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Apache2 and PHP5-FPM on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

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Ever since my move to a VPS, one of the drawbacks is that mod_php uses a lot of memory since Apache has to load the PHP stuff every time a page loads. This can be solved by switching to PHP5-FPM and Fast CGI, which gives the performance of Mod_PHP without the high memory usage.

What is PHP5-FPM? It’s a separate process on FastCGI and separately from the web server. It’s commonly used with Nginx, but I decided against using that server since it would cause a configuration nightmare, especially since my .htaccess files only works with Apache.
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Converting MKV Fansubs to iPhone or iPad using Handbrake

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Getting fansubs on a iPhone or iPad can be a difficult process that requires a person to unmux and then reencode to a compatible format so it can be used on mobile devices. Since iOS do not have mplayer and the VLC app on iOS is unsuitable for fansubs, it could be frustrating. However, there is a program called Handbrake, which can hardcode the subs while maintaining the chapters the MKV has. Since the program can be used on any platform, everyone can use it.

Requirements:

  • A nightly build of Handbrake, which can be obtained here
  • Fansub to convert

To convert…

  1. Open Handbrake and choose your fansub.
  2. Select the preset for your device.
  3. Go to the Subtitles page and then select the “English – (Text) (SSA)”
  4. Uncheck “Forced Only” and check “Burned In”
  5. Click Start and it should start encoding. After it’s done, transfer to your device and enjoy.

Caveats

  • While the custom typeface works, the SSA effects don’t. This includes shadows and text effects.
  • Encoding can take a while, unless you have a fast CPU
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Running Recettear on an Intel Mac

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So, you have a Mac, but you want to play this game called Recettear. However, you do not want to reboot into Windows or use virtualization software. Crossover/Crossover Games can pretty much do the trick, but you need to reconfigure some settings before you can play the game.

Obtain the game

It won’t do much if you don’t have the game. Purchase a Copy from Impulse or GamerGate. Do not buy from Steam since the game will require you to run Steam and might not work properly within Crossover/Crossover Games. The copies from Impulse and GamerGate are DRM free.

Note that the Impuse client is buggy, so you need to download in Windows.

Obtain a copy of Crossover/Crossover Games


Crossover is a native emulation layer that allows one to install and run windows programs natively without installing Windows or using virtualization software. Any version will work with Recettear. Once Crossover is installed, run it and go to Configure > Install Software. After its installed, install the full version of Recettear. If you download using Windows, copy the Recettear game files to the c_drive folder in your Crossover Bottle. This can be accessed by going to Configure > Manage Bottles, Select the DirectX Bottle > Advanced > Open C: Drive in Finder.

Configure the Bottle

If you ran the program for the first time, you noticed that there is no sound. To fix this, we need to override some DLL files. To do this, go to Configure > Manage Bottles. Select the DirectX Bottle and go to Control Panel Tab. Then launch “Wine Config”

Go to the Libraries tab and add the following:
dmband dmcompos dmime dmloader dmscript dmstyle dmsynth dmusic dmusic32 dswave streamci dsound

Apply these settings and exit out Wine Config. Then, relaunch Wine Config and go to the library tab. Verify if these libraries are in the list. If not, readd them and try again until they are finally on the list.

Lastly, go to the Audio tab. Ignore the alert message about missing registry entries. Then, set the Hardware Acceleration to Emulation and then press OK.

Close the Manage Bottles window.

Run the Game

Finally, go to Programs > Run Command. Then, locate the program file called “recettear.exe” in the folder where you put the game files in the bottle. Click Save Commands to Program Menu so you can access it later. After you saved the command, press “Run” to run the game. Then, you have successfully installed Recettear on your Mac.

Since I have the game up and running, I will start covering it tomorrow. Remember, support the indie developers and buy a copy… don’t pirate!

(Same instructions should work for Crossover under Linux)

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Tips: Backing up your WordPress Blog

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Remember the time when Kokidokom went down last month? Well, it’s always a good idea to backup your blog just in case so you won’t suffer extensive content loss. WordPress has multiple ways to backup your blog. I will outline some of the ways you can back up your blog.

1. WordPress Export

While the built in WordPress export feature won’t export data generated by your plugins, it allows you to export the most important stuff like your posts, pages, comments, categories, tags and authors. To use this feature, go to Tools > Export. From there, you can download the XML file containing all your content.

Wordpress Export Page

To restore your backup, just go to WordPress > Import to restore your posts.

2. Database Backup

If you don’t want to lose your plugin settings, links, etc, you might want to do a database backup. The easiest way to get a backup of all your WordPress Database is getting the GD Press Tools Plugin. After you activate it, go to GD Press Tools > Database. Click on the Backup Tab and be sure to uncheck DROP IF EXISTS. Then, click Backup. A backup file will generate and be shown in the list of backups available to download.

To restore, use phpmyadmin.

There are other WordPress plugins out there that allows you to do the same such as WP-DB-Backup that allows you to set automatic backups. If you have access to CPanel, that is also another way to obtain your backup via phpmyadmin.

After obtaining the backup, it’s always a good idea to test your backups… sometimes they don’t export properly, leaving you with half of what you should have. For instance, if you want to test you backup, download and run MAMP and import your SQL file using phpmyadmin on localhost.

If you are not comfortable with the mysql database, a WordPress Export would be the best way to go.

As for downloading the site files, you must manually do that by dragging your site files from FTP and putting them into a folder on your computer. The best idea is to do this every few months so you won’t lose your pictures, themes and plugins.

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Droid Sans, Web Fonts and iOS Compatibility

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Droid Sans, the official font for the Android platform is a very nice font to work with. It’s readable and stylish. One problem though, loading the page with these embedded fonts crashes iOS devices or cause them to not view properly.The problem is that Mobile Safari only supports SVG format fonts and not TTF/OpenType like Safari on the desktop. The solution was to convert the fonts to make them view properly and not have them crash the browser.

To fix this problem, download this archive that contains all the web-font formats and upload them to a directory on your server. In your CSS file or the Meta tag that has the existing Droid Sans font loader provided by Google, replace it to something like this:
http://(somewebsite)/(droidsansdirectory)/droidsans.css

Now all the devices should load the font properly. If you using TypeKit, just enable iPad/iPhone support and Typekit will do the rest for you.

Don’t have Droid Sans installed? Add this to your CSS:
@import url('http://(somewebsite)/(droidsansdirectory)/droidsans.css');
Then, in your fonts
font-family: 'Droid Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;

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Blog takes too long to load? Use a Caching Plugin!

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WordPress can sometimes put some pressure onto the server, especially when there is a lot of hits. To prevent slowdowns of blogs, its always a good idea to install some sort of caching plugin to make pages load faster. These plugins basically cache the pages as HTML files. This way, WordPress don’t have to generate the page every time a visitor views it.

The two most popular caching plugins used by Anime bloggers is WP Super Cache and W3 Total Cache. Both of them pretty much give the same amount performance, but W3 Total Cache allows the use of CDN networks. Unless you have one, there is really no advantage to use it over Super Cache.

To install Super Cache, login to your WordPress Dashboard > Plugins > Add Plugin. Search for WP Super Cache and then install and activate the plugin.

Note: If you are using WPtouch 1.9.x/2.0, follow the settings on this screenshot.

Once activated, go to Settings > WP Super Cache. If you are not using Bad Behavior or mobile plugins, go ahead and set the Super Cache to ON. If you are using Bad Behavior or Mobile Plugins, you need to set Super Cache “Half ON.”

In addition to the new settings, you may also want to check “Don’t cache pages for known users,” “Clear all cache files when post or page is published” and “Cache rebuild” for a better experience.

Once you have finished setting the desired options, click “Update Status” above the Cache Tester. Afterwards, WP Super Cache should be turned on and pages on your blog should load a lot faster.

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WPTouch and other Mobile Plugins with WP Super Cache

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WP Super Cache is a must have plugin to prevent your host from suspending you for using too much resource. However, mobile theme plugins like WPTouch won’t load because it bypasses the browser detection. To solve this, you need to have the following set:

  • WP Super Cache turned “HALF ON.” This needs to be set because Super Cache completely bypasses browser detection. Also, this setting is required in order to use Bad Behavior.
  • Mobile device support: Self explanatory
  • Exclude all the mobile devices browser strings: android, iphone, ipod, etc

The full and visual instructions can be seen here or the video tutorial.

Note: If you decide to use WordPress Mobile Pack instead of WPTouch, you do not need to add the browser strings to Super Cache.

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