Asus EEE Pad Transformer Quick Review 2

Following on from my original Asus EEE Pad Transformer quick review, I thought I would write another quick one. I hadn't long had the tablet when I did the first one and I have now had it for a sensible amount of time and have used it for what I had planned.

I had planned to use it not only as a browser for home use (for which it is superb), but also as a tool for when I need to work remotely.

My biggest gripe when I first got it was the lag when typing with the keyboard docked and using the browser. Typing with the keyboard in all other applications is fine. It's fine with Polaris Office and it has an excellent response time. I installed Dolphin Browser which is far superior and the gesture action is pretty useful too. The lag wasn't anywhere near as bad and the general usability of the browser (when using the blogger blogging interface for example) was much better. There is still lag, but I put that down to the speed at which the device/browser can process JavaScript. As typing into in non-JS based box is fine and there is no lag.

I also installed a different movie player. The pre-installed one will only play certain types of files - which for the most part is nether use nor ornament! I am currently using MoboPlayer.

The battery lasts really well. With it's current use it lasts around a week. It is left on stand-by all the time. It gets used one day a week for a working day - not constantly, but a reasonable amount and is used adhoc in the evenings for email checking, twitter, etc.

The reality is, that I still really can't pick fault with it. I will be away on Holiday for two weeks soon, so that will be a real good test of it's usability and battery life. Especially as we are likely to get through a 13 episode season of something or other...

How to Export Scheduled Tasks on Windows Server 2003

If you need to export your scheduled tasks from Windows, like I have just needed to, use this from the command prompt:

schtasks /query /FO CSV /V >sched_tasks.csv

This will output to a comma-delimited file with all the tasks in it to the current folder called sched_tasks.csv.

The "SendUsing" Configuration Value is Invalid

I recently moved a VBScript script from one server to another. The new server did not have an SMTP server on it. When I ran the script (which emailed) I got a The "SendUsing" Configuration Value is Invalid error. Having already spent sometime recently using VBScript to email via Gmail, it was an easy fix for me. I specified the server and port and off it went!

Dim objMessage

Set objMessage = CreateObject("CDO.Message")
objMessage.Subject = "MY_SUBJECT"
objMessage.From = "FROM_ADDRESS_SAME_AS_USER_NAME"
objMessage.To = "TO_ADDRESS"
objMessage.TextBody = "MY_MESSAGE"

objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendusing") = 2
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserver") = "IP_OR_NAME_OF_SERVER"
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserverport") = 25
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Update

out = objMessage.Send
Set objMessage = Nothing

CSS Colour Chart

Not being a designer type chappy I often find it hard to work out what colours to use and then what their colour code is. While I was on my Internet travels the other day I found this little gem with a whole load of colour codes on it: http://www.somacon.com/p142.php

While you're at it ColorPic is another sweet little tool, to grab colour that yuu can see on screen.

woff 404 Font Not Found

I noticed recently that a site I work on that uses a woff font was getting a 404 not found error in Chrome. It was also giving a Resource interpreted as Font but transferred with MIME type application/octet-stream. I spent ages hunting around the forums and found no solution to it.

The fact that I was getting a 404 was the oddest thing and made me think that IIS wasn't serving the font correctly (it was being used by the browser none the less). So I went about checking to see what .woff MIME type was set in IIS. The local computer had no MIME Type handling for .woff so I added it (Right-click > Properties > MIME Types... Extension: .woff and Type: application/x-font-woff). That didn't fix it :(

I right-clicked the Default Web Site > Properties > HTTP Headers > MIME Types... and added the new extension there also (Extension: .woff and Type: application/x-font-woff). Reloaded the page and the warning and error had gone - happy days!

Update...
Thanks to the comment below added by RyanonRails, here is an example web.config (http://pastie.org/4081017):

<system.webServer>
    <httpErrors errorMode="Detailed" />
    <staticContent>
      <mimeMap fileExtension=".coffee" mimeType="coffeescript" />
      <mimeMap fileExtension=".woff" mimeType="application/x-font-woff" />
    </staticContent>
  </system.webServer>
</configuration>

How to Share Files on Blogspot / Blogger

I keep needing to find a way of sharing files through Blogspot / Blogger that isn't costly and is dead easy - well I think I've found it - boxify.me. This is a great service, that requires no registration, is free and there is no quota - superb!

All you literally need to do is is click the "Start sharing for free" button and hey presto you're off! By default you get given a crazy link to use, but you can click the "rename" link at the top and choose something more suitable (http://boxify.me/box/techygypo).

So here's a link to my first file: http://uploads.boxify.me/7831/techygypo.png

And here's the file in question

Thank you boxify.me - stunning work!

Quick Review of Asus EEE Pad Transformer

Well, I've not long opened my new Asus EEE Pad Transformer and so far everything is really sweet with it! My major gripe at the moment is the lag between the docked keyboard and the browser - it's shockingly slow!

That aside, the tablet iteself is really nice and the on-sreen keyboard works with no lag :) The docked keyboard randomly makes you go somewhere else on the screen (especially in the browser) and I keep end up typing something in the address bar - well annoying!

I can pretty much second what everybody else has said on their reviews of this device - and honestly - it is really nice. I purchased it to use it as a work tool as well an internet browser. So TeamViewer is on and working a treat on the nice 10.1" screen.

I'll no doubt put more details with how I get on with this as time goes by...but for now, it's play time!

Sending Email using VBScript via Google Apps Mail / GMail

Following on from my previous post Sending Email using ASP.NET via Google Apps Mail / GMail, I have needed to send an email via GMail / Google Apps using VBScript. So here it is...

Dim objMessage

Set objMessage = CreateObject("CDO.Message")
objMessage.Subject = "MY_SUBJECT"
objMessage.From = "FROM_ADDRESS_SAME_AS_USER_NAME"
objMessage.To = "TO_ADDRESS"
objMessage.TextBody = "MY_MESSAGE"

objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendusing") = 2
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserver") = "smtp.gmail.com"
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserverport") = 465
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpauthenticate") = 1
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpusessl") = true
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendusername") = "MY_USER_NAME"
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendpassword") = "MY_PASSWORD"
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Update

out = objMessage.Send
Set objMessage = Nothing

Linux / Unix Commands

Found myself the last few days having to use a lot of Unix commands and have been using this site to help me with commands and syntax: http://www.computerhope.com/unix.htm#04

How To Enumerate / Iterate an Enum

I often find myself needing to iterate/enumerate an enum. It's dead easy, but seem to always forget! What a fool ;)

Anyway, here ya go...

Public Enum MyEnum
    Jim = 0
    Bob = 1
End Enum

For Each e As MyEnum in [Enum].GetValues(GetType(MyEnum))
    Console.Write(String.Concat(e.ToString(), "=", Int32.Parse(e)))
Next

The GetValues method is quite useful as you can also get stuff like the length from it:
[Enum].GetValues(GetType(MyEnum)).Length.

The C# is pretty much the same just that [Enum] has no square brackets around it.

Auto Trimming - Whitespace Removal in SQL Server/MSSQL

I got really angry about this one yesterday as I can't see one possible reason why this "feature" would be required.

If you run this script, the whitespace padded string is also returned along with the unpadded string.

CREATE TABLE #t ([col1] varchar(100))

INSERT INTO #t ([col1]) VALUES ('hello')
INSERT INTO #t ([col1]) VALUES ('hello     ')

SELECT '''' + [col1] + '''', LEN([col1]), DATALENGTH([col1])
FROM #t

SELECT * FROM #t WHERE [col1] = 'hello'
SELECT * FROM #t WHERE [col1] = 'hello     '

DROP TABLE #t

How can this possibly be right? If I want 'hello     ' to be returned, then return 'hello     ' not 'hello'. These are two very different strings!

Peoples arguments are why would want to save that and other such silly statements. My philosophy is, if I can think of it, it will happen! I can think of many cases where it would be beneficial to have the padding - dealing with old systems or external systems over which control is not possible.

Now I know that SQL Server does this stupid thing, I can account for it - but seriously - why?? It's stupid!

Oh and ANSI_PADDING - makes no odds!

Clear / Remove Recent Projects in Visual Studio

For those of you still unlucky enough to be using Visual Studio 6 out there this is how to clear the recent Visual Basic projects from the recent projects list:

1. Run regedit from Start > Run
2. Go to KEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualBasic\6.0\RecentFiles
3. Delete or change the paths as necessary

For more recent versions of Visual Studio, clear the recent project list by doing this.

MSSQL Saving Change is not Permitted (Prevent)

This was a cheeky one I came across today. Where I was getting the following message from SQL Server 2008 in the table designer:

Saving change is not permitted. the changes you have made require the following tables to be dropped and re-created. You have either made changes to a table that cant be re-created or enabled the option Prevent Saving changes that require the table to be re-created.

The solution is to change the setting by using the menu: Tools > Options > Designers, then unchecking the "Prevent saving changes that require table re-creation" box.



 Guessing it's not a problem and more like a feature. Little bit odd, but I can understand why...

Website Availability Monitoring

I was looking for a tool that would easily monitor the availability of a website that I work on. This particular site has a tendency to become unavailable. Usually some kind of network related issue.

Anyway...
After some hunting around I came across www.siteuptime.com. They have a range of packages, but I used the free one as that gave me enough for this site. It's checking every 30 minutes and the reporting seems pretty much spot on. The service will email me if the site becomes unavailable, so hopefully I'll spot it much sooner now!

System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: The permissions granted to user 'IIS APPPOOL\MyUser' are insufficient for performing this operation

I had this error (System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: The permissions granted to user 'IIS APPPOOL\MyUser' are insufficient for performing this operation) and took me a while to work out what to do to fix it. All the references I found  to it were relating to SharePoint.

In my instance I had added a web reference to my application to make use the reporting services (SSRS) web service (http://localhost/ReportServer/ReportExecution2005.asmx). Although it was working locally, it was not working when I deployed it to the dev or live server.

Turns out the account that is used by the reporting services service account needed to be the same as the account that the application pool was using.

So check the service account in the reporting services configuration tool:

Then from within the IIS, change the identity that the application pool is using (right click the pool and choose Advanced Settings...):

FYI, here's the full error message:
System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: The permissions granted to user 'IIS APPPOOL\MyUser' are insufficient for performing this operation. ---> Microsoft.ReportingServices.Diagnostics.Utilities.AccessDeniedException: The permissions granted to user 'IIS APPPOOL\MyUser' are insufficient for performing this operation. at Microsoft.ReportingServices.WebServer.ReportExecution2005Impl.LoadReport(String Report, String HistoryID, ExecutionInfo2& executionInfo) at Microsoft.ReportingServices.WebServer.ReportExecutionService.LoadReport(String Report, String HistoryID, ExecutionInfo& executionInfo)



Remove Importance Markers from GMail

GMail recently introduced the importance marker as part of their priority inbox feature. I accepted the setting to see how it worked. It wasn't for me so I wanted to turn it off. So this is how to do it...

Go to Mail Settings and choose the Priority Inbox tab. Then set the Importance markers option to No markers and click Save - Happy days :)

Compacting a Microsoft Virtual PC (VPC) Hard Disk

Depending on how busy your VPC installation is, it can grow massively beyond the size it really needs to be, so periodically it is very useful to compact it.

So here is an MSDN blog on how to compact a virtual PC image.

Format of the initialization string does not conform to specification starting at index

When I recently moved a site from the dev location to the live location, I got presented with Format of the initialization string does not conform to specification starting at index when trying to make a database connection.


This obviously wasn't happening on the live and the connection string, which was in the Web.Config file, was correct. I was using SQL authentication and the password had both semi-colons (;) and ampersands (&) in it. I wasn't sure which character was causing the problem. As I was able to, I changed the password for the user (removing the ;&). All worked a treat then :)

Test a POP3 Connection (Telnet)

I often find myself needing to be able to check a username and password combination for somebodies email connection (normally because they have forgotten their password - again!). A really quick and easy way to do this is using telnet. Here's the easiest way to do it, from the DOS/command prompt:

> telnet mail.mydomain.com
> user my_user_name
> pass my_password

At this point, if all is good, you will have made a successful connection. Show all messages as a list using:

> list

If you want to see the contents of a specific mail then use:

> retr mail_item_number

If you leave the connection with no activity then it close the connection itself, but preferably use:

> quit

There are some more telnet commands here. Also, if you using an IP address, you may well have to use a port number (usually 110). e.g. 123.123.123.123 110

Could not establish trust relationship for the SSL/TLS secure channel with authority

I recently had this error (Could not establish trust relationship for the SSL/TLS secure channel with authority) when trying to make a remote call from a C# web app. I hunted around and came across this article on thejoyofcode.com.

ServicePointManager.ServerCertificateValidationCallback = new System.Net.Security.RemoteCertificateValidationCallback(
    delegate
    {
        return true;
    }
);

So I used the suggested code to bypass the certificate verification, but got a trust level permission error. In order to get round that I modified the Web.Config file to have the trust level set to Full.

Just for the record, this is a quick and dirty hack while I sort out what the actual problem is ;)