Plus 10 Knowledge

Germ Fog now available

2010-03-04T18:47:00.003-06:00

It's a bug bomb only it kills viruses.

Now all you OCD germ-o-phobs can nuke an entire room in seconds.

http://www.germfog.com

cfftp 500 Illegal PORT range rejected

2009-06-23T15:58:00.004-05:00

Try setting the passive attribute to "yes" where your cfftp action is equal to putFile.

<cfftp action="open" server="ftp.server.com" username="username" password="password" passive="yes" connection="connectionName" >

<cfftp action="putFile" localfile="/var/www/html/#filename#" remotefile="#filename#" passive="yes" transfermode="ascii" timeout="30" connection="connectionName">

ColdFusion CFC WSDL libstdc++

2009-03-05T10:54:00.002-06:00

I chased a problem all morning with missing libraries in Debian running ColdFusion MX. While trying to run a cfc as a web service I kept getting this error:

"coldfusion.jsp.CompilationFailedException: Errors reported by Java compiler: /opt/coldfusionmx7/runtime/bin/jikesw: error while loading shared libraries: libstdc++-libc6.1-1.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory ."

I installed the latest version of libstdc++ and installed libc6-dev but it still didn't work until I tried Keebler's workaround. Props to him.

The end solution was to link the newer library to the old...

"ln -s /usr/lib/libstdc++-libc6.2-2.so.3 /usr/lib/libstdc++-libc6.1-1.so.2"

CFMX 7 running on Debian 4.0

Your answering service is losing you money.

2009-02-01T12:38:00.003-06:00

Your answering service is losing you money. But how would you know?

I've been working for a call tracking company for a while now and I'm amazed at how poor call centers and answering services are. I believe most people assume that since it's the primary job of the answer center to answer the phone that no call would go unanswered. This isn't the case.

I was under the impression that call centers and answering services were buildings full of cubes and people that did nothing but answer calls. Again, not the case.

I've seen a shocking amount of calls go unanswered. Callers that were placed on hold and forgotten. Rude or unacceptable customer service.

Don't assume because you are paying someone to answer your phone that they are doing a good job. Start recording and tracking your incoming calls so you know for sure.

Finding the hostname with CFMX 8

2008-10-02T12:50:00.001-05:00

The Escapist : Video Galleries : Zero Punctuation : Eve Online

2008-09-08T15:37:00.000-05:00

The Escapist : Video Galleries : Zero Punctuation : Eve Online

Dihydrogen monoxide

2008-06-25T16:25:00.001-05:00

Dihydrogen monoxide:

is called "hydroxyl acid", the substance is the major component of acid rain.
contributes to the "greenhouse effect".
may cause severe burns.
contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.
Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:
as an industrial solvent and coolant.
in nuclear power plants.
in the production of styrofoam.
as a fire retardant.
in many forms of cruel animal research.
in the distribution of pesticides. Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical.
as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products.

COX now provides all HD channels to CableCARD customers.

2008-05-02T08:21:00.002-05:00

I received a letter yesterday stating that starting May 1st COX Communications was going to stop screwing their CableCARD customers (i.e. me since I use a TiVo) out of a handful of HD channels. Turns out they weren't lying. Way to do the right thing COX.

Vote on the new Kansas license plate.

2008-04-02T16:31:00.003-05:00

I wish I could see the 106 entries that didn't make the cut. Can we vote for a recount?

http://www.ksrevenue.org/apps/vote.aspx

The ultimate peep show.

2008-03-10T13:46:00.002-05:00

Yummy.

New robocopy flag in vista

2008-02-27T13:39:00.001-06:00

/dcopy:t will copy directory dates and times data along with the files. finally.

ColdFusion CFLDAP - Display images stored in Microsoft Active Directory

2008-02-12T09:01:00.000-06:00

Not too hard once I found out how MS stores the data in the photoJpeg field of Active Directory.

<cfscript>
ldapPhoto = toString(ldap.jpegPhoto);
ldapPhoto = binaryDecode(ldapPhoto,"base64");
</cfscript>

</cfsilent><cfcontent type="image/jpeg" variable="#ldapPhoto#">

Why I shop online. Why local stores fail.

2008-02-11T09:28:00.000-06:00

So I finally decided to replace my old bedroom TV. After a weeks worth of research and reading product reviews I decided on the model and headed out to the local Best Buy knowing I had plenty of time to meet my sister and her family for lunch. I would have bought it online and saved hundreds of dollars, but I wanted the extended service in case something should fail. Plus it's easier to return to a local store, than to have to figure out how to ship it back.

I was happy to see that they had the model I wanted on the shelf, and so I waited watching the other people get asked if they needed any assistance. And I waited...and waited. Apparently I didn't have the appearance of a sucker or a buyer. I was standing in front of a big wall of TVs out in the open. I know they saw me.

After about 45 minutes of standing there someone asks me if I've been helped yet. This poor kid looks like he's just awoke from his nap in the break room. Clearly he's the bottom of the sales food chain. The one that gets to help the people no one else wants to help. His lucky day. Only problem with this kid is that he's full of bad info. I always ask a few loaded questions. Usually some really obscure spec or feature. I don't expect these guys to know every feature of the 50 TV models that they have to sell. Really I'm looking for them to admit if they don't know something. I'm fine with them not knowing. Just don't BS me. This kid's answer was yes to everything he wasn't sure about.

I pay for my items and ask my sales kid if someone can help me load it. He says "sure, there are people up front that will help you." So I head to the front of the store. He was right. I spotted three employees standing by the "customer service" area next the shopping carts. I head their direction, they look at me, then they turn and walk off. I'm not sure I've ever had more of a WTF moment in my life. Now I'm 0/2 in customer service confidence. I thought about getting a manager and asking if they make a ton of money by giving half-ass customer service, but decided on just leaving while I was still calm.

I meet my sister and her family for lunch at about 2pm, well after the lunch rush. For the most part it was fine. I've had worse, the waiter forgot half of what we ordered. Which is pretty sad considering it was only three adults and a kid. Surprisingly I don't get mad at restaurants anymore, again this is the kind of half-ass service I expect. I know it's not an easy job and I never yell or make a big scene. I even leave a tip hoping good karma will land me some better service in the future. 0/3 for customer service so far.

I'm not even going to elaborate on my call to the cable company that day. Let's just say more than once it's ended with me hanging up on them in the middle of some excuse of how they can't do what I need because the FCC mandates them to rip me off. Or at least that's what I've gathered from the parts I've heard. I could be wrong.

It seems like customer service is in the toilet. Which is why I shop mostly online. I don't have to deal with people that don't care about their jobs. Don't like where you work? Go find a job you like. Don't want to work? Yeah, no one does. Get over it. And make sure you don't get a job in customer service or sales.

On a positive note my friends over at TeleCapture have a call tracking tool for managers and business owners to help identify the bad apples. I hope they invent a device that shocks sales and customer service people every time they act like asshats.

Bring it!

2008-02-08T08:57:00.001-06:00

HDTV screen the same size as your old 4:3 TV

2008-02-01T10:48:00.000-06:00

My old 27" TV is about to die. I came across this site while trying to figure out what size of TV to replace it with.

To find the HDTV screen size (diagonal measure) that gives the same height as your old television, take the screen size of the old TV and multiply by 1.22. So if you want an HDTV with a screen that's the same height as your old 34-inch TV, for example, the chart below shows that you need to buy an HDTV with a 42-inch screen, and that they will both have a height of 20.4 inches.

More size conversions on the screenmath.com website.

YouTube settings

2008-01-24T10:51:00.001-06:00

Don't want the menu to show up when a clip is done playing? Set the url param to "&rel=0".

Want your movie clip to auto play? Set the url param to "&autoplay=1".

Anti-Santa: Tell someone about it.

2007-12-20T11:43:00.000-06:00

Anti-Santa: Tell someone about it.

PNG transparency for MSIE 6

2007-12-18T10:50:00.000-06:00

I ran into an issue last week with PNG and alpha transparency. It seems that most everything you read says that IE 6 supports PNG transparency with an easy hack. Used it, worked great ... so I thought.

What the majority of the articles don't spell out is that IE 6 only supports alpha transparency in PNG-32 format. Which unfortunately creates much larger file sizes as compared to PNG-8. :(

IE 7 however will display alpha transparency correctly in PNG-8 like the other popular browsers.

The sad fact is that around 30% of people using the internet are still on IE 6 as of this post. C'mon people upgrade your Internet Explorer browsers already. That or switch to Firefox, it's much faster anyway.

Firefox scroll bar aggravation

2007-12-04T12:30:00.000-06:00

Fixed width centered layouts jump around in Firefox if the content scrolls on one page and not on another.

html {overflow-y: scroll;} FTW.

Gov't wants to decide who can be a Cherokee

2007-10-23T08:46:00.000-05:00

In a nutshell, the Cherokee Nation passed a tribal law that said you had to be able to prove citizenship (according to the Dawes Roll), but the US Gov't sees that as racist against Black people and so they want to 'sever relations' with the tribe. Then out of the other side of their mouths they say that tribes will be prosecuted for harboring illegal aliens if they grant tribal citizenship to Mexicans.

Please urge your congressmen to pull their heads out of their asses. http://capwiz.com/cherokee/issues/alert/?alertid=10085201

Microsoft Access 2007 MS_WSSTemplateID bug

2007-08-03T08:47:00.000-05:00

Strange error when trying to use a subform inside an Access form to the effect of:

SELECT*,sql_variant_property(value,'basetype') AS type FROM
::fn-listextendedproperty(N'MS_WSSTemplateID',N'user,N'dbo',N'table,N'tblCas
eInfo',NULL,NULL)

FIX:
Try to minimize the ribbon.
If the ribbon is minimized Access12 doesn't send the bugged query. Makes no sense, but works.

Awstats stopped updating

2007-07-12T14:44:00.000-05:00

Install Geo::IP Perl Module and Install dos2unix on Debian linux

DOS text files traditionally have carriage return and line feed pairs as their newline characters, while Unix text files have the line feed as their newline character. We often find myself needing to ‘clean-up’ some files saved with Win/DOS characters, and this can be done very easy with dos2unix. While RedHat based Linux distributions will traditionally include these small utils by default, on Debian we have to install them if needed.

The file logresolvemerge.pl included in the awstats package from Debian, needs cleaning up as showed by the error:

/usr/share/doc/awstats/examples/logresolvemerge.pl -bash: /usr/share/doc/awstats/examples/logresolvemerge.pl:

/usr/bin/perl^M: bad interpreter: No such file or directory

The dos2unix and corresponding unix2dos, are found in the tofrodos Debian package, and to install the package just type:

#apt-get install tofrodos

Once we have dos2unix installed, I can use it to clean up very easy any file that needs that:

dos2unix logresolvemerge.pl

and the offending DOS characters are gone.

Gmail search tip (spam, deleted items)

2007-06-05T14:21:00.001-05:00

You can search specific labels by using "label:" or for mails in trash with "in:trash". Actually, "is:", "in:" and "label:" all mean the same thing so "is:spam" "in:spam" and "label:spam" will return identical results. They work for labeled email, email statuses (read, starred) and for spam and trash. To search every single email use "in:anywhere". By default Gmail won't search deleted emails and emails marked spam.

TinyMCE:Configuration

2007-05-30T13:20:00.000-05:00

TinyMCE:Configuration - Moxiecode Documentation Wiki

TinyMCE converts an html form into a wysiwyg editor.

http:BL

2007-04-25T15:19:00.000-05:00

http:BL Project Honey Pot a service that allows you to use the data generated by Project Honey Pot in order to keep malicious web robots off your website.

Comment spamming bot blacklist (apache 2 mod).

K9 Web Protection - Free Internet Filter and Parental Control Software

2007-04-16T14:00:00.000-05:00

K9 Web Protection - Free Internet Filter and Parental Control Software

Adobe - TechNote : ColdFusion MX 7.0.1 and 7.0.2: Hot fix available for Apache 2.2 support

2007-04-11T18:02:00.000-05:00

Adobe - TechNote : ColdFusion MX 7.0.1 and 7.0.2: Hot fix available for Apache 2.2 support

What a PITA.

Joomla!

2007-04-10T08:41:00.000-05:00

Joomla! is one of the most powerful Open Source Content Management Systems on the planet. It is used all over the world for everything from simple websites to complex corporate applications. Joomla! is easy to install, simple to manage, and reliable.

Linode.com Discussion :: View topic - Upgrade: 100% Resource Increase!

2007-04-05T14:29:00.000-05:00

Linode doubles account sizes for free.

POP gmail for domains.

2007-02-27T12:41:00.000-06:00

It is possible to POP domain email hosted by google with another gmail.com account by using pop.googlemail.com as the server name.

Extending root level Application.cfc files

2007-02-16T09:48:00.000-06:00

<cfcomponent extends="/.Application">
<cfset this.name="sub_application_name">
... methods ...
... methods ...
</cfcomponent>

That will force ColdFusion to look for the root Application.cfc file and retain your session management.

Since application behavoir starts in the local folder; if you use "Application" without the /. the code will fail saying something about the component cannot extend itself.

The ethanol scam

2007-02-06T10:52:00.000-06:00

Here are some things you should know about ethanol.

30% WORSE average gas mileage with e85 than 100% gasoline. Yet you don't pay 30% less.
Ethanol has a higher octane rating but this doesn't improve gas mileage unless your engine is knocking.
Since 1978, ethanol tax exemptions have cost taxpayers more than $11 billion.
A gallon of gasoline has about 125,000 BTUs of energy, while a gallon of ethanol contains about 84,000 BTUs, meaning that a gallon of ethanol contains about two-thirds as much energy as a gallon of gasoline.
It takes around 98,000 BTUs to create a gallon of ethanol, 22,000 BTUs for a gallon of gas. The ethanol industry claims that equipment will be more efficient in the future with modernized ethanol plants, but that will only get them slightly over a 1:1 ratio.
You may be getting short changed if your state doesn't require pumps to be labeled that they contain 10% ethanol (aka gasohol.)

Let's say you drive 20,000 miles per year in a vehicle that gets 20 miles to the gallon at $2 per gallon of 100% gasoline. Going by the ethanol price difference at the gas station down the street our example equates to $1.68 per gallon for e85. $0.32 less per gallon is a great deal right? Wrong.

1000 gallons = $2000 you would have paid at the pump for 100% gasoline. $166 per month.
1400 gallons = $2352 you will have to pay for e85. $196 per month.
You will have saved 21 barrels of oil and used 6700 bushels (375,000 lbs.) of corn.

Bottom line is that it costs more for gas, raises taxes and wastes energy. I totally support alternative fuels, but not if they are worse than oil.

Reference Articles:

Miranda IM - Home of the Miranda IM client. Smaller, Faster, Easier

2007-01-10T13:51:00.000-06:00

Miranda IM - Home of the Miranda IM client. Smaller, Faster, Easier

Simple ZIP/Postal code validation

2006-12-19T10:31:00.000-06:00

Simple javascript function to validate 5 digit US ZIP Code and Canadian Postal code format.

US ZIP Codes in the format "NNNNN".
Canadian Postal Codes in the format "LNL NLN".

Returns true if valid, false if not. This example needs the id of the ZIP/Postal Code field to be named "zipcode".

function validZip() {
   var zip = document.getElementById('zipcode').value;
   var zipRegExp = /(^\d{5}$)|(^\D{1}\d{1}\D{1}\s\d{1}\D{1}\d{1}$)/;
   return zipRegExp.test(zip);
}

Filtering directories from cfdirectory in ColdFusion

2006-10-03T09:18:00.000-05:00

The examples tell you just to loop over the query returned by cfdirectory but it is much faster to do a subquery and use it instead.

<cfdirectory action="list" directory="C:\" name="treebase" recurse="yes">

<cfquery dbtype="query" name="treebaseFiltered">
SELECT Name, Directory
FROM treebase
WHERE Type = 'Dir'
</cfquery>

Does anyone check content before posting it anymore?

2006-09-26T11:50:00.000-05:00

Here we have a large company website, a tutorial on embedding swf files into browsers, and a guy with a t-shirt with two unicorns getting it on. Though not completely unrelated since the page is about embedding objects.

Adobe - Developer Center : JavaScript Flash Player Detection and Embedding with SWFObject

iTunes 7.0.0.70 and Remote Desktop

2006-09-20T11:02:00.000-05:00

iTunes 7 crashes with an error "0x666d743f" when using Remote Desktop on Windows XP.

The easy workaround I have found is to disable the sounds in the Remote Desktop settings before connecting. Apparently there are some other reported driver issues with this version of iTunes as well.

Speedtest.net

2006-08-15T11:21:00.000-05:00

Check this out. It's a slick interface for checking your internet connetion speeds.

Speedtest.net

Tired of prying eyes at work?

2006-08-09T10:31:00.000-05:00

Some of you might find this app useful.

read more | digg story

U�ba - Suspended Honda F1 Car

2006-07-31T16:53:00.000-05:00

Suspended Honda F1 Car

Neat stuff.

Orbit Gum - Snoop Dogg gets a Good Clean Feeling

2006-07-14T12:05:00.000-05:00

Orbit Gum - Snoop Dogg gets a Good Clean Feeling

Make snoop call your friends!

Watch the World Cup in ASCII

2006-06-14T20:52:00.000-05:00

Watch the World Cup in ASCII

Simply fire up a command prompt and type “telnet ascii-wm.net 2006” and you’ll find a live “video” stream from 10 minutes before kick-off (or should that be boot-up?).
Clearly this is what the internet was invented for! We look forward to a version of Wimbledon that resembles Pong.

ColdfusionMX7 on Fedora Core 4

2006-06-12T09:57:00.000-05:00

First this is insane, and many you you will rightfully say I am out of my mind for suggesting this a solution to installing ColdfusionMX7 on a Fedora Core 4 box, but nevertheless its the solution that seemed to work for me.

Here we go.

I'm assuming that you have installed FC4 with the apache web server from the FC4 distro and then have run yum update to update your server before moving forward. So if you haven't done that...do so now.

Once your all up to date and you can start and stop apache succesfully (which should work out of the box) then get the CFMX7 install binary and run it.

Accept all the defaults and go ahead and configure coldfusion but don't tell it to use apache. Have it install it's built in web server.

Before you do what the end of the install script says to do...do this.

First insure that your local hosts file is setup correctly. If CF can't access things via localhost it gets really confused. I tell you this because I host several virtual sites on my web server and had already set up interfaces for them and things went haywire until I corrected the hosts file.

Go ahead and start the coldfuison server, tail the /opt/coldfusionmx7/logs/cfserver.log file to ensure that there weren't any error's starting the coldfusion server. Go ahead and login to the administrator website and make sure everything looks good.

once that's done edit the /opt/coldfusionmx7/runtime/servers/coldfusion/SERVER-INF/jrun.xml file.

-Go to the section labeld "This is the build in Jrun Web Server
-Set the "deactivated" section to "true"
-Go to the section that starts out "This service is for communicating with native (IIS, Apache..
-Set the "deactivated section to "false"

-Restart Coldfusion and make sure there are no errors.

-Start apache with service httpd start

now both CF and apache should be running but not working together yet. This is more just an exercise to show that both can be started before integrating them.

next use this command to run the cf connector on apache.

from the /opt/coldfusionmx7/runtime/bin/ directory
issue:

./wsconfig -ws apache -dir /etc/httpd/conf -bin /usr/sbin/httpd -script /etc/init.d/httpd -coldfusion

It should give you and error when it tries do restart the apache server. and typically speaking issuing a

service httpd start or restart

should fail with NO ERROR MESSAGES. None in the log files and none from the console. This is were I was totally stumped.

If you edit the /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf file it should look like this for the connector information:

# JRun Settings
LoadModule jrun_module "/opt/coldfusionmx7/runtime/lib/wsconfig/1/mod_jrun20.so"

JRunConfig Verbose false
JRunConfig Apialloc false
JRunConfig Ssl false
JRunConfig Ignoresuffixmap false
JRunConfig Serverstore "/opt/coldfusionmx7/runtime/lib/wsconfig/1/jrunserver.store" JRunConfig Bootstrap 127.0.0.1:51011
#JRunConfig Errorurl optionally redirect to this URL on errors
AddHandler jrun-handler .cfm .cfc .cfml .jsp .jws

This is where the craziness starts...

-Change the selinux settings to start running in permissive mode.

/etc/sysconfig/selinux

Next REBOOT THE SERVER.

I know that sounds insane and I've never never never had to reboot a linux box after installing a piece of software...but unless you reboot the server...apache never tells you what the errors are. Once you reboot the server either apache will just start and you'll be all good...OR it will give you an error about permisions. If it does...it's a SELinux problem...just do a google on the error and you'll see how to use chcon to fix the security context.

If things still aren't working right...do a netstat -a and insure that port's 2920 and 51011 are being listened on. if they aren't then there is something wrong with cf.

Anyway...that's my experience...I only wish i had rebooted the server once apache didn't return errors upon failing sooner. I hope this helps...I have not verified this information in any way...it's just what it took for me to get it working in my environment.

Cheers

Temperature Data Archive

2006-05-05T10:42:00.000-05:00

This site contains files of daily average temperatures for 157 U.S. and 167 international cities. The files are updated on a regular basis and contain data from January 1, 1995 to present.

Temperature Data Archive

Retro Encabulator - Google Video

2006-05-04T09:24:00.000-05:00

Retro Encabulator - Google Video

Inside Scientology/Dianetics

2006-03-23T14:32:00.000-06:00

After watching the South Park "trapped in the closet" episode I remembered I saved this link a while back. Inside Scientology/Dianetics

Macromedia - APSB06-03: Flash Player Update to Address Security Vulnerabilities

2006-03-22T14:49:00.000-06:00

Adobe recommends all Flash Player 8.0.22.0 and earlier users upgrade to the new version 8.0.24.0, which can be downloaded from the Player Download Center. For customers that cannot upgrade to Flash Player 8, please refer to the Flash Player 7 update TechNote.

2x12ft GPS Wall Clock

2006-03-20T12:14:00.000-06:00

galleon.tv - Home

2006-03-17T16:39:00.000-06:00

Galleon is a free open source media server for TiVo which allows you to enjoy many kinds of content and interactive applications right on your TV. The server runs on your home computer and organizes your media collection so that they can be viewed on your home network. Galleon also brings Internet content and applications to your TV.

In2TV - now you can watch "V" on demand.

2006-03-15T13:57:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure if it has every old episode of "V", but just the fact that it has any of them is pretty freakin sweet.

http://television.aol.com/in2tv/v_tv

You have to install some b.s. aol plugin that will probably root-kit your computer. But it's worth it. Maybe. It probably means it's only going to work on IE 6, but I'm too lazy to test it.

Awstats log file config for Apache 2

2006-03-08T20:44:00.000-06:00

LogFormat="%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %b \"%{Referer}i\" \"%{User-Agent}i\""

This will allow the OS and browser lists in awstats to work with Apache 2 log files.

ColdFusion 7.x Installation on Debian Sarge (3.1r1) Linux | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials

2006-02-23T10:36:00.000-06:00

This is a great install guide for installing coldFusionMX 7 on Debian.

Take the Beef Quiz.

2006-02-13T13:13:00.000-06:00

I normally don't post projects I'm working on, but if you score 100% on this quiz you can get a $4 off coupon on some quality beef. You may even learn something.

For those of you that live in areas that sell Sterling Silver. Take the Beef Quiz.

For those of you that live in areas that sell AngusPride. Take the Angus Quiz.

You can take it more than once. I haven't seen anyone get them all right the first time. Hell it even tells you the answers if you get them wrong.

Four Pontiac Grand Am 16" factory 3 spoke rims wheels

2006-02-01T09:31:00.000-06:00

Google Base: Four Pontiac Grand Am 16" factory 3 spoke rims wheels

I have four factory 3-spoke rims from a 1997 Pontiac Grand Am that have been in storage for years. There are tires on the rims and still have a little tread life left. These rims are in great shape.

Asking $300 for all four if you come and get them. They are selling for $100 a piece on eBay plus shipping.

Top 10 Chuck Norris Facts

2006-01-23T11:35:00.000-06:00

Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried. Ever.
Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.
The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.
If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can't see Chuck Norris, you may be only seconds away from death.
Chuck Norris has counted to infinity. Twice.
Chuck Norris does not hunt because the word hunting implies the probability of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing.
Chuck Norris' blood type is AK+. Ass-Kicking Positive. It is compatible only with heavy construction equipment, tanks, and fighter jets.
Chuck Norris is 1/8th Cherokee. This has nothing to do with ancestry, the man ate a fucking Indian.
In fine print on the last page of the Guinness Book of World Records it notes that all world records are held by Chuck Norris, and those listed in the book are simply the closest anyone else has ever gotten.

Bonsai Kitten: Dedicated to preserving the long lost art of body modification.

2006-01-16T11:09:00.000-06:00

Aww! Who wouldn't want a kitty in a box? Haha, this is getting passed around again so I thought I'd post it to cut down on the email from animal rights activits.

Snopes Link

read more | digg story

JavaScript + CSS = Nice Picture Display

2006-01-10T09:16:00.000-06:00

Nice piece of JavaScript and CSS to display a picture in response to a click on a thumbnail. More attractive than just popping up a window or loading the picture raw in the browser. Instead the whole page is shaded down and the image is loaded in the center of the page.

read more | digg story

Hi-res version of Falling Sand Java Game

2006-01-05T10:35:00.000-06:00

Highly addictive Zen-Garden-like game where you control flow of sand, water, salt, and oil by drawing walls, plants, sprouts, cera (wax).

read more | digg story

Elmo Asks 'Who Wants to Die?'

2006-01-03T10:52:00.000-06:00

Use the toilet or elmo will kill you!

read more | digg story

CFMX 7 Verity Error: com. verity. organize. WorkSpaceException

2005-12-20T10:14:00.000-06:00

When creating collections in ColdFusion MX 7 via the Administrator or code, you might encounter the following error:

Unable to create collection {collection name}.
An error occurred while performing an operation in the Search Engine library.
Error opening the collection: com.verity.organize.WorkSpaceException: Path not found [VdkError_PathNotFound]. (-104)
The Verity collection directory tree contains a subdirectory called ws to act as a work space during collection creation. When that directory starts to accumulate directories and files, Verity may report this WorkSpaceException.

The work space directory on a "Server Configuration" installation would be

$CFHOME\verity\Data\services\ColdFusionK2_indexserver1\ws\ whereas if Verity was installed in J2EE configuration on WebSphere on Windows for example the Verity work space directory would be {driveletter}\ColdFusionSearchService\Data\services\ColdFusionK2_indexserver1\ws\ where the Verity bits were laid down in the ColdFusionSearchService directory as a sub-installation routine.

To resolve the exception and create Verity collections again, stop the ColdFusion MX 7 Search Service, remove all the contents of the ws/ directory, then start the Search Service.

Some Great CSS Tips

2005-12-15T16:45:00.000-06:00

An ongoing collection of various CSS tips, experiments and techniques.

read more | digg story

OpenVPN

2005-12-10T09:36:00.000-06:00

OpenVPN is a full-featured SSL VPN solution which can accomodate a wide range of configurations, including remote access, site-to-site VPNs, WiFi security, and enterprise-scale remote access solutions with load balancing, failover, and fine-grained access-controls. Works on Linux and Windows

read more | digg story

The Search Engine Experiment: Who Really Has The Best Results?

2005-11-20T13:53:00.000-06:00

A public experiment discovering which of the top three search engines (Google, Yahoo, or MSN) really offers the best results. By taking the test you also find out which engine you personally prefer (and it's a blind test, so prejudice won't effect the outcome).

read more | digg story

CableCARDs for PC's in '06

2005-11-16T21:20:00.001-06:00

The real question is how long is it going to be before the DRM is hacked out of this thing? Press release as follows...

REDMOND, Wash. and LOUISVILLE, Colo., Nov. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. and Cable Television Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs(R)) today announced they have reached an agreement that will allow Microsoft and PC manufacturers to bring to market digital-cable-ready Windows(R) Media Center-based PCs in the holiday 2006 time frame.

These Media Center PCs, capable of supporting a CableCARD(TM) module, will allow consumers to enjoy one-way cable programming, including premium high-definition cable content, on their personal computer and throughout the home on compliant network-connected devices, such as Xbox 360(TM), while protecting cable operators' investments in high-value content in a digital environment. Microsoft is working closely with CableLabs to document final approval of Windows Media(R) Digital Rights Management (DRM) as a content protection technology for OpenCable(TM) products that receive one-way cable content under the terms of this agreement.

"This agreement is an important milestone for our customers who want access to high-definition digital cable content on their PCs and a major step toward enabling a solution for the delivery of that content," said Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of the Windows eHome Division at Microsoft.

"The cable industry is very interested in having the PC serve as another means to allow consumers to enjoy cable programming," said Richard R. Green, president and CEO of CableLabs. "By working with Microsoft and the IT industry, we have come up with a solution to enable consumers to enjoy the wide range of entertainment options they want."

"This agreement carefully balances the need to preserve the flexibility of the personal computer for consumers with the need for cable operators to be confident that the hardware and software shipped with compliant Media Center PCs will function like a CableCARD-enabled digital television," said Glenn Britt, chairman of CableLabs and chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable.

The agreement is the culmination of more than two years of extensive evaluation and technical reviews performed by the two entities under the CableLabs OpenCable process to develop specifications and test suites for the new solution.

The specified OpenCable architecture allows for multiple DRM systems to be used in the device and ensures content providers of protected delivery of content to the PC. Microsoft(R) Windows Media Digital Rights Management is the first major DRM system to complete the due diligence necessary for approval by CableLabs.

The OpenCable project will continue to play an important role as the new agreement moves forward, allowing the cable industry to work closely with the consumer electronics and IT industries to innovate rapidly on the new specifications developed by Microsoft and CableLabs.

CableLabs will host interoperability events to enable vendors working on products based on these specifications to test products in CableLabs facilities and conduct more formalized certification testing. More information about the OpenCable project is available at http://www.opencable.com .

Media Center PCs deliver advanced computing and easy-to-use integrated digital entertainment experiences. To date, Microsoft has sold more than 4 million Windows XP Media Center Edition licenses, and more than 130 PC manufacturers are offering Media Center PCs around the world. The cable industry supports more than 370 models of digital televisions manufactured by 22 companies that display one-way cable content via CableCARDs.

About CableLabs

Founded in 1988 by members of the cable television industry, Cable Television Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs) is a non-profit research and development consortium that is dedicated to pursuing new cable telecommunications technologies and to helping its cable operator members integrate those technical advancements into their business objectives.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Night of the Nixie (clock) - Attack Of The Case

2005-11-14T23:43:00.000-06:00

You know. These case has turned out to be the toughest part. I almost gave up.

If you seach Ebay and Google long enough, you can find all product ever made.

BEHOLD, the Nixie Case:

http://store.djhardwares.com/odklkrcaho701.html

My name is Klaus. I am the BossMaster. All your concept are belong to me.

Google Analytics now live

2005-11-14T09:29:00.000-06:00

Google is offering Urchin website analysis tool for free now.

read more | digg story

If you're happy and you know it, WATCH THREADS!

2005-11-13T17:08:00.000-06:00

A bit dated perhaps (ColdWar Doomsday Era), but still effectively chilling in its delivery of the ultimate nuclear holocaust.

I stumbled across this movie while looking for the 80's TV Show The Day After. Someone made a comment that Threads made The Day After look weak, so I had to check it out. I don't want to give anything away, but this movie is awesome. I don't think there is a threat of total world destruction like this, but a global pandemic or biological attack could probably do the same.

As of late, I have had a knack for selecting movies with abnormal endings, and this one fits the bill. Set in Sheffield, England, the movie follows a few characters through the trials and tribulations of GLOBAL THERMAL NUCLEAR WAR. It is, without a doubt, one of the most depressing films I have ever seen. The Science Film-type narrations add to the effect.

Like I said, I don't want to give anything away, but if you watch the movie, pay attention to the manner in which the media is controlled and handles the whole crises.

Cheers!

-K

Download fonts | dafont.com

2005-11-11T21:45:00.000-06:00

Download fonts | dafont.com

BBC Spooks

2005-11-11T21:20:00.000-06:00

Just caught the final episode of Season 4. Unbelievable. Spooks has to be the only show that kills off every character without wrecking the whole lot. If you haven't seen it, you should. It's even chick-friendly.

-K

Night of The Nixie (clock) - Part 1

2005-11-11T19:13:00.000-06:00

So you want to make a cool Nixie clock but you have no skills? Me too, me neither.

Here is what I have some up with so far....

The best logic board/processor is from http://www.tubehobby.com. They sell it in both kit and assembled form. Since I have no solder skills to speak of, the assembled kit will do.

Now most GEEKOIDS will disagree (because they have yet to reach my level), but THERE IS NO GLORY IN THE BACK OFFICE. Maybe I will explain this in some future post, but the important thing to remember here is that 90% of the time/energy on this project should be making it LOOK COOL. No one really wants a PCB with some wires hanging off of it sitting on their desk. On with the show....

We need a case: http://www.hammondmfg.com/dwg16Steel.htm. There. I just saved you 4 hours of Googling. By they way, the technical term for these cases are Project Boxes. Duh! Why didn't that immediately come to my mind??

How about a power supply. No big deal, right? Wrong! http://www.rpelectronics.com/

What about that GPS Receiver with the RS-232 interface. Well, it turns out that the RS-232 units are not nearly as prevalent as the PS/2 or USB models. They best I found is a Globasat BR-304. http://www.globalsat.com.tw/English/products_detail.php?main_id=21&p_id=83. All others seem to require a cable kit which adds $$$$. Avoid Garmin.

Ok, so the core is done. Cut out the case to fit the boards in, etc. You will need to extend the 40pin plugs with a cable. These IDE Extension cables are expensive. You should make your own to save money, but here it is:
http://www.stonewallcable.com/product.asp?dept%5Fid=122&pf%5Fid=IDEMM+++++++++++++++

To add some flare to the project, some old school meter will due to trick. Try this search: http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&shortcut=0&from=R41&query=dc+volt+meter&category0=
Look for the old looking ones (round). Pay attention to the scale of the gauge. You don't want to hook up a 1-300 volt gauge on 12 volts. That would be boring. Attaching a 1-200 volt dc voltmeter to the last seconds digit will yield a pendulum effect. Add another measuring the input voltage (12) and maybe the amperage (1).

Some cool switches are required. Check ebay. For the buttons one and two, they need to me Momentary Switches.

Ok, so all of the gauges and such are on. You need some cool graphics. http://www.papilio.com/inkjet%20waterslide%20decal%20transfer%20paper%20media.html
Print some stuff and the put the decals on.

Well. That is as far as this project plan has gone. Should have some pics and such in the next 2 weeks.

-K

DVP 642 Divx Fix

2005-11-11T19:10:00.000-06:00

Ok, if you are watching some 'homemade' videos on your Phillips DVP 642 that are encoded in Divx and the video is all choppy and pixelated, hit the system menu on the remote and then exit. The video should be fine.

This was originally discovered by Dr. K, but I am posting in his lazy absence.

-K

New Linksys Wireless-G IP phone

2005-11-10T11:35:00.000-06:00

"A new Linksys Wireless-G IP phone WIP300 has appeared to the public on the FCC pages. It will allow you to make phone calls using your braodband connection whether your at home, in the office or a public hotspot."

read more | digg story

AJAX PHPMyAdmin Database Manager Alternative

2005-11-09T16:13:00.000-06:00

A single-page solution for exploring and editing databases from a browser. Edit data just like you would in a desktop application, without submit buttons or page refreshes.

read more | digg story

Only 37 out of 836099 gamers have 2 GB RAM or more

2005-11-07T10:02:00.000-06:00

Valve Hardware survey results page. 47.77% AMD, 52.22% Intel Processors. 41.31% of gamers have under 512MB RAM. Kinda interesting to see how many low end "gaming" systems out there being used to play the Half Life family of games.

read more | digg story

My Myspace

2005-11-04T08:45:00.000-06:00

I've been playing with this for a couple days. It's kind of fun. Add me as a friend!

Check me out!

Zion Software : JBuddy IM Developer Toolkits

2005-10-17T16:51:00.000-05:00

CFMX 7 Gateway to AIM, MSN and Yahoo instant message clients.

Security consultant convicted of typing ../../../ into URL!

2005-10-12T11:44:00.000-05:00

This poor guy has actually been convicted of hacking a site he was just checking out because he suspected it of being a phishing site. All he did was type ../../../ into the url.. what is the world coming to?

read more | digg story

UFO sightings using Google Maps

2005-10-11T14:51:00.000-05:00

UFO Maps overlays Google maps of the US with sightings data from the National UFO Reporting Center.

read more | digg story

Call Level 3 - they're the ones that broke the Internet

2005-10-07T09:14:00.000-05:00

If you can't connect to half the 'net, it's because Level 3 and Cogent are having a hissy spat over who's carrying more traffic, and Level 3 has responded by blocking access to their backbone. Call them at 720-888-1000 to tell them what you think.

Here's a link to cogent's site that shows their network status.

read more | digg story

Phone numbers of 20 congressmen who want the Broadcast Flag (again)

2005-10-03T16:50:00.000-05:00

Twenty suicidal congresscritters are calling for the speedy adoption of a broadcast flag, trying to unmake the work that the courts did this past May when they killed the initiative.

read more | digg story

Atari re-releasing 2600 console

2005-09-29T14:05:00.000-05:00

The console itself looks like a scaled-down version of an old Atari 2600, with faux wood paneling and other dated details. There are no cartridges to plug in, as technology advances have made it easy to stuff all of the games onto a small chip inside. And the controllers are exactly like the Atari 2600 joysticks of yore.

read more | digg story

KnoppMyth

2005-09-28T13:43:00.000-05:00

Seems to be the more popular version.

Installing and using MythTV: Checking prerequisites.

2005-09-27T12:41:00.000-05:00

You must ensure that any firewalls (either hardware, or a software firewall installed by your distribution) will not block access to the ports that will be used by the MythTV clients and servers on the "inside" LAN. The ports for MySQL (TCP port 3306) and mythbackend (TCP ports 6543 and 6544) must be open. It is strongly recommended that you do not expose the MythTV and MySQL ports to the Internet or your "Outside" LAN.

Spot the black helicopter, win t-shirt - Google Earth

2005-09-23T08:58:00.000-05:00

Our recent spate of Google Earth and Google Maps probes - highlighting how the firm's tasty satellite imagery is threatening all decent Christian, democratic values with its hi-res imagery of military hardware - has provoked a mini-airburst of reader activity.

It doesn't necessarily have to be military stuff: more of Adolf Hitler's US hideouts would be welcome, as would hi-res imagery of nudist beaches or Steve Ballmer throwing furniture.

read more | digg story

At long last, MAME 0.100 is now available.

2005-09-21T15:53:00.000-05:00

The latest official MAME release is version 0.100. Here is a list of whatsnew in the current release.

read more | digg story

PSP on your TV!

2005-09-21T14:19:00.000-05:00

For only $120-$150, you can play your Sony PSP on your TV! You can even use a PS2 controller.

read more | digg story

Now that Opera Browser is free...

2005-09-21T11:29:00.000-05:00

Once you download the new browser, heres a wiki page with tips and getting the most out of Opera.

read more | digg story

Indecent Request

2005-09-21T11:27:00.000-05:00

What happens when you get a couple of $12 bottles of wine in you? Poor guy. Caution mild adult theme language.

read more | digg story

Google It You Moron.

2005-09-15T15:22:00.000-05:00

Internet Lesson 101: Always check Google before asking a question.

Someone thinks you are a moron, and just gave you a link here because you asked a question that would have been easily answered with a quick Google search.

Next time search Google before asking a question, and only if you couldn't find anything should you ask someone for help.

Have a good day. ;)

I, Cringely . NerdTV . Archive . Guests | PBS

2005-09-15T14:21:00.000-05:00

NerdTV is a new weekly online TV show from PBS.org technology columnist Robert X. Cringely. NerdTV is essentially Charlie Rose for geeks - a one-hour interview show with a single guest from the world of technology. Guests like Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy or Apple computer inventor Steve Wozniak are household names if your household is nerdy enough, but as historical figures and geniuses in their own right, they have plenty to say to ALL of us. NerdTV is distributed under a Creative Commons license so viewers can legally share the shows with their friends and even edit their own versions. If not THE future of television, NerdTV represents A future of television for niche audiences that have deep interest in certain topics.

AJAX:Getting Started - Devmo

2005-09-15T14:17:00.000-05:00

AJAX is a newly coined term for two powerful JavaScript features that have been around for years, but were overlooked by many web developers until recently when applications such as Gmail, Google suggest and Google Maps hit the streets.

The two JavaScript features in question are that you can:

- Make requests to the server without reloading the page
- Parse and work with XML documents

The term AJAX is an acronym. Its A is for "asynchronous", meaning that you can make an HTTP request to the server and do other stuff while waiting for the response. JA is for "JavaScript" and X is for "XML".

Save Carnivale

2005-09-07T22:04:00.000-05:00

I'm pissed they aren't going to have a 3rd season of Carnivale. They cancelled it because the general public is too stupid to understand it. Thanks reality TV.

"Completely" silent uninstall for Acrobat 5 on Windows XP

2005-08-31T10:14:00.000-05:00

The script line for the command prompt or batch file is as follows:

C:\WINDOWS\ISUNINST.EXE -y -a -f"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat 5.0\NT\Uninst.isu\" -c"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat 5.0\NT\Uninst.dll
-y bypasses the first set of prompts
-a sets "no to all" when or if it encounters shared files

Scheduling Robocopy Jobs

2005-08-25T09:56:00.000-05:00

You can create Robocopy jobs that run regularly and automatically in the background to maintain local mirrors of remote directory trees. In Windows 2000, use the AT command, or use the SOON command with the Windows 2000 Schedule service. (The SOON command runs Soon.exe, a Windows® 2000 Resource Kit tool named Near-Future Command Scheduler.)

By default, the Schedule service logs on as the system account for the local system, which has no network access. Scheduled jobs run in the same context as the Schedule service. To run a scheduled Robocopy job, however, Robocopy must connect to network drives, which requires some additional configuration. The following sections describe two ways to accomplish this.
Using the Local System Account

You can leave the Schedule service running in the context of the local system account. You can then schedule batch files by using the following commands:

NET USE \\remoteserver\IPC$ /USER:userid password
ROBOCOPY \\remoteserver\sourcepath \\localserver\destpath ...
NET USE \\remoteserver\IPC$ /DEL

Lulu.com - Self Publishing - Free

2005-08-18T09:56:00.000-05:00

On demand publishing. Worth a look.

flightsimulation.jpg

2005-07-27T16:48:00.000-05:00

sweeet.

Opening a New Window With JavaScript

2005-07-27T09:17:00.000-05:00

A good cheat sheet for opening new browser windows with javascript.

ColdFusion hot fixes (MX and higher)

2005-07-21T09:28:00.000-05:00

Macromedia - ColdFusion TechNote : ColdFusion hot fixes (MX and higher)

Freedom Of Information Letter Generator

2005-07-13T09:53:00.000-05:00

FOI Letter Generator

mininova : the ultimate bittorrent source!

2005-06-21T09:32:00.000-05:00

Not sure about "ultimate" but it does have the dr. who episodes.