creative christmas

In the spirit of the season I would like to bring to your attention to an
activity that builds on the success of Design IT in 2006. How could you help
a charity if microsoft offered £15,000? The DesignIT competition is about
you using your expertise in technology to help a charity. You apply the
clever thinking and for one UK charity, Microsoft will make it happen.

IT geniuses, from the famous to the unsung, have consistently demonstrated
how different types of creativity are the basis of true innovative thinking.
Now it's your turn. Everyone knows you're a genius. Or at least, you do. But
how does your creative spark show itself? Are you a Tim Berners-Lee, a
Seymour Cray or a Steve Wozniak?

Just use our Creative Calculator
(http://www.microsoft.com/uk/technet/designit/quiz.mspx) to find out. Answer
five questions to discover your Creative Index.

I am an;

IMPLEMENTER [Mostly C's]
'Action is eloquence.' - William Shakespeare

Some people talk a good game - meanwhile, you're out there getting things
done. You're the Swiss Army Knife of IT - practical, efficient, sharp. You
know the nitty gritty like no one else, you're happiest when you're getting
stuck in … and the by the time you're done, the job's a goodun.

Most suited to: Global Action Plan - 'Carbon Calculator'. The planet
literally needs you to make it easier for people to understand how to
improve their carbon footprints, as well as actually take steps to reduce
them.

Merry christmas

SQL server transaction log

I have been having a problem with an old SQL 2000 database, the transaction log was about 7Gb and the data file around 36mb.
Obviously this is a rather large file to be moving around on a flash drive.

Normally I would back up both transaction log and main data file individually, and run a shrink database command on each file.
Unfortunately this would only remove a few mb at a time.

After hunting around and debating whether to import all of the tables into a new database I found this

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/arslist/browse_thread/thread/96feb54beae5845c/486e12a4f3f97323?lnk=st&q=sql+server+2000+not+transaction+log+space&rnum=9&hl=en#486e12a4f3f97323

And its really simple, it will not work on a 'live' running database as there can be no connections (so a website scenario wont work well) before you take the database offline and delete (yes thats delete) the transaction log file.

When you re-attach the database it creates a new (clean) transaction log.

DO NOT try this if you are unsure of how a SQL server runs and always remember to back up your database and all log files before undertaking any tasks that could cause problem.

I know from experience that SQL server can be very unforgiving, what 'No CTRL-Z' for undo I hear you say....

termainl server - remember

I just installed my new terminal services licenses (5 device CAL’s, direct from Microsoft) .

When installing them  on the server there is only one option with the correct key format (5 lots of 5 digits), this installs the CALs as per user licenses….

It took me a day to realize why I could not connect, I had set the configuration for per devices (as was printed on the license) however as the where installed by default as per user….

 

Oh well, best quote I found from someone who had the same ‘error’ as I did;

 

 

Well, problem was somewhere else - between chair and keybord: licensing was
"per device" and "per user" licenses are installed.

live.com - mashups

I was at a microsoft event last night in london (in the swimming pool), the event was about live.com/maps.live.com and mashups (bringing disparate information together in one place).

As an ex-surveyor type I found the advancement of mapping (maps.live.com) on the web a real buzz, the ability to add your own maps and layer them on top of the microsoft virtual earth is really good, see awslive.com for more info and technology previews.

live.com is a great idea its not just a web portal in the old fashioned way, its a place for (I know it sounds like I have been brainwashed, maybe they put something in the coffee?) people to re-brand the way the internat works nad how we use it.

I heard about rich user interfaces about 2 years ago at the launch of the .net framework, and finally it is starting to make its way on to the net, with the help of ajax (atlas.asp.net) and loads of developers and companies like microsoft and google heading the forefront of this we can look forward to a really heavy user interface for web sites. By this I mean your browser window will be used as a container for a fully blown application like paint. No download (maybe a plugin but no installation on your PC) but a fully interactive application you can turn off and come back on someone elses PC or maybe on your phone?

Have alook around labs.live.com or research.microsoft.com if you are interested in where technology going, you will be amazed.

something for everybody

There are pages on the net that should be made into a book, this is one of them.

Craislist.org is a site where anybody can post an advert/message etc for the whole world to see (there are millions of ads up there).

The best ones (as voted by the readers) are kept here http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/all/ they change from time to time so there is never a dull moment.

 

So if you are having a dull moment and are looking for a quick laugh, have a look.

FW: Make your business visible with Microsoft Office Live!

I am trying out the new microsoft office live beta system.
It is basically a lite 'online office' you can register a new domain name, they setup your email you read/send from live.com (new hotmail) using the new domain (ie mail@chillfireltd.co.uk).

The new domain has a basic website on it that you can edit (no html skills neccesary) and update.

Its all very snazzy and simpleoh its free for teh time being while it is on beta, the email I was sent is below with more details, will post info as it happens;

Microsoft Office Live offers everything you need to build a professional presence on the web. It’s simple to use, and it’s completely free.

Take advantage of the following features:
· Your own fully-hosted company website with its own domain name (for example www.mycompanyname.co.uk)
· Up to 50 company-branded email accounts
· Easy to use website design tools
· One central location for all your most important data
· Secure workspaces online for working with customers, business partners, and
employees
· Straightforward analysis of traffic on your website
· Specialist applications to help you manage your contacts, tasks, team calendars,
projects and much more

With Microsoft Office Live you can easily and securely access all of your documents, tools, and customer information - wherever you are, whenever you want.

Sign up now by visiting www.officelive.co.uk (links to http://officelive.microsoft.com/uk)

Buying domain name?

I have seen companies buy domain names with goor PR and good web traffic stats (IIS log generateed in this instance).A few months after the purchase the PR dropped and the traffic stopped, PR has stabilised, the guy selling the site/domain was a smart guy, he builds back links for sites then sells them on, then moves the back links to the next project..... My advice, dont buy a domain purely because of its apparent PR/traffic rating, if the name is what you are after thats another story.Remeber to check the history of the domain via whois.com if its been around for while, use http://www.archive.org to view any older sites that may have used the domain, you dont want to buy a domain that has had 'bad' content before...

view forum: http://www.v7n.com/forums/google-forum/41969-new-site-has-hard-times-getting-google-update-index-post502044.html#post502044

In an earlier post [http://chillfire.blogspot.com/2006/11/internet-explorer-memory-problems.html] I mentioned a possible meory leak error in IE7.

Microsoft has released a number of patches for security advisors for release in the november update, the important one is;
- MS06-067 memory corruption in IE7

Hopefully when released this will stop IE7 adsorbing memory, fingers crossed.

Where to start with my website - Part 1

I get asked this question from clients and friends so first things first you need somewhere to put your website.

There are a few options;

1 – hiy (host it yourself) is now possible for nearly everyone as we  all (most of us) have a broadband internet connection, those of you who are lucky enough to have a static IP address (you will have to ask your ISP about this) can host from home, all you will need is a simple firewall to point the web traffic coming in to your house to the right PC (this doesn’t have to be a big grunty server, that would be ideal for a big company but not necessary for the average personal site).

2 – Co-lo (Co Location) you pay someone else to host your site they deal with all the errors/support/management etc, and palce your site on a server in their building alongside other peoples sites. You access your site via the web.

3 – Own Hosted server, like a Co-lo and hiy, you are the only person on your particular server in someone else building.

 

I would advise for ease of starting to go for the 2^nd option, its really cheap (approx £30 a year, can be cheaper just email me).

The first can be done (thinking businesses) but you will need static IP and hardware (watchguard firewall £200-300, entry level HP server £400 2^nd hand 60 and up), and knowledge of how to fix it when it breaks (it will, they always do – murphys law).

The latter option is really for sites with big traffic of if you need to host something that will use up a lot of bandwidth (data transfer) ie a music video site, you tube etc)

 

In Part 2 html the basics…..

google adsense is changing

Hi Guys

my client has an adsense account for the keywords 'work permit'
(they are a uk immigration services company).
However if you do a search for 'hsmp' on google (this is a different
type of skilled visa for the UK, they appear in the sponsored links
sections?
They have no campaign setup for the hsmp keyword, however they have a
whole section on their site for those types of visas.

I did notice the google adbot hitting the site a few days ago?
It looks like google is playing with (well in this instance) with
contextual searching, so if I search for a keyword that is somewhere on
the adsense campaign landing page
(http://www.visalogic.net/United-Kingdom_Work-Permit-UK_pie.aspx?t=4&t2=
48) it will display there link?

Very weird I cant find out if this is happening for any other keywords
but can anyone else have a google around to see whats up?

thanks

Google AdSense Account Disabled

My new adsense account has been banned?
This is me trying to find out why;

-----Original Message-----
From: Google AdSense [mailto:adsense-adclicks-uk@google.com]
Sent: 15 November 2006 11:33
To:xxxxx@chillfire.co.uk
Subject: Re: [#8314xxxx] Google AdSense Account Disabled

Hello Sxxxx,
Thank you for your email.
Upon receipt of your response, we have thoroughly reviewed your account and have confirmed that it is related to an account previously disabled for invalid click activity. We have certain policies in place to help ensure the effectiveness of Google ads for our publishers as well as our advertisers. For this reason, we are unable to reinstate you into the programme.
Please note that due to the proprietary nature of our algorithm, we cannot disclose any details about how our monitoring technology works or what specifics we found on your account.
Please also bear in mind that subsequent or duplicate emails regarding this issue may not be considered and you may not receive any further communication from us. We appreciate your understanding.
Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Tea
m


Original Message Follows:

------------------------
From: "xxxxx"
Subject: re: Google AdSense Account Disabled
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 08:44:17 +0000
Help?
What does this mean?
This adsense is part of my companies SEO income?
My company has never had an adsense account before?
What can I do to appeal the decision?

Thanks for your time
Sxxxx xxxxx

Director
Chillfire ltd
Chillfire.co.uk


-----Original Message-----
From: Google AdSense [mailto:adsense-adclicks-uk@google.com]
Sent: 15 November 2006 02:31
To: mxxxxx@chillfire.co.uk
Cc: Google AdSense
Subject: Google AdSense Account Disabled

Hello Sxxxx xxxxx,
Your AdSense account was found to be related to an account previously disabled for invalid click activity and we have therefore disabled your account. Publishers disabled for invalid click activity are not allowed further participation in AdSense and do not receive any further payment. The earnings on your account will be properly returned to the affected advertisers.
As outlined in our programme Terms and Conditions, Google reserves the right to terminate any publisher's participation at any time.
Yours sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team

Internet Explorer memory problems?

I have been using Internet Explorer 7 since the first public beta was released ages ago and before I complain about it I would like to point out to everyone the future is tabbed work spaces, firefox/opera etc have been doin it for awhile and I am glad microsoft have built this feature in.

The problem stems from the amount of memory IE7 uses, not sure why but after a day of having the same internet explorer window open my laptop starts to go into arrest and needs to be rebooted, after poking around in task manager it seems that IE7 was using around 300mb of memory even at startup it cranks along with 40mb?
Seems I am no the only one fellow blogger - Robert Scoble(http://scobleizer.com/2006/10/21/the-great-firefox-2-vs-ie-7-memory-test/ ) has found the same problem, no fix has been released, and looks like Microsoft has been quiet on admitting the problem.

I am guessing the the problem maybe that IE7 is written to work natively with windows vista and has been reverse engineered to work under XP SP2?
And as the two operating systems are work vastly different with regards to memory and how it is cleaned up.

I have installed for development purposes .net Famework 1.0 / 2.0 and the 3.0 Beta, not sure if this has any effect on the memory usage for IE7 though.

My advice to anyone in the IT world who looks after more than a few machines (especially if you have winsdows update on set to auto), be careful or if its too late to advise users to closedown internat explorer every now and then.

I will keep this post updated if I find any fixes, hope it helped.

cheers

deleted public folders

Problem: Everyone sooner or later deletes a public folder from MS exchange….

Fix: http://<servername>/public/visalogic/?cmd=showdeleted&btnClose=1    

Link to original article: http://www.windowsitpro.com/MicrosoftExchangeOutlook/Article/ArticleID/42232/

cheers

adsense

Adsense tip: Don’t have the words ‘Our Sponsors’ or anYthing to that dEgree above or close to your adsense section…….. your google adsense account could be locked!!!!!!

word/excel error caused by acrobat

Platform: XP, Office 2003

Error: When opening new docs, these errors appear after installing adobe acrobat

"Compile error in hidden module: AutoExecNew" and
"Compile error in hidden module" AotoExec" and
"Compile error in hidden module" DistMon"

 

Fix: Remove the pdf startup template file ;

 

The Pdfmaker.dot file is located in one of the following folders:

•	C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Startup (Word 2000)
•	C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\Startup (Word 2002)
•	C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\Startup

The Pdfmaker.xla file in located in one of the following folders:

•	C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Xlstart (Excel 2000)
•	C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\Xlstart (Excel 2002)
•	C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\Xlstart

 

url: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307410

blog by email

Isn’t it a great way to spend your time

VB code bookmarks

New page up with a few links I use for VB code/tutorials. I will continually update the list.
If you have a site that want listed just add a comment with the URL.

Ultimate goal is to have a directory of links for VB/asp.net pages that are actually good as loads of links in the search engines have good PR (page rank) but are not that informative.

link: http://www.chillfire.co.uk/Code-links.aspx

access mde error:2501

Platform: MS Access 2003 Runtime edition, compiled mde CRM system
Problem: One user on one machine has this 'error:2501 - openreport cancelled' appearing whenever they try and print a report (to screen or file or anything). Other users can log on to PC and into CRM and have no problems printing reports etc?
Same user can log on to other company PCs and has no problems....

Fix: Although the report is not being 'printed' out physically ie its on screen only. The users default printer must be set (it was int this instance). To remedy this I set adifferent printer as default and eureka it works ....
The PC in question was brand new, the user was old (no offense) so when she logged onto other 'older' company PCs her print settings were correct?

Comment: Weirdness is everywhere, must move CRM system off Access, it does a great job, but has its own oddities that happen from time to time randomly.