Transfer ORM with Mark Mandel

By Josh Highland in coldfusion, software

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I have been working long and hard on a project at work (yes i have a realy job outside of working on notpop and related sites)
I’m lucky enough to work with Luis Majano, the creator of the ColdBox Coldfusion Application Framework. Working with ColdBox has really increased the performance of the site, and brought the company fully into object oriented ColdFusion programming.

Along with Coldbox, we have really relied on Transfer-ORM to handle 99% of our database operations. Again, a huge improvement over what we were doing in the past, and a great time saver also. Transfer-ORM was created by Mark Mandel.

I’m a member of the Inland Empire Coldfusion users group, and last Friday we had our month meeting, held by Luis Majano, with Mark Mandel as the guest speaker, talking about Transfer. It was a really great presentation, with a lot of great information.

We recorded the presentation through adobe connect, so its available online. If you are interested in taking your coldfusion database operations to the next level, I suggest you check out Mark Mandels presentation, I learned a lot, I’m sure you will also.

check it out: https://admin.adobe.acrobat.com/_a200985228/p10885427

InfraRecorder: my new burning software of choice

By Josh Highland in Josh's Rambling, software

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A while back I had access to the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), and along with that came access to every piece of software that Microsoft has put out. Most of the downloads came in the form of ISO files. I downloaded everything I could.

Recently I decided to rebuilt one of my favorite computers in the house, my Windows MCE 2005 box that powers my TV (the hard drive had crashed). I couldn’t find my MCE 2005 dics anywhere, so I decided to burn a new one using the MSDN ISO file for it using Nero.

The ISO burn using Nero completed and I tried to install the OS. It would make it about 30% into the install and fail time after time. I thought the disc was bad, so I burned another using Nero. Same thing, this time about 50% of the install before it flaked out. I burned another disc, and it failed again. I started to Google the errors I was getting and there were no real answers for what I was seeing.

I decided to burn the ISO files using a different application then Nero, but realized that I didn’t have any other burning software installed. I’m a fan of open source software, and a fan of free things, so I did so searching, and came across some burning software called InfraRecorder.

InfraRecorder is an open source disc burning tool. It’s lightweight and was quick to install. I sent the ISO file through it and crossed my fingers. The disc burned fine (then again thats what Nero told me). I went through the install process one more time…. 100% install! My problem wasn’t the ISO file, it was the way the disc had been burned by Nero apparently!

I have burned many discs using Nero over the years, that’s why it was the only burning utility I had installed, and I have never produced coasters like I was with the ISO files from MSDN and Nero. What ever InfraRecorded did, it did it right. I am switching from Nero to InfraRecorder for sure.

Chalk this up to another win for open source software over corporate solutions.

You can check out InfraRecorder here http://infrarecorder.sourceforge.net

Amazon S3 + PHP = Awesome image hosting solution

By Josh Highland in internet, php, web 2.0

Recently I have been looking for a solution to allow users of notpopular.com to have photo albums of unlimited size. Its a popular trend in social networks, and its way cooler then the 5 tiny images that are allowed on notPopular.com (1.0)

There are many technical problems that associated with having this kind of open system. One of the biggest problems is storage (disk space), and load on the web server. Each image takes up space on the hard drives, and requires attention from the web server when an image is requested, taking attention and CPU from other more important processes.

After looking at several options, I came across Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service). Amazon S3 is an online storage web service offered by Amazon Web Services. It provides unlimited storage through a simple web services interface. Data can be easily stored and retrieved at any time, from anywhere on the web. Amazon charges in proportion to the amount of data stored and applies charges for sending and receiving data. A perfect solution for what I’m looking to do!

S3 would store the data, and would handle the load of the requests coming from users, allowing my web server to focus on more important tasks like PHP processing and MySQL queries.

Here is the price break down for amazon S3 usage:

  • Storage
    • $0.15 per GB-Month of storage used
  • Data Transfer
    • $0.10 per GB – all data transfer in
    • $0.18 per GB – first 10 TB / month data transfer out
    • $0.16 per GB – next 40 TB / month data transfer out
    • $0.13 per GB – data transfer out / month over 50 TB
    • $0.01 per 1,000 PUT or LIST requests
    • $0.01 per 10,000 GET and all other requests

Using the calculator tool they have, and looking at the notpop data and projected traffic, my monthly costs would be around $20 a month, and even if things doubled in time, it would still only be $40 a month. Very reasonable for the speed and reliability that a company like Amazon offers.

I found some great php classes to work with S3, particilarly one from Geoffrey P. Gaudreault over at neurofuzzy.net

I am also planing on using some CNAME records on the notPop server to mask the amazon URL. Should be easy to do.

Last night I started to sew Amazon S3 into the pending notPop 2.0 code base. I will make some follow up posts about how it goes once I really start using it.

Time to move the party

By Josh Highland in Josh's Rambling

My town house has become the redlands party house over the last few years. It looks like its time to move the party though…
I am selling my town house and putting an offer on a new houe (pictured below). The new house doesnt have shared walls with my neighbors, has a yard for the dogs, a pool for hanging out, and a huge open floor plan for massive parties. cross your fingers and wish us luck

Mentors last words: The hacker manifesto

By Josh Highland in internet, Josh's Rambling, linux, software

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Lurking around online this morning I ran across the hackers manifest, written by Mentor. I haven’t read this in a solid 10 years. Going over it again brought back found memories of 1993 and my x468 66mhz (my phone is faster then that now!), with a 14.4 kbps modem.

If you have never read Mentors famous last words, hackers manifesto, here it is for you.

Another one got caught today, it’s all over the papers. “Teenager
Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal”, “Hacker Arrested after Bank Tampering”…
Damn kids. They’re all alike.

But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950’s technobrain,
ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker? Did you ever wonder what
made him tick, what forces shaped him, what may have molded him?
I am a hacker, enter my world…
Mine is a world that begins with school… I’m smarter than most of
the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me…
Damn underachiever. They’re all alike.

I’m in junior high or high school. I’ve listened to teachers explain
for the fifteenth time how to reduce a fraction. I understand it. “No, Ms.
Smith, I didn’t show my work. I did it in my head…”
Damn kid. Probably copied it. They’re all alike.

I made a discovery today. I found a computer. Wait a second, this is
cool. It does what I want it to. If it makes a mistake, it’s because I
screwed it up. Not because it doesn’t like me…
Or feels threatened by me…
Or thinks I’m a smart ass…
Or doesn’t like teaching and shouldn’t be here…
Damn kid. All he does is play games. They’re all alike.

And then it happened… a door opened to a world… rushing through
the phone line like heroin through an addict’s veins, an electronic pulse is
sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day incompetencies is sought… a board is
found.
“This is it… this is where I belong…”
I know everyone here… even if I’ve never met them, never talked to
them, may never hear from them again… I know you all…
Damn kid. Tying up the phone line again. They’re all alike…

You bet your ass we’re all alike… we’ve been spoon-fed baby food at
school when we hungered for steak… the bits of meat that you did let slip
through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We’ve been dominated by sadists, or
ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something to teach found us will-
ing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert.

This is our world now… the world of the electron and the switch, the
beauty of the baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying
for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn’t run by profiteering gluttons, and
you call us criminals. We explore… and you call us criminals. We seek
after knowledge… and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color,
without nationality, without religious bias… and you call us criminals.
You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us
and try to make us believe it’s for our own good, yet we’re the criminals.

Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is
that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like.
My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me
for.

I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop this individual,
but you can’t stop us all… after all, we’re all alike.

ah to be young and think you knew it all.