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Tips & Tricks

Monday, August 23, 2004

A Quick CSS Tip

Here’s something I just learned today…

When coding CSS for the pseudo-classes of the < a > tag, the states should always be coded in this specific order:

a:link
a:visited
a:focus
a:hover
a:active

If you don’t do it in this order it can cause issues with links in most browsers.  Including improper rendering or even failure to follow the CSS display settings for links.

I actually didn’t know it mattered.  However I know it does now.  The order of the link tags was wrong in the CSS for this site and I have had issues with link rendering.  Some links would not change colors when I would hover over them.  I had written it off as a stupid browser issue.  However, Sure enough soon as I changed the order in my CSS all the link problems went away.

A quick note that most of the included themes with ExpressionEngine do have improper ordering so all you EE users out there should go in and correct this.

But keep that in mind for all your web designers too.  Just a nice little tip to remember.

Thursday, May 27, 2004

More than two downloads at a time with Internet Explorer

If you’re a heavy downloader like I am, I’m sure you get flustrated by the limitations imposed by Internet Explorer sometimes.  By default Internet Explorer limits you to two active downloads and 1 queued download at a time.

Microsoft is actually following an internet standard so don’t blame them.  They’re following what’s known as RFC(Request for Comment) 2068.  It’s the specifications for the HTTP/1.1 protocol standard.

Section 8.1.4 Practical Considerations states

quote:

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Clients that use persistent connections SHOULD limit the number of simultaneous connections that they maintain to a given server. A single-user client SHOULD maintain AT MOST 2 connections with any server or proxy. A proxy SHOULD use up to 2*N connections to another server or proxy, where N is the number of simultaneously active users. These guidelines are intended to improve HTTP response times and avoid congestion of the Internet or other networks.

---

However, this is just a suggestion and not law.  You are free to design your client to use as many connections as you want.

So this is how to change it so you can use more than 2 connections at a time in Internet Explorer.

This requires the use of the registry editor so the usual precautions should be taken.  That means don’t go messing around in things you don’t know what you’re doing!

1) Click the Start button

2) Select Run

3) Enter in “regedit.exe” and hit enter or click the ok button

4) Navigate till you find
“HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionInternet Settings”

Create two new DWORD values with names (right click inside the right pane and select new DWORD value)

“MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server” = Dword:0000000a
“MaxConnectionsPerServer” = Dword:0000000a

You’ll now be able to download up to 10 files at a time.  You can change that setting to whatever you want.  However, personally I think if you need to download more than 5 or 10 files simultaneously it’s time to look into getting a dedicated download manager program such as Download Accelerator, Gozilla or GetRight.

I use GetRight personally and love it.  When there are many files to download I can just drag and drop till my hearts content then let GetRight handle the hard work while I sit back and wait for my files to get transferred.

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Get a free Windows update CD from Microsoft

Microsoft is giving away free patch CDs!

http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp

This is for all users of Windows XP Pro, Windows XP Home, Windows 2000 Pro, Windows ME, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows 98. It includes all hotfixes, patches and updates as of October 2003.

It's totally free (free cd + free shipping) so all windows users might as well take advantage of it. It's not going to cost you anything so why not spend a minute or two to order it. More importantly when you get the cd, use it!

Heck even non-windows users should order a copy because you all know windows users that don't update their systems. Give copies to all your friends and families to promote safe computing.

You may keep your system updated with the latest patches, anti-virus software, firewalls, etc but there are people that don't. I know it's a pain to do but it's well worth your time and energy to help others out. If nothing other than to know that the next time some worm gets released you know your friends and family won't be part of the problem.

If every person would help out 2 others to keep their systems more secure we would probably have half the problems with viruses, worms, trojans, etc.

Now do your duty and order the cd today!

http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp

Sunday, January 18, 2004

Create and Use Windows XP Password Reset Disk

Here's how to create and use a password reset disk for windows XP. The password reset disk allows you to give your Windows XP account a new password should you forget your current password and not be able to log in.

This is an obvious security risk as anyone that gets a hold of this disk can get into your account. Please be very careful and hide the disk someplace where no one would think to find it.

Create a password reset disk

Click Start
Click Control Panel
Click User Accounts
Click on the account which you want to create a password disk
Click Prevent a forgotten password which starts the Forgotten Password Wizard.
(You can find this under the Related Tasks on the top left hand side)

Insert a blank, formatted disk into drive A, and click Next
Enter the password in the Current user account password box

Save the disk someplace safe

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Use the reset disk

At the Welcome screen:

Click the user name whose password is on the reset disk
Click the question mark button
This causes the Did you forget your password message to appear.
Click use your password reset disk
This will start the Password Reset Wizard.
From this point, just follow the wizard's instructions to create a new password for you to use.

Friday, November 07, 2003

Icon for quick desktop lock in XP

Have there been times you wished you could do a one click lockdown in XP? A single button you could click and the system would go back to the login screen but keep all your programs running? Want to keep your roommate or little sister/brother off your system while you go out but can't shut down because you're downloading?

Well there's a very easy way to do it. I'll show you how to make an icon that you can click on and locks your system.

You can put this icon anywhere you want. However, I find it most useful on the quick launch bar since with a single, fast click you can lock your system. Much faster than using the log off button in the start menu.

Step one:
Create a shortcut on your desktop. Just right click anywhere and select "new" then "shortcut"

step two:
Enter the following text for the location, minus the quotes:
"%windir%System32rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation"
then name the shortcut "LockDown"

step three:
Right click on the new shortcut and chose "properties". Click on the "Change Icon..." button. Change the Look for icons in this file to "%windir%System32shell32.dll". Select the Padlock icon (bottom row, 12 from the left).

Step four: drag and drop the new icon onto your quick launch bar.

Finally, click it and give it a try. It should cause the system to go to your login screen. However all your programs will still be running when you log back in.

How cool is that!

Tuesday, November 04, 2003

FreeBSD QuickSheets

I noticed in the logs that several people were doing searches for FreeBSD QuickSheets. Since I have never posted about it before I can only assume you found someone talking about it on a forum someplace. So here is a post for you to find doing a search. Right now I only have the 1 sheet. Hopefully I'll get around to writing another one during the winter break. Feel free to make suggestions for new sheets below in the comments.

I've created an official page that you can see on the local pages links on the left side back on the front page. However here is the current list below as well.

- - FreeBSD QuickSheets - -
Sheet #1:
Installing and Configuring CVSUP and PORTUPGRADE to update the Ports Tree and FreeBSD source code.

Friday, October 17, 2003

October (2003) Windows Security Updates

This is for all you Microsoft Windows users out there! Microsoft is now releasing monthly security updates.

End-User Bulletins:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/20031015_windows.asp

Technical Bulletins:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/current.asp

Visit the websites, read them, and follow the instructions. Maintaining a computer is like maintaining a car people. Just like you have to change the oil, rotate the tires, etc, etc you have to update your computer from time to time too.

There are several things you should do from time to time to keep your system in tip top shape:
1) Update and patch your operating system at least once every month.
updates and patches are vital! They provide bug fixes and plug security holes that could expose your computer to hackers.

2) Update anti-virus software every week (or better yet have the software auto-update daily).
viruses spread rapidly. It's better to keep the anti-virus software updated ahead of time so it can stop a virus before it gets into your system then play cleanup after a virus has infected it. It's worth spending 10-15 minutes a week to make sure the software is updated than having to loose your computer for 2-3 days while it's being cleaned up at the computer shop.

3) run scandisk and defrag on your hard drive once a month.
scandisk checks to make sure your hard drive is functioning properly. It makes sure there are no physical defects that could cause lost data. defrag reorganizes the data on the drive so that it performs better. As time goes on data gets shuffled and unorganized. running defrag will put things back in order. As a result your computer will start up faster, applications will load quicker, etc.

4) clean the inside of your computer case once a year. Over time dust and hair gets sucked up inside your computer by the fans. All that junk inside can impede air flow and cause the computer to overhead. An overheated computer will crash more often. So once a year go buy a can of compressed air from an office store. The cans usually run about 10 dollars. Open up the case and give the insides a good blow down. You'll be surprised how much dust and hair are inside!

Now get to it, you have some work to do!