a small fraction - which can most times even be less than what you would get if you had a Dedicated Server!

      - Make sure that if you go this line, your host guarantees the CPU and RAM and offers easy upgrades. Stay away from “grid-hosting” and such, unless, they tell you up-front how much of resources you get and what happens when you go over. Cluster hosts who are up-front with this will tell you you are getting a cluster with 1/7th of resources or such. This way you know there will be no more than 7 other people on this cluster.

10. READ THE TERMS OF SERVICE
    - I cannot stress this enough. This is that “small print” you always hear about. Web hosts always put all kinds of situations in here - which at times contradict with their marketing campaign and with what they say they offer. Unlike Credit Card agreements (which you read, right??), these are usually 10 times less in length so there’s really no reason not to read them.

And couple of last pointers:

• if web host’s web site looks like crap - find another one! If they can’t afford someone to make their site visually appealing in this day and age - they don’t deserve your business.
  [Disclaimer: I am a web developer ]
• beware of those “UNLIMITED” features. Nothing in the world of computing is unlimited! It can be unmetered, but it is certainly limited!
• RAM (memory) is important for sites relying heavily on database (like forums!), CPU power is required for processing PHP and other dynamically generated pages. Leverage these for a perfect balance of your needs.
• Need more info, read the Peconi Hosting’s Frequently Asked Questions.

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT COLUMN: The most popular web hosts today, and what they offer!

Any suggestions or concerns are always welcome

This post is sponsored by web hosting provided by yours truly, since 2004:

What’s even better, not that long ago they released a PC version too so you do not have to have a Mac in order to use it .

Head over to: http://www.desktoptopia.com/ and get your new favorite app for either Mac or PC. I think you will like it!

Canadian CBC had an interview with him not that long ago. Interesting story if you are interested:

Via: blog.dropthemike.com

They ship today should be in stores by tomorrow

Because of that “SHOULD” it turns out my 40 mile drive to and from Columbus, OH’s only Apple store was for nothing

Came inside - no new stuff on display at 3PM. Asked around if I could buy one - they say, “sure, we just dont have the demo units out cuz they are being imaged.” I ask if I can see some - they sway Fat Chance.

After walking around a store I spot another dude PLAYING with one. He I suppose IS allowed to see them. Why, is my money no good? Somehow, I manage to get my hands on a MacBook (not Pro) the dude was looking at, at least to feel the sucker.

I liked what I saw so I decided to get the MacBook Pro without even need to look at one. I ask for 2.53GHz version - they say they only got 2.4GHz available. The 2.53 will be in stores in a few days! WTF?

I’m pissed. Steve could’ve just said - available in stores by Friday, or after 6PM on Wednesday or something. Hate being lied to

Grrr…

P.S. they will put the new notebooks on display later on today. Someone should fire the Manager. And WHO in the world ships lower end models first and higher end models later?

Where is this world going to? Is anyone’s job/time really SO important that he/she cannot spare 15 seconds for apps to close up, new card to switch on - and then to load up anything that was running back again. I mean, really! Sure it can be a hassle if you have a bunch of things open, but at least on Mac, most apps start from where you left of anyways.

In reality, while this was available to me for 2 years now on my Sony Vaio SZ, I haven’t even used the switch twice . On this old SZ I even had to restart. The new Sony VAIO Z Series switches automatically in Vista.

Also, we all know Apple is going to take care of this soon enough - so stop crying about it you lazy *astards!

Today, it’s a different story “my friends” (to quote John McCain)

Apple confirmed almost all speculations and rumors out there. “The Brick” has been demystified as a new manufacturing process in which Apple’s new and future notebooks are to be created out of one solid slob of Aluminum. This process while very cool to watch, also creates a lot more sturdier notebook bodies (dubbed unibodies), and it reduces the extra parts needed for making the notebooks’ construction solid by as much as 45%.

While MacBooks are now available from $1299 and $1599 price points, MacBook Pro’s starting prices are $1999 and $2499. The smaller price is a base start price, and the higher price is the “better” model.

Instead of repeating the whole Apple’s website in words below, I will try to give you the skinny on couple of configurations which really make sense when buying these notebooks.

While HDD and battery are easy to access in the new MacBooks I do not know about RAM, therefore, to be on the safe side and not bother with upgrading this later (for less money) I went with 4GB in all of my configurations below even though it is a $150 USD premium in some cases. MacBook Air can’t have more than 2GB so it’s the only exception.

#1 The New MacBook (configuration priced @ $1,469) - The Overall Best Choice!

Here are the specs for my recommended configuration (starting form $1,299 model and upgrading):

- 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (2GHz is just too low for the future)
- 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2×2GB (you’ll need 4 gigs come Snow Leopard)
- 160GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm (basics for now, keeping the price low)
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM
- SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
- Apple Remote (sadly you gotta pay for it now, but it’s worth it)
= $1,469 before taxes but also before your student discount

The good: price, speed, RAM, nice and shiny new Nvidia graphics card

The bad: No FireWire port, only 3MB L2 cache on CPU… Even MacBook Air has 6MB

Links: Apple’s MacBook Page, Hands on Gallery, UBOXING PICTURES

#2 Revamped MacBook Air (config priced @ $2,149) - Not ready for prime time, yet…

- 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (w/6MB L2 cache! I like this!)
- 2GB 1066MHz DDR2 RAM (sadly can’t fit more)
- 120GB Serial ATA Drive @ 4200 rpm (SSD is still expensive)
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM (read gotchas below!)
- MacBook Air SuperDrive (gotta have an external drive)
- Apple USB Ethernet Adapter (I don’t know about you, but I like having a backup network connection)
- Apple Remote (need one)
= $2,149 before taxes and before student discount

The good: Boy is it sexy! Small form factor, thin as air, faster (6MB L2 cache is a very nice touch)

The bad: price too high?, only 2GB of RAM, 4200 RPM HDD, hardly has any ports, no integrated optical drive, battery lasts a bit less than on MacBook and MacBook Pros

Gotcha: the integrated Nvidia GeForce 9400M had to be slowed down a bit due to thermal issues, so while it’s not 5 times faster than Intel graphics, Steve swears it’s at least 4 times as fast.

Why not ready for prime time? I just think it’s still overpriced. I love seeing it a bit faster, but is it really that impossible to put in an optical drive? Did you see Sony’s TT Series? That’s one PACKED and Tiny machine so no one can tell me it can’t be done .

Links: Apple’s MacBook Air page

#3 New MacBook Pro (config priced at $2,169) - MY #1 CHOICE!

MacBook and MacBook Pros are now not that much different any more. MacBook finally grew up, got it’s act together and is following in the footsteps of it’s big Pro brother. I really like what I’m seeing, but for people like me who need a little bit more of screen real-estate, and a bit more of graphics power - MacBook Pro is the only choice.

Here’s the best configuration in my opinion:

- 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2×2GB
- 250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 (
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM
- SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
- Apple Remote
= $2,169 again, no tax and no student discounts accounted for

The good: it’s a MacBook Pro!, 15.4″ screen is very nice, dual hybrid graphic cards - something Sony has done for a while now — but still nice

The bad: this is a MacBook PRO and it has only 3MB of L2 Cache on this 2.4GHz CPU. If you want to get 6MB of L2 cache you can’t build on a $1,999 machine. You have to go with a $2,499 model as a base which will upgrade you to a 2.53GHz CPU. While the $2,499 model ups the HDD to 320GB, RAM to 4GB and secondary Nvidia 9600M GT card to whopping $512MB of dedicated memory and in itself is a well justified price bump, I would’ve liked to see an option on the $1,999 model to up just the CPU. That would make a sweet spot for a perfect MacBook Pro in my opinion giving people an option of just a faster CPU. If you want a 2.8GHz option - then you gotta add another $300 to that $2,499.

Links: Apple’s MacBook Pro page, Hands on Gallery, UBOXING PICTURES

#4 New MacBook Pro (High-end config @ $2,519) - if you really got to have it

- 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (with 6MB of L2 cache)
- 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2×2GB
- 320GB Serial ATA @ 5400
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor with 512MB of DDR3 SDRAM
- SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
- Apple Remote
= $2,519 before taxes and any discounts

The good: same as the above - this is the machine

The bad: at this price point, I wish I was getting a BluRay DVD Burner instead of just an 8X Super Drive, HD resolution (and not 1440 x what ever) or at least a back rub, massage, tour of Apple’s HQ and some cookies to go with it too.

Links: Apple’s MacBook Pro page, Hands on Gallery, UBOXING PICTURES

Other thoughts

Overall, I really like the new notebook lineup. To answer some questions that some of you may have:

1. Why did you choose the lowest sized Hard Drives Apple offers?
   - Quite simple really, since we can now easily access the Hard Drive and not void the warranty (or so I assume), it makes no sense to spend $100+ USD on upgrading couple of gigs up.
   - A smart person will immediatly go to NewEgg.com and get the $500GB WD Scorpio Notebook Drive for $149 USD and keep the one MacBook came with for emergencies or even better, an Ubuntu installation. Another cool thing one could do with the old MacBook HDD is to upgrade that lausy PS3 HDD we all have in there.
2. Where’s BluRay?
   - BluRay drives are NOT a “Bag of Hurt” as Steve Jobs mentioned. If Dell, HP and other manufacturers can offer them with their notebooks - Apple should be LEADING the pack with HD. Sincerely, I don’t think licensing is their issue - but wanting to sell crappy quality shows via iTunes and dubbing them as HD is the real meat of the story. Don’t get me wrong, iTunes has great quality movies -but hey are Not HD.
3. What did they miss?
   - While 1280×800 is a “standard” for small laptops right now, I think MacBooks should’ve been upgraded to a 1440×900 and MacBook Pros to at least 1680×1050 resolution. Ideally, MacBook Pros should come with 1920×1080 - but I’ll gladly accept that on 17″ if nowhere else. 1440×900 in my opinion is too small for a web developer / photographer on MacBook Pro. It’s not life and death situation, but we can always use more pixels
4. WHAT COULD BE THE BIGGEST GOTCHA?
   - In the event, Steve says that base MacBook model (2.0GHz) configurations DO NOT have the Backlit keyboard (by saying that the higher model comes with it as an extra)… On Apple’s Web Site, both MacBook configurations have Backlit keyboard in the specs. Which one is it?
5. Who are you?
   - I am a web developer, happy 64bit Windows Vista user, unbiased geek, Apple lover, recent MacBook Pro owner, and soon-to-be New MacBook Pro hugger. In short - similar to you?

You might be interested in seeing the whole “Notebook event.” It’s available right here: http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/0810rtdws876/event/index.html

Any questions, comments, thoughts? Please feel free to drop a line! I’d really appreciate it!

Apple users/developer? Check out http://iBetaTest.com and register!

“Who goes to bed with an itchy butt wakes up with a stinky finger”.

Ha ha ha!!!

Mac users were taken care of earlier than PC users with the program called CSSEdit. It introduced Live Preview, where you see the changes to your site immediately while modifying the style sheet properties on the side. It also has a tool called “X-Ray” which lets you mouse-over the elements on the page in order to quickly identify it’s counterpart in the CSS file.

If you are looking for great CSS editing on a Mac, look no further. CSSEdit is it!

Web site: http://macrabbit.com/cssedit/
Download: http://macrabbit.com/cssedit/get/
Price: ~ $44 USD

When it comes to PCs, things were not the same until recently when I discovered Stylizer! It’s developers claim it’s “The only Visual CSS Editor Done Right“, and I can attest - IT IS! Sincerely, it’s even better than CSSEdit and it finally allowed me to move from Mac for my CSS editing back onto a PC where I do all my web development.

It’s easy to use, comes with a WONDERFUL tutorial which teaches you EVERYTHING there is to know about the software right out of the box, you can do almost anything just by using your keyboard, it has options similar to CSSEdit’s X-Ray which let you identify the elements within the page and assign CSS Classes to them instantly, and the best of all: It has a drop-down which lets you choose between FireFox and IE on the fly, so you can immediately know how your site behaves on these two browsers.

Sincerely, it has become an invaluable tool to my web development.

The best feature of all: it lets me save the Style Sheets straight from the application onto a local file, and onto a server via FTP or SFTP.

It has even a built in support for “CSS Hacks”, letting you easily specify different behaviours for different browsers, right in the CSS, without need to know much about it.

While pricier at $69.99, I’d get it twice if I had to.

Site: http://www.skybound.ca/stylizer/
Download: http://www.skybound.ca/stylizer/doDownload

With these two - you will be set, I promise (especially with Stylizer!).

iBetaTest.com is an iPhone beta tester community and an Application Store, with an idea to bridge the gap between developers and beta testers, help those stranded developers and apps denied by Apple in their own App Store by giving them ability to sell their apps on iBetaTest.com.

It’s also designed to help developers create better apps by giving them access to quality testers (who are rated by developers so we all know who’s worth what), and give the beta testers what they need: the early/vip access to the apps before they are launched, and even ability to make some money in the process: developers can choose to sponsor beta testers by paying them for their participation.

In two days since announcement, over 200 people have already registered! Every couple of minutes a new registration is received and I’m sincerely thrilled and quite excited on how well it is being accepted.

Feel free to check it out, register and also follow @iBetaTest on Twitter and if you wish to help, Digg us too:

• Register: http://iBetaTest.com
• Press Release: http://iBetaTest.com/press-release.html
• iBetaTest Blog: http://iBetaTest.com/blog
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/iBetaTest
• Digg: http://tinyurl.com/diggus

Thanks!

Photos from the Myrtle Beach trip Sali and I went on at the end of August are now in the Photo gallery .

Have fun checking them out. There are some really nice ones.

Myrtle Beach

145 photos

Sony’s new TT-series laptop, which I wrote about already, is now available for pre-order!

I LOVE IT: http://www.sonystyle.com/pr/tt

Vaio TT Crimson Red

More videos and info at: http://www.robotsrule.com/html/rovio.php

It’s just funny… I, on the other hand, want to know what kind of robot was used to record this. I sincerely felt as if I was looking through Wall-E’s eyes for a moment.