Cisco EPC2425 Home Router (UPC)

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Stephen

I recently got UPC 30mb broadband and it works quite well. I’ll just to jot down some of the details with the Cisco EPC2425 Home Router settings in case I need them. 

Default Settings

Login URL: http://192.168.1.1
Username: <blank>
Password: <blank> 

There is an “Advanced” tab which will ask for another Username & Password:
Username: admin
Password: W2402 

 Dynamic DNS (dyndns)

I also wanted to setup my Dynamic DNS settings from dyndns.org. Login as above, go to the “Dynamic DNS” under the Setup tab. Enter your details. After clicking apply, you will get the error “Unrecognized return code”. To solve this: Simply reboot the Router, and it will set the dyndns settings. 

Ref: #1

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Windows XP Mode on Windows 7

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Stephen

On my work computer I have Windows 7 Professional. I was creating Administrative Images and testing software installation, and wanted a new blank Windows installation (any version) to test on. I use vmware quite a bit on my home PC, but I didn’t have a XP key or CD handy. Bring on Windows XP Mode.

Go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

Follow the 3 Steps outlined on the above website. One of which is a 480MB download of WinXP. (Note: Windows XP Mode is only officially available for Windows 7 Professional and up.) Within a few minutes Windows XP will be running inside Windows Virtual PC. All integration tools will be installed. The XP virtual machine will have Local Disks mounted from the Host Windows 7 computer, and it will have networking all setup.

Looking more into things, I found and enabled “Undo Disks” which was just what I needed. (Browse to : C:\Users\$username\Virtual Machines\Windows XP Mode.vmcx, and right-click and go settings). It’s a little more basic than vmware which lets you take snapshots, but it works.

Apart from testing Administrative installs etc. the possibilities are endless. It could even be used to test website designs in IE6.
The biggest plus with Windows XP Mode was that a fully activated genuine copy of Windows XP was installed within minutes.

I did give it a go installing on a Windows 7 Home Premium version, following this guide. It installed, however it did not activate correctly (after many attempts, even entering a correct XP key) due to Windows 7 Home edition, but it left me with the 30 day trial period, which combined with undo disks, will suffice.

== Instructions on installing Windows XP Mode (unactivated) on Windows 7 Home ==
1.Download and install Windows Virtual PC .
2.Download XP Mode (just select Windows 7 Ultimate and the desired language in the drop down boxes)
3.Install the pre-configured and pre-activated XP Mode. During installation, the following error will occur on Windows XP Mode Home Basic and Premium edition:
 Windows XP Mode cannot be set up. Windows XP Mode is not available on this edition of Windows
4. You are not using the correct version of Windows 7 to install Windows XP Mode. Please click this link to upgrade.
 Navigate to the folder: C:\Program Files\Windows XP Mode\
5. Take ownership and grant full control permissions to the Windows XP Mode base.vhd file.
6. Right click on Windows XP Mode base.vhd file, then select Properties. Uncheck theRead-only option.
7. Start Windows Virtual PC from Start Menu (Start -> All Programs -> Windows Virtual PC -> Windows Virtual PC)
8. Click Create Virtual Machine at the command bar.
9. Name the new virtual machine as Windows XP Mode or any other preferred name.
10. Continue the new virtual machine creation wizard, until 'Add a virtual hard disk' window. Choose the Use an existing virtual hard disk option, then click Browse to select the location of Windows XP Mode VHD (e.g. C:\Program files\Windows XP Mode\Windows XP Mode base.vhd).
11. Finish the create new virtual machine wizard.
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Web Design – Testing IE6

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Stephen

So IE6 is as old as the hills and should just go away, however the fact is that some people still have an use IE6 unknowingly. As a result its a good idea to make sure websites at least work and are readable in IE6. I also find that if youcode the xhtml and css to show correctly in IE6, it will look ok in all other browsers.

Anyways, Microsoft have a download which will let you preview a website in IE6. Its called “Microsoft Expression Web 3 SuperPreview”. Its a free download (see here), and be sure not to mistake it with the full Microsoft Expression package.

It lets you compare a website (you have to browse to a local html file) in IE6, IE7 and IE8 (if you have IE8 installed) in a side by side fashion. It renders an image of the website in both browsers, so you wont be able to see a:hover effects or other javascript behaviours. Still it sufficed for me, and saved me the hassle of using online services, or trying to install IE6 manually. Oh, and of course it shows up the PNG images with alpha transparency. See below for an example website compared in IE6 and IE7.

As for people who try and code for IE6, you get used to the quirks and know which css properties will fail and which will work ok. Typically css positioning will fail. Its best to use floats as much as possible. I’ve also found that IE7 has some quirks also. As a result its a good idea to test using the MS Expression SuperPreview. Also is possible to use compatibility mode in IE8 which will render websites as they would appear in IE7.

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Upgrading from WordPress 2.9 to WordPress 3.0

Posted on June 17, 2010 by Stephen

I’ve my WordPress installed using SVN, and it was easy to upgrade WordPress 2.x to 3. WordPress have great docs and help on everything needed.

#cd ~/public_blog
#svn switch --relocate http://svn.automattic.com/wordpress/tags/2.9.2/ http://core.svn.wordpress.org/tags/2.9.2/
#svn sw http://core.svn.wordpress.org/tags/3.0/ .

The main blog didn’t show up, it just showed a blank page.
Going to http://website/blog/wp-admin required a database update.
Logged in.
It was the Themes that was broken. I went to the Themes and it said “The active theme is broken. Reverting to the default theme.” I had the default WordPress 2.X theme which has changed in WordPress 3.X. Going to Themes automatically fixed it. WordPress 3.0 now up and running and my first blog using it.

Thoughts about WordPress 3

  • I really like the default theme. The header image is quite nice, and there are a few other header images that come with the default. See -> Appearance -> Header.
  • Overall the Admin Interface is pretty much the same as with WordPress 2.X. This is great as it means that people won’t have to learn a new interface to manage their WordPress 3 blog or website.
  • There are some very nice features. E.g. WordPress MU, Custom Post types, Taxonomies and a new Menu/Nav Management tool.

Kudos to WordPress for a great release.

EDIT: To update from 3.0 to 3.0.1 etc do:

#svn sw http://core.svn.wordpress.org/tags/3.0.1/ .
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Notes to Remember after reading Adobe Fireworks CS4 How-Tos 100 Essential Techniques

Posted on May 8, 2010 by Stephen

So I just finished Adobe Fireworks CS4 “How-Tos 100 Essential Techniques” by Jim Babbage. I’ve used Fireworks for years, right back to when I was doing my Final Year Project (see the Navigation when logged in). I use Fireworks for all my Web Design. I knew however that I wasn’t using all of Fireworks capability. After going through this book, here are the points I’ll check back on and make more use of.

  • Creating a Bitmap Mask with a Selection
  • Understanding the Transform Tools – real life use of 9-slice scaling
  • Creating a Custom Shape – Path panel: Fillet Points, Punch Out
  • Masking an Image with a Vector Shape
  • Text Basics – Auto-sizing text block V’s fixed with and changing between
  • Using Type as a Mask
  • Adding Text to a Path (Text -> Attach to Path)
  • Wrapping Text Around an Object (Punch Vector, then Attach in Path)
  • Using Photoshop Live Effects. In particular Stroke! Great for making single or double outlines of text or objects.
  • Working with Styles -> The Styles Panel and pre-defined styles. Very Useful!!!
  • Using Blend Modes (blending layers)
  • Converting Bitmap Selections to Paths (Convert Marquee to Path and then Stroke)
  • Creating Animation Symbols
  • Adding Component Symbols to a Design (dragging in form and button elements. Export as html and css gives the correct html code for the form).
  • Creating GIF Animations
  • Tweening Animation
  • Using the Kuler Panel -> Window -> Extensions -> Kuler (clicking a color scheme sets up the colors in Fireworks).
  • Site Prototyping – The Basics (setting up multiple pages and Master Page Layer)
  • Sharing Layers Across Pages (Create a multiple page design -> Commands -> Demo Current Document: creates a flash-based slide show of each page.)
  • Working with Metadata -> File -> File Info

Overall it was a good brush-up on my Fireworks. After going over the Site Prototyping, I read up a little more on pages. I do thinks its useful and hope to do the full web design with multiple pages in one Fireworks png, however dealing with the Footer between pages of different height still isn’t ideal. The footer can’t go into the Master Page Layer. I suppose it’d be best created as a symbol and used across pages which can then be centrally edited.

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