How-to move a WordPress install from a subdomain or add-on domain to its own domain and have all your back links function as they always have. Let me first say that without the help of the customer service team at BLUEHOST.COM . This never would have been possible. I made this move  while I was diagnosing a scripting error on another domain under this account,  BlueHost was instrumental in tracking down the problem while I focused on moving this other domain. I cant say enough about Bluehost and the patients they have to help not to mention the knowledge they have shown with WordPress. If you have a WordPress install you owe it to your self to check them out, you can find them HERE.

For those who have Bluehost or those who have these options in your Cpanel, this couldn’t be easier. For everyone else, this information is just as good but certain things will have to be done manually. OK, Lets get started, First thing that that needs to be done is to make a full backup of your server. This can be acheived by using “Backups” located in the “files” section of your Cpanel. Under full backup, click “Download or generate full web site backup” . When this completes you will be notified by email (The size of your server will dictate how long this takes). My backups never seem to take longer than 10 – 15mins and I have five domains in total. Once this is done and you have downloaded it to your computer its time to prep your new WordPress installation.  Go back into your Cpanel and click on “Simple Scripts” located under the “Software / Services” section. Once there look under the blogs section and click on “WordPress” This will start the new WordPress install, follow along with the install into your new domain folder.

Now that you have You’re new WordPress install in your new domain location we have to prep it for the next step. To keep it simple make sure you have the same theme installed on your new WordPress install as you did on your old install. Now you need to add your catogorys just like they were on your old location of WordPress to the new installation of wordpress so that when we move your WordPress from the old location to the new location, everything has a home and your down time is next to nothing. After you add all your categories to match you need to install all the plug-ins you’re going to use on your new WordPress install. The plug-ins preferences will not make the transfer so you will need to set  them up all over again, you should not set them up until after your posts are transfered but you can and should have the plugin’s installed and waiting,

Now that your new install is all prep’ed and ready we need to download your “wp-content” folder from your old location, this will require FTP access . Download the wp-content folder to a location on your hard drive. You will also want to download your favicon and Robots.txt file if you use them. Now upload the “wp-content” folder you just downloaded and overwrite the existing “wp-content” folder in your fresh WordPress install.  this will transfer all the images you have on the old install to the new install. now upload the two files mentioned earlier (favicon and Robots.txt) to the root of your new domain. This won’t apply to everyone, but if you have set up any sub directories for your blog, you’ll want to grab those files as well and add them to you’re new location the same way they appeared on the old location.

Now we are going to export your old WordPress install to your computer. You can find the export option under the Tools tab in your old WordPress dashboard. Once this is done, move to you’re new wordpress install, under the same tab (Tools) select “Import”, use the file that was exported and saved on your hard drive earlier. Now Head into the Design and Plugin’s tabs and double check that you have the same theme and plugin’s activated as the old domain name. Update all of your settings to match the old domain, this includes all plugin’s and any categories that might not have made the move correctly. Ok, now your going to want to View your  new install to ensure that everything looks like the old site, on the new domain  Test some of the functionality as well to ensure everything is working properly. Everything should be in order, Now download the “update URL’s plugin” from with in your new WordPress install and enter your old domain URL and the new domain URL where appropriate .  It will go through all of your old posts and update the domain address of the URL with the new domain address, and it only takes a matter of seconds.  Note:  I wouldn’t update the anchor text, only the domain in the URL.  Repeat these steps for any sub directory’s you may have. Now once that is done you should go and update any PPC (adwords) accounts, your e-mail, feed burner etc.

Almost done, once everything is done and you have all your preferences setup and your catagorys are in order you need to setup the redirect to you’re new install. Those of you who already use Bluehost, simply go back to the Cpanel and look under  the “Domains” section and click “redirects” This should open to the default type “permanent (301)” now add your  old domain and subfolder if applicable, beneath that add your new domain, select with or without www, put a check in the box next to “wildcard redirect” and click add…… your done, now go to your back links and check to make sure everything is forwarding as it should, I check acouple if there working the rest are as well, now you can delete your old install and the backup created in the beginning of this article, make sure you create a new backup of your new domain. I backup at least once a week, it has saved my butt more than once…LOL

If you do not have the options in your Cpanel for redirecting you can acheive the same results by using a 301 redirect on your domain register or by following this. There are a few different places you can set various ‘Redirect’ directives such as your servers main configuration file ( httpd.conf) or within a ‘Virtual Host’ container inside one of your server configuration files, I personally do not work with virtual hosts anything…LOL. The final method and the one we will be discussing here is using your servers directory Auth file A.K.A “.htaccess” file.

The first thing you do is create a txt file named .htaccess if you don’t already have one, if you do, then simply edit the one thats there.
There are a couple different ways to approach this but in its most simple form you can just issue a ‘Redirect’ request in your .htaccess file like so:
Redirect /xyz http://xyzbar.com/xyz
In this example if the client requests

http://myserver.com/xyz/xyzbar.txt,

it will be told to access
http://xyzbar.com/xyz/xyzbar.txt instead.

Now this is not quite complete yet, since we need to specifically send a (301) status code. Without the status argument “Redirect” will send a temporary redirect status (302). So we simply take the above example and change it to:

Redirect 301 /xyz http://xyzbar.com/xyz
OR
Redirect permanent /xyz http://xyzbar.com/xyz

And there is also a specific ‘RedirectPermanent’ command as well so you could just as easily say:
RedirectPermanent /xyz http://xyzbar.com/xyz

I hope this helps, There may be other ways of redirecting other than the permanent (301)  but this has always functioned well for me and seems to be the easiest for me, your mileage may vary.

If you’re like me, the more screen real estate you have the better and usually the bigger you go with LCD’s the more you suffer, either the resolution decreases or your refresh rate (in ms) increases. If you try and go over 22 inches your price for a quality LCD increases exponentially. With the I-Inc iF-281DPB you get  27.5 viewable space at an amazing 1920×1200 resolution so now not only do you have a massive amount of screen real estate, you get it without the hugh windows and text that would ordinary make it seem like it was all for nothing.

The icing on the cake with this monitor (besides its low price) is the fact that it has a 3ms refresh rate, why get a hugh monitor capable of over 1080p if its going to blur when the action in your games get heavy or the DVD or blue-ray movie’s action gets heated. I play a lot of different games like, Half life 2, Battlefield 2, Frontlines fuel of war…etc and the last monitor I bought, the refresh rate was not the deciding factor, it was size & price. I regretted that for a long time. the average refresh rate for gaming is 2 – 3 milliseconds or less, if you can even find less…LOL. Do yourself a hugh favor (no pun intended) and check out this monitor, as of this post its on sale for $279. That’s a steal. You can find it HERE
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How cool is this, a USB missile launcher that you can control remotely from any computer on the net and the best part is it comes with its own webcam , you can use it to aim , spy , remote surveillance you name it. Think about it, say you have a dog you want to keep off the couch or stop a roommate from eating your lunch…LOL. the possibility’s are endless.

Seriously we have all seen USB missile launchers before, and they are fun but never with an attached web cam. This is the MSN Webcam Missile Launcher that you can control anywhere you’re connected.

You can even hook up with your friends online through MSN messenger and control theres as well as them controlling yours. I can see the IM battles raging now ! The best would be setting this up at work, before leaving on vacation, just to torment your fellow workers…LOL. Check out the link in this post, its awesome!

OK lets face it , with Christmas right around the corner I find myself cruising through a lot more fun and interesting sites rather than the meat and potato type of tech that usually holds my attention. I guess its the whole holiday spirit thing that brings out the kid in me and reminds me that computers and there accompanying equipment were really born out of fun. Lets face it, if it weren’t for Space Invaders, Pong, Defender, and the hundreds of other oldies but goodies we wouldn’t have the video cards we have to day or the 4 core processors and systems that can except 16GB of ram. If people didn’t game and want more more more out of these games we would all be using desktop equivalents of the netbooks to surf the web answer email and build spread sheets.

Alright enough rambling, back to the Space Invaders LED Doormat. This has got to be one of the coolest doormats I’ve ever scene, what better way to tell your visitors that not only are you a computer master mind but your also smart enough to know how to keep your house clean…. LOL. All kidding aside I don’t have to tell you how and why this doormat is cool its in our genes. It just is, plain and simple, sometimes we don’t even know why….its like the force !  its there, but only we can tap into it . Seriously though, go check it out, click the link in this post, they explain its functions in detail.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was perhaps the most anticipated game to come out this year, by the sales alone I would have to agree. First day sales are estimated to be around 4.7 million between the U.S and UK with a value of 310 million USD.

Activision estimates, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has surpassed one day sales figures of every other  gaming media as well as every other form of entertainment. This being the sixth installment of the series with the 7th already in production. I’d say the Call of Duty series has turned out to be quite a gold mine for Activison.  According to Mike Griffith, CEO of Activison Publishing ““The shattering of these entertainment records is a testament to the compelling, cinematic and uniquely engaging experience that the Call of Duty brand delivers. Modern Warfare 2 has taken interactive experience to unprecedented heights setting a new standard for entertainment.”

Review aggregator  Metacritic rates the console versions (PS3 & Xbox 360) at a favorable 96% while the PC version is around  90%. AmTech analyst Ben Schacter estimates that first week global  sales could top 11.7 million units.

But the game is already generating a lot of controversy. There’s a scene early in the game (spoiler alert)  where the user has to Play as a terrorist, engaged in a massacre at an airport. The game allowes players to skip the controversial scenes in the beginning of the game, but it doesn’t describe what those scenes are. The game is rated mature and is not for kids.

PC Version

XBOX Version

PS3 Version

Microsoft has decided to remove its Windows 7 DVD and USB  Tool from its site following accusations that the utility makes improper use of open source code, CNet reports.”Microsoft is looking into this issue and is taking down the [Windows 7 updating] tool from the Microsoft Store site until its review is complete,” the company said in a statement. “We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience. That’s bad news for existing netbook owners and anyone else without an optical drive and hoping to upgrade to Windows 7. Before it was taken down, the tool made it possible to take a downloaded copy of the OS and create a bootable USB drive. But Its being said that the tool may violate several GPL terms and conditions.  the source code was said to be lifted from the CodePlex  licensed ImageMaster project without the author’s knowledge. Theres also accusations that they neglected to provide source code for their modifications to ImageMaster or their tool. Its amazing to me that Microsoft practices what they spend millions trying to defend against, you know guys it has to start somewhere…LOL. Well anyway innocent until proven guilty, right? well have to watch this.

Ok I’m a little embarrassed to say this but mini helicopters are buy far one of my favorite geeky toys. I’ve owned many different types over the years and my all time favorite has been the Micro Mosquito. I’ve had it for years and its gone through hell and still works great, I learned how to fly these mini copters with the Micro Mosquito and had to buy a couple of rotor blades over the years do to family members accidentally sitting on them , crazy crashes, pets, etc. Now don’t take that the wrong way, the amount of abuse this copter has endured is mind boggling. For something so fragile looking it holds up to crashes and most other blunders remarkably well, at first I used to treat it like it was made of glass and every time it crashed I would freak out thinking it’s ruined, until I picked it up and all was fine. Not that I’ve crashed all that often..LOL. There is a learning curve but its very slight, my 11 year old was flying it like a pro within minutes. Once you’ve mastered the controls is when the fun starts, I have the Micro Mosquito and my son has a Dark Blade 3 copter, and in many ways I’m Jealous…LOL. The Dark Blade 3 seems to have everything the mosquito does plus more power and faster reaction time. I will be buying my own shortly. We often setup plastic army men or small boxes made of lite cardboard and paper clips and see who can transport the most boxes or army guys to a chosen location within a certain period off time (usually in one charge, about 6-10min). It takes about 15 – 20 min to charge. My son usually wins. If you would like to fly two or more at the same time you simply need to purchase the copters with different frequency’s, The sales people will know what your talking about. You can see a video of the Dark Blade 3 in action below. Remember these make excellent Christmas gifts for all ages.

When I play games my mouse wire gets caught on my desk at the worst times, I mean come on I was just about to frag that guy who’s staring into the corner trying to run. I fire one shot and my mouse wire gets caught and now it looks like two idiots on the server, one trying to run into the corner and one who’s flailing around not knowing which way is up. Then it happens, just when you get the wire situated again you look up and the guy in the corner some how figured out how to look the other way and killed you, Then you watch him blow him self up with a grenade, Nothing makes me more furious…LOL. you think if only there was a mouse capable of playing online games with out any lag. Well The Razer Mamba has the answer, I came across this mouse the other day and I thought, oh OK another razor mouse, big deal…then I saw WIRELESS. Now I’m a little more interested, then I read it can be wired as well, you see it has a detachable cord , so it can be both. The best of both worlds, when wireless it has a 1ms poll rate which is better than most wired mice. The Razer Mamba also has 7 buttons, 5600 DPI, great ergonomics, and built in memory so you can store much longer macros.

Network attached storage (N.A.S) is something me and my family could not live with out. Back around five to six years ago me and my wife bought our first digital camera. Prior to the digital we had a camera that excepted film, despite the expense of having to buy the film and then having to pay to have it developed my wife was always taking pictures. Birthday, dinners, at the park you name it. At the time I wasn’t into taking pictures that often, if ever, unless my wife made me. then came the digital camera. We started taking pictures of everything and yes I did say we, it was digital and very much a cool gadget. So now not only was my wife hooked on pictures but so was I. It was so easy to take a shot and instantly see how it looked , then decide whether or not you wanted to keep it. Unfortunately we kept and still keep all of them….LOL . That started to present a hugh problem for us, we were running out of hard drive space on computers that that have a tendency to go belly up when you least expect it. S I set out to find a solution and there were many. I settled on a Linksys- NSLU2 which was a network storage link. It allowed us to securely store all of our import pictures, videos and document without worry.That was around seven years ago and although it still works just as well as the day I bought it I’m looking for something a little more modern. After a lot of searching I came across the D-Link DNS-321 Network Attached Storage Enclosure Its the same price I payed seven years ago and has every modern option I need like,  The availability of four different hard drive modes (Standard, JBOD, RAID 0, and RAID 1) allows you to choose the configuration best suited for your needs. Standard mode creates two separately accessible hard drives. JBOD combines both hard drives into one for maximum space efficiency. RAID 0 combines all drives in a ‘striped’ configuration, splitting data evenly across the hard disk drives to provide the highest performance, while RAID 1 causes the drives to mirror each other, providing maximum protection. If one drive fails while configured as RAID 1, the unaffected drive will continue to function as a single drive until the failed drive is replaced. It also features real-time full or incremental backups. As well as a laundry list of other things that will keep you happy and secure in the knowledge your stuff is safe. you can read more about the D-Link DNS-321 here.