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Drupal to WordPress Migration
Keeping up with security updates on Drupal is exhausting. Not because there are many updates, but because the update process is more time consuming than you would want for a simple blog. So as much as I like Drupal, it’s time I move this blog to WordPress (WP) and give that a go.
Posted on 29 Apr 2013
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Case-insensitive Autocomplete in Bash
I use auto complete on the command line all the time to avoid having to type the full name of a file. Love it. What I hate is how it’s case-sensitive in bash, so I can’t do “cd ~/desk” to go to the “~/Desktop” folder.
The fix for this is to use the shell input options file: .inputrc
Just set this one option and restart your shell:
echo 'set completion-ignore-case On' >> ~/.inputrc
If you happen to have a system wide inputrc settings ( /etc/inputrc ) and want it included then you should add the following to your .inputrc file:
$include /etc/inputrc
Posted on 27 May 2010
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Enable HTTP Authentication on Dreamhost
If you are using Dreamhost, or other similar shared server host, and are having problems with HTTP authentication then this is something to try. In my case I had a RAILS application where I was positive I was sending the appropriate HTTP Basic Authorization header (from PHP) like so:
$urlNew = curl_init(); ... curl_setopt($urlNew, CURLOPT_USERPWD, $strAuth); curl_setopt($urlNew, CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH, CURLAUTH_BASIC); ...
However the server would repeatedly reply with Not Authorized (401 error). It turned out that the Authorization header was not being passed from Apache to the FastCGI application. So where I had this rewrite rule in /public/.htaccess:
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ dispatch.fcgi [QSA,L]
I just changed it to this:
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ dispatch.fcgi [E=X-HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization},QSA,L]
And all was well.
Posted on 21 May 2010
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Publisher 2007 PDF export loses text color
I ran into a bizarre issue yesterday. I had a Publisher 2007 document, with various different text colors utilized, and every time I exported it to PDF (using the 2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF) all the colors were lost. I ended up with black and white text.
Posted on 16 Oct 2009
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SlickEdit and Emacs
Everyone has their favorite code editor. Different editors suit different needs, but I personally like two of them currently: SlickEdit and Emacs. Both are extremely flexible and efficient editors offering:
- Column editing. If you aren’t aware of this, you should look into it now. Here is a good column editing video.
- Macro recording and playback.
- Tagging.
- Efficient code viewing/editing (side by side pages, etc), and editing. I.e. mostly keyboard driven and customizable.
- Integration with debuggers.
- Support for many programming languages.
The big difference between SlickEdit and Emacs is that SlickEdit is commercial software and Emacs is open source. If you are on a budget Emacs is a good solution and also lets you run the editor from a console (emacs -nw), which is handy.
Posted on 24 Jun 2009
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Adding Flash video to your website
If you want to set up a Flash video on your website, and you are using Linux, then this post is for you. I’ll cover the steps one by one. Keep in mind that there are many different solutions and I have only documented one.
Posted on 29 May 2009
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Australian TLD registration
If you are looking to register an Australian top-level domain (TLD) you have many choices for a registrar and host. Your first stop should be www.whatsinaname.com.au to compare the prices between all the different registrars. Obviously you want to select a registrar and host combination (they may be different) to meet your requirements for support, up-time, cost, and features.
Posted on 28 May 2009
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Signing jars with a Netbeans Ant script
Digitally signing a jar file is one step among many before releasing your jar to the world. It can help you identify your program as one that genuinely came from you. It can also make it harder for people to alter the program (although not impossible). I recently went through this process with OBZVault where I integrated signing into the build process (Ant scripts generated by NetBeans).
Posted on 27 May 2009
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TSVNCache.exe process slowing down Windows
I regularly use Subversion (version control system) along with the Tortoise SVN shell client. I mostly stick to the command line tools, but its nice to have some shell integration occasionally. Tortoise SVN provides this integration well.
Posted on 29 Apr 2009
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Software shortcuts
How many times have you used your code editor to look for some text and either didn’t find what you were after, or worse yet – were told that it’s not there when in fact it was? I bet this has happened to us all at some stage, and after some struggle you master the editor and life goes on, however I want to go over some basic tools/commands that you can always fall back to.
Posted on 31 Mar 2009
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Bulk file import into Clearcase
If you have used good source control systems such as subversion or perforce, you will know that adding a whole pile of files (as you would at the beginning of a project) is a trivial task. In the case of subversion it’s just two commands, svn add, svn commit, and you are done. If however you have the misfortunte to have to use IBM Rational Clearcase you are a little out of luck.
So before you go and start adding the two hundred files one by one using cleartool mkelem, take a look at this option:
Posted on 12 Dec 2008clearfsimport -nsetevent -recurse c:\tmp\srcfolder\new c:\views\destination_view_folder\srcfolder
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T41 VGA out on Xubuntu
Video output to an external monitor is easy right? Well it was on Windows XP, but with Xubuntu (8.04 Hardy Heron) running on an IBM Thinkpad T41 turned out to be a little trickier than hitting function-F7.
Posted on 10 Nov 2008
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Ruby on Rails
So have you played with Ruby or Rails yet? No? Well you might want to give it check it out. The Ruby language is very interesting and Rails, which is built with Ruby, is a very powerful web application development framework.
Posted on 26 Jan 2008
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Transparent build systems
Whenever you deal with a software project, you deal with a build system. The method and process by which you turn your code into a product. This may involve many steps such as pre-processing, compiling, linking, moving files around, and signing among others. The trouble is that on some projects this system becomes an afterthought rather than a purposeful choice. Today I want to briefly talk about the benefits obtained from a good build system.
Posted on 27 Dec 2007
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Oleview hangs on Vista
Those who have upgraded to Vista may have many issues to discuss, however today I just wanted to mention one in particular. Typelibs. In particular how to view them.
Posted on 24 Sep 2007
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The D programming language
Is there really another single letter programming language? Yes, its called D . The D programming language comes from Walter Bright and Digital Mars. Its been around for a while, but with the recent v1.0 release its probably a good time to take a look.
Posted on 06 Feb 2007
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A new look with Drupal 5.0
You may have noticed a change on ArminSadeghi.com. Last night the site was upgraded to use the new Drupal 5.0. Drupal is the content management software I use to run the site. Along with the upgrade there is a whole new theme in place providing a fresh look.
Posted on 24 Jan 2007
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Windows Live Messenger Add-Ins
When software applications do what they are advertised to do users are happy (generally), but what if you want to do more? Thats where you generally start looking for some method to extend the application. Not every application will allow this, but Windows Live Messenger (WLM) is one that does (at least currently with version 8.0). How, you ask? By writing your very own Add-In with the Messenger Add-In API …
Posted on 22 Dec 2006
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Manual vs automatic memory management
Good memory management is essential for writing software applications that perform well. If the application takes too long to start or frustrates you as it completes operations, it doesn’t make for a good experience. And there are many factors such as response time, working set, and hardware requirements to consider when dealing with performance. However memory management is a key ingredient, and deciding between manual and automatic systems can make a big difference.
This is such a large topic. Where should I start? …
Posted on 16 Dec 2006
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COM aggregation and ref counting woes
Why are we talking about Component Object Model (COM), isn’t that old dead technology? Well… no. There are still so many COM objects in use today, in many projects, that you will run into them sooner or later. As a software engineer you might even have to resolve bugs in these components. Today I want to draw attention to ref counting bugs that can creep in when using aggregation within these objects.
Posted on 24 Nov 2006
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Seattle to New York City
November 4th, 2006 – I was driving across Montana before I actually realized what I was getting into… a seriously long drive. Seattle, the city of Starbucks coffee, is located in the northwest of America, roughly 2800 miles (4500 km) drive from New York City. Wouldn’t it be great to drive all the way across the U.S of A? Coast to coast? Well.. that’s what I was thinking, and I had five days to get across.
Posted on 19 Nov 2006
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Windows PowerShell
Power users love shells. Not the seafood kind, but the command line interface, computer command scripting kind. Even MacOS which was traditionally GUI driven, now has a shell (albeit somewhat hidden), due to its makeover in OS X. With a shell the user can input text commands to manipulate the computer. The most obvious use of which is the ability to script common operations, or perform functions faster than perhaps the user-interface driven counterpart operation.
MS Windows based operating systems have been using cmd.exe as their shell for quite some time, until PowerShell came along. Windows PowerShell currently has an RC2 release available for download. Whats so special about Windows PowerShell?.. where do I start? 🙂
Posted on 02 Nov 2006
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Content management systems and Drupal
A content management system (CMS) is a computer software system that allows for easy content creation, collaboration, and management. Web content such as this very web site, or the myriad of other news and blog sites on the web are all supported by a CMS system. The chances are that you have already seen and used a CMS, and as I have just set one up for this site I thought it a fitting first subject.
Posted on 31 Oct 2006
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The Eyes Open
Welcome to my web site! After much deliberation I have finally succumbed to the will of the Internet and decided to start my own personal/professional web site. This space will be dedicated to engineering related articles and info, specifically the software kind.
Posted on 26 Oct 2006