FREE THOUGHT · FREE SOFTWARE · FREE WORLD

30x Faster Cache and Site Speed with TMPFS

NOT a typo.. 30x is measurable, well-documented, and easily tested. This is what open-source is about. I haven’t had time to post much the past year, I'm always working! So I wanted to make up for that by publishing an article on a topic that would blow your mind and be something that you could actually start using and really get some benefit out of it. This is one of those articles that the majority of web hosting companies would love to see in paperback, so they could burn it.

Optimization

AskApache Debug Viewer Plugin for WordPress

screenshot-1The story behind this plugin is sorta wack, but in a good way :). While doing tons of security research on permissions, authorization, access, etc.. for the Password Protection plugin (still being worked on), I needed to have unheard of debugging capabilities while working on the plugin on the various websites, webhosts, and test servers that I use to test in different environments. So I hacked together a bunch of php code that helped me debug, actually I pretty much went overkill and tried to get as much debugging info as programmatically possible, and it ended up being so much code that I took it out of my Password Protection code and made it its own plugin.

WordPress

Optimized Vimrc with 256 Colorscheme

askapachecode 256color colorscheme and vimrc screenshotThis is not your everyday vimrc. This is my personalized vimrc.. works especially great on remote servers, in tmux, screen, etc.

This doesn't require a git checkout, a vim update, a bash update, an OS update, a plugin. No. 1 vimrc, 1 colorscheme, just use curl to download and it's on. I use this on Arch Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Debian, Ubuntu, Cent OS, Red Hat, and that's mostly it so far.
If you aren't already using vim as your primary editor in a powerful way, you are gonna owe me for this.

Linux

htaccess HTTPS / SSL Tips, Tricks, and Hacks

Apache has the best SSL/HTTPS support and can be controlled by the httpd.conf file or other HTTPD server configuration file. This htaccess tutorial has htaccess example code to make it easy to secure and use HTTPS and SSL with Apache.

Htaccess

Linux Debugging using a Bootloader with Kernel Parameters

grub awesomeAs an example, here is the boot line that I am using at the moment on an older Dell Desktop, just to illustrate module parameters and environment vars.

title  Arch Linux X-256
linux   /vmlinuz-linux root=UUID rw rootfstype=ext4 elevator=noop selinux=0 plymouth.enable=0 raid=noautodetect ipv6.disable=1 video=DP1:d rcutree.rcu_idle_gp_delay=1 i915.panel_ignore_lid=-1 i915.modeset=1 TERM=rxvt-256color

Linux

WordPress Plugin for Apache .htaccess Security

Askapache Password Protect Security Features

  1. gzip's previous .htaccess file and sends it as an attachment to the logged in users email account along with password user setup.
  2. Now also works for sites running on SSL (PHP version >4.3.0)
  3. Rewrote the security module code in the form of snort, nessus, and mod_security rules and signatures
  4. Added a *real* check to see if mod_rewrite is installed
  5. Added Modules that remove directoryindexes
  6. Much more on the way..

WordPress

Redirect index.php to root

WordPress blogs show the same duplicate content for https://www.askapache.com/index.php and https://www.askapache.com/. If you've read about using a robots.txt file for WordPress SEO, than you already understand this setup results in Duplicate Content penalties being levied against your Blog and Web Site by Search Engines.

Htaccess

Hacking VLAN switched networks

Bypassing VLAN security on networked switchesThere 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.

Originally Posted: 3/30/2004

Hacking

SEO Secrets of 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.

SEO

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.

Linux

Awk Tutorial and Introduction

While researching a unix/linux tool awk I came upon one of the most thorough and helpful tutorials I've ever seen devoted to a particular topic. It's old-school just the way I like it. I contacted the author, Bruce Barnett because I just HAD to have this article for my readers, who are predominantly running solaris/unix/bsd/linux and he kindly gave permission.

Linux

Redirecting RSS to Feedburner

FeedBurner, the best syndication company in the worldFeedBurner is so RAD! I love it. Here's an alternative method to redirect scrapers and feed requests to your feedburner url, in my case, I use Branding by feedburner, which is so hot, taking advantage of CNAMEs in your DNS record.

Htaccess

Securing php.ini and php.cgi with .htaccess

If you have a php.cgi or php.ini file in your /cgi-bin/ directory or other pub directory, try requesting them from your web browser. If your php.ini shows up or worse you are able to execute your php cgi, you'll need to secure it ASAP. This shows several ways to secure these files, and other interpreters like perl, fastCGI, bash, csh, etc.

Htaccess

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.

Hosting

Firefox Add-ons for Web Developers

askapache favorite addonsAdvanced Web Development by AskApache is a Firefox Collection I created since I'm always trying new Addons out and using multiple computers and I wanted a quick and easy way to install my favorite's and keep a running list. Firebug, YSlow, LastPass, and Web Developer are the only ones I always use regularly.

I like the idea of the last.fm but it's not as powerful as the site, which is awesome. Lately listening to Kings of Leon Radio...

Software

Changing Any Password On XP

This quick tutorial will show you the steps to change and reset any user password on a windows computer, and also show you how to protect your computer from people doing this to you!

Hacking

PHP Sessions/Cookies On The Fly

Multiple Web Technologies for dynamic php session controlThis 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.

PHP

The Latest and Greatest php.ini

Grab the latest php.ini developmental version and discover new or previously hidden php runtime configuration settings... ahead of everyone else!

PHP

Questions I Ask Web Hosting Companies, Before Buying

The following is a transcript of a chat I had with a company called tektonic, and at that time I was looking for a cheap linux host to use for some redundancy/failover operations. I generally contact a new hosting company like this every few months.. I like to have options available in case of some kind of failure or network attack, so it's always a good idea to have a few ace linux servers in your back pocket.

If you've read any other articles on AskApache, you can see a certain obsession towards optimization, speed, and security -- so that is the purpose of the following questions.

Hosting

Getting flash to show up in front of content

Adobe Flash PositioningI used to have a problem of controlling flash elements on my sites.. On one site we have 6 different flash flv movies that are all the same size and are in the same position on the page. But only 1 is displayed at a time based on what the user wants to watch. So the selected flash movie needs to have the highest stacking order/zIndex.

CSS