Archive for March, 2011

Optimal Apache compression and expire settings

Mar 20th

Posted by chrisdanford in Web

No comments

Below are compression and expiration settings for Apache that I’ve found optimal for StepMania.  You can paste them into your .htaccess file.

  • Don’t mess with PHP’s ob_gzhandler.  The settings below enable compression at the Apache module level, are the cleanest way to handle compression of non-PHP types, and are better performing to boot.
  • If your PHP application has a option for compression (it’ll be using ob_gzhander), turn that off in favor of these settings.
  • Web-Sniffer is useful for testing whether your compression and cache-control settings are taking effect. It’s also useful for troubleshooting HTTP error responses that Firefox and Chrome hide with pretty error pages.
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/svg+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/x-icon
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-httpd-php
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-httpd-fastphp
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-httpd-eruby
</IfModule>

<IfModule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive On

ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/png "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/jpg "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/gif "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/pdf "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType audio/x-wav "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType audio/mpeg "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType video/mpeg "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType video/mp4 "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType video/quicktime "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType video/x-ms-wmv "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash "access 1 month"

ExpiresByType text/css "access plus 1 hour"
ExpiresByType text/javascript "access plus 1 hour"
</IfModule>
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340x_chrome_side_tabs

Browser tab management

Mar 15th

Posted by chrisdanford in Uncategorized

1 comment

I’m one of those people that uses the browser as a todo list – there are multiple 100s of tabs open across my browsers and several computers.  These are extensions and settings that I’ve found invaluable.

Vertical Tabs

Tab Thumbnail View

These aren’t exactly tab-related, but they allow for mostly seamless hopping between browsers and between computers.

  • Password Sync for both Firefox 4 and Chrome: LastPass extension
  • Bookmark Sync for both Firefox 4 and Chrome: Xmarks extension
efax-boxnet

Free faxing with eFax and Box.net

Mar 4th

Posted by chrisdanford in Deals

2 comments

Every couple of months I have to send a fax.  Here’s the solution I’ve been using to send faxes free, reliably, and without ads.

  • Open a Box.net account
  • Upload your Word document or PDF
  • Click the drop-down next to your document, choose More Actions -> Add Applications
  • Add the eFax application
  • Send with eFax will now appear in your list of actions.  Choose that option, type in a phone number, and you’re done!
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