Google Earth – My places

posted by Knut Torgersen
Feb 28

I’ve got this idea that I should set up backups of everything on my computers. Everything worth saving, that is. So, next on my mental list was My places in Google Earth. But where the heck are the files for this feature?? Here they are:

  • WinXP:   C:\Documents and Settings\<User>\Application Data\Google\GoogleEarth\myplaces.kml
  • VISTA:   C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming\Google\GoogleEarth\myplaces.kml
  • Win7:     C:\users\<User>\appData\LocalLow\Google\GoogleEarth\myplaces.kml
Happy backup’ing!

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Shrink a log – or: How to force an MSSQL log file to shrink when you tell it to

posted by Knut Torgersen
Jan 31

If you cannot get that d@mn log file to shrink, here’s a neat trick I learned from Christian Arheim:

  1. Make a backup of the files. MS Backup will do if you do not have anything else or if you are in a hurry.
  2. Open MS SQL Enterprise Manager
  3. Open the tree on the left hand side to reveal the database owning the offending log file
  4. Right-click it and select Properties
  5. In the left-hand-side of the window appearing, select Options
  6. To the right, locate Recovery model and select Simple (and – important – make a note of what it was)
  7. Select OK
  8. Right-click the database again and this time select Tasks – Shrink – Files
  9. In the window appearing select File type to be Log and select OK
  10. After shinking finishes, you must now reset the recovery model. Do this:
  11. Right-click database and select Properties
  12. In the left-hand-side of the window appearing, select Options
  13. To the right, locate Recovery model and select what noted it to be in #5 above. You forgot to write it down? You FAIL!
  14. Select OK

The log should now be down to an absolute minimum for this database.

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Done

posted by Knut Torgersen
Jan 1

My ISP finished migrating me only a few minutes after 2200 30 December. But due to the “speed of the Internet” all DNS records involved did not update until only a few hours ago. And of course, I’m one of the last to get access to my own site. I got a new user registration while I had no way of accessing my own site….! Nice.

But – everything works just fine, I did not have to change anything – and thank you to MyWebhost for their perfect migration. They have affordable plans and an excellent customer service!

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MAINTENANCE

posted by Knut Torgersen
Dec 30

Due to an upgrade, Khanun Fodder will be down Wednesday 30 December 2200 CET and until I get a green light for adjusting for the new server locations. With some luck I’ll be up and running within the hour.

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Most Recently Used

posted by Knut Torgersen
Dec 26

All of a sudden I got a Most recently used icon on my desktop in W7. It turned up when I emptied the list using Windows Explorer. Nice. Not. Even better, this was not a shortcut, so I could not just delete it.

I right-clicked the desktop and selected Customize – Change Desktop icons and then cleared the only tick mark I could find – the waste basket – and both the waste basket and the annoying MRU vanished. I turned the basket back on and could close down the windows – no more MRU. Good.

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Random number in your batch files?

posted by Knut Torgersen
Nov 24

If you need a random number no larger than 32767, you can use the reserved environment variable %random% to generate one. Try this in a command window:

echo %random%

This should return a value between 0 and 32767. If you need larger, create another random number and multiply them. If you need less, figure out a formula. It is actually quite easy…

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Personal background on the logon screen

posted by Knut Torgersen
Nov 24

To customize the logon screen wallpaper, you can do one of the following:

  • Find a freeware program to create it for you

or

  • DIY

Since doing it yourself is so much more fun… do the following:

  • Click Windows-key+R and type regedit
  • Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background
  • Create (if it does not exist) the DWord OEMBackground and set the value to 1
  • Close regedit and open Windows Explorer
  • Navigate to %windir%\system32\oobe
  • Create (if they do not exist) the subdirectories \info\backgrounds so that the full path is %windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds
  • Put your desired logon screen image into this directory and call it backgroundDefault.jpg. This image must be less than 256KB. Thanks, Christian, for pointing out the slip as of the quantifier.

Log out and you have a new background on the logon screen.

…aaaaaand – if you happen to change the theme in W7, the OS reset the OEMBackground to 0. So, you have to set it back to 1.

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Annoying user accounts?

posted by Knut Torgersen
Nov 24

So, you have several users on your PC at home – and all those accounts showing like zits on a teenager’s face on the logon screen. Well, you can get rid of them! The following tip works on Vista and W7.

  • Press Ctrl+R and type in regedit and hit Enter
  • Go to the following key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
  • Right-click the free area on the right-hand-side window and add the key SpecialAccounts and then under that one UserList. The full path (well, technically the key) is now HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList
  • Right-click in the empty area in the right-hand window and create a new DWord with the exact name of the account you want to hide. Repeat for all accounts you want hidden.

When you log off or reboot now, the unwanted accounts are hidden. To log on, press Ctrl+Alt+Del if you need to type in the account name. If you want to re-enable the click-and-drool-icon for one or more users, either delete the corresponding DWord or set the DWord value to 1.

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Setting up the http interface on VLC

posted by Knut Torgersen
Nov 15

To be able to play music on one PC and to control the very same PC from another using HTTP, you need to set up the HTTP interface properly.

Open

C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\http\.hosts

and either add a new or uncomment an existing range and do not forget to adjust the netmask if yours deviate from the norm:

#
# Access-list for VLC HTTP interface
# $Id$
#

# localhost
::1
127.0.0.1

# link-local addresses
#fe80::/64

# private addresses
#fc00::/7
#fec0::/10
#10.0.0.0/8
#172.16.0.0/12
#192.168.0.0/16
#169.254.0.0/16

# The world (uncommenting these 2 lines is not quite safe)
#::/0
#0.0.0.0/0

Localhost is already uncommented, meaning you always have access to the web interface from localhost. Save the file.

Open VLC, go to Tools:Preferences, Click Show settings:All at the bottom, so VLC shows you – well – all its settings. Hence the name, I guess…

Now, click Interface:Main interfaces:HTTP and in Host address enter 0.0.0.0:80 to enable broadcast to everything on port 80. The default is everything on port 8080. If you want it on port 8080 you do not need to enter anything. In Source directory, enter the path to VLC’s HTTP directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\http on my system.

Save and restart VLC. As long as VLC is started, you should now have it receiving control input from the web.

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Neverending music – FREE

posted by Knut Torgersen
Nov 15

Since I have a PC dedicated to the TV, I took the next logical step and hooked the very same PC up to the living room stereo. One cable at our local equivalence of “Radio Shack” solved that matter.

Enter stage left – VLC: A free media player that need no codecs (built-in) and a ton of features. One of the things it can do that caught my eye: An http interface, making it possible to control the player via any web browser within allowed IP range. Not all browsers can handle everything, but in essence: I have successfully used my mobile phone connected to my local network to adjust the volume…!

What I did: Media:Services Discovery:Shoutcast radio listings and thenI went into the playlist (Ctrl+L) and just clocked something. Seems to be a bug somewhere, because unless I do this, nothing show up elsewhere. In another posting I’ll describe how to prepare VLC for http before this actually works. The playlist contains a lot of radio stations – all free. So, I selected one and then tried controlling from another PC. Yep, works.

Note! Needs setup of http interface first.

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