Instructional Technology Innovations

embed Google Flash player

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:22:30 GMT

Misty Belmontez in this posting on Moodle Forums reports that this code:

<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" 
src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://tw.neisd.net/webpages/mbelmo/files/uploads/210510/clinton.mp3" 
width="400" height="27" allowscriptaccess="never" quality="best" bgcolor="#ffffff" wmode="window" flashvars="playerMode=embedded" />

embeds the google player in web pages. Neat

more Charts and graphics

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:35:20 GMT

This Sitepoint article has a good worked example of graphael javascript graphics library

Web typography

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:31:36 GMT

Cufon from Sitepoint. Brilliant.

Charts on TiddlyWiki

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:09:00 GMT

Great example of charts at PrinceTiddlyWiki
Visichart
MS Silverlight
Visifire tutorials
VisiFire chart designer
Ubercool

Web Development FF plugins

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:23:00 GMT

Firebug
Web Developer
ColorZilla
CodeTech
Window Resizer
Pixel Perfect
Pencil
FireFTP
FireShot
MeasureIt

Magnolia

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:32:00 GMT

I had forgotten about this Ma.gnolia Suffers Major Data Loss, Site Taken Offline

Migrating mailboxes to Zimbra

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:43:00 GMT

I had thought that it would be trivial to migrate offline mailboxes to Zimbra. However, it turns out that it is not. Here's a useful tip I found:

This is an older thread but I found a solution that I wanted to share.

1. Sign up for a free gmail account at www.gmail.com
2. After logging in to your gmail account, click settings at the top, click the Forwarding and POP/IMAP "tab", and make sure that IMAP is enabled (it should be by default).
3. Open Thunderbird and set up an IMAP account to gmail using the instructions at Thunderbird 2.0 - Help Center.
4. You can now drag your Thunderbird data and drop it into your gmail account from within the Thunderbird GUI. You can actually drag and drop entire folders!
5. After you've moved all of your data to Thunderbird, set up your gmail account in zimbra and synch it. Your data has now been migrated.

There's also Mail Migration on the Zimbra wiki and two python scripts which look intriguing:

Gracelist : install requirements

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:05:00 GMT

Installation requirements

from the readme file:

Installation
git clone git://github.com/conradchu/GraceList.git gracelist
Edit config/config.yml and specify pertinent email information
Edit config/environment.rb and specify support links
You can also override the RSS feed with a Feedburner RSS if you want. Just get Feedburner to consume /posts/rss
By default, your GraceList digest will email itself out twice a week, on Monday and Thursdays. You can change this by modifying the NOTIFY_FREQUENCY variable in the config/environment.rb file.

So I need to install:

git (easy)
ruby / rails (is there a ports for FreeBSD? I don't know)

Also, rails will be need for run time on any server that this is implemented on. Just a thought.

Using ELS in Women's Studies

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:40:00 GMT

In the Spring semester 2009 (08-09 academic year) Barbara Caruso used the Earlham Learning Spaces for a Women's Studies Course, <course name>.
I have asked her for her assessment of how this went in an email:

I'm currently writing some spiel about how the Earlham Learning Spaces has worked (or not) for faculty who have used it with their classes. Last semester you used a Community blog called Gossip for a Women's Studies class (although I cannot remember it's title). What did you conclude from this exercise? Was it a success? Did the students gain from using the blog as a point of discourse? Would you do the same thing again or what changes might you ask for? I'm not looking for an in depth analysis — one line responses are fine.

There's an interesting wrinkle in how the system was used. A selling point for this blog was the fact that posts could be made with access restricted to community participants only ('Gossip'). This means that only community members would see the postings and there would be complete freedom to express themselves. In the event, however, many students were either not concerned, not bothered or simply forgot to change the access control from the default 'logged in users' which meant that anyone logged in could read or comment on these postings. Now I think that nothing untoward occurred as a consequence — in fact, I did not see any comments to postings that were visible to logged in users (ie anyone at Earlham).

Thus it seems that in practice users don't generally take advantage of the ability to change view access on a per post. So, what if there were a default access that applied to the whole community blog? Would this necessarily be a drawback? I think not. In fact, in this case it would be advantageous since intuitively one would think that postings to a group blog would only be visible to the group.

GraceList

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:33:00 GMT

Today I stumbled across GraceList – Craigslist-style classifieds app for small communities which is exactly what I've been looking for as a substitute for the MISC email list.
Here's more:

I originally created GraceList as an internal application for our church, Gracepoint Fellowship Church, Berkeley. With a close-knit community that emphasizes open homes and lives, you can imagine how many things get lost and found. I wanted a dead-simple classified apps so people could make postings about the small Bible they found at last week’s prayer meeting to the new analyst opening at their work. It has to be easy to use: from our techniest geeks to Kelly, our pastor’s wife ;) In the past, we would just email blast our Gracepoint member alias and that would just clutter hundreds of inboxes. We needed our own little private Craigslist with a smart digest email to highlight new postings.

View Demo

Features:
Custom categories for posting
Simple UI for making posts. All you need is an email!
Support for Textfile
Send digest HTML emails periodically to an alias with new postings highlighted

GraceList requires Rails 2.2 or above. Download and installation notes are available on GitHub:

http://github.com/conradchu/GraceList

There's even an RSS feed! I think I'd change the list slightly — maybe add 'Accomodation' and take out 'Jobs'
Do it man!

comments to Stan Stanier

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:30:00 GMT

In blog conversation on Community @brighton
I may reply:

As an "early adopter" of Elgg I'm feeling isolated and marginalised because there's no official migration path to later versions . I'm effectively stuck unless I shell out big bucks for a custom data transfer. Curverider have historically been proponents of data openness; surely migrating data from one version to a newer version of a system is a crucial aspect of data openness? In my view downloading an HTML file of one's blog, or an RSS feed does not cut the mustard.

10 September 2009 -- making php5

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:58:00 GMT

What's happened up to now:

  506  cd ../php5-extensions/
  507  sudo make install clean

This failed because of a curl version mismatch

  508  cd ../../ftp/curl
  509  sudo make install clean
  510  sudo make deinstall
  511  sudo make install

This suceeded (finally)

  512  cd ../../lang/php5
  513  cd ../php5-extensions/
  514  sudo make deinstall

This seemed to work also

  515  cd ../php5
  516  make install clean
  518  sudo make install

This reported that php5 was already installed.
So, at this point I have php5 installed and Curl and so let's redo the extensions ...
Take all the defaults

Reinstall php5 extensions: usr/ports/lang/php5-extensions]$ sudo make install clean
Errors: older version graphics/jpeg exists so remake this. This worked and when I went back to lang/php5-extensions and did 'sudo make install' it carried on from where it left off. Neat!
Ditto problem with libgmp4 at 4.2.4. Did deinstall and then install to get up to v4.3.1. Carry on with extensions.
Finished!
Restarting Apache loads in all the php extensions so php5 now works properly!

9 September 2009 update Sergius

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:53:00 GMT

Trying to get Archon to work for Anne Hathaway (Thomason) on Sergius.

Apache

Realise that Apache is not present, so make it:
/usr/ports/www/apache22]$ sudo make install clean
success

Php 5

Repeat for php 5:
/usr/ports/lang/php5]$ sudo make install clean
great success
Start up Apache22:

/usr/local/etc/apache22]$ sudo apachectl start
Warning: DocumentRoot [/usr/local/docs/dummy-host.example.com] does not exist
Warning: DocumentRoot [/usr/local/docs/dummy-host2.example.com] does not exist
httpd (pid 41341) already running
}}} 
problem is {{{/usr/local/etc/apache22/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf}}} which has a line {{{ DocumentRoot "/usr/local/docs/dummy-host.example.com"}}
So the solution is to create an empty file:
{{{
 /usr/local/etc/apache22/extra]$ sudo mv httpd-vhosts.conf httpd-vhosts.conf.org
[markp@sergius ~]$ echo>httpd-vhosts.conf
[markp@sergius ~]$ sudo mv httpd-vhosts.conf /usr/local/etc/apache22/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf
/usr/local/etc/apache22/extra]$ sudo chown root:wheel httpd-vhosts.conf

And:
sudo apachectl restart works!
But
When I run phpinfo it reveals that the php version has zero modules loaded!
I noticed:

Configuration File (php.ini) Path	/usr/local/etc
Loaded Configuration File	(none)

But it should indicate that php.ini has been loaded. SCP over php.ini from rublev:

/usr/local/etc]$ scp markp@rublev.lly.earlham.edu:/usr/local/etc/php.ini ~/php.ini
AND
/usr/local/etc]$ diff php.ini php.ini-recommended
< memory_limit = 192M      ; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume (128MB)
---
> memory_limit = 128M      ; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume (128MB)
363c363
< error_reporting  =  E_ALL
---
> error_reporting = E_ALL
499c499
< post_max_size = 128M
---
> post_max_size = 8M
612c612
< upload_max_filesize = 128M
---
> upload_max_filesize = 2M
933c933
< ; Log PostgreSQL backends Noitce message or not.
---
> ; Log PostgreSQL backends Notice message or not.
1290c1290
< ;mbstring.strict_encoding = Off
---
> ;mbstring.strict_detection = Off

So, fix the last diff by substituting strict_encoding with strict_detection (but it doesn't really matter since the directive is commented out)
Restart apache
Still not loading in any php extension. In fact, they don't seem to be there.
There is no /usr/local/etc/php and no extensions.ini inside it.

Question:

How do I make php with all the extensions I want since make install clean did not do the job. In fact, it did not ask me what extensions I wanted.
Need to Uninstall from usr/ports/lang/php5 and then install from php5-extensions

/usr/ports/lang/php5]$ sudo make deinstall
Password:
===>  Deinstalling for lang/php5
===>   Deinstalling php5-5.2.10
[preparing module `php5' in /usr/local/etc/apache22/httpd.conf]
/usr/ports/lang/php5]$ sudo make clean
===>  Cleaning for php5-5.2.10

Problems installing php5-extensions:

===>   An older version of ftp/curl is already installed (curl-7.18.0)
      You may wish to ``make deinstall'' and install this port again
      by ``make reinstall'' to upgrade it properly.
      If you really wish to overwrite the old port of ftp/curl
      without deleting it first, set the variable "FORCE_PKG_REGISTER"
      in your environment or the "make install" command line.
*** Error code 1
Stop in /basejail/usr/ports/ftp/curl.
*** Error code 1
Stop in /basejail/usr/ports/ftp/curl.
*** Error code 1
Stop in /basejail/usr/ports/ftp/php5-curl.
*** Error code 1
Stop in /basejail/usr/ports/lang/php5-extensions.
*** Error code 1
Stop in /basejail/usr/ports/lang/php5-extensions.

I think what I have to do is to login to frumentius and in /basejail/usr/ports/ftp/curl do a make deinstall followed by a make install clean
I have emailed Randy-S and Aaron to check this.

Blog

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:35:00 GMT

Type the text for 'New Tiddler'

TikiWiki

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:33:00 GMT

In this wiki comparison Tikiwiki looks really good.

Features of version 3
Installation and configuration is fairly straightforward. Profiles let you set up a preconfigured install.

Worth waiting for version 4? This has:

Workspaces which could be a big deal for collaborative work.
Tikifest Workspaces and Social Networking
Active support forums

Moodle: link for large uploads

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:42:00 GMT

There's a different link to use in order to upload files >128Mb <512Mb into Moodle:

https://moodle-admin.earlham.edu:8080

Postgres commands

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:48:00 GMT

Chatted with Matt about postgres. I learned some new things:

User pgsq is automatically created when the postgres client us built. Why is this info not elsewhere?
Control database postgres is also built on a make.
to configure the database do sudo -u pgsq pgsql postgres where pgsql is the client application.
Also sudo su -u pgsql bash will start a shell as user pgsq

Install postgres Sergius

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:44:00 GMT

Having created the 'postgres' user, now do the 'make install':
First the client

[markp@sergius /usr/ports/databases/postgresql84-client]$ sudo make install clean

Error:

===>  postgresql-client-8.4.0_1 conflicts with installed package(s):
      postgresql-client-8.2.11
      They install files into the same place.
      Please remove them first with pkg_delete(1).
*** Error code 1
Stop in /basejail/usr/ports/databases/postgresql84-client.
*** Error code 1
Stop in /basejail/usr/ports/databases/postgresql84-client.

This seemed to work : sudo pkg_delete -v -r postgresql-client-8.2.11
Try make again — worked
Now let's do the server. Made the mistake of asking for Openldap client errors


===>  Installing for openldap-client-2.4.17
===>   Generating temporary packing list
===>  Checking if net/openldap24-client already installed
===>   An older version of net/openldap24-client is already installed (openldap-client-2.4.11)
      You may wish to ``make deinstall'' and install this port again
      by ``make reinstall'' to upgrade it properly.
      If you really wish to overwrite the old port of net/openldap24-client
      without deleting it first, set the variable "FORCE_PKG_REGISTER"
      in your environment or the "make install" command line.
*** Error code 1

Stop in /basejail/usr/ports/net/openldap24-client.
*** Error code 1

Stop in /basejail/usr/ports/databases/postgresql84-server.
*** Error code 1

Stop in /basejail/usr/ports/databases/postgresql84-server.

Follow advice and /usr/ports/net/openldap24-client]$ sudo make deinstall clean output
Now do the reinstall : $ sudo make reinstall clean

Useful user messages from the make

To set limits, environment stuff like locale and collation and other
things, you can set up a class in /etc/login.conf before initializing
the database. Add something similar to this to /etc/login.conf:
postgres:\
        :lang=en_US.UTF-8:\
        :setenv=LC_COLLATE=C:\
        :tc=default:
and run cap_mkdb /etc/login.conf
Then add 'postgresql_class="postgres"' to /etc/rc.conf.

======================================================================

To initialize the database, run /usr/local/etc/rc.d/postgresql initdb
You can then start PostgreSQL by running: /usr/local/etc/rc.d/postgresql start
For postmaster settings, see ~pgsql/data/postgresql.conf
NB. FreeBSD's PostgreSQL port logs to syslog by default
See ~pgsql/data/postgresql.conf for more info

======================================================================

To run PostgreSQL at startup, add
'postgresql_enable="YES"' to /etc/rc.conf

======================================================================
===> Installing rc.d startup script(s)
===> Registering installation for postgresql-server-8.4.0_1
===> SECURITY REPORT:
This port has installed the following files which may act as network
servers and may therefore pose a remote security risk to the system.
/usr/local/bin/postgres
This port has installed the following startup scripts which may cause
these network services to be started at boot time.
/usr/local/etc/rc.d/postgresql

Links

BSD ports
this one might be useful too.

These command from here look useful:

Some important commands to remember:
Creating a new PostgreSQL user $ sudo -u postgres createuser -d -R -P <new username>
Create a new database owned by <username> $ sudo -u postgres createdb -O <usename> <database name>
Executing an SQL file $ psql -f <filename> <database name> <username>
Removing a database $ dropdb -U <username> <database name>
Removing a PostgreSQL user $ sudo -u postgres dropuser <usernamen>

30 July 2009 Upgrade Frumentius

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:34:00 GMT

Today we're upgrading Frumentius to BSD 7.2. email exchange
I have copied over the backups from moo-archives/migrate and done an ezjail archive:

[markp@frumentius ~]$ scp rublev.lly.earlham.edu:moo-archives/migrate/* .
moo195_code.tgz                               100%   15MB  14.6MB/s   00:00
moo195_data.tgz                               100%   24GB  17.2MB/s   23:54
moo195_testdb.sql                             100%  150MB  16.7MB/s   00:09
moodledata_zip.sh                             100%   22KB  21.6KB/s   00:00
moodledata_zip.txt                            100%   21KB  20.7KB/s   00:00
[markp@frumentius ~]$ sudo /usr/local/etc/rc.d/ezjail.sh stop rublev
[markp@frumentius ~]$ sudo ezjail-admin archive rublev

Randy is currently updating the Frumnetius code and rebuilding the kernel. When that's finished he'll bring the whole machine down to single user mode and reinstall everything. Gulp!

Stunning new TiddlyWiki application

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:33:00 GMT

TiddlyWeb

Can this get any more left field? I stumbled across TiddlyWeb on the TiddlyWikiDev google group. The author Chris Dent describes it in TiddlyWeb in layman's terms. Here's an exerpt
installing TiddlyWeb

Th best way to figure out what is does and why it's so cool is to take a look at Twoter. Twoter :

Twoter is a simple system to save bookmarked clippings of text from around the internet into TiddlyWeb so you can use those clippings in your TiddlyWikis. Either fill in the form above by hand, or use the bookmarklet. Just drag the bookmarklet to your toolbar and in another tab, highlight some text and click the bookmark. The text, title of the page, and url will be saved into a Tiddler that you can access.

This is what you get after you have 'twoted' some bookmarklets:

Tiddlers in Recipe markhpearson-all
These Tiddlers as a TiddlyWiki
TiddlyWeb in layman terms? - TiddlyWiki | Google Groups
The Elgg Community: Moodle and Elgg in Education
Friday Forum :: Edit user details
TiddlyWebAutoSavePlugin
TiddlyWebAdaptorPlugin
This is TiddlyWeb
User markhpearson.

Clicking on the TiddlyWiki link reveals all your 'twotes' as a tiddlywiki.
Incredible. Amazing. Gobsmackingly brilliant.