The guide deals with installing XAMPP which is a web server package consisting of components like a web server software, database management system, interpreters etc.

By installing a web server locally, you can use it for development use. You won’t need a web host to develop your applications. You can develop them locally and once you are done with the development process, you can upload the applications to your host.

The Problem with Your Website

Your company’s website is full of static information. Sure, there may be updates to your products and services, or some new addition to your company’s wares, but, in general, your website says what your company does, how they do it and how to contact them. This isn’t information that is going to necessarily draw traffic to your site, especially after Internet users have already seen it once.

Blogging: The Solution

A quality blog is the solution. A blog gives you the opportunity to continually update your website with new and interesting information. This not only gives people a reason to visit, return and spend time on your site, it also makes your site more attractive to search engines. Everyone knows that better search engine ranking means more traffic and a better ability to meet your company’s goals for its website.

WordPress: The Hosting Solution

Once you understand the importance of a blog, you should consider using WorldPress. WordPress is an easy-to-use platform that has a number of advantages for bloggers, especially those who are just getting started.

One of the advantages of the WordPress platform is that it is free. You’ll still have to pay for the web hosting, but the actual platform you use to create the blog won’t cost you anything. You can get the web hosting for free as well with WordPress.com, but this is not recommended, as it will give your blog an amateurish feel.

Another benefit to the WordPress platform is that it is easy to use. It is designed for simplicity, and uses open-source code so anyone can add modifications or improvements to the software at anytime, which also benefits the user. If you’re starting your company’s first blog, then you should give serious thought to doing it through WordPress. You can go through web hosting search where some wordpress hosting packages are reviewed and listed.

You can view a demo of the theme here: Blue Mist Demo

And it can be downloaded from the following URL: Blue Mist Download

Please be sure to read the TOS before using the theme.

Be sure to leave your comments. I would definitely like to hear what you think.

I have never really had any problems with their service and even if I do, it’s a matter of submitting a support ticket and I usually receive a response in less than an hour! It’s unbelievable how they respond so fast.

If you are looking for a web host then I’ll recommend you to use ASO. Not just their service but their pricing is great too. For Shared Web Hosting they have 5 plans viz. Tiny, Small, Medium, Large and Super. I use Medium but for most users I guess Small would suffice. The small plan offers:

• 400 MB of space
• 10 GB bandwidth
• Unlimited Sub, Parked and Addon domains
• Unlimited MySQL databases
• Unlimited FTP Accounts
• Unlimited POP3/IMAP Mail Accounts and Email Forwarders
• cPanel as their control panel software

All that for a mere 5 USD/mo!

I have been using Ubuntu regularly from the past 3 years. I like using Linux because it makes me feel cool. The first time I ever used Linux was in 2001 and the distribution was Mandrake. I had used Mandrake for around 2 years and then decided on using Slackware because it was the oldest available distribution of Linux (and it still is). And then in 2006 I discovered Ubuntu and found out it was based on Debain. I always wanted to try Debain but I could never manage to download it because of its enormous size (around 25 GB!). Also I was in for a relatively light weight distribution and Ubuntu seemed like a great choice. And the best thing of all was that it gave away (and still does) CDs for free. It doesn’t even charge you the shipping cost!

If you are interested in trying out Ubuntu and want to get a free copy of its installation CD then you can order it using their ShipIt service. Also it’s important to note that Ubuntu uses GNOME. The version that uses KDE is known as Kubuntu and if you would prefer Kubuntu then you can order it using it’s ShipIt service.

Ubuntu is a great distribution and you won’t regret using it no matter if you are going to be trying Linux for the first time or you are a veteran Linux/Unix user. Also the great thing about this distribution is that it’s very easy to install and you’ll find a lot of documentation and support on their forums.

You can view a demo of the theme here: Golden Age Demo

And it can be downloaded from the following URL: Golden Age Download

Please be sure to read the TOS before using the theme.

Also, comments and kind words would be greatly appreciated.

Few weeks back I thought about this crash and wondered what have I done to prevent another one in the future? At that time I had taken no precautions or measures and so I knew history could repeat itself. I also knew I could do nothing to prevent an actual crash from happening again but I could instead take steps to at least prevent data loss. So I thought I would make backups on a regular basis but I knew that wouldn’t be possible in a practical way and also that after a while I would eventually just get bored of it. So I started searching for a software that would do this for me automatically. My idea was to store the backups on a USB drive that I would keep connected to the system all the time. Upon doing some research and playing around with trial versions of various softwares, I finally settled with Second Copy.

Second Copy has so far been a very impressive software and feature rich. It’s a software that can be used for making backups or for synchronizing files. Using this software I have created a profile for few files and folders that will be backed up in real time. What this means is that, say I have a very important file like a bank account statement or a document that contains vital information. If I want to make real time backup of this file I would just add it to a profile that continuously updates files so that whenever I edit and save it, an updated copy of it is made and is stored in the backup location that I had chosen. And all this would happen automatically in the background and wouldn’t require your intervention. All you need to do is set up a few profiles and that’s it. Also you can create as many profiles as you want

The reason I choose a USB drive is because it’s relatively cheaper as compared to other mediums like external hard disks. You could even use a second internal hard disk to copy the backups to but what if both the hard drives crash? Another advantage of using a USB drive is that in case of an emergency (I am serious here) like fire, you can take out the USB drive before you evacuate the building. Apart from this the other option you have for making backups in real time is RAID 1. But the cost of setting up RAID 1 is high and it’s not feasible for everyone

Also it’s always a good idea to regularly check the health status of your hard drive using S.M.A.R.T. S.M.A.R.T is a technology that is used to monitor the health of a hard disk and is present on most hard disks. A hard disk should be discarded as soon as it starts giving you problems because once a problem starts, it will only get worse and eventually lead to complete failure.