Fsockopen Magic
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.
Magic in the Terminal: Screen, Bash, and SSH
Oh ya lets get it on! short but sweet
Terminal Escape Code Zen
An image and technicacl achievement so profound, it will touch yoour heart.. So 3D... it'll hurt you eyes! LOL.. lol.. Man I am cracking up here. haha Ha definately the best intro ever, those really do look 3D for terminal though huh.. Sweet. Here is the little function I wrote to output that grey marble.
Ultimate Htaccess Part II
Here is even more information from the Ultimate Htaccess Part I. For now this is very rough and you will want to come back later to read it.
Getting the Mimetype of an Image with PHP
This is awesome. I was so fed up with trying to find a fail-proof, cross-platform way to find the mime type of an image using PHP that I wrote a quick function that utilizes the same technology as the exif_imagetype, getimagesize, and finfo functions do. Ahh the joys of low-level.
Apache HTTPD and Module API Versions
A list of API Versions and the corresponding HTTPD Version, for use in determining the version of Apache currently running without having to rely on the often inaccurate SERVER_SOFTWARE Header.
AskApache Debug Viewer Plugin for WordPress
The 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.
Apache Directives and Modules on DreamHost
Apache .htaccess Directives and Loaded Modules allowed on DreamHost Apache Server 2 Setups.
Optimized Vimrc with 256 Colorscheme
This 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.
Mod_Rewrite Variables Cheatsheet
We've figured out what mod_rewrite variables look like, a cheatsheet of the actual value.
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.
Mod_Status tricks to View Apache Module Directives
Quick and easy method to get a list of all Apache Modules currently loaded, a list of all the directives each module provides, a list of currently used directives, etc... These directives can be used in httpd.conf and/or .htaccess files so it is definately useful to know which ones are available and which ones are currently being used.
PHP File Uploads
Web Development Glossary
Libcurl Error Codes
Custom PHP.ini tips and tricks
- When php run as Apache Module (mod_php)
- When php run as CGI
- When cgi?d php is run with wrapper (for FastCGI)
OpenSearch description document
Get the Most from Search Engines
One of the most cost-effective ways to drive traffic to your Web site is to optimize it for search engines. Many of them use automated programs called "crawlers" or "spiders" to create an index of the Web, which they use to determine what sites are most relevant to users' queries. These programs essentially visit Web sites, read the pages' content, and follow any links to other pages, repeating the process
Best Practices for Speeding Up Your Web Site with Htaccess
I have written more than a few articles detailing how to improve the speed of a website, and due to popular demand, this post will detail all the latest and greatest caching tricks and techniques that I utilize and love. The AskApache Best-Practices.
Windows Batch Script saves Screenshots every 10min
Linux Debugging using a Bootloader with Kernel Parameters
As 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
An AskApache Plugin Upgrade to Rule them All
So my blog as been rather quiet for almost a year now, and very few updates if any have been released for my Password Protection PLugin, my Google 404 Plugin, and definately not for my AskApache CrazyCache plugin, which I will be releasing last... So for all of you who've helped me out by sending me suggestions and notifying me of errors and sticking with it... Just wanted to say sorry about that, and thanks for all the great ideas.. Well, I've been sticking with it as well believe it our not. I manage to get free days once in a while, and then its time to jam.
HOWTO: Uninstall CPANEL over SSH
The following is just a quick but detailed reference of some of the commands I used to successfully uninstall cpanel permanently. This is for advanced users of the shell. If you run a single one of these commands without fully understanding it, you will probably kill your server, lose everything on it permanently, not have a website or email for weeks.. So backup everything. FIRST. You should also contact your hosting provider support - but be prepared for some MAJOR negativity.. cpanel makes things very easy for web-hosting companies, and you are less than a drop in their bucket.
Speed Tips: Remove Last-Modified Header
If you remove the Last-Modified and ETag header, you will totally eliminate If-Modified-Since and If-None-Match requests and their 304 Not Modified Responses.
Website SEO Score Tool
Check out this free online SEO site-scoring tool. The SEO generated report is simple, neat, and helpful. The main thing I like about it is how it is a stand-alone website, a residual money making machine.
Mod_Security .htaccess tricks
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!
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.
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.
Notes from Apache HTTPD Source Code
thought I'd take a break from coding and post about how open-source is such a great tool for finding the best answers to the toughest questions,
/** is the status code informational */ #define ap_is_HTTP_INFO(x) (((x) >= 100)&&((x) < 200)) /** is the status code OK ?*/ #define ap_is_HTTP_SUCCESS(x) (((x) >= 200)&&((x) < 300)) /** is the status code a redirect */ #define ap_is_HTTP_REDIRECT(x) (((x) >= 300)&&((x) < 400)) /** is the status code a error (client or server) */ #define ap_is_HTTP_ERROR(x) (((x) >= 400)&&((x) < 600)) /** is the status code a client error */ #define ap_is_HTTP_CLIENT_ERROR(x) (((x) >= 400)&&((x) < 500)) /** is the status code a server error */ #define ap_is_HTTP_SERVER_ERROR(x) (((x) >= 500)&&((x) < 600)) /** is the status code a (potentially) valid response code? */ #define ap_is_HTTP_VALID_RESPONSE(x) (((x) >= 100)&&((x) < 600))
.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!
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!
THE Ultimate Htaccess
.htaccess is a very ancient configuration file for web servers, and is one of the most powerful configuration files most webmasters will ever come across. This htaccess guide shows off the very best of the best htaccess tricks and code snippets from hackers and server administrators.
You've come to the right place if you are looking to acquire mad skills for using .htaccess files!


