Update: since I first wrote this, PHP5 has gone stable, so there are some useful instructions at Webmasterworld. My web hosting account still runs on PHP4, so the instructions below are still valid for replicating an environment like that:

To get a WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySql, PHP) environment working under Windows XP, this is what I did:

The instructions on gizmobytes were good – here are my additions:

Get Apache 2.0.53

Change install directory to C:\Apache2

Open a browser window. Type

http://localhost

– and you should get the Apache Installation Test Page

Get PHP 4.3.10

Unzip to C:\PHP

Edit the C:\Apache2\Apache2\conf\httpd.conf file to support the php sapi file; display index.php for directories;

Run “Apache | Restart”

Create a text file – save as C:\Apache2\Apache2\htdocs\phpinfo.php, which should contain the following:

< ?
phpinfo();
?>

This will show that PHP is working with apache.

Download mySql from mysql.com

Unzip and install to C:\mysql

Save the enclosed file to C:\windows\my.ini

#This File was made using the WinMySQLAdmin 1.4 Tool
#21/12/2003 00:16:23

#Uncomment or Add only the keys that you know how works.
#Read the MySQL Manual for instructions

[mysqld]
basedir=C:/mysql
#bind-address=127.0.0.1
datadir=C:/mysql/data
#language=C:/mysql/share/your language directory
#slow query log#=
#tmpdir#=
#port=3306
#set-variable=key_buffer=16M
[WinMySQLadmin]
Server=C:/mysql/bin/mysqld-nt.exe
user=nick
password=newpass

Get PHPMyAdmin from sourceforge

Unzip it to C:\Apache2\Apache2\htdocs\phpMyAdmin

Save the enclosed file to C:\Apache2\Apache2\htdocs\phpMyAdmin\config.inc.php

From a browser, type:

http://localhost/phpMyAdmin

You should see something like

MySQL 4.1.10-nt running on localhost as nick@localhost

Save the following to C:\Apache2\Apache2\htdocs\mysql\sqlconnect.php

In the browser, type:

http://localhost/mysql/sqlconnect.php

– you should see a list of users in the browser window: i.e.”nick”, “root”.

Once this is all working, that should give you enough of a guide to add your own users etc. (suggest through phpmyadmin), and edit the scripts. Helpful apache and php fora (forums?) on webmasterworld

Enabled Extensions: (33)

Adblock 0.5.2.039
Alt-Text for Links 0.1.1
AutoMarks 0.1
Bible Toolbar 1.5.4
Bookmarks Synchronizer 1.0.1
ColorZilla 0.6.5
ConQuery 1.5.2
Copy Plain Text 0.2.1
Disable Targets For Downloads 0.8
downTHEMall! 0.9.4
EditCSS 0.2.3
Enigmail 0.89.5 for Thunderbird
Ext2Abc 0.2.1
fireFTP 0.87
FoxyTunes 1.1
Hotmail Tabs 0.9
ieview 0.83
Image Zoom 0.1.7
ListZilla 0.5.1
Mouse Gestures 1.0
OpenBook 1.2.0
Paste and Go 0.4.1
Plain Text Links 0.2
Resize Search Box 0.0.4
ScrapBook 0.13.7
Show Image 0.3
Slashy 1.2.0
TargetAlert 0.7.3
Teleflip 0.1.1
View Cookies 1.2
Web Color Names 1.0.12
Web Developer 0.8
Word Count 0.1.1

Disabled Extensions: (2)
ForecastFox 0.5.8
Locale Switcher 0.3

Here is an impromptu list:

Web design:

• Firefox 1.0 – My favourite browser
• Filezilla – Open source FTP client

General utilities:

• Textpad – Very fully featured text editor
• Jedit – A text editor for programmers. Written in Java, so the same under Windows, OS X, Linux, Unix
• 7-Zip – A compression utility, which can handle .tgz archives under Windows (very handy)
• Explorer XP – A replacement for Windows Explorer which has two great features: 1) Folder size is displayed. 2) “Create New Folder” is a button on the toolbar
• Iso Recorder – For creating images of installation CD’s for your hard disk

Music:

• CDex – Music compression / file-format changer -.wav to .mp3, and vice versa
• Audacity – A sound recorder and so much more. Very useful for recording speech
• Winamp – Music / media player. Small, but perfectly formed

Graphics:

• IrfanView – Views all images I’ve come across, plus loads of options for reducing file sizes.

I hope that you find them as useful as I do.

This related article by Joel Miller covers Testamints, and goes further, even detailing a Christian “snack bar”, with a link to his article on Get the Jesus action figure

Unbelievable.

Here’s one that I thought worked out rather well:

It does help that the building itself is amazing!

The good folks at Nightingale Conant caught me at the right point in late 2002 (just after my job had been downsized), and I bought the Getting Things Done CD’s. These are the live recordings of a seminar by David Allen, and they have genuinely changed my life. (Read my comments from Spring 2003 on how I felt then).

I’ve lent the CDs to several friends who’ve been similarly impressed (and bought labelmakers too). For most people, e-mail inboxes are the sign of being out of control in the amount of input we allow into our lives. Julie Daniel – a GTD coach in the UK, has this to say about Keeping Your In-Box “Real”

Less refers to quantity, fewer to number. “His troubles are less than mine” means “His troubles are not so great as mine.” “His troubles are fewer than mine” means “His troubles are not so numerous as mine.” It is, however, correct to say, “The signers of the petition were less than a hundred, “where the round number, a hundred, is something like a collective noun, and less is thought of as meaning a less quantity or amount.

Leading to fewer errors.

Interestingly, Brazil has reciprocated by requiring all American visitors to undergo the same requirements on entering Brazil. Given the ballyhoo over Immigration in the UK at the moment, it looks like our borders will be widened, not tightened in the coming weeks.

In a related article on the US demanding passenger details, Wired covers the recent European Parliament vote (229 to 202) which determined that

it was illegal for the United States to force European airlines to provide data on arriving passengers and threatened to go to court to block an agreement that calls for the information sharing.

Interesting times.