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• How To Disable Individual Plug-ins in Google Chrome

  - by The Geek

  Have you ever wondered how to disable useless or insecure browser plug-ins in Google Chrome? Here’s the lowdown on how to get rid of Java, Acrobat, Silverlight, and the rest of the plugins you probably want to get rid of. Disabling Plugins in Google Chrome If you head to about:plugins in your address bar, you’ll probably see a list of plugins, but won’t be able to disable them yet. What you’ll need to do is switch over to the Dev channel of Chrome, which gives you access to all the latest features—though you might be warned that sometimes the dev channel might be less stable than the release or beta channels. Ready to proceed? Head to the Dev Channel page, and then click the link to run the installer. You’ll be prompted to restart Chrome when you’re done. Note that Mac and Windows users can both run an installer to switch. Linux users will have to install a package. Note: Once you’ve switched to the Dev channel, you can’t really switch to the stable channel. You’ll have to uninstall Chrome and then reinstall the regular version. Now that you’ve switched to the dev channel and restarted your browser, head to about:plugins in the address bar, and then just disable each plugin you really don’t need. Plugins you can generally live without?  Java, Acrobat, Microsoft Office, Windows Presentation Foundation, Silverlight. These will be on a case-by-case basis, of course, but the vast majority of large websites don’t require any of those. When it comes right down to it, the only plugin that most people require is Flash… and leave the “Default Plug-in” alone too. Special thanks to @jordanconway for pointing out the solution. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Disable YouTube Comments while using ChromeHow to Make Google Chrome Your Default BrowserSubscribe to RSS Feeds in Chrome with a Single ClickAdd Notes to Google Notebook from ChromeAccess Google Chrome’s Special Pages the Easy Way TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 Office 2010 Product Guides Google Maps Place marks – Pizza, Guns or Strip Clubs Monitor Applications With Kiwi LocPDF is a Visual PDF Search Tool Download Free iPad Wallpapers at iPad Decor Get Your Delicious Bookmarks In Firefox’s Awesome Bar

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• Cannot boot into system after deleting partition

  - by Clayton

  Okay...so this was kind of a stupid thing for me to do now that I think back on it. I was experiencing a ton of lag and not as much memory that I could use after installing Ubuntu 12.04. So after remembering I had installed multiple server versions of Ubuntu 12.04 by mistake, I went into Disk Management and proceeded to delete each and every one. Everything went fine. Up until this week, I have not experienced any problems. But starting yesterday I began to get lag just as I had before, and nothing fixed the problem. I decided to remove the Ubuntu partition, since I was also experiencing a visual error when given the option to select one to boot(the screen doesn't come up at all, and I recieved a monitor resolution error instead, but could still access both Windows and Ubuntu via arrow keys). After deleting the Ubuntu partition, so that I could see if running just Windows would fix the problem, I proceeded with what I was doing, installing a few programs that were not tied to my prediciment in any way. Upon rebooting my desktop, however, I recieved the following error: error: unknown filesystem. grub rescue> Hoping I could boot into Ubuntu via a pendrive and possibly backup my important files and wipe the hard drive to start fresh, I installed Ubuntu 13.04, but even that does not boot. Instead, I get this message on a terminal screen: SYSLINUX 4.06. EDD 4.06-pre1 Copyright (C) 1994-2011 H. Peter Anvin et al ERROR: No configuration file found No DEFAULT or UI configuration directive found! boot: So more or less, my desktop is screwed. I need to be able to get to the files inside because of my job as an artist, as well as retrieve my documents for my stories stored on Windows. Once I can succeed in solving this once and for all, I know for a fact I will stick to Ubuntu only, and install what is required to be able to run any Windows applications I used to use or need to use. I would rather not reformat the hard drive, and if I need to, it is a last resort. And I doubt I can use a Windows Recovery Disk to get my files back, as my mom has thrown out a lot of the installation disks and paperwork I would need to even follow through with that. :\ Keep in mind that I am a novice/newbie when it comes to Linux, but am hoping ot become better at it as time goes by. I appreciate any help you guys can give me. This will probably be the last time I attempt to do anything that could risk the well-being of my PC. (I've also looked through various questions on the site and tested a lot of the solutions. None seem to have worked.)

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• Split Internet Explorer into Dual-Panes

  - by Asian Angel

  If you have a wide screen monitor then you may want to make better use of Internet Explorer’s browser window area. Now you can split the browser window into dual-panes as needed with the IE Split browser plugin. Note: Requires .NET Framework 2.0 or higher (link provided below). IE Split in Action If you are using an older version of this software here is something to keep in mind before upgrading to the 2.0 release. Once you have installed IE Split you will notice a new toolbar added to your browser. As seen here, you can condense it down tightly and access it using the drop-down bar. A closer look at the drop-down bar. Notice the address bar…this will be for the left pane when you split the browser window. Here is our browser split into dual-panes. There are two address bars and two tab/title bars each corresponding to their appropriate pane. It may look slightly backwards at first but is not hard to get used to. A better view of the left pane with the IE Split navigation & title bars showing. Note: The title bar can be hidden if desired. And the right pane. You can also have multiple “split” tabs open if needed. There is nothing quite like getting double the value for the same amount of space. When you no longer need dual-panes open just click on the “x” to close IE Split down. All back to normal again. Conclusion While might not be for everyone this can still be useful for those who need side-by-side access to websites without using multiple separate windows. Links Download IE-Split Download the Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (Standalone Installer) Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Set Up Multi-Pane Viewing in FirefoxWhy Can’t I Turn the Details/Preview Panes On or Off in Windows Vista Explorer?Split a text file in half (or any percentage) on Ubuntu LinuxMysticgeek Blog: A Look at Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 on Windows XPMake Ctrl+Tab in Internet Explorer 7 Use Most Recent Order TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Xobni Plus for Outlook All My Movies 5.9 CloudBerry Online Backup 1.5 for Windows Home Server Snagit 10 Filevo is a Cool File Hosting & Sharing Site Get a free copy of WinUtilities Pro 2010 World Cup Schedule Boot Snooze – Reboot and then Standby or Hibernate Customize Everything Related to Dates, Times, Currency and Measurement in Windows 7 Google Earth replacement Icon (Icons we like)

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• New Source Database Added for EBS 12 + 11gR2 Transportable Tablespaces

  - by John Abraham

  The Transportable Tablespaces (TTS) process was originally certified for the migration of E-Business Suite R12 databases going from a source database of 11gR1 or 11gR2 to a target of 11gR2. This requirement has now been expanded to include a source database of 10gR2 (10.2.0.5) - this will potentially save time for existing 10gR2 customers as they can remove on a crucial upgrade step prior to performing the platform migration. The migration process requires an updated Controlled patch delivered by the Oracle E-Business Suite Platform Engineering team, i.e. it requires a password obtainable from Oracle Support. We released the patch in this manner to gauge uptake, and help identify and monitor any customer issues due to the nature of this technology. This patch has been updated to now include supporting 10gR2 as a source database. Does it meet your requirements?Note that for migration across platforms of the same "endian" format, users are advised to use the Transportable Database (TDB) migration process instead for large databases. The "endian-ness" target platforms can be verified by querying the view V$DB_TRANSPORTABLE_PLATFORM using SQL*Plus (connected as sysdba) on the source platform:SQL>select platform_name from v$db_transportable_platform;If the intended target platform does not appear in the output, it means that it is of a different endian format from the source. Consequently. database migration will need to be performed via Transportable Tablespaces (for large databases) or export/import.The use of Transportable Tablespaces can greatly speed up the migration of the data portion of the database. However, it does not affect metadata, which must still be migrated using export/import. We recommend that users initially perform a test migration on their database, using export/import with the 'metrics=y' parameter. This will help identify the relative amounts of data and metadata, and provide a basis for assessing likely gains in timing. In general, the larger the amount of data (compared to metadata), the greater the reduction in downtime that can be expected from using TTS as a migration process. For smaller databases or for those that have relatively small data compared to metadata, TTS will not be as beneficial for cross endian migration and the use of export/import (datapump) for the whole database is recommended. Where can I find more information? Using Transportable Tablespaces to Migrate Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 Using Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Enterprise Edition (My Oracle Support Document 1311487.1) Oracle Database Administrator's Guide 11g Release 2 (11.2) Related Articles Database Migration using 11gR2 Transportable Tablespaces Now Certified for EBS 12 New Source Databases Added for Transportable Tablespaces + EBS 11i 10gR2 Transportable Tablespaces Certified for EBS 11i Migrating E-Business Suite Release 11i Databases Between Platforms Migrating E-Business Suite Release 12 Databases Between Platforms

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• CodePlex Daily Summary for Tuesday, June 11, 2013

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Tuesday, June 11, 2013Popular ReleasesToolbox for Dynamics CRM 2011: XrmToolBox (v1.2013.6.11): XrmToolbox improvement Add exception handling when loading plugins Updated information panel for displaying two lines of text Tools improvementMetadata Document Generator (v1.2013.6.10)New tool Web Resources Manager (v1.2013.6.11)Retrieve list of unused web resources Retrieve web resources from a solution All tools listAccess Checker (v1.2013.2.5) Attribute Bulk Updater (v1.2013.1.17) FetchXml Tester (v1.2013.3.4) Iconator (v1.2013.1.17) Metadata Document Generator (v1.2013.6.10) Privilege...Document.Editor: 2013.23: What's new for Document.Editor 2013.23: New Insert Emoticon support Improved Format support Minor Bug Fix's, improvements and speed upsChristoc's DotNetNuke Module Development Template: DotNetNuke 7 Project Templates V2.4 for VS2012: V2.4 - Release Date 6/10/2013 Items addressed in this 2.4 release Updated MSBuild Community Tasks reference to 1.4.0.61 Setting up your DotNetNuke Module Development Environment Installing Christoc's DotNetNuke Module Development Templates Customizing the latest DotNetNuke Module Development Project TemplatesLayered Architecture Sample for .NET: Leave Sample - June 2013 (for .NET 4.5): Thank You for downloading Layered Architecture Sample. Please read the accompanying README.txt file for setup and installation instructions. This is the first set of a series of revised samples that will be released to illustrate the layered architecture design pattern. This version is only supported on Visual Studio 2012. This samples illustrates the use of ASP.NET Web Forms, ASP.NET Model Binding, Windows Communications Foundation (WCF), Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) and Microsoft Ente...Papercut: Papercut 2013-6-10: Feature: Shows From, To, Date and Subject of Email. Feature: Async UI and loading spinner. Enhancement: Improved speed when loading large attachments. Enhancement: Decoupled SMTP server into secondary assembly. Enhancement: Upgraded to .NET v4. Fix: Messages lost when received very fast. Fix: Email encoding issues on display/Automatically detect message EncodingMapWinGIS ActiveX Map and GIS Component: MapWinGIS v4.8.8 Release Candidate - 32 Bit: This is the first release candidate of MapWinGIS. Please test it thoroughly.MapWindow 4: MapWindow GIS v4.8.8 - Release Candidate - 32Bit: Download the release notes here: http://svn.mapwindow.org/svnroot/MapWindow4Dev/Bin/MapWindowNotes.rtfVR Player: VR Player 0.3 ALPHA: New plugin system with individual folders TrackIR support Maya and 3ds max formats support Dual screen support Mono layouts (left and right) Cylinder height parameter Barel effect factor parameter Razer hydra filter parameter VRPN bug fixes UI improvements Performances improvements Stabilization and logging with Log4Net New default values base on users feedback CTRL key to open menuSimCityPak: SimCityPak 0.1.0.8: SimCityPak 0.1.0.8 New features: Import BMP color palettes for vehicles Import RASTER file (uncompressed 8.8.8.8 DDS files) View different channels of RASTER files or preview of all layers combined Find text in javascripts TGA viewer Ground textures added to lot editor Many additional identified instances and propertiesWsus Package Publisher: Release v1.2.1306.09: Add more verifications on certificate validation. WPP will not let user to try publishing an update until the certificate is valid. Add certificate expiration date on the 'About' form. Filter Approbation to avoid a user to try to approve an update for uninstallation when the update do not support uninstallation. Add the server and console version on the 'About' form. WPP will not let user to publish an update until the server and console are not at the same level. WPP do not let user ...AJAX Control Toolkit: June 2013 Release: AJAX Control Toolkit Release Notes - June 2013 Release Version 7.0607June 2013 release of the AJAX Control Toolkit. AJAX Control Toolkit .NET 4.5 – AJAX Control Toolkit for .NET 4.5 and sample site (Recommended). AJAX Control Toolkit .NET 4 – AJAX Control Toolkit for .NET 4 and sample site (Recommended). AJAX Control Toolkit .NET 3.5 – AJAX Control Toolkit for .NET 3.5 and sample site (Recommended). Notes: - Instructions for using the AJAX Control Toolkit with ASP.NET 4.5 can be found at...Rawr: Rawr 5.2.1: This is the Downloadable WPF version of Rawr!For web-based version see http://elitistjerks.com/rawr.php You can find the version notes at: http://rawr.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=VersionNotes Rawr Addon (NOT UPDATED YET FOR MOP)We now have a Rawr Official Addon for in-game exporting and importing of character data hosted on Curse. The Addon does not perform calculations like Rawr, it simply shows your exported Rawr data in wow tooltips and lets you export your character to Rawr (including ba...VG-Ripper & PG-Ripper: PG-Ripper 1.4.13: changes NEW: Added Support for "ImageJumbo.com" links FIXED: Ripping of Threads with multiple pagesASP.NET MVC Forum: MVCForum v1.3.5: This is a bug release version, with a couple of small usability features and UI changes. All the small amount of bugs reported in v1.3 have been fixed, no upgrade needed just overwrite the files and everything should just work.Json.NET: Json.NET 5.0 Release 6: New feature - Added serialized/deserialized JSON to verbose tracing New feature - Added support for using type name handling with ISerializable content Fix - Fixed not using default serializer settings with primitive values and JToken.ToObject Fix - Fixed error writing BigIntegers with JsonWriter.WriteToken Fix - Fixed serializing and deserializing flag enums with EnumMember attribute Fix - Fixed error deserializing interfaces with a valid type converter Fix - Fixed error deser...QlikView Extension - Animated Scatter Chart: Animated Scatter Chart - v1.0: Version 1.0 including Source Code qar File Example QlikView application Tested With: Browser Firefox 20 (x64) Google Chrome 27 (x64) Internet Explorer 9 QlikView QlikView Desktop 11 - SR2 (x64) QlikView Desktop 11.2 - SR1 (x64) QlikView Ajax Client 11.2 - SR2 (based on x64)BarbaTunnel: BarbaTunnel 7.2: Warning: HTTP Tunnel is not compatible with version 6.x and prior, HTTP packet format has been changed. Check Version History for more information about this release.SuperWebSocket, a .NET WebSocket Server: SuperWebSocket 0.8: This release includes these changes below: Upgrade SuperSocket to 1.5.3 which is much more stable Added handshake request validating api (WebSocketServer.ValidateHandshake(TWebSocketSession session, string origin)) Fixed a bug that the m_Filters in the SubCommandBase can be null if the command's method LoadSubCommandFilters(IEnumerable<SubCommandFilterAttribute> globalFilters) is not invoked Fixed the compatibility issue on Origin getting in the different version protocols Marked ISub...BlackJumboDog: Ver5.9.0: 2013.06.04 Ver5.9.0 (1) ?????????????????????????????????($Remote.ini Tmp.ini) (2) ThreadBaseTest?? (3) ????POP3??????SMTP???????????????? (4) Web???????、?????????URL??????????????? (5) Ftp???????、LIST?????????????? (6) ?????????????????????Media Companion: Media Companion MC3.569b: New* Movies - Autoscrape/Batch Rescrape extra fanart and or extra thumbs. * Movies - Alternative editor can add manually actors. * TV - Batch Rescraper, AutoScrape extrafanart, if option enabled. Fixed* Movies - Slow performance switching to movie tab by adding option 'Disable "Not Matching Rename Pattern"' to Movie Preferences - General. * Movies - Fixed only actors with images were scraped and added to nfo * Movies - Fixed filter reset if selected tab was above Home Movies. * Updated Medi...New Projects.Net Framework Detector: This application displays all the .Net framework installed on a PC.Adhayayan: Online learning management system designed for small as having 50 students and large as 1000+ students. This is community version having most needed features.Akad SPPortal: Project portal Reserved for unit with features the basic. Been Development in the Background platform SharePoint foundation 2010. Combined EXT.net FrameworkANGF Autumn's Novel Game Framework: This is a novel game framework project. ANGF was use by a game of "1980 Otaku no Hideo", before Codeplex project started. auto check in: help users to login and check in for certain websites automatically,such as xiami and taobaoBasic Expression Evaluator C#: Mathematical Expression Evaluation with symbols and normal bodmas order of precedence. Supports basic arithmetic operations and access to a symbol dictionaryCaloriesCalculator: CaloriesCalculator, the code refactor exampleCamadanPortal: Just a simple company website...charity organization1: charity organizationControl de Asistencia - Grupo Azar2: Control de asistenciaExpenses Manager: Expenses Manager for Windows Phone 8File Sync (Desktop Application): This is a simple "File Synchronizing" / "File Back Up" software, uses Microsift Sync 2.0Furcadia Heimdall Tester: An application that helps Furcadia technicians test the integrity of the game server. It checks for availability of each heimdall, its connectivity to the rest of the system (horton/tribble) and how often it receives a user compared to the rest of them.Furcadia Installer Browser: A program that can access files within a Furcadia installer and allow the user to open them from within the install package, extract some or all the files inside the package, check data integrity of each file and compare the content of two installers.Furcadia Map Normalizer: Furcadia Map Normalizer is a small tool that helps recover a damaged Furcadia map after a live-edit bug. It restores out-of-range elements within back to zero.MyHistory: .NexusCamera: Nexus Camera is a control for Windows Phone 7 & 8, which can be used as a menu on the Camera. The idea in making this control when we use a camera nexus. ThanksNUnit Test Runner: Allows you to run NUnit tests in a more flexible way.Photo Printer Load Balancing: This was developed as a small utility allowing for multiple printers to be used in a DIY photobooth. It monitors a folder for images and load balances a printerResource Translator: A utility that allows you to quickly translate .NET resource files.SCCM Powershell Module: A powershell module to simplify the administration of a System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) environment.ShardMath: A simple cross platform maths library with expression parsing written without any dependencies on existing pre installed .NET libraries.SoftwareEngineering: Software Engineering Project that named SakhtemanPezeshkan Sprint TinCan LRS: Using the TinCan specifications, this C# MVC project attempts to provide endpoints for TinCan compliant clients.threadpool: a high performance threadpool good for tiny / small / medium processor work, which is the base of event_comb procedural programming framework.TouchProxy (for Windows 8): A remote touch injection client for Windows 8 using standard TUIO+OSC protocols, variable input calibration, and integrated hosted Wi-Fi networking for devices.UGSF Design StarterKit: Information for helping users to create SharePoint Design.UNREAL GAME BY FREITAG: Unreal action game!Win8DemoAcceleratore: This project is a demo project for a lab on Windows 8 Store App development Windows 8 App Design Reference Template: Education Dark Banner: Education Dark Banner Template help if you want to build an app which has an option for group category display and education detailsWindows 8 App Design Reference Template: Photo Viewer: Photo Viewer template will help if you want a photo gallery app to showcase images from various folders. ????: ????WP7??????

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• OBIA on Teradata - Part 2 Teradata DB Utilization for ETL

  - by Mohan Ramanuja

  Techniques to Monitor Queries and ETL Load CPU and Disk I/OSelect username, processor, sum(cputime), sum(diskio) from dbc.ampusage where processor ='1-0' order by 2,3 descgroup by 1,2;UserName    Vproc    Sum(CpuTime)    Sum(DiskIO)AC00916        10    6.71            24975 List Hardware ErrorsThere is a possibility that the system might have adequate disk space but out of free cylinders. In order to monitor hardware errors, the following query was used:Select * from dbc.Software_Event_Log where Text like '%restart%' order by thedate, thetime;For active users, usage of CPU and analysis of bad CPU to I/O ratiosSelect * from DBC.AMPUSAGE where username='CRMSTGC_DEV_ID';  AND SUBSTR(ACCOUNTNAME,6,3)='006'; Usage By I/OSelect AccountName, UserName, sum(CpuTime), sum(DiskIO)  from DBC.AMPUSAGE group by AccountName, UserName Order by Sum(DiskIO) desc; AccountName                       UserName                          Sum(CpuTime)  Sum(DiskIO)$M1$10062209                      AB89487                           374628.612    7821847$M1$10062210                      AB89487                           186692.244    2799412$M1$10062213                      COC_ETL_ID                        119531.068    331100426$M1$10062200                      AB63472                           118973.316    109881984$M1$10062204                      AB63472                           110825.356    94666986$M1$10062201                      AB63472                           110797.976    75016994$M1$10062202                      AC06936                           100924.448    407839702$M1$10062204                      AB67963                           0         4$M1$10062207                      AB91990                           0         2$M1$10062208                      AB63461                           0         24$M1$10062211                      AB84332                           0         6$M1$10062214                      AB65484                           0         8$M1$10062205                      AB77529                           0         58$M1$10062210                      AC04768                           0         36$M1$10062206                      AB54940                           0         22 Usage By CPUSelect AccountName, UserName, sum(CpuTime), sum(DiskIO)  from DBC.AMPUSAGE group by AccountName, UserName Order by Sum(CpuTime) desc;AccountName                       UserName                          Sum(CpuTime)  Sum(DiskIO)$M1$10062209                      AB89487                           374628.612    7821847$M1$10062210                      AB89487                           186692.244    2799412$M1$10062213                      COC_ETL_ID                        119531.068    331100426$M1$10062200                      AB63472                           118973.316    109881984$M1$10062204                      AB63472                           110825.356    94666986$M1$10062201                      AB63472                           110797.976    75016994$M2$100622105813004760047LOAD     T23_ETLPROC_ENT                   0 6$M1$10062215                      AA37720                           0     180$M1$10062209                      AB81670                           0     6Select count(distinct vproc) from dbc.ampusage;432select * from dbc.dbcinfo;AccountName     UserName     CpuTime DiskIO  CpuTimeNorm         Vproc VprocType    Model$M1$10062205                      CRM_STGC_DEV_ID                   0.32    1764    12.7423999023438    0     AMP      2580$M1$10062205                      CRM_STGC_DEV_ID                   0.28    1730    11.1495999145508    3     AMP      2580$M1$10062205                      CRM_STGC_DEV_ID                   0.304    1736    12.1052799072266    4    AMP      2580$M1$10062205                      CRM_STGC_DEV_ID                   0.248    1731    9.87535992431641    7    AMP      2580$M1$10062205                      CRM_STGC_DEV_ID                   0.332    1731    13.2202398986816    8    AMP      2580$M1$10062205                      CRM_STGC_DEV_ID                   0.284    1712    11.3088799133301    11   AMP      2580$M1$10062205                      CRM_STGC_DEV_ID                   0.24    1757    9.55679992675781    12    AMP      2580$M1$10062205                      CRM_STGC_DEV_ID                   0.292    1737    11.6274399108887    15   AMP      2580$M1$10062205                      CRM_STGC_DEV_ID                   0.268    1753    10.6717599182129    16   AMP      2580$M1$10062205                      CRM_STGC_DEV_ID                   0.276    1732    10.9903199157715    19   AMP      2580select * from dbc.dbcinfo;InfoKey    InfoDataLANGUAGE   SUPPORT           MODE    StandardRELEASE    12.00.03.03VERSION    12.00.03.01a

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• BizTalk 2009 - SQL Server Job Configuration

  - by StuartBrierley

  Following the installation of Biztalk Server 2009 on my development laptop I used the BizTalk Server Best Practice Analyser which highlighted the fact that two of the SQL Server Agent jobs that BizTalk relies on were not running successfully.  Upon investigation it turned out that these jobs needed to be configured before they would run successfully. To configure these jobs open SQL Server Management Studio, expand SQL Server Agent > Jobs and double click on the appropriate job.  Select Steps and then edit the appropriate entries. Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb) This job is comprised of three steps BackupFull, MarkAndBackupLog and ClearBackupHistory. BackupFull exec [dbo].[sp_BackupAllFull_Schedule] ‘d’ /* Frequency */,‘BTS’ /* Name */,‘<destination path>’ /* location of backup files */ The frequency here is set/left as daily The name is left as BTS You must provide a full destination path for the backup files to be stored. There are also two optional parameters: A flag that controls if the job forces a full backup if a partial backup fails A parameter to control the time of day to run the full backup; the default is midnight UTC time For example: exec [dbo].[sp_BackupAllFull_Schedule] ‘d’ /* Frequency */,‘BTS’ /* Name */,‘<destination path>’ /* location of backup files */ , 0, 22 MarkAndBackUpLog exec [dbo].[sp_MarkAll] ‘BTS’ /* Log mark name */,’<destination path>’  /*location of backup files */ You must provide a destination path for the log backups. Optionally you can also add an extra parameter that tells the procedure to use local time: exec [dbo].[sp_MarkAll] ‘BTS’ /* Log mark name */,’<destination path>’  /*location of backup files */ ,1 Clear Backup History exec [dbo].[sp_DeleteBackupHistory] @DaysToKeep=7 This will clear out the instances in the MarkLog table older than 7 days.    DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb) This job is comprised of a single step. Archive and Purge exec dtasp_BackupAndPurgeTrackingDatabase 0, --@nLiveHours tinyint, 1, --@nLiveDays tinyint = 0, 30, --@nHardDeleteDays tinyint = 0, null, --@nvcFolder nvarchar(1024) = null, null, --@nvcValidatingServer sysname = null, 0 --@fForceBackup int = 0 Any completed instance that is older than the live days plus live hours will be deleted, as will any associated data. Any data older than the HardDeleteDays will be deleted - this means that those long running orchestration instances that would otherwise never be purged will at some point have their data cleared down while allowing the instance to continue, thus preventing the DTA databse from growing indefinitely.  This should always be greater than the soft purge window. The NVC folder is the path for the backup files, if this is null the job will not run failing with the error : DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb) Job failed SQL Server Management Studio, job activity monitor, view history The @nvcFolder parameter cannot be null. Archive and Purge step How long you choose to keep instances in the Tracking Database is really up to you. For development I have set this up as: exec dtasp_BackupAndPurgeTrackingDatabase 0, 1, 30, ’<destination path>’, null, 0 On a live server you may want to adjust these figures: exec dtasp_BackupAndPurgeTrackingDatabase 0, 15, 20, ’<destination path>’, null, 0

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• Ubuntu 14.04 : Lost my sound randomly tried a few commands and I think I failed

  - by Marc-Antoine Théberge

  I lost my sound the other day and I tried to delete pulseaudio then reinstall, then I tried to delete it and install alsa, It did not work and I had to reinstall everything; overall bad idea... now I can't have any sound. Should I do a fresh install? I don't know how to boot an usb drive with GRUB... Here's my sysinfo System information report, generated by Sysinfo: 2014-05-28 05:45:58 http://sourceforge.net/projects/gsysinfo SYSTEM INFORMATION Running Ubuntu Linux, the Ubuntu 14.04 (trusty) release. GNOME: 3.8.4 (Ubuntu 2014-03-17) Kernel version: 3.13.0-27-generic (#50-Ubuntu SMP Thu May 15 18:08:16 UTC 2014) GCC: 4.8 (i686-linux-gnu) Xorg: 1.15.1 (16 April 2014 01:40:08PM) (16 April 2014 01:40:08PM) Hostname: mark-laptop Uptime: 0 days 11 h 43 min CPU INFORMATION GenuineIntel, Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz Number of CPUs: 2 CPU clock currently at 1333.000 MHz with 512 KB cache Numbering: family(6) model(28) stepping(2) Bogomips: 3192.13 Flags: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 xtpr pdcm movbe lahf_lm dtherm MEMORY INFORMATION Total memory: 2007 MB Total swap: 1953 MB STORAGE INFORMATION SCSI device - scsi0 Vendor: ATA Model: ST9160310AS HARDWARE INFORMATION MOTHERBOARD Host bridge Intel Corporation Mobile 945GSE Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03) Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 8340 PCI bridge(s) Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode]) Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode]) Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 4 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode]) Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2) (prog-if 01 [Subtractive decode]) Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode]) Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode]) Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 4 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode]) Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2) (prog-if 01 [Subtractive decode]) ISA bridge Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02) Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 830f IDE interface Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 02) (prog-if 80 [Master]) Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 830f GRAPHIC CARD VGA controller Intel Corporation Mobile 945GSE Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller]) Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 8340 SOUND CARD Multimedia controller Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02) Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 831a NETWORK Ethernet controller Qualcomm Atheros AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 Gigabit or Fast Ethernet (rev b0) Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 8324

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• Ubuntu Sluggish and Graphics Problem after Nvidia Driver Update

  - by iam

  I just recently started using Ubuntu (12.04) since a few weeks ago and noticed that the interface is very slow and sluggish: On Dash, I have to type the entire app name and wait a few seconds before it shows up in the search box, and a bit later before it displays search result Opening new files or applications takes also quite long and awkward Dragging icons or moving app windows around is not very spontaneous too: I have to take extra attention in moving the mouse otherwise Ubuntu would not do a correct movement or might ends up doing something incorrect instead e.g. opening the windows to full screen options or move the file to different folders, which is frustrating My PC is a few years old already (1.7 GB RAM) so this could be a reason too but when I checked in System Monitor it's hardly ever consuming much memory. Plus web-surfing on Firefox is actually lightning fast (much more than Windows), so I suspect there might be something wrong with the graphics driver (mine is GeForce 7050). I checked around System Settings and found an option to update the Nvidia driver. So I tried it and restarted, as instructed. Now, I got into a big problem upon restart... as the login-screen windows (where I have to type in the password) would take several attempts to display and finally did not manage to (it'd freeze for several seconds before there's any movement again). The background screen also kept reloading several times too and at some point the screen turned black with pixelated color strips running on the bottom 1/3 of the screen, and after a long while the background screen would come up again. Eventually I'd manage to be able to access the desktop but the launcher, top menu bar and app windows border would not disappear. I searched around and found many other people have this similar problem after updating Nvidia driver too, and on some threads the suggestion is to use "killall -u $USER" in command line (it's the only thing among various online suggestions I could do, as at that point I could not access Terminal without the launcher - Ctrl-Alt-T doesn't work for me). So I did that and was able to access the desktop correctly again with launchee/menu by creating a new account. But I would still have the same problem if logging into my original account. So I just finally tried upgrading to 12.10 and now can access my original account with fully-functional desktop - the launcher, menu and windows border are all back now. However, the problem with sluggishness still remains. And now I get scared of ever having to update the Nvidia driver again! I wonder if anyone knows what's the reason that updating the Nvidia driver is causing this problem and is there a way I can update it safely in the future? I'm still not sure how to solve the problem with the sluggishness too and not sure where else to look to find a solution.

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• Android Touch Event Collision Detection

  - by chrissb

  I'm relatively new to both Java and Android, so hopefully the problem I'm having is stemming from something pretty minor that I've overlooked. I've got a (very early stage) game that I've started working on, for Android using Java. At this stage, when the user touches the screen, if they touched a point at which there is an enemy, the enemies health is decreased and they become immobile (for the current implementation at least). The issue that I'm having is that the touch detection doesn't always seem to work. I've got a testing sprite set up that goes to the eventX and eventY coordinates of the touch down event, and it always seems to collide with the enemy object. Yet, the enemy doesn't always register as being hit, and sometimes a hit is registered when the sprite indicates the touch coordinates were outside of the enemies bounding box. I realise that this probably doesn't mean much without any code, so here's what I've got so far. Be gentle, as this is literally my first attempt at something more than basic movement etc. First off, the MainGamePanel class registers the touch event, and informs the levelmanager class (which is what I set up to monitor/handle enemies) public boolean onTouchEvent(MotionEvent event) { if (event.getAction() == MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN){ levelManager.handleActionDown((int)event.getX(), (int)event.getY()); targetX=event.getX(); targetY=event.getY(); } if (event.getAction() == MotionEvent.ACTION_MOVE) { //the gestures } if (event.getAction() == MotionEvent.ACTION_UP) { //touch was released } return true; } From there, in the levelmanager class the touch event is passed on to all of the enemies within a list array: public static void handleActionDown(int eventX,int eventY){ hit=false; for (enemy1 en : enemy1array){ en.handleActionDown(eventX, eventY); } } The rest of the collision code is handled within the enemies handleActionDown function: public void handleActionDown(int eventX, int eventY) { if(eventX>this.x-enemy1bitmap.getWidth() && eventX<this.x+enemy1bitmap.getWidth() && eventY>this.y-enemy1bitmap.getHeight() && eventY<this.x+enemy1bitmap.getHeight()){ takeDamage(1); levelmanager.setHit(); } } I should probably be using getWidth()/2 and getHeight()/2 for it to be more accurate, but I expanded the area to test this - although I've noticed no improvement. At this stage, the games detection over whether or not the enemy is hit is spotty at best. Generally it takes two or three attempts before a collision is successfully registered, even though the sprite that is being used for testing and set to the eventX and eventY coordinates always indicates that the collision should have worked. Hopefully someone can steer me in the right direction here, and if more information is needed, ask away! Cheers, -Chris

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• Determining cause of random latency and loading issues

  - by Sherwin Flight

  I'm not sure exactly what details to post in regards to my issue, because I'm not sure what is relevant. Prior to the end of September my websites all loaded quickly, in almost all cases. Loading time wasn't usually more than a few seconds. However, since the end of September I noticed a big increase in page loading times. In some cases pages were taking 30 seconds or more to load. I do have a remote monitoring service monitoring some of the sites as well, and the image below shows the response times over the past month. The response times shown at the beginning of this graph were what the usual response times were prior to this issue occurring. You can see that there has been a significant increase in response times from the beginning to the end of this graph. The thing is, the problem is not happening 100% of the time. If I click through the site, or even just keep refreshing the page, about 25% of the time the pages load quickly, the remaining 75% of the time they load slowly. Sometimes the pages take so long to load that they time out, and don't load at all. I have contacted my hosting provider, and they said things at their end was fine. I don't believe the problem is my home internet provider, because all other websites load without a problem. The server is located in Texas, USA. This also raises another interesting point. My remote monitor checks my site from two locations, California, USA, and London, England. As you can see in the chart below the response time is actually shorter when checked from London, which doesn't seem to make sense, since the server is physically closer to the California monitoring location. I would have expected the London monitoring location to have higher response times since they are physically farther away. I should also point out that in some traceroute test I've done it seem like the first connection to the server seems to take the longest, then after that the rest of the page loads quickly. Below is a little chart showing the times for the first connection to the server. So, what could be causing this problem, and what steps can I take to resolve it or at least narrow down the problem? Sending the request to the server was very quick, and receiving the reply back seems pretty quick, but the WAIT time is really long. So it connects, sends the request, but then waits close to 30 seconds before it starts receiving data back. I am also aware that there are things I can do to speed up page loading times, like reducing the number of CSS and JS files used on a page, compressing images, etc. This is not really what the source of the problem is though, because nothing has really changed on the site since before the problem started, and other sites on the same server are loading slowly as well.

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• A Hot Topic - Profitability and Cost Management

  - by john.orourke(at)oracle.com

  Maybe it's due to the recent recession, or current economic recovery but a hot topic and area of focus for many organizations these days is profitability and cost management.  For most organizations, aggressive cost-cutting and cost management were critical to remaining profitable while top line revenue was flat or shrinking.  However, now we are seeing many organizations taking a more "surgical" approach to profitability and cost management, by accurately allocating revenue and costs to individual product lines, services, customer segments, locations, channels and other lines of business to understand which ones are truly profitable and which ones are not.  Based on these insights, managers can make more informed decisions about which products or services to invest in or retire, how to price their products or services for different customer segments, and where to focus their marketing and customer service resources. The most common industries where this product, service and customer-focused costing and profitability analysis is being adopted include financial services, consumer packaged goods, retail and manufacturing.  However we are seeing adoption of profitability and cost management applications in other industries and use cases.  Here are a few examples: Telecommunications Industry:  Network Costing and Management to identify the most cost effective and/or profitable network areas, to optimize existing resources, infrastructure and network capacity.  Regulatory Cost Accounting to perform more accurate allocations of revenue and costs across services and customer segments, improve ability to set billing rates for future periods, for various products and customer segments and more easily develop analysis needed for rate case proposals. Healthcare Insurance:  Visually, justifiable Medical Loss Ratio results, better knowledge of the cost to service healthcare plans and members, accurate understanding of member segment and plan profitability, improved marketing programs through better member segmentation. Public Sector:  Statutory / Regulatory Compliance:  A variety of statutory and regulatory documents state explicitly or implicitly that the use of government resources must be properly tracked and tied to performance goals.  Managerial costing methods implemented through Cost Management applications provide unparalleled visibility into costs and shared services usage throughout a Public Sector agency. Funding Support:  Regulations require public sector funding requests to be evaluated based upon the ability to achieve performance goals against the associated cost.   Improved visibility and understanding of costs of different programs/services means that organizations can demonstrably monitor performance and the associated resource costs improve the chances of having their funding requests granted. Profitability and Cost Management is one of the fastest-growing solution areas in Oracle's Enterprise Performance Management product line and we are seeing a growing number of customer successes across geographies and industries.  Listed below are just a few examples.  Here's a link to the replay from a recent webcast on this topic which featured Schroders Plc, a UK-based Financial Services company: http://www.oracle.com/go/?&Src=7011668&Act=168&pcode=WWMK10037859MPP043 Here's a link to a case study on Shenhua Guohua Power in China: http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/customers/shenhua-snapshot-159574.pdf Here's a link to information on Oracle's web site about our profitability and cost management solutions: http://www.oracle.com/us/solutions/ent-performance-bi/performance-management/profitability-cost-mgmt/index.html

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• atkbd.c spamming the logs. How to get rid? what is this?

  - by turbo

  On my Vostro 1000 notebook the following messages spam my dmesg: [18678.728936] atkbd.c: Unknown key released (translated set 2, code 0x8d on isa0060/serio0). [18678.728941] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e00d <keycode>' to make it known. [18679.831109] atkbd.c: Unknown key pressed (translated set 2, code 0x8d on isa0060/serio0). [18679.831119] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e00d <keycode>' to make it known. [18679.841607] atkbd.c: Unknown key released (translated set 2, code 0x8d on isa0060/serio0). [18679.841615] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e00d <keycode>' to make it known. [18680.901733] atkbd.c: Unknown key pressed (translated set 2, code 0x8d on isa0060/serio0). [18680.901744] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e00d <keycode>' to make it known. [18680.911536] atkbd.c: Unknown key released (translated set 2, code 0x8d on isa0060/serio0). [18680.911546] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e00d <keycode>' to make it known. It's most probably not from an actual key because it appears in regular intervals. First what is it? It could be my battery since it's nearly dead, as in loadable to 11 % of the initial capacity, but I have no evidence for that. What is this / how can I find out where this comes from? How can I get rid of it? Is there a 'dud' keycode? When I assign a keycode with sudo setkeycode e00d $(random keycode) the key does actually get pressed. That makes it impossible to enter sudo password for example. So any 'real' keycode is not an option. It hasn't been like that half a year ago. Even better than the dud keycode would be a real fix. It happens from 10.04 to 12.04 (before that I don't know). I did read zcat /usr/share/doc/udev/README.keymap.txt.gz |less as suggested in the Ubuntu Wiki. /lib/udev/findkeyboards && sudo /lib/udev/keymap -i input/event5 produces what appears to be newlines in rapid succession. sudo udevadm monitor doesn't show the event.

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• Some Oracle VM 3 updates

  - by wcoekaer

  Today we did another patch set update for Oracle VM 3 (3.0.3-build 227). This can be downloaded from My Oracle Support as patch ID 14736185. There are quite a few updates in here and I highly recommend any Oracle VM 3 customer or user to install this update. This patch can be installed on top of Oracle VM 3.0 versions 3.0.2 and 3.0.3. The patch is cumulative for 3.0.3. So if you already installed patch update 1 (3.0.3-150) then this will just be incremental on top of that and brings you to 3.0.3-build 227. There is a readme file which contains the patchlist in the patch info. The following patches are released on ULN for Oracle VM server 3.0 : initscripts-8.45.30-2.100.18.el5.x86_64 The inittab file and the /etc/init.d scripts. kernel-ovs-2.6.32.21-45.6.x86_64 The Linux kernel kernel-ovs-firmware-2.6.32.21-45.6.x86_64 Firmware files used by the Linux kernel osc-oracle-ocfs2-0.1.0-35.el5.noarch Oracle Storage Connect ocfs2 Plugin osc-plugin-manager-1.2.8-9.el5.3.noarch Oracle Storage Connect Plugin Infrastructure osc-plugin-manager-devel-1.2.8-9.el5.3.noarch Oracle Storage Connect Plugin Development ovs-agent-3.0.3-41.6.x86_64 Agent for Oracle VM xen-4.0.0-81.el5.1.x86_64 Xen is a virtual machine monitor xen-devel-4.0.0-81.el5.1.x86_64 Development libraries for Xen tools xen-tools-4.0.0-81.el5.1.x86_64 Various tooling for the manipulation of Xen instances Errata emails will be sent in the next few days with details on the above updates. Or you will find them here. I also did an update of my Oracle VM utilities to 0.4.0. They are also available from My Oracle Support, patch ID 14736239. These utils can be unzipped and installed on the server running Oracle VM Manager. Typically in /u01/app/oracle/ovm-manager-3/ovm_utils. There is a set of man pages in /u01/app/oracle/ovm-manager-3/ovm_utils/man/man8. There now are 6 commands : ovm_vmcontrol : VM level operations ovm_servercontrol : server level operations ovm_vmdisks : virtual disk/physical location mapping for VM disks ovm_vmmessage : message passing utility between the manager and the VM tools (in the Oracle VM templates) ovm_repocontrol : repository level operations ovm_poolcontrol : pool level operations Some of the new changes : at a pool level, acknowledge events and cascade to servers and virtual machines with outstanding events at a pool level, do a rescan of the storage for fibrechannel/iscsi disks if you add new devices (it does this operation then on every running server) at a repository level, fixup a device if it had a failed create repository at a repository level, refresh the repository and this will update the free space in the UI for ocfs2 repositories at a server level, acknowledge server events and cascade to virtual machines if needed at a VM level, acknowledge VM events at a VM level, bind vcpus to cores with vcpuset/vcpuget Please see the man pages and remember that these tools are just written As Is - no SRs... (per the documentation) Hopefully they are useful.

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• No GRUB Screen or recovery mode on Boot after 12.04 Upgrade

  - by Nick

  I tried the live boot CD and boot-repair, also loaded the Desktop install CD, and it looks like all partitions check out OK. However, when I try to boot Linux (the only bootable partition on the computer) I get a blank screen. Every so often the screen give me something akin to: Assuming write through cache Asking for cache data failed it appears to start booting, then hangs. Ctrl+Alt+Delete shuts down the machine The last message during boot is "STarting TiMidity++ ALSA midi emulation... [OK]" I used boot-repair to generate a boot info report. One thing looks odd to me- it reports a missing core.img on /dev/sda1. Here is the full info: Boot Info Script 0.61.full + Boot-Repair extra info [Boot-Info August 2nd 2012] ============================= Boot Info Summary: =============================== = Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks at sector 1 of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and looks for (,msdos1)/boot/grub on this drive. = Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb. sda1: __________________________________________ File system: ext4 Boot sector type: Grub2 (v1.99) Boot sector info: Grub2 (v1.99) is installed in the boot sector of sda1 and looks at sector 18406911 of the same hard drive for core.img, but core.img can not be found at this location. Operating System: Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS Boot files: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf /boot/grub/core.img sda2: __________________________________________ File system: Extended Partition Boot sector type: - Boot sector info: sda5: __________________________________________ File system: swap Boot sector type: - Boot sector info: sdb1: __________________________________________ File system: ntfs Boot sector type: Windows XP: NTFS Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block. Operating System: Boot files: ============================ Drive/Partition Info: ============================= Drive: sda _______________________________________ Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System /dev/sda1 * 63 307,339,514 307,339,452 83 Linux /dev/sda2 307,339,515 312,576,704 5,237,190 5 Extended /dev/sda5 307,339,578 312,576,704 5,237,127 82 Linux swap / Solaris Drive: sdb _______________________________________ Disk /dev/sdb: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System /dev/sdb1 2,048 625,142,447 625,140,400 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS "blkid" output: ____________________________________ Device UUID TYPE LABEL /dev/loop0 squashfs /dev/sda1 11b4d633-7863-40b2-a6ca-da5f82c3ad0b ext4 /dev/sda5 cb8d65f4-8cf9-4088-b804-e3dea2151033 swap /dev/sdb1 349E7C109E7BC8BE ntfs Personal1 ================================ Mount points: ================================= Device Mount_Point Type Options /dev/sdb1 /media/Personal1 fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_permissions) /dev/sr0 /live/image iso9660 (ro,noatime) ...(a bunch of config file info- let me know if anyone wants to see it!) But usually I just get "Cannot Display This Video Mode", which I know means the video output is not usable by the monitor. I'm looking for a way to get into a recovery mode.I'd really like to avoid wiping the drive. Any thoughts?

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• .NET Code Evolution

  - by Alois Kraus

  Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/akraus1/archive/2013/07/24/153504.aspxAt my day job I do look at a lot of code written by other people. Most of the code is quite good and some is even a masterpiece. And there is also code which makes you think WTF… oh it was written by me. Hm not so bad after all. There are many excuses reasons for bad code. Most often it is time pressure followed by not enough ambition (who cares) or insufficient training. Normally I do care about code quality quite a lot which makes me a (perceived) slow worker who does write many tests and refines the code quite a lot because of the design deficiencies. Most of the deficiencies I do find by putting my design under stress while checking for invariants. It does also help a lot to step into the code with a debugger (sometimes also Windbg). I do this much more often when my tests are red. That way I do get a much better understanding what my code really does and not what I think it should be doing. This time I do want to show you how code can evolve over the years with different .NET Framework versions. Once there was  time where .NET 1.1 was new and many C++ programmers did switch over to get rid of not initialized pointers and memory leaks. There were also nice new data structures available such as the Hashtable which is fast lookup table with O(1) time complexity. All was good and much code was written since then. At 2005 a new version of the .NET Framework did arrive which did bring many new things like generics and new data structures. The “old” fashioned way of Hashtable were coming to an end and everyone used the new Dictionary<xx,xx> type instead which was type safe and faster because the object to type conversion (aka boxing) was no longer necessary. I think 95% of all Hashtables and dictionaries use string as key. Often it is convenient to ignore casing to make it easy to look up values which the user did enter. An often followed route is to convert the string to upper case before putting it into the Hashtable. Hashtable Table = new Hashtable(); void Add(string key, string value) { Table.Add(key.ToUpper(), value); } This is valid and working code but it has problems. First we can pass to the Hashtable a custom IEqualityComparer to do the string matching case insensitive. Second we can switch over to the now also old Dictionary type to become a little faster and we can keep the the original keys (not upper cased) in the dictionary. Dictionary<string, string> DictTable = new Dictionary<string, string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase); void AddDict(string key, string value) { DictTable.Add(key, value); } Many people do not user the other ctors of Dictionary because they do shy away from the overhead of writing their own comparer. They do not know that .NET has for strings already predefined comparers at hand which you can directly use. Today in the many core area we do use threads all over the place. Sometimes things break in subtle ways but most of the time it is sufficient to place a lock around the offender. Threading has become so mainstream that it may sound weird that in the year 2000 some guy got a huge incentive for the idea to reduce the time to process calibration data from 12 hours to 6 hours by using two threads on a dual core machine. Threading does make it easy to become faster at the expense of correctness. Correct and scalable multithreading can be arbitrarily hard to achieve depending on the problem you are trying to solve. Lets suppose we want to process millions of items with two threads and count the processed items processed by all threads. A typical beginners code might look like this: int Counter; void IJustLearnedToUseThreads() { var t1 = new Thread(ThreadWorkMethod); t1.Start(); var t2 = new Thread(ThreadWorkMethod); t2.Start(); t1.Join(); t2.Join(); if (Counter != 2 * Increments) throw new Exception("Hmm " + Counter + " != " + 2 * Increments); } const int Increments = 10 * 1000 * 1000; void ThreadWorkMethod() { for (int i = 0; i < Increments; i++) { Counter++; } } It does throw an exception with the message e.g. “Hmm 10.222.287 != 20.000.000” and does never finish. The code does fail because the assumption that Counter++ is an atomic operation is wrong. The ++ operator is just a shortcut for Counter = Counter + 1 This does involve reading the counter from a memory location into the CPU, incrementing value on the CPU and writing the new value back to the memory location. When we do look at the generated assembly code we will see only inc dword ptr [ecx+10h] which is only one instruction. Yes it is one instruction but it is not atomic. All modern CPUs have several layers of caches (L1,L2,L3) which try to hide the fact how slow actual main memory accesses are. Since cache is just another word for redundant copy it can happen that one CPU does read a value from main memory into the cache, modifies it and write it back to the main memory. The problem is that at least the L1 cache is not shared between CPUs so it can happen that one CPU does make changes to values which did change in meantime in the main memory. From the exception you can see we did increment the value 20 million times but half of the changes were lost because we did overwrite the already changed value from the other thread. This is a very common case and people do learn to protect their  data with proper locking.   void Intermediate() { var time = Stopwatch.StartNew(); Action acc = ThreadWorkMethod_Intermediate; var ar1 = acc.BeginInvoke(null, null); var ar2 = acc.BeginInvoke(null, null); ar1.AsyncWaitHandle.WaitOne(); ar2.AsyncWaitHandle.WaitOne(); if (Counter != 2 * Increments) throw new Exception(String.Format("Hmm {0:N0} != {1:N0}", Counter, 2 * Increments)); Console.WriteLine("Intermediate did take: {0:F1}s", time.Elapsed.TotalSeconds); } void ThreadWorkMethod_Intermediate() { for (int i = 0; i < Increments; i++) { lock (this) { Counter++; } } } This is better and does use the .NET Threadpool to get rid of manual thread management. It does give the expected result but it can result in deadlocks because you do lock on this. This is in general a bad idea since it can lead to deadlocks when other threads use your class instance as lock object. It is therefore recommended to create a private object as lock object to ensure that nobody else can lock your lock object. When you read more about threading you will read about lock free algorithms. They are nice and can improve performance quite a lot but you need to pay close attention to the CLR memory model. It does make quite weak guarantees in general but it can still work because your CPU architecture does give you more invariants than the CLR memory model. For a simple counter there is an easy lock free alternative present with the Interlocked class in .NET. As a general rule you should not try to write lock free algos since most likely you will fail to get it right on all CPU architectures. void Experienced() { var time = Stopwatch.StartNew(); Task t1 = Task.Factory.StartNew(ThreadWorkMethod_Experienced); Task t2 = Task.Factory.StartNew(ThreadWorkMethod_Experienced); t1.Wait(); t2.Wait(); if (Counter != 2 * Increments) throw new Exception(String.Format("Hmm {0:N0} != {1:N0}", Counter, 2 * Increments)); Console.WriteLine("Experienced did take: {0:F1}s", time.Elapsed.TotalSeconds); } void ThreadWorkMethod_Experienced() { for (int i = 0; i < Increments; i++) { Interlocked.Increment(ref Counter); } } Since time does move forward we do not use threads explicitly anymore but the much nicer Task abstraction which was introduced with .NET 4 at 2010. It is educational to look at the generated assembly code. The Interlocked.Increment method must be called which does wondrous things right? Lets see: lock inc dword ptr [eax] The first thing to note that there is no method call at all. Why? Because the JIT compiler does know very well about CPU intrinsic functions. Atomic operations which do lock the memory bus to prevent other processors to read stale values are such things. Second: This is the same increment call prefixed with a lock instruction. The only reason for the existence of the Interlocked class is that the JIT compiler can compile it to the matching CPU intrinsic functions which can not only increment by one but can also do an add, exchange and a combined compare and exchange operation. But be warned that the correct usage of its methods can be tricky. If you try to be clever and look a the generated IL code and try to reason about its efficiency you will fail. Only the generated machine code counts. Is this the best code we can write? Perhaps. It is nice and clean. But can we make it any faster? Lets see how good we are doing currently. Level Time in s IJustLearnedToUseThreads Flawed Code Intermediate 1,5 (lock) Experienced 0,3 (Interlocked.Increment) Master 0,1 (1,0 for int[2]) That lock free thing is really a nice thing. But if you read more about CPU cache, cache coherency, false sharing you can do even better. int[] Counters = new int[12]; // Cache line size is 64 bytes on my machine with an 8 way associative cache try for yourself e.g. 64 on more modern CPUs void Master() { var time = Stopwatch.StartNew(); Task t1 = Task.Factory.StartNew(ThreadWorkMethod_Master, 0); Task t2 = Task.Factory.StartNew(ThreadWorkMethod_Master, Counters.Length - 1); t1.Wait(); t2.Wait(); Counter = Counters[0] + Counters[Counters.Length - 1]; if (Counter != 2 * Increments) throw new Exception(String.Format("Hmm {0:N0} != {1:N0}", Counter, 2 * Increments)); Console.WriteLine("Master did take: {0:F1}s", time.Elapsed.TotalSeconds); } void ThreadWorkMethod_Master(object number) { int index = (int) number; for (int i = 0; i < Increments; i++) { Counters[index]++; } } The key insight here is to use for each core its own value. But if you simply use simply an integer array of two items, one for each core and add the items at the end you will be much slower than the lock free version (factor 3). Each CPU core has its own cache line size which is something in the range of 16-256 bytes. When you do access a value from one location the CPU does not only fetch one value from main memory but a complete cache line (e.g. 16 bytes). This means that you do not pay for the next 15 bytes when you access them. This can lead to dramatic performance improvements and non obvious code which is faster although it does have many more memory reads than another algorithm. So what have we done here? We have started with correct code but it was lacking knowledge how to use the .NET Base Class Libraries optimally. Then we did try to get fancy and used threads for the first time and failed. Our next try was better but it still had non obvious issues (lock object exposed to the outside). Knowledge has increased further and we have found a lock free version of our counter which is a nice and clean way which is a perfectly valid solution. The last example is only here to show you how you can get most out of threading by paying close attention to your used data structures and CPU cache coherency. Although we are working in a virtual execution environment in a high level language with automatic memory management it does pay off to know the details down to the assembly level. Only if you continue to learn and to dig deeper you can come up with solutions no one else was even considering. I have studied particle physics which does help at the digging deeper part. Have you ever tried to solve Quantum Chromodynamics equations? Compared to that the rest must be easy ;-). Although I am no longer working in the Science field I take pride in discovering non obvious things. This can be a very hard to find bug or a new way to restructure data to make something 10 times faster. Now I need to get some sleep ….

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• It's All In The Cloud

  - by Natalia Rachelson

  People turned out in droves for Steve Miranda's Apps Cloud General Session. Steve, as engaging as ever, covered our Apps strategy in the cloud and reinforced that Oracle has a complete set of cloud services including: •    Human Capital Management•    Talent Management•    Sales and Marketing•    Customer Service and Support•    Financial Management•    Procurement, Sourcing, and Inventory•    Project Portfolio Management•    Governance, Risk, and Compliance... all delivered on top of the Social, Platform, and Common Infrastructure.Steve talked about Fusion being the centerpiece of our Cloud Services. The fact that Fusion is 100 percent standards based is a big, big deal! In addition, our ERP Cloud Service is the most complete cloud service on the market. And email marketing is dead -- social marketing is where the action is. It's also where Oracle is investing heavily from a Sales & Marketing Cloud perspective. Steve covered the strategic acquisitions Oracle has made to enhance our organic Cloud offering. Specifically, Oracle bought RightNow to make our Customer Service and Support Cloud service complete. We also bought Taleo to add Recruiting and Learning capabilities to our Talent Management Cloud. Steve talked about our customers and how they are benefiting from the use of a variety of our Cloud Services. Red Robin is driving lower labor and food costs with Oracle ERP Cloud Service. He used Elizabeth Arden as the profile customer for HCM and Talent Management Service, UBS for HCM and Talent Management Service, and Brocade for Talent Management. All these customers are benefiting from a comprehensive and fully integrated HR platform that aligns compensation with performance and enhances workforce motivation and retention. At the same time, Hitachi Data Systems is using Oracle Taleo Performance Management Cloud to recruit the right competencies, pinpoint areas of improvement, and develop and monitor employee goals to support the global account organization. KLM and Overstock.com are gaining the benefits of Oracle's Customer Service and Support Service from RightNow by better engaging and serving customer needs online and through call centers. And last but not least, Graco and Key Energy are leveraging mobility features and sales forecasting and territory management capabilities within the Oracle Sales and Marketing Service. They expect to gain better visibility to sales information and drive more efficient sales campaigns and empower their sales force with data they need to make sales. Overall, Oracle Apps Cloud Services are enjoying a significant momentum in the marketplace. Steve projected an air of confidence and enthusiasm highlighting Oracle's latest successes with Cloud services.

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• Interconnect nodes in a Java distributed infrastructure for tweet processing

  - by David Moreno García

  I'm working in a new version of an old project that I used to download and process user statuses from Twitter. The main problem of that project was its infrastructure. I used multiple instances of a java application (trackers) to download from Twitter given an specific task (basically terms to search for), connected with a central node (a web application) that had to process all tweets once per day and generate a new task for each trackers once each 15 minutes. The central node also had to monitor all trackers and enable/disable them under user petition. This, as I said, was too slow because I had multiple bottlenecks, so in this new version I want to improve the infrastructure and isolate all functionalities in specific nodes. I also need a good notification system to receive notifications for any node. So, in the next diagram I show the components that I'll need in this new version: As you can see, there are more nodes. Here are some notes about them: Dashboard: Controls trackers statuses and send a single task to each of them (under user request). The trackers will use this task until replaced with a new one (if done, not each 15 minutes like before). Search engine: I need to store all the tweets. They are firstly stored in a local database for each tracker but after that I'm thinking on using something like Elasticsearch to be able to do fast searches. Tweet processor: Just and isolated component with its own database (maybe something like the search engine to have fast access to info generated by the module). In the future more could be added. Application UI: A web application with a shared database with the Dashboard (mainly to store users information and preferences). Indeed, both could be merged into a single web. The main difference with the previous version of the project is that now they will be isolated and they will only show information and send requests. I will not do any heavy task in them (like process tweets as I did before). So, having this components, my main headache is how to structure all to not have to rewrite a lot of code every time I need to access any new data. Another headache is how can I interconnect nodes. I could use sockets but that is a pain in the ass. Maybe a REST layer? And finally, if all the nodes are isolated, how could I generate notifications for each user which info is only in the database used by the Application UI? I'm programming this using Java and Spring (at least I used them in the last version) but I have no problems with changing the language if I can take advantage of a tool/library/engine to make my life easier and have a better platform. Any comment will be appreciated.

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• Auto-run script when iPad plugged in

  - by oldmankit

  The way that Ubuntu handles documents on the iPad is awesome (without any configuration required). It beats windows, even after you install iTunes. I want to have the documents in certain iPad apps automatically synced into my Dropbox directory whenever the iPad is connected by USB. The syncing is easy; getting the script to run is not. I have already read the information in various (very out-of-date) tutorials. The best I could find was here: http://askubuntu.com/a/25091/16157 I used lsusb, with the following results: Bus 002 Device 012: ID 05ac:12a2 Apple, Inc. (Please note that when an iPad is connected, Ubuntu seems to mount it to two different mount points: one for "Documents" and one for the whole iPad filesystem. They are both mounted in ~/.gvfs) I have created the following file /etc/udev/rules.d/96-ipad_sync.rules ACTION=="add", ATTRS{idVendor}=="05ac", ATTRS{idProduct}=="12a2", RUN+="/home/kit/bin/jobdone2" I want it to run a test script (which sleeps for five seconds then plays an mp3 file. The test script works, and I have typed the location correctly). So far, when I plug the iPad in, nothing happens. Yes, I waited five seconds. This is the output I get from typing udevadm monitor –env KERNEL[29348.114010] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.4 (usb) KERNEL[29348.114844] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.4/2-1.4:1.0 (usb) KERNEL[29348.129118] remove /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.4/2-1.4:1.0 (usb) KERNEL[29348.130699] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.4/2-1.4:4.0 (usb) KERNEL[29348.130845] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.4/2-1.4:4.1 (usb) KERNEL[29348.130909] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.4/2-1.4:4.2 (usb) UDEV [29348.163861] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.4 (usb) UDEV [29348.170390] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.4/2-1.4:1.0 (usb) UDEV [29348.171521] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.4/2-1.4:4.1 (usb) UDEV [29348.172230] remove /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.4/2-1.4:1.0 (usb) UDEV [29348.172890] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.4/2-1.4:4.2 (usb) UDEV [29348.175645] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.4/2-1.4:4.0 (usb)

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• Live CD has black screen HP DV6

  - by Shaun Killingbeck

  Attempting to install/try ubuntu (11.10, 12.04) on my new laptop, using a liveCD (and tried USB). I get the purple screen (with the man/keyboard at the bottom) and after that the screen flashes bright white before going black. Ubuntu continues to load in the background, with login sound etc but the screen is off. I have tried as many different solutions as I could find including: using nomodestep, xforcevesa, i915.modeset=0, and also now i915.modeset=1 in boot options (seperately): varying consequences, but either I end up at a blinking cursor with no prompt, a command line (startx fails: no screen found), or the original blank screen again Tried booting from VirtualBox - it crashes at the same place the screen would go blank when using a CD/USB tried 11.04: I don't have this problem BUT when trying to install, I get a ubi-partman error 141 (possibly down to the three partitions that came on my laptop... not sure why HP needed there own separate partition for HP Tools...) Model: HP Pavillion DV6 6B08SA Processor: AMD Quad-Core A6-3410MX APU with Radeon HD 6545G2 Dual Graphics (1.6 GHZ 4 MB L2 cache ) Chipset: AMD RS880M Any help would be greatly appreciated. I just want to be able to partition the drive and install Ubuntu. I'm assuming the issue is graphics card related, although I have no confirmation of that. Update: Tried the ?orkarounds on https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Troubleshooting/BlankScreen - set gfxpayload=text changed nothing, removing splash did nothing and setting vesafb.nonsense=1 did nothing either. I'd like to be able to collect some log information somehow, but I can't get to a command line from the liveCD. tried using the latest 12.04 beta, same issue tried nomodeset without splash or quiet. get the following (tail of) output before it freezes on that screen: * Starting configure network device security [OK] * Starting configure network device [OK] [ 25.720899] ieee80211 phy0: w1_ops_config: change monitor mode: false (implement) [ 25.720923] ieee80211 phy0: w1_ops_config: change power-save mode: false (implement) * Starting restore sound card(s') mixer state(s) [fail] [ 25.721849] ieee80211 phy0: w1_ops_bss_info_changed: qos enabled: false (implement) * Stopping save kernel messages [OK] * Starting bluetooth [OK] * PulseAudio configured for per-user sessions saned disabled; edit /etc/default/saned [ 25.988016] hci_cmd_timer: hci0 command tx timeout [ 26.207225] bad LUN (0:1) [ 26.223735] bad target number (1:0) [ 26.252111] bad target number (2:0) [ 26.272170] bad target number (3:0) [ 26.300154] bad target number (4:0) [ 26.328162] bad target number (5:0) [ 26.344180] bad target number (6:0) [ 26.368142] bad target number (7:0) * Checking battery state... [OK] * Stopping System V runlevel capability [OK] Does this give any indication of the problem? the false (implement) messages also reappear when I press the power button to ask it to shutdown, followed by a [fail] status for killing remaining processes.

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• Planning Bulletin for JRE 7: What EBS Customers Can Do Today

  - by Steven Chan (Oracle Development)

  An initiative to certify Oracle E-Business Suite with JRE 7 desktop clients is underway.  We have tested EBS 11.5.10.2, 12.0, and 12.1 with JRE 7. We have fixes for nearly all of the compatibility issues now, and are working hard to produce the remaining fixes quickly. A. When will JRE 7 be certified with Oracle E-Business Suite? We will announce the certification of the E-Business Suite with JRE 7 once all fixes are available, verified, and documented.  Certification announcements will be distributed through My Oracle Support, My Oracle Support Community Forums, Oracle Technology Network Forums, newsletters, and user group news outlets. Oracle's Revenue Recognition rules prohibit us from discussing certification and release dates.  In addition to the standard communication channels listed above, customers are encouraged to monitor or subscribe to this blog.    B. What can customers do to prepare for the JRE 7 certification? Customers should ensure that they are on the latest available JRE 6 update. Of the compatibility issues identified so far with JRE 7, the most critical is an issue that prevents E-Business Suite Forms-based products from launching on Windows desktops that are running JRE 7.  Customers can prevent this issue today by ensuring that they have applied the latest certified patches documented for JRE 6 configurations to their EBS application tier servers: Apply Forms patch 14615390 to EBS 11i environments (Note 125767.1) Apply Forms patch 14614795 to EBS 12.0 and 12.1 environments (Note 437878.1) These patches are compatible with JRE 6 and 7, production ready, and fully-tested with the E-Business Suite.  These patches may be applied immediately to all E-Business Suite environments. All other Forms prerequisites documented in the Notes above should also be applied now. C. What else will be required by the final certified configuration? Oracle expects that all other compatibility issues will be resolved by installing a specific JRE 7 release, at minimum.  That specific release has not been finalized yet, and this is subject to change. D.  Where will the official patch requirements be documented? All patches required for ensuring full compatibility of the E-Business Suite with JRE 7 will be documented in updates to these published Notes: For EBS 11i: Deploying Sun JRE (Native Plug-in) for Windows Clients in Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11i (Note 290807.1) Upgrading Developer 6i with Oracle E-Business Suite 11i (Note 125767.1) For EBS 12 Deploying Sun JRE (Native Plug-in) for Windows Clients in Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 (Note 393931.1) Upgrading OracleAS 10g Forms and Reports in Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 (Note 437878.1) Disclaimer The preceding is intended to outline our general product direction.  It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract.   It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decision.  The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracle’s products remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.

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• Oracle GoldenGate: Knowledge Document Series Post #2

  - by Doug Reid

  0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} For our second post in this series the team would like to highlight the knowledge document “How-To: Oracle GoldenGate – Heartbeat Process to Monitor Lag and Performance”. This knowledge document outlines a procedure to reliably measure lag between source and target systems through the use of 'heartbeat' tables. The basic idea is to have a table on the source system that gets updated at a predetermined interval. In your capture processes you would capture the update from the heartbeat table. Using tokens you would add some additional information to the heartbeat record to be able to tell which extract process was capturing the update. This additional information would be used downstream to calculate the real lag time between the source and target systems for a given extract and by checking the last update time on the heartbeat at the target you could also determine if data has stopped flowing between the source and target.  Click here to view the document

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• Cloud Computing: Start with the problem

  - by BuckWoody

  At one point in my life I would build my own computing system for home use. I wanted a particular video card, a certain set of drives, and a lot of memory. Not only could I not find those things in a vendor’s pre-built computer, but those were more expensive – by a lot. As time moved on and the computing industry matured, I actually find that I can buy a vendor’s system as cheaply – and in some cases far more cheaply – than I can build it myself.   This paradigm holds true for almost any product, even clothing and furniture. And it’s also held true for software… Mostly. If you need an office productivity package, you simply buy one or use open-sourced software for that. There’s really no need to write your own Word Processor – it’s kind of been done a thousand times over. Even if you need a full system for customer relationship management or other needs, you simply buy one. But there is no “cloud solution in a box”.  Sure, if you’re after “Software as a Service” – type solutions, like being able to process video (Windows Azure Media Services) or running a Pig or Hive job in Hadoop (Hadoop on Windows Azure) you can simply use one of those, or if you just want to deploy a Virtual Machine (Windows Azure Virtual Machines) you can get that, but if you’re looking for a solution to a problem your organization has, you may need to mix Software, Infrastructure, and perhaps even Platforms (such as Windows Azure Computing) to solve the issue. It’s all about starting from the problem-end first. We’ve become so accustomed to looking for a box of software that will solve the problem, that we often start with the solution and try to fit it to the problem, rather than the other way around.  When I talk with my fellow architects at other companies, one of the hardest things to get them to do is to ignore the technology for a moment and describe what the issues are. It’s interesting to monitor the conversation and watch how many times we deviate from the problem into the solution. So, in your work today, try a little experiment: watch how many times you go after a problem by starting with the solution. Tomorrow, make a conscious effort to reverse that. You might be surprised at the results.

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• cloud programming for OpenStack in C / C++

  - by Basile Starynkevitch

  (Sorry for such a fuzzy question, I am very newbie to cloud programming) I am interested in designing (and developing) a (free software) program in C or C++ (probably, most of it being meta-programmed, i.e. part of the C code code being generated). I am still in the thinking / designing phase. And I might perhaps give up. For reference, I am the main architect and implementor of GCC MELT, a domain specific language to extend the GCC compiler (the MELT language is translated to C/C++ and is bootstrapped: the MELT to C/C++ translator being written in MELT). And I am dreaming of extending it with some cloud computing abilities. But I am a newbie in cloud computing. (I am only interested in free-software, GPLv3 friendly, based cloud computing, which probably means openstack). I believe that "compiling on the cloud with some enhanced GCC" could make sense (for super-optimizations or static analysis of e.g. an entire Linux distribution, or at least a massive GCC compiled free software like Qt, GCC itself, or the Linux kernel). I'm dreaming of a MELT specific monitoring program which would store, communicate, and and enhance GCC compilation (extended by MELT). So the picture would be that each GCC process (actually the cc1 or cc1plus started by the gcc driver, suitably extended by some MELT extension) would communicate with some monitor. That "monitoring/persisting" program would run "on the cloud" (and probably manage some information produced by GCC e.g. on NoSQL bases). So, how should some (yet to be written) C program (some Linux daemon) be designed to be cloud-friendly? So far, I understood that it should provide some Web service, probably thru a RESTful service, so should use an HTTP server library like onion. And that OpenStack is able to start (e.g. a dozen of) such services. But I don't have a clear picture of what OpenStack brings. So far, I noticed the ability to manage (and distribute) virtual machines (with some Python API). It is less clear how can it distribute some ELF executable, how can it start it, etc. Do you have any references or examples of C / C++ programming on the cloud? How should a "cloud-friendly" (actually, OpenStack friendly) C/C++ server application be designed?

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• Pay in the future should make you think in the present

  - by BuckWoody

  Distributed Computing - and more importantly “-as-a-Service” models of computing have a different cost model. This is something that sounds obvious on the surface but it’s often forgotten during the design and coding phase of a project. In on-premises computing, we’re used to purchasing a server and all of the hardware infrastructure and software licenses needed not only for one project, but several. This is an up-front or “sunk” cost that we consume by running code the organization needs to perform its function. Using a direct connection over wires you’ve already paid for, we don’t often have to think about bandwidth, hits on the data store or the amount of compute we use - we just know more is better. In a pay-as-you-go model, however, each of these architecture decisions has a potential cost impact. The amount of data you store, the number of times you access it, and the amount you send back all come with a charge. The offset is that you don’t buy anything at all up-front, so that sunk cost is freed up. And financial professionals know that money now is worth more than money later. Saving that up-front cost allows you to invest it in other things. It’s not just that you’re using things that now cost money - it’s that the design itself in distributed computing has a cost impact. That can be a really good thing, such as when you dynamically add capacity for paying customers. If you can tie back the cost of a series of clicks to what a user will pay to do so, you can set a profit margin that is easy to track. Here’s a case in point: Assume you are using a large instance in Windows Azure to compute some data that you retrieve from a SQL Azure database. If you don’t monitor the path of the application, you may not know what you are really using. Since you’re paying by the size of the instance, it’s best to maximize it all the time. Recently I evaluated just this situation, and found that downsizing the instance and adding another one where needed, adding a caching function to the application, moving part of the data into Windows Azure tables not only increased the speed of the application, but reduced the cost and more closely tied the cost to the profit. The key is this: from the very outset - the design - make sure you include metrics to measure for the cost/performance (sometimes these are the same) for your application. Windows Azure opens up awesome new ways of doing things, so make sure you study distributed systems architecture before you try and force in the application design you have on premises into your new application structure.

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