My DigitalZone

From time to time, I see web sites that do not have directory listing disabled. This happens on an Apache server that is not configured properly. If the webmaster create a directory and does not place an index.html (or index.php) file, the contents of the directory are there for everyone to see.

Not allowing the visitors see the directory listing does not make a website secure per se. But visitors can go up and down the directory trees if the listing is not disabled. In order to disable a directory listing of a particular directory and all of its subdirectories, you can just place a file called .htaccess with the following line on it.

Options -Indexes

As long as a subdirectory does not have its own .htaccess file that allow directory listing, it works.

Today, I will talk about how to put an icon to url. The tiny image is typically called a “favicon” and it’s in an ico format, which means a typical file name is favicon.ico. Its size is usually 16×16 but I usually make a 48×48 gif file in Photoshop. To convert it to an ico format, you can download a free Photoshop plugin from telegraphics.com.au and use Photoshop. But an easier way is to create it online from dynamicdrive.com.

So here’s the step to put the tiny image next to your website’s url.

1. Create a 16×16 or 48×48 image file and save it as a gif file.
2. Go to dynamicdrive.com and click “Create Icon.”
3. Download the created file (favicon.ico) to your PC.
4. Upload the icon to the root directory of your website.
5. Add the following line to your header… in between < head > and < / head >
   
< link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" >< /link >

Note: You need to remove spaces from the example html tags shown above.

Another note: favicon may not show up immediately. It takes some time. If you change your favicon image, clear the browser chache and refresh the page and wait.

Kindle 2: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation)

The New York Times is reporting today that amazon.com is working on a Kindle with a larger screen. The current version is version 2 and it’s slim and compact. According to the New York Times article, amazon may release the new version of Kindle as early as this week.

As we all know by now, most of the print media have been struggling financially because of diminishing readership and advertisement revenue, due mostly to the rise of internet media. The New York Times reports that the new device from amazon may save by offering a convenient method for the traditional newspaper and magazine publishers.

It is an interesting development. For me, Kindle, with its price tag of $359, is a bit too pricey even though its convenience of purchasing a book (at a very low price) on the spot is very tempting. I have a friend who bought Kindle and she loves it.

I encountered a problem when I tried to do a screen capture with my new Compaq laptop with Vista Premium on it. The normal method, which is pressing ALT+Prt SC or CTRL+ALT+Prt SC didn’t work. Then, I figured out that pushing “FN” (function, a key on the lower-left corner) and Prt SC (the same as “home” key on the upper-right corner) does the work. As is most of the computers these days, this laptop doesn’t come with a hardcopy of Users’ Manual, so I needed to do some internet searches to figure this out.

All right. I bought myself a new laptop. It’s Compaq Presario Laptop with AMD Athlon X2 QL-62 Dual-Core Processor. As you can see in this post, my laptop (Toshiba Satellite) crashed and I restored the factory default. Toshiba worked fine but it was about time to be replaced. So, I did a quick search on the internet and picked this one. Ideally, I wanted to get one with Windows XP but all new laptops seem to be loaded with Vista. The specs of Presario seem to fit my needs at this time. When I bought Toshiba, I was traveling regularly, so the size and the weight were my major factors. But not now. I wanted an affordable laptop that’s reliable and more RAM and disk space. My Compaq Presario comes with:

• AMD Athlon™ X2 QL-62* dual-core processor
• 2GB DDR2 memory (expandable to 4GB)
• Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support
• 15.6″ WXGA widescreen display with BrightView technology
• 250GB SATA hard drive (5400 rpm)
• NVIDIA GeForce 8200M graphics
• Integrated microphone
• 5-in-1 media reader
• 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports
• Built-in high-speed wireless LAN (802.11b/g)
• Built-in 10/100Base-T Ethernet LAN
• Weighs 6.5 lbs. and measures just 1.7″ thin
• Good battery life of up to 2 hours and 30 minutes
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1) preinstalled

So far so good. It’s not sluggish as I was afraid. The screen is wide and bright. I need to test the battery life, though. Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase as it was only $429.00 at BestBuy.

Considering I paid over $1,100 for my old Toshiba, it was a good deal.

One thing to note is that this laptop comes with 32bit version of Windows Vista. I have a friend who bought a higher-end Compaq Presario with 64bit Vista, and she’ been having problems installing her old software. So far, all the software I have got installed without problems on my new laptop.