March 10th, 2010
Wayne Zimmerman
Just this week I purchased a new Acer Aspire 1410-2990 and while researching this “netbook” I never could get a definite answer on if it would be able to handle this type of demanding Flash video that I would love to be able to view in a hotel when I travel. The answer is Yes it can handle almost all of it. Check out the results below for detail.
Hulu Testing
- Hulu 360p Windowed: Plays Perfect
- Hulu 480p Windowed: Plays Perfect
- Hulu 360p Full-Screen: Plays Perfect
- Hulu 480p Full-Screen: Plays Well (depends on video)
This test was conducted using The Office – Delivery, part 1 which played well but had a few dropped frames in fast motion scene at 480p full screen. I also played a few Family Guy episodes 480p which looked perfect but this is probably not a very intensive video because it lacks lots of fast motions and many colors. I also played an American Greed episode which played perfectly. Please note that the Family Guy episode and American Greed are standard format where as The Office is in wide screen.
YouTube Testing
- YouTube 360p Full-Screen: Plays Perfect
- YouTube 480p Full-Screen: Plays Perfect
- YouTube 720p Full-Screen: Plays Perfect
- YouTube 1080p Full-Screen: Slideshow
This test was preformed with OK GO’s new This Too Shall Not Pass (Rube Goldberg Machine) music video.
These test was performed with out of the box driver set and Mozilla Firefox 3.6 and Adobe Flash 10.0.45.2 running on Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium on battery with power plan set to “Balanced” over WiFi.
Specifications
- 1.2GHz Intel Celeron SU2300 Processor (Dual-Core / 1MB Cache)
- 2GB DDR2 667MHz Memory
- 250GB SATA Hard Drive
- 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N Wifi Connectivity
- 11.6″ HD WXGA Acer CrystalBrite LED-backlit Display
- Intel GMA 4500MHD Graphics
- Windows 7 Home Premium
- Up to 6 Hours of Battery Life
Models
- Acer Aspire AS1410-2706 Ruby Red
- Acer Aspire AS1410-2990 Sapphire Blue
- Acer Aspire AS1410-2920 Diamond Black
Please notice that there are other 1410 models that have either a Core 2 Solo SU3500 or a Celeron M 743 both of which are single core processors that on most benchmarks I’ve seen don’t perform as well as the Celeron SU2300. These processor are slightly faster in clock speed and may have larger caches, but I don’t believe that overcomes the true dual cores advantage that exist in the SU2300. Don’t let the Celeron name scare you this is much faster than those Atom based netbooks.
March 5th, 2010
Wayne Zimmerman
Using phpMyAdmin to export data has always been very useful to me, however I found when trying to run the SQL scripts it generates for Microsoft SQL server I found that there is a variety of incompatibilities. This is further compounded by the Microsoft SQL Management Studio that is a much improvement over the previous Enterprise Manager however it seems to fair badly when trying to do bulk inserts. I ran into many out of memory issues when trying to execute large SQL scripts over 25 megabytes. I also tried using the sqlcmd to try to have it directly process the files but it also ran into memory issues. I choose to use SQL scripts rather because this makes it easy to get back to the original database if needed.
phpMyAdmin Export Config
Select your database and then go to the Export tab. You will need to change the following options to have it export SQL file that is mostly compatible with MSSQL.
- Change the export type to SQL
- Under Options – Uncheck Comments, Change the SQL compatibility mode to MSSQL
- Under Structure – Uncheck Add IF NOT EXISTS, ADD AUTO_INCREMENT value, Enclose table and field names with backquotes
- Under Data – Uncheck Extended inserts
These options will ensure that the INSERT lines will be valid when importing.
Data Structure / Table Definitions
phpMyAdmin does not intemperate data definitions to be compatible. So you have to options here, use Microsoft Management Studio to create your tables or modify the SQL script to be compatible. Here are is an example of a definition that I fixed and what I did.
| phpMyAdmin export |
Microsoft SQL Compatible |
CREATE TABLE transactions (
id int(11) NOT NULL,
medmgrid float NOT NULL,
medmgridpri int(11) NOT NULL,
medmgridsub int(11) NOT NULL,
“date” date NOT NULL,
department int(11) DEFAULT NULL,
“type” text NOT NULL,
detail text,
doctor int(11) DEFAULT NULL,
“procedure” text,
description text,
reference_date date DEFAULT NULL,
diagnosis text,
unit float DEFAULT NULL,
amount float DEFAULT NULL,
total float NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (id)
); |
CREATE TABLE transactions (
id int IDENTITY(1,1)PRIMARY KEY,
medmgrid float NOT NULL,
medmgridpri int NOT NULL,
medmgridsub int NOT NULL,
“date” datetime NOT NULL,
department int DEFAULT NULL,
“type” text NOT NULL,
detail text,
doctor int DEFAULT NULL,
“procedure” text,
description text,
reference_date datetime DEFAULT NULL,
diagnosis text,
unit float DEFAULT NULL,
amount float DEFAULT NULL,
total float NOT NULL
);
|
- ID Field is AUTO_INCREMENT in MySQL, for MSSQL use “IDENTITY(1,1)PRIMARY KEY”
- INT does not allow specificaton of lenght, remove these entries “(11)” after each INT
- DATE is not a valid datatype for MSSQL, replace with DATETIME
- Any Data Field name that is also a Keyword for MSSQL needs to be Double Quoted
- Remove ANY comments from the phpMyAdmin export, even if you didn’t check this there still maybe some in there. Be sure to check the end of the file for them.
For other datatype issues you may need to consult – http://webcoder.info/reference/MSSQLDataTypes.html and check to see if it is even a valid data type. Most datatype errors are easily resolved by Googling the error that is returned.
Data Insertion
If you have used phpMyAdmin export specifications from earlier in this article your data should mostly script in just fine. However, you may need to encase any of your Data Field names with double quote if the word is also a keyword. For example I have used the word Procedure which requires double quote or MSSQL thinks you are calling a stored procedure. To do this I would suggest a program called TextPad that not only does really fast replacements and can do it across multiple files but also is able to handle a few hundred megabyte text file with ease.
If you are using an AUTO_INCREMENT field you will need to add “SET IDENTITY_INSERT field_name ON;” line in before inserting any entry that tries to set that field to a specific value. This happens when your AUTO_INCREMENT ID field has already been created from MySQL. If you don’t do this you will receive an error of “Cannot insert explicit value for identity column in table ‘field_name’ when IDENTITY_INSERT is set to OFF.”
When doing bulk inserts you will be required to keep your single SQL file < 25 megabytes. Microsoft SQL Management Studio will prompt you with "The operation could not be complete. Not enough storage is available to complete this operation" or "System.OutOfMemoryException". To divide up these files I used a free program appropriately called TextWedge which was able to handle up to 100MB SQL files and easily divided them up. You may have to open SQL Studio, execute one 25MB SQL script then close and repeat depending on how much data you have to move.
February 16th, 2010
Wayne Zimmerman
Recently I found myself at work without my Microsoft Zune mp3 player and wondered, is there a way for me to listen to all of my music from my home server? I did a few Google searches and found this great open-source project called Subsonic. Subsonic allows you to stream your mp3s across the internet to a browser or a phone or most other internet connected devices. You don’t necessarily have to have a home server to make the product work but it does need local access to the mp3s.
Interface
The interface is very simple for anyone to use. It lists all the bands on the right side and you can select though to view the different songs and albums you have in the main window. Then all you have to do is build a playlist and hit play. It will also show any album art for any of the albums you have (I’m not real big on album art as you can tell). It has a few different methods to play music but by far the most important for my use is the flash player that streams the mp3 directly to your browser. This is how I listen to my music everyday.
Subsonic Home Screen
Subsonic Song Selection
Features
Subsonic has tons of built-in features that makes it both flexible yet not complicated to get running. It has a lot of options that allow you to customize how the application transcodes on the fly files that aren’t mp3s so they can be played via the flash player. You can also limit the bandwidth to a player which can help if you are trying to support multiple users, have limited bandwidth from the server location or sending music to a mobile device (cell phone). It has an integrated WAP site so you can browse and build playlists with any phone with a browser. It also supports downloading of podcasts so you can listen to those as well, however I have yet to try this feature. The application also supports scrobbing to Last.fm so you can share with your friends what you listen to via Subsonic. The application also supports library searching so you can find whatever song you need for the moment without having to remember or browse to that artist.
For a full list of features please visit: http://www.subsonic.org/pages/features.jsp
Subsonic Search
Subsonic Status
Why I Use This App
This app was impressively easy to setup, and reliably streams all the music from my house to where ever I might be on the go. The interface is intuitive and supports search and Last.fm integration. On top of all of that it is free and open source, which I just love.
More Information
Website: http://www.subsonic.org/
Download: http://www.subsonic.org/pages/download.jsp
Installation: http://www.subsonic.org/pages/installation.jsp
February 11th, 2010
Wayne Zimmerman
The H8SRT Rootkit is a modification to the TDSS Trojan that installs a driver to hide itself, hijacks Internet Explorer, gives fake security and virus warnings, redirects search queries and major site access, as well as disables Task Manager, Registry Editor and blocks most anti-spyware applications. Not only does it disrupt normal use of the computer but also does a good job at trying to keep you from removing it by disabling the tools you would need.
I’m not sure how I got this little bug but it was one of the most stubborn apps that I had seen in quite a while. The hardest part about this is that it won’t let you download or execute applications that are used to remove it or identify what malware I had on my system. When I come across malware I typically go download MalwareBytes Anti-malware (MBAM) and run it and problem solved, however this time it wouldn’t download the application until I renamed it to just a generic “Setup.exe” and saved it. After it was installed I then was unable to execute it as “mbam.exe” I had to rename it to “notepad.exe” which then allowed me to execute it. Once I got it to run it removed some of the fake AV items, but after a few reboots and even safe mode the H8SRT Trojan was still on my computer. I did a bit of internet research and found out that Kaspersky has created a removal tool for TDSS.Rootkit which the H8SRT Rootkit is based. Once I downloaded and ran the Kaspersky tool: TDSSKiller, I follow up with another round of MBAM and now my system is clean.
Download TDSS Killer: http://support.kaspersky.com/downloads/utils/tdsskiller.zip
Kaspersky Documentation on TDSS Killer: http://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/solutions?qid=208280684
Kaspersky Free Virus Removal Tools: http://www.kaspersky.com/removaltools
Download MBAM: http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam-download.php
February 9th, 2010
Wayne Zimmerman
A couple of months back I was installed some communication software that made a VPN connection to the main server. It used OpenVPN to establish the connection and worked fine as long as your were an administrator on the PC. As I researched it further it installed a service and required that service to run on demand when the user launch the program. Since your standard limited user does not have privileges to start and stop services the application would fail to connect to the server.
So now the question becomes, how do you add permissions to a service?
Microsoft has an answer with a little known command line application called subinacl. This application allows you to view and edit security information for files, registry keys, and services. This can be handy if you are writing a script to change permissions on registry keys or files but the real power lies within the ability to edit the security information on services.
The syntax for subinacl: SUBINACL /SERVICE \\MachineName\ServiceName /GRANT=[DomainName\]UserName[=Access]
The Access parameter is broken down like this:
F : Full Control
R : Generic Read
W : Generic Write
X : Generic eXecute
L : Read controL
Q : Query Service Configuration
S : Query Service Status
E : Enumerate Dependent Services
C : Service Change Configuration
T : Start Service
O : Stop Service
P : Pause/Continue Service
I : Interrogate Service
U : Service User-Defined Control Commands
For my example I just needed to allow the Domain Users group access to run the OpenVPN service.
subinacl /service OpenVPN /GRANT=DOMAIN\Domain Users=TO
You may need to execute this from the folder where subinacl.exe is located. Also if it is running the command on a local system you can just type the name of the service and not the UNC path to the service.
Download subinacl.exe from Microsoft
For more information about this command please visit: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/288129
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