Mathematics

Understanding Radians

A formal definition of the radian is: One radian is the angle subtended at the center of a circle by an arc that is equal in length to the radius of the circle. – Wikipedia A better (simpler) definition at Math Open Reference is: One radian is the angle made at the center of a […]

Blog

Day 2 with w.bloggar

So far, I am pleased with my decision to change over to w.bloggar. Sure, it is not fancy, there is no WYSIWYG editing (but there is a basic ‘preview’ function), no incorporating your site’s theme, no “live” spelling grammar checking (you can invoke a spellchecker), and it hasn’t been updated in over 3 years. On […]

Blog

Why I Switched From Windows Live Writer to w.bloggar

I’d been using Windows Live Writer (WLW) for about two years. There is no question that it is probably the best desktop client for writing articles for your website. Yesterday, I discovered it has a serious problem – as do most blogging clients. All comments about Windows Live Writer refer to Build 14.0.8117.416 en. This […]

WordPress

Installing WordPress Under XAMPP

This tutorial describes how to install WordPress version 3.1, 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3, 3.1.4, 3.2.0 and 3.2.1 under XAMPP version 1.7.3 on Windows XP. The procedure should be the same for other version combinations, but no guarantee is made. Assumes you have already installed XAMPP. (Installation instructions can be found here.) created a MySQL database. (Creation […]

Web Tools

Determining the last time Google indexed your website

You can always log into your web service provider and check your visitor logs, but if you are running a site where you don’t have access to these logs (for example: wordpress.com, blogger.com, posterous.com, etc), then you are out of luck. However, you can always let Google tell you. (1) Go to Google search and […]

Web Tools

Adding a New User to a MySql database in XAMPP

This tutorial assumes that you have XAMPP 1.7.3 installed. The procedure should be the same for other versions of XAMPP. A XAMPP installation procedure for Windows XP can be found here. Click on images for full sized versions. (1) Enter http://localhost/phpmyadmin into your browser’s URL field. This will bring you to the phpmyadmin main page. […]

Web Tools

How to Add a Password to the XAMPP root User

This is NOT recommended! By default, databases in XAMPP are created with the user root having a blank password. This poses a security risk if the computer or database are publically accessible. However, for local development and testing, this should not be a problem. This tutorial assumes that you have XAMPP 1.7.3 installed. The procedure […]

Web Tools

Deleting a MySql Database Under XAMPP

This tutorial assumes that you have XAMPP 1.7.3 installed. The procedure should be the same for other versions of XAMPP. A XAMPP installation procedure for Windows XP can be found here. Click on images for full sized versions. (1) Enter http://localhost/phpmyadmin into your browser’s URL field. This will bring you to the phpmyadmin main page. […]

Joomla

How To View Module Positions in Joomla 1.6

Joomla! 1.6 is now obsolete. Joomla! 2.5 is the newest release with long term support. Instructions for installing Joomla! 2.5 can be found here. Instructions for viewing module positions in Joomla 2.5 can be found here. In Joomla! 1.5.x you would append ?tp=1 to the end of the URL to view your module positions. For […]

Joomla

Installing Joomla 1.6 Under XAMPP

Joomla! 1.6 is obsolete. Joomla! 2.5 is the newest release with long term support. Instructions for installing Joomla! 2.5 can be found here. This tutorial describes how to install Joomla! version 1.6.0, 1.6.1, 1.6.3, 1.6.4, and 1.6.6 (skip 1.6.2 and 1.6.5 because they broke some things) under XAMPP version 1.7.3 on Windows XP. The procedure […]

Blog

Why I switched from Joomla! to WordPress

This website previously used Joomla! (version 1.5.x) as the backend CMS, but I switched over to using WordPress (version 3.x). The two main reasons were: Comments Ability assign an article to multiple categories Comments Comments are built into the WordPress core, but you need to install a third party plugin to allow visitors to leave comments […]

Writing

Are you a Writer?

Many people talk about writing, dream about writing, fantasize about writing, wish they were writers. There is nothing wrong with all that – it shows great passion for writing, but … If you want to be a writer, then you must write. Imagine you want to be a gardener: talking about it is good, dreaming […]