Sid Sidberry Reads

The IAB Ad Unit Guidelines are intended for marketers, agencies and media companies for use in the creating, planning, buying and selling of interactive marketing and advertising. The IAB’s Ad Sizes Working Group meets on a bi-annual basis to review proposed new ad units and issue updated voluntary guidelines as appropriate. The process whereby these new units are reviewed and considered can be downloaded here.

IAB – Ad Unit Guidelines

need to setup a content / media server on ubuntu? no worries here are directions:

Varnish

first we’ll need to install the dependencies:

apt-get build-dep varnish
apt-get install libc6-dev wget checkinstall

next up? well varnish of course:

cd /usr/src
wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/varnish/varnish-2.0.2.tar.gz?modtime=1226669272&big_mirror=0
tar xvzf varnish-2.0.2.tar.gz
cd varnish-2.0.2
./autogen.sh
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make
checkinstall

Next we need to update our paths:

nano /etc/profile.d/user_local.sh

add the following:

export PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:$PATH
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
export LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib:$LIBRARY_PATH
export CPATH=/usr/local/include:$CPATH

ctrl+x, press y. now you’ve saved the file

run the following to update your paths:

source /etc/profile.d/user_local.sh

Varnish is now installed and added to start at: /etc/init.d/varnish
to modify startup settings edit the file: /etc/default/varnish
of course you’ll want to customize your varnish settings at: /etc/varnish/vcl.conf

…that’s it…

Red5

grab the depends:

apt-get build-dep sun-java5-bin ant sun-java6-bin sun-java5-jre sun-java6-jre
apt-get install sun-java5-bin ant sun-java5-jre ant-optional ant-gcj sun-java6-bin sun-java6-jre

ok now install red5:

cd /usr/src
mkdir red5
cd red5
wget http://www.red5.fr/release/0.7.0/debian/red5_0.7.0_all.deb
dpkg -i red5_0.7.0_all.deb

red5 is now installed and a startup added at: /etc/init.d/red5
red5 is located at: /usr/lib/red5

That’s all folks

Remember to go through and customize your setups as needed. So long and thanks for all the fish.

Sid out

The last time I used red5 was over a year ago. I ended up going back to fms due to time constrains, and some issues with streaming.

I’m setting up an in-house media server so I decided to revisit red5. All the issues I had about red5 have been cleared up and they are actually pushing past fms.

Anyways more later, I’ve got more testing researching to do

Sid

I currently have 3 vpses. One on Mediatemple and two at linode. Thing is I need at least 3 servers at linode to properly setup the environment for my scaling experiment / future gs setup….

So as of tonight I’m biting the bullet and now own 4 linodes. If all goes well I’ll toss 2-3 more linodes into the mix for geo targeted content delivery. And yes I’ll try and document everything. Also worth noting I’m trying out ubuntu again, this time ubuntu hardy – server only. We’ll see how this works out.

in case anyone is wondering here’s a brief overview of the setup (simple version)

server 1+2:
apache +php (you can config apache to run almost as fast as lighttpd, so why not)
varnish
memcache
nginx

server 3: db – private network access only

server 4: everything thats on mt for now

lates, sid

I haven’t had much time to post, or do anything fun in the past few months, but I’m currently working on a nginx, php, apache, varnish, memcachedb, mysql setup distributed between two servers. Why does this matter? Because I decided to upgrade my linode so I could slice up my resources into a nice little mini scalable network. Only problem is thats not how linodes work…

Linodes support team (Jim) had me upgraded 10 minutes after my upgrade request, then had me downgraded even quicker.

Yeah thats pretty good support. Better still is their control panel. I have yet to use their forums, and I’ve spoken to support once once before today.

If your looking for a good vps with intel processors, private network support, an awesome dns manager, and top support use these guys.

I still have my mediatemple [ http://mediatemple.net ] server, but for less than I’m paying I now have two servers with better stats and no bloat with linode [ http://linode.com ].

Check em out : http://linode.com

So after years of partial frameworks, and various concepts, I’ve finally started my framework.

First off there is NO windows support. I’m sure that’s not the best way to go, but I can’t think of one reason to host a php app on windows. As noted windows isn’t supported, but I’m working on a linux installer that will handle installation of third party apps, that the framework allows you to use.

I was hoping to use the framework in its current form on a project, but due to deadline concerns its only used partially. I’m hoping to setup a test server for security testing, so if you like expoliting stay tuned.

So here’s an overview of whats done:

• automatic cleaning of all GET / POST / COOKIE data.
• extremely extendable
• OOP (of course)
• database sessions
• geo locations
• user system
• html purifier integration
• session hijacking prevention
• xss / sql injection protection (still being worked on / 60-70%)
• caching system
• made to scale
• media conversion

There is still much to be done before I release a beta, but thought I’d get try and get some feedback. This framework is a combination of a few of my previous concepts / framework ideas:

1. bacon – security features are all taken from the bacon framework concept, the encryption features are not fully integrated yet
2. color – old framework idea from my joop media days
3. evo – framework concept for virtual worlds

The main goal of this framework is to have a simple framework that doesn’t force you to things this way or that way. Something that gives you the basic and a base to work from.

right now the only draw backs I see with the system are the number of db queries used (caching system also handles db caching), and right now it’s speed isn’t we’re i want it.

If you have any ideas of features to add in, let me know.

Anyways I’ll hopefully have a beta ready in a few months.

Most of us love / hate / use ffmpeg. Well meet your other new best friend: Sox

From the site:

Welcome to the home of SoX, the Swiss Army knife of sound processing
programs. SoX is a cross-platform (Windows, Linux, Solaris, etc.)
command line utility that can convert various formats of computer audio
files in to other formats. It can also apply various effects to these
sound files, and, as an added bonus, SoX can play and record audio
files on many major platforms.

Sox allows you to do almost anything you could want to do with audio.

Need to build an audio file from user selected tracks? no problem.

Mix together 15 different files? no problem.

You get the point. If your using ffmpeg, then I recommend you also install sox. It’s fairly simple to use, actually its easier to use than ffmpeg IMHO.

http://sox.sourceforge.net/

So after about 2 months on slicehost, I have yet to finish setting up my server. It seems to be the busy season and I’ve only been able to finish my local servers.

So to recap I know have a media temple box and a slicehost box. Now to further complicate the situation after much debate / research I’m looking at linode: http://www.linode.com.

Why linode?

1. They use Intel processors
2. More ram, space, bandwidth
3. better control panel
4. better vps management

That said slicehost has been great for information. I’m not a fan of their forums but they do have great tutorials.

Why slicehost?

1. They seem slightly more stable
2. Made by developers for developers
3. First impressions

…. so that said, sorry for the lack of new tutorials, code, broken templates, etc

And now to see about canceling one of these damn server

Its been over a month, so i figured its time to do an after action report.

Simply put I still LOVE openSuse. Of course theres a few things that need work, but overall its a wonderful distro that I strongly recommend.

Ok so for a bit of back story I’ve been using windows since i think 3.1. When i was a kid my dad taught me to use the green screens, and i’ve been using linux off and on since about 2000. Also I’ve rarely used kde.

Umm so wheres the review

Sorry if your expecting stats, screen shots, etc. Its is pretty much nothing more than opinion. Take it as you like, I’m just hoping to share my experience – hopefully helping someone else find their ideal os sooner.

4 machines – similar experiences

I’ve installed opensuse on the 4 machines: a new toshiba core2duo laptop, a p4 (pre ht) dell laptop, an amd x2 hp desktop, and a p4 ht dell desktop.

my experience has been pretty consistent acroos all machines with the following exceptions:

1. There is no audio on the dell laptop. I’m sure this could be fixed, but the dell is more of a toy than something i actually use.
2. Wifi refuses to work during initial setup on the x2. I’ve used both a linksys pci card and belkin usb device. Both are detected, but no signals are detected. As an fyi I’m able to stabily connect to my network from 50-80 (rough estimate )  feet from my place, so there are no signal issues here.
3. Media support can be a bit annoying to get up and running.
4. firefox / internet seems to run slower

now on to detials

Wifi

The wifi support in openSuse is by far awesome, for the most part it puts windows wireless support to same, and of course any and all of my past experiences with wireless on linux.

On the p4 dell I plugged in a wireless card that on ubuntu doesn’t even get reconigzed. Guess what? It worked, no drivers to install, no new device settings, it was up running and displaying my network quickly.

I have yet to have any wireless device not install and display in my connections list. This is a big plus for me as I’ve had bad experiences with wifi on ubuntu.

networking

I have yet to actually setup my network (sorry I’ve been lazy), but as far as getting a basic network setup it’s been no problem.

Theres really nothing to say here other than it works, I haven’t setup myth servers, file servers, etc. I do however have lamp servers running with no issues (disclaimer: I only use centos for development / production lamp servers).

Graphics

You knwo how they say a cool comp won’t help you pick up chicks? Their right, but it sure as hell looks cool when you bring someone over.

Compiz + emerald work damn near flawless. I’m not a gamer so i tend to get your basic video card. I’ve had no issues with eye candy. And to all you mac users: yes my eye candy kicks your eye candy in the arse.

I have the majority of my rendering set to medium levels and only experience lags when recording desktop.

You do not need a top of the line graphics to enjoy good eye candy. Running awn, compiz, and emerald barely taxes any of my systems except the dell p4 laptop which only has 512mb of ram.

Also of note: DUAL SCREEN SUPPORT! yes i know thats in caps, but seriously why can’t everyone handle dual screens like this. I briefly tried ubuntu 8.01 after a few months of 7.10 and honestly opensuse jsut feels more natural to me. Yes i prefer openSuse’s dual screen support to windows.

Eye candy

As already mentioned eye candy is everywhere in openSuse, imho they have the best layouts / designs for the bootscreen, login, everything, etc.

Speed

Fast – that simple, I experience occasional program hangs, and in total 3-4 system hangs, but then again i was messing with stuff.

So compare something already

Here is a list of os and what they do better than opensuse. Understand I’m comparing this way because it’s easier to just point out what another os does better, than to point out everything it does worst.

mint linux : media support, newbie friendly

Seriously I don’t think there’s another distro thats handling media support better than mint linux right now. That said the same support can be installed on openSuse fairly easily.

ubuntu : newbie friendly, media support

mint linux is based on ubuntu, so of course ubuntu is gonna beat openSuse in the same areas. media support is better on mint linux, but again open suse can be setup witht he same media support.

Where i think opensuse loses the majority of its newbie friendly points is yast. Yes yast is powerful, but dependency support is lacking. While ubuntu allows a newer linux user to quickly get a feel, we all know where and when its lacking so I’ll leave that alone. If openSuse improves their package management, denpency support, and loses the one-click installs for something less annoying, imho it will be on par with ubuntu. I should however point out that the stability of packages has not been a problem at all on openSuse as it was on ubuntu.

fedora : nada

I haven’t touched fedora in years, but based on feedback, theres no need to compare. If your looking at fedora look at either ubuntu or openSuse. also does anyone remember when fedora was the centos of linux?

slackware: old school

openSuse is slackware based, but much easier to use. Slackware however has more of the old school linux feel.

centos: anything lamp

centos imho is the only os to host on (well other than rhel). So simply put its better as a lamp envirnoment. Most software is tested on rhel / centos so you’ll have less install issues on centos. Lastly centos has been the most stable hosting os i’ve used. I left ubuntu after 3 days when i tried using it as a hosting envirnoment

rhel: see centos

mandrake linux:

to me openSuse just feels more linuxy – i know thats not a word but hopefully it makes since

closing thoughts

sorry I’m not really big on testing everything, just testing till you find what works best. There are plenty of new and old distros that may work for you. look around, google and ask around. openSuse might not be the best distro for you, but i highly recommend it to everyone. If your a developer that deals with lamp i highly recommend you try openSuse. I’m basing this on the fact that i’m a lamp developer.

That said my ex roommate was a windows network admin, he loved ubuntu, and prob will love opensuse. Speaking of which I should shoot him an email.

elsid Out

I’m been an MediaTemple fan boy for awhile, but I’ve been looking for a new host for the past few months. Today I may have found them: slicehost.

Their vps servers are called slices, and that what you get. Each slice is a base install of your os of choice – nothing else. You setup the services / apps you need, nothing more, nothing less. Honestly what got me was their community. Not only are staff always somewhere to reach them, but the users are seriously active and helpful. Oh yeah and their tuts rock!

So yeah whenever I get the chance all my unused domains, friends domains, etc will be moving to my the new slice…. Mt is still good, but i’d rather have a bit more control, and pay less than half the price for it