Joomla upgrade 3.1 -> 3.7

It’s possible to upgrade a Joomla 3.1 system to 3.7 with only a few hassles. Here’s what worked for me.

First, use the Joomla Update (Components | Joomla Update from the administrator backend menu) component to update Joomla. This will get you to 3.2.x.

Update all of your plugins (System | Control Panel | “Updates are available”). Note at any stage,  some plugins may not work, may not be updated, etc.

Run the database fix tool: Extensions | Manage, Database, Fix button.

Unpack Joomla_3.5.1-Stable-Update_Package.zip in the Joomla root.

Run the database fix tool again: Extensions | Manage, Database, Fix button.

Log out from Joomla.

Auto update to the latest Joomla via update component (Components | Joomla! Update).

I was using an older version of Artio JoomSEF, so I had to manually update that via Components | Artio JoomSef | Upgrade | update button.

Some problems:

If you’re using any styles from JCK,  you will have to use a fix from the Joomla forum. In short,  edit the file plugins/system/jcktypography/jcktypography.php and comment one line :

// $stylesheet[$url]['media'] = null;

K2 seemed to have forgotten about the thumbnail image for each article, so this likely needs to be fixed manually.

Older versions of MijoShop don’t seem to support registering when checking out. There’s a problem with the “setDefaultEncryption()” function that I’m still working through.

At least once in the process, I needed to wipe my browser’s cookies for my website. I couldn’t log in, and this fixed that.

Other than that, most plugins seem to work, articles are displayed, users can log in, and SEF URLs are maintained.

 

 

Usetrace initial impressions

We’ve been using Usetrace to do real testing for about a week now. So far, so good. It’s uncovered a few actual bugs and some stuff with the website that’s just flaky or inconsistent. One problem we had was getting our own test files into the Usetrace virtual machine for uploading to the server being tested. The Usetrace people came up with the following solution: begin each session by downloading the test file using the web browser. It will the be available to upload in any subsequent steps.

To download the file in a way that works on multiple browsers, you need to create a Javascript step with the following code:

function (GLOBALS, callback) {

window.location = "/path/to/your/file";

callback(true); // <- To signal success and continue executing trace

}

The file needs to exist at the given path on the server being tested.

Top insurance brokers in Atlanta

The Atlanta Business Chronicle has a list of the top insurance brokers in the Atlanta area. You can see 10 if you’re a subscriber, or 5 if you’re not.

Web Testing

I’ve had a hard time finding web testing software that has the following features:

1. Lets you record a test through a browser.
2. Plays back a test on multiple browsers.
3. Creates non-brittle tests so that a minor HTML change doesn’t result in something breaking.

The closest I’ve found so far us Usetrace, but it seems pricy at $60/month for 2 seats.

Which has the lowest taxes, really?

You commonly hear casual political discussion about taxes in one state vs. another state. For example, Massachusetts often gets the nickname “Taxachusetts” because of its high taxes. But which states are really taxed the most? Fortunately, Wikipedia has a summary of the state tax information from the US Census.

Here’s a summary of that, sorted by each resident’s average tax burden (per capita tax):

State	Total Taxes ($ thousands)	Population	Taxes per capita ($)
North Dakota	5739843	756835	7584.01
Vermont	3043152	626088	4860.58
Hawaii	6485563	1425157	4550.77
Connecticut	16231958	3584730	4528.08
Minnesota	24439253	5482435	4457.74
Wyoming	2356323	586555	4017.22
Massachusetts	27012206	6784240	3981.61
New York	78242729	19747183	3962.22
California	151172643	38993940	3876.82
Delaware	3513916	944076	3722.07
New Jersey	31567654	8935421	3532.87
Maryland	19849988	5994983	3311.1
Arkansas	9190212	2977853	3086.19
Illinois	39283051	12839047	3059.65
Maine	4064075	1329453	3056.95
Rhode Island	3196673	1055607	3028.28
West Virginia	5565984	1841053	3023.26
Wisconsin	17019026	5767891	2950.65
Iowa	9189255	3121997	2943.39
New Mexico	6009443	2080328	2888.7
Washington	20644454	7160290	2883.19
Pennsylvania	36110295	12791904	2822.9
Montana	2843465	1032073	2755.1
Michigan	26957337	9917715	2718.1
Kansas	7883960	2906721	2712.32
Nebraska	5086759	1893765	2686.06
Mississippi	7906514	2989390	2644.86
Indiana	17399650	6612768	2631.22
Oregon	10575165	4024634	2627.61
Kentucky	11597983	4424611	2621.24
Nevada	7532989	2883758	2612.21
North Carolina	25061592	10035186	2497.37
Virginia	20536885	8367587	2454.34
Ohio	28297156	11605090	2438.34
Oklahoma	9407393	3907414	2407.58
Idaho	3975445	1652828	2405.24
Colorado	12810632	5448819	2351.08
Utah	6703356	2990632	2241.45
Louisiana	9718755	4668960	2081.57
Arizona	14082100	6817565	2065.56
Alabama	9755439	4853875	2009.82
Texas	55086438	27429639	2008.28
South Carolina	9633031	4894834	1968
Missouri	11956143	6076204	1967.7
South Dakota	1674108	857919	1951.36
Georgia	19723730	10199398	1933.81
Tennessee	12697655	6595056	1925.33
New Hampshire	2487737	1330111	1870.32
Florida	37217759	20244914	1838.38
Alaska	863723	737709	1170.82

(Note that this doesn’t include local taxes.)

As you can see, the top most taxed state is one most people would probably not think of: North Dakota. There, the state government collects $7584.01 for every resident. Taxachusetts ranks 7th.

If your goal is to avoid taxes, you might want to consider packing up and moving to Alaska, with only $1170.82 in taxes per person.

But that’s not the whole story, however. Some states are richer and produce more. These states have a high Gross State Product: a measure of the net economic impact of the state. By comparing the GSP to the taxes collected, we can see how much the state government is sucking up. Another way to look at this is government efficiency: is paying all of those high taxes really bringing a better economy overall?

Here’s a list sorted by taxes as percent of GSP:

State	GSP ($ millions)	Tax as % of GSP
North Dakota	53686	10.69%
Vermont	29750	10.23%
Hawaii	79595	8.15%
West Virginia	71123	7.83%
Arkansas	123424	7.45%
Mississippi	106880	7.40%
Maine	55137	7.37%
Minnesota	334780	7.30%
New Mexico	90810	6.62%
Montana	45799	6.21%
Connecticut	262212	6.19%
California	2448467	6.17%
Idaho	65202	6.10%
Kentucky	194578	5.96%
Wyoming	40170	5.87%
Michigan	468029	5.76%
Rhode Island	56323	5.68%
Wisconsin	300699	5.66%
Massachusetts	478941	5.64%
New Jersey	579379	5.45%
Maryland	365209	5.44%
New York	1455568	5.38%
Iowa	171532	5.36%
Nevada	141204	5.33%
Delaware	66150	5.31%
Kansas	149090	5.29%
Pennsylvania	684313	5.28%
Indiana	331126	5.25%
Oklahoma	179835	5.23%
Illinois	771896	5.09%
North Carolina	509718	4.92%
South Carolina	199256	4.83%
Ohio	599093	4.72%
Arizona	298204	4.72%
Alabama	209382	4.66%
Oregon	228120	4.64%
Washington	449404	4.59%
Nebraska	112208	4.53%
Utah	148225	4.52%
Virginia	480876	4.27%
Florida	893189	4.17%
Missouri	290713	4.11%
Tennessee	310276	4.09%
Colorado	318600	4.02%
Georgia	501241	3.93%
Louisiana	253517	3.83%
South Dakota	45415	3.69%
New Hampshire	71632	3.47%
Texas	1639375	3.36%
Alaska	54256	1.59%

(GSP Data via Wikipedia from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis)

North Dakota and Alaska keep their top and bottom positions on this list. But Massachusetts, with its high economic output, drops to the middle of the pack.

Finally, let’s take a look at the ability of people living in the state to actually pay those taxes. We can look at the per-capita income and figure out what percentage is paid out in taxes.

State	Per capita income	Taxes as % of income
North Dakota	33071	22.93%
Vermont	29178	16.66%
Hawaii	29736	15.30%
Minnesota	32638	13.66%
Wyoming	29698	13.53%
Arkansas	22883	13.49%
West Virginia	22714	13.31%
California	30441	12.74%
Mississippi	21036	12.57%
Delaware	30488	12.21%
New Mexico	23683	12.20%
New York	33095	11.97%
Connecticut	39373	11.50%
Kentucky	23684	11.07%
Maine	27978	10.93%
Massachusetts	36593	10.88%
Montana	25989	10.60%
Indiana	25140	10.47%
Wisconsin	28213	10.46%
Iowa	28361	10.38%
Michigan	26613	10.21%
Nevada	25773	10.14%
Illinois	30417	10.06%
Idaho	23938	10.05%
Rhode Island	30830	9.82%
Nebraska	27446	9.79%
Kansas	27870	9.73%
North Carolina	25774	9.69%
Pennsylvania	29220	9.66%
Oklahoma	25229	9.54%
Oregon	27646	9.50%
New Jersey	37288	9.47%
Maryland	36338	9.11%
Washington	31841	9.05%
Ohio	26937	9.05%
Utah	24877	9.01%
Alabama	23606	8.51%
Louisiana	24800	8.39%
Arizona	25715	8.03%
South Carolina	24596	8.00%
Tennessee	24922	7.73%
Georgia	25615	7.55%
Missouri	26126	7.53%
Texas	27125	7.40%
Colorado	32357	7.27%
South Dakota	26959	7.24%
Virginia	34052	7.21%
Florida	26582	6.92%
New Hampshire	34691	5.39%
Alaska	33062	3.54%

No doubt about it, the highly taxed states of North Dakota, Hawaii, and Vermont are at the top of all 3 lists. On the flip side, Alaska and New Hampshire are near the bottom of all 3. Folks in Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia really seem to have a problem: high taxes which are hard to pay and not much to show for it.

Cheapest Smartphone For Webcam, Calculator, Games, etc.

I recently went looking for a cheap Android smartphone to use as a wireless security camera. The best deal I found was the “Net10 Alcatel OneTouch Pixi Eclipse Prepaid Smartphone” sold at Walmart. Its price is usually less than $8 and is available for free pickup at your local store.

I was able to get it started on WiFi without any difficulty. You don’t have to activate the phone on the Net10 cellular network. It seems to run IP Webcam just fine.

If you have a need for a mini-tablet to play games, work as a remote control, calculator, or other simple task, this phone should work just fine.

Net10 Alcatel OneTouch Pixi Eclipse Prepaid Smartphone

 

 

Small Business Loans

My business keeps growing, so I’m currently on the lookout for a loan to help things along and purchase capital equipment. So far I’ve looked into a few different options:

1. OnDeck. After interacting with them a bit, what they offer is a line of credit with high interest rates. It looks like I’d pay way more for this than I wanted to.
2. My bank. They do offer SBA 7a loans. They wanted a bunch of information up front before they’d even talk to me about what my chances of getting a loan were or the interest rates. The interactions in person and via e-mail with the loan officer were odd, like they really didn’t want my business for some reason and couldn’t tell me why. So this one is on the back burner for now.
3. An SBA 504 loan. This has to be done through a SBA Certified Development Company (CDC). Most of the CDCs in the Atlanta area listed on the SBA website either don’t answer their phone or the phones lines are disconnected. I finally did get through to Capital Partners, Inc, and was able to get a little information. The 504 loans look roughly comparable to the 7a, with higher fees but a less variable interest rate. I may yet pursue this route.
4. An SBA 7a loan through SmartBiz Loans. This seems like the most productive route so far. They have an entirely online application process, and have been very good about helping me get things together through e-mail. Fingers crossed.

Another area which I may yet look into is vendor financing. I’m still waiting on the vendor to get back to me with a quote though. There’s also the possibility of an unsecured personal loan, for which I get solicited in the mail fairly regularly.

I’ve heard, though, that the best way to make sure you get a loan is to make friends with a banker.