Increase / Change MySQL Import Size in PHPMyAdmin

By default the size limit for importing MySQL database is 2 MB. To increase this limit you will have to change the php.ini file which can be located in C:\WAMP\BIN\Apache\php.ini if you are using WAMP.

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upload_max_filesize

upload_max_filesize represents the size of one file which you can import. Change  it’s value to the desired size, the default will be 2M where M represents MB

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post_max_size

 Give it a larger value than upload_max_filesize

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memory_limit

and give it a larger value than both upload_max_filesize & post_max_size

Restart the WAMP server or restart it’s services and you are all set-up

How to Install WordPress on Localhost or Your Own Computer

We sometimes need to test things out with wordpress like plugins and themes before applying them on the live sites. The best way to do that is by installing wordpress on your harddrive for testing purposes. Since PHP is a server side scripting language and needs to be translated, you will have to make your computer a host. Follow the following tutorial to do that

Download and Install WAMP / XAMPP / MAMP / LAMP.

Where WAMP stands for Windows Apache MySQL and PHP
MAMP stands for Macintosh Apache MySQL and PHP
LAMP stands for Linux Apache MySQL and PHP
and XAMPP will work on whatever operating system you are using.

Choose the package which is suitable for you with respect to your operating system. Install it and you are done with setting up a localhost.

if you installed WAMP the installation directory would be C:\WAMP\ and in case of XAMPP your installation directory would be C:\XAMPP\

You can now simply type http://localhost/ in your browser and it will show you the index.php or index.htm from C:\WAMP\WWW\ or C:\XAMPP\Htdocs\ if you are using WAMP or XAMPP respectively.

Copy the wordpress package files to C:\WAMP\WWW\wordpress\ or C:\XAMPP\Htdocs\wordpress\

You now need to setup a database. To do that simply type http://localhost/ in your browser and open PHPmyadmin from the page. Type the name of the new database, let’s call it ‘wp’ and click create new database.

To configure the wordpress with your localhost and database open the wp-config-sample.php file from your wordpress folder in any text editor and use these settings:

host: ‘localhost’
user: ‘root’
pass: ”
database: ‘wp’

Save the file as wp-config.php and point your browser to http://localhost/wordpress/ The installation of wordpress on localhost will begin. Just provide your blog’s title and email address and everything is setup.

You can now use wordpress on your own computer.

Control Car From iPhone With iCar Remote

Just today I came across this cool but fake iPhone app which lets you control your car through your iPhone. You can start off your engine, open and close doors and windows and even drive your car forward or backward making use of motion sensors of the iPhone. Even though the app is fake the video is really fun to watch

Convert Photoshop Document (PSD) to WordPress Theme

Recently I shared with you an easy tool called Artisteer which lets you create wordpress themes in designer mode. All you have to do is make choices about colors, columns, menus & widgets etc. Today I will be introducing you to another software called Divine which lets you convert your PSD (Photoshop Document) files in to full fledged wordpress themes. The application comes for free as a photoshop plugin and is only 2.3 MB in size. However, the free version has some limitations.

To use the software all you have to do is

Open your PSD file in photoshop, select Divine from the menubar and click publish.

Set up the elements:

Fill in FTP details and publish

Write Mathematical Equations in Microsoft Word & Powerpoint

MathType is a must-use software and  really handy for engineering students mostly. A lot of times we have to write mathematical equations with lots of fractions, super and sub-scripts & mathematical symbols. This is where MathType is really useful. What makes it even better is it’s power of working with MS Word, Powerpoint and many other applications. You can also use it with excel spreadsheets, HTML and even wikipedia. When installed, Mathtype’s toolbar appears in all the supported programs and can be used to add equations to that program. It’s support for both Windows and Macintosh makes it more powerful. Full feature list can be seen here.

Mathtype comes in $97 while the academic version costs $57 but you can always google the free versions.

Buy here

Featured Post Gallery as a Slideshow in WordPress

Recently I wanted a plugin for my music blog which could display a slideshow of featured posts above all other posts. So I may keep displaying new content to the users along with some featured artists without taking much extra space. I googled for plugins to read reviews and see which one would work for me. I came across couple of  plugins and techyard compiled a great list. I will highly recommend you to read techyard’s post and decide which one works best for you.

My Choice:

I chose Featurific and I will be writing about that here with reasons why I picked up that. I love automation, we all do. Making use of RSS feeds, updating my Facebook fan page automatically via RSS, updating my twitter automatically via RSS and stuff like that. That was the basic reason why I wanted to try Featurific, it is very automated. All I had to do was just select once which posts to display in the slideshow and I could do that with LOTS of variations. It allowed me to display posts through different categories, post IDs, recent posts, most commented or most popular. Since I wanted to display artists with my choice and not the ones which were more popular or commented so I chose to display posts through specific category hence keeping things more automated and quick. All I had to do was post all such artists in a category called “Featured” and chose featured category to be displayed in slideshow. It allowed me to change the number of posts to display. I could select the styles and templates of slideshow out of the library of  almost 25 (and increasing).

How is it different from other such flash based slideshows:

I am sure you will be thinking displaying posts via category should be available in all other such plugins. Yes, true that is available. However, they don’t provide me the height of automation. For each post I’d like to display in the slideshow I will have to add a custom field for image which is an extra thing to do. This plugin will even work without any image in the post or it will make use of any image that is part of the post.

Support:

Another reason why I recommend this plugin over others is because of its support with non-wordpress sites. You can also implement it in other sites which are not wordpress based.

Features via (Techyard):

  • Easy to install and highly customizable
  • Runs in Flash 8
  • 21 Templates to choose from.
  • Customizable text, backgrounds, and images
  • Works on any server, out of the box
  • Runs in any browser
  • Based on XML.
  • Works on
    WordPress     blogs, and also with general sites.
  • Can also be placed in the sidebar.

Download Now

Not something you were looking for? No problem! More such plugins enlisted at Techyard.

MSN, Yahoo!, GTalk, AIM Messenger for Ubuntu

Pidgin is one of the most powerful universal chat clients which supports over 15 chat networks including MSN, Yahoo!, GTalk & AIM. One of the reasons why I think its extremely powerful is because of it’s support for Windows, Linux/UNIX, Ubuntu & Mac OS X. Another cool feature that Pidgin provides is that it lets you know about all your friends who are appearing offline :D. So, it won’t let your friends hide from you.

Complete list of Pidgin supported chat networks:

  • AIM
  • Bonjour
  • Gadu-Gadu
  • Google Talk
  • Groupwise
  • ICQ
  • IRC
  • MSN
  • MySpaceIM
  • QQ
  • SILC
  • SIMPLE
  • Sametime
  • XMPP
  • Yahoo!
  • Zephyr

Download Pidgin.

Kmess:

If you are looking for a messenger for MSN support only, you should try Kmess which is easier to use and looks more like Windows Live Messenger.

Download Kmess

Create Usernames / Vanity URLs for Facebook Fan Page

Like you can set usernames for your Facebook profiles (facebook.com/hamaddar), Facebook also allows you to set usernames for your fan pages. Facebook doesn’t explicitly provide you options to do so but it allows you to create them.

To create username for fan page:

  • Follow this link.
  • You will be asked to choose username for your profile. Since I already have a username is says my username has been set.
  • At the same page you will also see a link to create usernames for fan pages.
  • Select your page from the list of pages you own.
  • Set username.
  • Done.

Check Sites in Different Resolutions Through a Website

Just right now, I with a friend of mine (waisybabu) was tweaking up his site ArtsyHANDS. After little tweaking here and there he introduced me to one of the most useful tools which is a necessity for all the designers and developers. The web application lets you view sites in different resolutions and you don’t have to change your resolution every time you have to test your site. ViewLikeUs supports 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1400×900, 1600×1200 & 1920×1200. It also supports iPhone view! So that you can easily test your website from an iPhone user’s point of view!. Hence, allowing you to view the site in almost all the resolutions. The app goes to one of my all time favorites.


Windows 8 Transformation Pack

It’s too early to create transformations pack for Windows 8 as no details about its GUI have been leaked yet but a Microsoft fan boy at deviant-art has already created it using his fantasy and imagination. There are few traces of Windows 8 as Microsoft has spoken about  it at several places.

The transformation pack will let you transform Windows Vista to Windows 8

Download Now