Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Displaying IIS Server Metrics

A significant problem has developed for me: how to let a user of as silverlight app know what is going on the web server running it? For example: How many users are on it? Is there a process hogging all the resources?  Does the app have enough bandwidth to run properly? Turns out IIS 7 does provide tools to query and serve up this information in real time!

http://www.iis.net/overview/control/powerfuladmintools

And one such feature is being able to use PowerShell to script the tools to provide the data you want.

http://www.iis.net/downloads/microsoft/powershell

And on codeproject.com there was an article about putting real-time gauges on a web site,. This could be a great tool for displaying the data to users.

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/604502/A-Universal-Gauge-for-Your-Web-Dashboard


Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Running 32bit powershell on a 64bit server from c# - Stack Overflow

It is possible to get a Powershell  to check to see what platform is running: 21 or 64-bit.

if ([System.IntPtr]::Size -eq 8) {'64-bit'} else {'32-bit'}


Running 32bit powershell on a 64bit server from c# - Stack Overflow

Friday, August 22, 2014

Using Powershells Scripts in Software Solutions

I've been working on a project that will require being able to run Powershell scripts from a Silverlight application. What we want is to give users the option of running their own scripts to do calculations that our app does not already do. Fortunately, one of my co-workers has already figured out how to add add a routine to run Powershell scripts. All we need to do is to pass it the script as a text string. He used two articles to write the service we are using:

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/18229/How-to-run-PowerShell-scripts-from-C
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/18409/Asynchronously-Execute-PowerShell-Scripts-from-C

In addition there are three things that came up in trying to write Powersehell scripts. 1. The set-excutionpolicy cmdlet must be set on the computer that will run the scripts. A good link for understanding what your options is: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee176961.aspx
You should choose the option that is best for your situation. Because our app will be on a webserver, we will need to use high security like the policy "allsigned" because then only signed scripts will be allowed to run.

2. This choice means that I  had to figure out how to digitally sign my scripts. One easy way would have been to buy a digital certificate from Globalsign or Verisign. Problem is that this can be expensive, so I opted for self-signing. Searching the internet kept turning up a solution such as:

http://powershellscripts.com/article3_powershell_script_signing.html

The problem with this is that I could not install the sdk so I could run MakeCert.exe This means that I could not create a certificate let alone sign my scripts. But I found a Powershell scripts that creates a certificate for free and when I tired to use the certificate, it worked! You can find the script at:

http://itproguru.com/expert/2013/10/how-to-create-a-self-signed-computer-certificate-using-powershell-step-by-step-much-easier-than-makecert-exe/

The following article explains what to do with the certificate after generating it. One important thing to remember is that when the script is signed, it is important to export the certificate because if you wanna run the script on a different computer than the one you wrote the script on, you have to install your certificate on that computer.

http://www.hanselman.com/blog/SigningPowerShellScripts.aspx

I did find a problem. Sometimes you may get an error when you try to run:

PS C:\> Set-AuthenticodeSignature c:\foo.ps1 @(Get-ChildItem cert:\CurrentUser\My -codesign)[0]

where C:\foo.ps1 is the name of the script you are signing. The error is an "Unknown Error". Here is a link that explains how to fix it. I just opened the script in notepad and then resaved it and the error went away just like the article said it would

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vijay/archive/2010/07/13/quot-set-authenticodesignature-quot-returns-unknown-error-while-registering-the-script-with-a-certificate.aspx

3. The other issue is that some scripts require administrative permissions to run properly. It would be best if the program could elevate itself rather than be ran from a prompt with administrative permission. This is very important for me too because I'm calling the script from Silverlight not from a command prompt. But this article saved me.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7690994/powershell-running-a-command-as-administrator

All in all,putting these three things together will mean being able to write powershell scripts in any Windows environment.



Tuesday, August 12, 2014

A self elevating PowerShell script - Ben Armstrong - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

Here is a link to an article sharing a powershell script that will cause a powershell script to elevate itself to run as administrator! It does work extremely well! I've added it to three of my powershell scripts and it works as advertized. I did learn to paste this code after the declaration of powershell commandline variables are defined!



A self elevating PowerShell script - Ben Armstrong - Site Home - MSDN Blogs



Sunday, August 3, 2014

Installing MoSync for Android (and other mobile platforms) - CodeProject

Introduction
Enter MoSync. The
MoSync Software Development Kit is a complete development environment
for all those platforms, and more. You write your program in C/C++ (or
Java), and MoSync will compile it for the platforms you choose. By using
the APIs provided, your application will work on all those devices,
without any changes.


Installing MoSync for Android (and other mobile platforms) - CodeProject

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Utilize the Accessory File Transfer on Samsung Gear - CodeProject

Article Intro



The tutorial found below analyzes how a Samsung Gear File Transfer
application is created. This session is a four-part series. Parts 1 and 2
show the development on the Android part of the application. The first
deals with the Service part of the application, while the second deals
with the creation of the Activity part. Part 3 shows the development of
the Tizen part of the application. Finally, Part 4 demonstrates the
complete Gear File Transfer application, which is a package composed of
the combined Tizen part and the Android part.




Utilize the Accessory File Transfer on Samsung Gear - CodeProject

How to get user activity from Gear using Remote Sensor - CodeProject

Article Intro



The tutorial found below discusses how to create a Samsung Gear Remote
Sensor application. Remote Sensor allows you to collect remote sensor
data from a wearable device. The data can be a pedometer data, user
activity event, or wearing state. Bluetooth communication facilitates
the transfer of sensor data from the wearable device. The Remote Sensor
Service, packaged in the SDK, uses the Gear Manager to support the
Bluetooth communication with wearable device.


How to get user activity from Gear using Remote Sensor - CodeProject

Monday, June 30, 2014

Motion Detection in Android - Howto - CodeProject

Using OpenCV4Android in Android App to performing image processing and motion detection. OpenCV, which is an open source computer vision and machine learning software library,



Motion Detection in Android - Howto - CodeProject

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Share As Image | Turn Text Into Images

Here is a really great tool for taking text from a website and saving it as an image. This would be a great tool for Tumblr, pinterest, and blogs!

Share As Image | Turn Text Into Images

Android on Visual Studio - CodeProject

 Okay! It's possible to write code for Android using Visual Studio 2013!



Android on Visual Studio - CodeProject

PhoneGap Cordova JSONP RSS Feeds - CodeProject

Here is an article about how to use phonegap to make mobile apps that is based on RSS feeds. Really useful!

'

PhoneGap Cordova JSONP RSS Feeds - CodeProject

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Add text to animated gif image

Need to edit and create animated gifs? Sure you do!  Try the following site



Add text to animated gif image



I used it to add the text and image together from a post I found on Tumblr!



Friday, May 30, 2014

Querying Databases With Powershell

I've been trying to get a PowerShell script to query a MS Database for a couple of weeks and no success. I even ended up having to re-image my computer because I ended up trying to install AccessDatabase_x64.exe on Windows 7 and my script began to work - for a short time. Then Office 2010 stopped working. I think the problem was that my OS is Win7 64-bit but my MS Office 2010 is 32-bit. This broke office. I found the fix by running PowerShell as 32-bit. MS Office processor type must match the version of PowerShell running the script.  This worked just fine! Here are some links that helped me fix this.

ODBC Fails in 64 bit environment - Access MDB
Use ACE Drivers and PowerShell to Talk to Access and Excel
HOW TO: FIX ERROR - "the 'microsoft.ace.oledb.12.0' provider is not registered on the local machine"
How to Use Databases from within Windows PowerShell
Using Powershsell to Access SQL Data
Using PowerShell with an MS-Access Database




Thursday, May 22, 2014

How To Publish Your EPaper or Ebook For Free Using Google Drive | TutorialFeed

Intro

Hello my dear readers recently I have tried that how to publish any
epaper or emagazine in your website or blog for free. I have looked
certain ways but that was neither good nor freely available.



Then I tried Google Drive and  found that how easily we can publish
any epaper or emagazine to website or blog. After reading the whole post
below you'll find that how easily you'll be able to publish your epaper
or emagazine.



This post is very helpful those who has print magazine or paper and want to publish online in their website or blog.



In this post I am going to share that how you can publish any epaper or emagazine to your website or blog.



Please follow the steps below:





How To Publish Your EPaper or Ebook For Free Using Google Drive | TutorialFeed

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Droid Screencast

Droid Screencast will allow you to project
the screen of virtually any Android device
onto your PC Screen.
Droid Screencast is the perfect
solution for providing Android app and
product demonstrations to prospective
customers without the need for extra
hardware or software running on your Android
device. Driod Screencast will even work on
non-rooted devices.
Droid Screencast

Online iPad simulator - Test your mobile web sites

The following website allows one to test to see how a website will look on an iPad or a few other devices.



Online iPad simulator - Test your mobile web sites

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Screenr | Instant screencasts: Just click record

No need to install anything! This allows you to record what is your screen and broadcast it. 



Screenr | Instant screencasts: Just click record

10 Minute Mail

Welcome to 10 Minute Mail

Beat spam with the best disposable e-mail service.


Read more at http://10minutemail.com/10MinuteMail/#5S3tJQi6if6TkHF6.99

Welcome to 10 Minute Mail

Beat spam with the best disposable e-mail service.


Read more at http://10minutemail.com/10MinuteMail/#5S3tJQi6if6TkHF6.99

Welcome to 10 Minute Mail

Beat spam with the best disposable e-mail service.


Read more at http://10minutemail.com/10MinuteMail/#5S3tJQi6if6TkHF6.99
Need an E-Mail to sign up for something and then never need it again?  This site will give you an e-mail address that will self-destruct in 10 minutes.



10 Minute Mail

Dashboard - IFTTT

Here is an interesting service. It works on Android, iOS, and from the Internet.

IFTTT lets users mash up different services into "recipes" that can do
things like automatically download new Facebook photos you're tagged in
to Dropbox, send starred emails to Evernote, or call you in response to a
text message so you can escape a bad date. But connecting it to a
device extends the possibilities even further.


Dashboard - IFTTT

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Reaction GIFs - Say it with a GIF!

Need to find the perfect animated gif  to express emotion!? Try this site!



Reaction GIFs - Say it with a GIF!

Monday, April 7, 2014

Microsoft's universal Windows apps run on tablets, phones, Xbox, and PCs | PCWorld



Here is something that’s come up.
Microsoft has decided to not die and hit Google and Apple harder. Last week, Microsoft
announced  Universal Apps. Using Visual
Studio 2013, you can write one app that will run on PCs, Tablets, and smart phones
running Windows 8 (and Xbox One).  This
means that a Windows tablet might be a reasonable alternative to use for field
recording and impacts any  future mobile
developing you are going to do .


Here is some more information:

Adding sound to your HTML5 games for Intel® Architecture-based Android* devices - CodeProject

Introduction to Article



Sound is one of the most significant components for building interactive
games. A game requires not only a high caliber of graphics and alluring
story line, but also sound impacts to awe the players. Adding sound
effects to your game/application not only enhances its entertainment
value, but also contributes to the application’s/game's general cachet
of quality.


Adding sound to your HTML5 games for Intel® Architecture-based Android* devices - CodeProject

Using the touch screen in your HTML5 games on Android* devices powered by Intel - CodeProject

Introduction to the following article



With the dramatic acceptance rate of smartphones and tablets has come an
enormous shift in the way spontaneous experiences are delivered on
these touch devices. Native application developers have incorporated
touch events to improve the user experience and change the way users
interface with their content. Mobile devices such as smartphones and
tablets generally have a capacitive touch-sensitive screen to capture
interactions made with the user's fingers. As the mobile web evolves to
enable increasingly sophisticated applications, web developers need a
way to handle these events. For instance, almost any fast game requires
players to press several buttons at once, which, in the perspective of a
touchscreen, infers multi-touch.


Using the touch screen in your HTML5 games on Android* devices powered by Intel - CodeProject

New Features in WCF 4.5 - Part 1 - CodeProject

Article Intro



Windows Communication Foundation v 4.5 released with lots of new
features and we have already highlighted those features in previous WCF Tutorial.
Now, we wanted to dive deeper and explore each new feature in more
detail. Here in this WCF Tutorial - Part 1, we are going to discuss the
following two new features in more details:



  • Simplified Generated Config Files
  • Validating WCF Configuration




New Features in WCF 4.5 - Part 1 - CodeProject

Faster page rendering by downloading JS/CSS before server generates full page - CodeProject

Intro:



When a dynamic page is executing on the server, browser is doing nothing
but waiting for the html to come from the server. If your server-side
code takes 5 seconds to perform database operations on the server, then
for that 5 seconds, user is staring at a blank white screen. Why not
take this opportunity to download the Javascript and CSS on the browser
simultaneously? By the time server finishes doing its work, server will
just send the dynamic content and browser will be able to render it
right away. This optimization technique can improve the performance of
any dynamic page that takes some time to finish its job on the server,
and has some js and css to download. 



Faster page rendering by downloading JS/CSS before server generates full page - CodeProject

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Accessibility Checker: Test WCAG2 & Section 508 Compliance

Use the following link to  run automated check on web sites  for accessibility and code standards!

Accessibility Checker: Test WCAG2 & Section 508 Compliance

Post Limit Checker

Here is a great tool for checking to see how  many posts away you are from your daily post limit in Tumblr!



Post Limit Checker