HTML Back-A-Page

June 21st, 2009 Filed Under Javascript

Programming to have your HTML go back a page isn’t hard. It’s simple Javascript that you can use in a link or a form’s button…

<form method="post">
<input type="button" value="Back" OnClick="history.go(-1 );return true;">
</form>

<a href="javascript:history.go(-1)">Back</a>

Hope that helps,
Thuan

HTML Tags Converter

June 13th, 2009 Filed Under Javascript

For some reason I couldn’t find a HTML Tags Converter on the web at all, so I wrote one…

It’s really simple Javascript, but a very useful tool when you need it… if you find it useful, leave a comment.
-Thuan

Removing MS SQL Full Text Search

April 30th, 2009 Filed Under SQL

This week I had to move one of my sites from web host to another. Full Text Search, though useful, turned out to be a nuance because the new host doesn’t not allow it and the old host wanted to charge me $20 to remove it.

Why didn’t I just remove it myself? Well, I assumed I didn’t have the privileges because it was grayed out in Enterprise Manager. But hope was not lost, I fired up Query Analyzer and found that I was able to manage full text search functionality without any issues. Here’s the code if someone needs it…

Step 1, Drop the table (or tables if you have multiple)

USE DB_NAME;
GO
EXEC sp_fulltext_table 'TABLE_NAME', 'drop';
GO

Step 2, Drop the Full Text Search Catalog

USE DB_NAME;
GO
EXEC sp_fulltext_catalog 'CATALOG_NAME', 'drop';
GO

In summary, working on a shared hosting environment can have its disadvantages but with a little Transact-SQL know-how it isn’t all that bad.

BTW, here’s a good reference for MS SQL Full Text Search Stored Procedures… linky.

Using BitTorrent

April 24th, 2009 Filed Under Sys. Admin

Before you read on, please note that to understand this article you must have some knowledge about peer to peer (P2P) file sharing and/or have used some sort of P2P file sharing program. In this article I will compare the steps needed to start/use/download while using these types of programs.

Why use BitTorrent? The advantage with using BitTorrent is our downloads can (and for the most part will) reach much higher speeds resulting in faster downloads.

Using torrents is like using any other P2P programs. If you have used any programs such as LimeWire, then you are 90% of the way there. How’s that?

Lets start by reviewing how we would use a program such as LimeWire:

bt_limewire

1. Start the program
2. Search for your desired files
3. Select and start downloading

Simple? Yes. Well using BitTorrent software is almost exactly the same. The only difference is the manner in which you do step 1. Here’s a breakdown of the steps for BitTorrenting:

bt_utorrent1

1a. Open your favorite web browser
1b. Go to your favorite bit torrents site
2. Search for your desired files
3. Select and start downloading

What? That’s it?! Yes, do you see the difference?

The only thing different is programs like LimeWire automatically connects to the file sharing network for you. This way all you have to do is start searching for what you need. BitTorrent software doesn’t work in that manner. Instead of starting the BitTorrent software you start up your browser then visit your favorite torrent sites. I say your favorite torrents site because there are many of them.

Once you click download this using torrent… your torrents software should start automatically for you. If you don’t know which torrent software to use, then take my advice and use uTorrent. I have used many and IMHO it is the best in regards to speed, usability, and configuring.

As with all related “downloading” off the internet. Be sure to filter through the search results for virus spreading fakes. And to be really sure, scan for viruses after downloading your desired files before opening them. This is probably the #1 reason why everyone gets those “I don’t know what happen?” to my computer viruses and spyware.

Oh, BTW, LimeWire has BitTorrent software built into it… however, I don’t suggest using it.

Also, if it isn’t so obvious… when you are on a BitTorrent website you’ll see unfamiliar terms such as “seeds and leechers”:

*Seeds, the number of people that are sharing the complete file.
*Leechers, the number of people downloading and sharing some of the file… you share what you downloaded thus far.

Hope this helps.

-Thuan

Reflection.js

April 7th, 2009 Filed Under Javascript

I have been using a fancy snippet of JavaScript ever since I ran into it a few months back. After giving it some time to prove itself, it’s time to thank Cow for making my blog, reflective.

What is it?
Reflection.js

What does it do?
Reflection.js allows you to add reflections to the images on your web pages using CSS. All you have to do is give the desired images a “reflect” CSS class. Simple as that.

I have used it numerous times, but here are a few more examples…

Whatcha think? Pretty cool right? If you want it? You can download it here… http://cow.neondragon.net/stuff/reflection/

-Thuan

Mind Wide Open by Steven Johnson

March 31st, 2009 Filed Under Book Review

This is a magnificent book. I am lucky to have been able to listen to it via audiobook.

There were a few “dry” spots in the book, but for the most part I couldn’t stop listening to it. Dry because the topics mentioned were complex and in depth; nevertheless, Steven Johnson’s superb writing ability was able to make it enjoyable and entertaining.

This is a book about you, me, everyone… with a brain. It explains how we act and why, using modern neuroscience and psychology. He even references and sometimes challenges theories created by the father of Psychoanalytic Psychology, Sigmund Freud.

It’s more evident to me that we are nurtured nature, but that’s a whole different story/debate.

Final Thoughts: It’s a good read/listen. I give it a 4.5/5.

Stop Unwanted Auto Startup(s)

March 25th, 2009 Filed Under Sys. Admin

It’s time to bring back an archaic (at least for me) utility. The utility of topic is your “System Configuration Utility.” I recently needed to use it to prevent an annoying “HP Update” program from starting up. You can find it via your run command line.

Start > Run

Type “msconfig”, Press ‘Enter’ OR Click ‘OK’

Choose The “Startup” Tab

If it isn’t self explanatory, in that tab is the list of programs that are set to automatically start after Windows starts up. Simply uncheck the programs that you don’t want to start then press ‘OK’.

*You’ll get a dialog box/message asking if you want to restart or not, that choice is yours.
*You’ll also get a message after your machine starts up again stating that something has been changed.

Give it a try, but don’t over do it. My advice is to only uncheck obvious annoyances.

Thuan Can Cook!

March 12th, 2009 Filed Under Blog

One of the cool things about a blog is we can talk about anything. Even off-topic blogs. Here’s one for example… …

It has been a while since I cooked anything, but it was time for me to relearn cooking. How would a person go about doing this? My opinion… a good way is to learn a few basic recipes.

The search for those recipes was on… until I found recipezaar.com. As of now, it’s my favorite recipes site for these reasons:

a nice user friendly interface
plenty of recipes
most of the recipes come with pictures
great user ratings / comments
a cookbook to add your favorites
it’s all free

I have cooked over a dozen meals for the family. some of them weren’t too great, but many of them were simply fantastic dishes. So if you are in need of a few recipes, give them a try.

Free Business Cards

February 27th, 2009 Filed Under Blog

Need business cards for that new small business, but you don’t want to go over board and get thousands of cards? Been there, done that. Personally, for as long as I could remember ever needing business cards I have gotten them free from VistaPrint…

I have been using them for years now and still do. Yesterday, I referred them to a friend’s dad in need of business cards and thought I’d share the same information with everyone…

All we have to pay for is the shipping, which has gone up a bit but altogether it is a great deal.

Oh, they don’t just offer free business cards. They also offer free magnets, calendars, etc… so look for their “free products” tab.

Right Click to Copy or Move Files

February 26th, 2009 Filed Under Sys. Admin

I needed an easy way to copy or move files from one directory to its parent directory, but couldn’t find a feasible way of doing it. However, along the way I found a very useful XP / Vista tweak. This tweak allows us to copy or move files to other directories using a directory browser… via right click.

Here’s the article I ran into that explains how to do it…

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/add-copy-to-move-to-to-the-windows-explorer-right-click-menu/

It involves editing your registry. New to editing your registry? No problems, there’s an “edit registry via double click” version…

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/add-copy-to-move-to-on-windows-vista-right-click-menu/

Many thanks to The Geek.

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