restrict.pac contents:

/Store info in variables for clean code
var ALLOWED = "DIRECT";
//set the proxy server you want to redirect to
var DISALLOWED = "PROXY services.valdosta.edu:80";
 
function FindProxyForURL(url, host)
{
//Add all exceptions for pages users need to hit here
 
//all VSU pages
if (shExpMatch(url,"*valdosta.edu/*")) {return ALLOWED;}
 
//1Card online card office
if (shExpMatch(url,"*blackboard.com/*")) {return ALLOWED;}
 
//Bookstore e-commerce stuff
if (shExpMatch(url,"*collegestoreonline.com/*")) {return ALLOWED;}
 
//Off campus housing forum
if (shExpMatch(url,"*freeforums.org/*")) {return ALLOWED;}
 
//ADP related links
if (shExpMatch(url,"*gafirst.esg.edu/*")) {return ALLOWED;}
if (shExpMatch(url,"*adp.com/*")) {return ALLOWED;}
 
//VSU Athletics
if (shExpMatch(url,"*vstateblazers.com/*")) {return ALLOWED;}
 
else
 
{
//redirect to proxy server for all other requests
return DISALLOWED;
}
 
} // end of function

browserProxy.bat contents:

::Store info used to create user.js in variables
set var1=# Mozilla User Preferences
set var2=user_pref("network.proxy.autoconfig_url", "http://services.valdosta.edu/restrict.pac");
set var3=user_pref("network.proxy.type", 2);
set var4=user_pref("pref.advanced.proxies.disable_button.reload", false);

::concat each variable to create the user.js
echo %var1%> c:\\apps\user.js
echo %var2%>> c:\\apps\user.js
echo %var3%>> c:\\apps\user.js
echo %var4%>> c:\\apps\user.js

:: determine current user's firefox profile and set it to "var5"
for /f %%a in ('FINDSTR /r ".\.default" "%AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\profiles.ini"') do set var5=%%a
set var5=%var5:~14%
:: Copy "user.js" to Firefox profile directory
COPY "c:\\apps\user.js" "%AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\%var5%\" >nul

:: create IE Proxy
Reg ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings" /v "AutoConfigUrl" /d "http://services.valdosta.edu/restrict.pac" /f

If you reside on a public network, or even on a network with several other macs, and you have “Remote Management” set to allow “All Users” you can end up getting some unwanted users trying to connect to your machine. Once I configured “Remote Management” to only allow specific users to access the machine, the annoying cycle was stopped. If I had to guess, this has to do with a heartbeat coming from bonjour enabled clients.

-Phenix

You find some cool piece of software, and you spend a week or so fiddling around with it, but then you decide you like it, and later decide to use it. Well, instead of scrapping everything you’ve been working with and starting over from scratch you just go ahead working with what you’ve got.

Sound familiar? If so, and your software of choice happens to be the DHCP service on OSX 10.5 Server, this post is definitely for you. I went through Server Admin and setup my subnets, static maps, and logging levels. The one thing I forgot to change was the Lease Time. I left it configured to issue leases for a week. No biggie for most folks (including myself) since you’re probably not going to be maxing out your leased IP’s anytime soon. But if you’re like me, it annoys you to have to wait for several leases to expire, and you see duplicate leases for devices in your clients table. Here’s a quick easy fix to clear out all the leases and start fresh (since the option isn’t available via Server Admin):

1. Stop the dhcp server either through Server Admin, or from aTerminal:

% sudo serveradmin stop dhcp

2. delete the file /var/db/dhcpd_leases. You will need root access. Terminal command:

% sudo rm -f /var/db/dhcpd_leases

3. Restart dhcp via server admin or from Terminal:

% sudo serveradmin start dhcp

A very simple Apple Script can be developed to do this (if you have recurring needs). Contact me if you would like it,

-Phenix

New Server Specs:

• 20″ Aluminum iMac
• 2.0 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
• 4GB DDR2 (667Mhz) RAM
• 250GB SATA HD
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 128 Mb ATI Radeon 2400HD Graphics
• 8Mb/s High Speed Cable Internet
• Sitting on a desk next to the kitchen!

If you don’t like the fact that I use an iMac for a web server send me money for an xserve!

If you don’t like the fact that that I hosts sites off of an 8Mb/s connection, send monet for OC3!

If you don’t like the fact that my server is on a desk next to my kitchen, send money for a Data Center!

-Phenix

<?php query_posts(’category_name=special_cat&showposts=10′); ?>

<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>

<!– Do special_cat stuff… –>

<?php endwhile; ?>

This isn’t just some thrown together code from a lonely developer, it’s the actual snippet from the official WP Codex. I however have never been able to get it to work. No matter what I substitute in for “category_name“, I get all posts. I normally just modify this a little and use:

<?php query_posts(’cat=cat_id&showposts=10′); ?>

<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>

<!– Do special_cat stuff… –>

<?php endwhile; ?>

Where “cat_id” is set to the numeric category ID stored int he MySQL DB. This proves to be cumbersome for anyone who doesn’t have direct access to the DB. One way to find out the category ID without DB access is to view the source of a page within a browser and look for the ID there (provided your WP Loop is set to display categories). The use of the “special_cat” tag is suppose to enable the use of the category “slug”, or textual short name for the category (ie. the “News” category might have a slug of “news”). You can find the category slug when editing the category from the admin interface. The us eof the “slug” over the “ID” is much more convenient to most users. I have found a little more modification of the loop from the Codex offers a solution (have tested this on a WP 2.8 & WPMU 2.7.1 install, please let me know if there are potential problems I’m missing by using this):

<?php query_posts(’category_name=cat_slug&showposts=num_posts‘); ?>

<?php if (have_posts()) : ?>

<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>

<!– Code for Post Display –>

<?php endwhile; endif; ?>

Where “cat_slug” is equal to the Category Slug, and “num_posts” is equal to the number of posts from that category you want to display.

Because I normally hate people that just leave an example with “<!– Code for Post Display –>” rather than actually showing me what goes in there, I’ll give you an example of this modified loop used within a page:

<?php query_posts(’category_name=News&showposts=5′); ?>
<?php if (have_posts()) : ?>
<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>

<!– Begin Code for Post Display –>

<DIV class=”post” id=”post-<?php the_ID(); ?>”>

<h1><a href=”<?php the_permalink() ?>” rel=”bookmark” title=”Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>”><?php the_title(); ?></a></h1>

<DIV class=”entry”>

<?php wp_link_pages(array(’before’ => ‘<p><strong>Pages:</strong> ‘, ‘after’ => ‘</p>’, ‘next_or_number’ => ‘number’)); ?>

</DIV>

</DIV>

<!– End Code for Post Display –>

<?php endwhile; endif; ?>

This modified WP Loop displays 5 posts form the “News” category, Titles only that link to the actual individual post page, and pagination showing if more than 5 posts exist. I hope this helps someon out in the future! Please leave feedback of others possibilities to obtain this same feature, your troubles, or links to your site where you use something similar.

-Phenix

For anyone unaware of the recent events in Valdosta/Lowndes County, see this article and video (to the right of the article)  with details.

-Phenix

-Phenix

• Remote data Replication
• Remote Load Balancing
• Remote Failover

The ideal setup would be to have 1 web server (Server A) at ground zero that dynamically replicates it’s files to another web server (Server B) 20-100 miles away, while simultaneously sharing the load across the two, and also providing an automatic failover to the other in case one goes down. I have never before venrutred into the realm of any of these topics, so I barely have a surface knowldge if this scenario is even possible, let alone practical. Should I configure this setup differently? I have already reserahced and found (as well as been referenced to) rsync for data replication. I will also note that all of this will be on the Mac OS X 10.5 platform (slight possibility to move to 10.5 server) using a residential ISP connection. Thanks in advanced to anyone that can help out,

-Phenix

-Phenix

Like a champion cyclist knows bike parts,a car buff knows model years, and a sports fan knows win-loss records, all Mac geeks worth the titl

e must know these things.

Marketers and Madison Avenue operators like to reduce consumers to either/or “types”—paper or plastic, boxers or briefs, cotton or cashmere, Honda or Mercedes, Cristal or Bud–you get the idea. But what often fails to register in such a superficial worldview are the specific reasons behind what we choose when presented with a “this or that?” decision.

When it comes to computing, the question is Mac or Windows? And, as a Mac user, your allegiance to your platform of choice–as in marriage–isn’t entered into lightly. But once you renounce the Dark Side and join the growing legions of Mac enthusiasts, it’s not enough to maintain a casual connection to your Mac, iPhone, iPod, or Apple TV. 

The difference between a Mac user and a Mac geek isn’t just how attached you are to your Apple tech–or how often you publicly proclaim that attachment with logo T-shirts, “Think Different” bumper stickers, or by plastering everything you own with Apple logo stickers. Your level of geekitude depends on how deeply you strive to connect with your Mac and OS X–yeah, we know it sounds like psychobabble. The point, friends, is that being a Mac geek is distinguishable from being any other kind of tech geek, because although it helps to have some basic knowledge of technical geekery, like, say, the names of certain coding languages or the fact that Mac OS X is a Unix-type operating system, you need never have written or even seen a line of Unix code to join the ranks of Mac geekdom. All you need, really, is passion for your Apple gadgets–how you show it is up to you.

But to help give you the street cred–that is Mac knowledge–to back up the passion, we present the 50 things you really should know if you want to call yourself a Mac geek. If you’re a recent convert to the Way of the Mac, be sure you stud

y this compendium so you can move up a few levels of geekitude. If you’re a longtime Mac geek, test your know-how against our list–and be sure to let us know what we missed by flaming us at editor@maclife.com.

See original article HERE

-Phenix