Software companies should choose unique names for their products so that it is easy to search for info on search engines.

In windows drag and drop moves a file. Holding down control will make it copy, and holding down shift control will make it a shortcut. If you use the right button to drag and drop it will prompt you on a context menu to move, copy, or create shortcut.

hello world humor

today i had to break into a red hat linux 7.2 machine because we forgot all the passwords.
-on the red hat screen hit ctrl X
-then hit tab to display kernels (default will have star)
-type "kernel_name 1"
you are then logged on as root.

I downloaded an avi file and when I tried to watch it in windows media player it said "error downloading codec." I found out that all codecs have a four letter code. The easiest way to find out what the code for a file is to open it in notepad, and look for it on the first few lines. I realized mine was DX50. After googling for info on DX50, I downloaded the codec from http://www.divx.com/divx. I had to scroll down a little to find the download for just the codec, not the viewers that divx offers.

the commercial database market is dominated by three players:
ibm db2
oracle 9i, 8i, etc.
microsoft sql server

in the open source world the major players are mysql and postgres.
the pros/cons of mysql:

previous versions of mysql did not support transactions, and only supported table level locking (didn't support row level locking). however that is no longer true if you use the correct type of table.
http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/Locking_methods.html
http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/Table_types.html
mysql doesn't support subqueries

mysql doesn't have a procedural language or support triggers.

here is how to switch domains and keep your desktop in Windows 2k pro.

1)switch domain:
right click "my computer" -> properties -> Network Identification tab -> Properties button -> change domain.
You will be prompted to login to the domain and you will need a user/pass for that domain *not for your computer*

2)the trick to keep your desktop and settings is to login under a third username and change the "Document and Settings" directory for the newUsername to be the one that was the old username you used.

C:\Documents and Settings\newUserName to C:\Documents and Settings\newUserName01
C:\Documents and Settings\oldUserName to C:\Documents and Settings\newUserName

It is important that you are logged in as someone besides the old or new usernames.
Also any shortcuts will be lost that used C:\Documents and Settings\oldUserName in them.

*another way in xp:
system properties-> advanced tab -> user profile settings button -> copy profile button

Don't use floats for money fields

On my current project we are getting slammed by rounding errors from using floats. look at this code:

double x = 426.39 + 834.20;
System.out.println("x: " + x);

Surprisingly it prints:
x: 1260.5900000000001

JAD is a sweet java decompiler. There is also a plugin for jbuilder called JADClassFileNode that allows you to use the find definition command and drill down into the decompiled source from the jar file. This is nice, for instance if you are using an open source project you don't have to download the source if you want to check something simple.

Lots of applications in windows, like MS Word, lock the file. I think the file it makes in the same directory with a similar name and usually a tilde (~) as the first character is the lock file.

If you are using ant and expect to get line numbers in stack traces, set debug="on" attribute in the javac tag. Otherwise you end up with (source unknown).

A Windows path can be composed of no more than 256 characters, including the c:\.

in a web application javascript should never be your only validation. it can be disabled in any browser.

Spyware keeps coming up. AdAware and Spybot Search & Destroy are two popular choices for removing spyware and adware.

tracking down javascript errors in ie today. first of all in ie when you get an error double click the little caution icon in the status bar. then you often have to use the previous button to get to a meaningful error (usually the last error is on line 1 where there is no code) and then use ctrl-g in notepad (win 2k pro) to get to the line. also in dreamweaver mx ctl+' will do braces matching in javascript, and it has code insight for custom libraries (struts in my case).

i found a site (vonage.com) that offers a good deal on voice over ip to replace residential phone service. it's cool because you can use your existing telephones with an adapter and if you have a cable modem (not a dsl) you can get rid of your local phone service. the drawbacks that i can think of are that if your internet service goes down so does your phone, and the sound quality is supposedly not as good. clay shirky wrote an interesting article that metions vonage.

several companies i work for are considering using oracle collabaration suite in place of exchange server.

i have recently set up several windows home networks with netbios over tcp/ip. here is a good tutorial.

a handy shortcut for clearing space on pc is using windows disk cleanup utility. (Start, Accessories,System Tools, Disk Cleanup)

a cool shortcut in IE is Shift + mouse wheel takes you back and forward in history. ie shortcuts

belarc advisor is a windows program that gives you an inventory of all the hardware and software on your pc.