Safer browsing on the Internet

privacy-cookiesSafer browsing on the Internet

If you are concerned about the ´behind the scenes´ of your Internet access, you may apply the following changes on your network:

– use DNS servers that block sites hosting malware, phishing schemes, and scams:

guidelines for using alternative DNS servers can be found on WikiLeaks

a list of Free & Public DNS Servers is published by about.com

– install tools to detect and protect against web page trackers (scripts, pixels, and other elements):

here is a list of Browser Extensions that Protect Your Privacy

use Ghostery to control page trackers

Check your pc or mac for IP leaks and see what your give away on information: IP/DNS Detection.

WordPress installation

WordPress installation

This is a quick guide for Narfum Services users to install WordPress.

To prepare the installation, you need to ask the administrator for a MySQL database, login and password.

Narfum Services provides web access to your MySQL database.

In the file wp-config.php you have to enter the MySQL information:

Database Name

yoursqldatabase_main

Database Username

login

Database Password

password

Database Host

localhost

The WordPress files then have to be copied (ftp) to the server in the directory:

\yourdomain\www\

Once all the files have been uploaded to the directory, you can start WordPress with the following URL:

http://<yourwebsite>/wp-admin/install.php

The first page will ask you to give the Title of your Blog or Website and a username with password. The username and password are used to login to your WordPress environment.

VISTA and Chrome with McAfee Bitdefender

VISTA and Chrome with McAfee Bitdefender

Chrome traffic may be blocked by Bitdefender. Check the McAfee Firewall settings in that case and reset the firewall rules.

To reset the firewall rules open BitDefender, switch it to Expert View from the Options button then go to the Firewall tab -> Programs and click on the ‘Reset Rules‘ button. Confirm when asked to reset the rules then restart the PC. The first time you run Chrome again, the Firewall should set a new rule and let the traffic flow.

WordPress in het Nederlands

WordPress in het Nederlands

De wordpress bestanden kan je ophalen op de WordPress Dutch site.

Volg de instructies en let in het bijzonder op de aanpassing in het wp-config.php bestand:

define (‘WPLANG’, ”);

dient veranderd te worden naar

define (‘WPLANG’, ‘nl‘);

in de versie 3.0.1 is dit reeds aangepast in het wp-config-sample bestand.

Breng de nodige wijzigingen aan voor de webhosting van jouw keuze. De aanpassingen hebben voornamelijk te maken met de MySQL-databank. De webhosting beheerder levert jou een databanknaam (database), gebruikersnaam (username) en paswoord (password). Deze gegevens dien je aan te passen in het wp-config.php bestand:

define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘jouw_databanknaam‘);

define(‘DB_USER’, ‘jouw_gebruikersnaam‘);

define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘jouw_paswoord‘);

Heb je reeds andere installaties voltooïd, kies dan een nieuw uniek voorvoegsel (prefix) en pas dit aan  in het wp-config.php bestand:

$table_prefix = ‘uniekvoorvoegsel_’;

Na het aanbrengen van deze wijzigingen kan je de bestanden overzetten (bevoorbeeld met ftp) naar de webhosting map, bestemd voor jouw webpagina’s. Vervolgens kan je de WordPress installatie starten (wp-admin/install.php).

Indien het gekozen voorvoegsel (prefix) reeds bestaat in de MySQL-databank tabel, krijg je een foutmelding bij de installatie (zie hieronder):

Starten zonder installatie

Vooraleer te starten met de installatie, kan je gratis een nieuwe blog of webstek aanmaken op WordPress.com. Dit laat toe om reeds vertrouwd te worden met de gebruikersomgeving en enkele dingen uit te proberen. De blog zal echter initieel in het Engels worden aangemaakt. Je kan in de Instellingen (Algemeen) van het Blogbeheer (Admin) omschakelen naar het Nederlands.

501 Method Not Implemented

‘501 Method Not Implemented’ error may occur when the firewall blocks any of your pages with scripting language.

This occured on one of my pages which included a script for a weather magnet.

To fix the error, it requires the server administrator to add an exception rule for ‘wp-admin/post.php’ in the firewall configuration.

Netgear WPN802v2 – invalid security certificate

Using Firefox 3.0.x to connect to the Netgear Wireless Accesspoint WPN802v2, may fail due to an invalid security certificate error (see picture below):

Alert: <ip address> uses an ivalid security certificate

When this error occurs, you won’t be able to connect to the admin interface of the Wireless Accesspoint. I managed to fix this by creating a security exception in the Firefox Certificate Manager:

Select in ‘Tools‘ from the Menu bar, ‘Options’:

Select in the ‘Advanced’ tab – the ‘Encryption’ tab. Next, select ‘View Certificates‘.

In the Certificates Manager, select the ‘Servers’ tab. Next, select ‘Add Exception‘

Enter the IP Address of the Wireless Access Point in the ‘Add Security Exception’ window and select the ‘Get Certificate‘ button.

The Certificate Status will be displayed.

Select ‘Confirm Security Exception‘ and exit the Certificate Manager.

You should now be able to logon the Admin interface.

Optimize Firefox

Optimize Firefox (3.0.x)

Firefox can be manually tweaked by typing ‘ about:config’ in the address bar and then modifying the values of the respective fields of the Firefox control panel (i.e. the page that is displayed).

However, the easier way is to use FireTune, a freeware tool that helps to fine tune network related settings of Firefox.

If that is not enough, then you may consider the Configuration Mania extension to tweak many of the advanced (and hidden) settings.

Disable or remove any unused or unnecessary plug-ins, extensions and add-ons.

To minize page load time, I recommend to install these extensions:

Flashblock (to control Flash animation)

PDF Download (to control PDF files)

While Firefox can be instaled without (Windows) administration rights, you may encounter problems to install plug-ins. Here is some good advice to install the Flash Player plugin.