Archive for January, 2010

VIP-Quotes


15 Jan

I found a very simple Quote system for Joomla that shows some promise, and with a little change might end up being the perfect solution for my term. project.

I’ve attached my quick guide of how to install it, and configure it. It goes very quickly, and provides a few things that are nice.  In its presence stage, the random quote module seems to be the best use for it.  It installs easily, but lacks a few features such as sorting by categories and direct linking. But take a peak at the quick install guide and let me know what you think.

VIpQuotes

Joomla! vs Drupal


13 Jan

Today in CMS Class we moved away from our Joomla! discussion and took a peak at Drupal.  Drupal is a very powerful CMS system.  While I have used Drupal before for class work, it is always interesting to go back and take a second and third look at systems to see how their features actually work.

After spending more time with Joomla, I have found a few things with Joomla that I prefer over Drupal.  Joomla’s administrator access is a completely different backend, and even a separate login system.  Drupal’s system for administrating works, but how you float back and forth from the front end to the back end of the site is weird to me.  I’m sure I would get used to it over time, however at the time being, I prefer having them be separate.  Perhaps it is a false sense of security, but by keeping everything separate and hidden it seems more secure to me.

Drupal does have a few more pieces of a site that I like that are built in, such as the forum feature.  The reason that I like this better than Joomla, is that by being in the core functions, it’s more likely to get updated and be kept up-to-date.  With Joomla, most plugins are written by 3rd parties, which this is true of Drupal, because more core features are included with Drupal. It’s likely to be more secure than adding in more plugins.

Overall, I think that for most people, Joomla will be a better option than Drupal for ease of use, and configuration.   I’m open to suggestions and am curious as to what others have thought about Drupal and or Joomla and other CMS systems that they have played with.

If you are curious as to how the CMS systems work, but don’t have a working install, It would be worth checking out http://php.opensourcecms.com/ you can play with most Open CMS systems for free and usually a fast option to play before you install.

Hacker Idol


12 Jan

Today was the first night of American Idol, Did you watch?  I watched about half of it.  While I do find the auditions the best part of the show, there is only so much that I can take before I wanted to pull my eyes out.

What would be an interesting idea, is IT Idol, or Hacker Idol. They start out with all the geeks and nerds, and see who really has the true l33t speak talent and can either fend off the hackers, or can beat the IT people.  It might not be the best TV, but it sure would be more funny to me at least.  I can just see the quotes “ Yeah, I dropped in the rootkit with the exploit to phpmyadmin, and then boosted the ect/passwd file and ran jack the ripper, and boom I was in”  Ok, well yeah. I am a geek, what can I say, but truly I’d enjoy a show like this.

Also, the shows on food network like “The Next Iron Chef” and others, are often more fun because they have more…. Flavor than the wanna be singers I guess.

Oh, 24 starts, and is in New York this year… I wonder how the Yankees will deal with that..

</rant>

Rant about Drivers


11 Jan

Since, this is after all my Blog, and it’s called Corey Rants, you would have to expect some type of rant or rave pretty quickly.  Here is my first official rant about stupid people.

Today’s topic is Cars.

<Rant>

Cruise Control.

  • Use it, seriously for the love of god.
  • There is nothing worse than having the same car try to pass you, then pass you, then you pass them back and forth for 6 miles because the other person doesn’t go at a constant speed.  It’s dangerous.  Yes you stupid car, sitting in my blind spot, then speeding up and going back and forth.
  • Keeping a constant speed, with cruise control, when you are paying attention is very safe even in the rain and snow.  You are more likely to cause problems by speeding up and slowing down, then just going a constant speed.  If you notice the car start to slip,definitely turn off the cruise control, or if you are coming to a corner that you know if slippery, turn it off. It is common since. But you save so much in gas and time and annoy drivers less if you just go a danged constant speed.  Plus you can pay more attention to the road and what is ahead of you when you aren’t worried about your speed control constantly.

Driving too fast or too slow.

  • More accidents are caused when people are going to SLOW for conditions than going too fast.  When someone is coming too fast you can get out of the way, but when you come across someone that is going say 25 when conditions warrant 50, and are going 50, it creates as much if not a bigger problem then someone going too fast.

</Rant>

Thanks for letting me blow off some steam, sometimes we all need to do that from time to time.  :)

IRC as a Social Media


11 Jan

As you may or may not know, I am a very frequent member of the IRC community.  IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, is a early internet technology that allows users to chat from all over the world in a simple and easy environment.   IRC has seen a new life come out recently from some social media events such as Online streaming.  UStream uses IRC to allow users to communicate within a community and show, Justin.TV uses a hacked form of IRC to communicate as well.

Depending on the network that you chat on, you can find users that chat about anything. From software development, fighting malware, talking about technology, or even discussing the latest movies and video games. IRC is a place that you can find many people to pass time and even find good bits of help and friends.

There are two networks that I frequent are GeekShed, and DevilsFreek.  GeekShed is ranked as one of the top 100 IRC networks that are rated by users and channels by SearchIRC.  DevilsFreek is more of a quiet and small community that is more of a test bed for my workings.

IRC has had a few bad bursts of publicity in the past, media often covers IRC as a place that hackers hack, and steal credit card numbers and botnets are from.  While there are a few places that this is true, the majority of IRC networks are safe and have active network administrators that keep the trouble makers away.

If you want to connect to GeekShed to take a peak at what IRC is, and what not, feel free to click the More button and a flash chat should appear below.

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Corey's Rants

A Web Developer's rants, raves and randomness.