A couple of my users contacted me to say that their host had disabled sendmail and required any scripts they use to now use SMTP to send emails. This resulted in me quickly reading all I could about SMTP and the result is this slightly rough script I am sharing. It’s pretty self explanatory. Put your SMTP server details in the $mailCfg array. Next simply call the smtpMail function which uses the same variables as the standard PHP mail() function but with two additional variables. The additional variables are the email address we are sending from and $mailCfg. I could of put $mailCfg as a global but this way you can include the script in a different script and store the required information where ever you want. The from address is important as most SMTP servers will reject the message if it’s not included.

Just remember the code is far from perfect and was created to do a simple job.

It also has one nice extra function you might find useful…

The directMail function will look up the recipients SMTP server and try to deliver the email directly to it thereby bypassing the need for you to have access to an SMTP server to send through. Just remember your host may frown upon the use of this function.

[sourcecode language='php'] /*
* SMTP Email Sending
* By Stewart Souter
* Date Created: Thurs, 11 August 2011 17:15:37 GMT
* Last Updated: Fri, 19 August 2011 10:54:35 GMT
* email: webmaster@carbonize.co.uk
*
* By using this script you are agreeing to leave this
* comment and agreement in place and untouched. If you
* use any part of this code you must make it clear where
* it came from and give credit where it is due.
*/

$mailCfg['Server'] = ''; // Servername
$mailCfg['User'] = ''; // SMTP username if needed
$mailCfg['Pass'] = ''; // SMTP Password if needed
$mailCfg['Port'] = 25; // SMTP server port. 25 is the usual and 465 if using SSL
$mailCfg['popServer'] = ''; // Name of the pop server. Leave empty if POP Auth not required
$mailCfg['popPort'] = 110; // Port for the pop server. 110 is the usual and 995 if using SSL
$mailCfg['SSL'] = 0; // Does your SMTP server need you to use SSL or TLS? 0 = no, 1 = SSL, 2 = TLS

// This function delivers the email directly to the recipients mail server so bypassing the need for your own
function directMail($mailTo, $mailSubject, $mailMsg, $mailHeaders = '', $mailFrom = '', $mailCfg)
{
if(empty($mailFrom))
{
return false; // No from address == no sending
}
$mailParts = explode('@', $mailTo); // Seperate the parts of the email address
@getmxrr($mailParts[1], $mxHosts, $mxWeight); // Get the MX records for the emails domain
for($i=0;$i {
$mxServers[$mxHosts[$i]] = $mxWeight[$i];
}
asort($mxServers); // Sort the array so they are in weighted order
foreach($mxServers as $key => $value)
{
$mailCfg['Server'] = $key; // Set the SMTP server to the current MX record
if(smtpMail($mailTo, $mailSubject, $mailMsg, $mailHeaders, $mailFrom, $mailCfg)) // Send the email using the MX server
{
return true; // The email was successfully sent
}
}
return false; // Houston we have a problem
}

// This function connects to the SMTP server and does the AUTH if needed. Can also do a POP login if server requires that.
function smtpMail($mailTo, $mailSubject, $mailMsg, $mailHeaders = ”, $mailFrom = ”, $mailCfg )
{
if(empty($mailFrom))
{
return false; // No from address == no sending
}
$timeout = ’30′; // How long to keep trying to connect
$localhost = ‘localhost’; // How to identify ourselves
$logArray = array(); // For storing the replies

/* * * * POP Login if required * * */

if(!empty($mailCfg['popServer'])) // Can’t really do POP Auth without a server
{
$ssl = ($mailCfg['SSL'] != 0) ? (($mailCfg['SSL'] == 1) ? ‘ssl://’ : ‘tls://’) : ”; // If SSL or TLS add it
$popConnect = @fsockopen($ssl.$mailCfg['popServer'], $mailCfg['popPort'], $errno, $errstr, $timeout); // Connect
if(!$popConnect) // If we fail to connect…
{
$logArray['POPconnect'] = $errstr . ‘(‘ . $errno . ‘)’; // Log the given reason…
logMailError($logArray); // And output to the log file.
return false;
}
else
{
$logArray['POPconnect'] = @fgets($popConnect, 515)); // POP servers only return single line replies. Or should.
if(!mailPackets(‘AUTH LOGIN’, $popConnect, ‘SMTPauth’)) //Request Auth Login
{
return false;
}
if(!mailPackets(‘USER ‘ . $smtpUser, $popConnect, ‘POPuser’)) // Send username. POP is plaintext
{
return false;
}
if(!mailPackets(‘PASS ‘ . $smtpPass, $popConnect, ‘POPpass’)) // Send password, again in plaintext
{
return false;
}
if(!mailPackets(‘QUIT’, $popConnect, ‘POPquit’)) // Say bye to the server
{
return false;
}
fclose($popConnect); // Close connection
}
}

/* * * * End of POP Login * * * * */

/* * * * Start of SMTP stuff * * * */

$ssl = ($mailCfg['SSL'] != 0) ? (($mailCfg['SSL'] == 1) ? ‘ssl://’ : ‘tls://’) : ”; // Set the encryption if needed
$smtpConnect = @fsockopen($ssl.$mailCfg['Server'], $mailCfg['Port'], $errno, $errstr, $timeout); // Connect
if(!$smtpConnect) // If we fail to connect…
{
$logArray['SMTPconnect'] = $errstr . ‘(‘ . $errno . ‘)’; // Add the reason to the log…
logMailError($logArray); // Then output the log
return false;
}
else
{
$cnectKey = 0; // A counter for when we receive multiple lines in reply
do
{
$smtpResponse = @fgets($smtpConnect, 515); // Get the reply
$cnectKey++; // Increment the counter
$logArray['SMTPconnect' . $cnectKey] = $smtpResponse; // Log the response
$responseCode = substr($smtpResponse, 0, 3); // Grab the response code from start of the response
// If we get an error terminate the connection and log the results so far
if($responseCode >= 400)
{
logMailError($logArray, $smtpConnect);
return false;
}
}
while((strlen($smtpResponse) > 3) && (strpos($smtpResponse, ‘ ‘) != 3)); // Loop until we get told it’s the last line
$ehlo = mailPackets(‘EHLO ‘ . $localhost, $smtpConnect, $logArray, ‘SMTPehlo’); // Let’s try using EHLO first
if($ehlo != 250) // Server said it didn’t like EHLO so drop back to HELO
{
if(!mailPackets(‘HELO ‘ . $localhost, $smtpConnect, $logArray, ‘SMTPhelo’)) // Send HELO. No EHLO means server doesn’t support AUTH
{
return false;
}
}
if(!empty($mailCfg['User']) && ($ehlo == 250)) // We have a username and server supports EHLO so send login credentials
{
if(!mailPackets(‘AUTH LOGIN’, $smtpConnect, $logArray, ‘SMTPauth’)) // Request Auth Login
{
return false;
}
if(!mailPackets(base64_encode($mailCfg['User']), $smtpConnect, $logArray, ‘SMTPuser’)) // Send username
{
return false;
}
if(!mailPackets(base64_encode($mailCfg['Pass']), $smtpConnect, $logArray, ‘SMTPpass’)) // Send password
{
return false;
}
}
if(!mailPackets(‘MAIL FROM:<' . $mailFrom . '>‘, $smtpConnect, $logArray, ‘SMTPfrom’)) // Email From
{
return false;
}
if(!mailPackets(‘RCPT TO:<' . $mailTo . '>‘, $smtpConnect, $logArray, ‘SMTPrcpt’)) // Email To
{
return false;
}
if(!mailPackets(‘DATA’, $smtpConnect, $logArray, ‘SMTPmsg’)) // We are about to send the message
{
return false;
}
// First lets make sure both the message and additional headers do not contain anythign that might be seen as end of message marker
$mailMsg = preg_replace(array(“/(? $mailHeaders = (!empty($mailHeaders)) ? "\r\n" . preg_replace(array("/(? // Create the default headers, attach any additonal headers
$mailHeaders = "To: <".$mailCfg['To'].">\r\nFrom: <".$mailCfg['From'].">\r\nSubject: “.$mailCfg['Subject'].”\r\nDate: ” . gmdate(‘D, d M Y H:i:s’) . ” -0000″.$mailHeaders;
if(!mailPackets($mailHeaders.”\r\n\r\n”.$mailMsg.”\r\n.”, $smtpConnect, $logArray, ‘SMTPbody’)) // The message
{
return false;
}
mailPackets(‘QUIT’, $smtpConnect, $logArray, ‘SMTPquit’); // Say Bye to SMTP server
fclose($smtpConnect); // Be nice and close the connection
return true; // Return the fact we sent the message
}
}

// This function sends the actual packets then logs the reponses and parses the reponse code
function mailPackets($sendStr,$mailConnect,&$logArray,$logName = ”)
{
$newLine = “\r\n”; // LEAVE THIS ALONE
$keyCount = 0; // Just an incremental counter for when we get more than a single line response
@fputs($mailConnect,$sendStr . $newLine); // Send the packet
do // Start grabbing the responses until we either get a terminal error or told we are at the end
{
$mailResponse = @fgets($mailConnect, 515); // Receive the response
$keyCount++; // Incrememnt the key count
$logArray[$logName . $keyCount] = $mailResponse; // Put the response in to the log array
$responseCode = substr($smtpResponse, 0, 3); // Grab the response code from start of the response
// Check for error codes except on ehlo, auth, and user details as they are not always fatal
if((($logName != ‘SMTPauth’) && ($logName != ‘SMTPuser’) && ($logName != ‘SMTPehlo’) && ($logName != ‘SMTPpass’)) && ($responseCode >= 400))
{
logMailError($logArray,$mailConnect);
return false;
}
elseif((substr($responseCode, 0, 1) == 4) || ($responseCode >= 521) && ($logName != ‘SMTPehlo’))
{
logMailError($logArray,$mailConnect);
return false;
}
}
while((strlen($mailResponse) > 3) && (strpos($mailResponse, ‘ ‘) != 3)); // Loop until we get the end response
return $responseCode; // Return the response code
}

function logMailError(&$logArray, $mailServer = false)
{
if($mailServer)
{
fclose($mailServer); // Be nice and close the connection
}
$fd = @fopen (‘smtplog.txt’, ‘a’); // open the log file
$mailResults = print_r($logArray, true); // Create a nice printable version of logArray
@fwrite($fd,$mailResults); // Write the log
@fclose ($fd); // Close the file
}

?>[/sourcecode]

We all need goals to aim for and I’ve found a new one for me. To do 100 push ups (press ups to us Brits). I was inspired by the website Hundred Push Ups which breaks it down in to sets. It’s five sets per workout, three work outs a week and it’s set over six weeks. They also have an online log for you to keep track of your progress as well as publish it on Facebook and Twitter if you wish.

They also have Two Hundred Sit Ups, Two Hundred Squats and Fifty Pull Ups if push ups aren’t your thing.

Google Chrome is now at version 5 despite being only four years old. Version 6 is in beta. Before I began my rant I just need to explain how the versioning of programs usually works. The first number is the major build number should only change when there have been major changes to the program. The smaller numbers are there to indicate smaller changes such as security and bug fixes. Since it’s release Chrome, as far as I can see, has only had two major changes to it and they are the addition of themes and extensions.

Firefox has been around about eight years and is only at version 3.5. Opera has been around over ten years and is only at version 10.50. With both of these browser they have only changed the major build number when they have made major changes to their browser.

So why is Google increasing Chrome’s build number more often that it has birthdays? Well others believe this is Google’s attempt at making the gullible believe that Chrome is a more mature program than it actually is. The less computer savvy are going to look at it and think, “Oh it’s on version 5 so must have been around a long time”. I tend to agree with their opinion as there is no other reason for Google to be doing this.

I just thought I would share some of the sites I have found for downloading free ebooks. That is fiction ebooks and not reference ebooks as there are hundreds of sites offering reference ebooks as PDF files. With a few of the sites below they are just hosting ebook versions of classic books that are now out of copyright. Most sites just use the books from Project Gutenberg and reformat them for better reading. Quite a few of them give you a choice of what format you want to download the ebook in be it PDF, epub or just plain old txt. If you are looking for more original and modern stories to read then I recommend the first two links, Online Novels and Feedbooks.

Online Novels – Just discovered this excellent source of free ebooks novels.
Feedbooks – Not only does this site have the classics it’s also a good place to find new and original works.
getfreeebooks – Haven’t tried this site yet but looks promising.
ManyBooks – not looked at this site much but seems to have a good mix of classics and modern works.
Project Gutenberg – The main source of classics and they have their own proof readers. Poor formatting in their ebooks though.
epubBooks – Classics from Gutenberg but formatted for better reading and all in the epub format.

MobileRead also has a forum dedicated to free ebooks.

If you are lucky your local library might support the lending of ebooks using Overdrive. Have a look at http://search.overdrive.com/ to see if your local library is part of it.

Anyway if you know of any good sites for free ebooks from new authors then please share them.

For years now I have used both SpywareBlaster and SpyBot to immunise my web browsers against hosts file. They also help to stop tracking cookies which are used to log what type of websites you visited.

Anyway I was updating them both today and I got to thinking, "How often do they check that the sites in their block lists are still active?" At present SpyBot is saying it has immunised me against 130712 sites and SpywareBlaster says 13138 sites. So I decided to test a random selection of 20 sites they have blocked. Out of the 20 all the domains had now expired and pointed to nothing (resulting in a oops message in the browser) or they were now a domain landing page. That’s one of these stupid pages you sometimes end up on when you mistype a web address which has a list of links loosely based upon the domain name.

I know both of these programs are free but would it be to hard for them to write a program that checks their list every so often to remove dead domains? The reason I say this is because Internet Explorers block list is stored in the registry and this can slow down your computers boot up time. Also the more sites are blocked the slower your web browser may become. SO come on programmers. Just write a program that runs through your list once a month and see if they are still active or not.

When Internet Explorer 8 came out Microsoft said they had seriously improved security and that it was now one of the safest web browsers to use. Apparently they were wrong. According to the Guardian newspaper here in the UK an exploit in Internet Explorer was used in the recent attack on Google’s systems in China.

source

So why keep using it? There are plenty of excellent alternatives these days. Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Flock and you could even use Apple’s Safari although it uses a stupid amount of memory on Windows.

Some of the software Ninite offers

Have you just installed/reinstalled Xp, Vista or Windows 7? Need to install programs but don’t want to sit there manually installing them? Then try Ninite Easy PC Setup. Ninite makes installing multiple applications simple. You just go to their site, select the applications you want to install and then click Get Installer at the bottom. It will then download a small program which you will need to run as administrator so it can install the programs. The installer then downloads the install packages for your chosen programs and silently installs them. You can even suggest other programs for them to add to their list. They promise they only install the chosen program and not any of the rubbish a lot of the program installers try to add such as toolbars.

“We install apps with default settings and say “no” to browser toolbars and other junk.”

So basically you
1 – Go to the Ninite Easy PC Setup site.
2 – Select the programs you want to install.
3 – Download their installer.
4 – Run the installr as administrator.
5 – Go do something less boring whilst their installer does all the work for you.

Just to add you will need cookies enabled to be able to download the instaler.

Facebook has won a court case against a spammer who was abusing their site to send spam to Facebook users. The spammer known as Spamford, real name Sanford Wallace, is also facing prosecution for criminal contempt of court which could result in prison time. Wallace has also previously been prosecuted by MySpace for abusing their site to send porn and MySpace was awarded $230 million.

[source]

Fancy trying the new OS that Google is working on? Well you’re out of luck but in the meantime you can try the Chrome OS that for some bizarre reason Suse has made and released on a Google hosted site http://sites.google.com/site/chromeoslinux/ (Google has taken the site down). What’s really funny is the amount of people that have been Tweeting about how either this is Google’s new OS or the rest that are calling it a fake. It’s not a fake as it really is an OS called Chrome OS it’s just people have been fooled by the sites design and hosting in to believing it is Google’s OS.

From the site:

• GNOME 2.24 desktop environment
• Google Chrome 4.0.223 web browser
• Google Picasa 2.7 photo manager New!
• OpenOffice.org 3.0 office suite
• GIMP 2.6 image editor
• Flash Player 10.0 plugin
• and much more!

• Processor: Intel Pentium, Xeon or newer; AMD Duron, Athlon, Sempron, Opteron or newer
• RAM: min. 256 MB
• Hard disk: min. 1 GB
• Graphics card: supports most modern graphics cards

Why they would try to make people believe this was Googles forthcoming OS I don’t know.

I recently posted how Windows 7 in Europe was going to come without a browser. Apparently now it is looking like instead of having no browsers you will be asked to select a browser when you install Windows 7 and it will then install your chosen web browser. No word yet on which browsers will be offered. Personally I think nearly everyone will select to install Internet Explorer anyways as there are still a lot of sites (such as banks) that demand you use IE.

[source]