Build Your Own Blog Archives

I guess the first decision is which webserver software to use. There’s plenty to choose from, but by far the most common are Microsoft’s IIS and Apache. Well, my Ebay box came with W2K pro on it, so it makes sense to use IIS right? Well, not so fast. There are plenty of limitations with IIS unless you pay for the server license (only 10 concurrent logons) which may cause problems. Again, use your favorite search engine to look for IIS versus Apache if you want to read more articles about the difference.

It wasn’t these differences that made me choose Apache. I spent hours trying to find IIS to install it. IIS is free with your operating system – all you have to do is stick in your system disk and load it as an optional extra. Ah! That would be the problem. This is an OEM machine that comes with the software bundled, so there is no disk to stick in and install from. Surely then you just need to download it from Microsoft’s website. Hmmm, not quite. The website just tells you to stick the disk in and install from there.

Being a product of the Microsoft generation, it made me nervous to try something different. Going out the comfort zone, but if Microsoft aren’t going to make their product available then we have to look elsewhere. Nothing ventured, nothing gained – so I installed Apache.

(True story – many years ago [pre 9/11 I hasten to add] a group of us were traveling through an airport with shotguns that need to be declared at customs. The airport in question was small and a couple of the guys missed the “red channel” and walked through. When confronted by the customs official with "didn’t you see the arrows?" They responded with “Arrows? I didn’t even see the Indians!” Needless to say the customs officials were not amused and we all got to stay longer than expected in the airport whilst the entire group of 20 had their luggage searched with a fine tooth comb).

Yes, we’re onto the setup. Rather than bore you with all the details, here’s where we take advantage of other resources. DSLWebserver (edit http://www.dslwebserver.com no longer seems to be working) has pretty much everything you need to know about setting up your own webserver. Instead, we’ll look at some of the choices made.

There’s an advert on TV in the States that has a pre-teen girl talking to her mother in "text message" speech. Complete with subtitles for those of us that don’t understand abbreviations like OMG or TISNF. I guess I’m the older generation now as I obviously need subtitles. Far be it from me to understand these abbreviations, I mean … WTF.

Any of you remember those old jokes when computers first came out about homosexual command line prompts – C:Enter I prefer the American version (utilizing the fact that this "#" is the pound symbol rather than the hash symbol) – C:Enter:###

What’s all this got to do with this blog then? Bugger all really – thought I’d sidetrack a little. I ended up on some site somewhere during this project that talked about how to write the best blogs. Really, all it said was to include photos to make it more interesting. My guess is that article was written by a pre-teen that had far more interesting things to write about than putting together a webserver and blog site. But, not wanting to debunk the idea before I’ve tried it, please find a photo of my Ebay purchase. And, through the wizardry of some javascript, if you double click on the image in this blog, the picture will open up in a larger window so you can see the details more clearly. Go on, give it a try ……


…….there, where else can you have so much fun?

So, how did it all begin? Rather than how, more of a "why did it all begin?" Originally from the UK, I got a job offer in a land far, far away (the good old US of A) which I decided to accept. Nothing strange until you get to the bit about the girlfriend deciding to relocate as well. (Not strange that a girlfriend would want to move to the US, strange that someone into computers and Star Trek has a girlfriend).

Anyway, job in the US --> Girlfriend comes to US --> Get married --> Have baby --> Need to share photos with the grandparents back in the UK.

So why not use one of the many websites that allow you to share photos? First, they make it difficult to transfer files in bulk – you can download one at a time, but you can’t leave the computer downloading a large zip file. Second, it would be too easy.

Third, and probably the most important reason, I was zoning out one Sunday afternoon watching the cars go round and round whilst surfing the web. Ended up on Ebay and started bidding on stuff. Found a computer that was mis-listed and going cheap, bid on it and won. Therefore have a spare PC that needed a project in order to justify the purchase.

All makes sense really when you think about it.

Welcome to the Build Your Own Blog (BYOB) blog. These entries describe the process I went through to create this website and how some of the features have been created. This website is created and hosted on a server that sits in my house, rather than utilizing one of the web hosting services, so articles will cover setting up your own webserver as well as the content components.

These blogs will not necessarily walk through all the technical details as there are much better reference sites elsewhere on the web. Links will be included to these reference sites where applicable. The focus here will be to add commentary or describe why certain choices have been made. And most importantly, to add a little humor where possible.