The RPath appliances (cacti[1] and OpenFiler[2]) are nice appliances that you can load on a XenServer[3] to provide network monitoring and Network Attached Storage respectively.   However, the XenTools supplied by XenServer won’t load on the appliances without adding a couple of things to the XVA.  Instructions are below, and assume you’re running XenServer 5.5, and the 64 bit version of the appliances:

conary update beecrypt=contrib.rpath.org@rpl:devel
conary update rpm=rpm.rpath.org@rpl:devel/4.4.4
# make sure the xs-tools.iso is loaded in the DVD Drive in XenCenter.
mount /dev/xvdb /mnt/cdrom
cd /mnt/cdrom/Linux
rpm -ivh --nodeps xe-guest-utilities-5.5.0-458.x86_64.rpm
umount /mnt/cdrom

Enjoy!

Links in this post
[1] http://www.rpath.org/web/project/cacti-appliance/releases
[2] http://www.rpath.org/project/openfiler/releases
[3] http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/feature.asp?contentID=1686939

I made it to work and back, but all in all, it was a very crappy day.  Bah.

Well, the Cav’s[1] are down by 18 with 4:28 left. Probably going home. Brownies[2] sucked again last year and the Tribe[3] is off to a very poor start. Only bright spot was the Buckeye’s semi-pro football team[4].

It’s been tough to be a Cleveland Sports Fan[tm] these last few years. The Tribe had a run in the 90’s and the Buckeyes have been great under Tressel. I grew up north of Cincinnati, and they’ve had similar problems with the exception of the Big Red Machine.

UPDATE: 1:06 left – Magin 101, Cavs 87. Oh, boy.

Links in this post:
[1] http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/
[2] http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/
[3] http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cle
[4] http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Tressel

I’m using Live Writer to create this post.  I can add a hyperlink to something. This is a link to Google[1].  I can add a picture.   (one of my favorite diners[2] in my home town.

Here’s a quick table that was easy to insert.

You can insert Windows Live Maps, including a bird’s eye view:

Home of the Tribe[4]

More about LifeChurch here[3]

Links in this post:

[1] http://www.google.com

[2] http://www.thespottoeat.com/

[3] http://www.lifechurchlc.org

[4] http://www.clevelandindians.com

I was recently given a project by the managing partner of the firm I work for to roll up financials for all our clients from our Practice Management System.

So a quick Access Page with linked tables pointing to the ODBC connector for each database with a export macro gave me the raw transaction data in MySQL tables. I needed the provider names, practice info, service facility lookups and insurance plan lookups, so I ended up exporting 9 tables.

I had always used perl with database modules to digest data like this, but I decided to see what I could do with just SQL statements. I had built many projects with MySQL before, but was always limited to INSERT’s and UPDATE’s. Man I gotta hand it to you DB programmers out there. There’s a whole world of tools I never new existed.

This is all typical stuff for a medical practice management consultant firm. The trick here is dealing with the volume of data stored in many databases without having someone sit down and go into each database.

Wikipedia’s Great Depression page. It was like reading today’s headlines.

Links in this post:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression

usage: scp [-1246BCpqrv] [-c cipher] [-F ssh_config] [-i identity_file]
[-l limit] [-o ssh_option] [-P port] [-S program]
[[user@]host1:]file1 [...] [[user@]host2:]file2

For the most part you can ignore the first two lines of options. So think
of it like this:

scp [[user@]host1:]file1 [...] [[user@]host2:]file2

Anything in square brackets is optional. So the minimum is:

scp file1 file2

However, this would be no more useful than cp. What makes it useful is
the user & host info that allows you to copy a file from one host to another.

If I want to copy /etc/hosts from host1.example.com [and I'm logged into host1.example.com]
to /home/melick on host2.example.com and call it hosts.txt The user
I have on host2.example.com is lyle The command will look like

scp /etc/hosts lyle@host2.example.com:/home/melick/hosts.txt

It will ask you for your password for the user lyle on host2.example.com &
transfer the file.

You could even be logged into host3.example.com & copy a file from host1.example.com
as user melick to host2.example.com as user lyle.

scp melick@host1.example.com:/etc/hosts lyle@host2.example.com:/home/melick/hosts.txt

Oliver Rist talks about making money with your podcast, using it as a marketing tool. Many of the things he talks about could be used in a non-profit environment or even for sermoncasting(tm). I’ve covered the basics of creating the MP3’s in the earlier article in this series. Something I learned from Oliver’s article is that audacity has a wiki[2]. This alone is probably worth the price of admission.

Oliver talks about hosting services, podcasting consultants and even a one-stop-shop. While these may not be something you’re able to afford as a non-profit or sermoncaster(tm), you may be able to pick up some tips from websites.

Links in this article:
[1] http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2325764,00.asp
[2] http://www.audacityteam.org/wiki

I’ve had to google this 3 times now. Thought I’d post the link that helped.

Links in this article:
[1] http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=101&threadID=238152&messageID=2323474

A Cleveland Indians fan[1] is taking the same approach that a team and/or a potential free agent might take at this point in the season, especially a season that is clearly already over. He’s auctioning off his services to the highest bidder. If the Cleveland Indians can “sell” the services of C.C. Sabathia to Milwaukee for the rest of the season, why not a fan. If Jim Thome can say it’s not about the money & then bolt to Philly for (wait for it…) the money, then why not a fan.

At this point, one of you will be thinking “front-runner” or “fair weather” or “you’re not a real fan” because he’s taken this approach. Check out his eBay listing, he’s been with them his whole life. And the Tribe is in possibly the worst slump of his whole life. And the Tribe has thrown in the towel. Management is trying to get the most money for the talent they have. Players have CLEARLY given up on the season. Given what we’ve suffered through in Cleveland, surely we as fans deserve to get the most out of what’s left of the season.

I gotta tell ya, the writing was on the wall before the season started. C.C. didn’t want to be “distracted” by contract negotiations during the season. This is code for “I’m not gonna get what I want from this bunch of cheapskates. Let’s just get through the season with my reputation intact. Then I’ll get what I’m really worth from the Yankees, Boston or LA.” I don’t blame the man for maximizing his earning potential, after all this is America, the land of opportunity. I just think it’s time for the fans to get into the action too. The other “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin” was the steroid scandal that broke last year. While I’m not saying the Tribes many injuries are steroid-withdrawal related, you had to believe it would affect something. (batting averages down, anyone?).

The Indians will not only be rebuilding talent-wise in the off season for next year, they’ll be rebuilding fan-wise. And it likely will cost them more. Fan salaries won’t be going up, that’s not how it works. Fan’s butts won’t be hitting the seats, fan’s backs won’t be walking advertisements.

My services will also be available for the remainder of the year. I don’t have the fan-cred that Alex does, so think of me as a utility outfielder near the end of his career. 25th man on the roster. Slow on the bases, slow in the field, but takes a great line to the ball in the outfield, and can occasionally make contact with the ball in clutch situations. Put me down for the same contract as Alex, just at 10% of his rate. Boston & New York will still cost you $3500 & $10000 respectfully. They’ll overpay for Coco Crisp, why not me? I’d kinda like to go to a contender. Any takers?

Just wait until next year. The National Cheer of Cleveland fans.

[1] http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280244100894

A co-worker sent this link[1] along. Helpful to see if a site is having problems. The page actually “heads” the site to see if it gets a response. If you can get to the internet, but aren’t sure if a site is blocked by your firewall (personal or corporate), give this a try.

Remember, the internet is a big place, it can’t all be down. – Walt D. Janitorius

Links in this post:
[1] http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/

Opening day, home opener, a victory & no snow. The Cleveland Indians haven’t opened many seasons at home over the last 10 years, mostly because the weather is so bad. Last year we got snowed out & ended up playing a home game in Milwaukee. This year there was plenty of runs, drama & fun. Can summer be far behind?

You might try spybot search & destroy[1] or TrendMicro’s HouseCall[3] (http://housecall.trendmicro.com/). I’ve had some success with those programs in cleaning infections. I also use AdAware[2] pretty frequently.

These don’t catch everything. I generally try to run SpyBot & AdAware once a week to keep things running smoothly. I also clean out the temp files, cookies & the like in firefox everytime I exit the program. Don’t let deleted (& maybe sent items) build up in your email package. Empty the recycle bin once in a while.

Links in this post:
[1] http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
[2] http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
[3] http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Well, I believe this is the 100th post. It’s taken nearly 3 years to reach that landmark.

I’ve always been an underdog man, myself. I enjoy seeing athletes overcoming adversity, their own doubts and beating a better team occaisionally. I guess that’s why I became an Indians fan when I moved to the area. Also explains why I’m a Browns fan right now.

But every once in a while, it’s nice to have a team on top that you root for. Since I was a kid this team was the Ohio State football Buckeyes. It was rough under Cooper as we seemed to lose the game against the team up north (and every year seemed like a losing season as a result). But Tressel to the rescue.

However, I’ve got a bone to pick with the Nat’l Media. How’s come when the Yankees or RedSox are in the playoffs, and you can only get national coverage of the games, are the Tribe treated like the visitors from another planet – even when the games in Cleveland. I get that there are lots of fans of these teams nation-wide & ESPN & FSN are from New England. But Please.

So by the same token then, when the Buckeyes are involved, you’d think the bucks would get the same love. But NOOOOOO. I think it must have something to do with the fact that Ohio is a fly-over state. The coasters can’t imagine anything fun or useful that could happen in Ohio, the only thing it’s good for is flying over while drinking martini’s on your way from New Yawk to El-Lay (or vice-versa).

Has anyone seen the size of Buckeye Nation that travels to away games? Anyone noticed how much other teams hate to play in the Shoe? No, we’re the Luckeyes. Why do you think we played a “weak” schedule? The other Ohio teams we played this year where the ones that had the stones to schedule us several years ago. & when we scheduled Washington, they were power-houses. None of the SEC teams want anything to do with OSU as a non-conference. Possible?

If the Luckeyes beat LSU & Tressel has 2 Nat’l Championships in 6 years under his belt, can we go back to being the Buckeyes? Please?

Files required to use Microsoft Update are no longer registered or installed
on your computer. To continue:
- Register or reinstall the files for me now (Recommended)
- Let me read about more steps that might be required to solve the problem

Solution:
This problem can be corrected by re-registering the various dll files that Windows Update requires to run.

To do this firstly click on the “Start� button then “Run� and enter the following command into the “Run� dialog box

· regsvr32 wuapi.dll

You should then receive a message to say it was successful. The above process then needs to be done for each of the following commands:-

· regsvr32 wups.dll

· regsvr32 wuaueng.dll

· regsvr32 wucltui.dll

· regsvr32 atl.dll

· regsvr32 msxml3.dll

For those of you like myself that this didnt work for

I found an admin had removed messed with the update agent so although I was registering all of the required files nothing worked. My WSUS server would not send out the updates (116) that the machine needed so after searching I found this

This worked a treat
Use the Stand alone installer to install the Update Agent.

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=43264

If when you run this you get an message telling you its already installed then do the following.

Start > Run and type WindowsUpdateAgent20-x86.exe /wuforce

I subscribe to “Web Marketing Today” and the latest issue as of posting has an article on using email service providers (ESP)[1]. Lydia did a nice job, covering most (if not all) the bases. I work with several non-profit christian organizations, one of which is utilizing an ESP that they recently transitioned to. The issue for them is the apparent delivery rate seems less than when they were using a large email provider (like Hotmail, MSN, Netscape or Yahoo). This was measured by empirical means, for instance the number of replies the author recieved or the number of bounces recieved. They have recieved calls from some of the recipients asking if the emailing was still taking place, so they have some questions.

When transitioning to an ESP from a “roll your own” email campaign, it’s helpful to understand the state of your current process (read-receipts, bounces, response rates, etc) and find a way to measure that in the new system. Typically, these metrics are available so make sure you understand what you’re looking at. Also, proof-read the address list, especially if you have to re-type it in the new system. Include information about adding the new “sender” to whitelists in the last couple of mailings from the old system so the recipients can get that set up prior to the first mailing. I’ve even seen some email newsletters send a “coming soon” test email to the list from the new system to shake the bugs out. It may feel like you’re over communicating, but it will be worth it to ensure a smooth transition.

Lydia’s article also included a link to the CAN-SPAM page put up by the FTC. It’s a quick read and well worth it. canspam information[2]

Links in the post:
[1] http://www.wilsonweb.com/email/sugarman-esp.htm
[2] http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.htm

Very nice! [1]

[1] http://fury.com/google-circa-1960.php

I like Phil’s [1] notion about having a License to write. I’m just not sure I’d pass. The new Plain English [2] rules seem pretty simple…

Back in my day, the Elements of Style [3] was referred to as “Strunk & White”. Now it’s been updated. Wonder what’s changed?

[1] http://philcrissman.com/2006/08/11/writing-plain-english/
[2] http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/plainenglishguide.html
[3] http://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/style.htm

l