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Virtual PC Epilogue

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:23:04 +0000

Further to my previous posts I had problems with upgrading from Virtual PC 2007 to the Windows 7 version of VPC. Although most of my existing VMs worked without issue one of them refused to load with a compatability error. I had problems with others not wanting to load as they were in a "saved" state that cannot be transferred to the new version. So you might want to "switch off" your VMs before bringing them over to Windows 7 VPC.

Because of the one Vm that refused to work I uninstalled the new version of VPC and went back to 2007! Everything seemed to work again without a problem.

I might try to upgrade again some time in the future.

Upgrading Virtual PC 2007 Virtual Machines to Windows 7 Virtual PC

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:51:42 +0000

I do a lot of my development in virtualised environments. If you aren't familiar with virtual machines then I strongly recommend investigating further. There are many advantages to working in this way.

An extra level of security. Whilst it is possible for nasties to traverse the host/guest operating system barrier, unsophisticated Trojans and viruses will be nicely contained
Sandbox. This is a developer term for a "play area" in your virtual sandbox you can install and try out things and at the end of your session you can chose not to save your changes. This means you get a clean system to start on next time. Of course you can save the changes if you chose!
Portability. For example when upgrading your host OS from XP to Windows 7! I can seamlessly continue working without having to reinstall all my software again. This does mean my development environment is still running XP but the reduced risk to my work continuity is great. I don't have to worry that some old app critical to my work isn't going to run, or I don't have to clear out several days just to get my PC up and running again.

Note that VMs do require licensing, but, if like me, you have purchased a number of full Windows licenses over the years then you should have one or two spare lying around. Or alternatively you can setup as many Linux based VMs as you like!

Upgrading from Virtual PC 2007 to Virtual PC Windows 7
Getting my existing XP VM up and running on my new Windows 7 host install was relatively easy, however I hit a couple of snags.

First of all, you need to download Virtual PC. The new version requires that you have a CPU capable of supporting hardware virtualisation.
The first stumble came when the VM failed to find a network card. This was solved by opening up the virtual PC's settings configuration screen and reselecting my PC's network card.
I then needed to reinstall the integrated components that allow the VPC instance to automatically capture the mouse, allow file transfers etc.

For now it seems everything is up and running OK, however there is still one problem I'd like to solve. With Virtual PC 2007 you could use Win+L to lock the virtual machine, but now this seems to lock my host operating system and not the guest operating system! If anyone knows how to lock the guest OS with a keyboard short cut using Windows 7 Virtual PC then please let me know!

Retail Windows 7 Installation Problems

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:58:23 +0000

Here are two things that I learnt during my installation of Win 7 this evening, I share them here in case they might be useful to someone else...

If you are experiencing a very slow Windows 7 install, then try disabling your floppy drive in the BIOS. I switched mine to "none". I then gave the installation another try and it was much much quicker. Weird, yes. But I'm not the only person who has noticed this.
If you have a black screen at the end of the installation, and reboot it only to still get a black screen then this tip might help. After hacking around and try all kinds of things when the Windows 7 Install hangs I finally stumbled across a solution. I had two monitors plugged into my PC, detaching the other one seemed to do the job. This probably caught me out becuase the other monitor was off (it has some problems), but I've read of at least two other people having the same problem

And there we go, apart from the above 2 issues the install went through OK.

Time to play :)

XP to Windows 7: What should I back up?

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:05:34 +0000

Image: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2751/4032170761_b07bd7a91b_m.jpgYay, my copy of Windows 7 dodged the UK postal strikes and made it to my desk. I'm now eagre to get the install under way.

There is no option to upgrade from XP so I'm going to have to do a complete Windows reinstall, which is fine by me as my PC needs a clean up. And since moving my development environment to a Virtual Machine, a reinstall of my host OS is far less of a deal these days. I also keep my media and docs on a separate drive these days which again makes clearing C:\ a far less daunting task.

However there are a few things that need to be backed up before I blow XP away!

What should I backup before upgrading to Windows 7?

Here is my list, it might give you a few ideas, but obviously your list could be different so make sure you have a good root around your harddisk.

Email - although gmail/hotmail keeps an archive, it's nice to keep a local copy too. I use Thunderbird, so moving your profile over is straightforward, just grab it from "Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles"
Bookmarks, IE users will find them in the usual place ->Documents and Settings -> Favourites
My Documents - currently not kept on the system drive, but worth checking the security on the folder. If you have made this "private" then regaining access to it later will be harder. If you do hit this problem then the following KB will help.

If I think of anything else before the install, or if I found I've missed something after the install - yikes - I'll add it!

Got a few mins before the above backups finish running, then it's time to wipe C:!

Getting SEO URLs right in e107

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:01:54 +0000

Image: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3059/2713035441_4474b32e65_m.jpgI've blogged about this before, but I think it is worth mentioning again. I genuinely believe that getting search engine friendly links done right in the e107 CMS will be a big factor in the success of the new version, e107 0.8! Rightly or wrongly, webmasters put a lot of weight on friendly URLs and this is why I think it is so important.

Some site owners won't even look twice at a CMS that can't generate "friendly" SEO links.

SammyNetbook Rankings
From my own experience, I find that less relevant 'tag' pages from my tagcloud plugin are often ranked more highly on my e107 site (SammyNetbook.com). I have also experimented with hardcoding "friendly" URLs into my .htaccess file and again notice that Google instantly picks these pages out above my news pages.

It definitely appears to me that my news posts under perform in the rankings, which is disappointing when these pages are often my key content pages.

Upgrading from e107 0.7 to 0.8
The Webmaster's main fear when performing an upgrade is that any change to URL structure is going to cause a Google ranking nightmare. If we upgrade, implement the new SEF URLs and all our page addresses change, then Google will quickly start to remove pages from the index.

The solution? All of the old URLs should 301 redirect (a code that signifys a permanent change of URL) all the old links to the new ones. Google will update its index in time to show the correct values. Now ideally e107 will do this for us automatically - it should know that

http://www.sammynetbook.com/news.php?item.221.2

is now:

http://www.sammynetbook.com/news/samsung-n130-comes-to-the-us

I hope the excellent e107 development team can get this into the first e107 release as any change in URL structure might put people off from upgrading.

Redirect Plugin
I plan to upgrade one way or another, if auto redirect isn't implemented then I might look into a plugin that could do this. It should be possible to generate a list of old links and the news ones and force the 301 redirect via an e_META file or similar. If all else fails I will be hand coding the redirects one by one!

Make Money Online Gurus - just in it for the Money?

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:02:53 +0000

Image: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2605/4003905729_2e849455e7.jpgTwo years ago I knew nothing about making money online, I had a vague understanding of the concepts behind affiliate marketing, I knew how Google made its money, but other than that I didn't know my PPC from my CPC!

Since then I have been lucky enough to run a successful website, SammyNetbook.com was founded almost a year ago and has since grown to almost 5000 registered members, 100,000 monthly visits and half a million page views in September!

Further to that, 2 years ago I left my City based finance job (good timing in hindsight!) to continue my career in the web sector. As a Business Intelligence specialist I am fortunate enough to be able to take my skills into different industries without a hit to my long term career. I now work at the heart of one of the largest UK consumer websites.

Thanks to my direct personal experience and that of the colleagues I work with on a daily basis I now have a comprehensive view of how professional sites can compare to amateur developments and how both can maximise revenue.

Make Money Online Gurus
Image: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2175/2196489228_9d20f15116_m.jpgOne of my first instincts when starting to learn was to Google up some resources, and anyone who does this will quickly be drawn towards one of a handful of gurus operating in this space. Initially these blogs will draw you in, they seem full of promising info and after all, if these guys have made it then surely they can help you to do just the same!

However after a short period these blogs quickly become tiresome:

They all say the same thing
There is nothing there that one can't learn for one's self
They can be naive when it comes to big business (corporate backed sites)
They are all selling something

And its that final point that is really starting to make me unsubscribe from these guy's sites. It seemed to me that some of these people were more interested in helping themselves to make more money online that helping others to get started. I won't mention any names, but some of these sites are just sales post followed by sales post followed by promotion and finally another sales post. Yes, these people make lots of money but they do it by selling continuously to you! There are plenty of different spins on the same idea, you may recognise them:

Obnoxious rich guy. Ironically 99% of these blogs are fooling no one. You live in Hull and drive a Nissan Sunny.
The I'm right and those other dudes are all wrong. Get attention by pushing the contrary view.
I know the real secrets and will share them all with you. Now just subscribe to my membership programme, or buy my all inclusive course for hundreds of dollars.

But no matter what the angle the author has come up with, or what persona he is projecting, the content of these blogs is common knowledge or just common sense! These gurus didn't read a course to get to where they are and if you aren't the one innovating and trying new things then the rest of us will always be one step ahead of you.

These guys are making lots of money by selling you the .com dream, but really what you need is an understanding of how to put together a website, how to market your site, how to create engaging content, and the motivation to give it a go. All of which will cost you nothing. I am happy to report that I have never spent a penny on any product, course or book and I am now running a range of sites successfully. Some have been created entirely to make money and others for the satisfaction of running a community site..

Besides, I work for a website that makes an 8 figure profit (and in GBP not USD!) and I reckon these "experts" would love a window into how the "big boys" do it. With an entire SEO team matched with IT experts we have the ability to research and innovate at a rate that home bloggers will never compete with. I wish I could share some of the systems we use, but unfortunately, for obvious reasons, that has to remain a secret.

Alternatives
Not all of these sites are totally awful, I plan to continue to subscribe to a couple of blogs to keep my toe in the door as it were. But if you want to get active in a community then I would stick to a free site with a strong forum, here in the UK I give my full recommendation to a4u where you will find:

Round up of News from affiliate marketing scene
Community blog feeds that push the best content from a range of independent blogs right to you
Very helpful and friendly forums full of people just like us
Direct connections with the affiliate networks, many representatives read and respond to issues
Community meetings

I would also strongly recommend reading official sources, such as those put out by Google. The official webmaster blog links up a lot of the key information you'll need.

And finally, if you do want to read up in one place, just buy a good old fashioned book from a reputable publisher. It will cost you maybe £10 - no need to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars/pounds/euros! You'll find everything you need professionally put together by an industry expert. No hard sell, no promises and no need to put a photo of a fast car on the front to act as a convincer.

About this Blog
This blog is free, won't promote paid for "make loads of cash online" programmes and is mostly concerned with maximising use of the free e107 CMS. All my code is given away free in the tradition of community programming efforts.

More content, less sales pitch!

Making user entered links nofollow in e107

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:04:08 +0000

I recently found that a number of posters on my netbook site have been posting links to their own blogs, I don't mind this and have always liked the idea of online communities that link to and support each other. However from time to time it seems that the sites in question are set up with the purpose of making money. I have created such sites myself in the past so I guess I know how to spot them ;)!

There are two problems with this though:

These sites often follow rather than lead. So in one example the owner has taken some key points from my own site, summarised them, and posted them up. This doesn't really push the community forward and in some ways confuses things for users.
As a self funding website there is a feeling that such users are just trying to take away the few sales that my site makes to support the running costs (a community site uses up several gb bandwidth a day and plenty of CPU cycles!). As they are not so worried about a community they can push the sales message much harder, there isn't anything to lose.

I guess it is a competitive world out there, but I don't want to stop people posting genuine links to their genuine enthusiast blogs whether they have a few ads or no. So I can either start making a judgement and "accuse" these bloggers of spamming, or I can enforce "nofollow" on my forum. This means that enthusiasts aren't stopped as they will be engaged in the community and posting regularly anyway, but people posting just to get some back links to their site will be put off.

It's difficult because I have used forums in the past to get my site going. But I think it is easy to spot those who are genuinely engaged in a community and those just trying to make some cash? tbh the netbook market is so competitive now I think there are better places to make some money if that is the only motivation.

Read more....

Google Gets Bigger!

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:22:18 +0000

I did look twice this morning when I made my first of many daily Google searches, was it my imagination or did the Google search box get bigger, and isn't the font slightly different too?

Well it turns out that my observation skills are on track once again! Check out the google blog for the official line.

I guess it looks a bit weird initially, I was wondering if my browser size or font had somehow got changed accidently, but I guess it won't take long to get used to the changes and, given that I'm not getting any younger it's probably for the best anyway!

e107 0.7.16 Released

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:52:01 +0000

The worlds greatest CMS system enjoys a new release today. A wide range of bugs are squashed, having reviewed the change log there doesn't appear to be anything major in there but of course these updates are most welcome and will help our e107 sites to run smoother.

Check out the full news here.

Meanwhile work on the major update, e107 0.8, continues and it is in this release that we expect to see a wide range of features that will bring e107 up to date and in some respects surpass the current competition.