December 18th, 2008
JungleDisk is a WebDAV file sharing service running on the Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). It appears when users are using Office 2003 SP3 on a Vista Business SP1 based system, they may not be able to open Microsoft Word and Excel files. The users experience an error similar to:
Could not open ‘http://2667/somebucket/some file.doc’
The JungleDisk Support site (KBID#: 300065) indicates installing the Windows Software Update for Web Folders (KB907306) and rebooting will fix the problem. Unfortunately the reported fix does not appear to work for numerous users. Additionally, connecting to the JungleDisk “bucket” using the naive Windows WebDAV client does not allow saving due to the “read-only” bug.
We discovered the easiest way to work around the Vista/Office 2003 WebDAV limitations was to use a substitute drive. Once the JungleDisk client loads and you can access the JungleDisk network drives, the following command can be use to connect:
[sourcecode]subst NewDriveLetter: JungleDiskDriveLetter:\[/sourcecode]
For example, if the JungleDisk drive letter is “J:\”, you will run the following command to access the share:
[sourcecode]subst k: j:\[/sourcecode]
You should then be able to open files from and save files to the “k:” drive directly.
When your system reboots, you will need to run the subst command again. For our users, we have created a batch file that deletes the virtual drive (subst k: /d) then re-creates it (subst k: j:\). After the user’s system has completely loaded, they double-click on the batch files to create accessible virtual drives.
Incidentally, upgrading to Office 2007 on Vista or running Office 2003 from Windows XP does not appear to have any issues.
Tags: 2667, amazon s3, excel, JungleDisk, kb907306, office 2003, Office 2007, open error, read-only, saving, subst, virtual drive, Vista, webdav, windows xp, word
Posted in JungleDisk, Microsoft Office 2003, Windows Vista | No Comments »
December 3rd, 2008
Most top search engines now offer “local listings” in their search results. The local listings act in a manner similar to an online Yellow Pages for people searching for a product or service in a particular area. To see the results of a search, go to a top search engine and type in your business type and the city your business is located. For example, a search of “cameras, Santa Monica, CA” on http://local.google.com produced the results here.
The great thing about a local listing, is they are free, people can review your business, and it will help connect you with people in your area. We would highly recommend having your business listed in the following search engines local listings since it is FREE:
Google Maps
Yahoo! Local
Microsoft Live Search Maps
Once your business has been accepted and listed, invite friends, colleagues, and clients to write positive reviews and testimonials about your business.
Tags: business listing, google, google local, google maps, live maps, live search, local listing, microsoft live, msn, review, Search Engines, yahoo, yahoo local, yahoo maps
Posted in Google, MSN Live, Search Engines, Yahoo | 1 Comment »
December 3rd, 2008
Inbox Repair tool
If you can’t open your Personal Folders file (.pst) or your Offline Folder file (.ost), or you suspect that your .pst or .ost data file is corrupted, you can use the Inbox Repair tool (Scanpst.exe) to diagnose and repair errors in the file. The Inbox Repair tool scans only the .pst or .ost file, not your mailbox on the server running Microsoft Exchange. The tool determines whether the file structure is intact. If it is not intact, the Inbox Repair tool resets your file structure and rebuilds the headers.
The Inbox Repair tool works on both the Microsoft Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File (.pst) and the Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) data files in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.
Scanpst.exe is installed when you install Outlook. It is located at:
drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12.
Repair errors by using Scanpst.exe
- Exit Outlook if it is running.
- Double-click Scanpst.exe, located at drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12.
- In the Enter the name of the file you want to scan box, enter the name of the .pst or .ost file that you want to check, or click Browse to search for the file.
- To specify the scan log options, click Options, and then click the option that you want.
- Click Start.
- If errors are found after the scan is complete, you will be prompted to start the repair process to fix the errors.A backup file is created during the repair process. To change the default name or location of this backup file, in the Enter name of backup file box, enter a new name, or click Browse to look for the file that you want to use.
- Click Repair.
- Start Outlook by using the profile that contains the .pst file that you tried to repair.
- On the Go menu, click Folder List.In the Folder List, you may see a folder named Recovered Personal Folders that contains your default Outlook folders or a Lost and Found folder. The recovered folders are usually empty, because this is a rebuilt .pst file. The Lost and Found folder contains the folders and items recovered by the Inbox Repair tool. Items that are missing from the Lost and Found folder cannot be repaired.
- If you see a Recovered Personal Folders folder, you can create a new .pst file, and drag the items in the Lost and Found folder into the new .pst file. When you have finished moving all the items, you can remove the Recovered Personal Folders (.pst) file, including the Lost and Found folder, from your profile.
OST files can be scanned using drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12\Scanost.exe.
For additional 3rd party repair tools, check out Slipstick System’s fantastic Outlook/Exchange website: http://www.slipstick.com/problems/scanpst.asp
——-
From: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA100758311033.aspx
Tags: consistency, corrupt, damaged, outlook 2007, pst, repair, scan, scanpst.exe
Posted in Microsoft Outlook 2007 | 1 Comment »
December 3rd, 2008
Clear the browser cache in Apple’s Safari browser:
- From the Safari menu, select Empty Cache… .
- When prompted, click Empty to confirm that you want to empty the cache.
Get the latest version of Safari here: http://www.apple.com/safari/
Tags: apple, browser cache, clear, internet files, safari, temporary files
Posted in Web Browsing | No Comments »
December 3rd, 2008
Clear the browser cache in Firefox 3:
Firefox 3 for WIndows
- From the Tools menu, select Clear Private Data, and then check Cache. Click Clear Private Data Now.
Firefox 3 for Mac OS X
- In Firefox, from the Tools menu, select Clear Private Data.
- Make sure Cache is checked, and then click Clear Private Data Now.
If necessary, update your browser here: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/
Tags: browser cache, clear, ff3, firefox, internet files, temporary files
Posted in Web Browsing | No Comments »
December 3rd, 2008
Clear the temporary files in Internet Explorer 7’s browser cache:
- Open Internet Explorer 7.
- From the Internet Explorer 7 command bar, choose Tools and then Delete Browsing History….
- In the Delete Browsing History window that appears, click on the Delete files… button, which should be the first button you see.
- In the Delete Files window that is displayed, you are presented with the question Are you sure you want to delete all temporary Internet Explorer files?
- Click on Yes to confirm.
- The Delete Browsing History window may appear, showing you the progress of the deletion. When this window disappears, all of the files saved (cached) from your Internet browsing activities will have been removed.
- Click Close in the Delete Browsing History window to complete the process and return to Internet Explorer.
Get the latest version of Internet Explorer here: http://www.microsoft.com/ie
Tags: browser cache, clear, ie7, internet explorer, internet files, temporary files
Posted in Web Browsing | No Comments »
December 3rd, 2008
Here are the steps you need to take to clear your browser cache in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6:
- On the Internet Explorer 6 Tools menu, click Internet Options. The Internet Options box should open to the General tab.
- On the General tab, in the Temporary Internet Files section, click the Delete Files button. This will delete all the files that are currently stored in your cache.
- Click OK, and then click OK again.
Get the latest version of Internet Explorer here: http://www.microsoft.com/ie
Tags: browser cache, clear, ie6, internet explorer, internet files, temporary files
Posted in Web Browsing | No Comments »
November 29th, 2008
RFC 1597 provides for a group of Internet Networks that will never be assigned. The private addresses will also not be routable through the Internet, preventing communication with networks on other subnets. The implementation of the Private IP address scope makes it the proper choice for use on company Intranets and for home/SOHO networks. These IP addresses have been specifically selected to use when it isn’t necessary or desired for computers on the Internet to connect to IPv4 based deviced on your network.
With use of a proxy server, firewall, or router, users and devices with non-routable IP addresses are allowed to access the Internet through a single IP address provided by their service provider. The devices achieve this through the process of Network Address Translation (NAT), allowing the nonroutable addresses to communicate with Internet-based, routable, Public IP addresses.
Reserved IP addresses for Private Networks are the following:
10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255
172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255
192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255
A complete and current list of all IP Address Allocations can be found at the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority’s (IANA) website: http://www.iana.org/numbers/
Tags: address, IANA, internet protocol, ip, ipv4, non-routable, nonroutable, private address, private ip, public address, public ip, rfc 1597
Posted in Networking, Security | No Comments »
November 29th, 2008
PHP errors should be turned off on a live site, but occassionally it is useful for debugging purposes to display any error messages. Depending on the type of hosting, you can generally use one of the following methods:
- Edit the site’s php.ini file
error_reporting = E_ALL
display_errors = On
E_ALL = All errors and warnings, as supported, except of level E_STRICT in PHP < 6.
- Alternatively, you can use an .htaccess file
php_flag display_startup_errors on
php_flag display_errors on
php_flag html_errors on
Make sure to turn the “On” values to “Off” once you are done to prevent any visitors from seeing the errors.
Tags: debugging, display_errors, errors, error_reporting, E_ALL, htaccess, PHP, php.ini, php_flag, php_flag html_errors
Posted in PHP | No Comments »
Fix for Incorrect IP Addresses in Wordpress Comments
November 30th, 2008Due to a web server’s proxy or the server is clustered (particularly with “cloud” based hosting), the server variable Wordpress uses does not reflect the IP address of the posting user. Instead the IP address is the internal private LAN address of the web server’s network. This causes problems when trying to blacklist spammers or use a plugin like Akismet.
To workaround this IP address issue, you will need to modify the $_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"] variable by editing the “wp-config.php” in your Wordpress root directory:
/* By Grant Burton @ BURTONTECH.COM (11-30-2008): IP-Proxy-Cluster Fix */ function checkIP($ip) { if (!empty($ip) && ip2long($ip)!=-1 && ip2long($ip)!=false) { $private_ips = array ( array('0.0.0.0','2.255.255.255'), array('10.0.0.0','10.255.255.255'), array('127.0.0.0','127.255.255.255'), array('169.254.0.0','169.254.255.255'), array('172.16.0.0','172.31.255.255'), array('192.0.2.0','192.0.2.255'), array('192.168.0.0','192.168.255.255'), array('255.255.255.0','255.255.255.255') ); foreach ($private_ips as $r) { $min = ip2long($r[0]); $max = ip2long($r[1]); if ((ip2long($ip) >= $min) && (ip2long($ip) <= $max)) return false; } return true; } else { return false; } } function determineIP() { if (checkIP($_SERVER["HTTP_CLIENT_IP"])) { return $_SERVER["HTTP_CLIENT_IP"]; } foreach (explode(",",$_SERVER["HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR"]) as $ip) { if (checkIP(trim($ip))) { return $ip; } } if (checkIP($_SERVER["HTTP_X_FORWARDED"])) { return $_SERVER["HTTP_X_FORWARDED"]; } elseif (checkIP($_SERVER["HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP"])) { return $_SERVER["HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP"]; } elseif (checkIP($_SERVER["HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR"])) { return $_SERVER["HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR"]; } elseif (checkIP($_SERVER["HTTP_FORWARDED"])) { return $_SERVER["HTTP_FORWARDED"]; } else { return $_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"]; } } //Override server variable for Wordpress comments $_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"] = determineIP();Caution should be used since many of these variables can be spoofed by a client, so don’t use them for authentication or access control. The functions could be easily adapted for other web applications though.
Tags: 172.16.10.1, akismet, comment, HTTP_CLIENT_IP, HTTP_FORWARDED, HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP, HTTP_X_FORWARDED, HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR, incorrect ip, ip address, PHP, private ip, REMOTE_ADDR, Spam, Wordpress, wp-config.php
Posted in PHP, Security, Spam, Wordpress | No Comments »