Creative with Blog

Naruto Shippuden 134

2009-12-26T23:34:00.000-08:00

Naruto Shippuden 133

2009-12-26T23:24:00.000-08:00

Yahoo Web Hosting

2009-12-20T04:47:00.000-08:00

In addition to its many other online services, Yahoo! offers one all-inclusive, Unix-based shared Web hosting package.

The plan comes with a free domain name, unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, 1000 email accounts with unlimited mailbox space, WebMail, spam and virus protection, unlimited MySQL databases, shared SSL, 200 password-protected accounts, traffic and search engine statistics, credits for Google AdWords and Yahoo! search marketing, a one-month free trial of GOT Campaigner and scripts for guestbooks, PayPal payments, Yahoo! maps, site searches, phpBB and PHP-Nuke.

Yahoo! also provides hosting customers with an online site builder with tools for simple text and photo entry, customizable design templates, photo gallery and slideshow tools, maps and driving directions, space for audio tracks, daily backup and options for WordPress and MovableType blogs.

The hosting plan offers support for PHP 4.3.11, Perl 5.8.7, Flash, FrontPage, Dreamweaver, Shockwave, videos and more.

In addition, Yahoo! hosting also comes with a grand-opening email to announce site launches, search engine submissions, 30 percent off Yahoo! Local enhanced listings, and guides for search engine optimization and online marketing.

All Yahoo! hosting customers get access to 24/7 phone and email support, online getting started guides, video tutorials, an online help center and 30-day money-back guarantee.

Yahoo Small Business Web Hosting also provides e-commerce, domain name, search engine marketing and business email services.

Based in Sunnyvale, California, Yahoo! was founded in 1994.

Click Here to Visit Yahoo Small Business Web Hosting

Domains Yahoo

2009-12-20T04:42:00.000-08:00

What Is a Yahoo Domain?

The well-known Internet portal Yahoo! has joined the domain name business. The company now offers domain name registration services through its Yahoo! Small Business division. This sector of Yahoo is devoted to helping entrepreneurs get their businesses up and running by providing assistance like recruiting services, marketing tools and web hosting. The next reasonable step is to offer branded Yahoo domain registration. It’s another tool which will help business establish an online presence.

PC Magazine reviewed Yahoo Domains and gave it the highly-coveted Editor’s Choice Award. The published review states that “domain registration through Yahoo! Small Business is the easiest.” The statement reflects the level of service that one receives through a Yahoo Domain. It offers great features like domain forwarding, email forwarding, control panel with DNS management, and the most popular top-level domains. Knowledgeable customer service is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and the call is toll-free. In addition to this, one to five-year registration plans are available.

Yahoo! Domains also makes upgrading very easy for those who want to expand to other Yahoo! services. Customers may upgrade to receive a personal custom mailbox or business mail package which reflects the domain name. Users may also transfer their Yahoo! domain from another web host to Yahoo! Web Hosting. If the customer needs help creating an online store, they may summon the help of Merchant Solutions which is a program that will help them manage online sales.

PC Magazine said that a Yahoo Domain was the easiest. It is quite possible to claim that the service is one of the cheapest. It offers all of the aforementioned features for only $4.98 per year at the time of this writing. With so many wonderful features at such a low price, it is hard to overlook an offer like this one.

Opening & Ending PHP Tags

2009-05-20T13:45:00.001-07:00

To open a block of PHP code in a page you can use one of these four sets of opening and closing tags.
The first pair (<? and ?>) is called short tags. You should avoid using short tags in your application especially if it's meant to be distributed on other servers. This is because short tags are not always supported ( though I never seen any web host that don't support it ). Short tags are only available only explicitly enabled setting the short_open_tag value to On in the PHP configuration file php.ini.
So, for all PHP code in this website I will use the second pair, <?php and ?>.
Now, for the first example create a file named hello.php ( you can use NotePad or your favorite text editor ) and put it in your web servers root directory. If you use Apache the root directory is APACHE_INSTALL_DIR\htdocs, with APACHE_INSTALL_DIR is the directory where you install Apache. So if you install Apache on C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\htdocs then you put hello.php inC:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\htdocs

Example :
hello.php

Source code : hello.phps

<html>

<head>

<title>My First PHP Page</title>

</head>

<body>

<?php

echo "<p>Hello World, How Are You Today?</p>";

?>

</body>

</html>

To view the result start Apache then open your browser and go to
http://localhost/hello.php
or http://127.0.0.1/hello.php. You should see something like this in your browser window.
The example above shows how to insert PHP code into an HTML file. It also shows the echo statement used to output a string. See that the echo statement ends with a semicolon. Every command in PHP must end with a semicolon. If you forget to use semicolon or use colon instead after a command you will get an error message like this
Parse error: parse error, unexpected ':', expecting ',' or ';' in c:\Apache\htdocs\examples\get.php on line 7
However in the hello.php example above omitting the semicolon won't cause an error. That's because the echo statement was immediately followed by a closing tag.

PHP Tutorial

2009-05-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

What is PHP? PHP is a web programming language used to write dynamic webpages.
In this tutorial you will learn basics of PHP. I will assume you already know
a bit about programming language so I won't cover the whole thing.

This PHP Tutorial will explain the followings :

Opening and ending PHP tags

Comments

Variables

Types

Playing with strings

Control structures

Functions

Using Forms

First, make sure you already have PHP installed on your computer. If you
don't have it installed visit the first part of this tutorial, Install
Apache PHP and MySQL. By the way this tutorial only covers PHP 4 not the
old PHP 3 ( I wonder if anyone still use it ? ).

By the way, if you don't already use a suitable editor for coding check out this page.
If you already have your favorite editor just skip it and move on to the next part :
Opening and ending PHP tags

Installing Ubuntu inside Windows XP using VirtualBox

2009-03-31T13:39:00.001-07:00

The screenshots in this tutorial use Ubuntu 7.10, but the same principles apply also to Ubuntu 8.04

Introduction

VirtualBox allows you to run an entire operating system inside another operating system. Please be aware that you should have a minimum of 512 MB of RAM. 1 GB of RAM or more is recommended.

Comparison to Dual-Boot

Many websites (including the one you're reading) have tutorials on setting up dual-boots between Windows and Ubuntu. A dual-boot allows you, at boot time, to decide which operating system you want to use. Installing Ubuntu on a virtual machine inside of Windows has a lot advantages over a dual-boot (but also a few disadvantages).

Advantages of virtual installation

The size of the installation doesn't have to be predetermined. It can be a dynamically resized virtual hard drive.
You do not need to reboot in order to switch between Ubuntu and Windows.
The virtual machine will use your Windows internet connection, so you don't have to worry about Ubuntu not detecting your wireless card, if you have one.
The virtual machine will set up its own video configuration, so you don't have to worry about installing proprietary graphics drivers to get a reasonable screen resolution.
You always have Windows to fall back on in case there are any problems. All you have to do is press the right Control key instead of rebooting your entire computer.
For troubleshooting purposes, you can easily take screenshots of any part of Ubuntu (including the boot menu or the login screen).
It's low commitment. If you later decide you don't like Ubuntu, all you have to do is delete the virtual hard drive and uninstall VirtualBox.
You don't have to burn a CD to install Ubuntu easily.

Disadvantages of virtual installation

In order to get any kind of decent performance, you need at least 512 MB of RAM, because you are running an entire operating system (Ubuntu) inside another entire operating system (Windows). The more memory, the better. I would recommend at least 1 GB of RAM.
Even though the low commitment factor can seem like an advantage at first, if you later decide you want to switch to Ubuntu and ditch Windows completely, you cannot simply delete your Windows partition (as you would be able to in a dual-boot situation). You would have to find some way to migrate out your settings from the virtual machine and then install Ubuntu over Windows outside the virtual machine.
Every time you want to use Ubuntu, you have to wait for two boot times (the time it takes to boot Windows, and then the time it takes to boot Ubuntu within Windows).

Installation Process

The first thing you have to do is obtain VirtualBox. Visit the VirtualBox website's download page.

Select the appropriate Windows download. In most cases, you should select x86. Use AMD64 only if you know you have a 64-bit processor.

Next, visit the Ubuntu website to download the Ubuntu disk image. Click the Download link to go to the download page.

On the download page, just follow the defaults and, from the drop-down menu, select the appropriate download location (if you live in Asia, select an Asian download location; if you live in Europe, pick a European one; if you live in North America, pick a North American one; etc.). This should download the latest desktop version of Ubuntu.

When you do finally choose to download Ubuntu, Windows should ask what you want to do with the file. You definitely want to download it. Do not open it with some application (especially not WinRar). Download the file. Do not open it at all. It is a very large (almost 700 MB) single file with a .iso file extension.

Your download should take quite a while, at least an hour on a broadband connection.

While waiting for Ubuntu to download, you can install VirtualBox. The setup is just like with most Windows software. Double-click the installation file you downloaded earlier. Then keep clicking through the installation wizard. The default answers should work fine.

Next, start up VirtualBox from the Start menu. If, for some reason, it doesn't show up in the menu, you can also find it in C:\Program Files\innotek VirtualBox\VirtualBox.exe

Click New to set up a new virtual machine profile.

Click Next

Title your virtual machine. Here I called it Ubuntu. The type of OS is probably Linux 2.6, but if you don't know the OS type, there is also an option for unknown.

VirtualBox will try to guess how much RAM to allocate for the virtual machine. Since my computer has 512 MB of RAM, it decided 256 MB would be good (I agree). If you have 1 GB of RAM, 512 MB might be a good allocation.

You probably don't have a virtual hard drive to install Ubuntu to, so go ahead and create a new one.

It doesn't hurt to go with the defaults for the virtual hard drive creation process.

The next thing we want to do is click on the CD-ROM settings.

Add a CD to mount and select the .iso file you downloaded from the Ubuntu website.

Now you're ready to get started! Select the newly created virtual machine profile and click Start.

Select Start or Install Ubuntu

After it boots up, click the Install icon on the desktop.

Answer all the questions. If you don't know the answer, just go with the defaults.

Wait for Ubuntu to install. This can take anywhere between fifteen minutes and an hour, depending on your computer's specifications.

Instead of rebooting right away, choose to continue to use the "live" session.

Then, go to System > Quit > Shut down to shut down your virtual machine.

After it has shut down, restart VirtualBox and change the CD-ROM settings so that you are no longer using the .iso you downloaded (you won't need it any more, now that you've installed Ubuntu).

This time, when Ubuntu boots up, you'll get a log in screen and can actually start using your installation!

JavaScript - Show hide menu

2009-03-31T13:37:00.000-07:00

In the first javascript tutorial you have the opportunity to learn how to make a simple menu with submenu that is opened and closed by click (onclick).

Menu works like this: some parts of the table (submenues) are left invisible (diplay: none). When we click on the link, javascript navigation function, with ID that should be shown, is called and the hidden part of the table is opened as submenu.

Let us get started with JavaScript function that we will place inside of head tags, together with css.

JavaScript

Function has an incoming value Id and by it this element is shown or hidden.
Layout of the menu will be controled with css.

Css

Next is the HTML code of the table that will be placed inside of body tags.

As you see, next to the every menu title and ID tag we placed:
onclick="change(ID)"
which calls javascript function.

Building An Expanding DHTML Menu With CSS and JavaScript

2009-03-31T13:36:00.002-07:00

Introduction

Today I am going to show you the different parts that make up a dropdown vertical menu for your website. This is not like your normal dropdown menu, which appears at the top of your content, however -- these menus expand and remain visible until they are collapsed with the click of a mouse. The menu content actually expands with your page content, pushing the rest of whatever is below it down - so it can actually be used for more than just a menu (I might explore that a little later in another tutorial).

For now, let's get it started...

What does the finished menu look like and how does it function?

Here's a snapshot of what the menu looks like all coded up.

When you click on one of the links ie. Menu 1, Menu 2, Menu 3, Menu 4, Menu 5, this will expand or contract the submenu for that menu item. Basically, the end user must have JavaScript enabled to allow the submenus to work.

Let's build the menu html

First I'm going to start with the 5 menus items. Here's the code that I'm using, which is very simple; 5 hyperlinks. I will need to apply a style to these level one links, so I will make a class style called "menu1".

<a class="menu1">Menu 1</a>
<a class="menu1">Menu 2 </a>
<a class="menu1">Menu 3 </a>
<a class="menu1">Menu 4 </a>
<a class="menu1">Menu 5 </a>

Now I will create the menu1 class style and put it in the head of my document. So far we haven't done anying revolutionary. I won't explain the style that I've applied here because it's pretty straight forward - it's just a background image and the display:block makes it display like a rectangle.

<style type="text/css">
.menu1{
background-image:url(images/menudiv1bg.gif);
margin-left:25px;
padding-left:20px;
padding-top:2px;
padding-bottom: 2px;
display:block;
text-decoration: none;
color: #000000;
height: 20px;
}
</style>

Now I'll add the sub menus in place exactly where they will appear. In this part, we will use some small tricks to setup the alignment. Firstly, we'll wrap the whole submenu in a div that has a unique id for each menu. You can choose your own names for the div tags, but the main purpose of the div having a unique id is so that JavaScript can target that div specifically and make it appear or disappear. I also add a class style called 'hide' so that I can choose to hide all of the submenus from within my style sheet. The links are then listed within the div just like the main menu items and are given a submenu class style, to allow me to control the look of those in my style sheet as well:

<a class="menu1" >Menu 1</a>
    <div id="mymenu1" class="hide">
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link One here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Two here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Three here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Four here</a>
    </div>
<a class="menu1">Menu 2 </a>
    <div id="mymenu2" class="hide">
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link One here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Two here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Three here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Four here</a>
    </div>
<a class="menu1">Menu 3 </a>
    <div id="mymenu3" class="hide">
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link One here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Two here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Three here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Four here</a>
    </div>
<a class="menu1">Menu 4 </a>
    <div id="mymenu4" class="hide">
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link One here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Two here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Three here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Four here</a>
    </div>
<a class="menu1">Menu 5 </a>
    <div id="mymenu5" class="hide">
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link One here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Two here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Three here</a>
        <a href="#" class="submenu">Link Four here</a>
    </div>

I'll add the submenu and the 'hide' style to my style sheet now:

.submenu{
background-image: url(images/submenu.gif);
display: block;
height: 19px;
margin-left: 38px;
padding-top: 2px;
padding-left: 7px;
color: #333333;
}

.hide{
display: none;
}

I'll also create the style that will show the hidden div tags (submenus):

.show{
display: block;
}

Creating the JavaScript

If you're not too familiar with JavaScript or are in a rush, feel free to just copy and paste the code shown below into your page header as is. There are no further tricky parts to setup as the JavaScript simply compares the current state of the chosen submenu and then swaps it, meaning that if it's hidden, then it will be made visible, and vice versa.

Here's the code:

Some Geek Speak, for those who just want to know what's happening in the code.

Ok. What's happening here is that when the page loads, the JavaScript and CSS styles in the head will load first and then your menu links will appear in the body of the page. JavaScript is loaded from top to bottom by the browser, so let's read from inside the script tags:

The menu_status = new Array(); line will create a container ready to store the current state of your menu. This corresponds to the sections of the code that actually say what this menu_status now equals. eg. menu_status = 'show'; and menu_status = 'hide';

There's a function called showHide(theid) but this won't do anything unless it is called from within your HTML code. 'theid' is the id of the menu being shown or hidden, and it's called during the onClick even of that menu, such as onclick="showHide('mymenu5')".

Ok, so the function loads ready to be used, but the page continues to load...

Your main links and submenus load, but only the main links show because the 'hide' style that's applied to the submenus will hide the submenus. The submenus have in fact loaded already, they just aren't showing just yet.

If you click on a main menu link, then here's what happens:

The onClick event will fire up the showHide function and JavaScript will know which object we are working with by the id of the link.
JavaScript will get the menu element in question by the id that's passed to the function
JavaScript now has to check whether the current menu_status is visible or not, and then swap it. If it's not 'show' eg. if(menu_status[theid] != 'show') then the status_id will be made to equal 'show'. If it's not hide, eg. if(menu_status[theid] != 'hide') then it will be made to equal 'hide'.

Conclusion
In this article I've shown you how to build a basic vertical drop down menu using DHTML and JavaScript. This is a groovy little script that will allow you to create a nice menu, or even save you some space if you currently have multi level menus laid out on your site. You can probably do more with this script if you're familiar with JavaScript or don't mind experimenting, but we'll leave it at that for now!

Can't Show Hidden Files

2009-03-31T13:36:00.001-07:00

There is a certain virus that prevents XP users from viewing the hidden files. The virus meddles with the ’Show hidden files and folders’ option in the Folder Options and the option keeps bouncing back to ‘Do not show hidden files and folders’, despite repeated trials.

Here is how you can set this problem right:Navigate to the windows registry:

Go to Start menu

Click Run

Type regedit in the text box and then click Enter.

When the Registry Editor opens, perform the following steps:Go to the following registry key:
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and then open Software. Under this navigate to: Microsoft -> Windows -> Current Version -> Explorer Then go to Advanced -> Folder -> Hidden -> SHOWALL
Delete the value CheckedValue.

(Its type should be REG_SZ and data should be 2 or 0.)

Create a new DWORD value called CheckedValue (same as above, except that the type is REG_DWORD).This should enable you to select the ‘Show hidden files and folders’ option without much problem. Do drop in comments if there are further queries and we shall try to find answers.

Windows Linux Dual Boot Tutorial

2009-03-31T13:35:00.001-07:00

This tutorial was written to help set up a dual boot on a SATA drive but it will also work for PATA so continue forward and I will let you know if you need to skip something. In order to have a fully functional dual boot system it is preferred that Windows be loaded first. After that you can load Linux and easily dump the boot configuration on Windows NTLDR file (comparable to Linux boot file).

At least one of the following scenarios exist and that is why you are here reading this tutorial;

You have a new Serial HDD (SATA) with no software installed,
You have a new Parallel HDD (PATA) with no software installed,
You have a HDD with Windows already installed, or
You have a HDD with Linux already installed.

I used the following software;

Windows 2000 Pro (this tutorial should work for 98 and XP also)
SuSe 10

1. Setting Up a New SATA Drive

Note: The most popular Windows platforms, Windows 2000 and Windows XP (pre SP1), were released before and during the release of SATA drives.

In order for Windows to recognize the SATA HDD you will need to get the SATA/Raid drivers and place them on a floppy. These drivers can usually be obtained at the web site of your motherboard manufacturer. Look for Raid drivers (usually the location of the SATA drivers also) in their driver download section. If you can search the site look for TXTSETUP.OEM. You absolutely need this file and it will more than likely be located with the drivers needed. If you are unable to find the drivers needed then see this article for information on integrating installation packs and service packs.

TXTSETUP.OEM is a must! Windows Install uses this file to search for the applicable drivers. Proceed to Install windows.

2. Setting Up a PATA Drive

If this is a brand new drive go ahead and proceed to Install Windows.

If this is an installed hard drive with only Linux loaded, then back up and copy all your configuration files to a floppy, cd, or another drive. After that is done and verified the files were copied you need to clean the hard drive so you can start fresh and load Windows first.

If this is an installed drive with Windows already loaded you need to ensure there is sufficient unpartitioned space for Linux to load on. You have two options.

Note: There is a difference in free space and unpartitioned space. Typically when users load Windows they select the C: drive and the whole drive is formatted to NSTF or FAT. Linux needs unformatted/unpartitioned space to install.

You can do a fresh install of Windows, or
You can free up unpartitioned space if you have a partition program.

If you do not have a partition program there is a free one available called SystemRescueCd that works quite well. If you choose this option you will need to burn SystemRescue to a cd. Once you have done this and boot to the cd you will get this screen.

Windows Linux DualBoot Tutorial

At least one of the following scenarios exist and that is why you are here reading this tutorial;

You have a new Serial HDD (SATA) with no software installed,
You have a new Parallel HDD (PATA) with no software installed,
You have a HDD with Windows already installed, or
You have a HDD with Linux already installed.

I used the following software;

Windows 2000 Pro (this tutorial should work for 98 and XP also)
SuSe 10

1. Setting Up a New SATA Drive

Note: The most popular Windows platforms, Windows 2000 and Windows XP (pre SP1), were released before and during the release of SATA drives.

In order for Windows to recognize the SATA HDD you will need to get the SATA/Raid drivers and place them on a floppy. These drivers can usually be obtained at the web site of your motherboard manufacturer. Look for Raid drivers (usually the location of the SATA drivers also) in their driver download section. If you can search the site look for TXTSETUP.OEM. You absolutely need this file and it will more than likely be located with the drivers needed. If you are unable to find the drivers needed then see this article for information on integrating installation packs and service packs.

TXTSETUP.OEM is a must! Windows Install uses this file to search for the applicable drivers. Proceed to Install windows.

2. Setting Up a PATA Drive

If this is a brand new drive go ahead and proceed to Install Windows.

If this is an installed hard drive with only Linux loaded, then back up and copy all your configuration files to a floppy, cd, or another drive. After that is done and verified the files were copied you need to clean the hard drive so you can start fresh and load Windows first.

If this is an installed drive with Windows already loaded you need to ensure there is sufficient unpartitioned space for Linux to load on. You have two options.

Note: There is a difference in free space and unpartitioned space. Typically when users load Windows they select the C: drive and the whole drive is formatted to NSTF or FAT. Linux needs unformatted/unpartitioned space to install.

You can do a fresh install of Windows, or
You can free up unpartitioned space if you have a partition program.

Enterfb1024(1024 being the screen resolution setting). The process of setting up the cd files will begin.

The next screen will ask you to enter a keymap preceded by the codes for different languages.

Hit Enter for the system default. The next screen will be the SystemRescueCd command line.

Type run_qtparted and hit Enter. The next screen will ask for mouse type.

Enter the applicable number.

After your mouse selection the screen will change to a split window. The left side will identify the hard drives found and the right side will identify the partitions and free space on the selected drive.

Select the partition you wish to resize and then select Resize from the Menus or the icon tool bar (see cursor point) and follow the prompts.

Once you are done close the window and enterrebootat the SystemRescueCd command line.

3. Install Windows

Hit the power button and start your system. Insert your Windows disk and as soon as the first Setup screen appears hit F6. Note the message at the bottom of this startup screen.

Windows will proceed to load some files then change to a screen offering you the opportunity to install some additional drivers.

Enter S<, which will take you to a screen instructing you to insert the floppy in drive A and hit Enter.

Providing you copied the right drivers it will proceed to extract the drivers needed. Once done it will return to the screen offering you the opportunity to load drives. This time you want to select Continue to continue installing Windows.

Eventually you will get to the part of the install where it will show the drive.

You have several options here. You want to select the second option by entering "C" and partition the drive. For Win2K you need a minimum of 340 MB and for Win XP you need a minimum of 1560 MB to load.

Of course you probably want room to load additional software, etc. The partitioning is done in MB so you may have to do some quick calculations keeping in mind there is basically 1024 MB to 1 GB. After you enter your partition size continue with the install.

When the install is done go ahead and reboot. Get all your settings taken care of and updates done then come back here and install Linux.

4. Install Linux

There are Perfect Setup HowTos for various Linux versions at the HowToForge site. I encourage you to use them which is why I will not go into the complete installation of Linux. Be sure to read them first though. These HowTos are typically designed for server systems and you will not need some of the setup after the installation section. Read the HowTo, if you have any questions regarding the HowTo or the linux install please use the HowToForge Forums.

I recommend you use the GRUB boot loader as there is hardly any maintenance involved and it fits in nicely with the Windows MBLR.

Experience has taught me that the Logical Volume Manager (LVM) of Linux partitioning is not very desirable among experienced users and I have had consistent problems when I applied it. To avoid this be sure to Manually partition your drive when asked. The most basic and usable setup is to create a boot (/boot) partition of about 100 MB, a Swap partition of at least twice the size of your RAM, and then a root (/) partition of the remaining space.

Partitioning Windows and Ubuntu

2009-03-31T13:34:00.001-07:00

One of the most frequently asked questions about installing Ubuntu is "How should I partition my drive?"

There are dual-boot guides out there. I have one that features the Desktop CD installer, and then there's Herman's Dual Boot Guide, which features the Alternate CD installer.

The focus of this tutorial is not on how to create the partitions (resizing, etc.) but on planning—what the desirable outcome is.

I'm not going to give you a crash course of what a partition is or what the difference is between a logical or primary partition (I don't even know that myself), but I am going to give you a rundown on the advantages that certain partitioning schemes have over others. The one thing that you do have to understand is that creating a new partition is almost like creating a new hard drive. Sure, it lives on the same hard drive, but it is self-contained. If you erase the data on one partition, it does not affect the other partition's data.

It's almost like having a huge loft apartment. You then decide to build a huge wall in the middle of it. Suddenly, it's not a huge loft apartment—it's now an apartment with two rooms.

So, as the picture above shows, you probably will start out with one large Windows partition that takes up the whole drive. Keep in mind that the partition is just the space. Just because you have a large Windows partition doesn't mean you also have a large Windows installation. You could have a 160 GB hard drive, but your installation, for example, could be only 16 GB (one tenth of the total space available). That installation's partition is still taking up 160 GB of space even though most of the space it's taking up (about 144 GB) is empty space.

This is a pretty typical dual-boot scenario. And I believe it's also the one that will be created if you choose to have Ubuntu's installer automatically resize your Windows partition and create a Ubuntu partition out of the free space. I'm not sure if the proportions are right. Ubuntu's installer probably makes it a little more 50/50, but I'd need someone to confirm that, as I've always done my partitioning manually instead of automatically.

This one's pretty straightforward—one Windows partition, one Ubuntu partition. Just so I can get it out of the way, "swap" is a little partition (usually 1.5 or 2 times the size of your computer's RAM) that helps with memory management and multi-tasking. You'll see a swap partition at the end of each of these little diagrams. You can read more about swap partitions here.

Pictured above is a more common scenario—a Ubuntu partition, a Windows partition, and a FAT32 partition in the middle to share data between the two operating systems. This is frequently recommended on the Ubuntu Forums as a good way to partition a drive, since both Windows and Ubuntu can natively read from and write to FAT32.

Ubuntu now has a pretty reliable mechanism for reading from and writing to NTFS, but some people like to play it extra safe and have a separate FAT32 partition for both Windows and Ubuntu to work from.

This is a slight modification of the above scheme that puts in a tiny /home partition.

/home partitions are wonderful things. It would be the equivalent of Windows of having a partition that was the C:\Documents and Settings folder. That would include My Documents, My Pictures, My Music, and all your hidden settings, too. Likewise, a /home partition in Ubuntu has all your settings. Ordinarily, it would have your files, too, but in the scenario pictured above, your files would live in the FAT32 partition.

The benefit of having a separate /home partition? Well, it means you can reinstall Ubuntu as many times as you'd like and do a clean install (instead of an upgrade) when a new version of Ubuntu comes along. When you first start using Ubuntu, you usually have no idea what you're doing, and you end up breaking something. Now, if you're a veteran, you know how to fix whatever you've broken. If you have a lot of time, you could probably ask around and find out how to fix it. Sometimes, though, it just seems easier to reinstall (the installation takes anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour), and not having to re-do all your settings is a good thing.

And new Ubuntu releases come out every six months. Often part of the appeal of the new release is the improvement to the installation process, so even though people can upgrade, they often don't—they want to see what a "default" installation is like. There can also be breakage in an upgrade, so reinstalling is the safest way to do an upgrade. To have your settings intact is a nice cushion to fall back on.

This last dual-boot scenario is my favorite now that I know about FS-Drive, which is a small program that allows Windows to read from and write to Ext3 partitions. So FAT32 can go out the window—one less partition to worry about and none of the limitations of FAT32 (no file permissions, lots of fragmentation, and a file size limit of 4 GB).

Note that in this scheme, unlike the one above it, it's not just the settings that live in the /home partition but the shared data as well.

If you're over dual-booting and just want a straight Ubuntu installation, this is what it'll look like if you choose to erase the entire hard drive.

This would be a better way to partition your drive for all Ubuntu, for the reasons explained above.

A few other things:

If you choose to create a separate /home partition, allocate between 5 and 10 GB for the / partition—that's about all you'll need for the Ubuntu system and programs. The rest should be for your personal files (in /home).
Sometimes people have two physically separate hard drives. You should treat that the same as having two pre-defined partitions. The same principles apply. You can have one hard drive be Windows, the other be Ubuntu. You can partition the first drive to be Windows and Ubuntu and then make the second drive a place to store shared data.
You may hear people recommending a separate /boot partition or /usr partition. You can make a separate partition for just about any folder in the Ubuntu filesystem. The only down side is running out of space. If you have a 200 GB hard drive, make as many partitions as you can.
If you want to resize a partition or add more space to an existing partition, keep in mind that you can add only to the end of a partition, not to the beginning of it.
The same ideas here apply to Windows 2000 or to other Linux distributions (besides Ubuntu). If you have Windows ME, 98, or 95, your filesystem will probably already be FAT32, so you wouldn't need to create a separate FAT32 partition to share information on.
Someone can correct me on this if I'm wrong, but I haven't seen any difference between putting the swap partition in the middle or at the end of the drive. I put it on the end in these examples because that's what Ubuntu's default installation does.
Some Windows users have a program called Partition Magic, but many Ubuntu users have reported problems with setting up a dual boot after using Partition Magic. It's better to use one of these partitioning tools instead (and they're all cost-free). Here are some: QTParted - available on Knoppix live CDs. GParted - available as the default partitioning program for Ubuntu's Desktop CD. DiskDrake - available on PCLinuxOS's live/installer CD.

Which *buntu to pick?

2009-03-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Should I use Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, or Edubuntu? What's the difference?

8.04? 7.10? 7.04? 6.10? 6.06? What is all this?

Desktop CD, Alternate CD, or Server CD?

What's the difference between the Ubuntu CD and DVD?

How do I get *buntu?

Introduction

Before some people can even begin using Ubuntu, they want to sort out which version to use. This page can help you sort it all out.

If reading this page confuses you, however, just go with Ubuntu, the latest version (8.04 right now), the Desktop CD. You don't have to worry about these other options unless you're really curious.

Should I use Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, or Edubuntu? What's the difference?

Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Edubuntu are all the same Linux distro using the same base, the same software repositories, and the same release cycle. They just have different artwork, different user interfaces (in most cases), and different default programs installed.

Ubuntu uses a user interface (or desktop environment) called Gnome. Gnome is focused on simplicity and usability. Ubuntu includes a bunch of Gnome-native applications such as Rhythmbox (music player), Sound Juicer (CD player and ripper), Evolution (email client and calendar), and Gedit (text editor). You can find the full list of software packages in ubuntu-desktop here.

Kubuntu uses the K Desktop Environment (also known as KDE). KDE is focused on including a lot of point-and-click configuration options immediately available to end users. Kubuntu includes a bunch of KDE-native applications such as AmaroK (music player), K3B (CD burning), Konqueror (web browser and file manager), and Kopete (instant messenger). You can find the full list of software packages in kubuntu-desktop here.

Xubuntu uses the Xfce desktop environment, which is a lighter one than Gnome or KDE. In terms of its design principles, it has a bit of a balance—presenting in some ways more point-and-click configuration options than Gnome but also retaining some of the simplicity of Gnome. Its main appeal is its speed, though, and it's ideal for systems with 128 to 256 MB of RAM. Both Ubuntu and Kubuntu can run on 256 MB of RAM, but they're more ideal for 512 MB of RAM or more. Xfce includes Thunar (file manager), Thunderbird (email client), and Mousepad (text editor). You can find a full list of software packages in xubuntu-desktop here.

Edubuntu uses the Gnome desktop environment but has a different set of default applications from Ubuntu. Its focus is on educational tools. It includes GPaint (an easy to use paint program), Atomix (a puzzle game for building molecules out of isolated atoms), and Xaos (a real-time interactive fractal zoomer). You can find a full list of software packages in edubuntu-desktop here.

Mixing and matching *buntus is possible and often encouraged by the community. If you choose Ubuntu, you are not stuck with Ubuntu. If you choose Kubuntu, you are not stuck with Kubuntu. You can use Gnome-native applications in KDE and vice versa. You can use Gnome- and KDE-native applications in Xfce. You can install education-related programs in any desktop environment. You can install kubuntu-desktop on top of Ubuntu and choose which one you want to log into at the login screen. All four versions of Ubuntu (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Edubuntu) share the same software repositories and available applications. You are not locked into using one version just because it is the first version you installed. From now on, I'll be referring to all or any of the above versions as simply Ubuntu.

8.04? 7.10? 6.10? 6.06? What is all this?

The numbering scheme for releases of Ubuntu sometimes confuses people. It is the year of release followed by the month of release. That's all. You'll also sometimes hear these releases referred to by their nicknames, usually involving alliteration, an adjective, and an animal. I've put the nicknames in parentheses.

8.04 LTS: April 2008 (Hardy Heron) Long-Term Support
7.10: October 2007 (Gutsy Gibbon)
7.04: April 2007 (Feisty Fawn)
6.10: October 2006 (Edgy Eft)
6.06 LTS: June 2006 (Dapper Drake) Long-Term Support
5.10: October 2005 (Breezy Badger)
5.04: April 2005 (Hoary Hedgehog)
4.10: October 2004 (Warty Warthog)

Please keep in mind that LTSes (Long Term Support releases) are not necessarily stabler than other releases. LTS simply means they gets three years of security updates instead of just eighteen months. I would always recommend the newest release to users who are doing a clean install (as opposed to an upgrade) of Ubuntu. If you're concerned about stability, you may want to wait a little over a month after the release date for the major bugs to be fixed.

Releases come out around every six months with the latest (for that time) software available and usually some extra features and possibly some new artwork (splash screens/wallpaper).

Desktop CD, Alternate CD, or Server CD?

The default option for type of CD is the Desktop CD. It is a live CD that is also an installation CD. A live CD allows you (provided you have enough memory—I'd recommend at least 256 MB) to run a fully functional Ubuntu operating system without affecting your hard drive or existing Windows or Mac installation. The live CD runs the session off the CD itself and your computer's RAM. While running the live CD, you can also install Ubuntu to your hard drive (yes, you can browse the web and type up documents while installing Ubuntu)—for the combination of live session and installation, I'd recommend at least 384 MB of RAM. Warning: the Desktop CD cannot be used for upgrades. It will do only a clean (re)installation of Ubuntu.

If you have a special situation, you may want to use the Alternate CD instead of the Desktop CD. The Alternate CD allows you to install Ubuntu without also running a live session. This is ideal for people with less RAM (128 to 256 MB of RAM). It also allows you to do OEM installations and the installation of only a command-line system. The Alternate CD can also be used for upgrades from older versions to newer versions of Ubuntu—particularly handy for those who have a slower (or no) internet connection, since most upgrades happen with direct downloads from the Ubuntu software repositories instead of from a CD.

The Server CD provides you all the tools you need to set up a server (including LAMP). It does not come with a GUI (graphical user interface), but you can add one later if you feel you really need one (most people recommend against using a GUI on a server). If you accidentally downloaded the Server CD and want a home desktop instead of a server, you can install a home desktop by typing

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start

What's the difference between the Ubuntu CD and DVD?

The CD usually contains only one version of Ubuntu (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu) and is either the Desktop CD, the Alternate CD, or the Server CD. The DVD contains the entire Main and Restricted repositories (read more about Main and Restricted here), which means it has Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Edubuntu, allowing you to install any or all four versions without needing an internet connection.

How do I get *buntu?

You can download any *buntu off the appropriate website:

Ubuntu: www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
Kubuntu: www.kubuntu.org/download
Xubuntu: www.xubuntu.org/get
Edubuntu: www.edubuntu.org/Download

To help ensure the integrity of downloads, try to use BitTorrent, especially if you're downloading over dial-up. These CD images are usually several-hundred-megabyte files and can easily be corrupted during download. You can find a guide to checking the integrity of CD images and burning CD images here. That guide also includes links to other guides for further reference.

You can order free CDs using Ubuntu's ShipIt service. The CDs ShipIt sends you are entirely cost-free, including postage. They may take a long while to get to you, around two months sometimes.

Certain online vendors also sell Ubuntu DVDs and CDs. Some countries' Amazon.com sites, for example, sell Ubuntu DVDs.

Some hardware vendors sell Ubuntu (or other Linux distros) preinstalled, saving you the trouble of downloading Ubuntu, figuring out how to install it, and wondering whether or not it's compatible with your hardware. You can find a list of vendors here. At least in the United States, two popular Ubuntu vendor are ZaReason and System76. Dell has also start selling desktops and laptops with Ubuntu preinstalled on them.

A full list of vendors selling preinstalled Linux is available at Lxer.

Find a Linux User Group in your area and ask someone to install Ubuntu for you. LUGs often have what are called Installfests, where you can bring your computer and get free help installing Linux on your computer and troubleshooting problems. Linux users are very giving and willing to help new adopters of Linux.

Free Domain & Free Hosting For Making Web

2009-03-31T13:31:00.002-07:00

Making web this is by merger free domain name and free webhosting. In this article I use www.co.cc as domain name (click here for free register) and for webhosting use www.000webhost.com (click here for free register).
After you enter in co.cc you'd see the appearance be like under

content of is name of domain which you wish then check availability, ascertain domain which you wish free so that emerge be like picture under

Then click continue to registration, please fill your data. After process regestration you have to soon setup your domain name.

select manage DNS, then fill
name server 1 : ns01.000webhost.com
name server 2 : ns02.000webhost.com
and then click setup

Making process of domain name had past, after here is making webhost click here for free register. Then select signup, enter all data including name domain you which have made

After registration process completed, step into the control panel to start to making web. Excess from 000webhost is the facility given is same as we own server xself, here we can use the facility webmail if you wish to have the email address by the name of domain which you make and many again provided facility, but space limited. Ok possibly that way my article, if possibly is insuffiency or question please enter your comment. Useful hopefully

Installing Apache PHP and MySQL

2009-03-31T13:31:00.001-07:00

PHP and MySQL are usually associated with LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP). However, most PHP developer ( including me ) are actually using Windows when developing the PHP application. So this page will only cover the WAMP ( Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP ). You will learn how to install Apache, PHP, and MySQL under Windows platform.

The first step is to download the packages :

Apache : www.apache.org

PHP : www.php.net

MySQL : www.mysql.com

You should get the latest version of each packages. As for the example in this tutorial i'm using Apache 2.0.50 ( apache_2.0.50-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi ), PHP 4.3.10 ( php-4.3.10-Win32.zip ) and MySQL 4.0.18 ( mysql-4.0.18-win.zip ).

Now let's start the installation process one by one.

Installing Apache

Installing PHP

Modifying Apache Configuration

Installing MySQL

Modifying PHP Configuration File

Installing Apache

Installing apache is easy if you download the Microsoft Installer ( .msi ) package. Just double click on the icon to run the installation wizard. Click next until you see the Server Information window. You can enter localhost for both the Network Domain and Server Name. As for the administrator's email address you can enter anything you want.

I'm using Windows XP and installed Apache as Service so everytime I start Windows Apache is automatically started.

Click the Next button and choose Typical installation. Click Next one more time and choose where you want to install Apache ( I installed it in the default location C:\Program Files\Apache Group ). Click the Next button and then the Install button to complete the installation process.

To see if you Apache installation was successful open up you browser and type http://localhost in the address bar. You should see something like this :

By default Apache's document root is set to htdocs directory. The document root is where you must put all your PHP or HTML files so it will be process by Apache ( and can be seen through a web browser ). Of course you can change it to point to any directory you want. The configuration file for Apache is stored in C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\conf\httpd.conf ( assuming you installed Apache in C:\Program Files\Apache Group ) . It's just a plain text file so you can use Notepad to edit it.

For example, if you want to put all your PHP or HTML files in C:\www just find this line in the httpd.conf :

DocumentRoot "C:/Program Files/Apache Group/Apache2/htdocs"

and change it to :

DocumentRoot "C:/www"

After making changes to the configuration file you have to restart Apache ( Start > Programs > Apache HTTP Server 2.0.50 > Control Apache Server > Restart ) to see the effect.

Another configuration you may want to change is the directory index. This is the file that Apache will show when you request a directory. As an example if you type http://www.yourweb.com/ without specifying any file the index.php file will be automatically shown.

Suppose you want apache to use index.html, index.php or main.php as the directory index you can modify the DirectoryIndex value like this :

DirectoryIndex index.html index.php main.php

Now whenever you request a directory such as http://localhost/ Apache will try to find the index.html file or if it's not found Apache will use index.php. In case index.php is also not found then main.php will be used.

Installing PHP

First, extract the PHP package ( php-4.3.10-Win32.zip ). I extracted the package in the directory where Apache was installed ( C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2 ). Change the new created directory name to php ( just to make it shorter ). Then copy the file php.ini-dist in PHP directory to you windows directory ( C:\Windows or C:\Winnt depends on where you installed Windows ) and rename the file to php.ini. This is the PHP configuration file and we'll take a look what's in it later on.

Next, move the php4ts.dll file from the newly created php directory into the sapi subdirectory. Quoting from php installation file you can also place php4ts.dll in other places such as :

In the directory where apache.exe is start from ( C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2 \bin)

In your %SYSTEMROOT%\System32, %SYSTEMROOT%\system and %SYSTEMROOT% directory.
Note: %SYSTEMROOT%\System32 only applies to Windows NT/2000/XP)

In your whole %PATH%

Side Note : Thanks to Shannon Tang for pointing this out

Modifying Apache Configuration

Apache doesn't know that you just install PHP. We need to tell Apache about PHP and where to find it. Open the Apache configuration file in C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\conf\httpd.conf and add the following three lines :

LoadModule php4_module php/sapi/php4apache2.dll

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php

AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps

The first line tells Apache where to load the dll required to execute PHP and the second line means that every file that ends with .php should be processed as a PHP file. You can actually change it to anything you want like .html or even .asp! The third line is added so that you can view your php file source code in the browser window. You will see what this mean when you browse this tutorial and click the link to the example's source code like this one.

Now restart Apache for the changes to take effect ( Start > Programs > Apache HTTP Server 2.0.50 > Control Apache Server > Restart ) . To check if everything is okay create a new file, name it as test.php and put it in document root directory ( C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\htdocs ). The content of this file is shown below.

<?php

phpinfo();

?>

phpinfo() is the infamous PHP function which will spit out all kinds of stuff about PHP and your server configuration. Type http://localhost/test.php on your browser's address bar and if everything works well you should see something like this :

Installing MySQL

First extract the package ( mysql-4.0.18-win.zip ) to a temporary directory, hen run setup.exe. Keep clicking the next button to complete the installation. By default MySQL will be installed in C:\mysql.

Open a DOS window and go to C:\mysql\bin and then run mysqld-nt --console , you should see some messages like these :

C:\mysql\bin>mysqld-nt --console

InnoDB: The first specified data file .\ibdata1 did not exist:

InnoDB: a new database to be created!

040807 10:54:09 InnoDB: Setting file .\ibdata1 size to 10 MB

InnoDB: Database physically writes the file full: wait...

040807 10:54:11 InnoDB: Log file .\ib_logfile0 did not exist: new to be
created

InnoDB: Setting log file .\ib_logfile0 size to 5 MB

InnoDB: Database physically writes the file full: wait...

040807 10:54:12 InnoDB: Log file .\ib_logfile1 did not exist: new to be created

InnoDB: Setting log file .\ib_logfile1 size to 5 MB

InnoDB: Database physically writes the file full: wait...

InnoDB: Doublewrite buffer not found: creating new

InnoDB: Doublewrite buffer created

InnoDB: Creating foreign key constraint system tables

InnoDB: Foreign key constraint system tables created

040807 10:54:31 InnoDB: Started

mysqld-nt: ready for connections.

Version: '4.0.18-nt' socket: '' port: 3306

Now open another DOS window and type C:\mysql\bin\mysql

if your installation is successful you will see the MySQL client running :

C:\mysql\bin>mysql
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.

Your MySQL connection id is 1 to server version: 4.0.18-nt

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql>

Type exit on the mysql>
prompt to quit the MySQL client.

Now let's install MySQL as a Service. The process is simple just type mysqld-nt --install to install the service and net start mysql to run the service. But make sure to shutdown the server first using mysqladmin -u root shutdown

C:\mysql\bin>mysqladmin -u root shutdown

C:\mysql\bin>mysqld-nt --install

Service successfully installed.

C:\mysql\bin>net start mysql

The MySQL service was started successfully.

C:\mysql\bin>mysql

Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.

Your MySQL connection id is 1 to server version: 4.0.18-nt

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql>

Modifying PHP Configuration File ( php.ini )

PHP stores all kinds of configuration in a file called php.ini.You can find this file in the directory where you installed PHP. Sometimes you will need to modify this file for example to use a PHP extension. I won't explain each and every configuration available just the ones that often need modification or special attention.

Some of the configurations are :

register_globals

error_reporting and display_errors

extension and extension_path

session.save_path

max_execution_time

register_globals

Before PHP 4.2.0 the default value for this configuration is On and after 4.2.0 the default value is Off. The reason for this change is because it is so easy to write insecure code with this value on. So make sure that this value is Off in php.ini.

error_reporting and display_errors

Set the value to error_reporting = E_ALL during development but after production set the value to error_reporting = E_NONE .

The reason to use E_ALL during development is so you can catch most of the nasty bugs in your code. PHP will complain just about any errors you make and spit out all kinds of warning ( for example if you're trying to use an uninitialized variable ).

However, after production you should change the value to E_NONE so PHP will keep quiet even if there's an error in your code. This way the user won't have to see all kinds of PHP error message when running the script.

One important thing to note is that you will also need to set the value of display_erros to On. Even if you set error_reporting = E_ALL you will not get any error message ( no matter how buggy our script is ) unless display_errors is set to On.

extension and extension_path

PHP4 comes with about 51 extensions such as GD library ( for graphics creation and manipulation ), CURL, PostgreSQL support etc. These extensions are not turned on automatically. If you need to use the extension, first you need to specify the location of the extensions and then uncomment the extension you want.

The value of extension_path must be set to the directory where the extension is installed which is PHP_INSTALL_DIR/extensions, with PHP_INSTALL_DIR is the directory where you install PHP. For example I installed PHP in C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\php so the extensions path is :

extension_path = C:/Program Files/Apache Group/Apache2/php/extensions/

Don't forget to add that last slash or it won't work

After specifying the extension_path you will need to uncomment the extension you want to use. In php.ini a comment is started using a semicolon (;). As an example if you want to use GD library then you must remove the semicolon at the beginning of ;extension=php_gd2.dllto extension=php_gd2.dll

session.save_path

This configuration tells PHP where to save the session data. You will need to set this value to an existing directory or you will not be able to use session. In Windows you can set this value as session.save_path = c:/windows/temp/

max_execution_time

The default value for max_execution_time is 30 ( seconds ). But for some scripts 30 seconds is just not enough to complete it's task. For example a database backup script may need more time to save a huge database.

If you think your script will need extra time to finish the job you can set this to a higher value. For example to set the maximun script execution time to 15 minutes ( 900 seconds ) you can modify the configuration as max_execution_time = 900

PHP have a convenient function to modify PHP configuration in runtime, ini_set(). Setting PHP configuration using this function will not make the effect permanent. It last only until the script ends.

That's it, now you have Apache, PHP and MySQL installed and running smoothly.

Free Web Hosting

2009-03-31T13:30:00.001-07:00

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Free Domain Hosting

2009-03-31T13:29:00.001-07:00

DotEasy.com Free Domain Hosting
Included with domain name purchase, at the time of this review buying the domain name through them costs $25, a reasonably competitive price, especially since they offer you free hosting with that! Their free hosting package gives you 100 megs of storage, 1GB/month of data transfer, up 10 personalized email addresses (ie. yourname@example.com, sales@example.com etc.), FTP access, free setup and no monthly or hidden fees.

They also offer many low priced packages if your site needs more space or bandwidth but you don't want to have to spend a lot. Again at the time of this review (their prices may have changed since) their Ultra Hosting package is only $7.95/month and includes 1000 MB storage, 20 GB monthly traffic, 100 email accounts, PHP / MySQL / CGI /SSL / Frontpage etc.
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Mister.Net
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x10Hosting
This free host offers 2 different plans. The first has no ads and offers up to 10 GB of bandwidth, the second plan does have ads but gives up to 45 GB of bandwidth. From the looks of it you get to place the ads yourself so you'll be able to work them into your site's layout better than at some other hosts, also the ad size is based on the plan you choose, for example (at the time of this review) if you just need 20 Gb of bandwidth per month the ad is a text ad, for 40Gb it's a 468 x 60 Banner.

All hosting plans at x10Hosting come with cPanel, Custom Account Panel, Addon Domains, Parked Domains, Sub Domains, FTP Accounts, E-mail (including webmail), PHP and GD Library.
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Fire Productions Hosting
Looking for a free host in The U.K.? This one offers 100Mb of space with 5 Gb Data Transfer, 2 Domains and up to 4 Subdomains! A few nice extras are PHP with 1 MySQL account, a free DNS server a control panel and FTP.
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Award Space
Award Space lets you host 2 domains and have 5 subdomains for free that include 200 MB of free space, 5 GB /month data transfer (bandwidth) and 5 email accounts (both POP3 & IMAP access). A few advanced features available are CGI, PHP Support, SSI and access to 1 MySQL Database as well as access to Web access and error logs. Uploading files to your domain can be done through FTP or browser based upload.

When I tested it I found the service to be fairly reliable with no huge downtimes or slowdowns. The control panel did have a lot of ads, but that's very fair considering they need to pay their bills to be able to keep the hosting free.
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FreeHostia
Register a top level domain with them for $19.95 and they give you free domain hosting with 250 MB space and 5 GB monthly bandwidth. A few bonus features are 5 subdomains are available, Perl and PHP with 1 MySQL database and PHPMyAdmin, FrontPage extensions, SSI and many others. Again, I haven't had a chance to test this host (I can only run so many domains at a time ;-) ), but it does look like a good one.
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