Author: Robert
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A system for getting the most out of “TODO” comments in code
Annotating code with “TODO” can help remind us what code needs attention. It’s easy, however, for them to build up, get out of hand, and no longer be useful. Below is a system I came up with to keep TODOs useful. Some of what I like about it are that: It is based on the…
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Fixing the Google Android USB driver to work with the NOOK Color ADB on Windows
Symptoms When attaching a Barnes & Noble NOOK Color to a Windows computer for app development, Windows is not able to automatically install a device driver that allows ADB to communicate with the NOOK Color. You may see a message similar to the following: “Device driver software was not successfully installed” (with details: “No driver…
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GSmartControl for Hard Disk S.M.A.R.T. Information and Tests
It’s surprising how few good tools there are for Windows for hard drive Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology System (S.M.A.R.T.) functionality. In addition to providing basic attributes like ‘Power-on Hours’ or ‘Temperature’, SMART can also include self-test ability and logs about recent errors. Windows itself offers zero SMART information. Even hard drive manufacturer’s utilities, such…
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Error 1327 “Invalid Drive” while installing or updating applications in Windows
Symptoms When trying to install or update an application, you receive an error message similar to the following: Error 1327. Invalid Drive: Z: I’ve encountered this error installing Google Earth and another application, and it also apparently happens with many others including Microsoft and Adobe applications. Cause These installers/updaters are failing to access the drive…
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AT&T U-verse for the Curious Consumer – The Residential Gateway and Wiring Options
AT&T U-verse is an Internet, TV (IPTV), and phone (VOIP) service delivered primarily by fiber and existing copper. This article is targeted at consumers who would like a little bit of light shed on the in-home hardware (what it does, how it works, and the different ways it can be set up) and wiring options.
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bebooper
bebooper [bee-boo-per]: beep + boop + computer -noun Those things in movies that look like computers, but beep or boop every time something is clicked on, whir whenever there’s a progress bar, or ever show an “ACCESS DENIED” message in a 36 pt. or greater font size. These devices are often also likely to be…
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View Your Google Apps Calendar in Outlook 2007/2010
Microsoft Outlook (2007 and 2010) and Google calendar both support the iCalendar format, which means you can view your Google calendars in Outlook. This is great if you, for example, want to be able to see your Google Apps personal calendar and Exchange work calendars in one place. It looks like this: If you’re a…
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s3nukem – Delete large Amazon S3 buckets
s3nukem is a slightly improved version of s3nuke, a Ruby script by Steve Eley that relatively quickly deletes an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Simple Storage Service (S3) bucket with many objects (millions) by using multiple threads to retrieve and delete the individual objects. Improvements include: The key retrieval thread will pause when the queue contains…
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WREST (Website REST)
WREST [rest] = Website + REST -noun A RESTful API service that is made available to its own website. The distinguishing behavior from a regular RESTful API is that calls coming from the client are identified the same way as other calls made by the client’s browser (viz., the client’s cookie(s)) rather than by API…
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haircro
haircro [hair-kroh]: hair + Velcro -noun When hair is cut very short (using, say, #2 on clippers), the hair holds hoodie hoods on like it’s Velcro — but it’s hair!