21.11.08

Chmod, Umask, Stat, Fileperms, and File Permissions

I began researching permissions in detail. I went deep into the source code of Apache (which is why this site is called AskApache, BTW), PHP, Python, Ocaml, Perl, Ruby, and POSIX operating systems and got a pretty good handle on it now..

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18.11.08

ApacheCon US 2009

Call for Papers Opens for ApacheCon US 2009

The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) invites submissions to its official user and developer conference, taking place 2-6 November 2009 at the Oakland Convention Center and Marriott Hotel. ApacheCon serves as a forum for showcasing the ASF’s latest projects, members, and community initiatives. Offering unparalleled educational opportunities, ApacheCon’s presentations, hands-on trainings, and sessions address key technology, development, business/community, and licensing issues in Open Source.

The wide range of activities offered at ApacheCon promotes the exchange of ideas amongst ASF Members, committers, innovators, developers, vendors, and users interested in the future of Open Source technology. The conference program includes peer-reviewed sessions, trainings/workshops, and select invited keynote presentations and speakers.

Conference Themes and Topics

Building on ten years of success, ApacheCon returns to the Bay Area for the 10th anniversary of the Apache Software Foundation. Comprising some of the most active and recognized developers in the Open Source community, ApacheCon provides an influential platform for dialogue between Open Source developers and users, traversing a wide range of ideas, expertise, and personalities.

ApacheCon welcomes submissions across many fields, geographic locations, and areas of development. The breadth of the Apache community lends itself to conference content that is somewhat loosely-structured, with common themes of interest addressing groundbreaking technologies and emerging trends, best practices (from development to deployment), case studies and lessons learned (tips, tools, and tricks). In addition, ApacheCon will continue to offer its highly popular, two-day intensive trainings; certifications of completion will be distributed to those who fulfill all the training requirements.

Topics appropriate for submission are manifold, and may include but are not restricted to: Apache HTTP server (installation, configuration, migration, and more); ASF-wide projects (including Lucene, Hadoop, Jackrabbit, and Maven); Scripting languages and dynamic content (such as Java, Perl, Python, Ruby, XSL, and PHP); Security and e-commerce (performance tuning, load balancing and high availability); New technologies (including broader initiatives such as Web Services and Web 2.0); ASF-Incubated projects (such as Sling, UIMA, and Shindig); and Business/Community issues (Open-Source-driven business models, open development, enterprise-wide adoption, and more).

Submission Guidelines

Submissions must include:

  • Session title
  • Speaker name
  • Speaker biography
  • Session description
  • Format and duration
  • Audience expertise level

Full details are available online on the CFP page at http://us.apachecon.com/c/acus2009/cfp/

Types of Presentations:

  • Trainings/Workshops
  • General Sessions
  • Case Studies/Industry Profiles
  • Corporate Showcases & Demonstrations
  • Fast Feather (short) sessions
  • Birds of a Feather discussions
  • Invited Keynotes/Panels/Speakers

Pre-Conference Trainings/Workshops

Held on the first two days of the conference (2-3 November 2009), ApacheCon trainings are available at a registration fee beyond the regular conference fee. Proposals may be submitted for half-day (3 hours), full-day (6 hours), or two-day (12 hours) training sessions. These proposed tutorials should be aimed at providing in-depth, hands-on development experience or related continuing education. Training submissions are welcome at beginner, intermediate, and expert levels.

General Sessions include presentations on practical development applications, insight into high-interest projects, best practices and key advances, overcoming implementation challenges, and industry innovations. Especially welcome are submissions that extend participants’ understanding the role of ASF projects and their influence on the Open Source community at large. General Sessions are scheduled for 50 minutes and are accessible to all conference delegates.

Case Study/Industry Profile

Practitioners are invited to submit presentations that focus on how implementing particular ASF technologies led to improved products/solutions, service offerings, changes in work practices, among other successes. Proposals that highlight overcoming interesting challenges in application design and developing innovative frameworks using multiple ASF projects are particularly encouraged. NOTE: Marketing-oriented submissions aimed at promoting specific organizations or products will not be accepted.

Invited Keynotes/Panels/Speakers

Each conference the ApacheCon Planning team invites select presenters dealing with engaging, dialectical, and challenging subjects to present in keynote and/or panel formats. Topics include cutting-edge technology development, industry leadership, hot or emerging trends, opinions on controversial issues, insight on technology paradigms, and contrasting viewpoints in complementary professional areas. Those interested in suggesting a candidate for an invited speaker opportunity should submit a brief proposal with the speaker’s name, affiliation, background/bio, overview of topics of interest, and contact information.

Birds of a Feather (BoF) sessions and Fast Feather Track talks are selected by separate processes, nearer to the beginning of the conference.

Proposals are now being accepted at http://us.apachecon.com/c/acus2009/cfp/ and can be revised at anytime until the submissions closing deadline of 28 February 2009.

In addition, sponsorship opportunities for both ApacheCon EU 2009/Amsterdam and ApacheCon US 2009/Oakland are available. Please contact Delia Frees at delia@apachecon.com for further information.

ApacheCon US 2009 is co-produced by the Apache Software Foundation and Stone Circle Productions. The ApacheCon Planning team comprises ASF Members from all over the world working on a wholly-volunteer basis. For more information, visit http://us.apachecon.com/c/acus2009/

17.11.08

A Side Note On WordPress, SEO, sitemap.xml and robots.txt

A short and simple look at using a robots.txt file for SEO WordPress blogs.

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Tips and Tricks to increase site speed with .htaccess

One such file is .htaccess. This file can be used to improve your site’s loading time greatly, if mod_expires and mod_headers are compiled with Apache. Apart from this, there is one more simple method; gzip compression (using htaccess). Both are described in this article.

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AskApache SEO part 2: Move urls higher in Search Results

Part II of the Advanced SEO Series shows how to control which urls are indexed in Search Engines and moving higher up in Search Results

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3+ ways to speed up sites that use Google Analytics

Hosting ga.js locally, combining with other javascript files, setting the cookie's domain correctly, replacing the init javascript code.

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.htaccess trick shows Development CSS file only to Developer

I wanted to make changes to the .css file that only I could see, so that my regular traffic and site-visitors would still see the old version. Here’s the elegant solution I came up with using .htaccess and mod_rewrite

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Website Security for WordPress and Drupal

Short, sweet, and solid .htaccess security info.

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