PHP JSON Module Bug Fix

Rai    Linux     bug, compile, download, fix, json, module, php, source

If you are encountering any weird stuff with your PHP-JSON module installation, you might want to reinstall JSON using this link, this might get rid of the bug that is pestering you and your application.

First, uninstall any previous JSON installation you have so as not to conflict with the new one. To make sure you got the old JSON out, check your list of PHP modules by running:

php -m

JSON should not be listed and make sure you do not see any errors either. Doing this will prevent further headaches, trust me.

Perform the following steps to install the bug-free version of JSON from source:

1. Download the JSON source from here. You can use wget to download the source if you are using CLI

wget http://aurore.net/projects/php-json/php-json-ext-1.2.1.tar.bz2

2. Uncompress the archive and change directory.

tar jxf php-json-ext-1.2.1.tar.bz2
cd php-json-ext-1.2.1

3. Run phpize. Make sure that phpize is installed before proceeding to this step. phpize is included in the php-devel package.

phpize

4. Configure, make and make install

./configure
make
make install

JSON is now installed, but make sure that json.so is loaded in your php.ini file.

1. Open php.ini file. If you are unsure about the location of your php.ini file, run

php -i | grep php.ini

You should see something like this:

Loaded Configuration File => /etc/php.ini

2. Add this at the last line of the configuration file:

extension=json.so

3. You might want to restart Apache to make sure everything is still working.

To check if JSON is loaded as module, run php -m again, make sure JSON is in the list.

Now, to test JSON, open an editor and copy these lines:

< ?php
$input = '{ "test" : 12121211212121 }';
$val = json_decode($input, true);
print $val["test"];
?>

Save the file (json-test.php is the filename in this case).

Execute the file by running php json-test.php

The result should be 12121211212121

Capture Time To First Byte using curl

Rai    Linux     calculate, check, curl, download, load time, test, time to first byte, ttfb, website

Working with websites is equivalent to non-ending website testing. Checking the speed of the site itself is not a new thing to check when doing performance diagnostics. And I found out that curl can calculate the speed of a website, from the initial connection time, to the time the first byte is downloaded, up to the total time the site has finished loading.

Here is a sample command using curl:

curl -o /dev/null -w "Connect: %{time_connect} TTFB: %{time_starttransfer} Total time: %{time_total} \n" http://inserturl.here

This command will output this:


[root@rai01 ~]# curl -o /dev/null -w "Connect: %{time_connect} TTFB: %{time_starttransfer} Total time: %{time_total} \n" http://pinoytux.com
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- 0:00:01 --:--:-- 0
Connect: 0.268 TTFB: 1.528 Total time: 1.528

Looks like my website is fast

The first data is the Connect time, which means this is how long it took for the curl to connect to the website.
Connect: 0.268

The second data is time when the first byte was received, Time To First Byte (TTFB).
TTFB: 1.528

The last data is the total time for the site to finish loading.
Total time: 1.528

You can also turn off the progress bar by adding the -s switch to the command.

From: http://www.unquietdesperation.com/2009/03/19/time-to-first-byte-with-curl/

Fedora 10

Rai    Linux     download, fedora 10, Linux, release note

I just found out that Fedora 10 is available for download.

In a nutshell, Fedora 10 has these changes from its predecessor, Fedora 9:

• Wireless connection sharing enables ad hoc network sharing
• Better setup and use of printers through improved management tools
• Virtualization storage provisioning for local and remote connections now simplified
• SecTool is a new security audit and intrusion detection system
• RPM 4.6 is a major update to the powerful, flexible software management libraries
• Glitch free audio and better performance is achieved through a rewrite of the PulseAudio sound server to use timer-based audio scheduling
• Improved webcam support
• Better support for infrared remote controls makes them easier to connect and work with many applications
• The paths /usr/local/sbin:/usr/sbin:/sbin have been added to the PATH for normal users, to simplify command-line administration tasks

Just to let you know, I am still stuck with Fedora Core 6. I would *love* to upgrade to higher version, I just can’t find a server large enough to fit my backup files in.

Torrent Clients for Linux

Rai    Linux     azureus, bittorrent, client, deluge, download, ktorrent, Linux, qbittorrent, torrent, transmission, utorrent

I am a huge fan of torrent downloading. It makes downloading files so much easier and faster. For one, I would rather download Linux ISO’s by torrent than using the traditional HTTP and FTP transfers. Torrent downloading is faster and more reliable, and of course you can resume the download anytime without losing the integrity of the file. This is handy for those whose Internet connection just cannot stay connected for more than an hour, which is quite normal in my area.

There are quite a few torrent clients available for Linux which are free (as beer) and free (as freedom). To name a few, these are the clients that I have found so far:

1. Azureus or Vuze

Azureus, now called Vuze, is a free bittorrent client, which is Java-based packed with so many features that caters both new and advanced users. This is one of the best clients around, but I find this a bit heavy on resources, maybe because it is Java-based. It has nice interface and you can perform your torrent search inside the client. Vuze HD Network is also included in the client so you can have the latest movie previews and reviews in your torrent client.

The download page is here and you can read the installation howto’s in Azureus Wiki.

2. Deluge

Deluge is another popular and free torrent client for Linux with a front-end powered by PyGTK. It is a lightweight client since it uses Python, and it claims to be unobtrusive and will not hog all the resources of your machine. It is also packed with features for both novice and advanced users.

The download page for Deluge is here.

3. BitTorrent (the client)

BitTorrent is the first client I have used way back 8 years ago, although I used the one for Windows. It is very simple, no-BS torrent client which is great for no-fuss users. In Linux, BitTorrent is a CLI client, which is very simple to use and available in package repositories.

The client for Linux machines can be found here.

4. KTorrent

Written in C++. KTorrent is another torrent client that works great in Linux because it is, well, built for Linux and KDE. I find KTorrent to be super lightweight and very easy to use since I use it in my Fedora machine. The package is also available in repositories and as usual, free and open source, so installing is not so hard to do.

It can be downloaded here or install it using your package manager (yum or apt-get).

5. Transmission

Transmission is a torrent client built with Ubuntu distribution, so it must be a really good client. It claims to be simple, fast and lightweight, a must-haves for Linux packages. It is written in C and available for Mac machines as well. Although I have not tried Transmission, some users find it a very good program to use.

The package is available in repositories of Ubuntu, but if you want to download the package, it can be found here.

6. qBitTorrent

If you are into lightweight and fast client for downloading torrents, you can try qBitTorrent. It is built using C++ and Qt4 and is available on Ubuntu’s package repositories. I have not tried this one either so I appreciate any feedbacks from users who are currently using qBitTorrent.

The download page is here, and it also contains instructions how to download using apt-get.

If you are wondering what clients I personally use, I have uTorrent in my Windows XP machine and kTorrent in my Fedora machine. I appreciate any feedbacks that you have about the clients I have listed and you can also share here what client you are using.

Mozilla Breaks Guinness World Records!

Rai    Internet     download, firefox, guinness, mozilla, software, world record

It is now official! Guinness officials announced that Firefox holds the record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours with 8,002,530 number of Firefox 3 downloads beginning 18:16 +UTC on June 17, 2008 to 18:16 +UTC on June 18, 2008.

Firefox community now has 180 million users in 230 countries all around the world. The best part of it is I am part of the event! And of course you are too, if you downloaded Firefox 3 on that date. And to celebrate this joyous event, you can get your personalized Firefox Download Day certificate here.

Congratulations, Firefox team!