AskApache - Crazy Advanced Web Development for server admins, WordPress bloggers, programmers, and hackers with topics and tools for Htaccess Rewrites, Linux and bash, PHP networking with cURL, SEO.
The Final Countdown – Mario Bros Style
Hmm.. Something new on the way or just something for us 80’s babies?
Be forewarned, the countdown has begun ;)
Make Windows XP Blazingly Fast
Here is the basic process that I use to speed up Windows. A lot of good tips and tricks I’ve picked up over the past 15+ years of crashing and burning Windows that can transform your PC to be much faster than its ever been. The process focuses on freeing up RAM/Memory, freeing up your CPU/Processor, and optimizing your Hard Drive for a permanent solution.
Make sure to check out the free software I recommend at the end, installing them after this optimization process will keep your machine fast for a long time.
DNS Round Robin Configuration using Rsync over SSH
The goal is to add the HostGator server to be an exact mirror of the z.askapache.com domain, then to add that server as a 2nd A record to my DNS zone. That way half the visitors to the size will be taking up resources and bandwidth on the HostGator server instead of mine.
Round Robin A records in DNS are intended to evenly distribute queries between each host of the same name. Using some tricks straight out of a hackers toolbox we can verify if the distribution is taking place. (It is.)
Mirroring an Entire Site using Rsync over SSH
Sometimes there is an urgent need for creating an exact duplicate or “mirror” of a web site on a separate server. This could be needed for creating Round Robin Setups, Load-Balancing, Failovers, or for just plain vanilla backups. In the past I have used a lot of different methods to copy data from one server to another, including creating an archive of the whole directory and then using scp to send the file over, creating an archive and then encrypting it and then sending that file over using ftp, curl, etc., and my persistence at learning new ways to do things has paid off because now I use rsync to keep an exact replica of the entire directory on an external server, without having to use all the CPU and resources of other mirroring methods.
Advanced Htaccess Demo/Example using Cookies, Headers, Rewrites
Whoa pretty sweet huh? Bet you’ve never seen that before! As I explain the htaccess code that achieves this, keep in mind this is merely one simple application for this code. It’s much more advanced than your basic htaccess trick, notice how this htaccess acts like a php script, very unusual.. I really wanted to share this trick after I created it for one of my clients because this is the tip of the iceberg. Another use would be to display an alternate style sheet depending on a users theme preference. The coolest thing about this example IMHO is that it uses multiple advanced .htaccess ideas in order for it to work, most htaccess code on the net is very singular. This code uses mod_headers to set the Content-Disposition header for forcing a download and uses mod_rewrite to do the rest.
Advanced Htaccess – SSI, ErrorDocuments, DirectoryIndexing SEO
3-Part article covering practical implementation of 3 advanced .htaccess features. Discover an easy way to boost your SEO the AskApache way (focus on visitors), a tip you might keep and use for life. Get some cool security tricks to use against spammers, crackers, and other nefarious sorts. Take your site’s error handling to the next level, enhanced ErrorDocuments that go beyond 404’s.
Ultimate Htaccess Guide and .htaccess Tutorial
This is not an introduction to .htaccess… This is the evolution of .htaccess… The BEST, the ORIGINAL, the NEWEST, and the most HIGHEST, FLYEST .htaccess tricks I can find.
Originally known as the “Ultimate .htaccess Guide”, its changed over the years by adding new .htaccess tricks and .htaccess examples to it.. I also add my favorite .htaccess links, the best .htaccess articles on AskApache, the coolest .htaccess experiments, the Web’s best .htaccess hacks, and update this article on the regular.
Advanced .htaccess Tricks for Securing Sites
This is all new, experimental, and very very cool. It literally uses .htaccess techniques to create several virtual “locked gates” that require a specific key to unlock, in a specific order that cannot be bypassed. It uses whitelisting .htaccess tricks to specify exactly what is allowed, instead of trying to specify everything that isn’t allowed. Also, by setting specific cookies/tokens after successfully passing through a gate, we can then require the exact cookie/token from the previous gate, which stops an attacker from skipping or bypassing gates.
.htaccess Plugin Blocks Spam, Hackers, and Password Protects Blog
Well what can I say, other than this is sooo DOPE! Here is a list of the modules this plugin (version 4.7 unreleased) will automatically detect. I compiled the list myself using every module included with any default Apache installation for ALL the versions listed below, 1.3 to 2.2+
Want to know something else I’m including in this plugin? For each and every module that is detected, this plugin can then detect ALL of the modules .htaccess Directives! For instance, RewriteRule, AccessFileName, AddHandler, etc.. are each a directive belonging to a module that is allowed to be used from within .htaccess files.
Talk about sick.. these tricks have the diamond disease!
Chmod, Umask, Stat, Fileperms, and File Permissions
Unix file permissions are one of the more difficult subjects to grasp.. Well, ok maybe “grasp” isn’t the word.. Master is the right word.. Unix file permissions is a hard topic to fully master, mainly I think because there aren’t many instances when a computer user encounters them. I’ve done a lot of research on it the past couple weeks… and now here’s everything I’ve learned so far.. cuz you guys AskApache Regs Rock!
.htaccess trick shows Development CSS file only to Developer
This past week I updated my sites apache.css file for a site-redesign. I wanted to make changes to the .css file that only I could see, so that my regular traffic and site-visitors would still see the old version. Here’s the elegant solution I came up with using .htaccess and mod_rewrite that works so well I’m sharing it with all you wonderful and incredible people reading my blog :)
Optimize a Website for Speed, Security, and Easy Management
Learn how to setup, configure, secure, optimize, and create a low-maintenance website the AskApache way. I’m piecing together all the hacks, tricks, methods, and ideas discussed throughout this blog and all across Netdom and glueing them all together to show you how to have the most optimized, crazy fastest, and best website setup I can think of.
SEO Secrets part II: Advanced Indexing and Pagerank Control
This is part II of the Advanced SEO used on AskApache.com Series and describes how to control which urls are indexed by Search Engines and how to move them higher up in Search Results.
Top 3 Speed Tips for Sites using Google Analytics
Top 3 ways to speed up websites that use Google Analytics. Host Script Locally, Fix Google-Analytics Cookie Domain, and Failsafe Loading for optimum tracking statistics.
Mod_Rewrite Variables Cheatsheet
We’ve figured out what mod_rewrite variables look like, a cheatsheet of the actual value.
Crazy Advanced Mod_Rewrite Tutorial
Note: Extremely ILL Content
Find the key to unlocking mod_rewrite and you WILL be sick.. sick with a diamond disease on your wrist!
Pimp out your FeedBurner Count
I’ve had a lot of people ask about the FeedBurner FeedCount image on AskApache. Specifically how to set it up with custom messages and different colors each page view… It is pretty sweet..
Elite Log File Scrolling with Color Syntax
Scrolls the latest log entries for multiple log files to the current screen or to any other monitor or TTY in color using syntax highlighting, making debugging easier and saving a lot of time for multi-monitor workstations.
Fsockopen Power Plays
PHP’s fsockopen function lets you open an Internet or Unix domain socket connection for connecting to a resource, and is one of the most powerful functions available in the php language.
Adding Print Capability to your Site with CSS
Its really nice to be able to print out a webpage you are reading using your browsers built-in print feature. Using CSS you can easily transform your site into a print-friendly site.
Today I received an email from a visitor to my site requesting that I add a way to print site articles on AskApache
How To Add Akismet Anti-spam protection to your php forms
Wouldn’t you love to have Akismet Anti-spam protection for non-wordpress forms and pages?
Smart HTTP and HTTPS .htaccess Rewrite
This is freaking sweet if you use SSL I promise you! Basically instead of having to check for HTTPS using a RewriteCond %{HTTPS} =on for every redirect that can be either HTTP or HTTPS, I set an environment variable once with the value “http” or “https” if HTTP or HTTPS is being used for that request, and use that env variable in the RewriteRule.
Advanced SEO used on AskApache.com
Learn how in a year, with no previous blogging experience this blog was able to rank so high in search engines and achieve 15,000 unique visitors every day. Uses combination of tricks and tips from throughout AskApache.com for Search Engine Optimization.
mod_security Guide and Examples of use in .htaccess
Mod_Security rivals Mod_Rewrite in the amount of features it provides. I decided to go ahead and post what I learned about it today, even though its tough to give away such awesome htaccess and apache tricks.. Learn how to control spam once and for all, conditionally log/deny/allow/redirect requests based on IP, username, etc.. Mod_Security is so fine!
Search And Replace shell script helpful for Upgrades
Search all files in a directory, replacing all occurances of string with a replacement string.
Undetectable Sniffing, Invisible Data Capture On Ethernet
I have been in some tight spots where I had to sniff a password or two off the wire, or sniff some packets off the wire and based on the packets content perform some action… Accidentally, I stumbled on a method to sniff data while remaining undetected and invisible.
.htaccess rewrite tips using RewriteRule and RewriteCond for .htaccess mod_rewrite
htaccess rewrite / Mod_Rewrite Tips and Tricks is as glamorous as it sounds! htaccess rewrite mod_rewrite is just possibly one of the most useful Apache modules and features. The ability to rewrite requests internally as well as externally is extremely powerful.
Blocking Bad Bots and Scrapers with .htaccess
Want to block a bad robot or web scraper using .htaccess files? Here are 2 methods that illustrate blocking 436 various user-agents.
Bypassing and hacking VLAN switches
There isn’t much vlan info on the net in terms of specifics and I had to learn all about it because I needed to log in to a switch that was on a different vlan. With the help of the Ettercap developers NaGA and ALoR I figured it out.
mod_rewrite Fix for Controlling updated files and Caches
Web Developers sometimes use file.ext?v=004 as a version control system to force visitors to use updated files. This is terrible. Instead link to apache-003.css and set it to be cached forever. When you change the file you just change the links to apache-004.css. That eliminates millions of bandwidth and resource robbing If-Modified-Since requests. You only need Apache with mod_rewrite, and 1-10 minutes!
Fresh .htaccess Examples: Cookies, Variables, Custom Headers
Fresh .htaccess code for you! Check out the Cookie Manipulation and environment variable usage with mod_rewrite! I also included a couple Mod_Security .htaccess examples. Enjoy!
Multiple Web Technologies for Dynamic php Session Control
This article shows how to save and modify php session data, cookies, do anything really… without using ajax or iframes or forcing the user make a request.
Auto-Login to Google Analytics to impress Clients
Google Analytics for your clients sites is a no-brainer, it ROCKS! I have 100+ client sites running Analytics and all of them have trouble-free (no password or username to remember) access to their site reports. Thanks to the method in this post, my clients couldn’t be happier..
Advanced HTTP Redirection
Learn about the 7 different HTTP response codes specifically reserved for redirection. 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, and 307.
WordPress robots.txt
Implementing an effective SEO robots.txt file for WordPress will help your blog to rank higher in Search Engines, receive higher paying relevant Ads, and increase your blog traffic. Get a search robots point of view… Sweet!
Cache-Control Headers using Apache and .htaccess – Easy Apache Speed Tips
Using Cache-Control headers you can specify which types of proxies can cache certain content, and how long files should be cached.
Faster Form Submission and Processing with fsockopen
Part II: Example illustrating how to speed up GET/POST form submissions. Uses fsockopen to initiate a server-side background request to process the submitted data, so that the result page of the form is displayed to the client lightningly quick.
503 Status Code Search Engine SEO
Nifty SEO tip to get Search Engine Bots to check your site every hour until you finish working on it and tell them you are finished.
Faster POST and GET Form Submissions
Just a very brief look at speeding up form submission by delegating the processing and bandwidth to your server, not your client.
Log all .htaccess/.htpasswd logins
Learn how to log and debug usernames and passwords used to login to a htaccess basic authorization protected website using php. This article is BOSS and will show you how to fully take control of this aspect of security using php and .htaccess, I don’t believe you will find instructions to do this anywhere else on the net.
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