Ok, so I was hacking around with Rails on my Mac today and I decided to make an app using MySQL (which isn't the default database handler since 2.x.x came along) and I needed a tool to poke around at the data I entered.
So I was searching for the tool I used to use for Mac to mess around with my MySQL databases called 'CocoaMySQL' and apparently, to my utter delight, it's now free and operating under a new title: 'Sequel Pro'.
Well, I love it so far and if you need a GUI frontend for your MySQL database on your Mac you should definitely download it.
That's all. Just thought this might be useful info for all those pro Rails developers out there ;)
OK, this isn't really a pleasure-read so much as it is a checklist for me to follow so I don't forget anything. Also it serves as a handy tool to pass along to techs/irritating people that constantly harangue me about how to do this sort of thing. Here's the right way to do it...so don't bother me no more!
What you'll need:
A brain ;)
Some basic knowledge of how to use software tools
A working (preferably speedy) internet connection
Your Windows OS install disk (XP, Vista, 7, etc.)
A (large) flash drive/external hard drive/file storage server (depending on how large the backup is that you'll be making)
Install media/files for software needing to be restored (e.g. Microsoft Office, Quickbooks, etc.)
1. Ask the user what he/she can't live without (locally stored documents, photos, videos, music, etc kinda go without saying...) and back those items up on some sort of external storage device.
2. If possible (or necessary) perform a full system backup with either VMWare Converter (which is free) or Norton Ghost (This is just good policy for CYA purposes)
3. Run a Belarc Advisor(free) audit to collect such information as:
Installed hardware (so you can find get the right drivers later)
Software license keys (e.g. Microsoft Windows license key required on installation)
IP Addresses (if statically configured)
Etc...
4. Run the driver backup program: Double Driver(free) which will auto-select third-party drivers and back them up so that you may restore them once Windows is re-installed. (Don't forget to offload the backup file to an external storage device!)
5. Verify that all pertinent data has been backed up and offloaded then reformat/re-install Windows.
6. Restore drivers using Double Driver restore option.
7. Re-install all necessary software user needs to operate and download and install latest updates/patches.
8. Run Windows update until there are no more updates to install (may require several restarts)
9. Defragment main hard drive (twice or three times would be better for a cleaner defragment)
10. Create a Norton Ghost image (for future quick restoration from a fresh install [stored on an external device such as a file server])
11. Restore user data (Documents, outlook email file, pictures, etc.)
12. Join PC to Windows Domain (if you have a PDC)
13. Load VMWare image onto VMWare server(free) in case user needs to access their previous OS (in case something wasn't properly backed up)
14. Sit back, relax and enjoy the bliss of a trouble-free workstation ;D
Well, I'm back home now and ever so glad. Everything's in it right place.
I got a puppy on Monday, January 20 (pictured left). Her name is Starbuck (as in the crack pilot Kara Thrace from Battlestar Galactica NOT Starbucks the coffee shop...) and she's just great; highly intelligent and very energetic. I never fancied myself a dog person so much as a cat kinda guy but she's really growing on me. I know most people disagree with the name but I don't care so much as you might think. That is her name and it's staying that way.
I was invited to the private beta of the Bolt browser for BlackBerry and I LOVE IT! It's really an amazing browser. It's feature-rich and fairly snappy. The best part is it has full ajax/css support and renders the actual page and not some stripped-down mobile version. Also it doesn't choke on scripts the way the native BB browser does which is huge in my book. I know iPhone already does this but I don't have an iPhone and don't plan on having one for the forseeable future.
The new OS (v4.5) was also recently released for 8xxx series BlackBerrys which is really exciting. Some features I'm really looking forward to are the full HTML email support, document attachment editing (MS Word and PowerPoint), streaming video in the native BB browser. Here's the full list of new features. Download it here.
Well that's about all for now. School's great and so's work. Also, I have the biggest crush on my Biology Lab instructor. Aside from that everything's pretty much hunky-dory.
A new browser for BlackBerry is being developed by Bitstream. It's called Bolt. The following video demoes the incredible speed at which this browser renders full-size pages. It looks pretty impressive from what I've seen.
It's currently in private beta but you can request an invite here. Check out the video...
I woke up early this morning (0600hrs) and watched a couple of podcasts while cooking breakfast. I gotta say, I'm really liking where Hak5 is going since the Revision3 acquisition. Podcasts are so great. Their content isn't driven purely by their funding sources which can really twist up an otherwise great show.
Anyway, the majority of my day was spent studying up on Ruby on Rails. I was catching up on all the 2.x.x version deltas from version 1.2.3. Not really all that different I suppose but I'm running through the book 'Simply Rails 2' by Patrick Lentz which is proving an enjoyable and informative experience. I'd recommend this book to anyone needing to update their Rails coding skills. In case any of you guys are interested in RoR development, here are some great podcasts on Ruby on Rails (found on iTunes): Learning Rails, Rails Envy Podcast, and Railscasts.
In the afternoon I moseyed over to our local Barnes and Noble and picked up a copy of Adam Smith's 'The Wealth of Nations', read the first chapter and was absolutely enamored. I really do enjoy the romantic notion of economics in all its glory. Economic theory tickles my fancy quite unlike anything else. It's part philosophy, part sociology, part statistics and probability, and part magic, and pure goodness.
I'm actually considering dropping my Computer Science major altogether to be replaced by an MBA in Economics. I truly love computers and all that has to do with them. Since I was 5 years old, in fact, I've been fascinated by the multitude of mysteries these machines offered that I may decrypt them. This mystery drove me to study and tinker and build and tweak these systems incessantly.
I've had a love affair with everything from hardware technology to networking to network penetration to programming to software development to processor architecture to kernel and driver development for as long as I can remember. It's always been just a natural ability for me. It always came so easily and I it enjoyed immensely.
This was true until I began working as a Network Administrator. At that point studying or performing network-related tasks became quite the chore. I don't want that to happen with the sister components I mentioned earlier. I still love and enjoy those remaining aspects of the field and I'd really like to keep it that way. I'm not willing to kill off one of my most intense passions in trade for money.
So, I suppose I'll be going for a business degree and study computer-related things on my own. I find that I learn much faster that way and get the bleeding-edge of the field instead of the outdated and outmoded information the professors blather on about in class.
Well, it's late here and I'm pretty tired. I can't wait to be back home in my own bed. Ah, to be home again!
Well, I'd promised you guys pictures and I finally was reunited with the elusive camera cable which enabled me to upload several images to Picasa (I <3 Picasa btw...) Anyway, without further ado, here are my photographs of the adventures in England.
Adventures in York:
Manchester:
London Movieum:
London cityscape:
On the go in London:
The Imperial War Museum:
London come nightfall:
I had a very long flight back to the States; nearly 9 hours :/ Fortunately (or unfortunately) I was unable to sleep during the flight so I was able to accomplish quite a bit throughout the extended period in the air. I finished a book, watched two podcasts, started another book, got halfway through it, then watched HellBoy II (which I thought was pretty terrible...) All-in-all, a fairly productive experience. Now, I'm back home on Eastern time and it's nearly midnight. I suppose jet lag doesn't affect the young as heavily as the aged.
Well, that just about sums up my day. Exciting, I know! Yeah, anyway, I hope you enjoyed the photographs above. I will bid you adieu.
Well, I'll be leaving jolly ol' England tomorrow. I've had a lot of fun here. I traveled all over this island and saw a whole lot of really amazing things and I'm ready to go home now. I'm actually really excited to be heading home tomorrow. I've missed my apartment, my roommate, my dog, my family, my BlackBerry, and my bed for far too long now. These are a few of my favorite things to be sure.
Today was my last day in England and it really wasn't the most friendly weather-wise. It was cold and drizzly all day which made it very unpleasant to do any of the sort of tourist-type things I would have liked to have done. I got a bit of sightseeing in nonetheless so I'm satisfied. Overall, It's been a really great time and I will definitely be coming back across the ocean again very soon.
At any rate, I showed the 9-year-old son of the family that I am staying with how to start a blog so that he may publish his art. Let me tell you, he was absolutely ecstatic. Then I helped him figure out how to upload some videos he'd made to YouTube so that he can show all of his friends. He thought that was the coolest thing ever. He was so excited. Kids are uncannily intelligent and so very quick to learn.
I also happened upon an old classic on YouTube which really took me back and made me smile. That's right: Star Wars Gansta Rap!
Well, I won't bore you by droning on about my day. Nothing too terribly exciting happened today. I'll ensure that doesn't happen tomorrow ;) But, I'll leave you with this video of Steve Jobs giving a commencement address for the Stanford graduating class of 2005. Jobs speaks of the importance of trusting your intuition to make those decisions in life where conventional wisdom tells you to follow the popular, well-beaten path through life even though your heart tells you something different. I find that it's quite inspirational and I hope you will too.
Well, I'm still here in London for the moment. I had a wonderful day filled with lovely sights, sounds and smells of this terrific city. I really never cared for London too much before today. That's not to say that I disliked it but I felt that I'd definitely experienced much more entertaining and exciting places before. Today changed all that for me.
I was able to go all around the city on the bus. End to end (of city center, that is...) and saw so much of London in it's rawest form wherein, I believe, it's true beauty and allure lies. It's a very intense and enchanting city full of gorgeous architecture, expansive museums, decadent local cuisine, and many other various attractions. I definitely recommend you make a visit here at least once in your lifetime. Pictures will be up as soon as possible ;)
At any rate, I discovered a number of great Google tools for all you Mac users out there. I know, I know, I'm one of them too... but c'mon, at least I'm not an "Apple fanboy" and just own one for the sake of being trendy and chic. I have real, solid reasons for loving OS X, but let's not get into that. Anyway, I happened upon this great site today which is the hub of all the Mac apps made by Google which include: Picasa, Google Notifier (for Gmail and GCal users), Google Earth, Google SketchUp, and Picasa Web Albums Uploader.
I also heard of a documentary, as I was catching up with Hak5 last night (featured in episode 4x15). I'm very much interested in viewing this as it deals with true hacker culture, as most of us in the industry really understand it to be, and exactly opposite the way it's portrayed in popular media circles. The film, by Ashley Schwartau, is meant to expose to viewers hackers in their true form, as they really live and work. Sounds fascinating. Here's the trailer:
In other news, I am currently in the middle of a very good book, entitled "Profitable Growth Is Everyone's Business", written by Ram Charan who is brilliant when it comes to business-related efficiency and optimizing revenue streams and, obviously, profitable growth of your company. Now, of course, I am currently not operating a company per se but I have a feeling that this kind of knowledge will come in surprisingly handy in the near future. Here's hoping...
My projects seem to be developing nice and slowly, which is how I usually prefer it; at the beginning leastwise. Now there's the task of really organizing all the data and structuring it in such a way that it will be completable in the near future. Now there's the true challenge. And challenging it will be but I have a feeling I'm up for it.
Also, something I'd forgotten to write about in yesterday's update is that I travelled to the Imperial War Museum and it was absolutely phenomenal! I had such an amazing time looking overall the past and present war implements and various documents and information they had on display there. It was simply stupendous. One of the top 5 war museums I've ever had the pleasure of visiting. That really is my cup of tea, I must say. I don't know why the subject fascinates me so but it just holds an allure like no other for me. Definitely one of my true passions. (Again, pictures will be up soon)
Of course that's not to say that I condone war just for the sake of it but I do admire the speed of productivity, especially in the field of technology, during wartime. Not only that, but the developments across the span of the entire human race. We learn how to be more sneaky, diplomatic, efficient in all capacities, and truly unified behind one common goal. However, the cons of such a thing are also just as high on the richter scale, so to speak, on the opposite end of the spectrum, unforunately.
Enough of this dark talk, though. I will continue to have a wonderful time here and hopefully have another one of these for you tomorrow. Here's to all my loyal followers; I salute you! Thanks for being so great!
Well, my buddy just submitted his story to digg so he can fund his journey to see his girlfriend in New York. I am attempting to flex my internet muscles and get him the capital he needs to make it happen. I really do hope it works. With all of us working together it will.
At any rate, I'm here in England at the moment. London, specifically. A friend of mine and I are staying with some of my mom's old friends, Kate, Jack, Django, and Alfie. It's a lot of fun so far. Django's 9 and Alfie's 3 and they're great fun. I really do love kids. So vivacious and curious.
I've been all around England in the past several days. We began in London then traveled by train to Edinburgh, Scotland, York, England, Manchester, Bristol, Salisbury, and back to London. I've traveled so much in the past several days that they all seem to have run together. I've seen quite a lot so far and have really enjoyed myself here but I'll be glad to return to the states. I definitely miss the good ol' U.S.A.
This vacation hasn't been all about the travel and sightseeing, however. I really did need the break from work and school and just the general routine and I think it really has paid off in droves. I feel so much more rested and my mental vitality is loads better than it's been in months. I've gotten a chance to really study some valuable information related to my persuit of a web-based service for small- and medium-businesses that I'm currently developing in cooperation with a few very bright individuals. I hope to have it in beta in a few months. Still putting together the teams however and we'll need to hammer out the overall implementation strategy as well.
I really do enjoy doing this type of thing so much more than school. Projects, startups, programming just for fun... It's really neat just to improve your skill with no real goal in mind. It takes all the pressure out of it and just allows for a truly enjoyable experience. Not like school; nothing like school. I detest the thouht of going back this semester. It just brings to mind thoughts of mundane lecture periods, uninterested professors, furious nights of homework, etc. However, I'll approach this semester with a sense of optimism in hopes that it will turn out better than experience has shown. It's all about attitude, after all, right?
I am definitely excited about all I stand to get done this new year and all the self-improvement I can impose upon myself. It's going to be great. I do need to find a way to relax, though, without having to fly across the ocean to vacation :P Something local perhaps. I just need a quick way to relieve some stress within a 30-minute timespan, haha.
Well, it's getting a bit late here. I forgot the cable for my camera so I suppose I'll post a few snaps when I get back to the states. I'll put up a few on my Facebook too ;)
