Archive for the 'Web Design' Category

Exporting Subscriber list on Mailman

Published on February 28, 2007 in Opensource Apps, Tips & Tricks and Web Applications. 0 Comments

The current release of mailman lacks a very important feature. There is no immediately obvious way to export a list of subscribers from a mail list — at least not via the admin interface. There is, however, a way to get this data. In my case I needed it in order to move the list of people from one mail-list to another way.

I read the following was an option:

Here is how to get a list of subscribers in one shot:
Send a message to: list-request@some-domain.org where list is the actual list name (e.g. sds-request@some-domain.org)
The subject line should read: who password*

* if the listserv is locked down you’ll need a password
(if you send it without and the list is locked it will complain in a reply email) Although it seems bizarre to send your password as part of the subject

I tried this method and nothing was emailed back to me. It may be that the mailman server I am using is configured to not allow this feature to work. I am not sure, as I only have access to the lists I manage and not the entire set-up.

So, here are some other options:

Go to the following address: http://www.yourdomain.com/mailman/roster/<listname>

This will produce a page with all members listed on it. Be prepared for a long page if you have lots of subscribers. The format is this:  address at domain.com as opposed to address@domain.com. If you have a lot of subscribers there is an easy way to use Excel to convert this data into the format you want (address@domain.com). There is an Excel file available right here. Just unzip the spreadsheet into a directory of your choice. Open the Excel file (it is free of macro viruses, but you may like to scan if first if you’re not convinced). Highlight and COPY the list from the web page. Past into Column A the data you have just copied. Now all you have to do is fill the formulas in columns .

Enjoy, and let me know if this helps some.

Jonathan Evatt

PC Wizard

Published on November 21, 2006 in Freeware Applications and Tools. 0 Comments

PC Wizard is a great application for finding out information regarding your computer configuration. Here is the info from their site. If you want to find out about something in your computer configuration this free tool is likely the way to go about it.
The product home page is at http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php


Since 1996 PC WIZARD is among the most advanced system information programs on the market.
PC WIZARD 2006 is a powerful utility designed especially for detection of hardware, but also some more analysis.
It’s able to identify a large scale of system components and supports the latest technologies and
standards. This tool is periodically updated (usually once per month) in order to provide most
accurate results.
PC WIZARD 2006
is also an utility designed to analyze and benchmark your computer
system. It can analyze and benchmark many kinds of hardware, such as
CPU performance, Cache performance, RAM performance, Hard Disk
performance, CD/DVD-ROM performance, Removable/FLASH Media performance,
Video performance, MP3 compression performance.
PC WIZARD 2006 can be distributed freely (ftp, archives, CD-ROMs …).


Hardware Information

  • Mainboard / Bios (Connectors, ID String, MP Support …)
  • Chipset (FSB Frequency, Norhtbridge, Hub, Direct Media Interface, XMB, NSI, …)
  • Main Memory (FPM, EDO, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR-2 SDRAM, RDRAM, FB_DIMM, Timings …)
  • Cache Memory (L1, L2, L3, Size, Frequency …)
  • Processors (Type, Speed, Multiplier coeff., Features, Model Number, Vanderpool Technology …)
  • Coprocessor
  • APM & ACPI
  • Busses : ISA, PCI, AGP (2x, 4x,8x), SMBus/ i2c, CardBus, Firewire, Hyper-Transport … )
  • DMI / SMBIOS
  • Mainboard Sensors, Processor, Hard Disk & Battery (Voltage, Temperature, Fans)
  • Video (Monitor, Card, Bios, Capabilities, Memory, Integrated Memory, Frequencies …)
  • OpenGL & 3Dfx
  • DirectX (DirectDraw, Direct3D, DirectSound (3D), DirectMusic, DirectPlay, DirectInput, DirectX Media)
  • Keyboard, Mouse & Joystick
  • Drives (Hard Disk, Removable, CD-ROM, CDRW, DVD …)
  • SCSI (Card, Controller, Adapter, Devices …)
  • ATA/ATAPI & S-ATA (Devices, Type, Capabilities, S.M.A.R.T. Features, RAID)
  • Ports (Serial, Parallel, USB, IEEE-1394)
  • IDE & SCSI Devices
  • Twain & WIA Devices
  • PCMCIA (PC Card) Devices
  • Bluetooth Devices
  • Sound Card (wave, midi, aux, mix, AC’97 codec, High Definition Audio)
  • Printers (Local & Network)
  • Modem (Features, Speed …)
  • Network (Server, Connexion, Firewall …)
  • Security (Scan Ports …)
  • PocketPC & SmartPhone Devices

System Information

  • MCI Devices (mpeg, avi, seq, vcr, video-disc, wave) & ACM
  • SAPI
  • Passwords (Outlook, Internet Explorer, MSN Messenger, Dialup …)


    MSN Password Recovery

  • DOS Memory (base, HMA, UMB, XMS, EMS, DPMI, VCPI)
  • Windows Memory
  • Windows (Version, Product Key, Environment, Desktop, XP Themes …)
  • Windows UpTime (Boot, Shutdown, BlueScreen, System Restore Points …)
  • TrueType & OpenType Fonts
  • WinSock (Internet), Telephony et Remote Access
  • OLE (Objects, Servers …)
  • Microsoft® Applications
  • Activity (Process, Tasks, Threads)
  • Modules (DLL, DRV, 32 & 16-bits) & NT Services
  • Internet Navigator (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, FireFox)
  • ODBC
  • CMOS/RTC
  • Ressources (IRQ, DMA, E/S, Memory)
  • System files (.ini, .log, .bat, .nt, .dos …)

System Benchmarks

  • Processor (MFLOPS, Whetstone …)
  • L1, L2, L3 Cache, RAM (Bandwidth, Latency …)
  • Main Memory (Bandwidth, Latency …)
  • Hard Drives
  • CD/DVD Rom
  • DirectX 3D
  • Video
  • Removable/Flash Support
  • MP3 Compression

Tools

  • Can save, print, e-mail a report
  • Can save a TXT, RTF, HTML, or PDF report
  • Can compress report to .CAB or .ZIP
  • Can export any graphics as BMP file
  • Can export text and graphic with the clipboard
  • Web update Wizard
  • Communicate with Motherboard Monitor
  • Dump (Hardware registers, System BIOS, video BIOS …)

Multi Languages

  • English
  • French
  • Serbian
  • Slovak
  • Russian


Use this 100% free software to learn more about your computer and its components,
detect/diagnose any problems in your computer, and increase your computer’s performance.

Free file comparison

Published on November 16, 2006 in Freeware Applications and Web Design. 0 Comments

If you work with web development or coding of some kind you surely know that automated file comparrison is a handy and time saving thing to have on hand. There are many programs available for this function both free and commercial. The editor I use (PSPad) has a fairly good comparison toolset in it. If you are looking for a standalone and feature rich comparison program you may like to check out WinMerge.

WinMerge is an Open Source visual text file differencing and merging
tool for Win32 platforms. It is highly useful for determing what has
changed between project versions, and then merging changes between
versions.

Features

  • Visual differencing and merging of text files
  • Flexible editor with syntax highlighting, line numbers and word-wrap
  • Handles DOS, UNIX and MAC text file formats
  • Unicode support
  • Difference pane shows current difference in two vertical panes
  • Location pane shows map of files compared
  • Highlights differences inside the lines
  • File filters in directory pane
  • Moved lines detection in file compare pane
  • Shell Integration
  • Rudimentary Visual SourceSafe and Rational ClearCase integration
  • Archive file support using 7-zip
  • Plugin support
  • Localizable interface via resource DLL
  • HTML-based manual

You can check out winmerge here (www.winmerge.org)

IZArc archiver

Published on November 14, 2006 in Freeware Applications and Tools. 0 Comments

For a long time now I have been using and recommending ZipGenius as my preferred multi-format and free archiver. An archiver is what handles files with extensions such as .zip, .arc, .rar, etc..

Today I came across the free archiver from http://www.izarc.org/.

This archiver handles just about every format known to man, including .iso images and .cab files. Here’s the full list:

7-ZIP, A, ACE, ARC, ARJ, B64, BH, BIN, BZ2, BZA, C2D, CDI, CAB, CPIO, DEB, ENC, GCA, GZ, GZA, HA, IMG, ISO, JAR, LHA, LIB, LZH, MBF, MDF, MIM, NRG, PAK, PDI, PK3, RAR, RPM, TAR, TAZ, TBZ, TGZ, TZ, UUE, WAR, XXE, YZ1, Z, ZIP, ZOO

ZipGenius also handles a very comprehensive array of formats (perhaps more than IZArc). So really, at the end of the day it’s a matter of choosing which program you find easiest, quickest, and nicest to work with. I shall leave that decision in your hands.

Info on ZipGenius is available here: http://www.zipgenius.it/

Performancing Metrics Sidebar plugin fix

Published on October 11, 2006 in Blogging. 0 Comments

If you use the Performancing Metrics (www.performancing.com) sidebar plug-in for Wordpress (created by Dave Reid) you may find you get the following error (particularly when clicking UPDATE STATS):

Performancing Metrics

Warning: curl_setopt() [function.curl-setopt]: CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION cannot be activated when in safe_mode or an open_basedir is set in /home/feal/public_html/blog2/wp-content/plugins/pmetrics.php on line 375

Warning: curl_setopt() [function.curl-setopt]: CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION cannot be activated when in safe_mode or an open_basedir is set in /home/feal/public_html/blog2/wp-content/plugins/pmetrics.php on line 375

Warning: curl_setopt() [function.curl-setopt]: CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION cannot be activated when in safe_mode or an open_basedir is set in /home/feal/public_html/blog2/wp-content/plugins/pmetrics.php on line 375

Warning: curl_setopt() [function.curl-setopt]: CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION cannot be activated when in safe_mode or an open_basedir is set in /home/feal/public_html/blog2/wp-content/plugins/pmetrics.php on line 375

Warning: curl_setopt() [function.curl-setopt]: CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION cannot be activated when in safe_mode or an open_basedir is set in /home/feal/public_html/blog2/wp-content/plugins/pmetrics.php on line 375

Warning: curl_setopt() [function.curl-setopt]: CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION cannot be activated when in safe_mode or an open_basedir is set in /home/feal/public_html/blog2/wp-content/plugins/pmetrics.php on line 375

Visits: »
Today: 12
Yesterday: 18
This Week: 30
Last Week: 54
Total: 1442

Fetched at: Oct 9, 16:58

Options | Update Stats

I have found that the solution is to edit the following code, which is around line 375 (or whatever line mentioned in the error as shown above).

// Initiate cURL and set options
$ch = curl_init();
//curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, TRUE);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT, $timeout);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, FALSE);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, $header);

Set this line to FALSE (it will be set to TRUE initially):
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, FALSE);

That fixes the issue. I am not sure what other effect this has, but the plug-in seems to continue working fine as far as I can tell.
This is some discussion on this issue which I raised on the Performancing.com website located here.


Technorati :
Del.icio.us :
Ice Rocket :

Sitemap Generator at AuditMyPC

Published on August 19, 2006 in Web Design. 0 Comments

If you are serious about having your web content seen by the public it is vital to have your site scanned and monitored by the various major search engines. One means of achieving this is through the use of site-maps. A site map might be an actual web page on your site (that the public can view to see an overview of your site) or it might just be a special site map file that only the search engines use—literally providing the search engine with a map of what you would like it so scan and record from your website and blog.

There are many tools available for generating site maps. Some you pay for, and some are free.

There’s a great free site map service available on AuditMyPC. Check it out.


Technorati :
Del.icio.us :
Ice Rocket :
Flickr :
Zooomr :
Buzznet :
Riya :

Wordpress Plugin - smart update pinger

Published on August 19, 2006 in Wordpress. 0 Comments

This little plug-in has a very simple, silent, and useful feature. Essentially it ensures that your blog will only ping the various blog tracking servers when you publish a new blog entry, and not when you edit an existing entry. There is really no reason to ping these servers when you have updated.

This plug-in  can be found at: http://www.daven.se/usefulstuff/wordpress-plugins.html

Desktop blog editor - Zoundry

Published on July 14, 2006 in Blogging and Freeware Applications. 1 Comment

This particular post is being written in a free WYSIWYG blog editor called Zoundry. So far it looks pretty good—in fact I would say it is the best offline blog editor I have tested. Here’s some of the key things I think it has going for it:

  • It has a good range of dictionaries for spell checking, such as the UK English that is missing from w.Blogger. The languages options built into it are English UK, US, CA; Dutch; French; Swiss French; German; Swiss German; Italian, Norwegian; Russian; Spanish; Swedish. It will automatically download the dictionary data file for which ever language your choose.
  • Very feature rich. The only feature I like to have on hand which is not here is the ability to manually define the Wordpress post slug. I’ve not found an offline editor that allows me to do this as of yet.
  • Nice interface, with great support for multiple blogs, blog accounts, blogging systems, etc.
  • Great storage system for existing and unpublished entries.
  • A built in code (XHTML) validation tool. It’s a little slow but does the trick for those that want to know their XHTML status.
  • A nice preview system that allows you to import or download your template
  • It has a localisation function in it, which I’ve not tested as the default is English but I assume non-English users can download localisation files in their language.
  • You are able to specify a “media repository” where Zoundry will upload your media files to for linking to from within your blog entries.

Zoundry also provide an affiliate sales system. Essentially Zoundry is an intermediary for a range of affiliate providers. The current options are Amazon.com, Buy.com, and Cooking.com. I understand they will be adding more in the future. The Zoundry editor is set up to allow the easy insertion of items from any of these affiliate stores. You then get a percentage of the affiliate commission and Zoundry keep some for themselves. It ranges from 70% - 80% for you and 20% - 30% for them. Might come in handy for those that want an easy solution to reviewing items on the net and generating affiliate sales.

For now Zoundry is my preferred offline blog editor. The others I have tried are w.Blogger (nice features but no UK English spell checking), and Blogjet (UK English but bare minimum of formating features).

UPDATE: 14 Nov 2006

Zoundry continues to be my prefered desktop blog editor.

If you would like a way to easily post blog entries via Zoundry from your browser check out the various browser extensions here.

PSPad editor

Published on May 25, 2006 in Freeware Applications and Tools. 0 Comments

There are many text and code editors available today. Many of them are free and many at low cost. For some years I used UltraEdit and found it to be very good. I was, however, using a pirated copy of it and I eventually decided that was not necessary and began a search to find an equally good editor that was free.

What I found was PSPad. The latest version which I have just now updated to is just great. I can’t think of any reason a coder would want to use any other editing tool. It has excellent built in FTP support which makes updating pages online a sinch.

If you are into coding or editing text files (.txt, .html, .php, .asp, etc) then check it out.

The home site for PSPad is www.pspad.com

Lazarus Guestbook

Published on March 26, 2006 in Web Applications. 0 Comments

One of the better free Guestbook programs I’ve come across. If you have Advanced Guestbook I suggest you switch it over to Lazarus. All your settings and entries will be taken across and you’ll have a more feature rich system to use—including spam blocking, which is why I switched by guestbooks over.

What is Lazarus?

Lazarus Guestbook
Lazarus is a free guestbook script written in PHP that uses your MySQL database for storage.
Lazarus is based upon the excellent Advanced Guestbook script from Proxy2.
I took the Advanced Guestbook and added more features and several layers of anti spam protection to make one of the most feature rich and spam resistant guestbook scripts available for free.
I am always active on the forums and you can rest assured that if the spammers find a way past the current anti spam methods that I have others waiting in the wings. You can read my own guestbook to see what other people have had to say about Lazarus and my anti spam fixes for Advanced Guestbook.

Lazarus Guestbook.

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