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  • Artemis Is The Absolute Geekiest LAN Game You’ll Ever Play [Video]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Prepare to have your sense of what really geeky computer gaming look like with this Star Trek-like mockup that involves a projector, multiple monitors, and a crew of six. If you have five friends willing to pool some resources–because let us tell you, it’s not going to be cheap to build this gaming setup from scratch–you’re on your way to building a functional starship bridge in your rec room. You’ll need six computers and monitors, a projector to create the front-of-the-bridge-room effect, and a copy of the game–the full retail game is $40 but there is a free demo so you can take the starship simulation for a test spin. The base game is focused on simple simulations like defending your space station and fighting off waves of invaders, however, a recent update of the game supports user-created mission packs. The missions packs allow fans of the game to create intricate missions with objectives to expand the game much like fan-created RPG modules add game play value to table top role-playing games. Hit up the link below to read more about the game or just sit back and enjoy the entertaining video above of sci-fi bloggers manning a starship. Artemis HTG Explains: Why Do Hard Drives Show the Wrong Capacity in Windows? Java is Insecure and Awful, It’s Time to Disable It, and Here’s How What Are the Windows A: and B: Drives Used For?

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  • GuestPost: Unit Testing Entity Framework (v1) Dependent Code using TypeMock Isolator

    - by Eric Nelson
    Time for another guest post (check out others in the series), this time bringing together the world of mocking with the world of Entity Framework. A big thanks to Moses for agreeing to do this. Unit Testing Entity Framework Dependent Code using TypeMock Isolator by Muhammad Mosa Introduction Unit testing data access code in my opinion is a challenging thing. Let us consider unit tests and integration tests. In integration tests you are allowed to have environmental dependencies such as a physical database connection to insert, update, delete or retrieve your data. However when performing unit tests it is often much more efficient and productive to remove environmental dependencies. Instead you will need to fake these dependencies. Faking a database (also known as mocking) can be relatively straight forward but the version of Entity Framework released with .Net 3.5 SP1 has a number of implementation specifics which actually makes faking the existence of a database quite difficult. Faking Entity Framework As mentioned earlier, to effectively unit test you will need to fake/simulate Entity Framework calls to the database. There are many free open source mocking frameworks that can help you achieve this but it will require additional effort to overcome & workaround a number of limitations in those frameworks. Examples of these limitations include: Not able to fake calls to non virtual methods Not able to fake sealed classes Not able to fake LINQ to Entities queries (replace database calls with in-memory collection calls) There is a mocking framework which is flexible enough to handle limitations such as those above. The commercially available TypeMock Isolator can do the job for you with less code and ultimately more readable unit tests. I’m going to demonstrate tackling one of those limitations using MoQ as my mocking framework. Then I will tackle the same issue using TypeMock Isolator. Mocking Entity Framework with MoQ One basic need when faking Entity Framework is to fake the ObjectContext. This cannot be done by passing any connection string. You have to pass a correct Entity Framework connection string that specifies CSDL, SSDL and MSL locations along with a provider connection string. Assuming we are going to do that, we’ll explore another limitation. The limitation we are going to face now is related to not being able to fake calls to non-virtual/overridable members with MoQ. I have the following repository method that adds an EntityObject (instance of a Blog entity) to Blogs entity set in an ObjectContext. public override void Add(Blog blog) { if(BlogContext.Blogs.Any(b=>b.Name == blog.Name)) { throw new InvalidOperationException("Blog with same name already exists!"); } BlogContext.AddToBlogs(blog); } The method does a very simple check that the name of the new Blog entity instance doesn’t exist. This is done through the simple LINQ query above. If the blog doesn’t already exist it simply adds it to the current context to be saved when SaveChanges of the ObjectContext instance (e.g. BlogContext) is called. However, if a blog with the same name exits, and exception (InvalideOperationException) will be thrown. Let us now create a unit test for the Add method using MoQ. [TestMethod] [ExpectedException(typeof(InvalidOperationException))] public void Add_Should_Throw_InvalidOperationException_When_Blog_With_Same_Name_Already_Exits() { //(1) We shouldn't depend on configuration when doing unit tests! But, //its a workaround to fake the ObjectContext string connectionString = ConfigurationManager .ConnectionStrings["MyBlogConnString"] .ConnectionString; //(2) Arrange: Fake ObjectContext var fakeContext = new Mock<MyBlogContext>(connectionString); //(3) Next Line will pass, as ObjectContext now can be faked with proper connection string var repo = new BlogRepository(fakeContext.Object); //(4) Create fake ObjectQuery<Blog>. Will be used to substitute MyBlogContext.Blogs property var fakeObjectQuery = new Mock<ObjectQuery<Blog>>("[Blogs]", fakeContext.Object); //(5) Arrange: Set Expectations //Next line will throw an exception by MoQ: //System.ArgumentException: Invalid setup on a non-overridable member fakeContext.SetupGet(c=>c.Blogs).Returns(fakeObjectQuery.Object); fakeObjectQuery.Setup(q => q.Any(b => b.Name == "NewBlog")).Returns(true); //Act repo.Add(new Blog { Name = "NewBlog" }); } This test method is checking to see if the correct exception ([ExpectedException(typeof(InvalidOperationException))]) is thrown when a developer attempts to Add a blog with a name that’s already exists. On (1) a connection string is initialized from configuration file. To retrieve the full connection string. On (2) a fake ObjectContext is being created. The ObjectContext here is MyBlogContext and its being created using this var fakeContext = new Mock<MyBlogContext>(connectionString); This way a fake context is being created using MoQ. On (3) a BlogRepository instance is created. BlogRepository has dependency on generate Entity Framework ObjectContext, MyObjectContext. And so the fake context is passed to the constructor. var repo = new BlogRepository(fakeContext.Object); On (4) a fake instance of ObjectQuery<Blog> is being created to use as a substitute to MyObjectContext.Blogs property as we will see in (5). On (5) setup an expectation for calling Blogs property of MyBlogContext and substitute the return result with the fake ObjectQuery<Blog> instance created on (4). When you run this test it will fail with MoQ throwing an exception because of this line: fakeContext.SetupGet(c=>c.Blogs).Returns(fakeObjectQuery.Object); This happens because the generate property MyBlogContext.Blogs is not virtual/overridable. And assuming it is virtual or you managed to make it virtual it will fail at the following line throwing the same exception: fakeObjectQuery.Setup(q => q.Any(b => b.Name == "NewBlog")).Returns(true); This time the test will fail because the Any extension method is not virtual/overridable. You won’t be able to replace ObjectQuery<Blog> with fake in memory collection to test your LINQ to Entities queries. Now lets see how replacing MoQ with TypeMock Isolator can help. Mocking Entity Framework with TypeMock Isolator The following is the same test method we had above for MoQ but this time implemented using TypeMock Isolator: [TestMethod] [ExpectedException(typeof(InvalidOperationException))] public void Add_New_Blog_That_Already_Exists_Should_Throw_InvalidOperationException() { //(1) Create fake in memory collection of blogs var fakeInMemoryBlogs = new List<Blog> {new Blog {Name = "FakeBlog"}}; //(2) create fake context var fakeContext = Isolate.Fake.Instance<MyBlogContext>(); //(3) Setup expected call to MyBlogContext.Blogs property through the fake context Isolate.WhenCalled(() => fakeContext.Blogs) .WillReturnCollectionValuesOf(fakeInMemoryBlogs.AsQueryable()); //(4) Create new blog with a name that already exits in the fake in memory collection in (1) var blog = new Blog {Name = "FakeBlog"}; //(5) Instantiate instance of BlogRepository (Class under test) var repo = new BlogRepository(fakeContext); //(6) Acting by adding the newly created blog () repo.Add(blog); } When running the above test method it will pass as the Add method of BlogRepository is going to throw an InvalidOperationException which is the expected behaviour. Nothing prevents us from faking out the database interaction! Even faking ObjectContext  at (2) didn’t require a connection string. On (3) Isolator sets up a faking result for MyBlogContext.Blogs when its being called through the fake instance fakeContext created on (2). The faking result is just an in-memory collection declared an initialized on (1). Finally at (6) action we call the Add method of BlogRepository passing a new Blog instance that has a name that’s already exists in the fake in-memory collection which we set up at (1). As expected the test will pass because it will throw the expected exception defined on top of the test method - InvalidOperationException. TypeMock Isolator succeeded in faking Entity Framework with ease. Conclusion We explored how to write a simple unit test using TypeMock Isolator for code which is using Entity Framework. We also explored a few of the limitations of other mocking frameworks which TypeMock is successfully able to handle. There are workarounds that you can use to overcome limitations when using MoQ or Rhino Mock, however the workarounds will require you to write more code and your tests will likely be more complex. For a comparison between different mocking frameworks take a look at this document produced by TypeMock. You might also want to check out this open source project to compare mocking frameworks. I hope you enjoyed this post Muhammad Mosa http://mosesofegypt.net/ http://twitter.com/mosessaur Screencast of unit testing Entity Framework Related Links GuestPost: Introduction to Mocking GuesPost: Typemock Isolator – Much more than an Isolation framework

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  • BIOS flash XP, 1 long beep, 2 short beeps, over&over

    - by Paul
    BIOS issue on HP dv9233cl laptop, wiped drive of Vista, loaded XP, not all the drives loaded. Went to the HP website, downloaded all drivers for this laptop. Started loading them. Loaded WIN Flash HP Network System BIOS Window SP42187. After a minute a low resolution screen appeared stating "It is now safe to turn off the computer" I waited a minute and half. Turned it off. Let it set 10 seconds try to start and No screen images at all and a nasty loud long beep 2 short beeps, 2 seconds of silence and it happens over & over again. I have unplugged/removed battery, still same problem, Any sugg.... Thx.. Paul

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  • CodePlex Daily Summary for Thursday, April 29, 2010

    CodePlex Daily Summary for Thursday, April 29, 2010New ProjectsDesign Technology Laboratory: DTL project is prominent.Em-Lib: Electronic Music Library เป็นโปรแกรมที่พัฒนาขึ้นเพื่อให้เป็นห้องสมุดอิเล็กทรอนิกส์ โดยตัวโปรแกรมจะสามารถจำลองเครื่องดนตรี พร้อมข้อมูลที่เกี่ย...Extensions For ASP.NET: Extensions For ASP.NETFIM 2010 PowerShell Cmdlets: These PowerShell cmdlets let you manage objects in the Forefront Identity Manager 2010 web service easily and concisely. The five cmdlets let you e...Grunty OS: Grunty OS is a Free open source OS made my GruntXproductionsIrishDevelopers.net Test: IrishDevelopers.net TestJobping Url Shortener: MVC 2 project that Shortens urls Fully functioning 'bare bones' url shortening website. Just 1 page to create and display the short url. 'API' ...Made In Hell: Small console game. Just a training in code writings.manx: manx is a system for managing catalogs of technical documents. The system was created to handle the needs of the vintage computing community with ...ntn: playing around with new featuresOpen Bitrac: Bitrac is ASP.NET Blog SystemOpenNETCF.WindowsMobile.Ink: The Mobile Ink Library is a .NET component that provides support for the new Windows Mobile 6 WISP Lite API in your .NET Compact Framework applicat...Proxy Switch: Proxy switch is a program which allows the user to easily switch between a configured proxy server and a home network. The program is developed in ...Samcrypt: .Seoftware Evoluion Repository Mining: Project for mining data about develpoment effort from svn repository.SharePoint 2010 Bulk Document Importer: Need to import/migrate files and folders from servers and network shares into SharePoint 2010 document libraries? This free commandline application...SL2 - A Scala interpreter for L2: A simple L2 Interpreter. Just a project for a class.sMAPedit: -SocialCare: SocialCare - Team EUSOCIALSqlDiffFramework-A Visual Differencing Engine for Dissimilar Data Sources: Unique in database comparison, SDF lets you compare live data--or saved snapshots--from any combination of SQL Server, Oracle, MySql, or ODBC data ...Yasminuroban: Yasminuroban is an open source "Sokoban" (aka "Warehouse Keeper" or "Boxes") alike game totally written in DHTML (JavaScript, CSS and HTML) that us...Хрень для ао: Test project to implement Bot.New ReleasesAntySpam Microsoft Outlook Plugin: AntySpam Microsoft Outlook 2010 Plugin v.2.0.1: this release only tested on MS Outlook 2010 version: 14.0.4536.1000 (32-bit and 64-bit) part of Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010. Source pro...AppFabric Caching Admin Tool: AppFabric Caching Admin Tool 1.2: System Requirements:.NET 4.0 RC AppFabric Caching Beta2 Refresh Test On:Win 7 (64x) Note: Must run as Administrator !!!AutoSPInstaller: Powershell script to pre-download prerequisites: This script will download all files required by Prerequisiteinstaller.exe in advance, in order to support an 'offline' installation of SharePoint 2...BeanProxy: BeanProxy 2.5: BeanProxy is a C# (.NET 3.5) library housing classes that facilitates unit testing. Any non-static, public interface/class/or abstract class can be...Bluetooth Radar: Verison 2.2.1: Please follow this link for the latest release - http://bluetoothradar.codeplex.com/releases/view/44232CSS 360 Planetary Calendar: LCA: Upload your LCA ppt pieces here. Then someone can merge them together.DeskNotes: DeskNotes 2.1.2: Version in development which features following improvements over DeskNotes 2.1.1: Each DeskNote can be made switchable between other windows on Wi...DotNetNuke Russian Language packs: Core Russian Language Pack for DNN 05.04.01: Core Russian Resource Language Pack for DNN 05.04.01 Русский языковый пакет для DNN 05.04.01DotNetNuke® Community Edition: 05.04.01: Major Highlights Fixed issue with assembly version type. Fixed issue with multiple cancel buttons on Add User screen. Fixed issue with ve...Event Scavenger: Version 3.2: Tweaked the import foreign logs functionality. Set version to 3.2 for Admin tool, service and database. Viewer unaffected.Event Scavenger: Version 3.2 stable: Update viewer version to 3.2 for consistency. Minor changes for rest.Event Scavenger: Version 3.2.2: Added setting to enable/disable creation of historic data.FIM 2010 PowerShell Cmdlets: Initial Release of FIM 2010 PowerShell Cmdlets: Initial release of FIM 2010 PowerShell cmdlets based on open source FIM web service client. Install by running installutil on Quest.FIMPowerhellSna...Fix.ly: Fix.ly 0.2: Fixed a bug where non-verbose mode would not workJobping Url Shortener: Deployment Code v0.1: Contains only the files necessary to run the Url Shortener website. Just provide a valid connection string in the web.configMetabolite Enterprise Libraries for EPiServer CMS using Page Type Builder: Metabolite Enterprise Libraries 1.1: This is the release of the Metabolite Enterprise Libraries 1.1 for use with EPiServer 5 R2 SP2 and Page Type Builder 1.1. If you want to get the s...Metabolite Enterprise Libraries for EPiServer CMS using Page Type Builder: Metabolite Enterprise Libraries 1.1 (source): This is the source code release of the Metabolite Enterprise Libraries 1.1 for use with EPiServer 5 R2 SP2 and Page Type Builder 1.1.MVC Music Store: MVC Music Store v0.8: This is the initial release of the MVC Music Store Tutorial. Download contains source and a tutorial document in PDF format.MyWSAT - ASP.NET Membership Administration Tool: MyWSAT v3.5.2: MyWSAT 3.5.2 Update Notes - April 28th 2010 1.) Fixed theme engine for administration area. Now I can create theme packages to make them available ...N2 CMS: 2.0 rc2: N2 is a lightweight CMS framework for ASP.NET. It helps you build great web sites that anyone can update. Major Changes (1.5 -> 2.0 release candid...NodeXL: Network Overview, Discovery and Exploration for Excel: NodeXL Excel 2007 Template, version 1.0.1.122: The NodeXL Excel 2007 template displays a network graph using edge and vertex lists stored in an Excel 2007 workbook. What's NewThis version signi...nRoute Framework: nRoute.Toolkit Release Version 0.4.5: Release Targets, Silverlight and WPF: - Targets Silverlight 4 for Web - Targets WPF in .NET 4 for Desktop nRoute Dependencies: - System.Windows...NSIS Autorun: NSIS Autorun 0.1.4: NSIS Autorun 0.1.4 This release includes source code, application binary, and example materials.OpenNETCF.WindowsMobile.Ink: Initial Release: This is the source as originally hosted in the OpenNETCF SVN server.Resharper Settings Manager: RSM v2.1: Warning! The 'Load Settings File...' menu item won't show up in VS 2008. Will release an update soon. ChangesReworked plug-in options UI: Split RSM...RoTwee: RoTwee (11.1.0.0): Rotation is improved from 11.0.0.3.SharePoint 2010 Bulk Document Importer: SharePoint 2010 Bulk Document Importer 1.0.0.0: Features in 1.0.0.0 Command line interface Import folders and files with all subfolders Can be run from outside the SharePoint Server. Every a...sMAPedit: sMAPedit v0.6 (Base): + base version containing the applicaion & html resourcesSocialCare: SocialCare_src: Codigo Fonte da Aplicação e Banco de DadosTFS Code Comment Checking Policy (CCCP): CCCP 4.0 for VS2010: This release installs side-by-side with CCCP 3.0 for VS2008 SP1.VCC: Latest build, v2.1.30428.0: Automatic drop of latest buildVCC: Latest build, v2.1.30428.1: Automatic drop of latest buildVCC: Latest build, v2.1.30428.2: Automatic drop of latest buildХрень для ао: Первый релиз: Пробую что это такое.Most Popular ProjectsRawrWBFS ManagerAJAX Control Toolkitpatterns & practices – Enterprise LibrarySilverlight ToolkitMicrosoft SQL Server Product Samples: DatabaseWindows Presentation Foundation (WPF)ASP.NETiTuner - The iTunes CompanionMicrosoft SQL Server Community & SamplesMost Active Projectspatterns & practices – Enterprise LibraryRawrHydroServer - CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System ServerIonics Isapi Rewrite FilterGMap.NET - Great Maps for Windows Forms & PresentationNB_Store - Free DotNetNuke Ecommerce Catalog ModuleParticle Plot PivotSqlDiffFramework-A Visual Differencing Engine for Dissimilar Data SourcesN2 CMSBlogEngine.NET

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  • Libvirt installation - Centos

    - by sethu
    I am currently using Centos 6. I want to use the latest version of libvirt (libvirt 0.9.4). The machine already has libvirt 0.8.1 installed . I did yum remove libvirt to remove the existing libvirt and I compiled 0.9.4 from source using : ./configure --prefix=/ make make install ldconfig /etc/init.d/libvirtd start After the installation is complete, I wanted to use the virsh interface. Once I enter virsh , I get : virsh /lib/libvirt.so.0: version 'LIBVIRT_PRIVATE 0.8.1' not found (required by virsh) Can somone let me know how to solve this issue? Correct me if I am doing something wrong. Thanks a lot ! Sethu

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  • CRM@Oracle Series: Sales Pipeline Visibility

    - by tony.berk
    Can you see it? Should you see it all? Who else should see it? Can their manager see it? What is it? Today's slidecast discusses the popular topic of sales pipeline visibility within a CRM application and how Oracle implemented visibility in our global implementation of Siebel CRM. This post is next in the CRM@Oracle Series, which discusses Oracle's internal use of Oracle CRM products such as Siebel CRM and Oracle CRM On Demand. Oracle's requirements include a variety of different organizations, roles and responsibilities. Oracle's Applications IT CRM Systems team, responsible for deploying Siebel CRM within Oracle, implemented a number of creative solutions to address the requirements, and they are shared in the slidecast. CRM@Oracle - Sales Pipeline Visibility Click here to learn more about Oracle CRM products and here to learn about other customers using Oracle CRM products. We want to hear from you! If you have a particular CRM area or function which you'd like to hear how Oracle implemented it internally, let us know and we'll get it on our list. In the meantime, enjoy today's update on the CRM@Oracle series.

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  • New Walkthrough Capability in AutoVue 20

    - by warren.baird
    New in AutoVue 20 is the capability to view a 3D model of a building from the inside - this is a very powerful tool for anyone who needs to work with models of plants, refineries, or other buildings. All of the standard AutoVue functionality is available, so you can click on any part of the building to get attribute data, manipulate the view, do measurement, etc. For example, in the image below we've made the Architectural model (Walls, Floors, etc.) transparent, but left the electrical and mechanical models opaque, so it's easy to see where the wires and piping run behind the walls. Additionally you can bring together different files and different types of files, using our digital mockup capability - in the image below the heating and air conditioning sytem on the left came from one file, and the electrical box on the right came from another wile, and the model of the room came from yet a third file, but with everything brought together into AutoVue you can do things like use our measurement capability to ensure there's enough space to get maintenance equipment down the hallway, before the building is even built. For more information about Walkthrough, you can view a video demo at http://download.oracle.com/autovue/3D_walkthrough_movie.wmv We're very excited about this new capability - do you think this will be useful for you in your work with AutoVue? Let us know!

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  • Display Song Lyrics in Windows Media Player with Lyrics Plugin

    - by DigitalGeekery
    Looking for a way to display song lyrics in Windows Media Player? Today we look at a very simple method to accomplish this with Lyrics Plugin for Windows Media Player. Download and run the Lyrics Plugin install. (See download link below) When the installation is finished you’ll be prompted to run Windows Media Player. Click Yes. Begin playing your song or playlist then switch to Now Playing mode.   You should now see the full song lyrics of the currently playing track. To toggle the lyrics on and off, select Tools from the Menu in Library view, choose Plug-ins, and click Lyrics Plugin. If you don’t see the Menu bar, you can enable it by going to Organize, Layout, and Show Menu Bar. When Lyrics Plugin is turned off, Windows Media Player will switch back to it’s default visualization.   Whether you just want to know the lyrics or you’d like to hone your karaoke chops, Lyrics Plugin makes a nice addition to Windows Media Player 12. Download Lyrics Plugin for Windows Media Player 12. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Install and Use the VLC Media Player on Ubuntu LinuxInstalling Windows Media Player Plugin for FirefoxFixing When Windows Media Player Library Won’t Let You Add FilesQuickly Preview Songs in Windows Media Player 12 in Windows 7Foobar2000 is a Fully Customizable Music Player TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 Microsoft’s “How Do I ?” Videos Home Networks – How do they look like & the problems they cause Check Your IMAP Mail Offline In Thunderbird Follow Finder Finds You Twitter Users To Follow Combine MP3 Files Easily QuicklyCode Provides Cheatsheets & Other Programming Stuff

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  • Outlook close to tray

    - by David Lay
    Ok, I'm stuck using outlook in the office (but they let me use 2010 betas which are awsome, btw) and one thing I'll allways rant about outlook in any version is that when I press the X button it goes away. I mean, I know the X button is supposed to close the app, it's the standard and all that, but email is (sadly) very critical, as well as meeting requests and reminders, outlook should not be closed so freaking easily. I mean, Live Messenger is not so critical but it has this feature built in and on by default. Is there a way to close outlook to the tray, addons, vba, settings, reghack, anything? I know there is minimize to tray and I've been searching the web but could not find anything usefull.

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  • using RHEL5 as a router

    - by gopikrishna7779
    Dear Sir, I am planning to use a RHEL5 installed computer as a internet connection sharing device. I mean I want to share the internet connection through it I have installed 2 Lan cards in it eth0 and eth1 eth0 Internet eth1 LAN eth0 configuration as follows ; Ipaddress : 115.252.64.187 Subnet : 255.255.255.240 Gateway : 115.252.64.177 I wrote the following entries in Vim /etc/resolv.conf nameserver 202.138.96.2 (preferred DNS Server) nameserver 202.138.103.2 (secondary DNS server) :q! then eth1 ipaddress : 192.168.1.1 subnet : 255.255.255.0 gateway : 192.168.1.1 (I am confused which gateway I need to use in the above scenario) I am unable to ping to my lan and I am able to connect to the Internet. Please let me know the sollution for this. Thanks in advance. regards, G.Gopi Krishna

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  • Social meet up on Twitter for MEET Windows Azure on June the 7th

    - by shiju
    Get ready to MEET Windows Azure live on June the 7th. The Microsoft Windows Azure team is conducting an online event “Meet Windows Azure” on June 7th 2012 starting at 1 PM PDT. The event will be presented by Scott Guthrie. If you want to watch event  live, you can register here: http://register.meetwindowsazure.com/.   If you are planning to attend the event and want to be social, there is a Social meet up on Twitter event organized by Windows Azure MVP Magnus Martensson MEET Windows Azure Blog Relay: Roger Jennings (@rogerjenn): Social meet up on Twitter for Meet Windows Azure on June 7th Anton Staykov (@astaykov): MEET Windows Azure on June the 7th Patriek van Dorp (@pvandorp): Social Meet Up for ‘MEET Windows Azure’ on June 7th Marcel Meijer (@MarcelMeijer): MEET Windows Azure on June the 7th Nuno Godinho (@NunoGodinho): Social Meet Up for ‘MEET Windows Azure’ on June 7th Shaun Xu (@shaunxu) Let's MEET Windows Azure Maarten Balliauw (@maartenballiauw): Social meet up on Twitter for MEET Windows Azure on June 7th Brent Stineman (@brentcodemonkey): Meet Windows Azure (aka Learn Windows Azure v2) Herve Roggero (@hroggero): Social Meet up on Twitter for Meet Windows Azure on June 7th Paras Doshi (@paras_doshi): Get started on Windows Azure: Attend “Meet Windows Azure” event Online Simran Jindal (@SimranJindal): Meet Windows Azure – an online and in person event, social meetup #MeetAzure (+ Beer for Beer lovers) on June 7th 2012 Magnus Mårtensson (@noopman): Social meet up on Twitter for MEET Windows Azure on June 7th Kris van der Mast (@KvdM): Shiju Varghese (@shijucv) Social meet up on Twitter for MEET Windows Azure on June the 7th I hope to see you online for the social meet event on the 7th. My Twitter user name is @shijucv Call to action: Link to this blog post on your blog and I will update this post to link to you.

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  • Best software for taking math notes at lectures

    - by data_jepp
    Let me first just say that I know about La-Tex, and that doesn't fast enough. I use it for papers, but for "real-time" note taking it's just to heavy. I'm talking two math classes this semester. Linear algebra and discrete math, I just got a laptop with 10 hour battery life which makes me want to take notes on it!!! Openoffice with formula thingy is what I use now. Now I have to pay attention lol. Thanks.

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  • Don’t learn SSDT, learn about your databases instead

    - by jamiet
    Last Thursday I presented my session “Introduction to SSDT” at the SQL Supper event held at the offices of 7 Digital (loved the samosas, guys). I did my usual spiel, tour of the IDE, connected development, declarative database development yadda yadda yadda… and at the end asked if there were any questions. One gentleman in attendance (sorry, can’t remember your name) raised his hand and stated that by attempting to evangelise all of the features I’d missed the single biggest benefit of SSDT, that it can tell you stuff about database that you didn’t already know. I realised that he was dead right. SSDT allows you to import your whole database schema into a new project and it will instantly give you a list of errors and/or warnings pertaining to the objects in your database. Invalid references (e.g a long-forgotten stored procedure that refers to a non-existent column), unnecessary 3-part naming, incorrect case usage, syntax errors…it’ll tell you about all of ‘em! Turn on static code analysis (this article shows you how) and you’ll learn even more such as any stored procedures that begin with “sp_”, WHERE clauses that will kill performance, use of @@IDENTITY instead of SCOPE_IDENTITY(), use of deprecated syntax, implicit casts etc…. the list goes on and on. I urge you to download and install SSDT (takes a few minutes, its free and you don’t need SQL Server or Visual Studio pre-installed), start a new project: right-click on your new project and import from your database: and see what happens: You may be surprised what you discover. Let me know in the comments below what results you get, total number of objects, number of errors/warnings, I’d be interested to know! @Jamiet

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  • How to work RavenDB Id with ASP.NET MVC Routes

    - by shiju
    By default RavenDB's Id would be sperated by "/". Let's say that we have a category object, the Ids would be like "categories/1". This will make problems when working with ASP.NET MVC's route rule. For a route category/edit/id, the uri would be category/edit/categories/1. You can solve this problem in two waysSolution 1 - Change Id SeparatorWe can use different Id Separator for RavenDB Ids in order to working with ASP.NET MVC route rules. The following code specify that Ids would be seperated by "-" rather than the default "/"  documentStore = new DocumentStore { Url = "http://localhost:8080/" };  documentStore.Initialize();  documentStore.Conventions.IdentityPartsSeparator = "-"; The above IdentityPartsSeparator would be generate Ids like "categories-1"Solution 2 - Modify ASP.NET MVC Route Modify the ASP.NET MVC routes in the Global.asax.cs file, as shown in the following code  routes.MapRoute(     "WithParam",                                           // Route name     "{controller}/{action}/{*id}"                         // URL with parameters     );  We just put "*" in front of the id variable that will be working with the default Id separator of RavenDB

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  • Quotas - Using quotas on ZFSSA shares and projects and users

    - by Steve Tunstall
    So you don't want your users to fill up your entire storage pool with their MP3 files, right? Good idea to make some quotas. There's some good tips and tricks here, including a helpful workflow (a script) that will allow you to set a default quota on all of the users of a share at once. Let's start with some basics. I mad a project called "small" and inside it I made a share called "Share1". You can set quotas on the project level, which will affect all of the shares in it, or you can do it on the share level like I am here. Go the the share's General property page. First, I'm using a Windows client, so I need to make sure I have my SMB mountpoint. Do you know this trick yet? Go to the Protocol page of the share. See the SMB section? It needs a resource name to make the UNC path for the SMB (Windows) users. You do NOT have to type this name in for every share you make! Do this at the Project level. Before you make any shares, go to the Protocol properties of the Project, and set the SMB Resource name to "On". This special code will automatically make the SMB resource name of every share in the project the same as the share name. Note the UNC path name I got below. Since I did this at the Project level, I didn't have to lift a finger for it to work on every share I make in this project. Simple. So I have now mapped my Windows "Z:" drive to this Share1. I logged in as the user "Joe". Note that my computer shows my Z: drive as 34GB, which is the entire size of my Pool that this share is in. Right now, Joe could fill this drive up and it would fill up my pool.  Now, go back to the General properties of Share1. In the "Space Usage" area, over on the right, click on the "Show All" text under the Users & Groups section. Sure enough, Joe and some other users are in here and have some data. Note this is also a handy window to use just to see how much space your users are using in any given share.  Ok, Joe owes us money from lunch last week, so we want to give him a quota of 100MB. Type his name in the Users box. Notice how it now shows you how much data he's currently using. Go ahead and give him a 100M quota and hit the Apply button. If I go back to "Show All", I can see that Joe now has a quota, and no one else does. Sure enough, as soon as I refresh my screen back on Joe's client, he sees that his Z: drive is now only 100MB, and he's more than half way full.  That was easy enough, but what if you wanted to make the whole share have a quota, so that the share itself, no matter who uses it, can only grow to a certain size? That's even easier. Just use the Quota box on the left hand side. Here, I use a Quota on the share of 300MB.  So now I log off as Joe, and log in as Steve. Even though Steve does NOT have a quota, it is showing my Z: drive as 300MB. This would effect anyone, INCLUDING the ROOT user, becuase you specified the Quota to be on the SHARE, not on a person.  Note that back in the Share, if you click the "Show All" text, the window does NOT show Steve, or anyone else, to have a quota of 300MB. Yet we do, because it's on the share itself, not on any user, so this panel does not see that. Ok, here is where it gets FUN.... Let's say you do NOT want a quota on the SHARE, because you want SOME people, like Root and yourself, to have FULL access to it and you want the ability to fill the whole thing up if you darn well feel like it. HOWEVER, you want to give the other users a quota. HOWEVER you have, say, 200 users, and you do NOT feel like typing in each of their names and giving them each a quota, and they are not all members of a AD global group you could use or anything like that.  Hmmmmmm.... No worries, mate. We have a handy-dandy script that can do this for us. Now, this script was written a few years back by Tim Graves, one of our ZFSSA engineers out of the UK. This is not my script. It is NOT supported by Oracle support in any way. It does work fine with the 2011.1.4 code as best as I can tell, but Oracle, and I, are NOT responsible for ANYTHING that you do with this script. Furthermore, I will NOT give you this script, so do not ask me for it. You need to get this from your local Oracle storage SC. I will give it to them. I want this only going to my fellow SCs, who can then work with you to have it and show you how it works.  Here's what it does...Once you add this workflow to the Maintenance-->Workflows section, you click it once to run it. Nothing seems to happen at this point, but something did.   Go back to any share or project. You will see that you now have four new, custom properties on the bottom.  Do NOT touch the bottom two properties, EVER. Only touch the top two. Here, I'm going to give my users a default quota of about 40MB each. The beauty of this script is that it will only effect users that do NOT already have any kind of personal quota. It will only change people who have no quota at all. It does not effect the Root user.  After I hit Apply on the Share screen. Nothing will happen until I go back and run the script again. The first time you run it, it creates the custom properties. The second and all subsequent times you run it, it checks the shares for any users, and applies your quota number to each one of them, UNLESS they already have one set. Notice in the readout below how it did NOT apply to my Joe user, since Joe had a quota set.  Sure enough, when I go back to the "Show All" in the share properties, all of the users who did not have a quota, now have one for 39.1MB. Hmmm... I did my math wrong, didn't I?    That's OK, I'll just change the number of the Custom Default quota again. Here, I am adding a zero on the end.  After I click Apply, and then run the script again, all of my users, except Joe, now have a quota of 391MB  You can customize a person at any time. Here, I took the Steve user, and specifically gave him a Quota of zero. Now when I run the script again, he is different from the rest, so he is no longer effected by the script. Under Show All, I see that Joe is at 100, and Steve has no Quota at all. I can do this all day long. es, you will have to re-run the script every time new users get added. The script only applies the default quota to users that are present at the time the script is ran. However, it would be a simple thing to schedule the script to run each night, or to make an alert to run the script when certain events occur.  For you power users, if you ever want to delete these custom properties and remove the script completely, you will find these properties under the "Schema" section under the Shares section. You can remove them here. There's no need to, however, they don't hurt a thing if you just don't use them.  I hope these tips have helped you out there. Quotas can be fun. 

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  • Networking Logs for MAC Addresses

    - by NetworkGuy
    I wanted to ask a multi-part question. Does Comcast Cable Internet services record MAC Addresses of the Router behind the cable modem. I know they record it for the modem itself. But is there a way for the Modem/Comcast to relay and keep logs of the MAC ID of the Router itself? Then does a windows operating system Log the MAC ID of the Router when its connected to it? If so where do I locate and purge this? Please let me know all areas where it is Logged within the operating system. Thank you!

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  • Domain Controllers group not reflected in domain controllers credentials

    - by Molotch
    I set up a small testlab in vbox consisting of four servers. Two domain controllers dc01, dc02, one offline root ca and one online enterprise sub ca, ca01. All servers are based on Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard. Everything works as excpected except one thing. If I issue a certificate template with read, enroll and autoenroll rights to the security group "domain controllers" it does not let dc01 or dc02 to enumerate or enroll for the certificate. I've restarted both domain controllers several times to update their credential tokens with the correct group memberhips. So I added dc01 to the "domain computers" group and gave that group read, enroll and autoenroll rights in the template, bam, the certificate was issued. So my question is, why isn't the domain controllers group memberhips reflected in the domain controllers (dc01 and dc02) credentials? Can I view the computers credentials somehow and how should I go about trying to resolve the issue?

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  • Basic proxy with OpenSSH, Cygwin, Putty

    - by clang1234
    I know this is probably a common question, but after looking around for a few hours (on this site and others), I can't find a solution. I'm trying to set up a simple proxy. I already have a server running Windows Server 2008. I've installed Cygwin and have OpenSSH installed. I also have sshd (the openssh daemon) running. Port 22 is forwarded correctly. On my client side I have Putty on a Windows 7 machine. I can successfully open a connection to my server and log in to access the shell. So what do I do next? Do I just name the ports I want tunneled in Putty or do I need to tell my SSH server what to do with those ports? Thanks for the help. Let me know if I left anything out.

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  • Navigating the Unpredictable Swinging of the Financial Regulation Pendulum

    - by Sylvie MacKenzie, PMP
    Written by Guest Blogger: Maureen Clifford, Sr Product Marketing Manager, Oracle The pendulum of the regulatory clock is constantly in motion, albeit often not in any particular rhythm.  Nevertheless, given what many insurers have been through economically, any movement can send shock waves through critical innovation and operational plans.  As pointed out in Deloitte’s 2012 Global Insurance Outlook, the impact of regulatory reform can cause major uncertainty in the area of costs.  As the reality of increasing government regulations settles in, the change that comes along with it creates more challenges in compliance and ultimately on delivering the optimum return on investment.  The result of this changing environment is a proliferation of compliance projects that must be executed with an already constrained set of resources, budget and time. Insurers are confronted by the need to gain visibility into all of their compliance efforts and proactively manage them. Currently that is very difficult to do as these projects often are being managed by groups across the enterprise and they lack a way to coordinate their efforts and drive greater synergies.  With limited visibility and equally limited resources it is no surprise that reporting on project status and determining realistic completion of these projects is only a dream. As a result, compliance deadlines are missed, penalties are incurred, credibility with key stakeholders and the public is jeopardized and returns and competitive advantage go unrealized. Insurers need to ask themselves some key questions: Do I have “one stop” visibility into all of my compliance efforts?  If not, what can I do to change that? What is top priority and how does that impact my already taxed resources? How can I figure out how to best balance my resources to get these compliance projects done as well as keep key innovation and operational efforts on track? How can ensure that I have all the requisite documentation for each compliance project I undertake? Dealing with complying with regulatory efforts is a necessary evil. Don't let the regulatory pendulum sideline your efforts to generate the greatest return on investment for your key stakeholders.

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  • Setting the viminfo path in gVim for portability (Windows)

    - by Will Vousden
    I'm trying to make my gVim installation as portable as possible, and in doing so I want to put the _viminfo file in the $VIM directory rather than $HOME. I'm pretty new to hacking vimrc configurations, but here's what I've been trying: let viminfopath=$VIM."\\_viminfo" execute "set viminfo='1000,n".escape(viminfopath, ' ') " Some other portability stuff. set nobackup set nowritebackup if has("win32") || has("win64") set directory=$TMP else set directory=~/tmp end This doesn't seem to be working, though; does anyone have any tips? Thanks!

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  • Run WordPress & Other Web Apps with Windows Web Platform

    - by Matthew Guay
    Would you like to run WordPress or other web apps on your PC so you can easily test and design websites?  Here we’ll look at how you can get the latest web apps on your computer in only a few quick steps. Many web apps today, such as WordPress, MediaWiki, and more, are open source and can be run for free from any computer with even a simple local web server.  They are often very difficult to install on your computer, since they require a number of dependencies such as PHP and MySQL.  Microsoft has worked to make this easier, releasing the Windows Web Platform Installer.  This lets you install many popular web apps and free tools in Windows with only a few clicks. Here we’re going to look at how to install WordPress and the free Visual Web Developer 2010 Express to edit web code with the Web Platform Installer.  But, if you’d rather install a different web app or tool, feel free to choose those as the installations are generally similar. Getting Started Head over to Microsoft’s Web development site and download the Web Platform Installer (link below).  This will download very quick, as it is just a small loader.  When you run this loader, it will download the Web Platform Installer files.  The Web Platform Installer works on XP, Vista, and Windows 7, as well as the related versions of Windows Server. After a couple moments, the Web Platform Installer will open and load information about the latest web offerings.    Now you can choose what you want to install.  You can quickly select the recommended products for several categories such as Web Server, Database, and more. Alternately, click Customize under the category and select exactly what you want to install.  Note that items already installed on your computer will be grayed out. We wanted to install Visual Web Developer 2010 Express, so select Customize under Tools, and select Visual Web Developer 2010 Express. Or, for more preset choices, select Options on the bottom of the window. You can choose to add Multimedia, Developer, and Enterprise tools to the lists, or add a new preset list from a feed. Choose Specific Web apps to Install We wanted to install WordPress, so instead of choosing a preset, select the Web Applications tab on the left.  Now you can choose from a variety of apps based on category, or you can view them all together in an A to Z, Most Popular, or Highest Rating list. Click the checkbox beside the app you want to install to select it, or click the “i” for more information. Here’s the More Information pane for WordPress.  If you’re ready to install it, click the checkbox. Now you can go back and add more web apps or tools to the install list if you like.  The Web Platform Installer will automatically find and select prerequisite apps such as MySQL, so you won’t need to worry about finding them. Once you’ve selected everything you want to install, click the Install button on the bottom of the window. The Web Platform Installer will now show you everything that’s selected, including components that it automatically selected.  Notice we only chose to install WordPress and Visual Web Developer 2010 Express, but it also has selected MySQL and PHP automatically.  Click I Accept to proceed. Enter an administrator password for MySQL before the setup begins. Now the Web Platform Installer will take over, automatically downloading, installing, and configuring all of your web apps.  It will also activate optional Windows components that may be needed on your computer.  This may take several minutes, depending on the components you selected and your internet speed.   Setting up Your Test Site Once the installation is finished, you’ll be asked to enter some information about your site.  You can simply accept the defaults or enter your own choices, and then click Continue. Now you’ll need to enter some information for your web apps.  When installing WordPress, you’ll need to choose a database and enter administrative usernames and passwords.  You may also be asked to enter extra information for additional security, but for a local-only test site this isn’t necessary.  Click Continue when you’re finished. You’ll need to wait a few more moments as it complete the setup of your web apps.  The good thing is, once it’s finished, they’ll be ready to go with only minimal configuration. And you’re finished!  The installer will let you know everything it installed, and if there were any problems.  In our test, Visual Web Developer 2010 Express failed to install successfully.  Often the problems may be with the download, so click Finish and then reselect the apps that didn’t install and run the installer again. Now you’re ready to run WordPress from your PC.  Click the Launch WordPress link or enter http://localhost:80/wordpress in your browser to get started. You’ll only have a little more setup to do on WordPress to get it running.  Once you’ve opened your WordPress page in your browser, enter a name for your blog and your email address, and click Install WordPress.   After a few seconds, you should see a Success! page with your username and a temporary password.  Copy the password, and then click Log In. Enter admin as the Username and paste the random generated password, and click Log In. WordPress will remind you to change the default password.  Click the Yes, Take me to my profile page link to do this. Enter something easier for you to remember, and click Update Profile. Now you’re ready to enjoy your new WordPress install on Windows.  You can add plugins and themes, and everything else you’d do with a normal WordPress site.  Here’s the dashboard running from localhost. And here’s the default blog running. Setting up Visual Web Developer 2010 Express As mentioned before, Visual Web Developer 2010 Express didn’t install correctly on our first try, but the second time it installed seamlessly.  Once it’s installed, launch it from your start menu as normal.  It may take a few minutes to load on the first run as it is finishing up setup. You may notice that the splash screen displayed while the program is loading says For Evaluation Purposes Only.  This is because you still need to register the program. You have 30 days to register the program, but let’s go ahead and do it to get this step out of the way.  Click Help in the menu bar, and select Register Product. Click Obtain a registration key online in the popup window. You’ll need to sign in with your Windows Live ID, and then fill out a quick form. When you’re done, copy the registration key displayed and paste it into the registration dialog in Visual Web Developer.   Now you’ve got a registered, free web development program with full standards compliance and IntelliSense to help you work smarter and faster.  And it works great with your local web apps, so you can create, tweak, and then deploy, all from your desktop with this simple installer! Install More Apps You can always run the Web Platform Installer again in the future and add more apps if you’d like.  The install adds a link to the Installer in the Start menu; just run it and repeat the steps above with your new selections. Also, from the installer, you can cleanup the setup files downloaded during the installation if you want.  Click the Options link in the bottom of the window, and then scroll down and select Delete installer cache folder. Uninstalling the apps is not as easy, unfortunately.  If you wish to uninstall the Web Platform Installer and everything you installed with it, you’ll need to uninstall each item individually.  One easy way to see what was all installed together is to sort the entries in Uninstall Programs by date.  In our case, we also installed some other applications on the same day, but it’s easier to see what was installed together. Or if you are not a fan of using Programs and Features to uninstall them, try out a program like Revo Uninstaller Pro. Conclusion Whether you’re a full-time web developer or just enjoy testing out the latest web apps, the Web Platform Installer makes it quick and easy to get your computer loaded up with the latest bits.  In fact, it’s easier to install these tools with all their dependencies than it is to install many standard boxed programs. If you’d like to take your web server anywhere you go and not have it confined to your desktop, then check out our article on how to Turn Your Flashdrive into a Portable Webserver. Link Download the Microsoft Web Platform Installer Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Linux QuickTip: Downloading and Un-tarring in One StepQuick Tip: Set a Future Date for a Post in WordPressHow-To Geek SoftwareAdd Social Bookmarking (Digg This!) Links to your Wordpress BlogHow-To Geek Software: WordPress Comment Moderation Notifier 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 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 21 Cursor Packs for XP, Vista & 7

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  • Time Warp

    - by Jesse
    It’s no secret that daylight savings time can wreak havoc on systems that rely heavily on dates. The system I work on is centered around recording dates and times, so naturally my co-workers and I have seen our fair share of date-related bugs. From time to time, however, we come across something that we haven’t seen before. A few weeks ago the following error message started showing up in our logs: “The supplied DateTime represents an invalid time. For example, when the clock is adjusted forward, any time in the period that is skipped is invalid.” This seemed very cryptic, especially since it was coming from areas of our application that are typically only concerned with capturing date-only (no explicit time component) from the user, like reports that take a “start date” and “end date” parameter. For these types of parameters we just leave off the time component when capturing the date values, so midnight is used as a “placeholder” time. How is midnight an “invalid time”? Globalization Is Hard Over the last couple of years our software has been rolled out to users in several countries outside of the United States, including Brazil. Brazil begins and ends daylight savings time at midnight on pre-determined days of the year. On October 16, 2011 at midnight many areas in Brazil began observing daylight savings time at which time their clocks were set forward one hour. This means that at the instant it became midnight on October 16, it actually became 1:00 AM, so any time between 12:00 AM and 12:59:59 AM never actually happened. Because we store all date values in the database in UTC, always adjust any “local” dates provided by a user to UTC before using them as filters in a query. The error we saw was thrown by .NET when trying to convert the Brazilian local time of 2011-10-16 12:00 AM to UTC since that local time never actually existed. We hadn’t experienced this same issue with any of our US customers because the daylight savings time changes in the US occur at 2:00 AM which doesn’t conflict with our “placeholder” time of midnight. Detecting Invalid Times In .NET you might use code similar to the following for converting a local time to UTC: var localDate = new DateTime(2011, 10, 16); //2011-10-16 @ midnight const string timeZoneId = "E. South America Standard Time"; //Windows system timezone Id for "Brasilia" timezone. var localTimeZone = TimeZoneInfo.FindSystemTimeZoneById(timeZoneId); var convertedDate = TimeZoneInfo.ConvertTimeToUtc(localDate, localTimeZone); The code above throws the “invalid time” exception referenced above. We could try to detect whether or not the local time is invalid with something like this: var localDate = new DateTime(2011, 10, 16); //2011-10-16 @ midnight const string timeZoneId = "E. South America Standard Time"; //Windows system timezone Id for "Brasilia" timezone. var localTimeZone = TimeZoneInfo.FindSystemTimeZoneById(timeZoneId); if (localTimeZone.IsInvalidTime(localDate)) localDate = localDate.AddHours(1); var convertedDate = TimeZoneInfo.ConvertTimeToUtc(localDate, localTimeZone); This code works in this particular scenario, but it hardly seems robust. It also does nothing to address the issue that can arise when dealing with the ambiguous times that fall around the end of daylight savings. When we roll the clocks back an hour they record the same hour on the same day twice in a row. To continue on with our Brazil example, on February 19, 2012 at 12:00 AM, it will immediately become February 18, 2012 at 11:00 PM all over again. In this scenario, how should we interpret February 18, 2011 11:30 PM? Enter Noda Time I heard about Noda Time, the .NET port of the Java library Joda Time, a little while back and filed it away in the back of my mind under the “sounds-like-it-might-be-useful-someday” category.  Let’s see how we might deal with the issue of invalid and ambiguous local times using Noda Time (note that as of this writing the samples below will only work using the latest code available from the Noda Time repo on Google Code. The NuGet package version 0.1.0 published 2011-08-19 will incorrectly report unambiguous times as being ambiguous) : var localDateTime = new LocalDateTime(2011, 10, 16, 0, 0); const string timeZoneId = "Brazil/East"; var timezone = DateTimeZone.ForId(timeZoneId); var localDateTimeMaping = timezone.MapLocalDateTime(localDateTime); ZonedDateTime unambiguousLocalDateTime; switch (localDateTimeMaping.Type) { case ZoneLocalMapping.ResultType.Unambiguous: unambiguousLocalDateTime = localDateTimeMaping.UnambiguousMapping; break; case ZoneLocalMapping.ResultType.Ambiguous: unambiguousLocalDateTime = localDateTimeMaping.EarlierMapping; break; case ZoneLocalMapping.ResultType.Skipped: unambiguousLocalDateTime = new ZonedDateTime( localDateTimeMaping.ZoneIntervalAfterTransition.Start, timezone); break; default: throw new InvalidOperationException(string.Format("Unexpected mapping result type: {0}", localDateTimeMaping.Type)); } var convertedDateTime = unambiguousLocalDateTime.ToInstant().ToDateTimeUtc(); Let’s break this sample down: I’m using the Noda Time ‘LocalDateTime’ object to represent the local date and time. I’ve provided the year, month, day, hour, and minute (zeros for the hour and minute here represent midnight). You can think of a ‘LocalDateTime’ as an “invalidated” date and time; there is no information available about the time zone that this date and time belong to, so Noda Time can’t make any guarantees about its ambiguity. The ‘timeZoneId’ in this sample is different than the ones above. In order to use the .NET TimeZoneInfo class we need to provide Windows time zone ids. Noda Time expects an Olson (tz / zoneinfo) time zone identifier and does not currently offer any means of mapping the Windows time zones to their Olson counterparts, though project owner Jon Skeet has said that some sort of mapping will be publicly accessible at some point in the future. I’m making use of the Noda Time ‘DateTimeZone.MapLocalDateTime’ method to disambiguate the original local date time value. This method returns an instance of the Noda Time object ‘ZoneLocalMapping’ containing information about the provided local date time maps to the provided time zone.  The disambiguated local date and time value will be stored in the ‘unambiguousLocalDateTime’ variable as an instance of the Noda Time ‘ZonedDateTime’ object. An instance of this object represents a completely unambiguous point in time and is comprised of a local date and time, a time zone, and an offset from UTC. Instances of ZonedDateTime can only be created from within the Noda Time assembly (the constructor is ‘internal’) to ensure to callers that each instance represents an unambiguous point in time. The value of the ‘unambiguousLocalDateTime’ might vary depending upon the ‘ResultType’ returned by the ‘MapLocalDateTime’ method. There are three possible outcomes: If the provided local date time is unambiguous in the provided time zone I can immediately set the ‘unambiguousLocalDateTime’ variable from the ‘Unambiguous Mapping’ property of the mapping returned by the ‘MapLocalDateTime’ method. If the provided local date time is ambiguous in the provided time zone (i.e. it falls in an hour that was repeated when moving clocks backward from Daylight Savings to Standard Time), I can use the ‘EarlierMapping’ property to get the earlier of the two possible local dates to define the unambiguous local date and time that I need. I could have also opted to use the ‘LaterMapping’ property in this case, or even returned an error and asked the user to specify the proper choice. The important thing to note here is that as the programmer I’ve been forced to deal with what appears to be an ambiguous date and time. If the provided local date time represents a skipped time (i.e. it falls in an hour that was skipped when moving clocks forward from Standard Time to Daylight Savings Time),  I have access to the time intervals that fell immediately before and immediately after the point in time that caused my date to be skipped. In this case I have opted to disambiguate my local date and time by moving it forward to the beginning of the interval immediately following the skipped period. Again, I could opt to use the end of the interval immediately preceding the skipped period, or raise an error depending on the needs of the application. The point of this code is to convert a local date and time to a UTC date and time for use in a SQL Server database, so the final ‘convertedDate’  variable (typed as a plain old .NET DateTime) has its value set from a Noda Time ‘Instant’. An 'Instant’ represents a number of ticks since 1970-01-01 at midnight (Unix epoch) and can easily be converted to a .NET DateTime in the UTC time zone using the ‘ToDateTimeUtc()’ method. This sample is admittedly contrived and could certainly use some refactoring, but I think it captures the general approach needed to take a local date and time and convert it to UTC with Noda Time. At first glance it might seem that Noda Time makes this “simple” code more complicated and verbose because it forces you to explicitly deal with the local date disambiguation, but I feel that the length and complexity of the Noda Time sample is proportionate to the complexity of the problem. Using TimeZoneInfo leaves you susceptible to overlooking ambiguous and skipped times that could result in run-time errors or (even worse) run-time data corruption in the form of a local date and time being adjusted to UTC incorrectly. I should point out that this research is my first look at Noda Time and I know that I’ve only scratched the surface of its full capabilities. I also think it’s safe to say that it’s still beta software for the time being so I’m not rushing out to use it production systems just yet, but I will definitely be tinkering with it more and keeping an eye on it as it progresses.

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  • What&rsquo;s wrong with See[Mike]Code? (no relation)

    - by mbcrump
    I have been hearing a lot about the website See[Mike]Code. Basically, the site creates an interview url and a job candidate url and lets you see the potential programmer’s code (specifically .NET developer). Below is the candidate’s URL   Below is the interviewer url   So you might think, ah, this is a good thing. We can screen candidates cheaper and more efficiently. In reality, this is only a good thing if you want your programmer to develop using notepad.  I use the most efficient tools that exist to do my job. I would simply fire up VS2010 and type “for” and hit the tab key twice and get the following template.   I have no problem keeping MSDN/Google in one of my monitors. I spend time learning VS macros and using Aurora XAML/Expression to produce my XAML for WPF. Sure, I can write a for loop without using the VS Macro, but the real question is, “Why should I?”. My point being, if you really want to test a .NET programmer knowledge then fire up his native working environment and let him use the features of the IDE to develop the simple 10-line program. For a more sophisticated program, then give him 20 minutes and allow access to msdn/google. If the programmer cannot find at the right path then give him the boot.

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  • So long and thanks for the fish&hellip;

    - by Geoff N. Hiten
    This marks my last post as a SQLPASS Board member.  I learned a lot during my year of service and I thank everyone involved for this opportunity.  I would especially like to thank the Chapter leaders and Regional Mentors for Virtual Chapters who (mostly) patiently taught me about Virtual Chapters.   I hope the changes I put in place will help strengthen and grow VCs and PASS going forward.  I would also like to thank every one who encouraged me to reach beyond my comfort zone and accept a leadership position within the PASS organization.  My overall principle was to be a good steward of the PASS community.  Could I have done more?  Always. Did I do enough?  I hope so.  But PASS is a volunteer organization and my time, like yours, is limited.  I have other obligations in life that supersede PASS.  Now I have more time for some of those.  I won’t be going away or leaving the SQL Community.  I will still contribute to the community and support PASS, just in a different role.  Time to let somebody else enjoy the hot seat for a while. Finally, everyone who voted (not just for me) deserves a thanks.  More voters and more engaged voters, strong candidates, and a vigorous debate were all I wanted out of declaring as a candidate last year. This year the SQL community got exactly that. Thank you..

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  • Kids don’t mark their own homework

    - by jamiet
    During a discussion at work today in regard to doing some thorough acceptance testing of the system that I currently work on the topic of who should actually do the testing came up. I remarked that I didn’t think that I as the developer should be doing acceptance testing and a colleague, Russ Taylor, agreed with me and then came out with this little pearler: Kids don’t mark their own homework Maybe its a common turn of phrase but I had never heard it before and, to me, it sums up very succinctly my feelings on the matter. I tweeted about it and it got a couple of retweets as well as a slightly different perspective from Bruce Durling who said: I'm of the opinion that testers should be in the dev team & the dev *team* should be responsible for quality Bruce makes a good point that testers should be considered part of the dev team. I agree wholly with that and don’t think that point of view necessarily conflicts with Russ’s analogy. Yes, developers should absolutely be responsible for testing their own work – I also think that in the murky world of data integration there is often a need for a 3rd party to validate that work. Improving testing mechanisms for data integration projects is something that is near and dear to my heart so I would welcome any other thoughts around this. Let me know if you have any in the comments! @Jamiet

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