Just a tip, if you’d like to make JRE 1.6 the default after you install it, then you will probably want to get the script discussed on this forum post: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=58817

Here is a modified version of the code to work with the 1.6 JRE instead of JDK, name the file changeJRE.sh and make sure you ‘chmod +x changeJRE.sh’ before trying to execute the script.

#!/bin/sh

cd /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions

CURJRE="`readlink Current`"
echo Current JRE version: $CURJRE

if [ "$1" == "" ]; then
echo Installed versions:
ls
exit
fi

VERFOUND=`ls | grep $1 | head -n 1`

echo You must now enter your Mac OS X password to change the JRE.
sudo ln -fhsv $1 Current


About Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 6
Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 6 delivers improved reliability, security, and compatibility for J2SE 5.0 and Java SE 6. Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 6 supersedes all previous updates of Java for Mac OS X 10.5.

This release updates J2SE 5.0 to 1.5.0_22, and updates Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_17.  J2SE 1.4.2 is no longer being updated to fix bugs or security issues and is therefore disabled by default in this update.  This release is only for Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later versions of Mac OS X 10.5.  This release of J2SE 5.0 supports all Intel and PowerPC-based Macs. Java SE 6 is available on 64-bit Intel-based Macs only.

For more details on this update, please visit this website.

I have provided some screen shots below:

ChromeOS: Downloading the ChromeOS VMware Image

Since we here at Piranha Method are friendly and helpful, we have conveniently provided you with the ChromiumOS VMware Image for download without requiring registration.

Download: Chrome OS VMware Image now.

ChromeOS: Installing the VMDK Image

ChromeOS: Booting up for the first time.

The first thing you notice about Chrome OS is that its boot time puts all current operating systems to shame, you literally power up and in mere seconds your presented with a log in screen.  Now this isn’t your usual operating system log in screen, because instead of having accounts on your computer you simply have accounts with Google.

ChromeOS: Logging in

So having logged in with my Google account, I am presented with a browser, nothing more.  Chrome OS is all about getting the user onto the internet as fast as possible, in Google’s opinion that’s how the future of computers will be, everything Cloud operated meaning programs run from the web browser and data stored on servers.

ChromeOS: Using the Interface

You will notice Chrome OS has a unique tab that provides Icons to the commonly used Web 2.0 applications like Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, YouTube, Hulu, Facebook, Twitter and much more with the ability to “get more”.  This interface is a tab you cannot close out like the rest, and its design is still heavily in development and subject to change. You will also find that upon logging in your Gmail account will be open in a tab, as well as a tab for Google Calendar for you to log in.

Other then that, you have your usual Chrome browser User Interface and features, as well as 2 custom dropdowns in the top right corner (since you can’t close out the browser or minimize/maximize) one of which covers your Wireless network features, and the other your battery.

Like I said in the beginning, their Chrome OS is being targeted for Netbooks and is supposed to release before years end pre-installed on new Netbooks. Since the whole idea is that everything is done on the web, that mean’s your Netbook will not require as much processing power or memory, and no real hard drive space.

ChromeOS: Final Thoughts & Conclusion

I have to say after taking the time to play with Chrome OS, I feel Google is on the right track for small hand helds and Netbooks with this sort of operating system.  Overall its just a very dumbed down Linux kernal that runs fast and does what Google wants it to do.

M5AX8PEABCQD

Luckily the open source community had my back and after a lot of research I was able to find and get working several conversion scripts that I found online, these scripts with a little love will help you get out of that musty old perl-based UBB classic forum, once and for all.

The code (UBB.x_Convertor_0.1.1) that I found will work with all flavors of UBB forums, UBB.classic, UBB.threads and UBB.x, it will allow you to convert to phpBB 2.0.x, I used 2.0.23 and have included phpBB 2.0.23 for your convenience, I have also attached all of the other referenced documents for you as well.

Convert UBB Classic 6.7.2 to phpBB 2.0.x
This is where the magic of the script that I found really shines, it reads the data from the UBB forum and flawlessly converts that data into phpBB and stores it in the MySQL database that phpBB is using, previously as most of you are aware, UBB uses flat files to store the forum data, finally getting that information into a database is exciting! I have also included some other converter code originally developed by Genfect Media, which was the converter code that Graham Eames used to develop the working version (UBB.x Convertor 0.1.1) that I used.

Convert phpBB 2.0.x to phpBB 3.0.x
Once you have converted your forum to phpBB 2.0.x, you are going to need to perform an upgrade to phpBB 3.0.x. This should be fairly simple and straightforward, just follow any phpBB upgrade documentation on their website to accomplish this conversion to a 3.0.x forum, here is a copy of phpBB 3.0.6 for you to download and use.

Convert UBB phpBB 3.0.x to Kunena 1.5.6
Once the forum has been upgraded to phpBB 3.0.x, you are now ready to convert it over to Kunena 1.5.6. Now this script was originally created to convert the phpBB data to a Fireboard forum, but since Kunena was developed from Fireboard, most of the infrastructure framework is the same still and I was able to successfully convert over to Kunena.

The important thing to note is that this script may require a little hacking to make it work for your specific environment, one thing I specifically remember having to adjust were the memory settings in my php.ini. This all depends on the amount of forum data that you’re working with though, make sure to also adjust the runtime of PHP scripts, as it could also take a while to run.

During my research I also came across this other conversion code, this may be helpful to you if you are having trouble with the converting the data. There is also good news if you’re wanting to go with a vBulletin solution in the long run instead of Kunena as the guys over at vBulletin have included their own conversion script for migrating directly from UBB to vBulletin.

Google spends a metric shit ton of money on software development to properly index billions of web pages. They have an effective system in place to filter out garbage sites and analyze content. The best SEO advice in the world is:

1. Write clean, valid code that takes full advantage of what us nerds call semantic HTML. This means that the proper tags are used to mark up the proper text. H1 tags are very important headings, H2 tags are secondarily important, etc. TITLE tags are very important, keywords and descriptions are at the bottom of the importance list due to their overuse/misuse.
2. Keep it simple, Google has algorithms in place to prevent overuse of keywords, just sticking words in randomly is BAD. The best thing to do is to write with keywords in mind, but also write for a human reader. Their spider analyzes sentences and word counts more than any other piece of software in history. They know the difference between spamming keywords and properly formed relevant sentences.
3. Inbound links are golden. The link back to your site is a vote in favor of you. It should also contain keywords if possible and be on relevant sites that share similar keywords.
4. Register your domain name for as long as possible, they know when it was registered and when it will expire. If your site is registered for 5 years, it means you are in for the long haul, not some fly-by-night spammer.

All of this can be found, direct from the horse’s mouth, here: http://google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769

Here is the schedule for the summit:

< ?php

// Hande form upload
if(isset($_POST['import'])) {

$mysql_host = trim($_POST['mysql_host']);
$mysql_user = trim($_POST['mysql_username']);
$mysql_password = trim($_POST['mysql_password']);
$mysql_schema = trim($_POST['mysql_schema']);

$table_prefix = trim($_POST['table_prefix']);

if(!mysql_connect($mysql_host, $mysql_user, $mysql_password) || !mysql_select_db($mysql_schema)) {
echo ‘Supplied MySQL details were incorrect - aborting’;
return;
}

// Get the joomla groups
$sql = sprintf(‘
SELECT  `id`, `value`
FROM    `%score_acl_aro_groups`
‘,
$table_prefix
);
$rs = mysql_query($sql);
$groups = array();
while($group = mysql_fetch_object($rs)) {
$groups[$group->value] = $group->id;
}

$fp = fopen($_FILES['csv']['tmp_name'], ‘r’);
while($user = fgetcsv($fp)) {

printf(‘Importing ”%s” … ’, $user[0]);

// Lookup and verify user group
if(!isset($groups[$user[4]])) {
printf(‘error: Invalid group (%s) for %s. Defaulting to Registered%s’, $user[4], $user[0], PHP_EOL);
$user[4] = ‘Registered’;
}

// Insert record into wsers
$sql = sprintf(‘
INSERT INTO `%susers`
SET
`name`            = ”%s”,
`username`        = ”%s”,
`email`           = ”%s”,
`password`        = ”%s”,
`usertype`        = ”%s”,
`block`           = ”%s”,
`sendEmail`       = ”%s”,
`gid`             = ”%s”,
`registerDate`    = NOW(),
`lastvisitDate`   = ”0000-00-00 00:00:00″,
`activation`      = ”",
`params`          = ”"
‘,
$table_prefix,
sql_prep($user[0]),
sql_prep($user[1]),
sql_prep($user[2]),
isset($_POST['md5_passwords']) ? md5($user[3]) : sql_prep($user[3]),
sql_prep($user[4]),
sql_prep($user[5]),
sql_prep($user[6]),
$groups[$user[4]]
);
mysql_query($sql);
// Get back ther user’s ID
list($user_id) = mysql_fetch_row(mysql_query(‘SELECT LAST_INSERT_ID()’));

// Insert record into core_acl_aro
$sql = sprintf(‘
INSERT INTO `%score_acl_aro`
SET
`section_value`   = ”users”,
`value`           = %d,
`name`            = ”%s”
‘,
$table_prefix,
$user_id,
sql_prep($user[0])
);
mysql_query($sql);

// Insert record into core_acl_groups_aro_map
$sql = sprintf(‘
INSERT INTO `%score_acl_groups_aro_map`
SET
`group_id`        = %d,
`aro_id`          = LAST_INSERT_ID()
‘,
$table_prefix,
$groups[$user[4]]
);
mysql_query($sql);

echo ‘done.’;
flush();
}

echo ‘

Done’;

} else {
// show upload form
?>

Import Users to Joomla


Use this script to do a bulk import of users into Joomla 1.5.
Upload a CSV file with the following format:

name, username, email, password, usertype, block, send_email

Wrap details with commas in them in quotes.






CSV File: 




MD5 Hash Passwords: 

*Check this option if the passwords in your CSV are in plain text


Joomla Table Prefix: 




Joomla Database Name: 




MySQL Host: 




MySQL Username: 




MySQL Password: 












< ?php
}

function sql_prep($var) {
return mysql_real_escape_string($var);
}
?>

A PHP framework is a set of functions and classes written in PHP that provides a starting point for developing web applications. Frameworks vary in directory structure, feature set, and documentation/support.

Why Use a PHP Framework?

As a PHP developer, it is frustrating to have to code projects over and over again from scratch. Many projects share common features such as mail functions, file handling, database connection, converting and translating text, and on, and on. By alleviating these common coding tasks, a good PHP framework allows a developer to focus more on custom business logic.

I am going to compare a few common PHP frameworks that I have used, feel free to add your own opinions and any frameworks I will inevitably miss.

Comparison of some PHP Frameworks I have used:

QCubed

QCubed is a community driven fork of Qcodo. I am personally no longer using Qcodo in favor of QCubed. QCubed has two main parts, ORM code generation and QForms. Generated code in QCubed follows the MVC pattern, although an actual controller is never generated. Generated code is very easily extended through basic object oriented PHP. A proper MVC file structure can be accomplished and QCubed can produce very high quality web applications. QCubed is not as well documented as some of the other frameworks, but its code generation is extremely powerful and growing stronger.

QForms are essentially PHP objects of HTML forms. They are defined by Mike Ho as “…stateful objects that maintain state from one post to the next.” QControls are PHP objects used to control form elements such as QTextbox, QPanel, QLabel, QButton, and QControls can even be combined and extended to create new QControls. Any QControl can have events assigned to it (click, hover, blur, etc.) that can trigger actions (PHP or JS functions), providing unlimited functionality using advanced AJAX.

ORM Code generation examines the data model and writes data model classes based on relationships it finds. It also writes draft HTML forms to provide basic CRUD functionality. A developer can simply run a codegen on a database and end up with a working application that can list, create, edit, and delete database entries without programming a single line. The drafts will need to be edited, of course, to provide custom logic, but they provide for very rapid prototyping.

More on QCubed.

Zend Framework

Extending the art & spirit of PHP, Zend Framework is based on simplicity, object-oriented best practices, corporate friendly licensing, and a rigorously tested agile codebase. Zend Framework is focused on building more secure, reliable, and modern Web 2.0 applications & web services. Zend is focused on using widely available web service APIs.
Features:

• An extensible and well-tested code base – easy to augment
• A flexible architecture – not locked-in to a rigid application structure
• No configuration files necessary to get up and running – or when maintaining and deploying your apps
• AJAX support through JSON – meet the ease-of-use requirements your users have come to expect
• Native PHP edition of the industry-standard Lucene search engine
• Zend Framework aims to be the premier place to consume & publish web services
• High-quality, object-oriented PHP 5 class library

More about Zend

CakePHP

Excellent documentation, simple to set up, easy to use and extend. Very well marketed, with cute names for things – For instance, applications built on CakePHP are considered “baked,” The CakePHP manual is called “The Cookbook,”  and the portal-like “Bakery” offers up-to-the-minute details about the CakePHP community.

I like CakePHP and it does its job very well. It is not as enterprise grade like Zend, but it is very thorough and the cute names have attracted a good sized community. Some pretty powerful sites are being “baked” using CakePHP.

CodeIgniter

A very lightweight and easy to implement framework. A good choice for newcomers to PHP and MVC. CodeIgniter provides a very thorough class library, as well as helper functions for common tasks. Not my favorite of the bunch, as I prefer QCubed’s code generation to the scaffolding of CodeIgniter and QCubed is just as robust in other aspects.

Zoop

Zoop has been in development since 2001 and in use for the last 6 years in a number of different production environments. While it predates the recent proliferation of PHP frameworks, it’s based on solid MVC principles, including separation of display, logic, and data layers. It’s designed to be efficient, modular, and extensible, striking a balance between lightweight and fully-featured. Zoop is the granddaddy of PHP frameworks, and as such is very solid. I would recommend Zoop to any experienced PHP programmer looking for a good MVC framework.

Symfony

Review Coming Soon…

Yii

Review Coming Soon…

Seagull

Seagull is a mature OOP framework for building web, command line and GUI applications. Licensed under BSD, the project allows PHP developers to easily integrate and manage code resources, and build complex applications quickly.

Many popular PHP applications are already seamlessly integrated within the project, as are various templating engines, testing tools and managed library code. If you’re a beginner, the framework provides a number of sample applications that can be customised and extended to suit your needs. If you’re an intermediate or advanced developer, take advantage of Seagull’s best practices , standards and modular codebase to build your applications in record time.

Once your development cycle is complete, use Seagull’s features for deploying and maintaining your apps locally and remotely. Check out the friendly and active Seagull community and see if Seagull’s a good fit for you.

Joomla

Joomla is considered firstly a CMS, but has been proven to provide a decent framework for PHP development. Current version is 1.5 and has come a long way since the days of Mambo.

FireFox 3.5

I have to say, open source is great, and one of the most known open source projects is FireFox.  FireFox is IE’s biggest competition, and I have to say even with IE8 finally pushing IE in the CSS/XHTML standards direction, FireFox is pushing beyond with its implementation of technologies like SVG and CSS3.  In FireFox 3.5 a lot of great new features are pushing in, including but not limited to a <video> tag, that’s right a native tag to allow adding video’s to the page in a clean method.  FireFox 3.5 is also pushing in a few more CSS3 attributes like border shadows and border images to name a few, I for one think CSS3 needs to be pushed MORE by modern browsers and the W3C, because it’s going to improve web markup 10-fold.  As far as the SVG side goes, FireFox is currently the browser pushing it the most (cough IE pick up where your lagging behind!), and for those of you who are not familiar with SVG I’ll explain.  SVG or Scalable Vector Graphic is basically what the name implies, a Vector Graphic which mean’s based on computer calculations rather then pixels like a bitmap image (jpg/png/gif), which makes it great for web design because you can have a TINY svg that grows substantially and NEVER loses quality.  What this mean’s for us Designers/Developers is that we can cut the file size of such things like logo’s and use them in many places with just 1 file, because we can set the size in the code, and not have to worry about distortion.  Now, don’t think for one second that’s all I have to say about FireFox 3.5, in fact one KEY thing about FireFox 3.5 is its faster page rendering, yes they are a tad behind Google Chrome and Webkit based browsers (Safari for windows), BUT finally FireFox is addressing the need for faster Javascript rendering, which intern also mean’s pages load hella quick compared to previous versions.  This ladies and gentlemen, is the main thing that SHOULD have been in 3.0, no offense but for once FireFox had to sit down with its pen and paper and take notes from another browser (Chrome), which isn’t a bad thing considering that was Google’s doing.  That being said, FireFox 3.5 (Currently in its final Beta stages) will definitely be a MUST upgrade for anyone, and for those of you still using IE, please… Get to using FireFox, its by far a better browser and its FREE?!

Years ago, before the days of the huge Joomla and WordPress boom, I recall looking into an enterprise grade content management system for Zestra Laboratories (before the purchase by Semprae Laboratories). The system I was interested in was built on JSP (JavaServer Pages) and had an extremely advanced GUI for the day and age, allowing you to manage the content directly from the front-end, much like Concrete5 now gives you the ability to do now free with open source PHP.

On a side note, Magnolia is also a very robust CMS with features such as Concrete5, Magnolia strives itself on being extremely simple though may lack certain features and a large community supporting it, though it is a very clean content creation and enterprise style publishing tool, the problem with Magnolia is that it just can’t keep up with what these PHP systems are capable of pulling off. But this blog post is not about the Magnolia CMS anyway, we are focusing on Concrete5, check out this video for a quickie on what Concrete5 is all about:

Click here to view the embedded video.

It seems that they have really brought together the ability for a basic blog user to be able to start beginning to create more advanced web applications directly without any developer expertise. The most impressive part of Concrete5 is the ability for you to logically understand what element it is that you are adding to the page visually, this is going to be a key part of the trend that I see web publishing following in the course of the coming years.

The only thing that I would like to see extended onto Concrete5 is the ability to create your own types of data models, data grids or other types of media and form controls. Since I haven’t spent much time in the back-end programming of Concrete5 yet, I can only assume that they have built it cleanly on an objected oriented architecture and have some form of API (Application Programming Interface) built into the application framework.

Being able to integrate something like Concrete5 with QCubed/QCodo would give the average user the ability to edit and create more advanced web applications as well as advanced database manipulation without the intervention of experienced programmers. Currently the only CMS that has been integrated into QCubed/QCodo is a module that integrates the QCubed PHP5 Framework with Drupal called QDrupal.

With the ability to extend Concrete5 with more AJAX based, user-centric tools, users will growingly have direct access to the way data is created and stored, and ultimately how web applications are born.