Slow logins with SBS 2003 or 2008

If you are using a Windows SBS 2003 or 2008 with a domain, and client computers are taking a while to login, make sure that you've got the DNS server set to the SBS box as the default.

We use a linux box as the dhcp server and gateway, and this small change to the dhcpd.conf reduced login times from 2 or more minutes down to seconds.

Wish i'd discovered that earlier!

Speed up loading Drupal database into mysql

I've developed a little script over the years that dumps production databases, and loads them locally on demand, and its been very handy.

However, it was taking ages to load a database on a Virtualbox ubuntu environment I use for debugging with Zend.

A quick look into it, and I found that i'd put

--skip-extended-insert
on the mysqldump command sometime in the past.

I changed that to

How to kill the Firefox "Switch to tab" feature

If you've updated to the latest firefox, you might have noticed the "Switch to tab" feature, which checks if you have a website alreay open, and switches to that existing one if you have.

What a stupid thing!

If I open a new tab, its because I want a new tab! It even does it across seperate windows.

To remove this "feature", just install this excellent add-on - Switch to Tab no more.

Phew, back to reasonable web browsing again.

 

Argghh Flash - Its so annoying.

Booted into Windows yesterday to play the awesome new Dirt3, and Adobe flash wants to update itself.

It seems that between the 4 or 5 PC's I regularly visit, that I'm always updating the cruddy flash player.

And all I need it for is youtube video.

Bring on HTML5 and lets stop this Flash upgrade madness!

Simon Lindsay Tue, 06/14/2011 - 10:34

Whats wrong with the standard window decorations.

Why do they have to mess with window decorations? You know, the title bars, close, minimise buttons etc.

Microsoft must spend millions making things look pretty, then people making software for Windows go and screw it up.

Why bother overriding the Window decorations from the standard windows default.

Don't pretend it makes your software "sexier". It doesn't.

10+ years of Drupal

Drats, I missed my drupal.org 10th birthday!

http://drupal.org/user/143

I was actually using Drupal before drupal.org existed, and my http://dirtbike.ws website - currently re-branding as http://mydirtbike.com - would be amongst the longest running Drupal based sites there is.

I've seen Drupal go through fantastic growth through the years, and the future looks brighter every day, with new Drupal companies appearing, new conferences, camps and meet-ups, the Drupal ecosystem looks to be very healthy.

Keep up the good work Dries & co.

Instant 12 seater table!

Had a BBQ for Martin V from Slovakia over the weekend, and since we had 12 people coming I thought we'd try extending our table.

At first, we were just going to push our old and new dining tables together, but then I thought i'd grab some "spare" 2400x1200 8mm MDF boards I had lying around for table tops.

That worked a treat, they are thick enough not to bend, despite hanging over the edge of the tables underneath by quite a bit.