Bono, lead singer of the rock band U2, is famous throughout the entertainment industry for being more than just a little self-righteous.

At a recent U2 concert in Glasgow, Scotland, he asked the audience for total quiet.

Then, in the silence, he started to slowly clap his hands, once every few seconds. Holding the audience in total silence, he said into the microphone, 'Every time I clap my hands, a child in Africa dies.'

From the front of the crowd a voice with a broad Scottish accent pierced the quiet...

"Well, f--ckin stop doin it then, ya evil bastard!"

No, not at all

That is a good one. Hope you guys all good and thank you for your efforts.

Additional, I would like to give you some suggestions for Live Space:

1. Can you do an automatic SEO funtion, that can put people's blog head in the <title>section? This can not only help people's blog attract more traffic but also allow you guys display your banner (advertisement) more often!
   
2. Why don't you guys do some changes that automatically translate the blog links to .htm format? You must know .entry is very very unfriendly to seach engines (even to your Live search)
3. User can change the numbers of  articles showing on homepage freely. They are not bounded to 5, 10 or 15 articles...
4. I've surveyed many friends. They all say the "previous or next page" icon (the small triangle ) is very very hard to find! Couldn't you guys use texts instead of using the small triangles? Besides, you 'd put this under each single blog, not on top of each blog article!
5. A premier Live service that premier users can pay to get VIP services and get rid of banners. Say $10 a month? People will pay that!
6. The community page! Don't you think that is important? It is VERY VERY IMPORTANT! I don't know why you do not generate an attracting community page for each country/market! The current ones are either not attractive or just not up to date / less information / not enough user articles recommended. But through the community page users can easily find popular blogs and interactive with them!
7. Junk link prevention. Very easy. Human power is huge. Use a calculation that can let users vote!
8. Open more HTML functions. Restrictions can only drive your potential users away!
   

Quote:

Technical preview of Windows Live Writer now available

This morning, the Windows Live Writer team released a new version of Writer for download from Writer Zone, their team blog. The new version is a technical preview only available in English (United States), and the primary focus of the release is to get feedback on the improvements made to the plug-in SDK.

In addition, there are some additional product features as well, including the ability to publish videos from your computer to Soapbox and Spaces as well as new photo editing capabilities.

Go check out the Writer team space where you can read more about the SDK changes and the new features, and download the technical preview.

And as always, keep the feedback coming.

- Chris
Product Manager, Windows Live

Technorati Tags: Windows Live Writer,Windows Live

The best picture I've ever seen for Songzanlin Monastery.

Photo by George Steinmetz @ National Geographic (link)

This is a photo taken in a Sichuan company, 500km from the epicenter. We can see the humor deep inside Chinese people.

Then let's look at some stories really funny. These stories are real and interesting, published by real people. I just translated some pieces:-

1. "On 12 May before the earthquake, my auntie was playing mah-jong with three other old ladies. Then suddenly she found that the table was shaking. She cried, 'No play! Run!' Another lady calmly said, 'No panic. Play another round!'"
2. "When the earthquake hit us, one guy lived downstairs lifted a 29 inch TV with hands and quickly ran out!!"
3. "Four old women were playing mah-jong, suddenly the table began to shake. They quickly ran out, found some hardboard, then came back and inserted under the legs, then continued to play!!!"
4. "A doctor was preparing an injection for a middle-aged man. Then he felt the bed was shaking. He said, 'Hello, big guy? Don't be afraid of a small injection!'"
5. "I was at the construction site. I found my computer was shaking. I shouted, 'Fuck it, tell the driver of road roller do not drive so quickly!' Nobody listened to me. Then I ran out with angry but found out that it was an earthquake..."
6. "Students of Sichuan university (500km away) were having classes. When the earthquake stroke, students began to run out. The old professor said, 'Don't panic, sit down! I have to count the rate of attendance first!'"
7. "I was having telephone conversation with my friend. Then I felt the ground was shaking. I calmly told him, "An earthquake!" He said calmly, 'Gua-le (Then Hang up)!' In Chinese Gua-le also means 'BE DEAD'!"
8. "A friend told me that when earthquake hit the area his dog was still sleeping, not like neighbor's dogs who were barking. After the earthquake he kicked the useless dog out!"
9. "When earthquake, our Japanese teacher who was used to the earthquakes in Japan calmly told us to hide under the tables, then after 5 mins shaking he continued to teach Japanese! Our school head who had assembled all teachers and students on the safer playground counted the numbers, then said, 'Shit, where is the Japanese class!' At last he found that we were still in the classroom..."
10. "The television broadcastered an old man who was being rescued by Russian team from the ruins. When he was out he looked around and said to people, 'This earthquake is so bloody powerful! I am in Russia now!!!!'"
11. "I've never been to an earthquake. That day I was walking in the streets toward the Telecom shop to pay my telephone bill, suddenly I saw a group of people ran out from the Telecom shop, I thought, 'Shit! A robbery!'"
12. "My friend was in the toilet room. She suddenly felt her feet were shaking, she thought, 'I am not good. No wonder why my feet are shaking! I need more gyms!'" 
13. "An old engineer in my company, ran from 13th floor to 11th floor, then said, 'Damn, the computer was on!' He returned and turned it off! The next day he was praised by our boss, but was told, 'Thank you, but please don't do that again!'"
14. "My friend's old dad lived in 6th floor. He was standing near the window when the earthquake took place. He looked as if he was enjoying for a moment then said to his wife, 'Darling, come here quickly! The big water tower was shaking like a hula-ring!' His wife at that time was groveling and was too afraid to either speak or stand on the floor..."
15. "I was testing a new car for my friend. We turned on the air conditioner then felt the car was shaking heavily. My friend said, 'OMG, this car is a piece of shit! Just turning on air conditioner can make it shake! I need to talk with the sales manager and refund immediately!'"

A beautiful smile in the ruins!

Installing Webmin in Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon

Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration for Unix. Using any modern web browser, you can setup user accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing and much more. Webmin removes the need to manually edit Unix configuration files like /etc/passwd, and lets you manage a system from the console or remotely.

You can install webmin for your server web interface to configure apache,mysql servers.Now we will see how to install webmin in Ubuntu 7.10

Preparing your system

First you need to install the following packages

sudo apt-get install perl libnet-ssleay-perl openssl libauthen-pam-perl libpam-runtime libio-pty-perl libmd5-perl

Now download the latest webmin using the following command

wget http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/webadmin/webmin_1.370_all.deb

Now we have webmin_1.370_all.deb package install this package using the following command

sudo dpkg -i webmin_1.370_all.deb

This will complete the installation.

Ubuntu in particular don’t allow logins by the root user by default. However, the user created at system installation time can use sudo to switch to root. Webmin will allow any user who has this sudo capability to login with full root privileges.

Now you need to open your web browser and enter the following

https://your-server-ip:10000/

Now you should see similar to the following Screen

Once you enter into the webmin you should see similar to the following screen

If you want to configure Apache,Mysql server you need to click on Servers on your lefthand side you should many servers are ready to configure

This is very Easy to configure most of the servers and Enjoy your new Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon LAMP Server

Solution ONE:

Solution TWO:

Change resolution in Fedora 7

1. First check possible resolutions supported by your graphics card using the following command.

'xrandr'

It will display all possible resolutions like this.

Screen 0: minimum 400 x 300, current 1152 x 864, maximum 1152 x 864
default connected 1152x864+0+0 0mm x 0mm
1152x864 75.0* 70.0 60.0
1152x768 55.0
1024x768 85.0 75.0 70.0 60.0 87.0
832x624 75.0
800x600 85.0 75.0 72.0 60.0 56.0
640x480 85.0 75.0 73.0 67.0 60.0
720x400 70.0 85.0
640x400 85.0
640x360 85.0 75.0 70.0 60.0
640x350 85.0
512x384 87.0
416x312 75.0
400x300 85.0 75.0 72.0 60.0

The current selected resolution will have a * next to it.

2. Change resolution.
Suppose your graphics card support 1024x768 resolution then you can change it using the following command.
xrandr -s 1024x768

BEIJING (AP) -- China has ratcheted up surveillance and security in every phase of the Beijing Olympics -- even the tickets.

In a move unprecedented for the Olympics, tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies are embedded with a microchip containing the bearer's photograph, passport details, addresses, e-mail and telephone numbers.

The intent is to keep potential troublemakers from the 91,000-seat National Stadium as billions watch on TV screens around the world. Along with terrorists, Chinese officials fear protesters might wreck the glitzy ceremonies, unfurling Tibet flags, anti-China banners or even T-shirts adorned with strident messages.

Aside from concerns about privacy and identity theft, the high-tech tickets also threaten chaos at the turnstiles.

Tickets for the Aug. 8 opening ceremony are the most expensive of the games -- a top price of $720 -- and many are in the hands of dignitaries and friends. Delays could create terrible publicity on opening night.

"They should be concentrating on sniffing out the kinds of dangerous stuff rather than worrying about the identify of the people with the tickets," said Roger Clarke, an Australian security expert. His Xamax Consultancy in Canberra advises businesses in online security and identity authentication.

"The way in which you recognize an evildoer, somebody who wants to throw a bomb, somebody who wants to unfurl a Tibet flag is not on the basis of their identify," Clarke added. "It's the act that they perform and it's the materials they carry with them."

China was toughened visa restrictions and increased checks at hotels and entertainment areas -- all designed to keep track of foreigners as the games approach. Several large public gatherings have been canceled. Thousands of closed-circuit TV cameras will be deployed in and around the venues. Organizers have acknowledged that some security officials will be dressed in volunteer uniforms. Passengers riding the subway and major bus routes will also undergo strict checks.

China has developed some of the world's most advanced RFID (radio frequency identification) technology, some aimed at keeping tight control over its citizens and borders. It's used on Chinese driver's licenses and ID cards.

Chinese authorities initially considered tying all 6.8 million tickets to individuals, which was attempted two years ago in soccer's World Cup in Germany. German officials eventually backed off the plan -- it made tickets difficult to transfer or resell -- and scanned only 500-1,000 tickets at each game rather than all tickets.

The plan was aimed at deterring scalpers and soccer hooligans. But initially it caused long lines and criticism from fans and soccer's world governing body, which said it was too strict and elaborate.

Microchips are embedded in all Beijing Olympics tickets, but only opening and closing tickets contain the photos and passport data. This makes them -- in theory -- nontransferable. The other tickets are transferable, and the RFID technology is being touted as a deterrent and an anti-counterfeit device. That's useful in China, which produces fake products from DVDs to heart medicine.

Ticketmaster China, the official ticketing provider for the games, predicts every event in every venue will be sold out -- an Olympic first.

"We noticed the problem in Germany in 2006, and we learned a lesson from them," said Yang Yichun, director of the technology department for the Beijing organizing committee. "We have made contingency plans to deal with any potential problems."

One fan of the system is Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang, who attended a World Cup game in Dortmund two years ago and is confident Beijing's technology is better.

"We're fully prepared and we are confident we can overcome all the difficulties," Wan said.

Clarke, the Australian security expert, said inaccurate data, ticket holders mixing up tickets and the possibility for identity theft were likely.

"If somebody is handing out six tickets to six people, they somehow have to shuffle these tickets successfully to get the right ticket in the right hands," Clarke said. "If they fail and then people are separated in the queue, we'll get enormous delays at the gates."

The International Olympic Committee has said it is comfortable with Beijing's ticketing security. IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said the RFID technology was "tested thoroughly by BOCOG this summer and satisfied both BOCOG and the IOC that the technology is sound."

Xu Chaoying, one of China's leading experts in RFID, is the general manager of Beijing Dalang Telecom Co. Ltd., which lost in a bid for the Olympic RFID contract. Xu called RFID "mature technology" and discounted the comparison to Germany.

"For the 2006 World Cup, I think the main problem was about privacy," Xu said. "People doubted whether the data in the tickets would be completely deleted. But as for the technology, there shouldn't be any problem."

Xu said it was possible the wireless technology could be disrupted, but he said any problems would be easy to fix.

Clarke disputed this. He said if Chinese officials choose to use a rudimentary RFID system, it would expose the data to easy theft. A more secure system using encrypted data would add complexity and more possibilities for chaos at the gate.

He said the high-tech ticket might also distract from procedures like frisks and bag checks, both more likely to uncover contraband entering the stadium.

"There's always a risk when you start putting efforts into an inappropriate mechanism that you deflect resources away from the important ones," Clarke said. "You reduce your effectiveness in finding flags and bombs and weapons because you've got too many people spending too much time worrying about other things."

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Link

By SIMON ELEGANT/BEIJING

Photo: Survivors shelter in the Mianyang stadium. Ian Teh for TIME

The highway leading to Yingxiu, a small town near the epicenter of China's May 12 earthquake, is rent by fissures big enough to swallow a child and is choked with smashed trucks and enormous rocks. Near the town's outskirts, just past a car that has been crushed by a boulder, a landslide cuts off the road entirely. A mother who walked into the mountains beyond to bring out her 12-year-old son says he's been scarred by what he's seen. The landscape they are leaving behind is hellish, she says--putrefying bodies, collapsed schools, buried roads and rows of wrecked houses. But the situation doesn't faze two friends who have traveled here by train, car and, finally, on foot to help victims of the Wenchuan earthquake. Dressed in white T shirts reading I [heart] CHINA, the men are determined to reach the core of the devastation. "After we saw the news of the disaster, we decided we had to help," says Wu Guanglei, a 36-year-old high school physics teacher from Zigong, a town 186 miles (300 km) to the south. "We Chinese people are growing closer and closer together," says Wu Xiangping, 28, who took a leave from his job at a Beijing advertising firm to join the relief effort. "And because of that, the country's morality is rising too."

These simple observations, stated with a tinge of hope and pride, crystallize much of what China as a nation has learned about itself over the past two weeks. The 8.0-magnitude quake, the country's worst natural disaster in more than 30 years, has probably killed at least 50,000 and has left more than 5 million homeless, according to official sources. Horrific videos from the disaster zone--the twisted bodies of children layered like fossils in the sediment of a pancaked concrete schoolhouse, the desperate decision to amputate the legs of a dying girl pinned in rubble--forced the Chinese people to look into the abyss. And reflected was the image of a more compassionate nation than many had perhaps expected, where tens of millions of Chinese lined up for hours to make sure their donations of cash or food or clothes were accepted and where tens of thousands of others like the Wus left their jobs and families and rushed to aid their compatriots. The roads to the disaster zone were jammed with cars carrying banners that read RESIST THE QUAKE: PROVIDE RELIEF and WHEN ONE HAS DIFFICULTY, EIGHT ASSIST. The traffic was so overwhelming that authorities had to close the roads and turn back volunteers. So many clothes were contributed that they were piled in mounds six feet (two meters) high in some devastated towns. Within days, contributions from the country's private companies, not known for their charity, had hit a billion dollars and were still rising.

The outpouring of support has been a revelation. For years, China's citizens couldn't watch the evening news without being reminded of their darker side, of the grasping, reckless self-interest that has characterized China's headlong rush to become wealthy and powerful--stories of slave labor and child-kidnapping rings, rampant government corruption, counterfeit products, tainted food, dangerous toys and, lately, the brutal crackdown on dissent in Tibet. But from a monstrous humanitarian crisis has come a new self-awareness, a recognition of the Chinese people's sympathy and generosity of spirit. The earthquake has been a "shock of consciousness," as Wenran Jiang, a China scholar at the University of Alberta, puts it, a collective epiphany when the nation was suddenly confronted with how much it had changed in two decades of booming growth and how some changes have been for the better.

Of course, when the national emergency abates, much of China will revert to its familiar ways. But something fundamental has changed. There is a new confidence in the ability, even duty, of ordinary Chinese to contribute to building a more virtuous society and a willingness to press the government for the right to do so. Most of those volunteering were doing so for the first time, for example, and many said they were eager to do more community work in the future. Says Jiang: "It's a major leap forward in the formation of China's civil society, which is vital for China's future democratization process." That doesn't mean the Wenchuan earthquake will lead directly to elections in the next few years, but the complex and shifting relationship between the Communist Party and increasingly vociferous Chinese citizens will probably evolve into some form of compromise between autocratic control and Western-style democracy.

It's not just China's self-perception that has changed. The quake has altered, at least temporarily, the world's perception of China, whose growing economic and military might is viewed with suspicion and fear in many quarters. China's relationship with the democratic West has been particularly strained of late, after March's bloody demonstrations in Tibet and the chaotic protests that dogged the Olympic-torch relay. But the quake, coming just 10 days after Cyclone Nargis ripped into Burma, has cast the Chinese government in a different light. By blocking foreign aid, Burma's paranoid military junta demonstrated just how impotent and callous to the suffering of its citizens a repressive autocracy can be. But even Beijing's critics expressed admiration for China's swift response to the quake.

In turn, some of China's most xenophobic bloggers have expressed astonishment at the sympathy shown for China by the rest of the world, the donations of cash and goods and the dispatch of foreign search-and-rescue teams, doctors and other personnel. The outpouring of international goodwill "has changed everything," says a senior Western diplomat based in Beijing. "Now many people will be cheering for the Chinese and hoping they pull off a good show at the Olympics. That will be pivotal for China's self-confidence and its perception of its place in the world."

A Nation's Agony

If the crisis had a defining moment, it came on May 19 at 2:28 p.m., exactly a week after the quake. That was when the entire country paused for three minutes. Traffic came to a halt, flags were lowered to half-mast, and Chinese everywhere stood in oft tearful silence to honor the victims of the Wenchuan quake, named for the county at its epicenter. Drivers honked their horns, and factories sounded their sirens in a collective wail of agony. The ritual marked the start of three days of national mourning, during which Internet activities like online gaming were halted and all TV channels except those broadcasting news were blacked out.

This cathartic outpouring of national grief helped put to rest the notion that China lacks civic spirit. Academics have long argued that Confucian ideals, which emphasize duty to family, have mutated over the millenniums into a national mentality that views contributions to nonrelatives as a waste of precious personal resources. This trait was exaggerated by the beggar-thy-neighbor capitalism that has been Chinese society's driving force for the past two decades. Charitable donations from individuals and businesses in China amount to about 0.09% of the gdp, compared with 2% in the U.S.

But in the space of a few weeks, China has shown that not only do its people know how to grieve but they also know how to give. And the charity isn't coming from just private companies and wealthy citizens; many of those donating are poor Chinese making enormous sacrifices. Waiting patiently in line at the Red Cross Society of China office in Beijing on May 19 was Liang Baoying, a 63-year-old retired teacher. Clutching an envelope containing the equivalent of $287--her monthly pension--Liang tearfully said she could no longer watch news of the quake on TV because it was too sad. "I believe this is a national tragedy, so we have no choice but to give. I'm sure the Red Cross will use the donation properly."

Thousands are doing even more. The China Youth Daily reported that an estimated 200,000 citizen volunteers from all over China have descended on the quake zone, providing food, shelter and medical treatment, their convoys of vehicles sometimes causing traffic jams on the narrow mountains roads of Sichuan province. Private aid takes many forms--beef trucked from Inner Mongolia, sleeping bags shipped from Shenzhen, building materials from Chongqing, millions of bottles of water and packets of instant noodles. Volunteers are working in areas overlooked by government relief efforts. In the village of Yongan, south of the devastated city of Beichuan, quake victims, from the very young to the very old, line the road, waiting for the citizen cavalry to arrive. "We're counting on volunteers to bring us food," says Wang Shaoqing, 82. As he speaks, children run up to the cars of volunteers, who stop and hand them food and water bottles through the windows.

The dedication of the volunteers has been covered in the state media with almost the same enthusiasm that's been given to the performance of the 120,000 People's Liberation Army troops and paramilitary police officers in the disaster area. The normally muzzled Chinese press has been freed by the information ministry to saturate the airwaves with quake coverage. The leash on the Internet was also loosened. Popular blogs have been uncensored; commentators posting to mainstream discussion forums were even allowed to criticize the government's handling of some aspects of the relief--the failure to use helicopters for the first three days after the quake, for example.

As surprising as the freedom is the sophistication of the coverage. It's on television and radio round the clock, and newspapers have put out special editions. An anchor even dressed down a reporter on air for broadcasting from the comfort of her hotel room rather than venturing into the field. "Three to five years ago, both the state media and the online world simply wouldn't have had the energy, experience or skill to do coverage on this scale," says Xiao Qiang, a Chinese-media expert at the University of California, Berkeley. "It's going to progress just as much in the next three to five years too. It's not going to be total media freedom, but it is a big step in the empowerment of China's civil society."

Unlikely Hero, Familiar Villains

One of the most widely praised aspects of the relief operation was the speed and scale with which the government responded. And to Chinese and foreigners alike, the man primarily responsible for that was the country's Premier, Wen Jiabao, 65. Within two hours of the earthquake, Wen was on a plane to the disaster area, and for the next four days, Chinese TV was flooded with images of the increasingly exhausted-looking leader as he rallied the relief forces, offered succor to survivors and even choked up.

Wen has long been the human face of the Communist Party. Netizens responded rapturously. "I couldn't help crying when I saw the pictures of Premier Wen in the stricken region," wrote a poster in a typical comment. "I feel very safe to have a wonderful leader like this." The praise will reassure the party hierarchy. Having long since discarded their Marxist-Leninist ideology, China's leaders are increasingly dependent on the approval of the public for their legitimacy; the survival of the party may ultimately depend on its handling of crises.

Wen's star turn notwithstanding, the real danger to the party comes from its rotten base: the county and township officials whose corruption and venality have had the greatest impact on the lives of hundreds of millions of Chinese. There's sure to be a backlash over the number of children killed by the quake, buried in their classrooms as shoddily built schools collapsed around them. In the days following the quake, blogs and online message boards teemed with demands for answers as to why so many schools were destroyed. In one structure alone--the three-story Juyuan Middle School in Dujiangyan--at least 600 students died. "It was built out of tofu," says Hu Yuefu, 44, of the building that collapsed and killed his 15-year-old daughter Huishans. He holds local government officials and building contractors responsible. "I hope there is an investigation," Hu says. "Otherwise, there are a thousand parents who would beat them to death."

Corruption has proved an inflammatory issue in the past--it was one of the driving forces behind the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989--and mixed with student deaths, it could be explosive. Beijing's first instinct will be to sweep the schools scandal under the rug. Much of the online anger over the collapsed schools has been deleted, and all discussion of the topic has been banned. But the University of Alberta's Jiang says that as China's civil society develops, leaders know they must adapt. "It will be extremely tempting for the control types and ideologues to use the earthquake to glorify the party and to direct this new openness toward reporting only good news," he says. "But that will be one step backward out of two steps forward--no more."

It's hard to see how Beijing can stifle the civic impulses of the millions of Chinese who have been stirred into action by the humanitarian crisis. The earthquake has exposed how much China has changed and given a fleeting glimpse of what might be. The political and cultural aftershocks will roll on for years after the ground has ceased to tremble.

With reporting by With Reporting by Austin Ramzy, Lin Yang/Yingxiu

A little boy goes to his father and asks 'Daddy, how was I born?'

The father answers, 'Well, son, I guess one day you will need to find out anyway!  Your Mom and I first got together in a chat room on Yahoo.  Then I set up a date via e-mail with your Mom and we met at a cyber-cafe.  We sneaked into a secluded room, where your mother agreed to a download from my hard drive.  As soon as I was ready to upload, we discovered that neither one of us had used a firewall, and since it was too late to hit the delete button, nine months later a little Pop-Up appeared that said:  

'You got Male!'

A very useful article that solved my Joomla problem!!

Slow Performance Joomla Using Too Many Resources

Sunday, 20 May 2007

by Conan Stevens

Joomla slow? Not if you follow the intructions below to speed up Joomla, attract additional visitors and get them to stay longer (more revenue anyone?) 

My webhost took my Joomla site offline due to Joomla using too many resources, they said I was slowing the server and I was going to crash the server. Apparently too many MySQL queries were happening and causing an overload on my account and affecting the speed of other sites hosted on the same server.

So if Joomla PHP is killing your shared webhost account and your Joomla (Mambo) install is getting slow performance issues follow these steps...

First it was taking ages to load my site, Joomla (Mambo) was suffering slow performance, something had to be done for my readers but I kept putting it off as I was on a mission to write content. Then my shared webhost emailed me during a nice traffic spike and pulled my site offline! NO!!! 

Looking into it more I found the following and took these steps to rectify the Joomla (Mambo) slow performance issues. 

Fix For Slow Joomla (Mambo) Site

I was getting 200+ queries to the MySQL Database to build each page, the figure should be around 30-40 database queries per page, this was way too much and wholely responsible for the slow Joomla performance and the server CPU and Database overload.

Check MySQL Database Queries

To check this go to the backend admin and then Site -> Global Configuration -> Site -> Debug Site = Yes.

Make sure Override write protection while saving is ticked then apply the change. Now everytime you load a page (frontend or admin) you will have the number of MySQL databaase queries displayed as well as all the individual queries at the very bottom of your page.

Joomla Caching (Mambo too)

Caching, it needs to be turned on. Start with Site -> Global Configuration -> Cache -> Caching = yes. 

Make sure Override write protection while saving is ticked then apply the change.

Turn Off Useless Stats

Go to Site -> Global Configuration -> Statistics -> Statistics = No.  Make sure Override write protection while saving is ticked then apply the change.

These stats are useless and generate MySQL database queries for no decent reason, get rid of them and install another stats package which provides useful info like Joomlastats. Who cares which browser or OS visitors are using - all I want to know is how many people and what organic search terms brought them to me

Doing this got me down to 80-115 MySQL Database queries per page - much better but still not good enough.

Module Caching

Then go Modules -> Site Modules then go into each module seperately and look through the options most of these have the option to enable a cache as well. Enable the cache on every module that has the option.

Doing this got me down to 33-40 MySQL Database Queries per page - much better and acceptable.

Delete Unused Joomla Modules (Mambo too)

Also delete all the site modules that are not being used.

Delete all components and mambots that were not being used.

Even if they are unpublished some of these plugins can still be calling the Mysql Database due to inexperienced programming, better to get rid of the deadwood anyway for security as much as speed.

Optimise MySQL Database Tables

Next optimise your MySQL database tables, you will have to do this every so often, monthly for a heavy use site or 3 monthly for a light use site should do the trick; 

1. Login to your phpMyAdmin DB tool.
2. Select the DB in question and scroll down to the session table.
3. Check the check box next to the table (session table or any tables having overhead values) and select the Optimize option from the drop down select list.

3rd Party Caching Components

Plus there are a couple of components and modules that help with caching and reducing server load, at time of writing the URL is http://extensions.joomla.org

Also turning off SEF urls will help (openSEF, etc) but then no one will be able to find your pages as Google won't index you properly so I do not advise this unless you really need too, even then question is there another way to get this working better?

Faster Web Hosting

As the next step I am moving the whole Joomla site over to a Virtual Private Host (VPS) so that I have full control of the 'machine' that my site runs on, thus we can choose the setup and run it our way - Debian install with minimum config.

We are also moving from Apache webserver to Lighttpd as it is MUCH faster and less load intensive, we are guessing we'll get 10 times the traffic onto a llighttpd box than an Apache box.

Secondly for our own box we have set up memcache to keep HTML copies of all recently seen pages in RAM, this makes a huge difference to speed and will help a lot next time I get 1 page hammered by a major movie site, digg, or any other slashdot effect page.

Comparing the two installs I currently have running the new box is *SIGNIFICANTLY* quicker even on non cached pages, like a 1 second page load compared to 5-6 seconds. 

Now I am thinking with a nice fast site readers will stick around longer and I will get more pageviews, more pageviews means more advertising shown which means more revenue. (UPDATE: True page views are up 25% - 50% each day after the speed improvements not including the move to the new server)

Website load speed and uptime are part of Googles (trustrank?) search engine placement algorythm. A faster site with it's individual IP address and very little downtime is considered a more important page than a shared host with speed issues, therefore you will attract more visitors from the Search Engines (well google at any rate) 

Friends who live on their online earnings have told me the faster servers more than pay for themselves with the additional ad revenues.

I'll have to wait and see, but I believe it. 

There you go now you should never have to search for  "Joomla slow" again