The Surgery

I’m home.

After 5 weeks, 5 countries, and more than 40,000 km in aeroplanes, cars, trains, buses and boats, I’m finally back where I started.

The world’s an amazing place, there’s no doubt about it.

The world’s also a very big place. You don’t realise just how big, or how amazing, until you travel non-stop for 30 hours from one side of the world to the other; the same distance that it takes an email, an instant message or a Facebook notification to travel in less than a second.

We flew from Melbourne to Sydney, then to Singapore, London, attended a family wedding in England, flew to Northern Ireland, drove through the Republic of Ireland, flew to Scotland, then Denmark, back to England and finally home.

I’d been to most of these places before, but some cultural differences that I really noticed this time were:

• In England, no-one has a laundry;
• The rest of the world still uses copper coins and denominations below 5 cents;
• Australia has a lot to learn when it comes to public transport;
• Dr Ron has an accent; and
• “Local knowledge” is everything!

Now I need a holiday to recover from my holiday. I guess that’s what work is for. I’m back into it, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Monday morning.

Catch you all on Tech Talk tomorrow night. More soon.

Here at Tech Talk Radio, we only get 13 weeks paid Annual Leave each year.  That’s why we need to make the most of it when it comes along.

I’m currently holidaying in England, Ireland, Scotland and Denmark.

I am negotiating Pounds, Euros and Kroner, drinking Guinness, eating pickled herring and fast becoming used to high-speed broadband and digital cable television.

I’ve been calling in to Tech Talk as well, despite the 9 hour time difference.

Normal programming will be resumed in the next few weeks.  In the meantime, I’m posting regular updates on Twitter if you’re interested.

If you’re running (or using) an Apache web server, there are two log files which are extremely useful for monitoring the health of your website. These are the Access Log and the Error Log.

When a page is served correctly, you’ll normally see a log line like this one:

66.249.66.175 - - [08/Jul/2008:23:40:23 +1000]
“GET /images/buttons/home.jpg HTTP/1.1″ 200 15371

The group of numbers at the start of the line is the IP address of the remote computer, requesting a web page, file or image from your server. The next two hyphens are sometimes filled by a username, if the requested file or directory is protected (for example, by a .htaccess file). The date, time and timezone information come next, followed by the actual request sent by the remote computer’s browser. In this case, the remote browser is requesting (GET) an image, “home.jpg” which Apache tells us is 15,371 bytes-worth of information. This was sent successfully (code 200).

If a requested file doesn’t exist, that code 200 will be replaced by the well-known Error 404 - File Not Found. In this case a corresponding line would be written in the Error Log.

Keeping a close eye on my web server logs, I noticed a large number of requests which were answered with an Error 304, like this:

66.249.66.175 - - [09/Jul/2008:00:32:38 +1000]
“GET /sitemap.xml HTTP/1.1″ 304 -

I’d never seen an Error 304 in a web browser, and I couldn’t understand why this was being issued. Time to do some research.

Error 304 is an error level rather than an actual error, much like the code 200. This code means “Page Not Modified”. Apache is returning this code to a web browser, and to save on bandwidth, tells the web browser that the page (or sitemap file in this instance) hasn’t been modified and to use cached data instead.

When the web browser sends its GET request, it also sends the date and time that it (the web browser) last loaded or cached the file. If Apache knows that it hasn’t been modified since this date and time, it returns a code 304, instead of the same page all over again. So the browser ends-up displaying just what it’s got cached. Cool huh?

Of course if the file had been modified, Apache would return a code 200 to the browser along with the new file.

Here’s some more reading for those interested:

• A technical explanation of Error 304

I’ve started jotting down some notes about SEO’ing The Surgery.

Have a look at the bottom of the “Great WordPress Installation” page. I’ll let you know how it pans out. My aim is to be the Number 1 result when someone Googles the word “technology”. (Who said I wasn’t an optimist?)

BTW Lidija Davis has got some great SEO tips and tricks on BlogWell.

What is Search Engine Optimisation? SEO is the manipulation of a webpage or blog, to increase its favourable exposure to search engines such as Google. The aim is to drive traffic to your site through organic search results, i.e., to have a good search result ranking when someone searches for keywords contained in your site.

While it’s not an exact science, there are many things which can be done to increase exposure to search engines, and just as many “bad” things which will cause search engines to switch off and look elsewhere.

Here’s a wiki on SEO. Notice I put the link under some meaningful words, not the word “here”. There’s a free tip for you!

Warning: SEO is highly addictive and will chew-up hours of web browsing, coding and time spent fiddling around in Google Webmaster Tools. Enjoy!

At last, at last, my WordPress blog is running on a real computer; not something held together by pieces of twine, electrical tape and garden stakes.

I have updated the page on My WordPress Installation, for those interested.

Do you notice the speed improvements with pages loading in your browser? It was definitely worth the hard work… and not too much hard work involved actually.

Many thanks to Graeme Callaghan for all his assistance.

I recently created a website, for a customer who wanted a shiny new blog on a WordPress server.  I took the opportunity to use WordPress.com to do the hosting.

I set up the blog, registered the domain name, and then used a new feature (new for me, anyway) which lets WordPress.com use your domain name.

What this means, is that instead of “my_wordpress_account_name.wordpress.com” as your web address, you can have WordPress.com host “my_domain_name.com.au” which appears in the title bar of people’s web browsers when they’re viewing the blog.  This costs US$10/year per domain, which I think is pretty good value.

How to do this

• If you have an existing domain, log on to the domain’s registrar.  Change the delegation to WordPress.com DNS servers: “ns1.wordpress.com” through “ns3.wordpress.com”;

• From your blog’s dashboard in WordPress.com, go to “Upgrades / Domains”;

• Enter the domain you would like to appear as the address for your blog. This can be pre-existing or WordPress.com will register it for you (if the domain is available) for $5/year;

• Click “Add domain to blog”;

• If you don’t have any “WordPress.com credits”, you will be prompted to login to PayPal and purchase 10 credits (this will cost about AU$11.00);

• Return to the “Dashboard / Upgrades / Domains” screen.  In the domain table you will still see the original “wordpress.com” address for your blog, with the function set as “your blog URL”. You will also see a new entry, which is the domain name you just paid WordPress.com to host. Click on the link that says “Put blog here”. Otherwise if you type the new domain name, it will just redirect to the WordPress.com address.

That’s it! Now if you type your new domain name, or your old “wordpress.com” address, you will see your shiny new blog. Most importantly, the address in the title bar will be your new domain name.

Happy blogging!

More reading; WordPress.com Support Forum on Domain Hosting.

In the last episode of Tech Talk Radio, Silicon Valley reporter/cyber-goddess Lidija Davis was extolling the virtues of Twitter. This is a social networking site which, probably like many other people, I’d heard about but never used.

My first impressions are that it seems to be a “cutdown” version of Facebook, in that you can see status updates from friends and family and follow updates which other people post. You can also access Twitter from your mobile which is cool.

The thing that Twitter does well for Australian users is incorporate an SMS gateway. You can receive notifications to your phone and also update your status with text messages. Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think Facebook does this in Australia. Facebook’s carrier pre-selection screen says that “Facebook Mobile Texts are currently available only in US/Canada/UK on the listed carrier networks”. Bugger. You’d think with all that advertising that Facebook would be able to offer fraction-of-a-cent text messages to its valued customers.

I didn’t test the Twitter SMS features personally but Graeme Callaghan did on the show last week and it seemed to work well.

The thing I don’t like about Twitter is that you use obscure codes to send personal messages and such things. You have to type “@username” to reply to a message, and then something with a bracket to send personal messages… too hard I’m afraid. I want to just click a button that says “personal message” but I can’t.

Also, status updates are limited to 140 characters. Huh!?!?! Maybe this is to ensure compatibility with SMS messaging (which is limited to 160 characters), I’m not sure. But if you want to type a longer message to someone (not just a status update) you have to send three, four, five or more mesages. Bleh.

The exciting thing with Twitter is that status updates and personal messages correspond directly with status updates, public messages and private messages in other social networking systems: Facebook, MSN, Yahoo! Messenger and MySpace to name a few.

If I’m logged in to Facebook, there’s no reason why a friend on MSN shouldn’t be able to send me a message. If a friend posts a funny photo in a MySpace account, why can’t I view it from within my Facebook account? And why can’t I see it from my HSDPA-enabled mobile phone or PDA?

What we need now is a gateway and a common language which works between (currently unconnected) messaging systems. And throw-in a legacy email connector for good measure, if you must.

Some people have already had the same idea and written their own Facebook/Twitter interface, like Stuart Robertson over at Design Meme. This is great to see, and uses existing technologies like RSS and PHP. You can see the way that social networking is headed with these types of projects.

The connection of social networking sites and instant messaging systems will certainly spell the end of email. Thank goodness.

Why do I hate email so much? Well, apart from the fact that 95%+ of all email traffic is unsolicited, it spreads viruses, and the protocol can’t innately transfer binary information? Maybe this is best left for another rant.

My conclusion? If you like Twitter, use Twitter. I won’t be using Twitter, because it doesn’t do everything I need it to. But it does do some things better than Facebook. Most importantly, I like Twitter because it encourages people to use social networking and modern communications systems to keep in touch. And keeping in touch is what it’s all about.

Jodee Berry of Panama City, Fla., sits with her toy Yoda at her lawyer’s office Wednesday.

Berry, a former Hooters waitress, has sued the restaurant where she worked saying she was promised a new Toyota for winning a beer sales contest in April.

Berry, 26, believed that she had won a new car, but she was blindfolded, led to the parking lot and presented a toy Yoda, the little green guy from Star Wars.

Source: Associated Press

Is there money to be made from online market research surveys?

I was having this discussion a few days ago with a colleague, and thought I’d share a few observations.

On Tech Talk Radio in May (Episode 20-2007) I talked about two online survey organisations which I’d had dealings with.

The first, emailcash Australia, awards points to account holders. Points are accrued by clicking on sponsored links, participating in surveys and buying goods and services from Reward Partners. After you accrue a certain number of points, these can be redeemed for cash. For example, after accruing 3,000 points I was able to cash these points for $30.00. By providing your electronic transfer details to emailcash Australia, they put the money straight into your bank account of choice.

The second organisation, Pureprofile, awards real dollars to account holders. Again, money is accrued by clicking on sponsored links and answering surveys. You can log in at any time to see your balance, and once your balance is over a certain amount, you can have this transferred to a real-world bank account.

As it so happens, I opted to receive a $50.00 balance from Pureprofile just last week. It was quite a painless process and the money arrived in my bank account within a few days. Here’s a bank statement with a previous payment from Pureprofile:

Some observations about online market research organisations:

• Yes, believe it or not, they do actually pay!

• By logging in, answering surveys and clicking links every day, it’s taking me about 6 months to get a $50.00 payout from both organisations. Whether this is on-par, ahead or behind other users, I don’t really know.

• I’ve never actually had to buy anything in order to qualify to receive cash. Clicking on links and answering anonymous surveys is all that has been required.

• The most personal information I’ve been asked is my age, gender, postcode, employment status and marital status. I’ve never been asked my name or address in an anonymous survey. (From memory you are required to provide your name and some additional personal information when you setup an account.)

• I initially setup two independent email addresses, solely for use by the marketing organisations and for receiving mail and notifications. I’ve never received any unsolicited email to either address.

• Is 3 minutes a day, clicking on links, worth the pocket money? I’ll let you make your own decision. My advice would be, it’s good pocket money, but don’t give up your day job.

Dr Ron.

(p.s. I have no affiliation with, or interest in, either organisation, other than as a customer.)

What the….!??!!

On Tech Talk Radio we’ve had Odd Spot segments which are funny, sad, tragic, bewildering, pointless, controversial, political and even perplexing.

I think that this week’s Odd Spot fits all these categories.

In Sydney on Saturday the 14th of July, a man allegedly drove over seven mobile phone base stations in a stolen army tank because “he believed mobile phone waves had ‘harmed his head’.”

The full news story is called “Tank-rampage caused by mobile phone tower radiation” and has been published by CNET.

I added a post to the official TTR blog after this week’s show, but there are heaps more photos on my Flickr account which were sent to me by an anonymous listener / contributor. This contributor works for one of the organisations which sustained damage to their network equipment.

All I can say is … well, I can’t say anything. I am without speech. The offending tank driver is obviously suffering a mental illness and it’s lucky that no-one was seriously injured. Imagine the different outcome if field technicians had been working in or on any of these base stations when the tank ploughed through them. I’ve spent countless hours at radio base sites like these and I can assure you, the last thing on your mind when you’re swapping a board or resetting a power supply is that an Armoured Personnel Carrier is about to drive through your workplace!

It’s also worth noting the resilience of the phone networks, and the “minor” effect that this incident had on subscribers. An Optus spokesman said “there had been only minimal disruptions to services”.

More news stories on the same incident:

• The Age: NSW man refused bail over tank rampage
• NineMSN
• Yahoo!7 News
• The Australian: Man goes on rampage with tank in suburbs

… plus Odd Spot audio clip from this week’s Tech Talk.

I bet you can’t wait for next week’s Odd Spot! :-\