Tuesday 23 December 2014

EE PDP authentication error

There is a general EE error with users getting both PDP authentication error and APN settings incorrect when trying to use data.

NEET WiFi Music Receiver Setup

After looking at options for playing digital music through my old HiFi separates amplifier and speakers I had decided that SONOS wasn't a viable option and came across the NEET WiFi Music Receiver on Amazon. There seems to be little other information available elsewhere on the NEET WiFi Music Receiver so I wonder if the Amazon distribution is an exclusive channel.

Once I get the NEET WiFi Music Receiver setup with my Nexus 5 phone and Netgear NAS I'll post some more details of how the configuration and setup is arranged.

Friday 14 November 2014

Whos Heart 2014 - Last Voice Guessed as Nigel Kennedy

Whos on Heart 2014 has now been won with the final voice identified as Nigel Kennedy the classical violinist. The last voice has taken nearly 12 months to identify but the winner now gets a fantastic £100,000!

The other voices from Whos on Heart 2014 were Stevie Nicks and Ben Miller

Whos = Ben Miller
On = Stevie Nicks
Heart = Nigel Kennedy


Whos Heart 2014 Last Voice Nigel Kennedy
Whos Heart 2014 Last Voice Nigel Kennedy

Winshock Microsoft Windows Bug Patch - Old Windows Vulnerability Revealed

New Windows bug/vulnerability revealed called Winshock. This has been present in all versions of Windows since Windows95.

Nicknamed WinShock (like BASH that was nick named ShellShock), it is rated 9.3 on the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) vulnerability scale.  However, there is no proof of concept code yet to show how it can be exploited.
Winshock Microsoft Windows Bug Patch - Old Windows Vulnerability Revealed
Winshock Microsoft Windows Bug Patch - Old Windows Vulnerability Revealed

I was made aware of this yesterday - Microsoft released a number of patches which are already being released to home PCs via the Windows Update process.

Interestingly when I googled WinShock, Google automatically thought you meant WinSock (which is a communications protocol), and you have to tell it you actually mean WinShock.

Link to BBC News story

Microsoft patches '19-year-old' bug.  Microsoft patches a critical bug in its software that had existed for 19 years, according to IBM researchers. Read more:

Thursday 13 November 2014

Date_Diff Error - Gives Negative Values for SAP Data Services 4.2 (BODI 14.2.2/14.2.3) Chan

Date_Diff problem with SAP BODI Data Services 4.2 - 14.2/14.2.2/14.2.3 (BI Business Objects)

I've found a problem with the values being output in one of my Data Services jobs where date diff was reporting negative numbers. This function compares dates against each other to display an elapsed time.

 Yesterday we upgraded our Data Services to BI4.2 (internally shown as BI 14.2.3) and this has affected jobs using date_diff since the upgrade.

It appears that SAP have changed the function date_diff in  Data Services 14.2.2 (BI4.2) so the date inputs are reversed which means it now gives negative numbers.
 
The date_diff function compares date1 and date2

 Originally date1 was the later date (end date) and date2 was earlier (start date). As of Data Services 4.2.2 (14.2.2) the first date is the earlier date and date2 was later
 
Prior to Data Services 14.2.2 the date_diff function works as below:
 
date_diff(end_date, start_date)
 
After Data Services 14.2.2 the date_diff function works like this:
 
date_diff(start_date, _end_date)

This may bring SAP Data Services into line with other products but it really needs to be highlighted to customers as it will break any data services job using date_diff in a job after you upgrade to BODI BI 4.2 or SAP version 14.2.2 or higher

See P41 in the attached document from SAP

Tuesday 4 November 2014

SAP Data Services Date_Diff Function

The Data Services date_diff function compares date1 and date2

 Originally date1 was the later date (end date) and date2 was earlier (start date). As of Data Services 4.2.2 (14.2.2) the first date is the earlier date and date2 was later


SAP Data Services Date_Diff Function error problem in BODS 4.2
SAP Data Services Date_Diff Function error problem in BODS 4.2 
 
Prior to Data Services 14.2.2 the date_diff function works as below:
 
date_diff(end_date, start_date)
 
After Data Services 14.2.2 the date_diff function works like this:
 
date_diff(start_date, _end_date)

This may bring SAP Data Services into line with other products but it really needs to be highlighted to customers as it will break any data services job using date_diff in a job after you upgrade to BODI BI 4.2 or SAP version 14.2.2 or higher

See P41 in the attached document from SAP

Friday 17 October 2014

Internet Explorer IE9 Unable to Display Page After Microsoft Updates Oct 2014 (Internet Explorer can not display the website)

After updating to install the latest critical updates and patches from Microsoft I found that my Internet Explorer browser gave the message:

  Internet Explorer can not display the website

There were a number of Critical patches affecting Internet Explorer released in October 2014 as part of their routine Patch Tuesday monthly update cycle so one of these fixes must have affected the way Internet Explorer works as other people have had the same error message.

Browsing the web with Google Chrome was fine yet all IE9 tabs were showing the same message and unable to display the website. The solution was to reset Internet Explorer settings. 

Click on the Cog icon or Tools - Internet Options then the Advanced tab and at the bottom click on the RESET button. 



You'll get a warning but make sure you don't click/tick the Delete Personal Settings box or you'll lose your favourites and bookmarks. Leaving it unticked means they will be retained.

Internet Explorer can not display the website
Internet Explorer can not display the website
Once you have reset you should fine that Internet Explorer can now display pages and websites correctly without the error message being shown.

Tuesday 14 October 2014

Microsoft Critical Patch Updates - Oct 2014 - Remote Code Execution

There are some very serious Microsoft critical patches that are being released on 14 Oct 2014. These affect all versions of Windows including presumably Windows XP that is no longer being patched.



Bulletin IDMaximum Severity Rating and Vulnerability ImpactRestart RequirementAffected Software
Bulletin 1Critical
Remote Code Execution
Requires restartMicrosoft Windows,
Internet Explorer
Bulletin 2Critical
Remote Code Execution
May require restartMicrosoft Windows,
Microsoft .NET Framework
Bulletin 3Critical
Remote Code Execution
Requires restartMicrosoft Windows
Bulletin 4Moderate
Elevation of Privilege
May require restartMicrosoft Windows,
Microsoft Office
Bulletin 5Important
Remote Code Execution
May require restartMicrosoft Windows
Bulletin 6Important
Remote Code Execution
May require restartMicrosoft Office,
Microsoft Office Services,
Microsoft Office Web Apps
Bulletin 7Important
Elevation of Privilege
Requires restartMicrosoft Windows
Bulletin 8Important
Elevation of Privilege
Requires restartMicrosoft Windows
Bulletin 9Important
Security Feature Bypass
May require restartMicrosoft Developer Tools


https://technet.microsoft.com/library/security/ms14-oct

Tuesday 23 September 2014

Crystal Reports 2008 Embedded database login - CMC Asks for User Password Running Report

Can you set an embedded database login for Crystal Reports 2008 when running via Business Objects CMC?


This can be done through CMC when logged in as Admin. Select the report and then right click and select Database Configuration. Set the DB, user and password and any other changes and save it.

Crystal Report will then run without asking for user credentials and database login/password.

Monday 18 August 2014

Spam Attacks with Random Text - EMails Passing Spam Filters

There seems to be a new spam attack worldwide ongoing with random text included in emails but oddly no links and no obvious purpose to the sender for them being sent out.

Examples of the text are as below.

Can anyone shed any light on what benefit these bring to the sender or what purpose they could achieve?

==================
rctxgxovjw@taxibermuda.com

Group EIGHT, during the preinvasion attack on Iwo Jima on 17 February 1945.

Samurai Spirits Gaiden Gamest Mook World Series Vol. The Architectural Press Ltd, 1975, pp.

The gear ratio was 7. Wisbech Grammar School badge.

Several longer span variants were produced by various manufacturers. Pier 1 was located at the foot of Washington Street.

Configuration and management depend on the version of Windows. A popular event, Art Galleries and Design Showrooms open their doors to the public for music and refreshments. Avatar was the only way to regain his honor.
=======================
zhtfnrjf@viettel.vn
By 1879, Wallace Brothers was merged with R.

Nolwenn Leroy 2011 2. Diguva mangalagiri temple guntur dist AP.

He died 36 days later despite extensive medical care. A digital technique similar to CCD imaging.


Languages spoken at home include the following. Banpresto also produced Atom toys.

American Astronaut and one of the first men on the moon. James's Place Capital was renamed St. Exit 19, accessible from Routes 9 and 109.

=======================
ryxqrhj@cesano-boscone.com
It seems almost incredible that technical terms and concepts could lend themselves for that purpose.

Gostkowski field goal after Brady was again sacked in the red zone. Their houses are small, circular, and very temporary.

Luxembourg's third largest employer. Mice whose paternally inherited Grb10 gene is inactivated are more aggressive.

This involves placing an amount of the quantum dot solution onto a flat substrate, which is then rotated very quickly. England exited in the second group phase.

Jacob informs her that he is engaged to be married to a girl named Lily, and also states that she is pregnant with his child. Fernbank Forest was purchased from Col. The cathedral and Chetham's buildings are the only significant survivors of Leland's Manchester.

================
kizvbowk@kre.ch
Lenny and the fire officer alert everyone to a fire in the basement of the buliding and Jordan orders an evacuation.

Because the camera crew was dressed in tactical gear, no one noticed that it was the camera operator in front of the camera. Longespee became 3rd Earl of Salisbury by right of his wife.

For the analog variant, specially designed electronic circuits connect to a network of living neurons through electrodes. Legends by reaching set game criteria.

The managers dropped Balanchine after one year because they found that audiences preferred Diaghilev's and Messine's ballets. Many places are believed to still contain enormous amounts of water ice that was associated with glaciers.

BSD tar and star at 0. They shine like twin lanterns in the dark. Otto Schenker, now working as the staff physician for U.
 
Spam Attacks with Random Text
Spam Attacks with Random Text

Saturday 2 August 2014

France Petrol Prices August 2014

Prices in France for diesel, unleaded and super unleaded petrol in August 2014.

The best price I've found is even lower than I'd seen before and near Poitiers the diesel was 1.199 Euros per litre which makes it under £1 per litre in sterling.

The prices at the Intermarche shown in the photo were close by and marginally higher at 1.21 for diesel, 1.431 for unleaded and 1.439 for super. Interesting that there is so little difference between 95 and 98 unleaded.

Friday 27 June 2014

Whos on Heart Two Correct Guesses - Second Celebrity Answer

The second correct answer for Whos On Heart 2014 has now been guessed. The two names that have been confirmed as correct answers are:

Stevie Nicks
Ben Miller

The second winner has earned themselves £20,000 by guessing Ben Miller.


The person guessing the final voice will win £100,000.
Whos On Heart First Correct Answer 2014

Monday 19 May 2014

Autotrader Advert scam - Terms of Service on Fake Website

Our car is advertised on Autotrader and I've been surprised at the number of scam messages we have received about it trying to capture our Autotrader account login details.

As well as the Direct Auto Dealer scam the message below is one we have now received 3 times from scammers trying to get us to login to a fake Autotrader logon page.

Lots of fun making up email addresses to enter in it with the words scam in them scam@scammers.com - the more they have to sift through fake details the less genuine ones they will be able to find.

The wording of the text message is:

Your ad is subject to changes brought to our Terms of Service. Revised ToS is available here: http://goo.gl/iBkZus

REMEMBER the link is to a fake version of the Autotrader site - DO Not use your real details to login to it.

Saturday 17 May 2014

Direct auto dealer scam / Direct-auto-dealer-reviews

I'm selling my car at the moment and received a text message today from direct auto dealer. It has all the hallmarks of a scam.

I then did a search for direct auto dealer scam and it shows that they claim to offer you a price and you have to pay £75 via Paypoint. What legitimate business takes payments via that only?

They take you £75 appointment fee and you never hear from them again.

So direct auto dealer if you're not a scam, show me the money and buy my car for the value you messaged me!

Sunday 11 May 2014

How to MS Money Quotes Working Again? MS Money Price updates stopped, can it restart?

Some time ago Microsoft turned off the quotes feature in MS Money so that users of the software were unable to automatically load prices each day for stocks or funds that they own. This has been very frustrating as the MS Money software is otherwise a great tool and performs all that I need.

Fortunately a former Microsoft employee has released a new updater so that you can now get MS Money stock prices to your PC again. There is a trial version to test and you can purchase the full version for the very low sum of $9.99.

I've tried it and it works great so will be taking the plunge and buying. Good to see a software developer responding to market demand and bringing out a feature that has been so missed.

You can view info and download from here

https://gaiersoftware.com/Money

If you need a copy of MS Money 2005 to work with this new price updater then you can download directly from Microsoft for free via this link

Tuesday 28 January 2014

How to Open Case for Hewlett Packard HP250 G1 Laptop to replace Hard drive



The Hewlett Packard HP250 G1 is not easy to open due to the case design so if you need to add more RAM or replace hard disc it may be tricky to do unless you know which parts to remove.

Video showing how to open the case to remove the Hard Drive from Hewlett Packard HP250 G1 Notebook laptop. Step by step guide to access the hard drive and memory bays of HP 250 laptop to replace the hard disc or to add additional RAM memory to the laptop

Sunday 19 January 2014

Whos On Heart First Correct Answer 2014

UPDATE - second Whos On Heart name guessed as Ben Miller

The first correct answer for Whos On Heart 2014 has now been guessed.

The first voice named is Stevie Nicks and the winner has earned themselves £10,000.

The next remaining voices will win the correct answers £20,000 and the person guessing the final voice will win an increasing amount currently £35000. If the Whos On Heart competition continues as long as it did in 2013 then it could reach £100,000.
Whos On Heart First Correct Answer 2014
Whos On Heart First Correct Answer

Monday 6 January 2014

Crystal Reports OpenDocument Syntax Errors - URL Fails to Work with ISS/LSS Parameters

Crystal Reports OpenDocument Syntax doesn't work and shows an error rather than the correct Crystal Report.

As an example I was trying to launch a Crystal Report using the OPenDocument syntax with Business Objects BI4.0

The URL was as below but was displaying a database login box and then not using the parameter supplied in the URL.


The display of the database login box was fixed by setting the parameters in CMC as detailed here.

The Workflow parameter not working when passed in to the URL was a more simple answer when eventually found!

lsSpWorkflowID=34850

The syntax for passing a parameter into an OpenDocument Crystal Report is to prefix the parameter with the text &lsS followed by the parameter name from the report such as pWorkflowID=34850

What isn't so obvious is that the letters are L, S, S (that is lower case L, lower case S and upper case S) but can appear as ISS (capital I, lower case S and upper case S)

As soon as I changed the syntax from ISS to LSS the report worked perfectly and displayed without requesting the parameter to be entered first. 

Running Crystal Reports Database Login Needed in BI4 for Viewing

When trying to view Crystal Reports in Business Objects BI4 a database Login box pops up when viewing a Crystal Report via SSO Single Sign on.

OpenDocument parameters can be used to pass in details to a Crystal Report so that it can be viewed directly from a URL but you may also get a login box for the underlying database.

This database connection cannot be set within the Crystal Report and it isn't advisable or helpful for users to have to enter database credentials every time they want to run a report.

The answer is that an option needs to be set via Business Objects CMC Central Management Console. Right click on the Crystal Report that you want to run. There will be an option top select Database Configuration.



Running Crystal Reports Database Login Needed in BI4 for Viewing
Running Crystal Reports Database Login Needed in BI4 for Viewing

Choose this option and a page will appear allowing you to set the database credentials. Change the drop down to "Use same db login as when report is run" and specify the custom details for the report

 
You should then be able to use the OpenDocument link to view the Crystal Report without a login box for the database appearing

VW Passat 2005-2010 (B6 model): How to Change DippedHeadlight H7 Bulb

Despite the Owners Manual advising that a VW dealer should change any blown bulbs on the VW Passat B6 it is actually quite easy to replace the H7 headlight Bulbs on the 2005-2010 model Volkswage Passat.

This video shows you how to change the bulbs on the 2007 VW Passat B6 car

Sunday 5 January 2014

Whos On Heart Competition 2014 - Name The 3 Voices to Win Big Money!

UPDATE - June 2014 - Two names now guessed correctly - Stevie Nicks and Ben Miller

Whos on Heart is back again for 2014. I'll be adding all the wrong answers to the list as before so you can check names.

Whos On Heart Competition 2014
Whos On Heart Competition 2014
Listen to the Whos On Heart Voices



The list of answers for last year, 2013, will also be online shortly.

The Whos on Heart competition has begun today (6th January 2014) and the difference to previous years is that the top prize is not a fixed amount but increases by £100 each time a wrong answer is guessed from £30,000 upwards.

The prize for the first and second guesses remain at £10,000 and £20,000 as last year.