Tech Workers Have A Shootout

Imagine tech workers in a cowboy western movie, such as, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, or any of the Clint Eastwood westerns.  🙂

Oh yeah, well let’s settle this with a duel! Just let me get my e-gun!

Creating Connectivity Between R Studio & SQL Server 17

Intro:

For Data Science, SQL Server 17 has optional built in R functionality. It also has the ability to call R Studio from within SQL Server. The prerequisite is reliable connectivity between SQL Server and R Studio.

Here are the steps to configure SQL Server and R to work with each other.

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Initial Technology Stack To Install:

Identifying the Correct Name Of Your SQL Server

Intro:

One of the key concepts in relational databases is that of the unique identifier. You would hope that this would apply to technical terms also.

But I’ve recently discovered that, after a simple installation of SQL Server 17, on my Windows 10 laptop, I now have three different names for my host machine. And two different names for my SQL Server.

These have caused me a lot of grief and wasted time.

Here are some methods to identify the different names, and help you troubleshoot the associated issues.

Installation History:

Successfully Installing and Running Movica on Windows 7

Movica is a nice little program for video editing on Windows. It allows you to edit MPEG, FLV, and Windows Media (.wmv) video files.

I’ve mainly used it to work on large Mpeg files. Cut out portions. Split the file up. Join two or more Mpeg files together. Users on Videohelp.com rate it 9.7/10.

But Movica was originally designed to work on Windows XP 32 bit, with the .NET framework. The last software update was in 2013.

Recently, I tried to use it on Windows 7. While it installed easily enough, when I tried to use it, I kept getting the Windows error message box, with the option to close the program. Sigh.

Here’s how I installed Movica on Windows 7 and got it to work.

Uniface Quick Reference Guides – PDF

Recently I found some old Uniface Quick Reference Guides that I once used. Uniface Version 5.2, and 6.1.

They were always very useful.

So, I’ve scanned them into PDF files and uploaded them here, for anyone that might find them useful.

Uniface Quick Reference Guide V5.2

Uniface_v5_2_Quick_Reference

Uniface Quick Reference Guide V6.1

Uniface_v6_1_Quick_Reference

Enjoy!

If you’d like the actual books, please contact me.

Online Characters: Trolls, Speculators, Snobs, Team Players

Forums: Trolls, Speculators, Snobs, Team Players

Sometimes, when I’m working on software issues, I’ll post a question on a forum. This I usually do only after a few hours of struggle. If you read my blog, you’ll find many tech struggles that I’ve had.

Occasionally, I’ll have to register with a website first, and then wait for approval. Login again. Document my long struggle concisely. Then ask the question on a complex subject that I’m only just becoming familiar with, to elicit a good answer.

And so often, I’ll have an awful experience with the online characters. I’ve categorized them in a quadrant, with the two axis: Helpful vs Knowledgeable/Competent

 

 

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Trolls:

Too many times, I’ll get the trolls. They are NOT helpful, nor are they knowledgeable or competent.   

Macro Photography – Classic Prime SLR lenses vs Cell Phone with a Loupe

The capabilities of cell phone cameras are amazing, performing better than my classic SLR lenses. Here is how I used a simple analog loupe with my cell phone to do some great macro photography.

 

Recently I went to change the keyboard of one of my Acer laptops. As I disassembled it, the tiny mainboard connector part came off . It clamps the keyboard ribbon to the laptop’s mainboard.

It just wasn’t going back on. Part of the issue was that I was not sure which way it went back together. This side down, or the other side?

So I got out my photographer’s 35mm loupe to take a look. I could see a lot of very tiny teeth that had to be matched up.

Trying and Cracking Steganography

Once I read about how some spies were saving messages in pictures. Cool. So I thought I’d try it just for fun.

Steganography

It was a lot different from invisible ink we played with as kids. 🙂

First I looked at an article on StackOverflow

Successful Audio and Video Screen Capture on Windows 7

Occasionally, I see some great videos online, and I download them to my hard drive for my personal use. One reason, some videos can take a long time to watch.  So I download them and watch them at another time, like using a DVR.

Recently, there was another webinar. I thought it would be easy enough to download. But like so many other times, I had to spend a LOT of time installing and fixing the software first.  Here’s how I made it all work. 

Clearing The BIOS Passwords On My Acer Laptop

Recently, I bought an older Acer Travelmate 8473T laptop on Ebay. Why not, it was only about $100. But it turned out to be not such a good deal.

One thing that really bothered me was that I could not access the BIOS.

Acer BIOS Password Request

Usually, I’ll upgrade and reconfigure my machines. So, accessing the BIOS is really important.

This began another long project. Over a few weeks, I’ve spend probably 20 hours or more. Don’t you just love it when bad people and/or technology problems become the black hole of your time?

Quick Solution:

For those of you who just want the solution that worked for me, 

Unbeatable Tic Tac Toe – Rule Based Algorithms

Continuing my work with Java, recently, I developed an unbeatable Tic Tac Toe game in Java.

Tic Tac Toe Tie Game

While you can find many such programs online, I think that I’m the only person to create the kinds of algorithms I have.

Coming from a database background, I implemented a number of database like structures in memory. An array list of remaining cells. A Decision Table. And a lookup table for intersections of runs.

Here’s how I did it.

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Many Event Handlers:

Java error: non-static method cannot be referenced from a static context

Recently, while writing a java program, I got the classic Java error:
non-static method cannot be referenced from a static context.

No doubt, other young java practitioners have had this error.

Here, I’ve laid out a simple program, with explanations, so that you can avoid the problem. Voila:

Review – Nikon CoolScan 5000 ED

For over a decade, while I went to university, and for a few years after, I owned and operated a photography business. At that time, cameras were film cameras, not digital. After a few years, I had a big collection of negatives.

In 2007, I bought a film scanner to scan some family pictures, the Nikon CoolScan 5000. It’s been fabulous to use.

Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED

Recently, I’ve been using it again to scan some more 35mm negatives and transparencies. The software is so intuitive, the results so good, and it’s such a pleasure to use, that I’m inspired to write about it.

 

Traditional Darkroom Techniques:

For those of you who have never worked in the darkroom, it’s a very laborious process.

Installing NEO4J on Windows 7

Installing and running NEO4J on Windows is a little different from installing it on Linux.

NEO4J has provided two options to install NEO4J on Windows. One version of NEO4J is a dumbed down version that includes the necessary Java, that comes bundled in an .EXE file. The other Windows version comes in a .ZIP file that more closely resembles a Linux installation.

With NEO4J on Linux, a correct version of the Java JDK/SDK is assumed to be installed, but not so on Windows. Java JDK/SDK installations do have a certain learning curve, and required reading, not suitable for some users.

And then there is Java licensing. Apparently, it’s ok to bundle to Java with an executable file. But it’s not ok for Neo4j to redistribute the correct Java JDK/SDK on NEO4J’s download page, and allow users to download it.

If you are serious about NEO4J, you’ll probably want to use the full blown Windows .ZIP version. For one thing, it follows the standard paradigm and navigation. You’ll get the full functionality. And, it’s not that difficult to use.

Some Great Software To Capture Analog Audio

 

Audacity Recording

I have a nice cassette deck that you would use with a stereo system and there are some old cassette tapes that I have never thrown out. Finally I’ve got around to copying some of these cassettes to files on my hard drive.

Here is a review of some software that I test drove on an old underpowered Windows XP machine: Exact Audio Copy, Wave Repair, and Audacity.       

MYSQL – Create CSV File With Fieldnames For Headers

Recently, I went to dump a MYSQL table into a CSV file, with the fieldnames in the first line of the file.

MYSQL Logo

 

This simple enough in Oracle’s SQLPLUS, so I did some internet searches to determine the syntax.

Instead of the simple MYSQL syntax, I found a number of relatively complex solutions. Some involved MYSQL scripts, and others utilized Unix string parsing commands.

However, I came up with a much simpler solution using one simple MYSQL command:

Installing Gimp on Redhat 6.4

Gimp is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for tasks like photo retouching. I wanted to use it to crop photos, like Irfanview does so easily on Windows.

Unfortunately, like so many other software installations on Redhat Linux, the install was not straightforward and required overcoming errors. 😦  Here’s how to install gimp on Redhat 6.4.

gimp – GNU Image Manipulation Program

Installing Talend Open Studio For Big Data 5.5.1 on Redhat 6.4

Recently, Talend Open Studio For Big Data was recommended for me, so I thought I’d try it out.

But as I’ve so often encountered with Java on Linux, the install was a long process, full of java error stacks, google searches, research, trial and error, debugging, forum posts, and so on. Sigh, not again!

Here’s what I did to get Talend Big Data to install and work.  Big errors I encountered are detailed at the bottom.

 

Talend Open Studio 5.5.1

 

Download Talend Big Data Software:

Install Sqlite And Query Firefox Log Files Using SQL

Firefox saves a lot of log information in RDBMS files that can be queried in sqlite, using standard SQL commands.

SQLite3

 

To query the files, you have to have the right version of sqlite. Turns out that an old version was installed with my Redhat Linux 6.4 installation and I had to upgrade it in order to see the data. Here is how you can install the software and query the logs.

 

When I ran sample sqlite queries I found on the web, I got lots of errors:

sqlite3 ./cookies.sqlite 'select count() from moz_cookies'
Error: file is encrypted or is not a database

Four Ways To Install Software On Linux

New to Linux?  Here’s some information that might be useful.

Linux is different from Windows in how software is installed. In Windows, starting with a CD, DVD, or an executable file, you run an executable file and install the software, usually via a GUI with prompts.

 

Redhat Desktop

 

However, in Linux, there are at least 3 or 4 different ways to install software:

rpm packages
yum (related to rpm)
Unzip a file into a directory
Run an executable file or script