Stephen Pontes [.com]

Just wiped my Ubuntu Installation to have a fresh 8.10 start.

This is my archive of what I did after installation

• OpenSSH
• Transmission
• LAMP Server
• Boxee!
• Samba

OpenSSH

To install openSSH I used this guide, but basically the command is as follows:

# sudo apt-get install openssh-server

Transmission

Installing Transmission was incredibly easy.

Applications > Add/Remove > Transmission

Then you can also install the daemon so it runs automatically on launch (from this site):

# aptitude install transmission
# wget http://www.vanutsteen.nl/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/transmission-daemon -O /etc/init.d/transmission-daemon
# chmod +x /etc/init.d/transmission-daemon
# adduser --home /dev/null --shell /bin/false --no-create-home --disabled-login transmission
# mkdir /etc/transmission
# chown transmission:transmission -R /etc/transmission
update-rc.d transmission-daemon defaults

LAMP Server

Referenced this guide for my installation process. A LAMP server is one that uses “Linux, Apache, MYSQL and PHP”…and it’s fortunately easy to setup in a desktop Ubuntu installation:

First, we’ll set up apache2:

sudo apt-get install apache2

Now, because I backed up my apache docs and whatnot, I have to make sure to enable all the modules referenced by my apache configs. Time to install WebDav! I referenced this website for this part…

# sudo a2enmod dav davfs dav_lock auth_digest

PHP comes next:

# sudo apt-get install php5 libapache2-mod-php5

Then MySQL (from this site)

# sudo apt-get install mysql-server
# sudo apt-get install php5-mysql

Lastly, PHPmyAdmin as well as the modules to allow MySQL to work with Apache:

# sudo apt-get install libapache2-mod-auth-mysql php5-mysql phpmyadmin

You can verify PHP and mySQL are running correctly by navigating to /phpmyadmin and logging in using the root / password combo you set during the phpmyadmin setup in the step above.

Boxee!

via Boxee.tv:

• Go to System > Administration > Software Sources.
• In Sources Software dialogue, select Third-Party Software tab, click Add, and enter: deb http://apt.boxee.tv intrepid main
• After closing this dialogue you can either use Synaptics and select Boxee for download, or use a terminal window, and enter sudo apt-get install boxee.

Then, to run Boxee:

Applications > Sound & Video > Boxee

…and fix Boxee playback…via this site

# sudo rm /etc/X11/Xsession.d/70pulseaudio
# killall pulseaudio
# sudo apt-get remove pulseaudio
# sudo apt-get install esound

Also important: enable the restricted video drivers (proprietary) for best results in Boxee.

Samba

From help.ubuntu.com, a Samba installation is pretty easy…

sudo apt-get install samba

I just transferred to a new host. The images in my posts, as you might have noticed, haven’t transferred over. I’m working with the old host to see if I can still access my old site to grab them. If not, no biggie

Let me know if you notice any issues.

Nicole is now cancer free!

Though the doctors say she isn’t 100% in the clear yet (the cancer could come back), the outcome is looking great. Other than sleeping for 27 hours in the past two days, Nicole’s been feeling fine. While the biopsy news is great, they also told her that she might have an infection. Nicole’s now on on antibiotics to prevent anything serious from developing. The infection isn’t serious, and she should be back to 100% soon enough!

In the ongoing debates between Obama and McCain issues like foreign policy, tax rebates and the war in Iraq are often referred to as hot topics. But what about the topic most important to me, a young voter? What’s being done about my education?
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After only 5 minutes of downtime, I’m up and running on the newest version of WordPress. Worried about downtime but really want to upgrade? Follow along for Stephen “the least downtime contest” Pontes’ guide!
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This is part one in an ongoing series of posts.

Many of you have livejournals, xangas, tubmlrs, twitters, and wordpress installations. Customizing them isn’t always easy. Today you’ll learn the basics of HTML and CSS.

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) go hand in hand to produce most of what you see on the internet today. The HTML provides the framework for the content, while the CSS makes everything look the way it does.

HTML is the framework upon which a website is built. When you take notes, you use markup to denote importance within the document. You’ll use Roman Numerals, numbers, letters and various other “tags” to indicate what each piece of content means in relation to another. HTML does the same thing for your website’s code, except instead of Roman Numerals and numbers, you use HTML tags. I’ve listed a few below:

It’s so simple! HTML is the markup that assigns value to the content on a website. It’s also important to note that these tags must be closed in the following way:

I’ve uploaded a demo page where you can view these basic tags in action.

Besides the tags above, HTML supports a variety of other important markup choices. Using semantic markup (using these tags to declare importance or weight of information within the HTML document) is crucial. New web designers will often use tags to incorrectly style their content. The most important thing you can learn early on is that style and markup are best left separated! Leave the markup to do the dirty work of denoting content’s importance within the document and styling comes much much easier.

Now that you understand the basics of how HTML “works”, the next article will cover the basics of how styling interfaces with all of this!

First off, what exactly is OpenDNS? From their website,

OpenDNS is the world’s most intelligent DNS service. Our global network and our software work together symbiotically to offer a set of features custom-tailored to you, without requiring you to buy any hardware or install any software.

Since most of that went over MY head the first time I read it, let’s get some background information on exactly what a DNS Server is / does.

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Just put the finishing touches on my own customized WordPress installation. Still has a few validation issues on the main page, but everything else should be rock solid.

I already have a great idea for a series of articles, so stay tuned!