Selecting PHP command line version on HostGator shared host

This took me a while to find, so I'm saving it somewhere I can find it again.

The easy way to select the PHP version used for web applications is to use the CPanel configuration tool. However, that doesn't work if you're using SSH and need PHP on the command line. Also, on HostGator, you can't create a symlink outside of your directory (such as to the global php).

You can find out what version you have with

$ php --version

If that's not the version you want, try a specific version like this (php55 is 5.5, etc):

$ /opt/php55/bin/php --version

If that works, add an alias to your .bashrc file.

$ nano ~/.bashrc

Add lines like the ones below and then Ctrl-X to close nano (be sure to hit 'y' to save changes when closing)

alias php='/opt/php55/bin/php'
alias composer='/opt/php55/bin/php ~/bin/composer'
export DRUSH_PHP='/opt/php55/bin/php'

Now, re-source the file so the command line gets the new aliases

$ . ~/.bashrc

Just as a sanity check, check the version again

$ php --version

Traffic Quiz 5: Potholes...

Traffic Question 5:

What do you do when your car falls into a pothole?

Traffic Quiz 4: If you turn down the wrong street, what do you do?

Traffic Quiz 3: Where do you execute a three point turn?

Traffic Quiz 2: What do you do when you get a text on your phone?

Traffic Quiz 1: Where is the best place to turn around (near a T intersection)?

Detecting MouseEnter and MouseLeave in a control that has lots of children controls (.Net)

Seems like I have been through this before. What I want to do is hide and show something, depending on whether the mouse is inside of a certain area. For instance, I have a container of some sort with lots of controls on it. When the mouse is anywhere inside of the container, I want a link to be visible. I can't simply use the MouseEnter/MouseLeave events on the container, because MouseLeave is triggered when the mouse enters a child control and the MouseEventArgs don't say anything about what control is being entered.

Reading and Writing Disk Images for Raspberry Pi

(What is a Raspberry Pi? It's an inexpensive minicomputer, popular with hobbyists and educators.)

After doing several saving and restoring several images, I have found tools and a method that I'm happy with. I am using these with Raspbian, but they would work with other flavors, too.

How to Run Different PiPresents Shows on Different Days of the Week

A PiPresents pipresents.wordpress.com/ show (we're talking about a Raspberry Pi running Raspbian) can be set to end at a time of day, but it does not have a way to set a day of the week. I have created a workaround for this using the standard Linux cron scheduler and some bash scripts.

Say Goodbye to Windows 8's Start Screen

All of the people I've talked to who don't like Windows 8, don't like it because of the new start screen. You know, the tiled "apps" screen. A.K.A. "Metro" screen.

Maybe that sort of thing makes sense on a touchscreen device. Not on a desktop computer or standard laptop.

This free software brings back your start menu, like in Windows 7: ClassicShell. If you set it to start in desktop mode, you can say goodbye to the start screen! Here's how.