Tech Chat

Wireless Router Advice

krokonoster — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 19:34:58 GMT

Hola,

Please bear in mind I'm a paper MCSE (remember NT4?) and did that 10 years ago before I realized development is my thing.

At the moment I got an internet connection that's always on (might change, but still will be adsl). Connecting that to a wireless router and have both laptops connect to that. Added a box (running Windows Server 08) which I have to connect to the wireless router with a cable (It got wireless plus 4 connectors for cables...however you call that)

Don't want to have cables around and thought about getting a wireless card for the box. Q1: If I do that, what card should I get. I don't even know what is available.

Q2: Would it perhaps be possible to get some wireless card I can put in the server. Have the internet connection connect to the server's network card (1 cable) and have the server act as a wireless router? Essentially the same as have a network the "normal" way with cables, set up a domain and have the laptops (and other's coming) log into the domain and get online? (Heck...does that even make sense?)

Lemme know.

ps: Unrelated question. As I got the setup now, I got internet on the server using a dynamic IP. However to give the server a domain controller role, apparently I should give it a static IP address. Been fiddling all weekend with it's IPv4 settings giving it a static ip address (like 192.168.1.2), but when I do so, it stop the internet connection. Driving me bonkers.....any pointers on that?

What RSS reader do you use?

CalmYourself — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:03:17 GMT

I currently using Snarfar but I don't like where it stores the data files. I format my PC regularly and backing those files up is a real pain in the A**.

What do you guys use? Does it allow specifying where the data files should be stored?

Advice regarding Internet connectivity in SA (Cape Town, Southern Peninsula)

krokonoster — Mon, 31 May 2010 15:02:38 GMT

Hi,

Hope this is the right place to post a question like this.

I've been abroad for the past 5 years now, so not sure how ISP's work down there these days.

As I'll keep working from home for my company I'll need permanent internet access (which is dead simple here).

However I just got this from a prospective landlord: (Glencairn near SimonsTown)

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

I looked into your request regarding internet access as the apartment does not have. This will take a few months as one has to go though Telkom, they said that they have a waiting list for lines in our area and the nearest that they could possibly do it would be end August/Sep. Your best bet is to buy yourself a 3G when you get here, however saying that, the signal here is not 100%, as we are on the other side of the mountain.

Now that's depressing. Took me ages to arrange this accommodation from abroad right in the middle of the wold cup at an affordable price.

Any alternatives available? I'm clueless.

PS: One do not receive replies to your posts on sadev if you are abroad. Block certain countries?

SerializationUtils

Rudolf — Thu, 13 May 2010 07:22:06 GMT

The following is also intended to be a tip (or thread for discussing alternatives/improvements).

I often create tools/apps that must save/load some kind of content/data to and from files. The following simple (crude but effective) class helps alot.

public static class SerializationUtils
    {
        public static string SerializeXML(object classToSerialize)
        {
            XmlSerializer ser = new XmlSerializer(classToSerialize.GetType());
            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
            StringWriter writer = new StringWriter(sb);
            ser.Serialize(writer, classToSerialize);
            return sb.ToString();
        }
        public static void SerializeXMLToFile(string fileName, object classToSerialize)
        {
            using (StreamWriter output2 = new StreamWriter(fileName, false, Encoding.Unicode))
            {
                output2.Write(SerializeXML(classToSerialize));
                output2.Flush();
                output2.Close();
            }
        }

        public static object DeserializeXML(string serializedObject, System.Type typeOfObject)
        {
            XmlSerializer ser = new XmlSerializer(typeOfObject);
            MemoryStream input = null;
            object result = null;

            input = new MemoryStream(System.Text.Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(serializedObject));
            input.Position = 0;
            result = ser.Deserialize(input);

            return result;
        }
        public static object DeserializeXMLFile(string filePath, System.Type typeOfObject)
        {
            object result = null;
            if (File.Exists(filePath))
            {
                string fileContents = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(filePath);
                if (fileContents.Length > 0)
                {
                    result = DeserializeXML(fileContents, typeOfObject);
                }
            }
            return result;
        }
    }

Usage:

SomeClass someClass = (SomeClass)SerializationUtils.DeserializeXMLFile(filePath, typeof(SomeClass));

All the casting stuff looks ugly I know but it works.

Brian Noyes' Slides & Code

CalmYourself — Mon, 17 May 2010 07:00:52 GMT

You can download the slides and code from Brian Noyes' presentation here.

Tip: DelayExecute

Rudolf — Wed, 05 May 2010 06:27:57 GMT

Perhaps there is an even better way to do this but I often need to delay execution of some code - like when starting up an app or resizing a form that requires other code to run after wards but slightly delayed.

Using the following static class:

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace SomeNamespace
{
    public delegate void DelayExecuteDelegate();
    public static class DelayExecute
    {
        public static void Execute(DelayExecuteDelegate theDelegate, int waitTimeMSec, Form hostForm)
        {
            new System.Threading.Thread(delegate()
                    {
                        System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(waitTimeMSec);
                        try
                        {
                            hostForm.Invoke((DelayExecuteDelegate)theDelegate);
                        }
                        catch { } //Just ignore errors for now
                    }
            ).Start();
        }
    }
}

and you can call it like this... (example of resizing a column of a listview control)

        private void lvw_Resize(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            DelayExecute.Execute(ResizeListViewColumns, 200, this);
        }
        private void ResizeListViewColumns()
        {
            columnHeaderFilter.Width = lvw.ClientSize.Width - columnHeaderName.Width - 1;
        }

Tested in Both VS2008(3.5) and 2010(4.0) so far.

I doubt that it will be of any use in an ASP.Net environment as you cannot control threading there much anyway.

CodePlex projects

Rudolf — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 11:00:14 GMT

Hi, are there any other SADev members that has some CodePlex projects out there? Perhaps we can highlight a few that a few of our members contributed for better exposure (to the local 'market')

I have a few projects myself:

A little tool

Rudolf — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:41:07 GMT

Hope no one minds but I'm posting this to see if some of you might be interested in checking out a utility I created. Its something most devs and even tech's can use.

I created my own small version of Perfmon that can be useful for certain specific needs. Since it is open-source you can customize it if you like but it probably would benefit the community if you let me know if there are cool features that can be added or bugs that needs fixing.

http://qperfmon.codeplex.com/

Ok, now look busy again... ;)

Microsoft Jet alternatives

Rudolf — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:57:42 GMT

Hi all,

I recently had the pleasure to hit the Jet/64-bit wall (ouch yes...) and I'm looking at possible alternatives to the Jet database engine. My requirements are not complex (that is why I used Jet in the first place for this project). The 'project' is a little genealogical database I'm maintaining for an uncle of mine. The system requirements are as follows:

Single user instance (yep, only one guy accessing it on the local machine)
Must be accessible from .Net (plain C# 3) Winforms app.
Database file must be a single unit (so it is easy to copy the whole file to another machine/backing up)
No 'service' or other running software must host it (yes it must be embedded as they call it these days)
Must not be constraint to 32-bit only (this is where JET falls flat on it face)
Must be free (could be open source but it is not required)
Must run on Windows XP to Windows 7 (32 and 64-bit)

I've been looking around and saw a few possible alternatives. I saw VistaDB but it is not free (otherwise it sounds cool).

Any suggestions please?

Just looking for suggestions for my site http://www.quiznetonline.com

n8900498 — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:29:00 GMT

More details below:

http://www.QuiznetOnline.com

QuizNet Online allows developers who specialize in Microsoft technologies to take free online practice tests.The advantage of the QuizNet Online compared to any other similar site is that users can submit questions and answers in the form of multiple choice or true and false questions.This is very beneficial for job interviews and for exam preparations as these questions will come from different sources.
The free online practice includes C#, .Net Framework, SQL and ASP.NET as the default quizzes.

Other quizzes such as Biztalk and VB.NET will be added as future practice tests.The concept of this site is that the questions and answers is maintained by any users of this site.

email:contact@quiznetonline.com

Windows Install Media and Licence Keys

horatio — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:15:12 GMT

Hi guys,

Just a quick question, when you install Windows, is it true that it does not matter where the installation media comes from (and obviously it should not come from Warez sites), as long as the licence key is legit, then the copy is also legit.

So, for example, if I were to install Windows 7 on my machine using an install disc from say, one of my clients, as long as I use MY company's licence key for that particular version and the install, then the installation is legitmate?

The reason I'm asking is that my company has not received its discs yet, and our connectivity is so downloading the 2.3 GB image is difficult. We have our licence keys, but no media. I'm working on-site at a client and they have the install image, so if I were to use that install image to re-do my laptop using MY company's licence keys, would that be OK?

Thanks,

Regards,

Installing Expression Studio Bricks my Laptop

ProfK — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:25:26 GMT

I've now tried installing Expression Studio 3 three times (downloaded via the WebSiteSpark) program. The first two I tried a mounted ISO, and for the third, I wrote the image to CD. With all three, a few seconds after booting, and a BSOD that requires speed-reading to comprehend, the machine restarts, ad infinitum.

I can start in safe mode and do a system restore to a checkpoint created yesterday, before the logged changes for today, which are "Installed DirectX". After the restore, everything is fine.

I'm running XP SP2 on an HP Pavilion dv9205us, but had to cheat and use drivers for another HP, as no XP drivers are available for this one. Any advice on how to diagnose or fix this issue will be greatly appreciated.

Any Suggestions?

studentneedshelp — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:18:51 GMT

Hey guys

I am writing a research paper for Uni and i would like a topic that would be interesting to write about. At the moment my list of topics are:

1. Unified Communications

2. Session Initiation Protocol

3. IT in Education

4. Web 2.0 Tech

If you have any more ideas or suggestions it would be very helpful.

Thanks

MSDN Subscriptions

AAAAA — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:16:10 GMT

Does anyone know how one can get a discount on an MSDN New Subscription (MSDN Prof subscription)

I would like one - but funds are very limited. I know they have some promotion codes for a discount - does anyone know how one can get one.

Apache... how do you create a host header?

DoubleJ — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:30:01 GMT

easy in iis.

wtf in apache?!

basic need really...

server is called myserver.local.int
apache is running on port 2616.
site is mounted as myserver.local.int:2616/site/

i'd like to make the host name site.myserver.local.int (already created and working in DNS) to goto the site myserver.local.int:2616/site/

been tearing my hair out... tired of httpd.conf !

Coding Style (Loop processing)

dequadin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:45:24 GMT

Any comments on this coding style?

Option 1
string str = "";
for (int i = 0; i < Data.Length; str += (char)Data[i++]) ;

As apposed to this:

Option 2
string str = "";
for (int i = 0; i < Data.Length; i++)
{
    str += (char)Data[ i ]) ;
}

My vote is for option 2, option 1 is just trying to be fancy..

Protect your network against a rouge DHCP sever

DoubleJ — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:00:14 GMT

just a curiosity really (i'm no network engineer)... how can you protect your prod network from someone accidentally attaching a dhcp router or server?

TDK Super Hard Coat DVD-R(Where to get?)

ayrenjagar — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:48:12 GMT

Continuing from here http://sadeveloper.net/forums/t/4977.aspx

Where can I find these blank DVDs in SA ?

http://www.tdk-media.com.sg/sg/produ...cdvdminusr.php

I need to make Rescue and Recovery DVDs for my laptop and want to use something stronger than normal DVDs.

TIA

Win 7 install problem

ayrenjagar — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 05:31:43 GMT

Hi Guys,

I was trying to install Win7 RC on my laptop but came up with a most annoying problem. I was reading up on the net and following the instructions for installing a dual boot with win7. I currently have Vista Business on the laptop and was trying to install Win 7 as a dual boot.

First thing i did was shrink hard disk to create a new partition. No problem partition created. Then I was supposed to put in the Win 7 install dvd boot up and select the partition and install. Not so lucky.

I got this message "c:\windows\system32\boot\winload.exe file is missing or corrupt" on boot up of the win 7 disc. I have tried all possible solution methods from the net but it will not go away. The file is there and I even renamed it and windows created a new one but to no effect. Any ideas?

Also which version should I install? 32bit or 64bit?
My laptop specs is as follows:
Lenovo ThinkPad R500 Series Notebook 591D219, Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26Ghz 1066Mhz FSB 3MB L2 Cache, 2048MB DDR3-1066 SO-Dimm Memory (1x2048), 250GB SATA 5400rpm Hard Drive, 15.4 WSXGA+ (1680x1050 resolution) TFT LCD Display, ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 with 128MB dedicated graphics, DVD Writer DL optical drive, 802.11a/g/n wireless LAN, 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN, 6 cell battery, Bluetooth, Fingerprint reader

TIA

.Net Posters

DoubleJ — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:41:09 GMT

i'd like to get some .net (and other tech type) posters for our developers office.

any idea where i can get them from?

Enterprise IM

DoubleJ — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:55:36 GMT

Anyone had experiance implementing a enterprise IM solution?

What would you reccomend?

Busy downloading the Office comminucation server 2007 R2 trial...

I'm looking for one that is relatively cheap!

Issue with ASP.NET Popup Windows in non-IE browsers

horatio — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:01:08 GMT

Hi all,

Just a quick question, is there any possible way I can code my javascript popup window opener statements to really prevent re-sizing of the popup in non-IE browsers, specifically FireFox? I've read on the Internet they say Opera, FF, and Safari do not recognise this setting when you open a window with window.open and the feature "resizable=no" is specified.

Any help would be appreciated!!!

Thanks heaps....

The H................

Shipping cost with SA post office

John.john.john — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:22:28 GMT

how do you guyz calculate shipping for a product when working with a ECommerce website ?

is there any webservice available from SA Post office ?

i m using asp.net 2.0 with sql server 2005 .. any help ?

where can I get some cool code type questions for c#, asp.net and SQL

n8900498 — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 19:53:16 GMT

I am looking for questions and answers in the form of code. In other words a question would show a bunch of code and then you would have to figure out the result

I am trying to get some content for my community based web site

Thanks

Are you certifiable?

Heat_Rash — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:11:56 GMT

https://www.microsoft.com/click/areyoucertifiable/default.aspx