It has been quite a long time since I?ve made a blog post. A lot has happened since my last post ? mostly, I?ve been working, spending time with my wife and son, taking care of our yard, and occasionally working on music.

Since early February, I've been working most nights on the next version of ArtistServer.com - which will be a 100% rewrite.  Some features will be removed, others added, and many will be updated.  I've been grafting on features and updates while modifying other areas to improve performance for 10 years now, so the best thing to do is toss the old code out as a learning experience, and start again.

Here's a review of what has been going on so far with Version 2 of ArtistServer.com:

• Planning Final Set of Features - my first task was sketching out a list of features I wanted to keep or remove, problems I wanted to fix, and goals I wanted to meet. I then browsed competitor sites, as well as other music sites, and took notes that further shaped the set of featuresReconsidering Platform - if you've been doing something the same way for a long time, it is good to ask yourself if it still makes sense to do it.  I code in ColdFusion, and have been since 1997, when the only other option was CGI scripts in PERL.  I looked into switching, which would require learning while developing.  I looked at PHP and Ruby as the Ruby On Rails framework. While both languages are much more popular, and have their own pluses and minuses - as well as larger developer communities, I decided to stick with what I know, and get better at it.  I'm going to be 43 this year, I have a wife and a three year old son that I love spending time with, so the idea of putting even more time into the relaunch didn't make sense.
• Evaluating application frameworks - taking advantage of object oriented programming and the features available within frameworks.  ArtistServer 1.0 is for the most part a 'procedural' Web application.  While I have applied some object oriented design principals, the overall design is not.  Some features we'll gain: multiple language support, improved performance through caching and optimized code, and a separation of the interface from the data/logic.  This last point will better enable me to support a desktop site, smartphone site, and tablet site all from the same code base just by loading a different interface.  I'm considering using the Mach-II framework for the sites, and the Taffy framework for the new API, which will also power portions of the site.
• Interface Design - I've designed new version of every page of the new site except for the MyAccount area, the dashboard, and a few other pages. This allows me to better visualize the finished product and experiment with ideas without investing time into development.
• Site Object and Layout Planning - with the interface designs mentioned above, I've now been going over them, taking notes and planning out all the site objects and layouts necessary to generate and populate these interfaces.  This will then be used to drive development and serve as a checklist while building out the application.

What Happens Next?

With the above all worked out, I?ll have a full understanding of what the new site will look like, how it will function, as well as what generates it.  I anticipate this will greatly accelerate development due to consolidating most of the decision making into the planning stages. I'll then start building next month, June 2012.

I hope all is well with you - more posts to come.

Website: http://getsatisfaction.com/



SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/217/Get_Satisfaction



Get Satisfaction brings customers and company employees together to make things better for everyone. Great answers and ideas can come from anywhere; we just do our part to get them to the people who can do something about it.

Website: http://www.cafemom.com/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/216/CafeMom

Launched in late 2006, CafeMom is by far the largest social-networking/community site for moms AND the leading women's/parenting site on the internet - passing mainstream sites like ivillage, babycenter, and Marthastewart on the engagement metrics that matter most. With more than 145MM pageviews / month and 7MM visits / month, CafeMom was ranked the #8 fastest-growing site in 2007 by compete.com and has recently won awards from Mashable and AlwaysOn as one of the leading social networking sites. CafeMom has just launched CafeMom Plus, a boutique ad network of sites focused on moms. The launch of the Network increases CafeMom's reach from 4MM unique visitors per month to more than 8MM visitors per month.

Website: http://www.wonderhowto.com/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/215/Wonder_How_To

WonderHowTo hand-selects and curates the best instructional videos from over 1,700 websites. Explore the largest collection of free how-to videos. Whether you want to learn origami, how to dance, how to cook, how to tie a tie, ways to save money, some killer makeup tips, or ideas for Father's Day...

WonderHowTo is your one-stop shop to browse, search, or network your way through the world of free video tutorials.

Website: http://www.care2.com/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/214/Care2

Care2 provides powerful tools to make a difference in your life, community, country and world. It's driven by passionate people (just like you) who want to restore the world's balance.

Website: http://www.docstoc.com/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/213/docstoc

Docstoc is the premier online community to find and share professional documents. Docstoc provides the platform for users and businesses to upload and share their documents with all the world, and serves as a vast repository of documents in variety of categories including legal, business, financial, technology, educational, and creative. All documents on docstoc can be easily searched, previewed and downloaded for free.

Website: http://www.kaboodle.com/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/212/Kaboodle

Kaboodle is a great place for you to discover, collect and share great products online. It's a shopping community for everyone, from fashion duds to fashionistas! And best of all .. it's FREE!

Website: http://www.squidoo.com/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/211/Squidoo

Squidoo is the popular publishing platform and community that makes it easy for you to create "lenses" online. Lenses are pages, kind of like flyers or signposts or overview articles, that gather everything you know about your topic of interest--and snap it all into focus. (You're looking at a lens right now).

It's a supersimple, fun and powerful way to share your interests, build your online identity and credibility, and connect with new readers and friends. It's all free, and you could even earn a royalty for charity or yourself!

Website: http://www.travbuddy.com/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/210/Travbuddy

TravBuddy is a site for people who love to explore the world around them. You can use TravBuddy to find travel buddies, record travel experiences in travel blogs, or share travel tips with travel reviews.

No matter where you are exploring, we hope this site will make it easy and fun for you to chronicle your experiences, both past and present. We hope that it will also be an invaluable resource for keeping in contact with family and friends, and for making new friends from all around the world.

Website: http://www.mahalo.com/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/209/Mahalo

Mahalo Answers is the premiere knowledge exchange community on the web. Our members provide fast, accurate answers for any question you may have. If you have knowledge to share, you can earn tips by answering questions other users have posted.

Website: http://www.couchsurfing.org/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/208/Couch_Surfing

"CouchSurfing seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance, and facilitate cultural understanding."

The CouchSurfing community strives to do individual and collective parts to make the world a better place, and believe that the surfing of couches is a means to accomplish this goal. CouchSurfing isn't about the furniture- it's not just about finding free accommodations around the world - it's about participating in creating a better world.

Website: http://www.indabamusic.com/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/207/Indaba_Music

Indaba Music is an international community of musicians, music professionals, and fans exploring the creative possibilities of making music with people in different places.

It makes finding other people, and working on recording, mixing, or mastering projects easier. For fans, Indaba provides unprecedented access to artists and to the creative process.

With recording hardware and software now available on almost any budget, it's easier than ever for artists of all levels and backgrounds to record and produce professional quality music. Artists are also harnessing the internet to get their music heard by more people than ever before. We think this is a big deal for the future of music, and we built Indaba to be an environment for artists to harness these trends and create music in new ways.

Website: http://soundcloud.com/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/206/SoundCloud

SoundCloud lets you move music fast & easy. The platform takes the daily hassle out of receiving, sending & distributing music for artists, record labels & other music professionals.

Website: http://bit.ly/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/205/bit.ly

bit.ly allows users to shorten, share, and track links (URLs). Reducing the URL length makes sharing easier. bit.ly can be accessed through our website, bookmarklets and a robust and open API. bit.ly is also integrated into several popular third-party tools such as Tweetdeck. A more full list of third party tools can be found on the bit.ly blog. Unique user-level and aggregate links are created, allowing users to view complete, real-time traffic and referrer data, as well as location and metadata.

Website: http://www.scribd.com/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/204/Scribd

Scribd began with a simple observation ? that the desire for self-expression through the written word is as old as humanity itself. But even with the proliferation of blogs and other self-publishing tools, there was no easy way for average people to publish to a readership of millions.

Today, Scribd is the largest social publishing company in the world ? the website where more than 60 million people each month discover and share original writings and documents.

Scribd?s vision is to liberate the written word ? to turn everyone into a publisher and create the best possible reading experience on the web and mobile platforms.

Website: http://www.livestream.com/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/203/Livestream

Livestream is the most powerful online video broadcast solution available. In just minutes you can create broadcasts as polished as any multi-million dollar traditional television network ? with full capability to easily broadcast Live, 24/7 Linear, and On-Demand content ? absolutely FREE.

Website: http://www.justin.tv/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/202/Justin.tv

Founded in October 2006, Justin.tv is the largest online community for people to broadcast, watch and interact around live video.  With more than 41 million unique visitors per month and 428,000 channels broadcasting live video, Justin.tv is the leading live video site on the Web, enabling users to create real-time connections with others around the world.

Website: http://blip.fm/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/201/Blip.fm

A blip is a combination of 1) a song and 2) a short message that accompanies it. The way you create a blip is to first search for a song that you want to hear (or a song that you want your listeners to hear), then add a short message (under 150 characters), finally you submit it. Submitting a blip is also referred to as "blipping", so from here on out, when you read ?he blipped my favorite track? it means ?he submitted a blip that had my favorite song attached?.

Website: http://www.reverbnation.com/

SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/200/ReverbNation

ReverbNation.com is a Music 2.0 company that is responding to the changing music business paradigm. The site provides services for artists, fans venues/clubs, labels and managers.

ArtistServer provides a music project management system to assist you in creating and managing four types of music projects, including:

• Remix: A remix project is where you have an original piece of media/music, and you want others to use it to make something new. You'll need to provide samples and loops, etc. from your song, even the midi file if you have one. For tips, visit the forums and ask.
• New Song Project: With a 'new song project,' you start with a collection of samples and sounds, or a midi file, or even a concept, whatever works for you. Next, add some rules if you like, then finally, setup if the project has an end date. Be creative!
• Cover Me: The 'Cover Me' project, is a request for people to do a recreation of your song, known as a cover version. Post any rules and prizes you have, launch it, and promote the contest. Artists can sign up, and post their version of your song. Once the contest is over, you'll pick the winner and grant any prizes you establish. This project is for cover versions, not remixes or mashups.
• Theme Song Contest: A theme song contest is a great way to promote your brand or business. Post any rules or suggestions, launch it, and promote the contest. Artists can sign up, post their version of your theme song. Once the contest is over, you'll pick the winner and grant any prizes you establish.

Visit the Music Projects section on ArtistServer: http://www.artistserver.com/projects/

The music project management system is a simple set of forms that creates a site for your music project where you can control the following:

• Project Site design - add a header, and set the color scheme
• Start and End dates - plan for a project in the future, and or set it to close by a specified date.
• Project Terms - define the limitations and rules for your project
• Sign up Management - you can set your project so everyone who signs up is automatically accepted, or require approval before starting.
• Winner selection - if your project is a contest, you can also select multiple winners, which will be displayed on your music project site.
• Project Files - while we do not host the sample packs or raw files use in your music project, we do provide a means to link to external URLs and only provide these links to those who are members of your project and have been approved.
  

In order to participate, people simply need to join ArtistServer. We offer 'Freeware' accounts which allow up to 5 songs to be hosted on the site. In addition, we offer an upgrade account which allows up to 300 songs to be hosted.

All artists on ArtistServer can create a music project. Freeware accounts are limited to 5, whereas those with upgraded accounts can create as many as they wish.

All submissions by participants will not only display on the music project's site, but also on the participants own music site on ArtistServer, in addition to the charts and genre sections on the site. We also display an icon with each submission that links back to the music project.

Each music project will have it's own Web URL in addition to a 'short URL,' which is helpful when posting to services like Twitter or in emails.

ArtistServer does not charge a fee for your music project, we only limit you to creating music projects for music you own the rights to. We do not allow illegal remixed material and encourage artists to avoid sampling music protected by copyrights.

More info here: http://www.artistserver.com/projects/

Tips on how to run a remix project here: http://www.gideonmarken.com/index.cfm/blog/2143/How_to_run_a_Remix_Project

I have added two more sites to SocialNetwork.in - the profile aggregator where you can add all your social profiles and generate a profile widget for display on your sites and blog.

I've recently signed up for both sites and am looking forward to trying them out and seeing how they'll integrate with my life both on and off the Web.

Below are the descriptions for each site,  Check them out and be sure to sign up at http://socialnetwork.in - see youthere!

AudioBoo.fm

Website: http://audioboo.fm/
SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/198/AudioBoo

AudioBoo
is a site and service which allows you to post audio recordings captured from your iPhone, and soon other devices and your desktop.  You can think of it as a Podcasting platform where you can capture your podcast recordings, assign tags, post them to the site, and allow others to listen and subscribe to your podcast feed.

YouNoodle.com

Website: http://younoodle.com
SocialNetwork.in Profile: http://socialnetwork.in/index.cfm/site/199/YouNoodle

YouNoodle develops innovative ways to bring together the information, people and technology that help startups succeed.

We provide a platform for so far 50 of the world's top university entrepreneurship clubs and competitions, serving tens of thousands of
members and thousands of startups. Our tools help to effectively manage business competitions, events, mailing lists and community development. If you run a group and would like to join the platform apply and we'll get in touch.

Startup Predictor is the first in a series of decision-making tools YouNoodle plans to introduce for the startup industry. Our development team studied thousands of current and past
startups, using both publicly available and proprietary data, to determine patterns of predictive factors for early-stage companies' success. You can try the test for free.

When you put a site online where people sign up and create an account, it is very important that you also create a means for people to either close their account or close and extract their data.

Michael Robertson's Mp3Tunes.com site is apparently staffed by smart people, they have a nice looking API, the site is clean looking, etc. - so when I found out today that there is NO WAY TO CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT, all I can do, is conclude this was a CHOICE made by their upper management.  Why? because competent developers that really like the Web, tend to not do evil things to users unless they are forced by the upper management. A good developer knows the importance of placing the user in control over their information.

I went to their site for the first time in more than a year, trying to locate a means to close my account. I signed in, looked under "My Account" and find nothing. I click on "Support" and try searching their Knowlege Base, again, nothing.

In addition, if you stop paying for your account, it remains active as a free account, and they take the stance that you are also unable to unsubscribe from their mailing list. Then again, even if you are a Premium member, you still can't unsubscribe from their mailing list. Here is the text from the bottom of their emails:

This email
was sent to me@notMyAddress.com. If you are a Premium subscriber and
do not wish to receive further communications please reply to this
message with the subject UNSUBSCRIBE. All company and product names may
be the trademarks of their respective owners. � 2009. All rights
reserved. We are located at 5960 Cornerstone Ct. Suite 100, San Diego,
CA, 92121

If you reply to the email as stated above, it will fail:

Unknown user: no-reply@mp3tunes.com


RCPT TO generated following response:

550-5.1.1 The email account that you tried to reach does not exist.

Yes, I know the address is to no-reply, but that is exactly how they sent it out.

I looked around their site to see if there was any other way to close the account or remove myself from their mailing list, and all attempts were redirected to a page blank page to "Renew" the account: http://store.mp3tunes.com/renew They do have a link for editing my email address, but when I clicked on it, all it does is present me with an option to upgrade.

I'm now trying their contact form, hopefully this will work: http://www.mp3tunes.com/cb/contact/ If that doesn't work, I'll try their phone number: (858) 202-1600.

I have received an automated reply, stating that I now have to wait 3-5 business days, so hopefully next week, I can post an update that they have removed my account.

UPDATE - May 08, 2009 : Apparently the only mention of being able to close your account is buried in their Privacy Policy: "If you would like to close your MP3tunes Free account and stop receiving promotion email messages please contact support: helpdesk@mp3tunes.com"

UPDATE - May 08, 2009 4:00 pm: Hooray! My account is closed:

Hi,
As you have requested, your account has been canceled.
If we can be of additional assistance please let me know.

Best regards,
Kendall

I replied back:

Hi Kendall,

Thank you!

Yes - I think you should be more kind to people by making it obvious how to close one's account - for example, a "Close Account" link or button in the My Account area, and adding a statement in your Knowledge base as to how to close it. The only place on your site that mentions closing one's account, is buried within your Privacy Policy page.

Have a good weekend,

- Gideon

And they kindly wrote back again:

Hi Gideon,

Thank you for the feedback.I appreciate you taking the time to share this with us. We are going to work to get this problem resolved. I do apologize for the inconvenience.

Have a great weekend.

Kendall

Very cool! I'm happy to see a positive reaction.

BTW - I stopped using their service as it was extremely slow uploading my huge music library, so I instead purchased a second external drive and backed it up locally. I don't need my music 'in the cloud,' since my Creative Zen mp3 player w/ a 40GB drive is plenty of music for those times I'm not at home.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remix - A remix is an alternative version of a song, different from the original version. A remixer uses audio mixing to compose an alternate master recording of a song, adding or subtracting elements, or simply changing the equalization, dynamics, pitch, tempo, playing time, or almost any other aspect of the various musical components. Some remixes involve substantial changes to the arrangement of a recorded work, but many are subtle, such as creating a "vocal up" version of an album cut that emphasizes the lead singer's voice. A song may be remixed to give a song that was not popular a second chance at radio and club play, or to alter a song to suit a specific music genre or radio format. Remixes should not be confused with edits, which usually involve shortening a final stereo master for marketing purposes.

• A sample is generally a wav file, it can be stereo or mono, it depends on the sound within the sample.


• A sample that that is a few measures or less, and can loop around from the end to the begining, is called a loop.


• A sample that that is a measure or less, that doesn't loop, and is meant to play though, is called a one-shot.


• A sample of drums that can loop, is a drum loop.


• A loop of guitar would be be a guitar loop, etc.


• A longer sample, could be called a phrase.


• A long recording, for example, the lead guitar channel of a song, while not really a sample, would be called a channel mixdown.


• A channel mixdown of vocals, would be an a'capella.

• Remix artists should be provided with eiter wav files, or high quality mp3 files.


• When creating your loop, make sure there isn't a 'pop' at the loop point. If there is, zoom in and adjust the position of the loop point.


• If you use virtual instruments in your song, render down a wav of this channel.


• Single drum hits, bass parts, and some percussion sounds are usually in Mono.


• If you are in a band and have stereo channel mixes of each part, you can render down 16bit 44100 stereo mixes of each channel and zip them up. If you do not provide premade loops and samples, you may have fewer completed submissions.


• If you know the BPM of the song, include that info to help others get started.


• If you used material in your song that has a copyright, you'll need to secure rights to redistribute the material, or leave it out.


• Multiple sample packs are ok - just be descriptive in the title.

• www.GetDropbox.net (best choice)


• www.Box.net(best choice)


• www.mediafire.com


• www.FileFront.com


• www.FileFactory.com


• www.RapidShare.com


• www.MegaUpload.com

I'm so very pleased to announce that Lovely Wife Lou is pregnant!

After
years of not having any luck naturally, we sought help from a fertility doctor, but this too was not working, at least the procedure and medications weren't.

Finally, we had one good egg and were ready to have it fertilized and see if that would work. Not taking any chances, we went with a procedure (ICSI) where they select the specific sperm, and fertilize the egg with it. Days later, they called and it worked! Next, Lou was implanted with the fertilized egg, placing it in the ideal location.

Two weeks later, we found out she was pregnant!

Today, we are nearing the end of the 1st trimester and doing well. This photo is of the fertilization at 5 cells, and the next 5 are ultrasounds. The fertilization photo is approximately 1hr before it was implanted. Photo here.

• 400,000+ users
• Both a free and upgrade version
• Windows only
• Most popular 'mobile' download at Download.com
  
• Download ToneThis

For an overview of ToneThis, watch this interview and demo with Raj Singh, founder of ToneThis:

http://www.podtech.net/home/3993/lunchmeet-tonethis-gets-your-media-on-your-cell-phone

When you first see the demo of the software, take note of the right side panel.

ArtistServer has partnered with ToneThis to provide music with Creative Commons licensing and currently loads as the default content provider when you launch ToneThis. The mp3 used in the demo is by an artist on ArtistServer - very cool! Check out the screenshot below:

This is a great opportunity for artists to gain more exposure and take advantage of a great marketing tool - ringtones. We are serving over 110,000 page views to more than 60,000 unique visitors per month within the ToneThis application alone!

Not all songs are available through ToneThis, only those with one of the following Creative Commons licenses:

• Attribution
• Attribution Share Alike
• Attribution Non-Commercial
• Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike
• Public Domain

• High availability ? Able to support a large number of simultaneous users
  


• Free ? I can't afford to purchase solutions, and I'd like to move more into open source solutions


• Stable ? While I am looking for mature solutions, I will try newer options if they look promising, but they need to be stable


• Focus on serving files ? If possible, the soltuions will need to be ideal for serving files and supporting byte ranges (ffwd an mp3)


• Can Run on Windows ? I'd like to move to linux, but I'm hesitant to change everything at once.

From the lighttpd Web site: http://www.lighttpd.net/



lighttpd is used by many well-known sites. The typical scenario is using lighttpd as off-load server to push out static content and leave to complex work to another server. One example is YouTube. They have a farm of servers which push out the thumbnails you see before you see the movies.




Security, speed, compliance, and flexibility--all of these describe LightTPD which is rapidly redefining efficiency of a webserver; as it is designed and optimized for high performance environments. With a small memory footprint compared to other web-servers, effective management of the cpu-load, and advanced feature set (FastCGI, CGI, Auth, Output-Compression, URL-Rewriting and many more) LightTPD is the perfect solution for every server that is suffering load problems. And best of all it's Open Source licensed under the revised BSD license.



light footprint + httpd = LightTPD (pronounced lighty)

For my specific case, I now have a test server setup with lighttPD and PHP, and have started working on a translation of my file serving/streaming/tracking code. Once I have the code up and running, I can start testing on linux server and consider removing Windows from the equation. Making a platform change would provide even better performance and a higher number of concurrent users. Why not do it now? Because I'm new to PHP and don't want to change all the elements at once. After I gain a comfort level with PHP, I can start working with it on linux.

Windows + LightTPD + PHP

1. Install Windows Server: I'm using Win2000 Adv Server. Remove all the items from the installer that you won't need on a server, like games, etc. Uncheck everything that deals with IIS, the mail server, and ftp. I suggest using other options for FTP. I don't know of a mail server to use, so if you must, install Microsoft's mail server.
   
   
   
   
   Once Windows is installed, run Windows update and reboot accordingly. Do this until you finally do not see any more updates. With Win2000 Server, I had to upadate 'Windows Update' then do a few updates, then about 54 updates, then another 9, then a few more... so it takes awhile.



2. Download: Now download all the software you'll need to run the server. In my case, this will include:
   
   
   • LigHTTPd for Windows: http://wlmp.dtech.hu/down_lighty.php?lang=en
   
   
   • PHP: http://www.php.net/
   
   
   • FileZilla Server: http://filezilla-project.org/
   
   
   • VNC: http://www.realvnc.com/download.html
   
   
   • Notepad ++: http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm
   
   
   
   



3. Install: VNC Server ? for remote access, Notepad++ for editing config files, and FileZilla as your FTP server


4. Install LightTPD: I suggest installing to the root: C:\lighttpd


5. Install PHP: I suggest installing to the root: C:\PHP - during installation, you will be asked to select your server, select 'other CGI' as 'lighttpd' is not a listed option.
   



6. LigHTTPd Configuration ? I'm using version: 1.4.18
   
   
   • Open the configuration file: C:\LightTPD\conf\lighttpd-inc.conf
   
   
   • Uncomment mod-cgi ? just delete the '#' in front of it.
   
   
   • Uncomment mod-rewrite - same method, unless you don't need it
   
   
   • edit "index-file.names" leaving only: "index.php", "index.htm"
   
   
   • consider trimming the mimetypes down to what you would be serving
   
   
   • edit "static-file.exclude-extensions" - set to ".php" only
   
   
   • be sure to create a file for catching errors ? uncomment this line after you create the file and save it at the root.:
     server.error-handler-404 = "/error-handler.php"
   
   
   • Uncomment cgi.assign, delete all but php, and add a slash:
     (".php" => "PHP/php-cgi.exe") to this: (".php" => "/PHP/php-cgi.exe")
   
   
   • Set LighTTPD up as a service ? first, click on this exe file: C:\LightTPD\bin\Service-Install.exe
     When I tried this, the registry entries fail, so the next step is to edit the registry and add the keys by hand (or a .reg file). Be sure to replace the lighttpd installation directory with your own. Save the following as a .reg file and double click on it to merge these keys with your registry (if the service installer did not show an error, skip this step):
     
     
     
     Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
     
     
     
     
     [HKEY_Local_Machine\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LightTPD]
     
     "DisplayName"="LightTPD"
     
     "Description"="A fast, secure and flexible webserver - WLMP Project"
     
     "ObjectName"="LocalSystem"
     
     
     
     [HKEY_Local_Machine\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LightTPD\Parameters]
     
     "AppDirectory"="C:\\LightTPD"
     
     "Application"="lighttpd.exe"
     
     "AppParameters"="-f conf\\lighttpd-srv.conf -m lib -D"
     
     
     
     [HKEY_Local_Machine\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy\StandardProfile\AuthorizedApplications\List]
     
     "C:\\LighTTPD\\lighttpd.exe"="C:\\LightTPD\\lighttpd.exe:*:Enabled:LightTPD (WLMP Project)"
     
     
     
   
   
   
   • At this point, you may need to stop/start the lighttpd server service ? I use the Computer Management Console ? and navigate to the Services icon, then the actual service.
   
   
   
   • In your browser's address bar, type: localhost ? you should now see the default index page for lightTPD. If not, possibly the registry keys were not added correctly, or you made a mistake when editing the lightTPD configuration file.
   
   
   
   



7. PHP Configuration ? I'm using version: 5.2.4
   
   
   • open the php.ini file: C:\php\php.ini
   
   
   • move the upload temp and session directories, and changed their references in the php.ini file:
     
     upload_tmp_dir="C:\php\upload"
     
     session.save_path="C:\php\session"
   
   
   • locate and set: doc_root ="C:\lighttpd\htdocs"
   
   
   
   
   



8. Test the server
   
   
   • create a new text file in the web root called index.php
   
   
   • type this into it:
     then save
   
   
   • in your browser's address bar, type: localhost
   
   
   • you should see the php info specs in your browser
   
   
   
   



9. Alternate Setup: Unfortunately, fastCGI on Windows either doesn't work, or doesn't work very well (at this point in time), which means it won't work with lightTPD. There are many other options for you to tweak and try in the configuration file, my only suggestion is to save a copy of this first version of your configuration file as a backup.



10. Finish:
    
    
    • Be sure to setup VNC and install a VNC client on your local PC/MAC if you don't have it already.
    
    
    • Setup FileZilla and make sure it's secure. I like to limit FTP access to my office's IP address only.
    
    
    • You may want to add a firewall, I like using BlackIce http://blackice.iss.net ? but it's a bit expensive. Windows 2000 doesn't come with a Firewall, and you don't want to install one that is designed for a workstation.
    
    
    
    • More Info:
      
      
      http://trac.lighttpd.net/trac/
      
      http://trac.lighttpd.net/trac/wiki/Docs
      
      http://forum.lighttpd.net/forum/1
    
    

This information is offered for free and does not imply any responsibility nor consultation. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer, but I think the best thing to do is to post to the lighttpd forums.

Good luck in your developments, I'll post again once I have made some progress.

Fortunately, good ideas spread, start-ups come to life, and usually improve the overall market by raising the bar. In the Web stats and comparison market, Alexa was joined by Compete.com (last year?), and we can at least compare data between the two services.

I'll leave it to you to visit compete.com to learn how they get their data. Alexa gets their from their browser toolbars.  Attention Firefox users... Alexa now has a toolbar for you too.

I think the best way to compare data between the two services is to look at a specific collection of sites which are in competition with each other - a single vertical market. Since I run a social music site (ArtistServer.com), I selected to compare my vertical as an example. Below, you'll see a table which lists most of my competitors, there are many more than this, although these are what I consider "music hosting services" that cater to artists/musicians, which is ArtistServer's focus.

What do you think? At first it would seems that as you move down in rank, that the numbers would have a greater variance, but that's not the case. The numbers simply jump around - for example, look at ReverbNation or Funender, how is it that their rankings are so different between Alexa and Compete?

I think if we can gain access to a third or fourth dataset from another service, the best thing to do would be to average their rankings together to give us a single ranking.  While the results would continue to just be an 'indicator' and not a real ranking, it might be a step in the right direction.

So - who is going to build the first Web Rank Aggregator? Or does it already exist?

We are not allowed to disclose how many sites are assigned to each
server however I can say we do allocate a set number of sites based on
the specifications of the server and each configuration has been
time/stress tested before it is deployed as a production server.

• 
  This is not written on their site.
• 
  This is not listed as a feature of their hosting packages.
• 
  This is not listed in the Admin area where you manage your site.
• 
  Apparently, not even the general support staff know about this limitation.
• If they kill off your processes, they don't inform you - you would have to discover that it is happening either on your own or if you are lucky, a user would inform you
  

HostMySite.com Support:

The timeout error that you are receiving is from a program that we run
on our ColdFusion servers called SeeFusion. It is set to kill any cf
process that runs longer then 50 seconds. SeeFusion was implemented to
increase the stability of our ColdFusion servers, which it has done.
The only way to avoid this timeout on a shared server would be to use a
different method of uploading, like ASPupload. Alternately, you could
go to a VPS.


If you have any other questions feel free to contact us.

The video has received a lot of responses, replies, parodies, and remixes of both the video and the song.

Tay was kind and smart enough to release the vocal track of the song and allow others to create their own remixes.

Once you hear his low and distinct sounding voice, you'll get an idea as to why it's getting attention.

Being one who enjoys the art of remixing, I downloaded the vocals, and recorded a thick and gooey funk version of the song.

You can visit my music site and hear the song at the top of the page: Chocolate Rain - Sonic Remix / Sonic Wallpaper

Or stream/download the mp3 from these links: Download - Stream

Enjoy! 

What percentage of Web developers and site owners are cool? Have you ever stopped to wonder? We're talking about a population that designs and builds the foundation of our digital existence. The people who provide the sites, the services, and the means for everyone to explore and experience this "World Wide Web."

Personally, I've judged it all based on my experiences, which have mostly been very positive. Fortunately, I got on this train back in 1996, back when the Web was battleship grey, and developers were hard to come by. Eleven years later, I'm now in a sea of developers and site owners, and yes, my experiences have remained very positive... until recently.

About two weeks ago, I rolled out a new version of my AddToBookmarks script, which is an easy to use solution for adding social bookmarking buttons to your pages or posts. I released the script with an open source license, and some credit/info in the files.

I wanted to see how many sites were using my script, so I do a search at Google that would locate my script: "Del.icio.us Digg Google Spurl Blink Furl Simpy Y! MyWeb," out of the first 25 results, 16 of these sites had stripped out the license and my credit/info from the script, and only 9 had left the license and credit.

Wow - Apparently, only 36% of developers and site owners are cool?!?

Actually, that's not true, as you can't conclude much from a 25 person study, although, these results are not very positive. It seems a lot of people either don't understand or don't care about open source licensing and giving people credit.

It's all very simple, if you use someone's work, and that work has a license and/or credit listed, you leave it. If you create a variation of the item, most likely the license and credit must stay with the variation.



Here are the results from my search:

Has License/Credit: 9

http://www.israelnewsradio.net/the-marty-roberts-show.html
http://www.watch4jobs.co.uk/blog/
http://www.brazil-travelnet.com/index.html
http://www.soccer-game-information.com/soccer-video.html
http://news.stepforth.com/blog/
http://www.onestopwebsupport.com/weblog/weblog.html
http://www.evolvingdoor.ca/zodiac/signsindex.htm
http://www.tophosts.com/articles/?002404.html
http://www.leadership-tools.com/advanced-site-search.html

Removed License/Credit: 16

http://forums.seochat.com/seo-scripts-10/coldfusion-optimization-3214.html
http://starrynightlights.com/blog/?m=200604
http://www.thegnuru.com/
http://ngeorgia.com/blueandgray/
http://www.europeanexperts.org/disp_zone.html?id_zone=33&lazone=VBA+(Office)
http://www.setfocus.com/aboutdotnet/default.aspx
http://rdoctor.com/symptoms_disease/content/blogsection/11/9/
http://www.roseindia.net/tutorialhelp/comment/6225
http://www.evictstop.com/bisf-mortgages.shtml
http://forums.devshed.com/business-news-124/google-to-bid-for-u-s-airwaves-if-condition-added-461312.html
http://www.aspfree.com/c/a/ASP.NET/Working-with-Parameters-with-Crystal-Reports-and-ASP-NET-2-0/
http://www.ddj.com/dept/architect/184406031
http://forums.devarticles.com/technology-news-57/effect-of-google-cookie-policy-unclear-ap-107583.html
http://www.scripts.com/remotely-hosted-scripts/web-traffic-scripts/free-google-pagerank-checker-webmaster-tools/
http://starrynightlights.com/blog/?p=19
http://www.vakaruge.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=173

• The Name of the site - example: Site Name
• The full URL to the site - example: www.sitename.com
• A link to a user/member URL on the site - example: http://www.sitename.com/ProfileName

You do have the option of adding profiles and links to other people's profiles as "private" links, although these links will only be available to you on the SocialNetwork.in site.

Why do you want all your profiles linked together?

This helps people connect to you, when they see that you are on some other site, the site visitor may click on the profile link and visit you there. If they are on that site too, they may add a link to you or add you as a friend.  With this tool, you'll greatly increase your cross-site networking and begin driving more traffic around to all your profiles. Start thinking about your 'core' profile, and not about having dozens of identities scattered around the Web - this tool helps make this happen, not only here, but any site that selects to adopt the SocialNetwork.in API.

Why signup at SocialNetowork.in?

Because the services it offers can be 'plugged in' and used at any Web site, which would allow you to benefit from greater levels of integration with the sites you use.

For example, lets say you are a member of SocialNetwork.in, and you are a member of Flickr.com - then you go out and join some new social/travel site that uses SocialNetwork.in's API to connect to our data and your profiles. By adding your SocialNetwork.in profile name to your account on the new site, they can now locate your photos and display them on your new profile without you having to reupload or import them in.

What is an API?

An API is an acronym for "Application Programming Interface." API's are VERY cool because they allow developers to connect to different sites and services and utilize the data and information in their own applications. You may have heard of the term "Mashup" being used on the Web - this relates to the process of connecting to at least one API and blending your own data with the data being offered by the API.  For example, all the various maps you see on the Web which display various types of data or photos or icons, etc are usually "Map Mashups" that use either Google or Yahoo Maps API.

Enjoy!

Oh... BTW... ArtistServer and IndieMobile now have 250 free Mp3/Realtone Ringtones available for download. All ringtones are provided by the artists at ArtistServer.com