Category Archives: Software Tips

Enable remote MySQL connections on Turnkey Linux LAMP

I am a big fan of Turnkey Linux. It is great for working on projects locally, though sometimes I need to allow others access to the MySQL server on our LAN. Here are simple instructions for enabling remote MySQL connections and for allowing user access: How to allow remote access to databases | TurnKey GNU/Linux docshttp://www.turnkeylinux.org/docs/database-remote-accesssed -i “s/^bind-address/#bind-address/” /etc/mysql/my.cnf Configure MySQL to accept remote root connections (from any host (‘%’)): (added line breaks for readability) 🙂

Fix Chrome blurry fonts on Lenovo Yoga 2 13

One of the first things I do on a new laptop is install Google Chrome. Sadly, Chrome and Windows 8 do not play well on even moderately high-resolution laptop screens 🙁 Case in point, my new Lenovo Yoga 2 13 (not the pro model) has a 1920×1080 13.3″ display which is fairly pedestrian by today’s pixel density standards. Regardless, Chrome fonts look very blurry when compared to IE or most other Win8 applications. Solution: adjust Chrome properties Go to Desktop

Windows 8 disable left swipe (Yoga 2 Pro etc.)

In Windows 8 left swipe is fine for touchscreens, but it is majorly annoying with touchpads 🙁 Thankfully, on laptops like the Lenovo Yoga 2 and Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro it is fairly easy to disable the edge swipe recognition on the trackpad: #1 Open the Synaptics Pointing Device Properties Detailed instructions: at the Windows 8 desktop look at the taskbar notification area (bottom of the screen, right-hand side of the taskbar). Find the Synaptics icon which looks like a small

Dell Inspiron/Vostro wireless driver for Windows 7 (Atheros 1506 802.11b/g/n)

Recently I setup a new PCIt is a nice Dell 660s small form factor (SFF) PC which came Windows 8. The end users needed Windows 7 and that meant it was time to install one of my spare Windows 7 Professional SP1 licenses. Overall the process went smoothly, however, Windows 7 did not have a driver for the 660s’ wifi adapter. Thankfully, I was able to find a compatabile driver that has been working perfectly. Here is the download link: Dell

Dell 660s Ethernet driver for Windows 7 (Realtek RTL8111F network controller)

Recently I setup a new PC for Branson’s Nantucket’s architectural department. It is a nice Dell 660s small form factor (SFF) PC which came Windows 8. However, some of their architectural software is only compatible with Windows 7. That meant it was time to install one of my spare Windows 7 Professional SP1 licenses and everything went smoothly. However, Windows 7 did not have a driver for the 660s’ ethernet controller. Thankfully, I was able to find a compatabile driver

Count occurrences both greater than, less than, or equal in MySQL

  SELECT COUNT(recycled) AS “Total”, SUM(CASE WHEN recycled = 1 THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) AS “New”, SUM(CASE WHEN recycled > 1 THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) AS “Recycled” FROM (a SELECT phone_number, count(*) AS recycled, sale_date FROM ( SELECT DISTINCT * FROM ( SELECT customers.phone_number, customers.sale_date FROM customers INNER JOIN ( SELECT customers.phone_number FROM customers WHERE sale_date BETWEEN ‘2014-05-23’ AND ‘2014-05-30’) list on customers.phone_number = list.phone_number ORDER BY phone_number DESC, sale_date DESC ) AS multiple_sales ) AS sale_dates_analysis GROUP

GoDaddy send message error on Thunderbird [SOLVED]

Reader question (Solved, see below) Yo hoss.. Any chance you could team viewer on to my computer this morning and look at my JSO email. I have been having sending issues for a long time now, and just can’t seem to get it fixed. Every time I try and send something (especially with an attachment) I get the following error message: Most of the the time it asks me to enter my password again…. Thoughts? Answer: Please check your outgoing SMTP

SQL Server database and table listing

I generally work with MySQL, not MS SQL Server. So when I needed some basic automated info about a SQL Server’s database/table layout I was thankful for the following two pages: Get list of databases from Sql Server – Stack Overflowhttp://stackoverflow.com/questions/147659/get-list-of-databases-from-sql-serverHow can I get the list of available databases on a SQL server instance? I’m planning to make a list of them in a combo box in vb.net. Get a list of all database on a SQL Server: SELECT name