Google Calendar Events WordPress TEMP Fix

To those that are impacted by the deprecation of the Google Calendar V2 API, the following temp fix has been created to get back up and running if you are using the Google Calendar Events Plugin prior to version 2.x

PLEASE NOTE: We want to make certain that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free software.

To Patch Version Prior to 2.0 ( i.e. have a gce-feed.php file ):

  1. V3 requires a Google API Key.  To get a key, you must have a Google Developer account ( this is free https://console.developers.google.com ).  Tip: If specifying IPs when setting up your key, be sure to list all test environments ( thanks Donna ).
  2. Activate the Goolge Calednar API.
  3. Download the updated gce-feed.php file here.
  4. Open up the file and replace “<YOUR KEY HERE>” with the key you obtained from your Google Developer Console  Make sure you remove the < > brackets as well.
  5. Make a backup copy of the gce-feed.php file located in /wp-content/plugins/google-calendar-events/inc
  6. Upload this new file.

To Patch Version 2.0 ( i.e. have a class-gce-feed.php file ):

I have removed this path.  The developers have released a patch that is now better than the TEMP fix I had out there to bridge the gap.  Please get the latest update from them.

You should be back up and running now.

 

Install and Configure Eclipse For PHP Development

EclipseEclipse Install

Leave a comment if you have questions or want to point out corrections.

Begin by downloading just the bare bones Eclipse IDE for Windows.  The most latest version tested was Eclipse 4.3.2 found at:
http://download.eclipse.org/eclipse/downloads/drops4/R-4.3.2-201402211700/

You only need to download the “Platform Runtime Binary”.  This cuts down the size of the download from 190MB to 61MB.

Extract the files to a location on your drive, then launch eclipse.exe.

PHP Development Tools ( PDT )

Next we need to install the PHP Development Tools ( PDT ).  Use the following steps:

  1. Select Help -> Install New Software.
  2. From the “Work with” pull-down menu, select Kepler.  Wait while it loads the available software.
  3. Once loaded, navigate to Programming Languages and check PHP Development Tools ( PDT ).
  4. Click Next a couple times, accept the license and click Finish.  You’ll be prompted to restart Eclipse when it is done installing software.

CVS Client Install ( optional )

If you use CVS, you can install the CVS client using the following steps:

  1. Select Help -> Install New Software.
  2. From the “Work with” pull-down menu, select The Eclipse Project Updates.  Wait while it loads the available software.
  3. Check the box next to Eclipse CVS Client
  4. Click Next a couple times, accept the license and click Finish.  You’ll be prompted to restart Eclipse when it is done installing software.

Setting up an Apache/PHP/MySQL development environment in Windows

php-mysql
The following instructions outline the steps required to setup an environment without having to use WAMP.  There are many ways to setup an environment, but I have settled on the following steps.  Leave a comment if you have questions or want to point out corrections.

Prerequisite Downloads

Installation Steps

MySQL

The MySQL install is very straightforward since it has an MSI.

  1. Run the installer.
  2. During the Configuration utilize the default options ( Development Machine, Port 3306, Open Firewall ).
  3. Provide a root password.  You don’t have create additional users.  You can do that from the command line later or via the MySQL Workbench ( additional software product  http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/workbench/ ) that provides you with a GUI interface to MySQL.
  4. Utilize the default service settings.  ( MySQL56, start MySQL at startup, use system account).  You can change this later via the Administration Tools -> Services and elect to manual start it if you want.
  5. NOTE: If you need to make changes to the MySQL server settings, you do this by editing the my.ini file located in ( C:\ProgramData\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6 ).  Do not try to place this file in the Program Files directory.

Apache

The Apache process requires extracting files and updating the configuration file.  Though we could walk through creating different configuration files, moving the root directory and creating vhost entries, this tutorial will keep all the configuration within the main configuration file and will not create any vhost entries.

Extract Apache to a location on your drive.  I have elected to extract the files to c:\userapps\apache-2.4.9

The next few steps require editing the httpd.conf file located in <install dir>\Apache24\conf

  1. Change all occurrences of “c:/Apache24” with <install dir>/Apache24 ( e.g. c:/userapps/apache-2.4.9/Apache24 ).  NOTE the forward slash ‘/’, not a backslash ‘\’.
  2. Because it is required by applications such as WordPress, uncomment the mod_rewrite.so module. ( about line 153 ).  Do this by removing the # character at the beginning of the line.
  3. To cut down on startup messages, change the ServerName value to
    ServerName www.mylocalmachine.com 
    Make sure the # has been removed from the beginning of the line.
  4. Now we need to create a service in windows.  Launch a CMD prompt as an Administrator.  Navigate to <install path>/Apache24/bin directory.  Use the following command to create the Apache Service: httpd.exe -k install -n “Apache2.4”  ( If you get an error saying MSVCR110.dll is missing, which was a problem on an older Windows 7 machine, then you need to download and install the MVC C++ 2012 Redistributable package update 4 ).
    1. If you need to install the Redistribution packages, make sure you install both the x86 and x64.  These are downloaded as two separate files.
  5. Now start the service via Administration Tools -> Services or by entering the following in the CMD window:
    net start “Apache2.4
  6. Validate Apache is working by opening a browser and going to
    http://localhost
    and validating that you get the message “It Works!”

PHP

The PHP process requires extracting files and updating both the PHP and Apache configuration file.

Extract PHP to a location on your drive.  I have elected to extract the files to C:\userapps\php-5.5.14

Edit the httpd.conf file that we edited above.

  1. Add the following lines to the httpd.conf
    LoadModule php5_module “<intstall path>/php5apache2_4.dll”
    AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .php
    # configure the path to php.ini
    PHPIniDir “<intstall path>”

     

    Example:
    LoadModule php5_module “C:/userapps/php-5.5.14/php5apache2_4.dll”
    AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .php
    # configure the path to php.ini
    PHPIniDir “C:/userapps/php-5.5.14”

  2. Create a file called test.php in the Apache root directory ( <install path>/Apache24/htdocs ) with the following contents:
    <?php phpinfo(); ?>
  3. Restart Apache ( you can use the Administration Tools -> Services panel to do this )
  4. Load the test page using your browser and going to
    http://localhost/test.php
    Validate you get the “PHP Version 5.5.14” header and all the other PHP information about the server.

Now we are close but need to edit the php.ini file located in <install path> ( e.g. c:/userapps/php-5.5.14 ).  We need to edit this file in order to load some common PHP extensions for accessing MySQL, creating graphics (GD2), fetching web resources ( CURL ), etc.

  1. Copy php.ini-development to php.ini
  2. Uncomment ;extension_dir = “ext” and provide a fully qualified path to the ext directory.  When done it should look like:
    extension_dir = “<install path>/ext”
    Example:
    extension_dir = “c:/userapps/php-5.5.14/ext”
  3. Uncomment the following extensions:
    extension=php_bz2.dll
    extension=php_curl.dll
    extension=php_fileinfo.dll
    extension=php_gd2.dll
    extension=php_mysql.dll
    extension=php_mysqli.dll
    extension=php_pdo_mysql.dll
  4. Restart Apache ( you can use the Administration Tools -> Services panel to do this )
  5. Load the test page using your browser and going to
    http://localhost/test.php
    Validate that the GD module and CURL module are both present in the test page output.

 

 

 

 

 

Keyboard Shortcuts For Remote Desktop

Every wanted to reset your password on a remote machine via windows remote desktop but couldn’t figure out how to get CTRL+ALT+DEL to work?  Well, listed below is the shortcut for that via remote desktop along with some other popular keystrokes used for navigation:

* CTRL+ALT+END: Open the Microsoft Windows NT Security dialog box (CTRL+ALT+DEL)

* ALT+PAGE UP: Switch between programs from left to right (CTRL+PAGE UP)

* ALT+PAGE DOWN: Switch between programs from right to left (CTRL+PAGE DOWN)

* ALT+INSERT: Cycle through the programs in most recently used order (ALT+TAB)

* ALT+HOME: Display the Start menu (CTRL+ESC)

* CTRL+ALT+BREAK: Switch the client computer between a window and a full screen

* ALT+DELETE: Display the Windows menu

* CTRL+ALT+Minus sign (-): Place a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing ALT+PRINT SCREEN on a local computer (ALT+PRT SC)

* CTRL+ALT+Plus sign (+): Place a snapshot of the active window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing PRINT SCREEN on a local computer (PRT SC)

Did your “Send To -> Mail Recipient” option in Windows quit working with Thunderbird?

If so, then follow these steps to restore the functionality:

  1. Launch RegEdit (use at your own risk).
  2. Navigate to: \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Mozilla Thunderbird in your registry.
  3. Check the key DDLPath.  If it is empty, then proceed, if not empty, then STOP, you have a different problem.
  4. If DDLPath is empty, enter the path to the file “mozmapi32.dll” (most likely C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\mozmapi32.dll)

This should correct the problem.

Maintain an exact a copy of your files.

This is a great tool when used in conjunction with an external hard drive. It allows you to keep a very accessible copy of all your files on an external hard drive. No need for special backup software. No need to open archives or backups to find a file. Just navigate the 2nd drive to find your file.

NOTE: This tool does not version control or automatically create multiple copies of the file.

“This utility creates or maintains an exact duplicate of the original directory. ICE Mirror will compare the mirrored directory to the master directory and correct any disparities. ICE Mirror allows ultra fast mirroring because it performs incremental updates. In other words it only copies files that have changed. If only a few files have been updated, it performs very fast.

Also ICE Mirror allows making differential updates. The differential updates are very useful if you are use read-only media (CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R, etc.). There are two steps in differential updates:

1. Comparison the master directory and the mirrored directory.
2. Copying all new files from the master directory to the secondary mirrored directory.

In other words it only copies files that have changed in the mirrored directory to the secondary mirrored directory.”

http://www.ice-graphics.com/ICEMirror/IndexE.html

What is taking up all that room on your drive?

WinDirStat
WinDirStat
Wondering why you have so little room left, then download WinDirStat at windirstat.info. It is free, open-source, and easy to use.

WinDirStat represents each file on your drive as a colored rectangle. The size of the rectangle indicates the size of the file compared to the other files. Click on the big blocks of color to find files that are no longer needed and that may be taking up valuable space.

NOTE: Be sure you know what you are deleting before you remove something from your hard drive.