 | geek |
|
I have been testing Jolicloud 0.9 for the past few days. It was decently usable. Although the "app store" had a very limited selection, this was not really a problem for me, because Jolicloud is based on Ubuntu and I was able to install whatever I wanted via apt-get. I tried this with kdevelop and it installed flawlessly. It also appeared in the development category of the launcher, as it should.
Version 1.0 has a completely different desktop interface. The launcher no longer has categories and only shows applications installed via the app store. Nothing installed via apt-get or synaptic appears in the launcher. Accessing those applications requires finding the terminal, which is not convenient at all. It was previously located conveniently in the accessories tab of the launcher. Now, it requires a 6 step process.
Aside from the increased inconvenience of using the new desktop, Jolicloud has thrown away its greatest asset. The old launcher was convenient and unique. It was the main advantage over all other Linux distributions. Jolicloud has now turned into just another mundane distribution with absolutely nothing remarkable about it. The social/cloud stuff is just marketing hype. I seriously doubt that will be used by many, and even if it is, it's not enough of an advantage.
Version 1.0 has a completely different desktop interface. The launcher no longer has categories and only shows applications installed via the app store. Nothing installed via apt-get or synaptic appears in the launcher. Accessing those applications requires finding the terminal, which is not convenient at all. It was previously located conveniently in the accessories tab of the launcher. Now, it requires a 6 step process.
Aside from the increased inconvenience of using the new desktop, Jolicloud has thrown away its greatest asset. The old launcher was convenient and unique. It was the main advantage over all other Linux distributions. Jolicloud has now turned into just another mundane distribution with absolutely nothing remarkable about it. The social/cloud stuff is just marketing hype. I seriously doubt that will be used by many, and even if it is, it's not enough of an advantage.
A client asked me to transfer data from an old computer to a new one. All files have copied without incident except for one. It's a 1.8GB PST file which occupies some bad sectors. I first attempted:
The objective was to get a partial copy of the readable portion on which I could use a repair utility like scanpst. I knew that some data would be lost, but I was expecting to get most of it. This failed to copy any data despite the fact that the majority of the file is readable. The solution that I am now using, which is working, is opening the data file on the new computer and using Outlook's own copy function to get the data into a new PST file.
XCOPY /C
The objective was to get a partial copy of the readable portion on which I could use a repair utility like scanpst. I knew that some data would be lost, but I was expecting to get most of it. This failed to copy any data despite the fact that the majority of the file is readable. The solution that I am now using, which is working, is opening the data file on the new computer and using Outlook's own copy function to get the data into a new PST file.
I was faced with a difficult installation last night. My client purchased a new computer that had Vista on it. After 6 hours of copying data and installing software, I discovered something critical that didn't work. My client had an Access database that is needed for her business operations. It opened fine, but the Visual Basic script failed during a file creation operation. The file was created successfully, but the VB interpreter quit with a message stating that the file could not be created.
My options were:
1) Find a way to make it work. This was the best option, but Google did not provide any guidance. I found several forums in which people asked if Access 2000 worked on Vista, but nobody answered.
2) Install VMWare. This was a guaranteed solution, but it would take several hours longer and I would need a licensed copy of Windows XP. It was also pretty late, around 9PM.
3) Abandon the upgrade to the new computer temporarily until a new solution could be found. This was the most tempting option, but absolutely not acceptable. All data would have to be copied again to guarantee that nothing is missed. My client might want a discount on my fee, because several hours of my work would have been wasted. This would also tarnish my image.
4) #3 plus suggest getting a newer version of Microsoft Access. The problem is that my client had a fear of upgrading. There were serious issues that required rewriting code during her last upgrade. The worst part is that I couldn't guarantee that it would work. I know that newer versions of Access work on Vista, but I couldn't guarantee that the VB code would work with Vista regardless of Access version.
I chose to explore option #1 further. XP compatibility mode did not help at all. In fact, it made things worse by making the printer inaccessible and Access has a quirk that doesn't allow entering design mode without a printer installed. Administrator mode also did not help and created an extra error message about the MDB file being inaccessible, which wasn't true. I decided to try installing service packs, one at a time, until I found one that made things work properly.
Installing service pack 1 is not as easy as it should be. Google lead me to this page: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=AF6C8D03-7633-45B4-AB96-795EE656F2A2&displaylang=en. It has a download link to o2ksr1a.exe. That looks fairly simple, but o2ksr1a.exe is not the actual service pack. It is a downloader for the service pack and it quit with a cryptic message. I tried service pack 2. It first failed with a privilege escalation error. I ran it as administrator and it informed me that the wrong version was found, meaning service pack 1 had to be installed first.
After more research, I found this: http://www.microsoft.com/office/orkarchive/2000ddl.htm#o2sr1au
That has a link to the full service pack 1 installer. After that was installed, the Visual Basic script ran properly. Access 2000 with service pack 1 works on Vista.
My options were:
1) Find a way to make it work. This was the best option, but Google did not provide any guidance. I found several forums in which people asked if Access 2000 worked on Vista, but nobody answered.
2) Install VMWare. This was a guaranteed solution, but it would take several hours longer and I would need a licensed copy of Windows XP. It was also pretty late, around 9PM.
3) Abandon the upgrade to the new computer temporarily until a new solution could be found. This was the most tempting option, but absolutely not acceptable. All data would have to be copied again to guarantee that nothing is missed. My client might want a discount on my fee, because several hours of my work would have been wasted. This would also tarnish my image.
4) #3 plus suggest getting a newer version of Microsoft Access. The problem is that my client had a fear of upgrading. There were serious issues that required rewriting code during her last upgrade. The worst part is that I couldn't guarantee that it would work. I know that newer versions of Access work on Vista, but I couldn't guarantee that the VB code would work with Vista regardless of Access version.
I chose to explore option #1 further. XP compatibility mode did not help at all. In fact, it made things worse by making the printer inaccessible and Access has a quirk that doesn't allow entering design mode without a printer installed. Administrator mode also did not help and created an extra error message about the MDB file being inaccessible, which wasn't true. I decided to try installing service packs, one at a time, until I found one that made things work properly.
Installing service pack 1 is not as easy as it should be. Google lead me to this page: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=AF6C8D03-7633-45B4-AB96-795EE656F2A2&displaylang=en. It has a download link to o2ksr1a.exe. That looks fairly simple, but o2ksr1a.exe is not the actual service pack. It is a downloader for the service pack and it quit with a cryptic message. I tried service pack 2. It first failed with a privilege escalation error. I ran it as administrator and it informed me that the wrong version was found, meaning service pack 1 had to be installed first.
After more research, I found this: http://www.microsoft.com/office/orkarchive/2000ddl.htm#o2sr1au
That has a link to the full service pack 1 installer. After that was installed, the Visual Basic script ran properly. Access 2000 with service pack 1 works on Vista.
There are plenty of tutorials on how to configure DNS records to get domain names working, but finding one on mail forwarding was not easy. The majority of Google results recommended against modification of MX records, suggesting instead to use the mail forwarding features offered by the host.
I had registered my domain through MyDNS and they offer a mail forwarding function. The problem is that this feature is only intended for use along with their URL forwarding service and not with a custom CNAME record. It gives me a conflict error if I try to use it. Their URL forwarding service was not adequate for my needs, because the forwarding either redirected to my other domain name or encapsulated the whole page in a FRAME. I wanted the proper domain name to show in the address bar and I wanted it to function correctly in bookmarks and recommendations. Adjusting the DNS record fixed that, but the adjustment conflicted with mail forwarding.
The Solution
An MX record has to be added like this:
Domain1 is the domain of the email address that you want people to use. Domain2 is where the mail forwards to. 0 specifies priority. Since I am not using any other mail system, it doesn't make much of a difference but it can't be blank.
An additional A record has to be added like this:
The number should be the IP address of domain2.
Note that this forwarding could take a few days to work.
I had registered my domain through MyDNS and they offer a mail forwarding function. The problem is that this feature is only intended for use along with their URL forwarding service and not with a custom CNAME record. It gives me a conflict error if I try to use it. Their URL forwarding service was not adequate for my needs, because the forwarding either redirected to my other domain name or encapsulated the whole page in a FRAME. I wanted the proper domain name to show in the address bar and I wanted it to function correctly in bookmarks and recommendations. Adjusting the DNS record fixed that, but the adjustment conflicted with mail forwarding.
The Solution
An MX record has to be added like this:
domainname1.com MX 0 mail.domainname2.com
Domain1 is the domain of the email address that you want people to use. Domain2 is where the mail forwards to. 0 specifies priority. Since I am not using any other mail system, it doesn't make much of a difference but it can't be blank.
An additional A record has to be added like this:
mail.domainname1.com A 123.123.123.123
The number should be the IP address of domain2.
Note that this forwarding could take a few days to work.
