The Lounge - CodeProject

I fixed a bunch of bugs in terms of color byte order (I had switched from RGBA to ABGR) which I hoped would fix my SVG rendering, whose colors are off. After finding and squashing a bunch of bugs (and watching the colors change accordingly) the last bug I fixed put my output clear back where I started!

So that was my morning. D'Oh! | :doh:

Check out my IoT graphics library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix

Have a colorful day! Big Grin | :-D

"In testa che avete, Signor di Ceprano?"
-- Rigoletto

Why you switched from 'RGBA to ABGR'?
From what I remember, 'ABGR' is really a native Windows API thing, which has even corrected with wpf.

It's not windows. (Well, it can be, but it's embedded/cross platform)

It's based on the fact that the plutosvg library I used uses argb and rgba but LITTLE ENDIAN overall.

The thing is, since shifts are reversed for big vs little endian in C/C++ big endian RGBA = little endian ABGR

My graphics library produces big endian footprints for pixels on little endian systems. The reason for that is almost all display hardware takes its frame buffer memory in big endian format.

I'd change plutovg to use big endian pixels but I don't understand this function:

C++

static inline uint32_t BYTE_MUL(uint32_t x, uint32_t a)
{
    uint32_t t = (x & 0xff00ff) * a;
    t = (t + ((t >> 8) & 0xff00ff) + 0x800080) >> 8;
    t &= 0xff00ff;
    x = ((x >> 8) & 0xff00ff) * a;
    x = (x + ((x >> 8) & 0xff00ff) + 0x800080);
    x &= 0xff00ff00;
    x |= t;
    return x;
}

The exception would be things like a windows PC, * but * in that case it's 1 byte per pixel, making swapping them easy, whereas byte swapping a 16-bit RGB565 pixel is less straightforward.

So since plutovg is RGBA little endian, my vector pixel format is ABGR big endian. In my library, conversions between different pixel formats is transparent so it really doesn't impact the surface area of the API.

Check out my IoT graphics library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix

Got it, I think Big Grin | :-D

Three lefts make a right.

Hello all, does anyone here know of a reliable domain hosting company - I'm currently using Webhosting.uk.com who are proving to be unreliable ( been down twice this year for a few days )- my domain name is purely used for email purposes.

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

For my personal sites, I’ve been using Dreambost for years. Never had an outage with them. Not sure if they’re US only though.

https://www.dreamhost.com/

Pretty sure they’re Linux only though, but since I’ll never use a Windows server if given the choice… that’s cool.

If it’s for the enterprise, that’s a whole different story. But for personal stuff they’re awesome.

Jeremy Falcon

Oh, I used IONOS in the past too. Like 15-20 years ago.

https://www.ionos.com/

They’re a lot more corporatey and do data tracking a lot more. Which is why I stopped using them, but the service itself is ok if you don’t mind being their pawn.

Jeremy Falcon

And lastly, if it’s just DNS only (and you don’t mean website hosting) I still use GoDaddy. I’ve known peeps that worked there that were pretty smart. Unfortunately, they call it me waaaayy too much with sales crap, but I’ll still use their DNS at times. Never went down for me. But, that’s just DNS only. I refuse to host a site with them.

You’re not talking about a registrar right? But the actual DNS or website hosting?

Jeremy Falcon

modified 3hrs ago.

All I want Jeremy is some email accounts using my pjksolutions.com domain name. I don't know what the terminology is for that. Thanks for your help

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

Gotcha. I’ve used Dreamhost then for DNS hosting and never had a problem. They also have their own web-based email client if you don’t want to use Gmail or your own.

Hope you find a good host man.

Jeremy Falcon

So are you saying what I need is DNS hosting ? I'm not au fait with all the Web related ~~shite~~ stuff. Thanks again

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

Yuppers, a quick over simplification of what's going on... and in which order...

1 You need a registrar. Basically a frontend for a public database that says blah.com is pointing to these DNS servers, etc. For you this is tucows currently, and this has to be public info so the public can find your site. Since I doubt the problem is on this end (otherwise I couldn't do an nslookup on it) and since registrars are just a middleman, not spending too much time here.

2 You need DNS hosting with a DNS server. This is where name server entries come in. Most registrars will fill this in for you. However, in your case this is set to ns173.eukdns.com and ns172.eukdns.com. Which, when going to their site, they don't have a valid SSL cert, so I wouldn't trust them. So, anyway, your domains registered at tucows is pointing there. Maybe your webhost uses these people underneath the hood... who knows. But this could be the why your crap goes down if these people suck.

So basically, you'll need to replace eukdns.com if you have outage problems. To a better DNS server. On that DNS server you want to edit MX records in particular. These records are what allows you to configure your email client.

3 You'll need email hosting (POP3, IMAP, SMTP, etc.) for that MX record to point to. This could be another outage area. Not sure as I'm just looking into this. You can usually tell though if it's server or DNS related by doing some DNS queries or trace routes. Anyway, most places that offer email hosting will also handle number 2. So, you don't have to worry about thinking of them as separate even if they are.

Since email is so common, just about every web host offers email hosting with their service. It'll be harder to find one that doesn't. So, if you find any good web host besides the one you got, you should be good to go. Tucows is most likely still good to keep and having a registrar other than your host is a good idea in case you ever get into a dispute with your host they won't control your domain.

Hope that helps and I didn't make it worse. Laugh | :laugh:

Jeremy Falcon

modified 1hr 15mins ago.

Thanks Jeremy - it sounds very complicated to me - if I leave my current hosting company I wiil lose my domain name and email boxes. What I want to do is, transfer the entire setup to another host. Is this doable. You say keep the registrar separate from the host but how will they bill me for renewal? Thanks again

Confused of London

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

pkfox wrote:
if I leave my current hosting company I wiil lose my domain name and email boxes. What I want to do is, transfer the entire setup to another host. Is this doable.

Yes. It sounds like your host is lying to you and are crooks or their support sucks or both. So, for the next time don't use the same peeps for your domain and host to help avoid this nonsense.

Tucows is the reigstrar for your domain, here's the proof. It seems these days that Tucows only resells, but they control the domain right now and not your web host. Given the fact they're white label, your host is just pretending to be domain registrar. I'd be messaging Tucows letting them know you want to change name servers to a new host (after you get the host that is) and your current host won't allow it. Hopefully their support won't suck.

My Domain Provider is unreachable

For your inboxes, you can recreate them on the new host. If your web host support says you can't, they're full of it. Most peeps use IMAP these days. Not sure what email client you use, but even Outlook will allow you to export and import old emails that you downloaded. Anyway, here's pretty pictures about that.

Side note, never use a reigstrar that doesn't allow you to transfer a domain. Your web host is playing registrar as a proxy to Tucows, so they should allow it. If they don't, then your web host is acting like crooks.

Jeremy Falcon

Thanks for your patience Jeremy - to be clear
1) I don't have to move registrar
2) I need an email hosting server
3) I need their nameservers
4) I need to contact tucows and ask them to update the nameservers/ MX record for my domain name with the new ones

Question
Will tucows know how to contact me for billing purposes to renew the domain

Thanks again

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

pkfox wrote:
Thanks for your patience Jeremy

Any time, buddy.

pkfox wrote:
to be clear
1) I don't have to move registrar
2) I need an email hosting server
3) I need their nameservers
4) I need to contact tucows and ask them to update the nameservers/ MX record for my domain name with the new ones

Close... and the only reason this isn't so simple is your web host...

1) I don't have to move registrar.

Correct. Tucows is white label though, so you may have to depending on if your new host uses them or not. Normally, this is not the case, but Tucows seems to only be white label and don't deal with customers directly.

2) I need an email hosting server.

Yuppers.

3) I need their nameservers.

Yuppers.

4) I need to contact tucows and ask them to update the nameservers/MX record for my domain name with the new ones.

Close. Tucows will use the new host's name servers. So yes. But, you'll update the MX records on the new host (which they may do automatically). Tucows will only have control over the name server entries.

pkfox wrote:
Will tucows know how to contact me for billing purposes to renew the domain

Great question. I imagine they wouldn't. Since they're just a white label reseller they probably don't do that. Which means you may just have to transfer your domain elsewhere.

Most likely Tucows will tell you to speak to your web host for that transfer first (guessing they have some API to interface with them). But, if your web host refuses to allow you transfer your domain then they're breaking ICANN policy and according to Tucow's website at least, then they'll take action.

If your web host says you can't backup your emails if you transfer the domain, just know if that if you're on IMAP... they're wrong.

Jeremy Falcon

modified 25 secs ago.

namecheap.

I'm happy whith this: Web hosting: The right home for your website - Green[^]

I don't want Web site hosting only email - thanks anyway

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

They are hosting everything Wink | ;)

I use OVHS. They're cheap, reliable, easy to set up a simple VPS w/ Debian. It includes standard attack mitigation features, and they do a pretty good job of being responsive to network issues.

Edit: Wait, do you mean DNS, or hosting?

Check out my IoT graphics library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix

I don't know much about all this stuff HTCW , currently I have a domain name pjksolutions.com registered which comes with 6 email accounts and I pay £x every year for the service - so is this just DNS or domain hosting ? I'm glazing over now

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

The hosting takes care of where the server actually runs and lives.

You need a host.

A domain name is like a phonebook entry that gives a friendly name to your IP.

They are different services, although sometimes you can get them as a package deal.

It sounds like you maybe got a package deal from that host you are using (domain name + hosting)

If that's the case, you'll have to move all of it. I know a lot of people use godaddy.com but I can't vouch for them. They include a package deal (domain name + hosting) but I don't think they require it. You can get domain name or hosting ala carte if you like.

I use Network Solutions for my domain. I can't recommend them. I'd consider maybe godaddy. I haven't switched just because of the PITA to do so but otherwise I would.

I use OVHS for my hosting. I'm happy with them. They do not have package deals (domain name + hosting) as far as I know. You have to get your domain name somewhere else, which is typical.

Check out my IoT graphics library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix

Welcome to the Lounge