Abby and Win’s Blog

Archive for June, 2009

Jeff called me up asking for help with his dedicated server on Godaddy. He needed to update his PHP 5.1.6 to the latest stable version. His server is running Centos 5.2 (Final). He tried to call Godaddy for assistance and of course they were no help. I’m no expert myself but have played around with different systems. I found out that you can use the yum command to manage the installed packages. The problem is that the current repositories yum looks at does not contain new versions of PHP. This is why you get an error that says something like – cannot find PHP. What you need to do is add a repository that does have a newer version of PHP. We’re going to add Jason Litka‘s repository.

• Log in to the Simple Control Panel
• Log in using SSH
• Type “su – ” to log in with root privileges
• Type “nano -w /etc/yum.repos.d/utterramblings.repo”. If you’re not comfortable with nano, use whatever editor you’re more comfortable with.
• In the utterramblings.repo file type the following
  

  [utterramblings]
  name=Jason’s Utter Ramblings Repo
  baseurl=http://www.jasonlitka.com/media/EL$releasever/$basearch/
  enabled=1
  gpgcheck=1
  gpgkey=http://www.jasonlitka.com/media/RPM-GPG-KEY-jlitka

• Save the file and close it
• Now you can use “yum update php” and it should update it to the latest that the repositories have
• Restart Apache

This tutorial is based on the one found at http://www.jasonlitka.com/yum-repository/. It took awhile for me to find the solution. I hope this helps out people who had the same problem as I did.

A couple of weeks ago Borders bookstores had a sale on the Sony PRS-505 eBook ready. I decided to pick one up. I didn’t need one but I’m starting to get a couple of eBooks so for the price, I though it would be worth it to check out. After opening it, I didn’t realize how light and thin it was. The device felt sturdy and the text are easy to read. The battery life on it is great as well. Mac users can use Calibre to transfer books to the device or use a SD card/ Memory Stick with a card reader. So far everything seemed good. Here’s where it started to become impractical for me.

I wanted to use this with my small collection of eBooks – most are in PDF format. Everyone has noted that PDF files do not display well but you can convert them to other formats like EPUB, LRF, or MOBI which Calibre can do for you. I’ve tried it and noticed some improvements but some sentences wrapped too early. It’s not a big deal though but STRIKE 1.

Most, if not all my eBooks are reference books. I didn’t realize that there is no search feature on this model. Reference books are useless if I can’t search for things. Granted it has bookmarks, it’s less efficient if I can’t search – STRIKE 2.

I recently bought 40 Years of X-Men on DVD and thought wouldn’t this be great to have on the PRS-505. Again, the files are in PDF. The pages would not get larger as I increase the font size because it’s a comic book (images). I even tried to convert them to another format. The text in the bubbles were hard to read and the watermark on the pages didn’t help any either – STRIKE 3.

I’m not saying that it’s a bad eBook reader. For $200, it’s a great basic one. If you can still get one at that price, I would recommend getting one if you are looking for one. For what I need it for, it just won’t work.

Luckily, the Borders where I bought it from was kind enough to return it.

I got a message this morning from my cousin Kuya Ronald asking if the iPhone 3.0 software update was available today. I didn’t hear anything these past weeks so I wasn’t sure. I got to work and plugged in my iPhone 3G on my MBP and as soon as iTunes loaded, I get this message.

So plug in your iPhones and update them to get the new goodies.

Today Apple announced new products: the iPhone 3G S and a 13″ version of the Macbook Pro. First, the new iPhone 3G S. I’m not too excited about this one. Most of my excitement has been sucked dry by AT&T’s lack of coverage area. It’s supposedly 2x faster, has video capture support, 32GB model, voice activated controls, and better battery life – it’s still doesn’t help get a better reception with AT&T. My iPhone is a cell phone first before any other goodies that it can do and unfortunately, it doesn’t do a good job of being a cell phone. I just can’t wait until AT&T’s exclusive deal is over and hope that a better and a more reasonable monthly cost provider gets the deal.

The second new hardware announced today is the 13″ version of the Macbook Pro line. After reading the headline and initial stats, I was excited and glad I didn’t get a new laptop to replace my old MBP yet. This is basically the black Macbook with added power and ports. There are 2 models, one with 2.26GHz and 2GB ram and the 2.53GHz and 4GB ram. I almost decided on getting the 4GB ram model until I did a comparison between all the models. Now the prices have decreased but here’s where I get disappointed. Both 13″ model have Firewire 800 support – great! But how many devices do I own or reasonably priced devices that support this connection? Nowhere did I see a listing for Firewire 400 support excep the 12″ Macbook model. The video card is also shared memory, unless you go for the high end 15″ model or the 17″ model. Another missing port is the ExpressCard / 34 slot. This is only available on the 17″ MBP model. Currently, I am using this slot for my Verizon V70 internet card. They did however, gain a SD card slot. Haha, I’d trade that slot in for any of the other missing ports I mentioned in a heartbeat any day!

I really do want a new laptop and a smaller one. I’d have to look at what I’ll be using it for and if the lacking hardware will be an issue. Either way, I’m looking into getting one in a few months.