My new article about mail() is available at MC Press Online. The article covers:
Read it here.
Early this week I called my web hosting provider, BlueHost, to ask to be upgraded from PHP 4 to 5. They graciously offered to move my files to a PHP 5 server at no charge. I was warned, though, that my site might be inaccessible during the move.
Later that day, I saw that the site was running on PHP 5.
One problem: my custom MX records, pointing to the wonderful FastMail email host, were reset to their defaults. People who wrote to me the morning of October 3 had their email bounced back to them.
BlueHost corrected my MX records quickly once I told them. Email flowed properly within an hour or so.
Lesson: anyone with custom MX records should, if altering web host settings, check the MX records immediately thereafter. Easy way to check: MX Lookup Utility.
When my friend reported that her Internet Explorer 6 browser crashed repeatedly, I suggested she delete temporary internet files by clicking Tools/Internet Options. She said, “Nothing happens when I click Tools/Internet Options.”
Tools/Internet Options did not work. No window appeared. Other features, such as Edit/Find, also didn’t work, or didn’t work consistently. I could eventually make these windows appear by clicking various options over several minutes.
I eventually discovered the pattern.
No web page loaded: Tools/Internet Options & Edit/Find did not work.
Any web page loaded: Tools/Internet Options & Edit/Find worked properly.
My PC, which runs the same version of IE (6.0.2900.2180) and Windows (XP Service Pack 2) as my friend’s, does not show the odd behavior described above. My Internet Explorer is willing to show Internet Options and Find any time, even when no web page is loaded.
I’m glad to have found the pattern. We can delete temporary internet files using Tools/Internet Options (after loading a web page). Still, IE’s inconsistent behavior from PC to PC puzzles me. Any explanation from my readers?
Powerful yet unobtrusive, FireBug, a FireFox Extension by Joe Hewitt, runs in a frame that pops up only when requested or when an error occurs. It helped me solve two javascript problems today.
Thanks to Dell Sala, who told me about FireBug at Tuesday’s New York PHP meeting.
I plan to share all my writing here. My existing articles will appear first, followed by original content.
Readers will find articles about about information technology, including topics such as IBM System i (AS/400, iSeries, i5), PHP, and usability. Personal-computing tips will also abound.
This article was originally published on MC Press Online. MC Press publishes IT news, tech tips, and opinions, notably for IBM System i (AS/400, iSeries, i5). Readers who register (free) get access to forums and articles, such as Zend Brings PHP to IBM’s i5/OS (on MC Press Online).
Here’s a copy of the article (no signup needed):
http://alanseiden.com/articles/zend-brings-php-to-ibm-i5os.html