Berkhamsted Web Design

Mount and access an encrypted partition in ubuntu

admin — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:20:39 +0000

Mount and access an encrypted partition in ubuntu

sudo cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdb1 old
sudo vgchange -ay
sudo lvdisplay /dev/ubuntu
sudo mount /dev/ubuntu/root /media/old
sudo ecryptfs-recover-private
gksu thunar

Convert DVD to mpg for use on DLNA Sony Bravia TV

admin — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 16:48:23 +0000

Short and sweet this one, how to get a DVD into a format suitable for streaming to a DLNA enabled Sony Bravia TV (specifically a KDL-32W5500)

Get the film chapter you want using makemkv

Run the following command to convert the resulting MKV file to mpg format suitable for a Sony Bravia TV

ffmpeg -i title_of.mkv -target pal-dvd output.mpg

Make CMSMS Cookie compliant

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:39:45 +0000

This post will document the steps required to make CMS Made Simple compliant with the new EU Privacy Directive cookie laws. If you haven’t yet heard of these laws then I suggest you read my earlier post

Warning: the steps below effectively invalidate a CMSMS installation as a core file is modified. This is normally strictly forbidden by the CMSMS development team but as I know that I have made the change I know to look out for it when upgrading. The below steps are for version 1.10.2, the changes are different depending on what version of CMSMS you are using.

The file that you need to edit is include.php which is normally in the root of a typical CMSMS install

Find the section near the top of include.php that reads

$session_key = substr(md5($dirname), 0, 8);
if( !isset($CMS_INSTALL_PAGE) )
  {
    @session_name('CMSSESSID' . $session_key);
    @ini_set('url_rewriter.tags', '');
    @ini_set('session.use_trans_sid', 0);
  }

#Setup session with different id and start it
if( !isset($CMS_ADMIN_PAGE) && !isset($CMS_INSTALL_PAGE) )
  {
    // admin pages can't be cached... period, at all.. never.
    @session_cache_limiter('public');
  }

if(!@session_id()) session_start();

and change it to:

$session_key = substr(md5($dirname), 0, 8);
if( !isset($CMS_INSTALL_PAGE) )
  {
    @session_name('CMSSESSID' . $session_key);
    @ini_set('url_rewriter.tags', '');
    @ini_set('session.use_trans_sid', 0);
  }

#Setup session with different id and start it
if( !isset($CMS_ADMIN_PAGE) && !isset($CMS_INSTALL_PAGE) )
  {
    // admin pages can't be cached... period, at all.. never.
    @session_cache_limiter('public');
  }
if( isset($CMS_ADMIN_PAGE))
  {
   if(!@session_id()) session_start();
  }

This effectively switches off generating a session cookie for users, but retains the cookie for admin users.

Script for obtaining consent for cookies

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:07:24 +0000

The implementation time limit for the new EU privacy directive requirement for getting consent for cookies on websites is fast approaching to May 2012

Implementation of mechanisms to obtain consent has been slow for UK websites – just surf around some UK sites and you’ll soon see no changes at all.

I have found a rather neat solution to obtaining cookie consent in the form of the EPD/PECR compliance jQuery plugin, written by Wolf Software. It only works for Google Analytics cookies so you should run a cookie audit on your website to see which cookies you can remove so that you only have the GA ones to contend with.

Installing the script is easy. Include jQuery (which you probably have already) and the script supplying it with your GA key and you’re good to go.

Wolf Software also have a version that you can use for all the other cookies on your website, but I found it a little tricky to get going, especially if you have a website based on a content management system, and I felt that it was fairly obtrusive when compared to their GA plugin (it uses a modal window that requires action before a visitor can use the site).

Cookies and the EU Privacy Directive

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:50:32 +0000

The Information Commissioners Office (www.ico.gov.uk) released last year new EU Privacy Directives targeted at cookie use on websites

The directive essentially says that unless the cookie (whether session or permanent) is essential for site functionality (such as the mechanism in a shopping cart) then user consent needs to have been granted to place cookies on a their computer. The fine for non-compliance can be up to £500,000, depending on the severity of non-compliance.

In a blog post on the ICO’s website they update the guidelines and provide more feedback on the technological and ethical issues surrounding the new laws. It still doesn’t change the fact that in May 2012 enforcement of the new law will take effect.

I have recently undergone a cookie audit task on some websites I run to see what actual cookies get set. It turned out that for what is essentially a simple “brochureware” website, e.g. one that really is just flat information provided for users, there were in total 7 cookies used:

4 x Permanent Google Analytics cookies
1 x Session cookie generated by the CMSMS
1 x Permanent Cookie for a jQuery slider to remember the last slider selected
1 x Permanent WordPress comments cookie for remembering a commentators name and email when they come back to the site

The easiest way to view the cookies your site is setting is to use Firefox. Simply go to Tools > Page info. Then click on the Security tab and click on the button labelled View Cookies. This window will show all the cookies the current page has set on your computer. Once you have identified the cookies, you can make a start at working to reduce the number used.

My aim was to get down to just having Google Analytics cookies so that I could implement a jQuery based solution developed by Wolf Software to gain consent for just GA cookies.

SEO Content Creation

admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:31:33 +0000

Creating content for a website can be a time consuming job. You may need to do some lengthy research into the topic and the grammar has to be spot on for SEO and Google

I would like to promote an English SEO content creation service from a chap called Ashton Pereira and his company called TBV Writing. He caters for SEO content creation – the process of creating content that is specifically targeted at increasing search traffic. His articles are 100% unique and are guaranteed to be of the highest quality due to their team of English writers and editors.

Keyword density for SEO content is taken care of making sure that the articles are optimized for search engines and you can specify the keyword you wish to target for each article ordered. I bought three 300 word articles from Ashton less than a week ago and received them today and they are all very good quality.This has saved me a my own time in researching and writing my own content.

The best part of TBV Writing service though is the price, the three articles I ordered came in under $11 which is excellent value for money. They do other fixed fee articles or if you drop them an email they are flexible and can accommodate any request. If you have a requirement for creating SEO optimized content then I can recommend TBV Writing.

Do humans review sites at Google?

admin — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:31:09 +0000

The short answer to the question as to whether human reviewers are employed by Google to manually check through sites is yes

The tactic has been going on for years but recently it has become more prevalent and industry sources suggest that between 12,000 and 15,000 human reviewers work daily to help improve the search experience. A 125-page internal Google document was leaked in March 2011 that detailed the process for determining the quality of websites. Various blogs had the document posted for a while but were told to take down the document. What the document boiled down to is that content still needs to be unique and relevant and include things like photos and videos. A site needs to be well designed as well, not just ‘thrown up’ to catch search traffic or create ad revenue.

It’s like a house sale, you could advertise it so well, thousands come to see, but when they go inside you have cracks in the walls, peeling paint, leaking pipes, etc. and NO ONE will buy (or even stay long enough to even consider a purchase). Then your estate agent comes in, looks, sees the crap, and cancels the contract because it’s not going to produce ANY revenue for them (because it wont sell).

Same as Google. if people dont like your site, they blame Google because Google put it up on the first page, and they wont use their search again! (there are so many alternative search engines – Google can’t risk losing ad revenue to it’s competition).

Google “Let it snow”

admin — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:56:34 +0000

Here is a festive Easter egg from Google. Type in ‘let it snow’ and click search and in front of your eyes the search results page starts to frost up!

4 column wordpress theme

admin — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 06:49:28 +0000

So you’ve got your WordPress blog up and running and have started to think about the look of it and themes? In this series we’ll be looking at the various WordPress theme options available starting with professional, commercial quality 4 column WordPress themes

4 column themes are normally suited to websites which have magazine or newspaper content and a lot of it too. 4 column WordPress themes allow you to squeeze a lot of content, above the fold, onto a page.

Other things to think about are whether the 4 column theme is widget ready and is there space available for advertising widgets? Multiple column themes may also come in fixed or fluid widths. A fixed width 4 column theme may have a width of 960px, whilst a fluid theme is designed to fill the entire screen.

U-Design WordPress Theme

Columns: 4+, Compatible Browsers: IE7, IE8, IE9, Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Firefox 4, Safari 4, Safari 5, Opera, Chrome, Software Version: WordPress 3.3, WordPress 3.2, WordPress 3.1, WordPress 3.0, Widget Ready: Yes

Minimalisto – Premium WordPress Theme

Columns: 4+, Compatible Browsers: IE7, IE8, IE9, Firefox 3, Firefox 4, Safari 4, Safari 5, Opera, Chrome, Software Version: WordPress 3.3, WordPress 3.2, Widget Ready: Yes

CONTRAST

Columns: 4+, Compatible Browsers: IE6, IE7, IE8, IE9, Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Firefox 4, Safari 4, Safari 5, Opera, Chrome, Software Version: WordPress 3.3, WordPress 3.2, WordPress 3.1, WordPress 3.0, Widget Ready: Yes

Modern Business 4 WordPress

Columns: 4+, Compatible Browsers: IE7, IE8, IE9, Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Firefox 4, Safari 4, Safari 5, Opera, Chrome, Software Version: WordPress 3.3, Widget Ready: Yes

Karma – Clean and Modern WordPress Theme

Columns: 4+, Compatible Browsers: IE7, IE8, IE9, Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Firefox 4, Safari 4, Safari 5, Opera, Chrome, Software Version: WordPress 3.2, WordPress 3.1, WordPress 3.0, Widget Ready: Yes

Unite – WordPress Business, Magazine Theme

Columns: 4+, Compatible Browsers: IE6, IE7, IE8, IE9, Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Firefox 4, Safari 4, Safari 5, Opera, Chrome, Software Version: WordPress 3.2, WordPress 3.1, WordPress 3.0, WordPress 2.9, WordPress 2.8, Widget Ready: Yes

PureVISION WordPress Theme

Mingle – Multi-purpose WordPress Theme

Columns: 4+, Compatible Browsers: IE7, IE8, IE9, Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Firefox 4, Safari 4, Safari 5, Opera, Chrome, Software Version: WordPress 3.2, WordPress 3.1, WordPress 3.0, Widget Ready: Yes

Village – An Awesome Fullscreen WordPress Theme

Duotive Three – Complete WordPress Template

Columns: 4+, Compatible Browsers: IE8, IE9, Firefox 4, Safari 4, Safari 5, Opera, Chrome, Software Version: WordPress 3.2, WordPress 3.1, WordPress 3.0, Widget Ready: Yes

Folioway – Premium Portfolio WordPress Theme

Columns: 4+, Compatible Browsers: IE7, IE8, IE9, Firefox 4, Safari 4, Safari 5, Opera, Chrome, Software Version: WordPress 3.2, WordPress 3.1, WordPress 3.0, Widget Ready: Yes

PictureThis – Fullscreen Portfolio WordPress Theme

Columns: 4+, Compatible Browsers: IE7, IE8, IE9, Firefox 4, Safari 4, Safari 5, Opera, Software Version: WordPress 3.2, WordPress 3.1, WordPress 3.0, Widget Ready: Yes

QualiFire WordPress Theme

Salutation: WordPress + BuddyPress Theme

Columns: 4+, Compatible Browsers: IE8, IE9, Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Firefox 4, Safari 4, Safari 5, Opera, Chrome, Software Version: WordPress 3.2, WordPress 3.1, WordPress 3.0, Widget Ready: Yes

Traject – WordPress Portfolio and Business Theme

Columns: 4+, Compatible Browsers: IE7, IE8, IE9, Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Firefox 4, Safari 4, Safari 5, Opera, Chrome, Software Version: WordPress 3.2, WordPress 3.1, WordPress 3.0, WordPress 2.9, WordPress 2.8, Widget Ready: Yes

Buy Tumblr themes

admin — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 07:45:25 +0000

Tumblr is a great way to start blogging and to add a little style to your Tumble blog here is a selection of premium, commercial quality Tumblr themes to buy

The advantage you get when you buy Tumblr themes as opposed to free themes is that they are normally of a higher quality and the author of the theme provides updates to keep the theme working in newer version of Tumblr. Below are the top 25 Tumblr themes