mysql has failed, please contact the sysadmin (result was “Warning, no valid mysql.sock file found.mysql has failed”).

I had this error message just recently when installing/upgrading to MySQL5 onto one of the Nix boxes and after a lot of pain and googling found this solution which works a treat so hopefully someone else will benefit from it

Step 1.)
Go into your WHM > TweakSettings and select the MySQL 5 > Save it

Step 2.)
login as root via SSH and run /scripts/mysqlup, it will do the upgrade for you.

Step 3.)

Rem out the line in /etc/my.conf that was setting basedir to /var/lib. As seen below:

user=mysql
#basedir=/var/lib

Step 4.)

Create the directory “/var/run/mysqld” if it does not exist. Then chown that directory to mysql.mysql as below…

mkdir /var/run/mysqld
chown mysql.mysql /var/run/mysqld

Step 5.)
Kindly check if a socket file exists on /tmp.
if not add one
root@server# cd /tmp
root@server [/tmp]# ln -s /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock .

Step 6.)
Start the service..

service mysql start

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Is Google bcoming the new PayPal?

For the first time since its launch, traffic to the Google Checkout system has exceeded that of PayPals more established serviced.

According to reports from Hitwise’s Robin Goad, for the first time Google has taken a small lead in the battle to become the number one eCommerce software payment provider of choice. Although only launched in the UK in the last 18 months, Google checkout has already proved incredibly popular when compared against PayPal, partly for the strong brand behind it but also for the sometime poor history PayPal has had in the past. This doesn’t of course mean that more transactions are being processed by Google Checkout but that cannot be far away…

Unsurprisingly, the majority, some 59.1%, of traffic to PayPal comes from its parent company eBay, 12.4% from Google (irony is always amusing) and only 2.2% from shopping and classified ad sites. Conversely, Google gets the bulk of its own traffic from retailers, a whopping 45.3%.

Retention is also a lot higher for Google with 43.4% of users visiting another shopping site after checkout against just 26.7% for PayPal.

This basically means that there are more users abandoning their carts using Google Checkout than those using PayPal.

This in itself is surprising as both gateways offer a clear and simple interface for eCommerce software providers and a rapid checkout is essential. In addition, the implementation of Google Checkout for eCommerce software solutions is actually more complex than the simple PayPal “Buy Now” button.

So what does this mean for eCommerce software solutions, store owners and shoppers?

Well Google certainly has the brand and traffic to push their solution forward whereas PayPal is owned by the largest Auction site in the world so they both have solid sources of traffic. Developers may be snubbing the complex interface of the Google eCommerce offering band shoppers seem to prefer the simplicity of PayPal.

The best solution for eCommerce software providers therefore is to offer a choice to their users which is why Open Mind Commerce supports both gateways as well as over ten other payment options.

Choice is good, choice is important, shoppers shouldn’t be restricted to just one solution and should be given the freedom to choose.

As for the future it will certainly be interesting to watch the battle of the giants shape up…

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Think this chap got a bit confused…

…over the true meaning of a bicycle pump…

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7095134.stm

Gotta love the beeb

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Domainrenewalonline.com - Scam warning!

Got an email this morning from a company called domainrenewalonline saying that one of my domains is due to expire in 90 days. The domain in question was indeed due to expire but it would be a clever trick as all my domains are through eNom.

Looking into this company a bit further, there is a scam email running round the net at the moment:
www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GFRC_enGB218GB218&q=domainrenewalonline

The email looks pretty official and only gets tagged as a medium level of spam so it’s quite convincing.

The link in the email foes straight to their domain, I didn’t click it but at first glance it does all look legit..

Obviously ignore it and contact your registrar if you’re unsure…

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eCommerce Software Solution…

OK the title was search engine fodder but Open Mind Commerce went live last week after almost a year in development and it’s a massive project for the business…

Special offers went up on all the forums (some bright spark will probably notice a similarity) so lets see how this works out…

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Bliin - The new face of social networking?

Something caught my eye this morning, but after I had removed the arm of my glasses from my eyeball I returned to the BBC website to continue reading about a new social networking service called Bliin (who the hell thinks these names up??)

In a nutshell it uses the GPS capabilities of the newer mobile phone to pinpoint where exactly you are on the globe, how fast you are travelling and allows you to send images straight to the site.

A bloody original idea but I am alone in thinking this is worryingly voyeuristic?

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Day two…

OK I’ll hold my hands up. I had one cigarette at about 9pm last night. I know it’s no excuse but I put it down to the fact that I put my patch on at midnight last night and therefore wasted 7 odd hours of it by sleeping.

So I waited until 7am this morning for the next patch and should get through tonight a bit better.

I must admit yesterday was seriously tough, I was climbing the walls by that evening. But going from 30/day to zero isn’t supposed to be fun…

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Skype is actually rather good…

I downloaded Skype the other day. Ooooooh congrats Phil I hear you sarcastically cheer, welcome to the 21st century! Well the reason I was hesitant was two fold. a) I didn’t feel I needed it and b) it was developed by the same people who bought us Kazaa which was a file sharing program loaded with Spyware, malware, adware and even tupperware. But I digress…

Nice quick install and a good interface and I was making calls very easily. The call quality is top notch and I was very impressed by the fact that I can call the US free on their toll free numbers and just over 1p/min on normal lines. A lot of my suppliers are overseas so kerching is in order methinks…

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Worlds oldest domain name…

I was curious today, don’t ask me why just one of those moods, what the world’s oldest domain name was. I thought it would be interesting to see who actually got in there first. After a bit of googling I came across this top 100 list that showed the registration dates of the 100 oldest domains in terms of length of time they had been registered.

What surprised me was that in the top ten, there was only six domains I had actually heard of…

Rank Create date Domain name
1. 15-Mar-1985 SYMBOLICS.COM
2. 24-Apr-1985 BBN.COM
3. 24-May-1985 THINK.COM
4. 11-Jul-1985 MCC.COM
5. 30-Sep-1985 DEC.COM
6. 07-Nov-1985 NORTHROP.COM
7. 09-Jan-1986 XEROX.COM
8. 17-Jan-1986 SRI.COM
9. 03-Mar-1986 HP.COM
10. 05-Mar-1986 BELLCORE.COM
11. 19-Mar-1986 IBM.COM
11. 19-Mar-1986 SUN.COM
13. 25-Mar-1986 INTEL.COM
13. 25-Mar-1986 TI.COM
15. 25-Apr-1986 ATT.COM

You can see the full list here..

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Right I give up…

I just cannot find a decent image gallery plugin for the latest version of WordPress.

All I want t to do is create the thumbnails and link to the main images using Lightbox. Not too much to ask is it? If you find one, tell me before I punch the server.

That probably won’t help but it would make me feel better…

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