TrueCrypt has been nothing but unreliable on OSX, so in looking for alternatives I found an obvious one — the built in disk utility! DU can create encrypted disks… not exactly up to DoD standards, but more than enough for me, worried about my data in case my laptop is stolen…
Hashing
If you ever find yourself encoding or decoding one of the standard algorithms, you can use this website to check the results… FileFormat.info – Hash Functions.
OSX + JavaScript + Multiple Monitors
As I posted a while back, there’s no real definitive help for doing javascript with multiple monitors. Now that I’m on Mac OSX, I thought I’d update with the info for that platform. Firefox sees various values differently on the main screen and on the secondary screen… here is a quick table with the info… Continue reading OSX + JavaScript + Multiple Monitors
Syntax Highlighter
Just installed the Syntax Highlighter from Alex Gorbatchev, and like it quite a bit… here’s an example. public int factorial( int number ) { if( number == 1 ) { return 1; } return number * factorial( number – 1 ); } The key is to use a name=”code” and class=”java” (or xml, or others…)… Continue reading Syntax Highlighter
PHP Installation
Just because I find it frustrating how obtuse the install directions for PHP are… Download and install Apache Download, install, and configure MySQL Download PHP and unzip to somewhere like “C:\php5.2” Update php.ini file in PHP install directory; update or uncomment the following line: extension=php_mysql.dll SMTP = localhost Copy these two files from the php… Continue reading PHP Installation
Kill the XP Language Bar
For those of us confined to one language in Windows XP, it is annoying to have the language bar constantly try to re-assert itself in your task bar. Here are the rather obtuse steps to turn that off.
Backup Software
I’ve been pretty happy with mozy as an intermediate backup solution. It gives me automatic backups in the background to an offsite, secure location. Basically I have mozy running a backup of my Outlook and Firefox profile — stuff that changes every day. Then on the weekends I back everything up to a USB hard… Continue reading Backup Software
Javascript on Multiple Monitor Systems
I have a preference to keep my browser windows a certain width (1024 pixels for various reasons), flush against the right side of my monitor display, and taking the full height of the screen. To do this, I have the following javascript on my start page: resizeTo( 1024, screen.availHeight ); moveTo( (screen.availWidth – 1024), 0… Continue reading Javascript on Multiple Monitor Systems
Monitor Placement
This isn’t really about technology, but more about the human-technology interface. Keep in mind the traditional eye-movement triggers while placing your monitor(s) in your workspace.
WikiMedia Config
To configure user behavior within WikiMedia software… start with the LocalSettings.php file that is typically in your web root folder. # Specify who can edit: true means only logged in users may edit pages $wgWhitelistEdit = true; # only Sysops can create new accounts $wgGroupPermissions[‘*’][‘createaccount’] = false; Related Docs from the official manual/wiki: Preventing Access… Continue reading WikiMedia Config