Author: Alex
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Fix Homebrew – You have no /usr/bin/cc (Xcode)
I recently did a fresh install of OS X Lion on my Macbook Pro I installed XCode, homebrew, and git. After trying to install mysql via homebrew: brew install mysql I received this error: Error: Failed executing: ./configure –prefix=/usr/local/Cellar/readline/6.2.2 –mandir=/usr/local/Cellar/readline/6.2.2/share/man –infodir=/usr/local/Cellar/readline/6.2.2/share/info –enable-multibyte If `brew doctor’ does not help diagnose the issue, please report the bug:…
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Installing Onavo removes Personal Hotspot option on Three
I tend to use the personal hotspot (tethering) feature on my iPhone every week or so (while out at meetings, it’s handy to connect laptop if there’s no wifi available) Recently, I stumbled across Onavo Essentially this compresses mobile data before it’s sent to your device, to reduce your data usage, and speed up your…
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British Gas Energy Smart monitor – Screen looks strange
I recently signed up to British Gas energy smart tariff for gas and electricity, which comes with a handy meter that tells me how much electricity I’m using. Once I’d plugged the unit in, i noticed the screen looked a little bit strange… almost, like it was flickering. I could only detect this if i…
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Running node.js on Windows
Download node.exe http://nodejs.org/#download At the time of writing, the version was v0.5.4 (unstable) Don’t worry about it being unstable, you wouldn’t dream of running it on Windows in production, would you Put it somewhere sensible For me, I have node.exe on the root of C:\ Some people have a subfolder, such as “tools” where they’ve…
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Review of nightmare with Elance provider (WebHouse)
I’ve used eLance for various outsourcing projects for a number of years. (Great for small tasks, and an extra pair of hands until the 25th hour in a day is discovered!) Sure, I’ve had my fair share of problems, however, all have been amicably resolved, talking with eLance and the contractor. WebHouse (Md. Zakir Hossain…
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Carplan – Kleen Air review
I have a BMW 330d (E46 – 2005) About a year ago, I noticed that if I turned off the Aircon (but left the fan running), a musty, damp smell would seep through the vents, filling the car with unpleasant aroma. This meant that I either had to have the Aircon running all the time,…
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JoeBlogs wrapper moved to GitHub
Following from my plea for help for JoeBlogs I finally got round to learning Git. The project has now been moved to GitHub: http://www.github.com/alexjamesbrown/joeblogs I will eventually move the Wiki / Docs to the page also. If anyone would like to become a contributor, please contact me on GitHub
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Dell Latitude E5500 – Windows was unable to connect to <network name>
Having taken delivery of a new E5500, we configured the machine (not that it took much effort, as it came with none of the usual “crap” that is pre-installed") and attempted to connect it to our WiFi in the office. Every time it returned “Windows was unable to connect to CrocusWiFi” Our network is nothing…
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Create a Google Chrome Extension
I’ve been meaning to look into creating a Google Chrome extension for a while. Earlier this week, I successfully RickRoll’d Rob Ashton on twitter, which in turn, after a RT, RickRoll’d several others. Many of whom replied with tweets like @alexjamesbrown @RobAshton You bastards! 😉 — Anders Ljusberg (@CodingInsomnia) March 24, 2011 @alexjamesbrown @RobAshton Damn…
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Hosting a website on Amazon S3
Firstly, Create bucket Enable website on bucket Change bucket policy Upload index document Domain DNS settings Log in to the Amazon S3 Management Console Create bucket if you haven’t done so already, you’ll need to create a bucket. This bucket needs to be the same as your URL you want to host. For example mydomain.com…
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Excluding ID field doesn’t work with FindAndModify
While playing with incremental IDs with Mongo DB the other day, I stumbled across a bug in mongodb. Consider the following command: db.sequence.findAndModify({ query: {"_id": "customer"}, update : {$inc : {"seq":1}}, fields:{"_id":0}, upsert:true, new:true}) Notice the fields:{"_id":0}, part (highlighted) According to the documentation, this should prevent the id from being returned, however when I try…
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MongoDB – Incremental IDs
I’ve been reading a lot recently on MongoDB and the use of incrementing an ID This article offers an in depth look: http://shiflett.org/blog/2010/jul/auto-increment-with-mongodb Taking this a little further, and from reading the findAndModify documentation I put together the following: db.sequence.findAndModify({ query: {“_id”: “customer”}, update : {$inc : {“seq”:1}}, upsert:true, new:true}) Here is what this command…
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View XML in Google Chrome
Sometimes, I need to be able to view an XML document in a browser. While IE supports this natively, you’ll need an extension for that in Chrome. The one I use is XML Tree by Alan Stroop. After installing it, it simply “just works” Viewing any server side XML page displays nice and hierarchically, similar…
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Amazon DDOS attack – hardware failure cover-up
I’m a great fan of Amazon. I admire what they have done for technology, especially with their AWS Platform. However, when the company decided to blame a “hardware failure” for their outages yesterday evening, I felt they were trying to pull the wool over our eyes. An Amazon spokesman said: ‘The brief interruption to our…
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Joe Blogs Wrapper V2 – Help required
I’m on the verge of being able to release a second, much improved version of the Joe Blogs WordPress & MetaWeblog API Wrapper. Some very brief details below, and a cry for help (or several cries!) New Features / Improvements Friendlier API Instead of having to deal with the XML-RPC interfaces directly, I’ve added a…
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Getting W3 Cache Working on shared hosting
I wanted to install w3 cache on shared hosting After uploading the plugin to /wp-content/plugins/ and trying to activate it, I got an error asking me to set CHMOD 777 on /wp-content/w3tc I tried running the command given, however it didn’t work. I also tried manually creating the directory, setting 777 on it, and re-activating…
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H&M Online Store – Usability Issues
I don’t normally do this. But I’m so appalled by the apparent lack of usability testing on H&M’s sparkly new online store, I thought I’d share some of the issues, in a hope someone in their web team picks it up, and does something about it. Product Information – modal window? Firstly, this is a…
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How to block Facebook event invites
Sick of all the event invitations from various promoters / clubs you happen to be friends with on Facebook? Here’s how to block them: Step 1 Click on “Privacy Settings” under the “Account” drop down menu (top right hand corner) Step 2 Click on Edit your lists, under Block lists Step 3 You can…
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C# – String.Concat vs String.Join
I had a quick Google search for a comparison between string.concat and string.join, but I couldn’t find anything. Say you want to construct the sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” This is comprised of 9 words, 8 spaces. Using string.concat: public void CreateSentanceUsingStringConcat() { string space = ” “; string the…
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iOS 4 Supports multiple Exchange Accounts
With the release of iOS 4, you can have multiple Exchange accounts set up to push Mail, Contacts and Calendars to your iPhone. I already have my personal email set up as an Exchange account on my iPhone, which works great, however, at work, we use Google Apps for Mail (and calendars etc..) Currently, I…
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Running Chrome OS in VMWare Workstation – Step By Step
I wanted to have a play with Chrome OS, but didn’t fancy compiling the code etc… Fortunately, GdGt provide a VMDK that you can download, and be up and running in no time using VMWare workstation (or player for that matter) Step 1 – Download Chrome OS VMDK I downloaded a Chrome OS VMDK from…
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Dell E6400 Screen Flicker – Caused by display cable?
Last week, I started having trouble with my Dell E6400 Notebook. There is an intermittent “flashing” on the screen – kind of a “solarising” of the colours, and flickering – it also displayed as “split screen” – split horizontally, displaying the same image top and bottom, but at very low resolution. See flickering / solarising:…
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reCaptcha enabled on comments
I’ve recently noticed a lot of blog comment spam on my blog. Where some-one kisses-bum in order to “trick” me into accepting their comment. For example: Howdy there,this is Everett Krajcer,just discovered your web-site on google and i must say this blog is great.may I share some of the Post found in this website to…
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100 new followers on twitter, bought for a Fiverr
After signing up to Fiverr, I decided to give it a try. Someone with a somewhat copyright infringing username of Twitter offers: Twitter: I will sell you 100 real Twitter Followers for $5 (http://www.fiverr.com/users/Twitter/gigs/sell-you-100-real-twitter-followers) There were plenty of others offering the same, if not more followers, but they required your username and password, and would…