NevOn 2.0 Experimental

Ready, set... Still no go.

Activating domain mapping so that the addresses of both my blogs and my photo albums display as www.nevon.net/[name of blog or album] still doesn't produce the desired result.

I've followed all the instructions as per TypePad's domain mapping configuration guide, from changing the required DNS settings at my host, GoDaddy, to setting things up at the TypePad end and then activating the mapping. I've had correspondence during the past week with GoDaddy's support team and with TypePad support. Everything should be fine.

But it still doesn't work properly.

As the screenshot on the left shows (click for larger view), the mapping looks like it works, but the appearance of the blog is a complete mess. It looks as though the stylesheet isn't being applied. I activated domain mapping a few days ago on my main blog with the same result. Rather than risk another mess on my main blog, I decided to try it just on this blog in case it didn't work. And it didn't.

According to the TypePad help pages, this situation re the stylesheet not taking occurs when the stylesheet is not found because the domain isn't ready to be set as active.

Yet both TypePad and GoDaddy say it should work correctly by now - I did all the initial setup a week ago, plenty of time for DNS records everywhere to be updated. Both say they can see my blogs if they type in the new domain address.

The thing is, though, I would expect that anyway because I had set up domain forwarding some weeks ago. So if you type www.nevon.net/experimental/, for instance, you will get to this blog.

I wonder whether disabling domain forwarding at the GoDaddy end might make any difference (GoDaddy support say it shouldn't).

Anyway, back to both supports for more help. If anyone else has any suggestions, I'd really appreciate hearing them!

Edit: Curious. If you click the link above, to this blog, what you get is the main blog. Why would that be? Something in the DNS? Yep, back to support...

Edit 27-Feb: More curious. That link now works properly, but the URL in the browser address bar shows two forward slashes together, as in "http://nevon.typepad.com//experimental/".

What's changed? Well, at the suggestion of TypePad support yesterday, I disabled domain masking (which was enabled) at GoDaddy. Other than that, nothing else.

Posted by Neville at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (2)

Well, I thought all was ready to go with the change over to my new domain for the blogs and photo albums I have on TypePad.

Not so - unexpected results.

I'd made all the changes needed re DNS at GoDaddy, my domain host. After some email correspondence with their extremely helpful support team, all looked set to switch over to the new domain, mapped so that my TypePad sub domain would show as www.nevon.net/[blog or photo album name].

So I made the change late this afternoon by activating the setup in TypePad I'd already prepared as per the domain mapping instructions and republished only my main blog (just in case...) to see how it all worked.

A bit of a mess, actually! The blog appeared when you go to the new domain address, showing the new domain, but the layout and appearance were a complete disaster. It looked like the change had somehow knocked out the style sheet, so what you saw was a site reminiscent of what websites looked like in the mid 90s, just as the web got going.

I quickly reverted back to how it all was before, a process that took about 10 minutes. Then, a quick support ticket email to the always-helpful Melissa at TypePad support.

Stay tuned...

Posted by Neville at 07:04 PM | Permalink

Within the next few days, all blogs and photo albums in this TypePad subdomain (nevon.typepad.com) will reflect my new domain address (www.nevon.net).

Using a procedure called domain mapping, I've set up the TypePad domain so that it will show all content as my domain. While www.nevon.net already forwards to the current TypePad subdomain, domain mapping means that all content for all blogs, etc, within the TypePad subdomain will display addresses (permalinks, etc) with my own domain rather than TypePad's.

I've also set up DNS management at my domain host (GoDaddy - fantastic service), a procedure that was very straightforward. All I need to wait for now is for the DNS changes to take effect, which will take anything up to 48 hours. Then, switch on the change at TypePad and it then happens. So I expect the target to change will be this Wednesday, maybe earlier.

The change won't affect anyone's bookmarks or favorites: typing in the current TypePad address - either for a blog address or for any individual post within a blog or photo album - will simply re-direct it to the new address.

Once I've enabled the change, I'll post information on my main blog.

Posted by Neville at 07:35 PM | Permalink

Although I've commented recently on my main blog about some issues with Skype, specifically critical comment regarding SkypeOut, the paid-for service, that doesn't mean I don't like or continue to use the service. Indeed, I remain impressed overall with what Skype offers.

Then on Monday, I saw the beta launch of another VoIP service called Teleo. So I'm giving that a try as well under its 30-day free trial offer.

Like Skype, Teleo offers you free PC-to-PC phone calling. Install the software for the trial, find a friend or colleague who's also using the service, and away you go. Once the trial is over, you'll then need to choose one of two plans, each of which offers different service levels. And, like Skype, if you want to make calls to normal phones, that's a pay-for service.

Teleo has some interesting differences to Skype that some are calling a Skype killer.

To me, the prime advantage it has over Skype is that it gives you a real phone number, meaning that people can call you as well (this feature is available only with one of the service plans). Currently, you can choose a number only in the US, although you can select which state and city from a list. So I now have a US phone number, at least for the next 30 days!

It offers call forwarding, depending on which of the two service plans you choose - you can set it up to forward calls to your Teleo number to a normal phone, mobile or landline. And it will also soon offer voicemail.

Teleo also has some disadvantages compared to Skype.

For instance, there is no instant messaging feature. So no text chats with your friends and colleagues. I find that feature of Skype rather useful and, consequently, I now use no other messaging service. It also doesn't give you much information about callers such as the detailed profiles you have with Skype. But it is still beta, so perhaps such additional polish will be in upcoming versions.

Is Teleo a Skype killer? In just looking at what it offers, I don't think so. Stuart Henshall has a good initial analysis of Teleo vs Skype, with some thoughtful commentary on this point.

So, I'm trying it and we'll see how it goes.

Posted by Neville at 09:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

AudioShell is a Windows Explorer shell extension plug-in which allow you to view and edit music files tags directly in Explorer.

The extension supports all file and tag standards supported by Tag&Rename. AudioShell adds tag editor and viewer tabs to a music file's properties. You can edit tags file by file or by groups.

Supported files and tags formats: mp3 (all ID3v2 tag versions), wma, asf and wmv, Apple iTunes aac (m4a and m4p) and mp4 files, ogg, flac (vorbis comment tags), mpc , mp+, monkey's audio, wav pack, optim frog ( APE and APEv2 tags). The app include full Unicode support.

This looks very useful for MP3s used for podcasts, especially those you download that don't have any or sufficient tag information in the file properties that work with playlist identification in programs like iTunes - helpful for setting up smart playlists, for instance, which you want to auto-sync to your iPod.

Published by Softpointer. Still a beta, but worth a try. Requires Windows 2000 or later. Freeware. Download AudioShell 1 beta 1.

(Hat tip: Home Computer magazine)

Posted by Neville at 05:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Engadget reports:

A new night-vision system developed for the Dutch military may signal the end of those grainy green and grey images we’ve all come to know. The new system, created by the TNO research lab, works by drawing colors from similar scenes in the system’s memory then mapping them onto the night-vision images (seen in the three-step process above),resulting in a more natural looking image.

The researchers say the system will improve soldiers' reaction times and reduce fatigue that comes from staring at traditional night-vision images. Military for now, but we’re sure we’ll see plenty of other uses for the system sooner or later.

Posted by Neville at 04:54 PM | Permalink

One of my favourite utility programs for Windows, Total Commander, released version 6.51 a couple of days ago. Developed by Christian Ghisler in Switzerland, this neat utlity does for Windows what Norton Commander did for MS-DOS, and then some.

There are lots of Norton Commander-like utilities around - see this list, for instance - but for me, Total Commander does the file management job better than most as well as provide additional functions like FTP file transfer, integrated file viewer and much more. I've been using registered versions since version 1.2 about nine years ago. Shareware, free to try and 40 Swiss francs (€28) to buy. See this screenshot (which actually doesn't do the program full justice at all).

Back in the good old MS-DOS days, Norton Commander was one utility program that was absolutely indispensible. I stayed with version 2 for years during the 80s. Here's a great screenshot so you can see what it looks like (it says it's v5.5 but it looks the same as v2).

What this great program did was enable you to manage your file system (at a time when there was no real Windows, just a shell on top of DOS) - you had a command prompt (basically, what you see now when you type 'cmd' in Start > Run in Windows) and had to type instructions at the command line to run programs (one at a time), create directories, copy/delete files, see even hidden files, etc.

Thinking about MS-DOS utlitiies, another one I used in the early 90s was Lotus Magellan 2. What a great program! I still have the original disks and manuals. And I wonder what became of 1-Dir? Made by Borland, I think. I used that at times during the 80s.

But nothing beat the Commander for its simplicity and ease of use.

Posted by Neville at 06:46 PM | Permalink

XS4ALL, my ISP here in The Netherlands, gives great service. I've been using their Fast ADSL service for the past two years and have no complaints. And it is fast.

So it's great to hear that my net experiences are about to get even faster. Even better to learn that this isn't going to cost me any more:

With effect from 1 February 2005 XS4ALL is substantially increasing the download and upload speeds of its Start, Lite, Basic and Fast ADSL accounts. The new speeds are detailed in the following table.

The new speeds will be implemented from 1 February. The precise date of the speed increase for your ADSL connection is not known, but the adjustment will be completed by 31 March 2005.

If you're in The Netherlands, and want to do business with a reliable and cost-effective ISP, I'd recommend this one.

Posted by Neville at 06:45 PM | Permalink