Anti-Malware, Web Development Tools and Entertainment

My aversion to paying for anything software related results in countless hours scouring the internet for useful FREE software.  Each of the programs listed below not only rock but are absolutely free, however, it would be nice if you threw a couple bucks at them if you appreciate their efforts.

Came across a great anti-malware program, not by mistake.  Just so you know, my internet surfing behavior could be described as daring, controlled recklessness or idiotic.  The fact is, I’m convinced I can fix anything computer related, real or imagined, and I’ll die believing that, regardless of the veracity of the sentiment.

Malwarebytes

Malwarebytes.org

My admitted unsafe internet surfing practices led to infection by a nasty little trojan.  After 2 minutes of googling, I found Malwarebytes.org which erradicated the infection.  I had to run it 3 or 4 times, but it did the job.

HTTrack Website Copier

HHtrack.com

As a Web Designer, Web Developer, it can be advantageous to gain an understanding as to how Pros put their sites together.  HTTrack downloads the entire html translated site.  Protected or encrypted directories won’t download, but most of the files and directories will.  Great tool.   Or,what if you like the content of a particular site? Whatever content that is?

Or, what if you want to use elements of a particular site?  Need I go on?

Notepad++ Source Code Editor

Notepad++

Taken from their site:

Notepad++ is a free (as in “free speech” and also as in “free beer”) source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. Running in the MS Windows environment, its use is governed by GPL License.

Based on a powerful editing component Scintilla, Notepad++ is written in C++ and uses pure Win32 API and STL which ensures a higher execution speed and smaller program size. By optimizing as many routines as possible without losing user friendliness, Notepad++ is trying to reduce the world carbon dioxide emissions. When using less CPU power, the PC can throttle down and reduce power consumption, resulting in a greener environment.

Foobar2000

foobar2000.org

So many of the media players available have more bells and whistles than one could want or use.  Foobar2000 is a Windows based media player with cool features, but it keeps it simple.  I use it for it’s simplicity and that it adopts all the codecs on my machine.  No ups, no extras just music how you want to hear it.

No big deal this post, just some cool stuff.

Have fun.

A Quick And Easy Guide To Setting Up Your First Wordpress Blog

Wordpress is one of the preeminent platforms for building a blog or website.  Dynamic websites, those that allow users to interact and contribute without an Administrator/Web Developer having to re-write and re-upload each of the pages individually every time there’s a modification,  are the future.  Interactivity is one of the most popular aspects of the internet today, (think social media sites) and Wordpress was designed with dynamicism and interactivity at it’s core.  Wordpress also has become increasingly user friendly so that you don’t have to know how to write code in order to produce something really cool.  Not to mention that it’s open source so every piece of software I mention in this article is free.

Basic Prep

A website at it’s most basic level is a number of files on a computer called a server that has an internet address called a domain name.  The files are the pages of your website and the domain name is how people find it.  Before you start building your site, there a few things you need to do first.
Get organized – create a folder on your computer where you’ll keep all your website related files.  Make one for the wordpress files themselves, but then add others specifically for images, ideas, music, videos, or any other components that are independent of the wordpress file structure.

Supporting software

Here are the tools I recommend you use to get started (the title of each program links to their download location):

• Filezilla – Filezilla is an FTP client that substantially decreases the time involved with uploading, downloading and backing up the files for your website.  There’s a separate tutorial here that you may find useful.
• Notepad++ – Notepad++ is a simple text editor with lots of additional features that you will find useful.  If you’re a windows user, Notepad (standard) is one of your programs. Notepad++ makes things easier by color coding the different tags in your html, php and other web-related files.
• Photoshop, Picasa, Irfanview, iPhoto – Okay, Photoshop is far from being free, but Picasa,Irfanview and iPhoto (included with Macs) are and each have the ability to edit photos. There will be times when you’ll want to edit a photo to adjust the size or enhance it some way.

Lay the Groundwork

Choose a webhost and domain name:
Technically the only thing you’ll need to pay for is the domain name, which can be had for $6-$10 a year.  If you choose free hosting with Wordpress.com or others, you’ll save money, but there are limitations which you may not dig later on.  The requirements for Wordpress are the PHP scripting language environment and the ability to set up a MySQL database.  The recommended hosts for Wordpress are Blue Host, DreamHost, MediaTemple, GoDaddy, JustHost and Laughing Squid.  Check them each out for pricing and suitability for your specific needs.
Best practice for choosing a domain name is to pick something that identifies your brand or what the site is about in some way.  Ex: if you sell real estate in Costa Rica, create a name like costaricarealestate.com or real-estate-in-costa-rica.net, you get the idea.

In a Nutshell, What You’ll Do

1. Setup an account with a web host
2. Choose a domain name
3. Create a MySQL Database
4. Create a MySQL User and assign permissions
5. Download latest WP software
6. Modify wp-config.php file
7. Upload WP software to root directory
8. Install Wordpress
9. Have Fun

Using cpanel, which is a widely used UI (user interface) this video tutorial shows how to setup a MySQL Database.

Video Tutorial:

http://www.flatheadenterprises.com/streams/db-setup.flv

Using FileZilla and Notepad++ this video tutorial shows how to setup wordpress quickly and easily.

Video Tutorial:

http://www.flatheadenterprises.com/streams/wordpress-fast-and-easy.flv

Hope these were helpful.

peace

Filezilla is one of the best FTP programs available, and totally free.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

There’s no better compliment to a Wordpress (or any, for that matter) blog than FileZilla.  This primer will show how easy it is to transfer files from your computer to your website quickly and easily.

1. Download and Install FileZilla – (download)

FileZilla is available for Windows (2k – Windows 7), Linux and Mac (Requires OS X 10.5 or newer)

2. FileZilla Interface

The image below describes the functions of each window of the interface.  Transferring files is as easy as right-mouse clicking on the file and selecting “upload”.  Take a minute to review the image.

3. Configure FileZilla for your website

• Click on File>Site Manager
• Click on the “New Site” Button just below the “Select Entry” window.  A new entry will appear and be highlighted under “My Sites” in the “Select Entry” window.
• Rename the new entry to whatever you want (something close to the site name could work, but it’s up to you)
• In the top right of the Site Manager window are four tabs; General, Advanced, Transfer Settings and Charset.  General is the only tab you need, the default settings suffice 99.99% of the time.  (I’ve never had to adjust any of the other settings in the 9 years I’ve been using FileZilla)
• In the Host: textfield (see below) type in the domain name of your site without the http://www (make sure to include the .com|.net|etc)
• Servertype: should be set at FTP – File Transfer Protocol
• Set Logontype: to Normal
• User: is your FTP user name
• Password: is, well your FTP password

important – User names and passwords ARE case-sensitive and there can be NO spaces between letters or words.

That should be all you have to do.  Once those fields are filled in, you click on the “Connect” button and you should be in and ready to start transferring files.

4. Transferring Files

Basically, you’re moving files/folders (directories) from your computer (window 4 above) to your web server (window 5 above).  The left side of the FileZilla interface is your computer, and the right side is the web server or remote site.  You can do that by right-mouse clicking the files/folders(directories) and selecting “upload”.  You can control-click or shift-click a group of files/folders(directories) and right-mouse click or you can even click and drag files/f0lders(directories) from anywhere else into the remote site file window (window 5 above). Window 6 will show you the status of your transfers.

5. A little more about how it works

When you first connect via FileZilla, you could get confused by all the folders/directories on your remote site/web server.  If a number of folders/directories appear, the only ones you’re concerned with is “www” or “public_html”.  Double click on that folder/directory and upload your files to there. Very often, both directories exist, if that’s the case upload to the “www” folder/directory.

If the “www” or “public_html” folders don’t exist, than you are in the root directory, upload your site there.

EVERY HOME PAGE IS ACTUALLY A FILE NAMED “INDEX” OR “DEFAULT” (example: index. htm, index.html, index.php, index.asp, default.asp, default.html, default.htm).  If that file does not exist in your root directory, than users can not visit your website.

You’ll notice I always used folders/directories in the descriptions above.  We’re used seeing folders on our computers, but they are always directories.  On a web server, directories is more accurate terminology.

In the FileZilla interface image above, you see a number of directories.  Those are the directories in my flathead site.  The first directory is 4sale.  If you were to open a browser and type http://www.flatheadenterprises.com/4sale in the address pane, it will take you to the contents of that directory.  I have an index.html file in that directory, so you’re browser can read it, otherwise, it’s likely you’d get an error message.

FileZilla does not recognize changes you’ve made while the FileZilla application is open.  For example, if you add an image to a folder that you’re working on while FileZilla is open, it will not automatically recognize it.  You’ll need to either close and reopen the application, or as I do, click on some other folder than go back to the folder the image (or whatever) you added is in.  There’s no automatic refresh nor is there a refresh button.

6. Backing up your site is a breeze

To me, this the best part.  You’ve been working for days/weeks/months to get your site to a place where it’s really cool.  But nothing is forever, and if you’re talking electronics, anything can happen at any moment.  Create a folder on your computer called something crazy like “site-backup-(date)”.  Open FileZilla, select all files and folders and download it to that folder.  It’s gonna take a while, but you don’t have to wait for it, so go see what you have saved on DVR  and check back later cause it’s all getting done.  Afterward, burn it to a CD/DVD and you’re completely backed up.  If you are using wordpress or some other database driven website application, than exporting the .sql file and saving that completes the backup, but if you know what that stuff is already, you probably already know this stuff anyway.

Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, love to help.

peace.

Why buy the same movie twice?  Convert your DVD with two FREE programs.

1. Download and install DVD Decrypter and Super Video Converter

• Both are free software programs.  DVD Decrypter was one of the original decrypting programs and still one of the best.  Super is a free audio/video conversion program that can convert almost anything into almost anything.

2. Insert the DVD you want to convert and open DVD Decrypter.

• DVD Decrypter will automatically recognize the dvd and one simple click of a button will copy the files to your hard drive.

3. In DVD Decrypter go to “Edit>Select Main Movie Files”

• DVD’s are split into many different files (see above), but the actual movie is in a few VOB files, which are actually MPEG’s.  As you can see in example #2, this movie was split into 4 sequential VOB files (VTS_03_1.vob through VTS_O3_4.vob).  Don’t use the IFO file.

4. Make a note of the names of the files and where they are being saved.

• On windows machines, the default location is on the C:\ drive (or the same drive as your OS) and it creates a directory or folder with the name of the movie. (see example #2)

5. Click the DVD to hard drive button to save the movie.

Example #2

Example #2

6. Open the folder where the movies were saved, then open the VIDEO_TS directory or folder

• It’s helpful here to switch your folder view to either “List” or “Details” to more easily identify the files you need.

figure 1-

figure 2-

7. Open Super and choose the lower radio button in the top left. Select “Join Format-Identical Files” from the small arrow next to the window.

• In the top left of the program (see example #3), there are two vertically aligned radio buttons.  The top radio button is to select the Output Container for the movie and the lower button is to select an Output Process.  Clicking on the little arrow just to the right of the window will activate a drop-down menu where you can select your process.

8. Control-click or shift-click the files you need and drag them into the “Job List” window in Super.

• Hold down the control key while clicking on the files to highlight or select more than one, or if they are all together, hold down the shift key and click on the top and bottom files to select multiple files. Once selected, click and hold the selection and drag them into the “Job List” window. (clicking and releasing anywhere in the window that has the selections will deselect the files, and you’ll have to do it over)

Example #3

Example #3

9. Click on the “Join (Active Files)” button just below the Job List window.

• The files need to be named sequentially – The file names need to be identical except for the last digit or letter in order for Super to recognize the correct order.  The example is 1-4, but your files may differ and you may need to rename a few of the file names for the Join process to be successful.

10. After process is complete, remove source files from Job List and replace them with the newly created, “Join”-ed file.

• Joining doesn’t re-encode, it merely concatenates the separate movie files into one continuous movie file, which is probably how you’d prefer to watch it.  By default, this version of Super copies the new file into the same directory or folder as the source files.
• Right mouse-clicking anywhere in Super will bring up the context menu where you can remove the files from the Job List.
• Open the VIDEO_TS directory or folder, click and drag the new file into the Job List window.

figure 1-

figure 2-

figure 3-

11. In Super, click on the upper radio button, click on the arrow to the right of the window and select “Apple iPod/iPhone (MP4)”

• Super offers several presets to encode your video – choosing Apple iPod/iPhone will automatically format your movie for your iPod

12. Click on the “Encode(Active Files)” button and within a few minutes (could be several), depending on your individual computer’s RAM and CPU speed, your movie will be saved.

• The time it takes to encode your movie can take up to the same length of the movie itself.
• 2-4 Gigs of RAM is recommended.
• The finished movie, formatted for your iPod will most likely be saved in the same directory or folder as the source files.

figure 1-

figure 2-

After your movie has been successfully converted, just add the new video to your iTunes video library and sync up.  You may want to rename the MP4 file before adding to iTunes, but that’s up to you.

Please leave questions in comments section below.

Have fun.

Have you found a song you really like, but not enough to buy it?

Burn A Copy Of Any DVD with FREE Software

DRM, or Digital Rights Management, is the technology used by Movie Studios and Record Companies to protect their intellectual property.  However, it is largely ineffective when it comes to your computer.  I have not found a DVD yet that could not be cracked by a defunct, yet absolutely effective little program called DVD Decrypter. I simple google search will assist you there.  That program along with DVD Shrink, will enable you to copy any DVD you’ve purchased to a blank disk (for backup purposes only, of course).

In The Audio Realm, The FREE Program Audacity Makes It Easy.

In the Video Tutorial Below, I’ll Show you how to record any song on the Internet.  Watch:

To Pirate or Not to Pirate

To me, pirating is mass production of copyright material and unauthorized sale of that property.   If you buy a CD or DVD, that intellectual property becomes yours for personal use.  If you want to protect your investment by making a backup copy of something you already paid for, you should not be considered a criminal for doing it.

If you make copies and sell them, however, you should be fried and I’ll be happy to provide the lighter.

dave@flatheadenterprises.com

peace