1. First upgrade your software as is with the following two commands (just for good measure):

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

2. Now, open up your Debian package sources list with Nano for editing using the following command:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

3. Next, add the following sources to your /etc/apt/sources.list file.

deb http://www.apache.org/dist/incubator/cassandra/debian unstable main
deb-src http://www.apache.org/dist/incubator/cassandra/debian unstable main

After you add these two lines, press cntrl+X to close Nano. It’ll ask “Save modified buffer?” Press Y. Press Enter when Nano asks “File Name to Write.”

4. Run the update to install Casandra with this command:

sudo apt-get update

5. ERROR! At this point you receive an error similar to this:

W: GPG error: http://www.apache.org unstable Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY F758CE318D77295D

6. Use the following three commands to ignore the signature error, and continue installing:

NOTE: You must replace the key value ‘F758CE318D77295D’ with the key value you received in your error message.

gpg --keyserver wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net --recv-keys F758CE318D77295D
sudo apt-key add ~/.gnupg/pubring.gpg
sudo apt-get update

7. Install Cassandra:

sudo apt-get install cassandra

8. Next you need to change Cassandra’s default port number from 8080 to something else, because the 8080 port typically conflicts with SSH terminal connections. Use Nano to open up the Cassandra configuration file using the following command:

sudo nano /usr/share/cassandra/cassandra.in.sh

9. Then change the port number 8080 on the following line to 10036, and save the file:

-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=10036 \

10. Start Cassandra with the command:

/etc/init.d/cassandra start

Once you have Cassandra running, test it with Cassandra’s command line tool CLI. Use the example found on the Cassandra Wiki.

On November 1st I shaved my face clean for a friendly bet amongst my friends on who could grow their mustache the longest before their significant other gave them ultimatum to shave it. As it turns out, our little bet coincided exactly the same day Movember started. What is Movember? Movember is an annual, month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men’s health issues – specifically prostate and testicular cancer. This of course is brilliant, and I couldn’t help but join the cause.

You can help fight against prostate and testicular cancer by becoming a sponsor of my mustache. “Ridiculous” you say? Ok, sponsoring a mustache is a little silly, but this Movember, the money raised in the U.S. will be split between the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation to fund research to find better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer, and there’s nothing silly about that.

DONATE HERE
The link so nice, some times you have to click it twice [to make it work].

While doing research for the book I compiled a brief timeline of Twitter’s company history. I was about to remove it from my notes when I realized it was kind of interesting, and I might like to refer to it later. So, I’m throwing it up on the blog for you to enjoy.

• March 21, 2006 – 1st Tweet – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter#History
• July 2006 – Twitter.com goes public – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter#History
• Oct 2006 – Ev, Biz, others aquire Odeo & Twitter as Obvious Corp – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter#History
• February 19, 2007 – Odeo sold – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odeo
• March 2007 – SXSW hype fest - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter#History
• April 2007 – Twitter spun off into its own company – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter#History
• July 2007 – $5M Funding – http://www.crunchbase.com/company/twitter
• Aug 2008 – $15M Funding – http://www.crunchbase.com/company/twitter
• March 2009 – $35M Funding – http://www.crunchbase.com/company/twitter

>> sudo apt-get update

>> sudo apt-get upgrade

Then add the following to your /etc/apt/sources.list file.

>> sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian stable all
deb http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main contrib
deb http://packages.dotdeb.org/ stable all

Finally run the update to install PHP 5.2.9.

>> sudo apt-get update

>> sudo apt-get install php5-cli

>> sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

The WordPress Codex has a function called ‘wp_list_pages.’ What I wanted to do is create a new function called ‘wp_list_main_pages.’ So I simply searched my WordPress install and copied the ‘get_pages’ and ‘wp_list_pages’ functions and pasted them into my theme’s ‘functions.php’ file. From here I made a few edits to these functions. To start with, I renamed them ‘wp_list_main_pages’ and ‘get_main_pages.’

Below is the final code I’m using to display the main navigation accross blogs. I made notes in bold to help. Hope this is helpful to you Googling coders.

// You can use this function instead of 'wp_list_pages' in your theme
function wp_list_main_pages($args = '') {
	$defaults = array(
		'depth' => 0, 'show_date' => '',
		'date_format' => get_option('date_format'),
		'child_of' => 0, 'exclude' => '',
		'title_li' => __('Pages'), 'echo' => 1,
		'authors' => '', 'sort_column' => 'menu_order, post_title'
	);

	$r = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );
	extract( $r, EXTR_SKIP );

	$output = '';
	$current_page = 0;

	// sanitize, mostly to keep spaces out
	$r['exclude'] = preg_replace('[^0-9,]', '', $r['exclude']);

	// Allow plugins to filter an array of excluded pages
	$r['exclude'] = implode(',', apply_filters('wp_list_pages_excludes', explode(',', $r['exclude'])));

	// Query pages.
	$r['hierarchical'] = 0;
	// Right here we call our new 'get_main_pages' function
	$pages = get_main_pages($r);

	if ( !empty($pages) ) {
		if ( $r['title_li'] )
			$output .= '<li class="pagenav">' . $r['title_li'] . '<ul>';

		global $wp_query;
		if ( is_page() || $wp_query->is_posts_page )
			$current_page = $wp_query->get_queried_object_id();
		$output .= walk_page_tree($pages, $r['depth'], $current_page, $r);

		if ( $r['title_li'] )
			$output .= '</ul></li>';
	}

	$output = apply_filters('wp_list_pages', $output);

	// This line is sloppy and needs improvement.
	// You have to remove the name of the blog your currently on from you global navigation.
	// I'm doing this the simplest but least scalable way here.
	$output = str_replace("pressroom/", "", $output);

	if ( $r['echo'] )
		echo $output;
	else
		return $output;
}

// This is essentially a private function
function &get_main_pages($args = '') {
	global $wpdb;

	// This is the magic line.
	// Now when the SQL runs to pull your navigation pages, it'll use your main blogs ID.
	$wpdb->set_blog_id(1);

	// Notice here I call the original get_pages function and return the results
	$pages = get_pages($args);
	return $pages;
}

To accomplish this task without losing all your Windows data you need 3 things.

1. Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
2. An HFS+ Mac-formatted external drive
3. Winclone
   

To decrease the size of your Windows partition use the following steps.

1. Make a backup of your Boot Camp partition from Windows. (optional)
2. Run Winclone.
3. In the “Tools” drop down click “Shrink Windows (NTFS) file system.”
4. Follow the onscreen instructions.
5. Wait… it takes awhile.
   
6. In Winclone create an “Image” to your Mac-formatted external hard drive.
7. Use Boot Camp Assistant to return your drive to a 100% Mac-formatted partition.
8. Use Boot Camp Assistant to make a new Boot Camp partition larger than the file size of your “shrunk” Windows partition image, but smaller than your original Boot Camp partition size.
   
9. When it asks for Windows disk, quit Boot Camp Assistant.
10. Run Winclone again and “Restore” your Windows image to the new partition.

To increase the size of your Windows partition use the following steps.

1. Make a backup of your Boot Camp partition from Windows. (optional)
2. Run Winclone.
3. In Winclone create an “Image” to your Mac-formatted external hard drive.
4. Use Boot Camp Assistant to return your drive to a 100% Mac-formatted partition.
5. Use Boot Camp Assistant to make new Boot Camp partition larger than your original partition size.
   
6. When it asks for Windows disk, quit Boot Camp Assistant.
7. Run Winclone again and “Restore” your Windows image to the new partition.

Kind of a pain, but it’s doable. I’ve altered my Boot Camp partition numerous times using the methods above.

The current definition of coworking needs revision. Coworking is not a space, a community, a set of values, a business model, or any combination of those things. Those topics are about coworking, but they do not define coworking.

If we look at the definition of coworking on the Coworking Wiki, we read that “coworking is a cafe-like community/collaboration space for developers, writers and independents.” This defines coworking as a noun and as a type of community space. Wikipedia does a bit better at defining coworking, but still place a lot of emphases on “the space.”

From my experience with Jelly, coworking is not a space or a noun. It is a verb. Coworking is something you are doing. For example, I’d use it in a sentence like this: “Today I am coworking at Jelly.” Or, “I might go to Citizen Space to cowork.” From this usage I’d like to propose the following definition.

Coworking is two or more individuals working independently or collaboratively who are socially interacting while they work.

As a verb you can cowork with people, you can be coworking, or you may have coworked. You may even go to a designated coworking space.

Also note, that this definition does not mention anything about a space or even proximity. This leaves the possibility to cowork remotely. Second Life and Yahoo! Live come to mind.

When we talk about creating a “coworking space,” “coworking community,” or having a specific set of values, we’re really talking about how to create an environment or community that will encourage the activity of coworking. Arguments over values, profits, business models, and furniture can neither undermine nor enhance the definition of coworking. Build a pool and I may go swimming. Is it a free pool? Do I have to pay to swim? Is the water clean? Are kids allowed in the pool? Is there a swim team that meets at this pool? Is the pool’s owner honest? All of these thing may affect my decision to swim in the pool, but are ultimately a matter of taste.

In summary, coworking is NOT a cafe-like community/collaboration space. That’s like saying swimming is a pool. And arguments such as for-profit versus non-profit need not become heated. Coworking is coworking regardless of where it’s at, what values people share, or how big the community is. If you’re working and socializing, you’re coworking.

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	<asp:ListItem Value="AL">Alabama</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="AK">Alaska</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="AZ">Arizona</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="AR">Arkansas</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="CA">California</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="CO">Colorado</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="CT">Connecticut</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="DC">District of Columbia</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="DE">Delaware</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="FL">Florida</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="GA">Georgia</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="HI">Hawaii</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="ID">Idaho</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="IL">Illinois</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="IN">Indiana</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="IA">Iowa</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="KS">Kansas</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="KY">Kentucky</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="LA">Louisiana</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="ME">Maine</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="MD">Maryland</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="MA">Massachusetts</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="MI">Michigan</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="MN">Minnesota</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="MS">Mississippi</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="MO">Missouri</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="MT">Montana</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="NE">Nebraska</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="NV">Nevada</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="NH">New Hampshire</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="NJ">New Jersey</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="NM">New Mexico</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="NY">New York</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="NC">North Carolina</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="ND">North Dakota</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="OH">Ohio</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="OK">Oklahoma</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="OR">Oregon</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="PA">Pennsylvania</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="RI">Rhode Island</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="SC">South Carolina</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="SD">South Dakota</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="TN">Tennessee</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="TX">Texas</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="UT">Utah</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="VT">Vermont</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="VA">Virginia</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="WA">Washington</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="WV">West Virginia</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="WI">Wisconsin</asp:ListItem>
	<asp:ListItem Value="WY">Wyoming</asp:ListItem>
</asp:DropDownList>

We’ve been out of Brian’s original sticker print-run for awhile now, but today I got a new batch in the mail! Big thanks go out to Stephen Gutknecht for fronting the money to purchase the stickers.

If you’d like a sticker let me know at Jelly. They cost $2 a piece to print. Not so coincidently, we’ll be accepting donations of $2 per sticker.

Alternatively you can hop on Mikons.com and create all kinds of schwag using the Jelly icon and have it shipped straight to your door.

I had a little trouble with the checkout process at Mikons, but Mark was fantastic about helping me, and it turned out to be an over the top customer experience.

Step 1. Download the latest version of the Austin Tech Events widget and upload it to a subdirectory on your site.

Step 2. Go get yourself a Google GDATA API key here.

Step 3. Add the following code to the head section of your site. Note the sections in red. You need to add your Google API Key and be sure to change the paths below to reflect where you uploaded the Austin Tech Events widget folder.

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/jsapi?key=YOU GOOGLE API KEY GOES HERE"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
	var calendarURL = 'http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/i8m14fqigtkhpj744qml1vht920bq5j0%40import.calendar.google.com/public/full';
	var pageMaxResults = 15;
	var parseWiki = true;
	var showNav = true;
	var weeks = null;
	var widgetListSize = null;
</script>
<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="http://example.com/wp-content/plugins/austin-tech-events-calendar/css/thickbox.css" />
<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="http://example.com/wp-content/plugins/austin-tech-events-calendar/css/style.css" />
<script type="text/javascript">
	function addLoadEvent(func) {
		var oldonload = window.onload;
		if (typeof window.onload != 'function') {
			window.onload = func;
		} else {
			window.onload = function() {
			if (oldonload) {
				oldonload();
			}
				func();
			}
		}
	}
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://example.com/wp-content/plugins/austin-tech-events-calendar/js/date.js?ver=alpha-1"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://example.com/wp-content/plugins/austin-tech-events-calendar/js/jquery.js?ver=6124"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://example.com/wp-content/plugins/austin-tech-events-calendar/js/thickbox.js?ver=3.1"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://example.com/wp-content/plugins/austin-tech-events-calendar/js/wiky.js?ver=1.0"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://example.com/wp-content/plugins/austin-tech-events-calendar/js/functions.js?ver=0.85"></script>

Step 4. Add the following code to body of you page. Place it wherever you want the widget to show up.

<ul>
	<li id="austin-tech-events" class="widget widgetWPNGCalendar">
		<h2 class="widgettitle"><a href="http://door64.com/event">Austin Tech Events</a></h2>
			<div id="wpng-cal-widget-events" style="display:none;"></div>
			<div id="wpng-cal-load-widget" class="wpng-cal-loading">
				<img class="wpng-cal-image" alt="loading..." src="/wp-content/plugins/austin-tech-events-calendar/images/loading_large.gif"/>
			</div>
		<div>
			<script type="text/javascript" defer="defer">
				widgetListSize = 5;
				addLoadEvent(loadCalendarWidget);
			</script>
		</div>
	</li>
</ul>

That’s all there is to it. Check out the example I created of the Austin Tech Events Plugin installed on WordPress 1.5.2. Proof it can be done! The biggest disadvantage to this approach is that you won’t be notified of code updates like you would on a proper WordPress 2.5 widget install.

Let me know if you have any questions!