Murat Yilmaz is the author of our recently published OpenX Ad Server: Beginner's Guide which helps you in building and maintaining professional advertising solutions for your web sites with OpenX Ad Server.

Murat Yilmaz is a software developer and online entrepreneur who lives in Moscow. He has over 10 years of experience in different IT fields including development of web-driven solutions, databases, and OLAP systems. He has worked at various international companies in Istanbul (Turkey), Anchorage (Alaska), and Moscow (Russia) as a consultant. He currently runs his own blog and online advertising network. He holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Marmara University at Istanbul.

He spends his free time playing progressive rock songs on a guitar and enjoys writing for his gadgets and technology blog at http://www.vubx.com

Packt: Your book is published now. How is the feeling of being a published author?

Murat: It is great feeling! I am very happy! Its great to see my book being available in so many bookstores worldwide. It feels so good to hold it in hands. Knowing the fact that my book on this very popular subject, OpenX, will be read by thousands and will help people in increasing the efficiency of their online businesses makes me proud of myself. In brief, this is a reward for years of knowledge and experience..

Packt: What benefits did writing a book bring to your specialist area?

Murat: Obviously, it is a great contribution to a person's professional career. After the publication of the book, I have got many paid projects, which include things from simple configuration, management of an ad inventory to customized coding of OpenX environment.

It projects my profile as an OpenX expert in the industry.

Packt: Our authors usually have full-time jobs whilst writing for us. Was this the case for you and how did you approach managing your time?

Murat: I own my own network of websites, blogs and earn my living solely by online advertising and affiliate network income which is generated by these sites. Apart from these, I take up coding tasks time to time. So, I don't have a full time job and was very flexible while writing the book. This position allowed me to dedicate enough time for the book. At times, I had to ignore my websites a bit to write difficult chapters.

Packt: Whilst writing your book, did you find that it overshadowed personal life in any way? How did you deal with this?

Murat: The process of writing the book with full concentration was full of enjoyment. At times, I declined my wife's offer to watch new episodes of our favourite shows such as Lost or Desperate Housewives. It did not overshadow my life at all! The process of writing a book filled new colours in our lives. Overall, it was a unique experience.

Packt: Do you have any advice for other authors who may be interested in writing for Packt, but are still unsure?

Murat: If a potential author believes that her/his subject knowledge and skills on a particular subject are good, there is no reason to be scared. Packt’s team provides full support to the author. The key is to provide high quality content which will really help people to do things and solve their problems.

As you write your first few chapters you will notice that your writing abilities keep on improving. Self-confidence helps you fight the fears.

Packt: Do you have any tips for other authors, or tricks that you learnt whilst writing, that you'd like to share?

Murat: I would suggest writing small notes whenever a new idea comes before it flies away! Second tip is about trying to follow the draft chapters from the reader's point of view. The chapter should build from simple to more advance step by step while maintaining the reader's interest intact! Finally, I first placed all screenshots, diagrams to word file which I would need in the chapter and then wrote the content under them. It is easier to manage and concentrate on writing.

Packt: How did you find the overall experience of writing your book for Packt?

Murat: Packt is the place where highly qualified employees really enjoy their jobs with common aim to create a perfect book with the author. Besides the professionalism, I have seen encouragement, friendship and motivation here.

Packt: During the writing process, did you come across any issues/ difficulties that affected your writing and how did you overcome these?

Murat: At first, I had difficulties about arranging layout and correct styles in Word file. Also, I had issues with writing the chapter contents in a logical, developmental way. Development and technical editors identified such issues and provided very useful comments to correct them.

Packt: Was there anything interesting that happened during the writing of the book?

Murat: Writing a book also requires extensive search on the topic. I have felt that my knowledge on OpenX has increased even more and I noticed the details which I had missed before.

Packt: How did Packt’s Acquisition Editors help you - what kind of things did they help you with and how did they support you throughout the writing process?

Murat: First of all, they show how to write a nicely organized table of contents and bring new suggestions for the content. By brainstorming, we created a final table of contents which clearly reflected what the book will look like at the end. My questions on content development also were replied by Packt specialists in detail, very swiftly.

Packt: What projects, if any, are you working on at the moment?

Murat: I am currently authoring my second beginner's guide book for Packt. It is about one of the most popular shopping cart solutions, OpenCart. I continue to develop my websites both in SEO and marketing sides. Besides, I currently write a custom CMS in .Net platform for a famous French furniture company, Roche Bobois Moscow branch.

I have a future plan of offering a book to Packt about developing database driven applications using latest .Net technology with full source code. I believe that it will be very useful for .net developers who need to see the codes, database design of a complete database driven desktop solution.

It was God luck that initially saved those 33 miners when the mountain collapsed, but it was not luck that kept them alive

Mining created Chile. The story of men who go down into the mountain and chip away at minerals in the darkness and then suffer an accident that leaves them at the mercy of that darkness is part of the DNA of Chile, an integral part of the country's history. It was one of the first things I learned about Chile when I arrived there in 1954 at the age of 12.

"Open your books to the story El Chiflón del Diablo," our Spanish teacher said on the first day of class. "The Devil's Tunnel by Baldomero Lillo. Written in 1904."

It was a story very much like the one that, many decades later on 6 August 2010, would afflict the miners of San José. It is all there – how the earth devours those who dare to probe its depths, in that classic story and all the others that Lillo wrote at the beginning of the 20th century and that every child in Chile studies. Those 33 miners could not know when they read those stories in school that they would someday be living that terror. They could not know that more than 100 years after that fiction was written that the conditions of mining life, the risks to the miners and the inhumane exploitation would be basically unaltered.

People around the world have been amazed at how the 33 miners have organised themselves in shifts, generated a hierarchy of command and crafted a plan for survival drawing from all the skills they have accumulated through their working lives. I am not in the least surprised. This has always been how Chilean workers have endured and persisted in the face of tremendous challenges. It is the legacy of those who extracted nitrate and who, at about the time that Lillo was writing about the torments of miners, were establishing the first trade unions, reading groups and newspapers of the Chilean working class. Those lessons of unity, fortitude and orderliness were handed down from father to son to grandson. It was what each male needed to know in order to outlive the disasters that could befall him in a merciless environment.

Of course, it was luck that initially saved those 33 miners when the mountain collapsed. But it was not luck that kept them alive. Inside them was the training and stamina inherited from forefathers, murmurs from those who were not willing to die over and over again in the darkness. There was a miracle at work, therefore, in San José, but to focus exclusively on good fortune is to perhaps miss the true and deeper significance of what happened. It begs the real question..

How is it possible that, more than a century after Lillo's stories denounced the inhuman conditions of men toiling underground, that insecurity and danger persist? How many more accidents like this one will be needed before legislation to mandate safeguards is enacted and workers can descend into the mountain without putting their lives needlessly at risk?

These 33 miners are now international heroes, with the world celebrating their rescue and their progress towards the light.

By one of those coincidences that history loves, these men were buried at the moment when the latest statistics show that the percentage of Chileans living in poverty has, for the first time since the end of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, gone drastically up rather than down.

Is it too much to hope that the ordeal these men have gone through will trouble the conscience of Chile and create a country where, 100 years from now, the stories of Baldomero Lillo and the story of the 33 miners from San José, will be a thing of the past? Now that would be a real miracle.

Abuja Bomb Blast: Ben Jessy (wanted)

Huhuonline.com can disclose that barely 72

hours after Abuja bomb explosions, the NigeriaPolice has confirmed the arrest of a suspect.But the identity of the arrested suspect was not disclosed for security reasons.

.

“Their motive was to cut short the joy of men and women of goodwill and to pour shame and contempt on our President and indeed the entire nation, in the very presence of dignitaries and eminent persons from around the world. “Certainly, these operators of an evil enterprise had targeted to commit mass murder of innocent children, young and old men and women, and members of the international community who had gathered to partake in our nation’s glorious moment.

Abuja Bomb Blast: Chima Orlu (Wanted)

“To the glory of God, their act of wickedness was frustrated by the tight security put in place at the Eagle Square .

hello guyz….I’m shifting to new home so I will not be able to post for few days as I’ve to get another internet connection in new place and connect it but I’ve not forgotten to post
the special dose of Sunday to make you laugh. In this post, I’m going to
tell you some characteristics of experienced programmer. After reading
this post, please let me know weather you fall within this category or
not?

When you are counting objects, you go like “0,1,2,3,4,5, 6,7,8,9,A, B,C,D…” .

When asked about a bus schedule, you wonder if it is 16 or 32 bits.

When your wife says “If you don’t turn off that darn machine and come to bed,then I am going to divorce you!”, and you chastise her for for omitting the else clause.

When you are reading a book and look for the space bar to get to the next page.

When you look for your car keys using: “grep keys /dev/pockets”

When after fooling around all day with routers etc, you pick up the phone and start dialing an IP number.

When you get in the elevator and double-press the button for the floor you want.

When not only do you check your email more often than your paper mail, but you remember your {network address} faster than your postal one.

When you go to balance your checkbook and discover that you’re doing the math in octal. ..

If billionaire Alki David is an honest man, the man who streaked in front of Barack Obama at the president’s rally today in Philadelphia will be paid $1 million for his stunt. The man who
performed today’s stunt, which captured the attention of the Drudge
Report , is 24-year-old Juan James Rodriguez, THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned..

David is a billionaire shipping and bottling magnate who is known to carry out stunts, mainly by paying others to perform them.
"A WACKY billionaire has offered $1million (£638,700) to the first
person who streaks in front of US President Barack Obama. Loaded Alki
David has promised to pay out the cash — providing the streaker writes
the name of his website 'Battlecam' across their chest."

“When I see the video and it’s confirmed...it won’t be check [that Rodriguez receives], it will be cash,” David, reached by phone tonight, told THE WEEKLY STANDARD..

The requirements of the streaking stunt, David told me, are that the streaker must have been within “eye-shot and ear shot of the president, they have to scream the name ‘battlecam’ six times, and they have to be nude.”

Two men involved in the stunt, Glen Zolar and Joey “Boots” Bassolino, assured THE WEEKLY STANDARD that Rodriguez met the requirements.

Zolar, who spoke with me on the phone earlier tonight, is a moderator on battlecam.com. Zolar was cruising the website when Rodriguez contacted him and asked whether he’d be able to
facilitate this stunt. Seeking personal gain – primarily, monetary gain –
Zolar agreed.

When asked how much he would get paid from Rodriguez’s payout, Zolar said, “I’d rather not disclose the figure, but it would definitely be more than $5,000 … and less than $25,000.”

Zolar says he has done freelance producing for the Howard Stern Show. Bassolino is a frequent guest on the show, which is well-known for conducting stunts just like the one carried out today in
Philadelphia. Zolar asked Bassolino to film the stunt this evening. The
two say it has been recorded but has not yet been broadcast on the
website. No payment has yet been made, and though it has not yet been
given David’s approval, it appears Rodriguez met all of David's
requirements.

“I am on the record as saying that it needed to be done in a place where it’s legal to be nude,” David said. But “it’s a suggestion, not a rule.”

In that case, the requirements appear to have been met. .

Shelley Malil, who is best known for his role as Steve Carell's coworker in the hit 2005 comedy The 40-Year-Old Virgin, was convicted of attempted murder on Thursday for stabbing his girlfriend Kendra Beebe more than 20 times.

Malil, 45, testified in his own defense in the San Diego Superior Court. The actor claimed he mistook Beebe for someone else attacking him in the dark. But the jury, composed of seven men and five women, did not buy the story.

Malil had arrived at Beebe's house on Aug. 10, 2008 to find her in her backyard with another man (musician David Maldonado). Prosecutors said at that point Malil had approached Beebe and stabbed her with a steak knife. She suffered serious injuries, but survived the attack.

Testimony from witnesses also brought forth the information that Malil and Beebe were seen having an argument on the beach just one day before the stabbing. Beebe, who met Malil on an online dating site, said her relationship with him was "volatile" and that he was "jealous" and "possessive." Reports claim that Beebe cried loudly when Malil's verdict was read.

Malil's public defender argued that he acted in the heat of passion and that he should be found guilty of attempted voluntary manslaughter rather than premeditated attempted murder. While Malil was, in fact, found guilty of attempted murder, the jury found him not guilty on the count of one charge of residential burglary.

He now faces 21 years to life and is set to be sentenced on Nov. 18...

Lesbian couple meets with shopping center officials over ouster

A lesbian couple who say they were asked to leave a North Carolina shopping center after sharing a kiss and a hug met with the center's property manager on Saturday.

"We welcomed the opportunity to sit down with the women and offer our sincere regrets over last week's incident," said George York, president of York Properties, which manages the Cameron Village shopping center in Raleigh, North Carolina. The incident took place Wednesday at Cameron Village.

Caitlin Breedlove told CNN affiliate WRAL that she and her partner were being affectionate but appropriate with one another when a security officer asked them to leave the shopping center.

The officer told the couple that they were being inappropriate and that "nobody wants to see that here at Cameron Village," Breedlove said, referring to the couple's homosexuality.

The couple asked to speak to the officer's supervisor...

Dan Palatucci, who manages the Flying Biscuit restaurant at the shopping center, where the couple had eaten before the incident, told WRAL that he voiced concern about the incident to Cameron Village's management.

On Saturday, York said his company is planning additional sensitivity training for its security personnel.

"We apologized that the women were offended, and we affirmed that Cameron Village and York Properties, Inc. have no tolerance for discrimination of any kind and believe all people deserve the right to be treated fairly in their work, homes and daily lives," York said in a statement.

A letter of apology was also sent to the women, he said.

Breedlove is a gay activist, but she says the incident wasn't planned. WRAL reported that the American Civil Liberties Union may take legal action over the episode.

Eighty-one percent of eligible Nigerians are willing to vote in forthcoming elections, according to a poll released yesterday.

The poll, ‘Current Pulse of Nation’s Survey’, carried out on topical national issues, sampled 5000 respondents, aged 18 years and above, from across the country.

‘Current Pulse of Nation’s Survey’ is conducted by Research and Marketing Services (RMS), an affiliate of TNS Global, a market research company and Gallup International’s representative in the country.

Adeola Tejumola, the CEO of the company, during a press briefing to announce the statistics, said the polls was centred on the forthcoming general elections because it is the most topical issue as the country celebrates its 50th Independence Day Anniversary..

‘More Nigerians will vote next year’

Mr. Tejumola said the reason for the high figure could probably be attributed to the “one man, one vote campaign”, or INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) administration suddenly improved, or just a reflection of the governance of the day.” “The challenges people raise concern for the most were the epileptic power supply, the increasing crime rate, coupled with the regular kidnapping going on, and corruption continues to rank high on the list,” he said. “For me, the fact that people are beginning to be aware that corruption is an issue, that they acknowledge that it does exist and the need to eradicate corruption in itself, is welcoming news.”

Another problem identified as major by the respondents, were low education quality and poor state of basic facilities.

Only 35 percent of the respondents were, however, confident that the forth coming elections will be free and fair, with half of the respondents expressing concerns about the success of the elections, in spite of the 81 percent willing to vote.

Aggrey Maposa, the company’s chief operating officer (COO), said the difference shows that people think the election process has improved, “though not yet perfect.” “Compared with the previous challenges that INEC used to have, people have seen improvements in the process of the elections. Even though, they understand that the process is not yet perfect, they are willing to vote and express their opinion,” he said.

‘Poor power is killing businesses’

Mr. Tejumola also said 81 percent of Nigeria’s eligible voters support President Goodluck Jonathan’s candidature in the race, noting that the polls was conducted before the presidential aspirants announced to run for office. “But it’s not just one-sided; if 81 percent are saying that President Jonathan should run, in the same report, 54 percent are saying they are not happy with the crime rate, 24 percent are saying that corruption is killing them, and 67 percent are saying that the epileptic power supply is killing their business,” he added.

The report also states that 63 percent of Nigerians will consider character in voting for a presidential candidate, while 33 percent would consider political affiliation. Thirty-one percent will consider political ideology and 27 percent will put the content of the manifesto ahead of other things. The poll also shows a slight popularity advantage for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), going into the next elections, while Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) had marginal drops in the number of respondents planning to vote for them.

Mr. Tejumola, however, advised presidential aspirants to consider Nigerians’ expectations going into the next elections. “Expectations of Nigerians include generation of employment opportunities, dependable electricity to drive national development, poverty eradication and free qualitative education, amongst others; a serious government would want to concentrate on doing these things for the people,” he said.

Mr. Tejumola also said the research was carried out by the company as “its Corporate Social Responsibility”, and promised that the company will continue to sample public opinion on “topical issues affecting the nation.”

Babatunde Aliyu Fafunwa, former minister of education, died yesterday morning at the National Hospital, Abuja. He was aged 87.

According to a hospital official, he died a few minutes before 7am. Although the hospital staff refused to disclose the cause of death, it is believed that Mr. Fafunwa had fallen ill during a recent trip to Abuja, where he was expected to deliver a speech at the Open University.

Widely credited as introducing the 6-3-3-4 educational system in the country, the late Mr. Fafunwa was also the first Nigerian to receive a doctorate degree in Education. His teaching career began in 1961 at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Following the advent of the Civil War, he moved to Ife, and taught at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), where he remained until his retirement.

Innovative methodologies

He is accredited with introducing several innovative teaching methodologies during his days at Ife. It was his contemporary methods that brought him to national prominence when he served as an education minister for three years under Ibrahim Babangida..

President Goodluck Jonathan had last week blamed him for the failure of the 6-3-3-4 education system.

He is to be buried today according to Islamic rites. He is survived by his wife, Doris, four children, and several grand children.

Fasasi Gbagba, the president of Jama’atul Islamiyya Society, the Islamic sect to which Mr. Fafunwa belonged, said the members were awaiting the body from Abuja. He is to be buried at his residence on Victoria Island, Lagos, today.

The Ogun State government has described his death as the loss of a major pillar of the education sector who worked tirelessly throughout his lifetime for the enhancement and development of the sector.

“A great mentor and outstanding person of character has just left us,” said the cultural activist, Segun Olusola, adding, “His relationship cuts across the entire nation and though a very religious person, he never allowed religion to affect his relationship.”

The former attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Michael Aondoakaa, has been barred from using the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)..

The decision was taken by the legal practitioners privileges committee of the Nigerian Bar Association.

The Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Sunday Olorundahunsi, at a press conference in Abuja, said the committee took the decision at a meeting held yesterday.

He confirmed that Mr. Aondoaka had been suspended from the rank, following consideration of the former AGF’s response to a petition written against him by the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR).

“...the committee, after due consideration of the said response, has decided in its wisdom, to suspend him[Aondoakaa] from the use of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria and all other privileges attached to that rank, pending the outcome of the investigation by the sub-committee set up by the legal practitioners privileges committee,” Mr. Olorundahunsi said.

Amongst a number of allegations, the petition accuses the former justice minister of using his position to “emasculate the anti-corruption institutions.” He is also accused of “lying and deception” in an attempt to bury corruption charges brought against James Ibori, the former Delta State governor, and his associates.

The petition goes on to say that Mr, Aondakaa was guilty of “deliberate mis-interpretation, mis-application, and incompetence.” He also showed “an inadequate knowledge of the law,” the petition read.

Travel ban

The decision to suspend Mr. Aondoakaa as a SAN follows a travel ban to the United States earlier this year, due to allegations of obstruction of justice during his time as a minister.

Additionally, a Calabar High Court also recently barred him from holding any public office, following a lawsuit that accused Mr. Aondoakaa of impeding judgment during an election hearing.

Mr. Aondakaa was one of the more vocal members of the late President Yar’Adua’s cabinet. During the former president’s absence from the country, Mr. Aondakaa repeatedly told Nigerians that governance could continue as usual.

Several notable high profile cases, such as Halliburton and Siemens, were not given due attention during his three-year stint as a minister.

One of President Jonathan’s first actions was to strip him of the justice portfolio and assign him the special duties ministry, a position he refused to serve in.

Death of telecom engineers worsens security challenges

The BTS sites in Aba, Abia State where six personnel staff were killed. Photo courtesy: MTN

Professionals in the telecommunication sector have frowned at the killing of six staff of MTN Nigeria at the firm’s Base Transceiver Station (BTS) site in Aba, Abia State.

A project manager of MTN in Aba, one Valentine, explained that the incident took place last week while the staff went to work at the site.

“This is to inform you that our team of engineers went out to work at Gabby Oil, Aba Road, Aba, Abia State, and while working on the generator, four gunmen walked into the BTS site while the team of engineers were waiting for the RBS to load after bringing up the generator and held them at gunpoint,” Mr. Valentine said in a report to the company’s head office.

“One Petrolseal engineer, two Mopol men, the rigger, and the security man were killed outright while the second Petrolseal engineer died on arrival at the hospital,” he said..

Titi Omo-Ettu, the president of the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), said in an email message that the murders are shocking.

“Nobody living in Nigeria can pretend that this is a new development, but this certainly is one murder too callous to be regarded as one of the usual stories. We commiserate with MTN and with the families of the murdered persons,” he said.

Government must act now

Mr. Omo-Ettu, however, said the increase in criminal activities in the country shows that the government is helpless and must act now before it loses its relevance.

“We invite attention of the Federal Government to these murders and kidnappings, which is now blatantly portraying government as helpless. The essence of governance is now appearing to be meaningless while living and investing in our country may be becoming anathema to all peoples of the world,” he said.

“Our association pledges to do all things possible to assist the police in investigating this incident and we invite the attention of the new Inspector General of Police to the need to see this as one case which requires speedy investigation and prosecution of those found culpable, as this will determine where we go from here. Criminal acts of this nature have been encouraged because perpetrators are hardly ever caught and prosecuted,” Mr. Omo-Ettu said.

Enough is Enough

Telecom operators have reported that security is a major challenge to them, as their BTS sites are constantly vandalised by hoodlums.

In a press conference last week, Gbenga Adebayo, the president of the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) said apart from the recent shutdown of some BTS sites around the country, some equipment at the sites are constantly vandalised and stolen. He said this affects national security as well.

“Peace, investment, life, and living, have now been threatened to a level that makes it necessary to invite the president, Goodluck Jonathan, to please intervene urgently,” Mr. Omo -Ettu said.

“Enough is enough, and a country that seeks the loftiest theme of vision 20-2020 cannot continue to go on like this,” he said.

Only two personnel survived the armed attack at the BTS; one Ericssion engineer and his driver hid behind the RBS units in the site, so the fired bullets missed them.