Here is what we did:

1. Access the database

Once the database was created and uploaded, we needed to access it. Our personal favourite desktop tool for the job is HeidiSQL.

2. Add a new user

To do this, go to the wp_users table. From there, you can add your username, user_nicename, email, etc.

The password though is a bit tricky. Assuming that the encryption is a standard MD5 Hash and not with SALT, you can insert a password (say it’s 123456) as follows:

"Update [table_prefix - usually wp_]users set user_pass=md5('123456') where ID=[id # of user you are trying to update];"

3. Add User to sites

Now that the basic user information is added, now we need to associate it with a site. To do so you would add the following fields:

• wp_capabilities -> a:1:{s:13:”administrator”;s:1:”1″;}
• wp_user-settings -> editor=tinymce&mfold=o&align=center&libraryContent=browse&urlbutton=custom&imgsize=full
• wp_user_level -> 10

Do this for all sites, wp_, wp_1_. wp_2_, wp_3, etc.

4. Add Site Admins in wp_sitemeta

Okay, great. Now you have added yourself as an admin for each sites. However, you still aren’t yet set to change Network Settings. For this, you need to go to [table_prefix - usually wp_]sitemeta. From there search for a meta_key called “site_admins.” The syntax is in the screenshot below. Let’s analyze the syntax.

a:3:{i:0;s:5:"admin";i:1;s:9:"user12345";i:2;s:10:"user234567";}

• “a:3″ -> for network Admins, there will be 3. The succeeding text will now list them.
• “i:0″, “i:1″, ”i:2″ -> This is the user order: Admin1, Admin2, Admin3, etc.
• “s:5″, “s:9″, “s:10” -> This represents the number of characters of the declared username! This apparently was added as a security feature of sorts. If the number of characters are off than this will not work!
• “admin,” “irisemedia,” etc. -> This is the declared username that will be associated with the Network Admins

Now, try logging in and see if it works.

Source: http://www.irisemedia.com/blog/2013/04/30/how-to-add-a-user-to-a-wordpress-multisite-via-database-as-an-administrator.html

Simply put, this is plain cool. Now if only I knew where to find a replacement screen…

(Credit: Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)

Note: This is possibly my most controversial, yet gutsy, post as of yet:

Google. The very name evokes the word search, and has been used as a substitute in sentences, such as “I Googled this” and “I Googled that.” Nothing can take that away from them – they earned their success for the most part. However, when conducting mergers and acquisitions of larger companies, it’s very easy to get so large that it’s no longer one unit, rather it’s a jumble of companies and partners mixed together. Also, when the number of partners increase, so do the number of opinions, which in turn mean longer time for decision-making. Also, “don’t be evil” ceases to exist when a company becomes more money-centric rather than simply a service that happens to also make money. That said, please don’t try to philosophize with me that “to be” is different than “to do;” I can tire the best of them with my philosophical rantings.

In any case, this I believe has happened with Google. I’ve been a huge fan of Google when it came to search, was one of their first GMail users way back when in 2005 (when you needed an invite and one could only email up to 6 people – total), widely embraced Google Docs/Wave integration/Drive, loved Google Maps and it’s API to connect to, and was seriously debating on whether or not to obtain a Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone, which is widely accepted as Google Android’s flagship device.

That debating ended when a) I noticed flaws on the phone, and b) Google’s policy changes in the name of money. Look, I understand that a company needs to make money to survive, but there needs to be a line. I believe that Google has had it’s biggest success when it offered tons of free products in the name of the expansion of knowledge and innovation. It “just so happened to make money” by:

1. Adwords Ads,

2. Adwords certification exams ($50 a test, each of which changes every 2 weeks),

3. Google Apps for Business for anything over 10 users (minimum $5/user/month), and

4. Royalties based on the Android operating system which strongly promotes Google’s brand.

“Just so happening to make money” while running a service to improve the internet world was what caused me to be enthralled by what Google stood for, and to use their products over any other.

 Google Changes that Honestly Pissed Me Off

However, I noticed a few changes over the last little while that, in all honesty, has pissed off even a dedicated Google user like me. These are:

1. Google Apps for Business (and Business Emails) No Longer Being Free

Google possibly noticed that their Apps for Business model was possibly exploited by up-and-coming small businesses, especially some SEO companies registering hundreds of domain names along with free Google Apps Business accounts since one formerly could get up to 10 email accounts, and at one time up to 50. Google made a controversial decision to close down the free accounts and only leave the paid services up. This is a problem because this translates into a minimum of $5/user/month! While I maintain that Google has perhaps the best email servers in the world, this is a big problem for small businesses wanting to start out with the Google experience and simply cannot afford it. Also, this was made off-the-cuff by Google with only 2 days notice. On Thursday, December 8, 2012 the notice went up only on Google’s private blog, and the change was made on Saturday, December 10, 2012. For many, this took us completely by surprise. This annoyed me greatly as I had promised a couple of clients to move them over to Google Apps for Business that weekend. On a side note, Google’s new greedy angle had eased my decision into choosing purchasing the Apple iPhone 5 over a Google Android phone (which basically copied Apple’s patented iPhone idea).

2. Google Killed Search with Panda and Other Link-Killing Algorithms

Google in many ways killed search, in my honest opinion, for many companies with its Panda algorithm update last April, 2012. Their objective was simply to de-rank websites with spammy backlinks. While this makes sense for sites that illegitimately are getting onto Page 1, it doesn’t for many innocent businesses hiring white-hat SEO companies, that in some cases now need to restructure their entire on-line business model thanks to Panda. Google’s answer to businesses that have been wronged was for webmasters to submit spreadsheets of removed links through Google Webmaster Tools, and also to provide feedback using a form they created in Google Docs. In effect they multiplied their workload exponentially by now needing to fire-fight hundreds of millions of websites!

While I understand their objective, they should have tested it further and considered the repercussions. I don’t feel that they did that, and it makes Google look amateurish. So much so that it  makes one wonder if right now Google even knows what it’s doing, let alone the rest of us!

To add insult to injury, Google’s now furthered their link-killing campaign by penalizing advertorials. At the same time Google will give credit to itself, lending to the idea that there may be a double standard invoked by Google.

These are big strikes against Google when:

1. Facebook is boasting that their search engine is better than Google’s because while Google relies on artificial intelligence, Facebook can leverage real human intelligence to give users what they want, and

2. Yahoo is being successfully run (so far) by Marissa Mayer, one of Google’s original employees and the brains behind many of Google’s most innovative features, including GMail.

This is also a big problem for SEO companies when almost every linking strategy that’s thought of is being put down by Google. How are SEO companies to know what works/doesn’t work for Google/Panda when it seems like Google even doesn’t?

3. Google Places or Plus Business Pages – Which is It?

From the beginning I said that Google Places (formerly Local Business Listings) was operated with a Wild West mentality. Fast-forward 3 years later, I still maintain that stance. While Google has made a valiant effort to integrate all of their products into one unit, they have failed to do the same with Google Places, which is a shame as it ties in with Google Maps.

For example, some glaring problems with Google Places are:

1. Lack of multiple accounts.

One is unable to share a Google Places listing with multiple accounts. If an account is made with one email address, it cannot be moved. You need to re-create the listing, but that also means that reviews will need to be re-created from scratch.

2. Post-card Verification Only

The only type of verification today is through a post-card mailed in within 2-3 weeks of registering a “place.” This is surprising considering how everything around us is going paperless and all one needs is for a negligent mailman to drop the card somewhere in the street.

3. No way to claim an already-claimed listing

If one wants a listing showing ones own business changed or taken off but the listing is owned by a different email address, good luck in changing that.

4. No Phone Support

Google does not provide phone support for Places. This is a problem as Places is tied into everything including Adwords. However, Google will provide support for Adwords but not Places or any other service. Again, it’s all about money as Adwords is the primary money-maker for Google.

Meanwhile, Google Plus, a completely different script, has Business pages that also integrates with Google Maps. Google Plus pages is much more robust and allows for multi-account administration, no verification and more, so it’s easy to see that this is the direction that Google seems to be taking. However, the transition between these two still-very-different interfaces is a pain.

So what’s next for Google? Are they phasing out more products, or looking to restructure? All I can say is, if Google continues to annoy more people with their policies, people will gradually opt out of Google until there’s not much left.

People say that accusing people or places of being evil is the direct result of ignorance. With Google, I will admit that I like many other SEO’s are ignorant/unaware of what thinking is going on in Google’s GooglePlex. Somehow I believe that even Google doesn’t know what it’s thinking! It’s grown so large and confusing that finding it’s own brain would involve a treasure hunt.

Enter a CMS that utilizes XML files for data that’s not as robust as WordPress but “does the job.” I recently was introduced to a CMS called “Get-Simple CMS,” and am hooked. Get-Simple is a very lightweight Content Management System (CMS) that is relatively limited in features. However, it requires no MySQL database and is already looks like it has the basic array of materials for a CMS. It has a photo gallery, basic shopping cart, SEO plugin, custom SEO-friendly URLs, a WYSIWYG editor, an XML sitemap, a contact form, and more. It’s also very easy to theme from any HTML theme you choose. What’s more is that it loads very fast.

I strongly recommend Get-Simple to anyone looking for a simple 5-20 page site with some “kick.” I’ve been using it for my personal site and so far like it’s functionality, though again, it’s not as feature-rich as WordPress.

For more XML-based Content Management Systems, visit the following links:

• http://www.tutorialfeed.org/2009/08/list-of-xml-based-cms-for-web.html
• http://speckyboy.com/2010/07/19/14-light-and-east-to-use-open-source-content-management-systems/
• http://bacsoftwareconsulting.com/blog/index.php/web-development/best-free-content-management-systems-cms/

Atari has been making video games for over 40 years, starting with Pong in 1971. They made breakthroughs in an age where most kids were playing Pinball.

Atari, you will be missed.

Below is an infographic, courtesy of Mashable, on Atari’s long and venerable history.

1. I Like It

That should be # 1, always. You should always like what you are getting. I like the iPhone 5, hence I got it.

2. The Apps I Already Have

While Google Play has drastically improved it’s list of apps, there are a number of Apps that I already purchased through the Apple store for my old iPhone and I didn’t want to re-purchase them for the Android if I didn’t have to. Also, there are certain specialty Apps that the Android simply doesn’t have right not.

3. My iCloud Contacts

As I have done before with other phone transfers, one of the most challenging is successfully transferring ALL contacts. With iCloud that’s not the case as the contacts download to your new iPhone seamlessly.

4. The Consistency

Whatever Apple device you get, you know what are getting. And, it doesn’t crash or get viruses easily. Being that Android is on many different devices, it can operate differently depending on the device it’s installed on. Android has also been reported to operate sluggishly on many devices.

With iPhones you are getting a device that works well almost all of the time, even on half the RAM (1 GB) that the Samsung Galaxy S3 has (2GB) and a relatively slower processor (A6 is dual-core whereas SnapDragon is supposedly Quad-Core). There are other components that somehow make an iPhone “just work,” and well.

The iPhone 5 has already been speed- and performance-tested side by side with a Samsung Galaxy S3, which shows that the iPhone 5 by far outperforms the Galaxy despite the less powerful features. Something was done right.

5. The Durability

The iPhone 5 will survive most common “drops” that can accidentally occur at any moment at any day while at most leaving small nicks. When a Samsung Galaxy phone, though, drops, it doesn’t nick: it cracks and sometimes shatters! While the HTC phone has proven to be waterproof, it makes things more complicated when choosing a phone, doen’t it?

Here is a great video of a sample drop test between a Samsung Galaxy S3 and an iPhone 5. However, if you go onto YouTube to search drop tests you will see others as well with similar results.

6. The Display

Say what you will, but the Retina display of the iPhone 5 makes “white” look more like “white,” and produces sharper colors. The Samsung Galaxy S3 Android phone has a new display type called AMOLED, which makes colors more vibrant but you can tell that there is something lacking.

7. A Closed System

Okay, this is not really a reason for getting the iPhone 5, but still. Apple has long been criticized for being a closed system. For better or worse, this really protects the phone from incompatible programs that can slow down the phone, and even viruses.

8. The Feel When Holding It

This was another big factor in my decision making. At a recent event I met two family members, one with the iPhone 5 and one with the Samsung Galaxy S3. I was able to hold one phone on each hand and knew what I wanted. The iPhone 5 felt thinner and being made of metal felt more comfortable and more “authoritative” at the same time, which was great. The Samsung Galaxy S3 though felt like cheap plastic, and the wideness as well as the overall size made it feel like I was holding a tablet to make calls, which can get uncomfortable after a while. I didn’t like that and right then and there “just knew” which phone I wanted to get.

9. The Camera

Yes, believe it or not, I also got the iPhone 5, in part because of the Camera. While the Samsung Galaxy S3 Android phone has many more photo features than the iPhone 5, most of those are in fact rarely used, which can complicate things. Also, the Panorama feature was simply something I felt I needed to have, which I felt the iPhone did better than the Samsung.

10. The Software Updates

This is important as most Android devices don’t make it easy to simply upgrade your Operating System. the iPhone provides free software upgrades as they come out, offering more and more features.

Conclusion

Both phones otherwise were comparable. Apple’s Siri goes head-to-head with Android’s many alternatives, namely Maluuba. Samsung has Near Field Communication (NFC), a revolutionary technology allowing multiple Samsung phone users to share encrypted data with one another. This is huge when utilizing “S Beam” to transfer photos and videos. Again, Apple (and Android) has Bump which does a great job on its own.

Can Apple duplicate NFC and “S Beam” in the near future? Perhaps, as Apple recently was awarded a patent for an NFC alternative. On the other hand, perhaps not as it’s not clear that the technology will really help out in the long run. Keep in mind though that the “S Beam” feature involves a LOT of data usage, so expect to pay a pretty penny there. That’s something that Samsung will never admit in its commercials

For the record, the iPhone has its own S-Beam feature in a special app called “Bump” (https://bu.mp/), which I have used to transfer photos just the same.

The war goes on and it really boils down to a matter of personal preference.

All that having been said, I’m no fanboy, but I love all types of technology and love what works, and works well. At home I utilize Windows, Apple/Unix and Linux devices, each for different purposes. I am honestly sick of one product being bashed over another.

I learned a while ago that it’s silly to say that one product is always better than another in the name of brand loyalty. This is why the following video resonates with me big time:

But hey, that’s what competition is all about, right?

Again, this post is not why one phone is better than the other, rather why I want one phone over another

Keep in mind that this is for Dreamweaver CS5, but I’m sure that there are a lot of similarities with other versions.

Unclick Synchronization Information

Unclick “Maintain Synchronization Information.” Under Servers, click the server, then Advanced tab. From there, unclick Maintain Synchronization Information.”

Click “Use Passive FTP”

Unclick “Use Passive FTP” under the Servers tab, then on the specific server. Under the Basic tab, click “More Options,” then uncheck “Use Passive FTP.”

Unclick Enable Cache

Unclick “Enable Cache” from Advanced Settings/Local Info after you click “Manage Site.”

I hope this saves you a lot of time and headache from large sites loading. Enjoy!

RJH Solutions was hired to build the website containing the products – that’s as far as it goes. Since Curtis/Proscan is generally a wholesaler and you likely have gotten it from a 3rd-party chain if you are reading this post, my advice is as follows: If the product broke, you would need to contact either the store where you purchased the item from, or the manufacturer itself.

In general, products of many brands that are defective should be returned to the supplier if something doesn’t work. If it’s something else that’s Android related, if RJH solutions doesn’t have a solution (yet), Google it – seriously. RJH Solutions will provide a few technical specs on how to negotiate Android on a Proscan tablet device, but if the screen is let’s say cracked or the display is fuzzy, that’s unfortunately something we cannot support. Our apologies and best of luck to your device getting repaired or replaced.

That having been said, RJH Solutions wishes you a happy, successful new year!

One of the most glaring items that are missing though is Google Play. While Android is open-source and there are other sites to download apps, Google Play seems to be one of the most essential items for any Android device. So, what do we do?

Manually install it, of course! However, Google Play isn’t available for this device, but the next-best thing, the Android Market, is. Installing Android Market was a straightforward process. I followed the following steps, courtesy of The Digital Reader:

Instructions on how to download the Android Market (not Google Play) to the Proscan Tablet

1. Download this ZIP file to your computer.
2. Open the Zip file to your computer and copy the contents to a folder on your Polaroid tablet via a USB cable. Then unplug your tablet.
3. Once you’ve done that, open the file manager on your tablet and go to the folder where you put the files. Try to install the following apps in this order (double click on the files in order to run them):

• OneTimeInitializer-signed.apk
• SetupWizard.apk
• vending-3.1.3-signed.apk

As a 4th step you might want to press the home button, select the checkmark which says “open always with”, and then select Launcher. This will guarantee that whenever you press the home button you will see the home screen and not be prompted with a menu.

I have Aldiko and the Google Apps installed and they work fine. Note that I don’t have the Google videos working on the tablet and I have no way to test it due to the simple fact that I don’t buy my videos via Google Play.

As for a proper review for the tablet, check out the YouTube clip below: