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• Hyper-V Ubuntu Networking Problems Copying Large Amounts of Data

  - by Anonymous

  I am trying to copy a large amount (about 50 GB) of data over my network from a Hyper-V-hosted virtual machine running Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) to another (non-virtual) Ubuntu host that I plan to use for testing upgrades to one of our web applications. The problem I am having is with the virtual machine, which I shall refer to in what follows as "source.host". This machine is running 64-bit Ubuntu Server with the 2.6.38-8-server kernel and the Microsoft Linux Integration Components for Hyper-V kernel modules (hv_utils, hv_timesource, hv_netvsc, hv_blkvsc, hv_storvsc, and hv_vmbus) loaded. It uses a Hyper-V "synthetic network adapter" for its networking interface. To do the copy, I log on to the machine with the data and run the following commands (Call the remote machine "destination.host".): $ cd /path/to/data $ tar -cvf - datafolder/ | ssh [email protected] "cat > ~/data.tar" This runs for a while and then suddenly stops after transferring somewhere from 2-6 GB. The terminal on the source.host machine displays a Write failed: broken pipe error. The odd part is this: after this occurs, the "source.host" machine is no longer able to talk to the rest of the network. I cannot ping any other hosts on the network from the "source.host" machine, and I cannot ping the "source.host" machine from any other host on the network. I am equally unable to access the any of the web services hosted on "source.host". Running ifconfig on "source.host" shows the network adapter to be up and running as usual with the correct IP address and everything. I tried restarting the networking service with $ /etc/init.d/networking restart but the problem does not go away. Restarting the machine makes it capable of talking to the network again -- it can ping and be pinged by other hosts, and the web services are also accessible and usable as normal -- but attempting the copy operation again results in the same failure, requiring another restart. As an experiment, I tried replacing the tar -- ssh pipeline above with a straight scp: $ scp -r datafolder/ [email protected]:~ but to no avail Thinking that the issue might have to do with the kernel packet-send buffers filling up, I tried increasing the buffer size to 12 MB (up from the 128 KB default) with # echo 12582911 > /proc/sys/net/core/wmem_max but this also had no effect. I'm guessing at this point that it might be a problem with the Microsoft synthetic network driver, but I don't really know. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you very much in advance!

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• Restarting or stopping apache results in waiting forever

  - by steko

  I have two simple WSGI apps running on top of mod_wsgi and apache2 on a test development server. There is no mod_python on this machine. The WSGI configuration is as follows WSGIDaemonProcess tops stack-size=524288 maximum-requests=5 WSGIScriptAlias /tops /home/ubuntu/tops-cloud/tops.wsgi <Directory /home/ubuntu/tops-cloud> WSGIProcessGroup tops WSGIApplicationGroup %{GLOBAL} Order deny,allow Allow from all </Directory> WSGIDaemonProcess flaskal maximum-requests=5 WSGIScriptAlias /c14 /home/ubuntu/c14/flaskal/flaskal.wsgi <Directory /home/ubuntu/c14/flaskal> WSGIProcessGroup flaskal WSGIApplicationGroup %{GLOBAL} Order deny,allow Allow from all </Directory> If I make changes to the app, I need to restart the web server, so I would expect that a simple sudo service apache2 restart does what I need. Same goes for any changes to the config (e.g. number of maximum requests, etc). Instead, it never ends "waiting", like this: $ sudo service apache2 restart * Restarting web server apache2 ... waiting .................................................. until I just do CTRL-C. At that point, the only way to resume a working server is to kill the process and restart it, not very convenient. The same happens with the stop command. The error logs at the "debug" level show the following lines after a failed restart [Wed Nov 14 21:55:19 2012] [notice] caught SIGTERM, shutting down [Wed Nov 14 21:55:19 2012] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=9047): Shutdown requested 'tops'. [Wed Nov 14 21:55:19 2012] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=9047): Stopping process 'tops'. [Wed Nov 14 21:55:19 2012] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=9047): Destroying interpreters. [Wed Nov 14 21:55:19 2012] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=9047): Cleanup interpreter ''. [Wed Nov 14 21:55:19 2012] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=9047): Terminating Python. [Wed Nov 14 21:55:19 2012] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=8920): Shutdown requested 'flaskal'. [Wed Nov 14 21:55:19 2012] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=8920): Stopping process 'flaskal'. [Wed Nov 14 21:55:19 2012] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=8920): Destroying interpreters. [Wed Nov 14 21:55:19 2012] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=8920): Cleanup interpreter ''. [Wed Nov 14 21:55:19 2012] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=8920): Terminating Python. [Wed Nov 14 21:55:19 2012] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=8920): Python has shutdown. [Wed Nov 14 21:55:19 2012] [info] mod_wsgi (pid=9047): Python has shutdown. If I then try to restart again (with the process still running), I get the following error: * Restarting web server apache2 (98)Address already in use: make_sock: could not bind to address 0.0.0.0:80 no listening sockets available, shutting down Unable to open logs Action 'start' failed. The Apache error log may have more information. Unfortunately the Apache error log doesn't have anything. When apache2 is running properly, both apps work without any problem.

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• MySQL won't start, reinstall fails on Ubuntu 12.04

  - by Evils

  My problem started yesterday night when I tried to change the my.cnf config on my ubuntu 12.04 x64 System. I simply tried to changed the bind-address parameter from 127.0.0.1 to 0.0.0.0. A simple restart after a reboot gave this error: stop: Unknown instance: start: Job failed to start I tried to start mysql then by using 'mysqld' which outputs this: 130701 11:05:59 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled. mysqld: Table 'mysql.plugin' doesn't exist 130701 11:05:59 [ERROR] Can't open the mysql.plugin table. Please run mysql_upgrade to create it. 130701 11:05:59 InnoDB: The InnoDB memory heap is disabled 130701 11:05:59 InnoDB: Mutexes and rw_locks use GCC atomic builtins 130701 11:05:59 InnoDB: Compressed tables use zlib 1.2.3.4 130701 11:05:59 InnoDB: Initializing buffer pool, size = 128.0M 130701 11:05:59 InnoDB: Completed initialization of buffer pool 130701 11:05:59 InnoDB: highest supported file format is Barracuda. 130701 11:05:59 InnoDB: Waiting for the background threads to start 130701 11:06:00 InnoDB: 5.5.31 started; log sequence number 1595675 130701 11:06:00 [Note] Server hostname (bind-address): '127.0.0.1'; port: 3306 130701 11:06:00 [Note] - '127.0.0.1' resolves to '127.0.0.1'; 130701 11:06:00 [Note] Server socket created on IP: '127.0.0.1'. 130701 11:06:00 [ERROR] Can't start server : Bind on unix socket: Permission denied 130701 11:06:00 [ERROR] Do you already have another mysqld server running on socket: /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock ? 130701 11:06:00 [ERROR] Aborting 130701 11:06:00 InnoDB: Starting shutdown... 130701 11:06:00 InnoDB: Shutdown completed; log sequence number 1595675 130701 11:06:00 [Note] mysqld: Shutdown complete Meanwhile I already tried to reinstall and purge the complete mysql package which results in another error which says that dpkg cant change the admins password. While this error appeared another error came with it. When trying to install something new with apt, it always says 'fopen: permission denied' right after it tries to update my man-db. This is my dmesg output: [ 6879.687998] type=1400 audit(1372669683.397:36): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_replace" name="/usr/sbin/mysqld" pid=9336 comm="apparmor_parser" [ 6881.323215] init: mysql main process (9340) terminated with status 1 [ 6881.323316] init: mysql respawning too fast, stopped Any help will be appreciated as this is a productive server which renders useless without mysql.

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• Display is slightly blurry on (native) 1920x1080 resolution

  - by Martin Tuskevicius

  I have a computer monitor that is approximately 23" in size. Its native resolution is 1920x1080, and Windows 7 will not allow it to be any higher. However, I cannot make the resolution a little lower as well. When I right-click on my desktop and select 'Screen resolution,' the vertical slider has only two options: 1920x1080 and 1280x720. There are no real problems that I am having besides the fact that the image is slightly blurry. I can easily make things out and see them, but I definitely feel that the image is not as clear as it could be. My graphics card is ATI Radeon HD 5450 and it has the latest graphics drivers installed. I've tried playing around with the AMD VISION Engine Control Center to see if I can change an option to make the image clearer, but I had no luck. I did find one odd thing, though. When I lowered the refresh rate from 60Hz to 50Hz, the image kind of "zoomed in" but it also became perfectly clear like I would expect it to look. The problem is that when I use 50Hz, the image zooms in a little on the center and I lose maybe an inch and a half of the screen (I do not see the bar at the top of applications, I do not see the Windows taskbar thing, etc). I figured if I could somehow zoom in so that the entire image fills the screen (not the slightly cropped version) then I would have the perfectly crisp image of 50Hz, and also the uncropped image of 60Hz. However, upon zooming in, the image began to look blurry again just like it did with 60Hz. So I am at a loss here. I do not know how to make the image look as clear as it should. I have the latest drivers (I updated them today) and I know that my monitor supports the resolution that I am trying to use. Has anybody experienced something like this before? I'd really appreciate any input - thanks! Update: I have figured out how to make the display look crisp! I set it to the 50Hz option, and then I changed the scaling through the monitor itself, rather than software. Now, however, I am finding that games look pretty bad because since it is clear, the lower quality really becomes apparent. I cannot run new games at 1080p, so I run them at the lowest resolution possible (1280x720, since it is the only other option offered, as I have mentioned). So I am wondering, is there a way to have Windows display more resolution options?

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• Hardware for multipurpose home server

  - by Michael Dmitry Azarkevich

  Hi guys, I'm looking to set up a multipurpose home server and hoped you could help me with the hardware selection. First of all, the services it will provide: Hosting a MySQL database (for training and testing purposes) FTP server Personal Mail Server Home media server So with this in mind I've done some research, and found some viable solutions: A standard PC with the appropriate software (Either second hand or new) A non-solid state mini-ITX system A solid state, fanless mini-ITX system I've also noted the pros and cons of each system: A standard second hand PC with old hardware would be the cheapest option. It could also have lacking processing power, not enough RAM and generally faulty hardware. Also, huge power consumption heat generation and noise levels. A standard new PC would have top-notch hardware and will stay that way for quite some time, so it's a good investment. But again, the main problem is power consumption, heat generation and noise levels. A non-solid state mini-ITX system would have the advantages of lower power consumption, lower cost (as far as I can see) and long lasting hardware. But it will generate noise and heat which will be even worse because of the size. A solid state, fanless mini-ITX system would have all the advantages of a non-solid state mini-ITX but with minimal noise and heat. The main disadvantage is the read\write problems of flash memory. All in all I'm leaning towards a non-solid state mini-ITX because of the read\write issues of flash memory. So, after this overview of what I do know, my questions are: Are all these services even providable from a single server? To my best understanding they are, but then again, I might be wrong. Is any of these solutions viable? If yes, which one is the best for my purposes? If not, what would you suggest? Also, on a more software oriented note: OS wise, I'm planning to run Linux. I'm currently thinking of four options I've been recommended: CentOS, Gentoo, DSL (Damn Small Linux) and LFS (Linux From Scratch). Any thoughts on this? Any other distro you would recomend? Regarding FTP services, I've herd good things about FileZila. Anyone has any experience with that? Do you recommend it? Do you recommend something else? Regarding the Mail service, I know nothing about this except that it exists. Any software you recommend for this task? Home media, same as mail service. Any recommended software? Thank you very much.

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• How to find the process(es) which are hogging the machine

  - by Aaron Digulla

  Scenario: All of a sudden, my computer feels sluggish. Mouse moves but windows take ages to open, etc. uptime says the load is 7.69 and raising. What is the fastest way to find out which process(es) are the cause of the load? Now, "top" and similar tools isn't the answer because they either show CPU or memory usage but not both at the same time. What I need is the single command which I might be able to type as it happens - something that will figure out any of System is trying to swap 8GB of RAM to disk because process X ... or process X seeks all over the disk or process X uses 400% CPU" So what I'm looking for is iostat, htop/atop and similar tools run into one with an output like this: 1235 cp - Disk trashing 87 chrome - Uses 2&nbsp;GB of RAM 137 nfs_bench - Uses 95% of the network bandwidth I don't want a tool that gives me some numbers which I can analyze but a tool that tells me exactly which process causes the current load. Assume that the user in front of the keyboard barely knows how to write "process", but the user is quickly overwhelmed when it comes to "resident size", "virtual memory" or "process life cycle". My argument goes like this: A user notices a problem. There can be thousands of reasons ... well, almost :-) The user wants to know the source of the problem. The current solutions give me lots of numbers, and I need to know what these numbers mean. What I'm looking for is a meta tool. 99% of the data is irrelevant to the problem. So what the tool should do is look for processes which hog some resource and list only those along with "this process needs a lot of CPU, this produces many IRQs, this process allocates a lot of RAM (and it's still growing)". This will be a relatively short list. It will be much more simple for someone new to this to locate the culprit from this list than from the output of, say, htop which gives me about 5000 numbers but requires me to fold multi-threaded processes myself (I have 50 lines which say VIRT 2750M but only 16 GB of RAM - the machine ought to swap itself to death but of course, this is a misinterpretation of the data that can happen quickly).

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• How to reliably map vSphere disks <-> Linux devices

  - by brianmcgee

  Task at hand After a virtual disk has been added to a Linux VM on vSphere 5, we need to identify the disks in order to automate the LVM storage provision. The virtual disks may reside on different datastores (e.g. sas or flash) and although they may be of the same size, their speed may vary. So I need a method to map the vSphere disks to Linux devices. Ideas Through the vSphere API, I am able to get the device info: Data Object Type: VirtualDiskFlatVer2BackingInfo Parent Managed Object ID: vm-230 Property Path: config.hardware.device[2000].backing Properties Name Type Value ChangeId string Unset contentId string "d58ec8c12486ea55c6f6d913642e1801" datastore ManagedObjectReference:Datastore datastore-216 (W5-CFAS012-Hybrid-CL20-004) deltaDiskFormat string "redoLogFormat" deltaGrainSize int Unset digestEnabled boolean false diskMode string "persistent" dynamicProperty DynamicProperty[] Unset dynamicType string Unset eagerlyScrub boolean Unset fileName string "[W5-CFAS012-Hybrid-CL20-004] l****9-000001.vmdk" parent VirtualDiskFlatVer2BackingInfo parent split boolean false thinProvisioned boolean false uuid string "6000C295-ab45-704e-9497-b25d2ba8dc00" writeThrough boolean false And on Linux I may read the uuid strings: [root@lx***** ~]# lsscsi -t [1:0:0:0] cd/dvd ata: /dev/sr0 [2:0:0:0] disk sas:0x5000c295ab45704e /dev/sda [3:0:0:0] disk sas:0x5000c2932dfa693f /dev/sdb [3:0:1:0] disk sas:0x5000c29dcd64314a /dev/sdc As you can see, the uuid string of disk /dev/sda looks somehow familiar to the string that is visible in the VMware API. Only the first hex digit is different (5 vs. 6) and it is only present to the third hyphen. So this looks promising... Alternative idea Select disks by controller. But is it reliable that the ascending SCSI Id also matches the next vSphere virtual disk? What happens if I add another DVD-ROM drive / USB Thumb drive? This will probably introduce new SCSI devices in between. Thats the cause why I think I will discard this idea. Questions Does someone know an easier method to map vSphere disks and Linux devices? Can someone explain the differences in the uuid strings? (I think this has something to do with SAS adressing initiator and target... WWN like...) May I reliably map devices by using those uuid strings? How about SCSI virtual disks? There is no uuid visible then... This task seems to be so obvious. Why doesn't Vmware think about this and simply add a way to query the disk mapping via Vmware Tools?

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• Why Photoshop CS5's photomerge's result immediately disappear?

  - by koiyu

  I have a bunch of JPG-files which I want to stitch together with Photoshop's Photomerge function. I choose File → Automate → Photomerge... and browse for the files. Photoshop opens the files and starts analyzing. I see the process bar filling and different phases are mentioned on the process bar. Nothing weird there. When the merging is done (and if I don't blink my eyes), I can see layers-palette is populated with the chosen files and, by quickly judging from the layer thumbnails, they're properly aligned. Sometimes the image window itself can be seen, but not always. Problem is that the layers and the image disappear in a flash. There is no error message. Everything is like prior starting the photomerge. No file has been changed. I could continue to use Photoshop normally. This is what I've tried so far: Loaded folder which has 38 JPG images, 4272 x 2848 and ˜ 5 megabytes per file Loaded the same files, but chose Use Files instead of Use Folder in the photomerge's window Loaded 19 JPG images, 4272 x 2848 and ˜ 5 megabytes per file Loaded 10 JPG images, ⇑ see above Loaded 5 JPG images, see above Loaded 3 JPG images, see above Scaled the images to 2256 x 1504 and ˜< 1 megabytes per file Loaded in a set of 38, 19, 10, 5, 3 Following steps are tested with these smaller files and with a set of 5 images Read Adobe's forums and reduced the amount of RAM Photoshop uses gradually from ˜ 80 % to 50 % (though I didn't understand the logic behind this) Would've reduced cache tile size to 128K, but it was set so already Disabled OpenGL Scaled the images to 800 x 533 and ˜ 100 kilobytes per file, loaded a set of 5 Read more unanswered threads around the internet In between each test I closed and reopened Photoshop. This is the first time I've even tried using photomerge. Am I doing something wrong? How can I locate what is the problem? How do I fix this? Photoshop is 64 bit Extended CS5 version. I'm on a mid-2010 quad-core (i5) iMac with up-to-date Mac OS X 10.6.6. Edit: Weird. First loading the images into one file via File → Scripts → Load Files into Stack… and then using Edit → Auto-Align Layers…, which, effectively, is the same as photomerge (even the dialog looks kind of the same), works! Even with the original JPGs without any issues. This doesn't fix photomerge, though.

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• How to loop through all illustrator files in a folder (CS6)

  - by Julian

  I have written some JavaScript to save .ai files to two separate locations with different resolutions, one of them being cropped to a reduced size art board. (Courtesy of John Otterud / Articmill for the main part). There are other variables in the script that I am not using at present but I want to leave the functionality there for a later date/additional layers to export/other resolutions etc. I can't get it to loop through all files in a folder. I cannot find the script that works - or insert it at the right place. I can get as far a selecting the folder and I suppose creating an array but after that what next? This is the create array part of the script - // JavaScript Document //Set up vairaibles var destDoc, sourceDoc, sourceFolder, newLayer; // Select the source folder. sourceFolder = Folder.selectDialog('Select the folder with Illustrator files that you want to mere into one', '~'); destDoc = app.documents.add(); // If a valid folder is selected if (sourceFolder != null) { files = new Array(); // Get all files matching the pattern files = sourceFolder.getFiles(); I have inserted this at the beginning of the main script (probably where I am going wrong because I can select the folder but then nothing more) #target illustrator var docRef = app.activeDocument; with (docRef) { if (layers[i].name = 'HEADER') { layers[i].name = '#'+ activeDocument.name; save() } } // *** Export Layers as PNG files (in multiple resolutions) *** var subFolderName = "For_PLMA"; var subFolderTwoName = "For_VLP"; var saveInMultipleResolutions = true; // ... // Note: only use one character! var exportLayersStartingWith = "%"; var exportLayersWithArtboardClippingStartingWith = "#"; // ... var normalResolutionFileAppend = "_VLP"; var highResolutionFileAppend = "_PLMA"; // ... var normalResolutionScale = 100; var highResolutionScale = 200; var veryhighResolutionScale = 300; // *** Start of script *** var doc = app.activeDocument; // Make sure we have saved the document if (doc.path != "") { Then the rest of the export script runs on from there.

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• How to Create Auto Playlists in Windows Media Player 12

  - by DigitalGeekery

  Are you getting tired of the same old playlists in Windows Media Player? Today we’ll show you how to create dynamic auto playlists based on criteria you choose in WMP 12 in Windows 7. Auto Playlists In Library view, click on Create playlist dropdown arrow and select Create auto playlist. On the New Auto Playlist window type in a name for the playlist in the text box. Now we need to choose our criteria by which to filter your playlist. Select Click here to add criteria. For our example, we will create a playlist of songs that were added to the library in the last week from the Alternative genre. So, we will first select Date Added from the dropdown list. Many criteria will have addition options to configure. In the example below you will see that we have a few options to fine tune.   We will filter all the songs added to the library in the last 7 days. We will select Is After from the first dropdown list. Then select Last 7 Days from the second dropdown list. You can add multiple criteria to further filter your playlist. If you can’t find the criteria you are looking for, select “More” at the bottom of the dropdown list.   This will pull up a filter window with all the criteria. Select a filter and then click OK when finished.   From the Genre dropdown, we will select Alternative. If you’d like to add Pictures, Videos, or TV Shows to your auto playlists you can do so by selecting them from the dropdown list under And also include. You will then be able to select criteria for your pictures, videos, or TV shows from the dropdown list.   Finally, you can also add restrictions to your music such as the number of items, duration, or total size. We will limit the duration of our playlist to one hour by selecting Limit Total Duration To… Then type in 1 hour…Click OK.   Our library is automatically filtered and a playlist is created based on the criteria we selected. When additional songs are added to the Windows Media Player library, any of new songs that fit the criteria will automatically be added to the New Songs playlist. You can also save a copy of an auto playlist as a regular playlist. Switch to Playlists view by clicking Playlists from either the top menu or the navigation bar. Select the Play tab and then click Clear list to remove any tracks from the list pane.   Right-click on the playlist you want to save, select Add to, and then Play list. The songs from your auto playlist will appear as an Unsaved list on the list pane. Click Save list. Type in a name for your playlist. Your auto playlist will continue to change as you add or remove items from your Media Player library that meet the criteria you established. The new saved playlist we just created will stay as it is currently. Editing a Auto playlist is easy. Right-click on the playlist and select Edit. Now you are ready to enjoy your playlist. Conclusion Auto playlists are great way to keep your playlists fresh in Windows Media Player 12. Users can get creative and experiment with the wide variety of criteria to customize their listening experience. If you are new to playlists in Windows Media Player, you may want to check our our previous post on how to create custom playlists in Windows Media Player 12. Are you looking to get better sound from WMP 12? Take a look at how to improve playback using enhancements in Windows Media Player 12. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Create Custom Playlists in Windows Media Player 12Fixing When Windows Media Player Library Won’t Let You Add FilesInstall and Use the VLC Media Player on Ubuntu LinuxMake Windows Media Player Automatically Open in Mini Player ModeMake VLC Player Look like Windows Media Player 10 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 VMware Workstation 7 Acronis Online Backup DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Error Goblin Explains Windows Error Codes Twelve must-have Google Chrome plugins Cool Looking Skins for Windows Media Player 12 Move the Mouse Pointer With Your Face Movement Using eViacam Boot Windows Faster With Boot Performance Diagnostics Create Ringtones For Your Android Phone With RingDroid

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• Looking For iPhone 4S Alternatives? Here Are 3 Smartphones You Should Consider

  - by Gopinath

  If you going to buy iPhone 4S on a two year contract in USA, Europe or Australia you may not find it expensive. But if you are planning to buy it in any other parts of the world, you will definitely feel the heat of ridiculous iPhone 4S price. In India iPhone 4S costs approximately costs $1000 which is 30% more than the price tag of an unlocked iPhone sold in USA. Personally I love iPhones as there is no match for the user experience provided by Apple as well as the wide range of really meaning applications available for iPhone. But it breaks heart to spend $1000 for a phone and I’m forced to look at alternates available in the market. Here are the four iPhone 4S alternates available in almost all the countries where we can buy iPhone 4S Google Galaxy Nexus The Galaxy Nexus is Google’s own Android smartphone manufactured by Samsung and sold under the brand name of Google Nexus. Galaxy Nexus is the pure Android phone available in the market without any bloat software or custom user interfaces like other Androids available in the market. Galaxy Nexus is also the first Android phone to be shipped with the latest version of Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich. This phone is the benchmark for the rest of Android phones that are going to enter the market soon. In the words of Google this smartphone is called as “Galaxy Nexus: Simple. Beautiful. Beyond Smart.”.  BGR review summarizes the phone as This is almost comical at this point, but the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is my favourite Android device in the world. Easily replacing the HTC Rezound, the Motorola DROID RAZR, and Samsung Galaxy S II, the Galaxy Nexus champions in a brand new version of Android that pushes itself further than almost any other mobile OS in the industry. Samsung Galaxy S II The one single company that is able to sell more smartphones than Apple is Samsung. Samsung recently displaced Apple from the top smartphone seller spot and occupied it with loads of pride. Samsung’s Galaxy S II fits as one the best alternatives to Apple’s iPhone 4S with it’s beautiful design and remarkable performance. Engadget summarizes Samsung Galaxy S2 review as It’s the best Android smartphone yet, but more importantly, it might well be the best smartphone, period. Of course, a 4.3-inch screen size won’t suit everyone, no matter how stupendously thin the device that carries it may be, and we also can’t say for sure that the Galaxy S II would justify a long-term iOS user foresaking his investment into one ecosystem and making the leap to another. Nonetheless, if you’re asking us what smartphone to buy today, unconstrained by such externalities, the Galaxy S II would be the clear choice. Sometimes it’s just as simple as that. Nokia Lumia 800 Here comes unexpected Windows Phone in to the boxing ring. May be they are not as great as Androids available in the market today, but they are picking up very quickly. Especially the Nokia Lumia 800 seems to be first ever Windows Phone 7 aimed at competing serious with Androids and iPhones available in the market. There are reports that Nokia Lumia 800 is outselling all Androids in UK and few high profile tech blogs are calling it as the king of Windows Phone. Considering this phone while evaluating the alternative of iPhone 4S will not disappoint you. We assure. Droid RAZR Remember the Motorola Driod that swept entire Android market share couple of years ago? The first two version of Motorola Droids were the best in the market and they out performed almost every other Android phone those days. The invasion of Samsung Androids, Motorola lost it charm. With the recent release of Droid RAZR, Motorola seems to be in the right direction to reclaiming the prestige. Droid RAZR is the thinnest smartphone available in the market and it’s beauty is not just skin deep. Here is a review of the phone from Engadget blog the RAZR’s beauty is not only skin deep. The LTE radio, 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM make sure this sleek number is ready to run with the big boys. It kept pace with, and in some cases clearly outclassed its high-end competition. Despite its deficiencies in the display department and underwhelming battery life, the RAZR looks to be a perfectly viable alternative when considering the similarly-pricey Rezound and Galaxy Nexus Further Reading So we have seen the four alternates of iPhone 4S available in the market and I personally love to buy a Samsung smartphone if I’m don’t have money to afford an iPhone 4S. If you are interested in deep diving into the alternates, here few links that help you do more research Apple iPhone 4S vs. Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. Motorola Droid RAZR: How Their Specs Compare by Huffington Post Nokia Lumia 800 vs. iPhone 4S vs. Nexus Galaxy: Spec Smackdown by PC World Browser Speed Test: Nokia Lumia 800 vs. iPhone 4S vs. Samsung Galaxy S II – by Gizmodo iPhone 4S vs Samsung Galaxy S II by pocket lint Apple iPhone 4S vs. Samsung Galaxy S II by techie buzz This article titled,Looking For iPhone 4S Alternatives? Here Are 3 Smartphones You Should Consider, was originally published at Tech Dreams. Grab our rss feed or fan us on Facebook to get updates from us.

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• SQL SERVER – Retrieve and Explore Database Backup without Restoring Database – Idera virtual databas

  - by pinaldave

  I recently downloaded Idera’s SQL virtual database, and tested it. There are a few things about this tool which caught my attention. My Scenario It is quite common in real life that sometimes observing or retrieving older data is necessary; however, it had changed as time passed by. The full database backup was 40 GB in size, and, to restore it on our production server, it usually takes around 16 to 22 minutes, depending on the load server that is usually present. This range in time varies from one server to another as per the configuration of the computer. Some other issues we used to have are the following: When we try to restore a large 40-GB database, we needed at least that much space on our production server. Once in a while, we even had to make changes in the restored database, and use the said changed and restored database for our purpose, making it more time-consuming. My Solution I have heard a lot about the Idera’s SQL virtual database tool.. Well, right after we started to test this tool, we found out that it really delivers what it promises. Using this software was very easy and we were able to restore our database from backup in less than 2 minutes, sparing us from the usual longer time of 16–22 minutes. The needful was finished in a total of 10 minutes. Another interesting observation is that there is no need to have an additional space for restoring the database. For complete database restoration, the single additional MB on the drive is not required anymore. We can use the database in the same way as our regular database, and there is no need for any additional configuration and setup. Let us look at the most relevant points of this product based on my initial experience: Quick restoration of the database backup No additional space required for database restoration virtual database has no physical .MDF or .LDF The database which is restored is, in fact, the backup file converted in the virtual database. DDL and DML queries can be executed against this virtually restored database. Regular backup operation can be implemented against virtual database, creating a physical .bak file that can be used for future use. There was no observed degradation in performance on the original database as well the restored virtual database. Additional T-SQL queries can be let off on the virtual database. Well, this summarizes my quick review. And, as I was saying, I am very impressed with the product and I plan to explore it more. There are many features that I have noticed in this tool, which I think can be very useful if properly understood. I had taken a few screenshots using my demo database afterwards. Let us see what other things this tool can do besides the mentioned activities. I am surprised with its performance so I want to know how exactly this feature works, specifically in the matter of why it does not create any additional files and yet, it still allows update on the virtually restored database. I guess I will have to send an e-mail to the developers of Idera and try to figure this out from them. I think this tool is very useful, and it delivers a high level of performance way more than what I expected. Soon, I will write a review for additional uses of SQL virtual database.. If you are using SQL virtual database in your production environment, I am eager to learn more about it and your experience while using it. The ‘Virtual’ Part of virtual database When I set out to test this software, I thought virtual database had something to do with Hyper-V or visualization. In fact, the virtual database is a kind of database which shows up in your SQL Server Management Studio without actually restoring or even creating it. This tool creates a database in SSMS from the backup of the same database. The backup, however, works virtually the same way as original database. Potential Usage of virtual database: As soon as I described this tool to my teammate, I think his very first reaction was, “hey, if we have this then there is no need for log shipping.” I find his comment very interesting as log shipping is something where logs are moved to another server. In fact, there are no updates on the database from log; I would rather compare it with Snapshot Replication. In fact, whatever we use, snapshot replicated database can be similarly used and configured with virtual database. I totally believe that we can use it for reporting purpose. In fact, after this database was configured, I think the uses of this tool are unlimited. I will have to spend some more time studying it and will get back to you. Click on images to see larger images. virtual database Console Harddrive Space before virtual database Setup Attach Full Backup Screen Backup on Harddrive Attach Full Backup Screen with Settings virtual database Setup – less than 60 sec virtual database Setup – Online Harddrive Space after virtual database Setup Point in Time Recovery Option – Timeline View virtual database Summary No Performance Difference between Regular DB vs Virtual DB Please note that all SQL Server MVP gets free license of this software. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com), Idera (virtual database) Filed under: Database, Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Add-On, SQL Authority, SQL Backup and Restore, SQL Data Storage, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL Utility, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology Tagged: Idera

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• How to Use Windows’ Advanced Search Features: Everything You Need to Know

  - by Chris Hoffman

  You should never have to hunt down a lost file on modern versions of Windows — just perform a quick search. You don’t even have to wait for a cartoon dog to find your files, like on Windows XP. The Windows search indexer is constantly running in the background to make quick local searches possible. This enables the kind of powerful search features you’d use on Google or Bing — but for your local files. Controlling the Indexer By default, the Windows search indexer watches everything under your user folder — that’s C:\Users\NAME. It reads all these files, creating an index of their names, contents, and other metadata. Whenever they change, it notices and updates its index. The index allows you to quickly find a file based on the data in the index. For example, if you want to find files that contain the word “beluga,” you can perform a search for “beluga” and you’ll get a very quick response as Windows looks up the word in its search index. If Windows didn’t use an index, you’d have to sit and wait as Windows opened every file on your hard drive, looked to see if the file contained the word “beluga,” and moved on. Most people shouldn’t have to modify this indexing behavior. However, if you store your important files in other folders — maybe you store your important data a separate partition or drive, such as at D:\Data — you may want to add these folders to your index. You can also choose which types of files you want to index, force Windows to rebuild the index entirely, pause the indexing process so it won’t use any system resources, or move the index to another location to save space on your system drive. To open the Indexing Options window, tap the Windows key on your keyboard, type “index”, and click the Indexing Options shortcut that appears. Use the Modify button to control the folders that Windows indexes or the Advanced button to control other options. To prevent Windows from indexing entirely, click the Modify button and uncheck all the included locations. You could also disable the search indexer entirely from the Programs and Features window. Searching for Files You can search for files right from your Start menu on Windows 7 or Start screen on Windows 8. Just tap the Windows key and perform a search. If you wanted to find files related to Windows, you could perform a search for “Windows.” Windows would show you files that are named Windows or contain the word Windows. From here, you can just click a file to open it. On Windows 7, files are mixed with other types of search results. On Windows 8 or 8.1, you can choose to search only for files. If you want to perform a search without leaving the desktop in Windows 8.1, press Windows Key + S to open a search sidebar. You can also initiate searches directly from Windows Explorer — that’s File Explorer on Windows 8. Just use the search box at the top-right of the window. Windows will search the location you’ve browsed to. For example, if you’re looking for a file related to Windows and know it’s somewhere in your Documents library, open the Documents library and search for Windows. Using Advanced Search Operators On Windows 7, you’ll notice that you can add “search filters” form the search box, allowing you to search by size, date modified, file type, authors, and other metadata. On Windows 8, these options are available from the Search Tools tab on the ribbon. These filters allow you to narrow your search results. If you’re a geek, you can use Windows’ Advanced Query Syntax to perform advanced searches from anywhere, including the Start menu or Start screen. Want to search for “windows,” but only bring up documents that don’t mention Microsoft? Search for “windows -microsoft”. Want to search for all pictures of penguins on your computer, whether they’re PNGs, JPEGs, or any other type of picture file? Search for “penguin kind:picture”. We’ve looked at Windows’ advanced search operators before, so check out our in-depth guide for more information. The Advanced Query Syntax gives you access to options that aren’t available in the graphical interface. Creating Saved Searches Windows allows you to take searches you’ve made and save them as a file. You can then quickly perform the search later by double-clicking the file. The file functions almost like a virtual folder that contains the files you specify. For example, let’s say you wanted to create a saved search that shows you all the new files created in your indexed folders within the last week. You could perform a search for “datecreated:this week”, then click the Save search button on the toolbar or ribbon. You’d have a new virtual folder you could quickly check to see your recent files. One of the best things about Windows search is that it’s available entirely from the keyboard. Just press the Windows key, start typing the name of the file or program you want to open, and press Enter to quickly open it. Windows 8 made this much more obnoxious with its non-unified search, but unified search is finally returning with Windows 8.1.     

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• Oracle ADF Coverage at OOW

  - by Frank Nimphius

  Below is the schedule for all ADF related sessions at a glance. Note the Meet and greet session added for Wednesday Octiber 3rd from 4.30 pm to 5:30. Oracle ADF and Fusion Development General Session Mon 1 Oct, 2012 Time Title Location 10:45 AM - 11:45 AM General Session: The Future of Development for Oracle Fusion—From Desktop to Mobile to Cloud Marriott Marquis - Salon 8 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM General Session: Extend Oracle Fusion Apps to Tablets/Smartphones with Oracle Mobile Technology Moscone West - 3014 1:45 PM - 2:45 PM General Session: Extend Oracle Applications to Mobile Devices with Oracle’s Mobile Technologies Moscone West - 3002/3004 4:45 PM - 5:45 PM General Session: Building Mobile Applications with Oracle Cloud Moscone West - 2002/2004 Conference Session Mon 1 Oct, 2012 Time Title Location 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM Understanding Oracle ADF and Its Role in Oracle Fusion Moscone South - 306 1:45 PM - 2:45 PM Building Performant Oracle ADF Business Components to Meet Tomorrow’s Needs Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C3 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM End-to-End Oracle ADF Development in Eclipse Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C3 4:45 PM - 5:45 PM Classic Mistakes with Oracle Application Development Framework Marriott Marquis - Salon 7 Tues 2 Oct, 2012 Time Title Location 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Oracle ADF Architecture Fundamentals Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C2 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM Oracle Business Process Management/Oracle ADF Integration Best Practices Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C3 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM Mobile-Enable Oracle Fusion Middleware and Enterprise Applications with Oracle ADF Moscone South - 306 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM Secrets of Successful Projects with Oracle Application Development Framework Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C2 1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Develop On-Device iPhone and iPad Apps Without Writing Any Objective-C Code Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C2 1:15 PM - 2:15 PM BPM, SOA, and Oracle ADF Combined: Patterns Learned from Oracle Fusion Applications Moscone West - 3003 1:15 PM - 2:15 PM The Future of Forms Is … Oracle Forms (and Friends) Moscone South - 306 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Best Practices for Integrating SOAP and REST Service into Oracle ADF Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C2 Wed 3 Oct, 2012 Time Title Location 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM Mobile Apps for Oracle E-Business Suite with Oracle ADF Mobile and Oracle SOA Suite Moscone West - 3001 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM Visualize This! Best Practices for Data Visualization in Desktop and Mobile Apps Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C3 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM Set Up Your Oracle ADF Project and Development Team for Productivity: Seven Essential Tips Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C2 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM How to Migrate an Oracle Forms Application to Oracle ADF Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C2 1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Oracle ADF: Lessons Learned in Real-World Implementations Moscone South - 309 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM Oracle ADF Implementations Around the Globe: Best Practices Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C2 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM Oracle Developer Cloud Services Marriott Marquis - Salon 7 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM Oracle JDeveloper and Oracle ADF: What’s New Hilton San Francisco - Continental Ballroom 5 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Mobile Solutions for Oracle E-Business Suite Applications: Technical Insight Moscone West - 2020 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Extending Social into Enterprise Applications and Business Processes Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C3 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM The Tie That Binds: An Introduction to Oracle ADF Bindings Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C2 Thur 4 Oct, 2012 Time Title Location 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM Using Oracle ADF with Oracle E-Business Suite: The Full Integration View Moscone West - 3003 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM Deep Dive into Oracle ADF: Advanced Techniques Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C2 12:45 PM - 1:45 PM Monitor, Analyze, and Troubleshoot Your Oracle ADF Application Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C2 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM Oracle WebCenter Portal: Creating and Using Content Presenter Templates Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C2 HOL (Hands-on Lab) Mon 1 Oct, 2012 Time Title Location 10:45 AM - 11:45 AM Developing Applications for Mobile iOS and Android Devices with Oracle ADF Mobile: Hands-on Lab Marriott Marquis - Salon 10A 1:45 PM - 2:45 PM Build Mobile Applications for Oracle E-Business Suite Marriott Marquis - Salon 10A 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM Developing Applications for Mobile iOS and Android Devices with Oracle ADF Mobile: Hands-on Lab Marriott Marquis - Salon 10A 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM Introduction to Oracle ADF: Hands-on Lab Marriott Marquis - Salon 3/4 4:45 PM - 5:45 PM Application Lifecycle Management with Oracle JDeveloper: Hands-on Lab Marriott Marquis - Salon 3/4 Tues 2 Oct, 2012 Time Title Location 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM Developing Applications for Mobile iOS and Android Devices with Oracle ADF Mobile: Hands-on Lab Marriott Marquis - Salon 10A 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Developing Applications for Mobile iOS and Android Devices with Oracle ADF Mobile: Hands-on Lab Marriott Marquis - Salon 10A Wed 3 Oct, 2012 Time Title Location 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM Introduction to Oracle ADF: Hands-on Lab Marriott Marquis - Salon 3/4 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM Developing Applications for Mobile iOS and Android Devices with Oracle ADF Mobile: Hands-on Lab Marriott Marquis - Salon 10A 1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Build Mobile Applications for Oracle E-Business Suite Marriott Marquis - Salon 10A 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM Developing Applications for Mobile iOS and Android Devices with Oracle ADF Mobile: Hands-on Lab Marriott Marquis - Salon 10A 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Developing Applications for Mobile iOS and Android Devices with Oracle ADF Mobile: Hands-on Lab Marriott Marquis - Salon 10A Thur 4 Oct, 2012 Time Title Location 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM Developing Applications for Mobile iOS and Android Devices with Oracle ADF Mobile: Hands-on Lab Marriott Marquis - Salon 10A 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM Introduction to Oracle ADF: Hands-on Lab Marriott Marquis - Salon 3/4 12:45 PM - 1:45 PM Oracle ADF for Java EE Developers with Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse Marriott Marquis - Salon 3/4 BOF (Birds-of-a-Feather) Mon 1 Oct, 2012 Time Title Location 6:15 PM - 7:00 PM How to Get Started with Oracle ADF Marriott Marquis - Club Room 7:15 PM - 8:00 PM Building Next-Generation Applications with Oracle ADF and Oracle BPM Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C3 7:15 PM - 8:00 PM The Future of Oracle Forms: Upgrade, Modernize, or Migrate? Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C2 7:15 PM - 8:00 PM Oracle ADF Faces: One Site for Many Devices Marriott Marquis - Golden Gate C1 - User Group Forum (Sunday Only) Sun 30 Sept, 2012 Time Title Location 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Oracle ADF Immersion: How an Oracle Forms Developer Immersed Himself in the Oracle ADF World Moscone South - 305 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM Deploy with Joy: Using Hudson to Build and Deploy Your Oracle ADF Applications Moscone South - 305 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM ADF EMG User Group: A Peek into the Oracle ADF Architecture of Oracle Fusion Applications Moscone South - 305 12:45 PM - 3:45 PM ADF EMG User Group: Oracle Fusion Middleware Live Application Development Demo Moscone South - 305 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM Mobile Development with Oracle JDeveloper and Oracle ADF Moscone West - 2010 Demos Demo Location Developer Moscone North, Upper Lobby - N-002 Oracle ADF Mobile Development Moscone North, Upper Lobby - N-001 Oracle Eclipse Projects Hilton San Francisco, Grand Ballroom - HHJ-008 Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse Moscone South, Right - S-208 Oracle JDeveloper and Oracle ADF Moscone South, Right - S-207 Exhibits 0 Exhibitor Location Accenture Moscone South - 1813 Moscone South - 2221 Infosys Moscone South - 1701 Moscone South - SMR-005 Innowave Technology Moscone South - 2309 ODTUG Moscone West, Level 2 Lobby - Kiosk in the User Groups Pavilion Oracle ADF Developers Meet Up Wednesday, Oct 03 Time Activity Location 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM Stop by the OTN Lounge and meet other Oracle ADF & Fusion developers as well as product managers and engineers who work on Oracle ADF, ADF Mobile and ADF Essentials. Feedback and questions welcome, or simply stop by and say ‘hi!’ and enjoy free beer. OTN Lounge

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• C# 5 Async, Part 1: Simplifying Asynchrony – That for which we await

  - by Reed

  Today’s announcement at PDC of the future directions C# is taking excite me greatly.  The new Visual Studio Async CTP is amazing.  Asynchronous code – code which frustrates and demoralizes even the most advanced of developers, is taking a huge leap forward in terms of usability.  This is handled by building on the Task functionality in .NET 4, as well as the addition of two new keywords being added to the C# language: async and await. This core of the new asynchronous functionality is built upon three key features.  First is the Task functionality in .NET 4, and based on Task and Task<TResult>.  While Task was intended to be the primary means of asynchronous programming with .NET 4, the .NET Framework was still based mainly on the Asynchronous Pattern and the Event-based Asynchronous Pattern. The .NET Framework added functionality and guidance for wrapping existing APIs into a Task based API, but the framework itself didn’t really adopt Task or Task<TResult> in any meaningful way.  The CTP shows that, going forward, this is changing. One of the three key new features coming in C# is actually a .NET Framework feature.  Nearly every asynchronous API in the .NET Framework has been wrapped into a new, Task-based method calls.  In the CTP, this is done via as external assembly (AsyncCtpLibrary.dll) which uses Extension Methods to wrap the existing APIs.  However, going forward, this will be handled directly within the Framework.  This will have a unifying effect throughout the .NET Framework.  This is the first building block of the new features for asynchronous programming: Going forward, all asynchronous operations will work via a method that returns Task or Task<TResult> The second key feature is the new async contextual keyword being added to the language.  The async keyword is used to declare an asynchronous function, which is a method that either returns void, a Task, or a Task<T>. Inside the asynchronous function, there must be at least one await expression.  This is a new C# keyword (await) that is used to automatically take a series of statements and break it up to potentially use discontinuous evaluation.  This is done by using await on any expression that evaluates to a Task or Task<T>. For example, suppose we want to download a webpage as a string.  There is a new method added to WebClient: Task<string> WebClient.DownloadStringTaskAsync(Uri).  Since this returns a Task<string> we can use it within an asynchronous function.  Suppose, for example, that we wanted to do something similar to my asynchronous Task example – download a web page asynchronously and check to see if it supports XHTML 1.0, then report this into a TextBox.  This could be done like so: private async void button1_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { string url = "http://reedcopsey.com"; string content = await new WebClient().DownloadStringTaskAsync(url); this.textBox1.Text = string.Format("Page {0} supports XHTML 1.0: {1}", url, content.Contains("XHTML 1.0")); } .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } Let’s walk through what’s happening here, step by step.  By adding the async contextual keyword to the method definition, we are able to use the await keyword on our WebClient.DownloadStringTaskAsync method call. When the user clicks this button, the new method (Task<string> WebClient.DownloadStringTaskAsync(string)) is called, which returns a Task<string>.  By adding the await keyword, the runtime will call this method that returns Task<string>, and execution will return to the caller at this point.  This means that our UI is not blocked while the webpage is downloaded.  Instead, the UI thread will “await” at this point, and let the WebClient do it’s thing asynchronously. When the WebClient finishes downloading the string, the user interface’s synchronization context will automatically be used to “pick up” where it left off, and the Task<string> returned from DownloadStringTaskAsync is automatically unwrapped and set into the content variable.  At this point, we can use that and set our text box content. There are a couple of key points here: Asynchronous functions are declared with the async keyword, and contain one or more await expressions In addition to the obvious benefits of shorter, simpler code – there are some subtle but tremendous benefits in this approach.  When the execution of this asynchronous function continues after the first await statement, the initial synchronization context is used to continue the execution of this function.  That means that we don’t have to explicitly marshal the call that sets textbox1.Text back to the UI thread – it’s handled automatically by the language and framework!  Exception handling around asynchronous method calls also just works. I’d recommend every C# developer take a look at the documentation on the new Asynchronous Programming for C# and Visual Basic page, download the Visual Studio Async CTP, and try it out.

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• OBIEE 11.1.1 - OBIEE 11g Full Sample App on VMware Player 4

  - by user809526

  The Full Sample App is designed to run on Virtual Box. Let's describe how to run it on VMware Player 4. Open Virtualization Format Tool http://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/server/vsphere/automationtools/ovf VMware Player Documentation https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/player_pubs.html Full Sample App Deployment Guide sampleapp107-vbimage-deployguide-453583.pdf INSTALL VMplayer 4.0.0 as root LINUX # sh VMware-Player-4.0.0-471780.x86_64.bundle (A new VM is not needed and can be deleted later after that installation is completed. "I will install OS later" - blank hard disk Guest: linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5-64bits => rename to RHEL target: eg /a/root/vmware/ Max disk size: 5 GB (will be deleted) Disk: Single file Dummy RHEL.vmk, RHEL.vmdk is generated. "Delete VM from Disk" in VM Player.) Copy Full Sample App files to target /a/root/vmware/ WARNING: Select a target eg /a/root/vmware/ with lots of free space, 95 GB. Check checksums (md5sum). Please do it! ff85c7eacf7fb8c382e98da875e879e1  Sampleapp_v107_GA-disk1.vmdk 973258cb3c7d64ab03ae853278cf2233  Sampleapp_v107_GA-disk2.vmdk e576be16e36d810479736bfb15d050f5  Sampleapp_v107_GA-disk3.vmdk 3455df77279e53e07d5fee6712f1597d  Sampleapp_v107_GA-disk4.vmdk OVF FILE   Sampleapp_v107_GA.ovf CONVERSION $ cd /a/root/vmware/ LINUX $ /usr/bin/ovftool -tt=ovf --compress=1 -dm=monolithicSparse Sampleapp_v107_GA.ovf .  [dot] Opening OVF source: Sampleapp_v107_GA.ovf Warning: No manifest file Opening OVF target: . Writing OVF package: Sampleapp_v107_GA/Sampleapp_v107_GA.ovf Disk Transfer Completed                   Completed successfully WINDOWS CYGWIN $ /cygdrive/c/VMwarePlayer/OVFTool/ovftool.exe -tt=ovf --compress=1 -dm=monolithicSparse Sampleapp_v107_GA.ovf .  [dot] Opening OVF source: Sampleapp_v107_GA.ovf Warning: No manifest file Opening OVF target: . Writing OVF package: Sampleapp_v107_GA\Sampleapp_v107_GA.ovf Disk Transfer Completed Completed successfully /a/root/vmware$ du -sk 49095328    .   [50 GB already occupied] IMPORT - First start of VM Player 4: /usr/bin/vmplayer "Open a Virtual Machine" Browse to /a/root/vmware/Sampleapp_v107_GA/Sampleapp_v107_GA.ovf [the new generated .ovf] "Import Virtual Machine" dialog Name: Sampleapp_v107_GA Location: /a/root/vmware/Sampleapp_v107_GA/storage [was /home/tdubois/vmware/Sampleapp_v107_GA] "Import" "The import failed because /a/root/vmware/Sampleapp_v107_GA/Sampleapp_v107_GA.ovf did not pass OVF specification conformance or virtual hardware compliance checks. Click Retry to relax OVF specification..." "Retry" ; Long import /a/root/vmware/Sampleapp_v107_GA/storage/Sampleapp_v107_GA.vmx and new .vmdk files are created. /a/root/vmware$ du -sk 95551384    .   [95 GB occupied] Full Sample App GUEST SETUP "Edit VM settings" min 3GB, 2+ processors, network bridged. For OBIEE + Essbase testing use 8 GB RAM hardware. At first time lauch of Full Sample App, leave OEL booting for several minutes undisturbed. Problem with X display server may occur [/usr/bin/Xorg ; man Xorg]. "Failed to start the X server.... Would you like to view the X server output to diagnose the problem?" "No" [tab key] "Would you like to try to configure the X server? Note that you will need the root password for this." "Yes" [oracle] X Display Settings 800x600 saved in /etc/X11/xorg.conf "Trying to restart the X server" Login as root/oracle in guest OEL. In guest OEL, Virtual Machine > Install VMware Tools... Extract archive VMwareTools-8.8.0-471268.tar.gz all files in writable local directory eg /root In Terminal run Perl script # cd /root/vmware-tools-distrib ; ./vmware-install.pl [keep all default answers] Set keyboard layout System > Preferences > Keyboard > Layouts Restart X server eg System > Log Out root... , relogin Modify X resolution System > Preferences > Screen Resolution Full Sample App OEL login: oracle/oracle ; root/oracle [default US keyboard layout] Credentials are described in the 'sampleapp107-vbimage-deployguide-453583.pdf' The large files in /a/root/vmware/ /a/root/vmware/Sampleapp_v107_GA/ may be removed. FAILURE REMARK: Adding the 4 original Sampleapp_v107_GA-disks[1234].vmdk to VM Player does NOT work as described below. "Edit VM settings" "Remove" "Hard Disk" "Edit VM settings" "Add" "Hard Disk" "Next" "Use an existing virtual disk" "Browse" "Finish" "Keep existing format" "Ok" for each 4 disks settings one by one. Start VM Player 4. "You do not have write access to a partition" Allow all Sampleapp_v107 OEL linux launches. OEL stalls silently after 'Checking filesystems'.

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• How to Animate Text and Objects in PowerPoint 2010

  - by DigitalGeekery

  Are you looking for an eye catching way to keep your audience interested in your PowerPoint presentations? Today we’ll take a look at how to add animation effects to objects in PowerPoint 2010. Select the object you wish to animate and then click the More button in the Animation group of the Animation tab.   Animations are grouped into four categories. Entrance effects, Exit effects, Emphasis effects, and Motion Paths. You can get a Live Preview of how the animation will look by hovering your mouse over an animation effect.   When you select a Motion Path, your object will move along the dashed path line as shown on the screen. (This path is not displayed in the final output) Certain aspects of the Motion Path effects are editable. When you apply a Motion Path animation to an object, you can select the path and drag the end to change the length or size of the path. The green marker along the motion path marks the beginning of the  path and the red marks the end. The effects can be rotated by clicking and the bar near the center of the effect.   You can display additional effects by choosing one of the options at the bottom. This will pop up a Change Effect window. If you have Preview Effect checked at the lower left you can preview the effects by single clicking.   Apply Multiple Animations to an Object Select the object and then click the Add Animation button to display the animation effects. Just as we did with the first effect, you can hover over to get a live preview. Click to apply the effect. The animation effects will happen in the order they are applied. Animation Pane You can view a list of the animations applied to a slide by opening the Animation Pane. Select the Animation Pane button from the Advanced Animation group to display the Animation Pane on the right. You’ll see that each animation effect in the animation pane has an assigned number to the left.    Timing Animation Effects You can change when your animation starts to play. By default it is On Click. To change it, select the effect in the Animation Pane and then choose one of the options from the Start dropdown list. With Previous starts at the same time as the previous animation and After Previous starts after the last animation. You can also edit the duration that the animations plays and also set a delay.   You can change the order in which the animation effects are applied by selecting the effect in the animation pane and clicking Move Earlier or Move Later from the Timing group on the Animation tab. Effect Options If the Effect Options button is available when your animation is selected, then that particular animation has some additional effect settings that can be configured. You can access the Effect Option by right-clicking on the the animation in the Animation Pane, or by selecting Effect Options on the ribbon.   The available options will vary by effect and not all animation effects will have Effect Options settings. In the example below, you can change the amount of spinning and whether the object will spin clockwise or counterclockwise.   Under Enhancements, you can add sound effects to your animation. When you’re finished click OK.   Animating Text Animating Text works the same as animating an object. Simply select your text box and choose an animation. Text does have some different Effect Options. By selecting a sequence, you decide whether the text appears as one object, all at once, or by paragraph. As is the case with objects, there will be different available Effect Options depending on the animation you choose. Some animations, such as the Fly In animation, will have directional options.   Testing Your Animations Click on the Preview button at any time to test how your animations look. You can also select the Play button on the Animation Pane. Conclusion Animation effects are a great way to focus audience attention on important points and hold viewers interest in your PowerPoint presentations. Another cool way to spice up your PPT 2010 presentations is to add video from the web. What tips do you guys have for making your PowerPoint presentations more interesting? Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Center Pictures and Other Objects in Office 2007 & 2010Preview Before You Paste with Live Preview in Office 2010Embed True Type Fonts in Word and PowerPoint 2007 DocumentsHow to Add Video from the Web in PowerPoint 2010Add Artistic Effects to Your Pictures in Office 2010 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 24 Million Sites Windows Media Player Glass Icons (icons we like) How to Forecast Weather, without Gadgets Outlook Tools, one stop tweaking for any Outlook version Zoofs, find the most popular tweeted YouTube videos Video preview of new Windows Live Essentials

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• Associating File Types with AutoVue Desktop Deployment

  - by [email protected]

  Windows users take for granted that when they double click on a document or design, that it will open up in its application automatically. One of the questions I'm commonly asked is "How can I get the same behavior with AutoVue Desktop Deployment?". It's pretty easy, but there are a few tricks to doing it. Step 1: Download new jvue_direct.bat and icon The first thing you'll need to do is download a slightly modified version of jvue_direct.bat. You can find it here (Document 1075784.1) on Oracle's Support Portal. You also want to download the AV.ico file. This is the icon that will be used for all file types associated with AutoVue. Place both of these files in your <AutoVueInstallDirectory>\bin directory. Step 2: Associate File Types With AutoVue There are two ways to do this. You can do this through the Windows user interface, or you can set up a batch file to do this. Associating File Types Through Windows The way most people associate file types to an application is using the Windows user interface. You've probably tried to open a file type that Windows doesn't recognize and seen this window pop up: Although you can use this dialog to associate that file type with AutoVue, I don't recommend it. I much prefer using a batch file to associate file types with AutoVue. Associating File Types Using A Batch File There are a few good reasons to associate file types using a batch file instead of using the pop-up dialog method: If you have several file types to associate with AutoVue, it's much easier to use a batch file to do them all at once. Doing it through the Windows user interface requires having files of each type available. Using a batch file doesn't require having the files you're associating. Associating file types through the dialog may work well for one person, but what if you're an administrator doing an enterprise wide deployment of AutoVue Desktop Deployment for several hundred users? You don't want to do this manually for each user. You can have one simple batch file that's run on each user's PC to set up all the file types. You can easily associate an icon with the file types you're opening with AutoVue. To use the batch file method follow these steps: Create a file called filetype.bat using a text editor and copy and paste the following into it: @assoc .dwg=AVFile @assoc .jpg=AVFile @assoc .doc=AVFile @ftype AVFile="%~dp0jvue_direct.bat" "%%1" @reg add HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AVFile\DefaultIcon /v "" /f /d "%~dp0AV.ico" Change the lines starting with @assoc. Each of these lines associates a file extension with AutoVue. You can have as many @assoc lines as you want. Save this file in your <AutoVueInstallDirectory>\bin directory. Double click this file, or run it from a command prompt. Restart Windows to get the icons to show up. How Does This Work? The first three lines are creating a file type called AVFile. We are associating the extensions .dwg, .jpg, and .doc with this file type. You will want to change these lines when creating your own batch file. For example, to associate Microstation designs, which have extension .dgn, you should delete the @assoc lines above and add the line: @assoc .dgn=AVfile The line beginning with @ftype tells Windows that all AVFile type files should be opened using AutoVue Desktop Deployment. The final line associates the AutoVue icon with these file types. You may need to restart Windows to see the new icons. Warning: One Size Doesn't Fit All When deciding which file types should be associated with AutoVue, remember that there are different types of users using it. Your engineers may be pretty surprised to find that after installing AutoVue, double clicking their .dwg file opens up AutoVue instead of AutoCAD. If you have more than one type of AutoVue user, make sure you've considered what file types each user group will and will not want to be associated with AutoVue. If necessary, create a separate file association batch file for each user type. So that's it. In two simple steps you can double click your favorite designs and have them open automatically in AutoVue Desktop Deployment. I'd love to hear how are you using AutoVue Desktop Deployment. What other deployment tips would you be interested in learning about?

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• Developer’s Life – Summary of Superhero Articles

  - by Pinal Dave

  Earlier this year, I wrote an article series where I talked about developer’s life and compared it with Superhero. I have got amazing response to this series and I have been receiving quite a lots of email suggesting that I should write more blog post about them. Currently I am not planning to write more blog post but I will soon continue another series. In this blog post, I have summarized the entire series. Let me know if you want me to write about any superhero. I will see what I can do about that hero. Developer’s Life – Every Developer is a Captain America Captain America was first created as a comic book character in the 1940’s as a way to boost morale during World War II.  Aimed at a children’s audience, his legacy faded away when the war ended.  However, he has recently has a major reboot to become a popular movie character that deals with modern issues. Developer’s Life – Every Developer is the Incredible Hulk The Incredible Hulk is possibly one of the scariest superheroes out there.  All superheroes are meant to be “out of this world” and awe-inspiring, but I think most people will agree with I say The Hulk takes this to the next level.  He is the result of an industrial accident, which is scary enough in it’s own right.  Plus, when mild-mannered Bruce Banner is angered, he goes completely out-of-control and transforms into a destructive monster that he cannot control and has no memories of. Developer’s Life – Every Developer is a Wonder Woman We have focused a lot lately on this “superhero series.”  I love fantasy books and movies, and I feel like there is a lot to be learned from them.  As I am writing this series, though, I have noticed that every super hero I write about is a man.  So today, I would like to talk about the major female super hero – Wonder Woman. Developer’s Life – Every Developer is a Harry Potter Harry Potter might not be a superhero in the traditional sense, but I believe he still has a lot to teach us and show us about life as a developer.  If you have been living under a rock for the last 17 years, you might not know that Harry Potter is the main character in an extremely popular series of books and movies documenting the education and tribulation of a young wizard (and his friends). Developer’s Life – Every Developer is Like Transformers Transformers may not be superheroes – they don’t wear capes, they don’t have amazing powers outside of their size and folding ability, they’re not even human (technically).  Part of their enduring popularity is that while we are enjoying over-the-top movies, we are learning about good leadership and strong personal skills. Developer’s Life – Every Developer is a Iron Man Iron Man is another superhero who is not naturally “super,” but relies on his brain (and money) to turn him into a fighting machine.  While traditional superheroes are still popular, a three-movie franchise and incorporation into the new Avengers series shows that Iron Man is popular enough on his own. Developer’s Life – Every Developer is a Sherlock Holmes I have been thinking a lot about how developers are like super heroes, and I have written two blog posts now comparing them to Spiderman and Superman.  I have a lot of love and respect for developers, and I hope that they are enjoying these articles, and others are learning a little bit about the profession.  There is another fictional character who, while not technically asuper hero, is very powerful, and I also think stands as a good example of a developer. That character is Sherlock Holmes.  Sherlock Holmes is a British detective, first made popular at the turn of the 19thcentury by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  The original Sherlock Holmes was a brilliant detective who could solve the most mind-boggling crime through simple observations and deduction. Developer’s Life – Every Developer is a Chhota Bheem Chhota Bheem is a cartoon character that is extremely popular where I live.  He is my daughter’s favorite characters.  I like to say that children love Chhota Bheem more than their parents – it is lucky for us he is not real!  Children love Chhota Bheem because he is the absolute “good guy.”  He is smart, loyal, and strong.  He and his friends live in Dholakpur and fight off their many enemies – and always win – in every episode.  In each episode, they learn something about friendship, bravery, and being kind to others.  Chhota Bheem is a good role model for children, and I think that he is a good role model for developers are well. Developer’s Life – Every Developer is a Batman Batman is one of the darkest superheroes in the fantasy canon.  He does not come to his powers through any sort of magical coincidence or radioactive insect, but through a lot of psychological scarring caused by witnessing the death of his parents.  Despite his dark back story, he possesses a lot of admirable abilities that I feel bear comparison to developers. Developer’s Life – Every Developer is a Superman I enjoyed comparing developers to Spiderman so much, that I have decided to continue the trend and encourage some of my favorite people (developers) with another favorite superhero – Superman.  Superman is probably the most famous superhero – and one of the most inspiring. Developer’s Life – Every Developer is a Spiderman I have to admit, Spiderman is my favorite superhero.  The most recent movie recently was released in theaters, so it has been at the front of my mind for some time. Spiderman was my favorite superhero even before the latest movie came out, but of course I took my whole family to see the movie as soon as I could!  Every one of us loved it, including my daughter.  We all left the movie thinking how great it would be to be Spiderman.  So, with that in mind, I started thinking about how we are like Spiderman in our everyday lives, especially developers. I would like to know which Superhero is your favorite hero! Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL Tagged: Developer, Superhero

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• Cannot install mysql-server (5.5.22) on clean ubuntu 12.04 LTS server

  - by Christian

  I have a clean minimal install of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS server 64-bit (just a root user and nothing alse installed). I tried to install the mysql-server with the following command: apt-get install mysql-server The installation aborts with the following error: The following NEW packages will be installed: libdbd-mysql-perl{a} libmysqlclient18{a} mysql-client mysql-client-5.5{a} mysql-client-core-5.5{a} mysql-common{a} mysql-server mysql-server-5.5{a} mysql-server-core-5.5{a} 0 packages upgraded, 9 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Need to get 11.7 kB/26.2 MB of archives. After unpacking 94.5 MB will be used. Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] y Get: 1 http://mirror.eu.oneandone.net/ubuntu/ubuntu/ precise/main mysql-client all 5.5.22-0ubuntu1 [11.7 kB] Fetched 11.7 kB in 0s (567 kB/s) Preconfiguring packages ... Selecting previously unselected package mysql-common. (Reading database ... 54008 files and directories currently installed.) Unpacking mysql-common (from .../mysql-common_5.5.22-0ubuntu1_all.deb) ... Selecting previously unselected package libmysqlclient18. Unpacking libmysqlclient18 (from .../libmysqlclient18_5.5.22-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb) ... Selecting previously unselected package libdbd-mysql-perl. Unpacking libdbd-mysql-perl (from .../libdbd-mysql-perl_4.020-1build2_amd64.deb) ... Selecting previously unselected package mysql-client-core-5.5. Unpacking mysql-client-core-5.5 (from .../mysql-client-core-5.5_5.5.22-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb) ... Selecting previously unselected package mysql-client-5.5. Unpacking mysql-client-5.5 (from .../mysql-client-5.5_5.5.22-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb) ... Selecting previously unselected package mysql-server-core-5.5. Unpacking mysql-server-core-5.5 (from .../mysql-server-core-5.5_5.5.22-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb) ... Processing triggers for man-db ... Setting up mysql-common (5.5.22-0ubuntu1) ... Selecting previously unselected package mysql-server-5.5. (Reading database ... 54189 files and directories currently installed.) Unpacking mysql-server-5.5 (from .../mysql-server-5.5_5.5.22-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb) ... Selecting previously unselected package mysql-client. Unpacking mysql-client (from .../mysql-client_5.5.22-0ubuntu1_all.deb) ... Selecting previously unselected package mysql-server. Unpacking mysql-server (from .../mysql-server_5.5.22-0ubuntu1_all.deb) ... Processing triggers for ureadahead ... Processing triggers for man-db ... Setting up libmysqlclient18 (5.5.22-0ubuntu1) ... Setting up libdbd-mysql-perl (4.020-1build2) ... Setting up mysql-client-core-5.5 (5.5.22-0ubuntu1) ... Setting up mysql-client-5.5 (5.5.22-0ubuntu1) ... Setting up mysql-server-core-5.5 (5.5.22-0ubuntu1) ... Setting up mysql-server-5.5 (5.5.22-0ubuntu1) ... 120502 10:17:41 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled. 120502 10:17:41 InnoDB: The InnoDB memory heap is disabled 120502 10:17:41 InnoDB: Mutexes and rw_locks use GCC atomic builtins 120502 10:17:41 InnoDB: Compressed tables use zlib 1.2.3.4 120502 10:17:41 InnoDB: Initializing buffer pool, size = 128.0M 120502 10:17:41 InnoDB: Completed initialization of buffer pool 120502 10:17:41 InnoDB: highest supported file format is Barracuda. 120502 10:17:41 InnoDB: Waiting for the background threads to start 120502 10:17:42 InnoDB: 1.1.8 started; log sequence number 1595675 120502 10:17:42 InnoDB: Starting shutdown... 120502 10:17:42 InnoDB: Shutdown completed; log sequence number 1595675 start: Job failed to start invoke-rc.d: initscript mysql, action "start" failed. dpkg: error processing mysql-server-5.5 (--configure): subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1 No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already Setting up mysql-client (5.5.22-0ubuntu1) ... dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of mysql-server: mysql-server depends on mysql-server-5.5; however: Package mysql-server-5.5 is not configured yet. dpkg: error processing mysql-server (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already Processing triggers for libc-bin ... ldconfig deferred processing now taking place Errors were encountered while processing: mysql-server-5.5 mysql-server E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) A package failed to install. Trying to recover: Setting up mysql-server-5.5 (5.5.22-0ubuntu1) ... start: Job failed to start invoke-rc.d: initscript mysql, action "start" failed. dpkg: error processing mysql-server-5.5 (--configure): subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1 dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of mysql-server: mysql-server depends on mysql-server-5.5; however: Package mysql-server-5.5 is not configured yet. dpkg: error processing mysql-server (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured Errors were encountered while processing: mysql-server-5.5 mysql-server I am completely lost because I have tried everything on the web to solve my problem (clearning the install, reconfiguring with dpkg, manually editing the my.cnf). I also set up a new clean install but nothing helped. What am I doing wrong? New information: The file /var/log/upstart/mysql.log contains the following error after the installation: AppArmor parser error for /etc/apparmor.d/usr.sbin.mysqld in /etc/apparmor.d/tunables/global at line 17: Could not open 'tunables/proc'

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• Parallelism in .NET – Part 13, Introducing the Task class

  - by Reed

  Once we’ve used a task-based decomposition to decompose a problem, we need a clean abstraction usable to implement the resulting decomposition.  Given that task decomposition is founded upon defining discrete tasks, .NET 4 has introduced a new API for dealing with task related issues, the aptly named Task class. The Task class is a wrapper for a delegate representing a single, discrete task within your decomposition.  We will go into various methods of construction for tasks later, but, when reduced to its fundamentals, an instance of a Task is nothing more than a wrapper around a delegate with some utility functionality added.  In order to fully understand the Task class within the new Task Parallel Library, it is important to realize that a task really is just a delegate – nothing more.  In particular, note that I never mentioned threading or parallelism in my description of a Task.  Although the Task class exists in the new System.Threading.Tasks namespace: Tasks are not directly related to threads or multithreading. Of course, Task instances will typically be used in our implementation of concurrency within an application, but the Task class itself does not provide the concurrency used.  The Task API supports using Tasks in an entirely single threaded, synchronous manner. Tasks are very much like standard delegates.  You can execute a task synchronously via Task.RunSynchronously(), or you can use Task.Start() to schedule a task to run, typically asynchronously.  This is very similar to using delegate.Invoke to execute a delegate synchronously, or using delegate.BeginInvoke to execute it asynchronously. The Task class adds some nice functionality on top of a standard delegate which improves usability in both synchronous and multithreaded environments. The first addition provided by Task is a means of handling cancellation via the new unified cancellation mechanism of .NET 4.  If the wrapped delegate within a Task raises an OperationCanceledException during it’s operation, which is typically generated via calling ThrowIfCancellationRequested on a CancellationToken, or if the CancellationToken used to construct a Task instance is flagged as canceled, the Task’s IsCanceled property will be set to true automatically.  This provides a clean way to determine whether a Task has been canceled, often without requiring specific exception handling. Tasks also provide a clean API which can be used for waiting on a task.  Although the Task class explicitly implements IAsyncResult, Tasks provide a nicer usage model than the traditional .NET Asynchronous Programming Model.  Instead of needing to track an IAsyncResult handle, you can just directly call Task.Wait() to block until a Task has completed.  Overloads exist for providing a timeout, a CancellationToken, or both to prevent waiting indefinitely.  In addition, the Task class provides static methods for waiting on multiple tasks – Task.WaitAll and Task.WaitAny, again with overloads providing time out options.  This provides a very simple, clean API for waiting on single or multiple tasks. Finally, Tasks provide a much nicer model for Exception handling.  If the delegate wrapped within a Task raises an exception, the exception will automatically get wrapped into an AggregateException and exposed via the Task.Exception property.  This exception is stored with the Task directly, and does not tear down the application.  Later, when Task.Wait() (or Task.WaitAll or Task.WaitAny) is called on this task, an AggregateException will be raised at that point if any of the tasks raised an exception.  For example, suppose we have the following code: Task taskOne = new Task( () => { throw new ApplicationException("Random Exception!"); }); Task taskTwo = new Task( () => { throw new ArgumentException("Different exception here"); }); // Start the tasks taskOne.Start(); taskTwo.Start(); try { Task.WaitAll(new[] { taskOne, taskTwo }); } catch (AggregateException e) { Console.WriteLine(e.InnerExceptions.Count); foreach (var inner in e.InnerExceptions) Console.WriteLine(inner.Message); } .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } Here, our routine will print: 2 Different exception here Random Exception! Note that we had two separate tasks, each of which raised two distinctly different types of exceptions.  We can handle this cleanly, with very little code, in a much nicer manner than the Asynchronous Programming API.  We no longer need to handle TargetInvocationException or worry about implementing the Event-based Asynchronous Pattern properly by setting the AsyncCompletedEventArgs.Error property.  Instead, we just raise our exception as normal, and handle AggregateException in a single location in our calling code.

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• Parallelism in .NET – Part 16, Creating Tasks via a TaskFactory

  - by Reed

  The Task class in the Task Parallel Library supplies a large set of features.  However, when creating the task, and assigning it to a TaskScheduler, and starting the Task, there are quite a few steps involved.  This gets even more cumbersome when multiple tasks are involved.  Each task must be constructed, duplicating any options required, then started individually, potentially on a specific scheduler.  At first glance, this makes the new Task class seem like more work than ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem in .NET 3.5. In order to simplify this process, and make Tasks simple to use in simple cases, without sacrificing their power and flexibility, the Task Parallel Library added a new class: TaskFactory. The TaskFactory class is intended to “Provide support for creating and scheduling Task objects.”  Its entire purpose is to simplify development when working with Task instances.  The Task class provides access to the default TaskFactory via the Task.Factory static property.  By default, TaskFactory uses the default TaskScheduler to schedule tasks on a ThreadPool thread.  By using Task.Factory, we can automatically create and start a task in a single “fire and forget” manner, similar to how we did with ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem: Task.Factory.StartNew(() => this.ExecuteBackgroundWork(myData) ); .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } This provides us with the same level of simplicity we had with ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem, but even more power.  For example, we can now easily wait on the task: // Start our task on a background thread var task = Task.Factory.StartNew(() => this.ExecuteBackgroundWork(myData) ); // Do other work on the main thread, // while the task above executes in the background this.ExecuteWorkSynchronously(); // Wait for the background task to finish task.Wait(); TaskFactory simplifies creation and startup of simple background tasks dramatically. In addition to using the default TaskFactory, it’s often useful to construct a custom TaskFactory.  The TaskFactory class includes an entire set of constructors which allow you to specify the default configuration for every Task instance created by that factory.  This is particularly useful when using a custom TaskScheduler.  For example, look at the sample code for starting a task on the UI thread in Part 15: // Given the following, constructed on the UI thread // TaskScheduler uiScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext(); // When inside a background task, we can do string status = GetUpdatedStatus(); (new Task(() => { statusLabel.Text = status; })) .Start(uiScheduler); This is actually quite a bit more complicated than necessary.  When we create the uiScheduler instance, we can use that to construct a TaskFactory that will automatically schedule tasks on the UI thread.  To do that, we’d create the following on our main thread, prior to constructing our background tasks: // Construct a task scheduler from the current SynchronizationContext (UI thread) var uiScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext(); // Construct a new TaskFactory using our UI scheduler var uiTaskFactory = new TaskFactory(uiScheduler); If we do this, when we’re on a background thread, we can use this new TaskFactory to marshal a Task back onto the UI thread.  Our previous code simplifies to: // When inside a background task, we can do string status = GetUpdatedStatus(); // Update our UI uiTaskFactory.StartNew( () => statusLabel.Text = status); Notice how much simpler this becomes!  By taking advantage of the convenience provided by a custom TaskFactory, we can now marshal to set data on the UI thread in a single, clear line of code!

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• 8 Backup Tools Explained for Windows 7 and 8

  - by Chris Hoffman

  Backups on Windows can be confusing. Whether you’re using Windows 7 or 8, you have quite a few integrated backup tools to think about. Windows 8 made quite a few changes, too. You can also use third-party backup software, whether you want to back up to an external drive or back up your files to online storage. We won’t cover third-party tools here — just the ones built into Windows. Backup and Restore on Windows 7 Windows 7 has its own Backup and Restore feature that lets you create backups manually or on a schedule. You’ll find it under Backup and Restore in the Control Panel. The original version of Windows 8 still contained this tool, and named it Windows 7 File Recovery. This allowed former Windows 7 users to restore files from those old Windows 7 backups or keep using the familiar backup tool for a little while. Windows 7 File Recovery was removed in Windows 8.1. System Restore System Restore on both Windows 7 and 8 functions as a sort of automatic system backup feature. It creates backup copies of important system and program files on a schedule or when you perform certain tasks, such as installing a hardware driver. If system files become corrupted or your computer’s software becomes unstable, you can use System Restore to restore your system and program files from a System Restore point. This isn’t a way to back up your personal files. It’s more of a troubleshooting feature that uses backups to restore your system to its previous working state. Previous Versions on Windows 7 Windows 7′s Previous Versions feature allows you to restore older versions of files — or deleted files. These files can come from backups created with Windows 7′s Backup and Restore feature, but they can also come from System Restore points. When Windows 7 creates a System Restore point, it will sometimes contain your personal files. Previous Versions allows you to extract these personal files from restore points. This only applies to Windows 7. On Windows 8, System Restore won’t create backup copies of your personal files. The Previous Versions feature was removed on Windows 8. File History Windows 8 replaced Windows 7′s backup tools with File History, although this feature isn’t enabled by default. File History is designed to be a simple, easy way to create backups of your data files on an external drive or network location. File History replaces both Windows 7′s Backup and Previous Versions features. Windows System Restore won’t create copies of personal files on Windows 8. This means you can’t actually recover older versions of files until you enable File History yourself — it isn’t enabled by default. System Image Backups Windows also allows you to create system image backups. These are backup images of your entire operating system, including your system files, installed programs, and personal files. This feature was included in both Windows 7 and Windows 8, but it was hidden in the preview versions of Windows 8.1. After many user complaints, it was restored and is still available in the final version of Windows 8.1 — click System Image Backup on the File History Control Panel. Storage Space Mirroring Windows 8′s Storage Spaces feature allows you to set up RAID-like features in software. For example, you can use Storage Space to set up two hard disks of the same size in a mirroring configuration. They’ll appear as a single drive in Windows. When you write to this virtual drive, the files will be saved to both physical drives. If one drive fails, your files will still be available on the other drive. This isn’t a good long-term backup solution, but it is a way of ensuring you won’t lose important files if a single drive fails. Microsoft Account Settings Backup Windows 8 and 8.1 allow you to back up a variety of system settings — including personalization, desktop, and input settings. If you’re signing in with a Microsoft account, OneDrive settings backup is enabled automatically. This feature can be controlled under OneDrive > Sync settings in the PC settings app. This feature only backs up a few settings. It’s really more of a way to sync settings between devices. OneDrive Cloud Storage Microsoft hasn’t been talking much about File History since Windows 8 was released. That’s because they want people to use OneDrive instead. OneDrive — formerly known as SkyDrive — was added to the Windows desktop in Windows 8.1. Save your files here and they’ll be stored online tied to your Microsoft account. You can then sign in on any other computer, smartphone, tablet, or even via the web and access your files. Microsoft wants typical PC users “backing up” their files with OneDrive so they’ll be available on any device. You don’t have to worry about all these features. Just choose a backup strategy to ensure your files are safe if your computer’s hard disk fails you. Whether it’s an integrated backup tool or a third-party backup application, be sure to back up your files.

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• 6 Interesting Facts About NASA’s Mars Rover ‘Curiosity’

  - by Gopinath

  Humans quest for exploring the surrounding planets to see whether we can live there or not is taking new shape today. NASA’s Mars probing robot, Curiosity, blasted off today on its 9 months journey to reach Mars and explore it for the possibilities of life there. Scientist says that Curiosity is one most advanced rover ever launched to probe life on other planets. Here is the launch video and some analysis by a news reporter Lets look at the 6 interesting facts about the mission 1. It’s as big as a car Curiosity is the biggest ever rover ever launched by NASA to probe life on outer planets. It’s as big as a car and almost double the size of its predecessor rover Spirit. The length of Curiosity is around 9 feet 10 inches(3 meters), width is 9 feet 1 inch (2.8 meters) and height is 7 feet (2.1 meters). 2. Powered by Plutonium – Lasts 24×7 for 23 months The earlier missions of NASA to explore Mars are powered by Solar power and that hindered capabilities of the rovers to move around when the Sun is hiding. Due to dependency of Sun the earlier rovers were not able to traverse the places where there is no Sun light. Curiosity on the other hand is equipped with a radioisotope power system that generates electricity from the heat emitted by plutonium’s radioactive decay. The plutonium weighs around 10 pounds and can generate power required for operating the rover close to 23 weeks. The best part of the new power system is, Curiosity can roam around in darkness, light and all year around. 3. Rocket powered backpack for a science fiction style landing The Curiosity is so heavy that NASA could not use parachute and balloons to air-drop the rover on the surface of Mars like it’s previous missions. They are trying out a new science fiction style air-dropping mechanism that is similar to sky crane heavy-lift helicopter. The landing of the rover begins first with entry into the Mars atmosphere protected by a heat shield. At about 6 miles to the surface, the heat shield is jettisoned and a parachute is deployed to glide the rover smoothly. When the rover touches 3 miles above the surface, the parachute is jettisoned and the eight motors rocket backpack is used for a smooth and impact free landing as shown in the image. Here is an animation created by NASA on the landing sequence. If you are interested in getting more detailed information about the landing process check this landing sequence picture available on NASA website 4. Equipped with Star Wars style laser gun Hollywood movie directors and novelist always imagined aliens coming to earth with spaceships full of laser guns and blasting the objects which comes on their way. With Curiosity the equations are going to change. It has a powerful laser gun equipped in one of it’s arms to beam laser on rocks to vaporize them. This is not part of any assault mission Curiosity is expected to carry out, the laser gun is will be used to carry out experiments to detect life and understand nature. 5. Most sophisticated laboratory powered by 10 instruments Around 10 state of art instruments are part of Curiosity rover and the these 10 instruments form a most advanced rover based lab ever built by NASA. There are instruments to cut through rocks to examine them and other instruments will search for organic compounds. Mounted cameras can study targets from a distance, arm mounted instruments can study the targets they touch. Microscopic lens attached to the arm can see and magnify tiny objects as tiny as 12.5 micro meters. 6. Rover Carrying 1.24 million names etched on silicon Early June 2009 NASA launched a campaign called “Send Your Name to Mars” and around 1.24 million people registered their names through NASA’s website. All those 1.24 million names are etched on Silicon chips mounted onto Curiosity’s deck. If you had registered your name in the campaign may be your name is going to reach Mars soon. Curiosity On Web If you wish to follow the mission here are few links to help you NASA’s Curiosity Web Page Follow Curiosity on Facebook Follow @MarsCuriosity on Twitter Artistic Gallery Image of Mars Rover Curiosity A printable sheet of Curiosity Mission [pdf] Images credit: NASA This article titled,6 Interesting Facts About NASA’s Mars Rover ‘Curiosity’, was originally published at Tech Dreams. Grab our rss feed or fan us on Facebook to get updates from us.

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• Tweaking a few URL validation settings on ASP.NET v4.0

  - by Carlyle Dacosta

  ASP.NET has a few default settings for URLs out of the box. These can be configured quite easily in the web.config file within the  <system.web>/<httpRuntime> configuration section. Some of these are: <httpRuntime maxUrlLength=”<number here>”. This number should be an integer value (defaults to 260 characters). The value must be greater than or equal to zero, though obviously small values will lead to an un-useable website. This attribute gates the length of the Url without query string. <httpRuntime maxQueryStringLength=”<number here>”. This number should be an integer value (defaults to 2048 characters). The value must be greater than or equal to zero, though obviously small values will lead to an un-useable website. <httpRuntime requestPathInvalidCharacters=”List of characters you need included in ASP.NETs validation checks”. By default the characters are “<,>,*,%,&,:,\,?”. However once can easily change this by setting by modifying web.config. Remember, these characters can be specified in a variety of formats. For example, I want the character ‘!’ to be included in ASP.NETs URL validation logic. So I set the following: <httpRuntime requestPathInvalidCharacters=”<,>,*,%,&,:,\,?,!”. A character could also be specified in its xml encoded form. ‘&lt;;’ would mean the ‘<’ sign). I could specify the ‘!’ in its xml encoded unicode format such as requestPathInvalidCharacters=”<,>,*,%,&,:,\,?,$#x0021;” or I could specify it in its unicode encoded form or in the “<,>,*,%,&,:,\,?,%u0021” format. The following settings can be applied at Root Web.Config level, App Web.config level, Folder level or within a location tag: <location path="some path here"> <system.web> <httpRuntime maxUrlLength="" maxQueryStringLength="" requestPathInvalidChars="" .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } If any of the above settings fail request validation, an Http 400 “Bad Request” HttpException is thrown. These can be easily handled on the Application_Error handler on Global.asax.   Also, a new attribute in <httpRuntime /> called “relaxedUrlToFileSystemMapping” has been added with a default of false. <httpRuntime … relaxedUrlToFileSystemMapping="true|false" /> When the relaxedUrlToFileSystemMapping attribute is set to false inbound Urls still need to be valid NTFS file paths. For example Urls (sans query string) need to be less than 260 characters; no path segment within a Url can use old-style DOS device names (LPT1, COM1, etc…); Urls must be valid Windows file paths. A url like “http://digg.com/http://cnn.com” should work with this attribute set to true (of course a few characters will need to be unblocked by removing them from requestPathInvalidCharacters="" above). Managed configuration for non-NTFS-compliant Urls is determined from the first valid configuration path found when walking up the path segments of the Url. For example, if the request Url is "/foo/bar/baz/<blah>data</blah>", and there is a web.config in the "/foo/bar" directory, then the managed configuration for the request comes from merging the configuration hierarchy to include the web.config from "/foo/bar". The value of the public property HttpRequest.PhysicalPath is set to [physical file path of the application root] + "REQUEST_URL_IS_NOT_A_VALID_FILESYSTEM_PATH". For example, given a request Url like "/foo/bar/baz/<blah>data</blah>", where the application root is "/foo/bar" and the physical file path for that root is "c:\inetpub\wwwroot\foo\bar", then PhysicalPath would be "c:\inetpub\wwwroot\foo\bar\ REQUEST_URL_IS_NOT_A_VALID_FILESYSTEM_PATH". Carl Dacosta ASP.NET QA Team

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