CHRISdotTODD

Courtesy of xkcd.com

Here's a little tip to save a bit. When you purchase online, and you see the box for " coupon " or " coupon (if available) ", this is your clue to search for a coupon and get yourself a discount. In most cases you can enter " [company name] coupon code" into Google, and you will find a site with a coupon code. A coupon code for my most recent online purchase saved me 6% off the total price.

I was working with a dataset in Access, where I had a single field that was different to an otherwise exact data row. I wanted to merge these rows, so I had a unique record; I wanted the single field of different data to be concatenated together, as to not lose the data. I was able to create a VBA function that I then called from a query to perform the merging of rows. It does have one shortcoming -- if you have duplicated data in the field you are concatenating, it may miss it and add it again. Here's what I mean: Removed Duplicates: Data order a, a, a, b, c -- output = a, b, c Creates Duplicates: Data order a, b, a, c, a -- output = a, b, a, c, a Note that given the time/effort, you could improve my function to remove all duplicates. Here's the function. Press Alt-F11 to get to the VBA Editor. Public Function Concat(email As String) As String Dim rs As DAO.Recordset Dim strSQL As String Concat = "" strSQL = "SELECT [Some ID] FROM MyTable WHERE [Email Address] =

I recently for the first time recorded a GoToWebinar presentation. GoToWebinar, from Citrix, provides the option for their own proprietary output or WMV. I took the WMV option, to make it easier for my viewers, and give me the option to clean up any errors in the presentation. Upon completion of the recording, I brought the WMV file into Windows Movie Maker. The source was 80MB (1 hr), and Windows Movie Maker split it into 8 pieces of various lengths. I performed normal edits, chopping out some dead space at two points, increasing the overall audio level, and adding intro and exit info. So far, so good. Upon trying to save my project is where I ran into troubles. Trying several different settings, closing other programs to free memory, and rebooting -- nothing worked; it would not output. I then decided to try another computer, and realized I needed GoToWebinars own codec -- this was my first clue that I may not be able to solve this problem. I tried two different encoders and importi

When working with large spreadsheets in Excel, it's very inefficient to copy the same formula down all the rows. Many of us already know that once we have our formula in our first row, we can drag the handle down to populate the remaining rows. But when we have 100s or even 1000s of rows, even this is not efficient. To allow Excel to do this for you, instead of dragging the handle, just double-click the handle. Here's the steps: Create formula in top cell Move cursor top lower-right corner of cell -- cursor should change to a plus (+) sign Double-click

The iPhone's iPod player works great with audio. Start your favorite song or podcast, and while it plays, you can use other functions on the phone. This is one of the few background processes that works with the iPhone. If you try the same thing with a video, perhaps all you really care about is the audio portion, you're out of luck. As soon as you navigate away from the video player screen, the video stops playing. I have found a work-around, so you can listen to the video while you use other iPhone functions. Here are the steps: Find and start the video Navigate away from the video player by pressing the Home button Put the iPhone to sleep (press the top sleep/wake button) Wake the iPhone (press the top sleep/wake button, again) Double-click the Home button This will bring up the video, with the phone locked Press the play button Slide the slider to unlock the iPhone Now you will be able to listen to the video while you use other features of the iPhone. Have fun!

On February 26, 2009 I wrote about problems with XP and my CD/DVD drives . After a fix to the Registry, the last step was to re-install any software that I use to burn CDs and DVDs. It seemed all was good, but I apparently hadn't tried iTunes. The next time I launched iTunes, I was greeted with the following message: Warning! The registry settings used by the iTunes drivers for importing and burning CDs & DVDs are missing. This can happen as a result of installing other CD burning software. Please reinstall iTunes. With prior experience using iTunes, I was not about to uninstall iTunes. Instead I just tried a Repair through the Add/Remove Software interface. That failed. I then tried installing iTunes over my current install, and that failed too. Finally I went fishing on Apple's site. I found an entry that looked promising. Apple recommends I remove a Registry key, add an new one, and then re-install all CD/DVD burning software. Sounded a bit like a loop, so I tried just

My previous post had a table that the browser pushed outside the defined dimensions, making half of it un-viewable. Beside the rather narrow body for the blog, which by-the-way makes it easier to read, most browsers just don't know how to break text strings that do not have white space. Turns out there is some CSS code that can be used that will correct this in most browsers. Use the following two CSS properties in your table definition (adjust width to meet your need). table-layout: fixed; width: 425px; Surprisingly, if you use Firefox, it shortens the width correctly but it still has trouble wrapping some lines, while IE and Safari seems to render the entire table correctly. Visit the W3C site to get details on other table options .

When developing locally on IIS, with the addition of AJAX, I found myself running out of connections -- the default is 10. Turns out you can bump the connections up to 40. Here's what you need to do: Open the command prompt Navigate to \inetpub\adminscripts Enter the following command: cscript adsutil.vbs set w3svc/MaxConnections 40 Restart IIS ( you can use iisreset at the same command prompt) That's all there is to it.

Are you tired of the balloons that pop-up every time you lose and reconnect to a wireless network? Or when Windows wants you to clean-up your icons? Well it's actually very easy to disable the Taskbar Balloon Tips. Go to the Microsoft knowledge base entry 307729 for instructions and use their new Fix It feature. Instead of changing a Registry setting using Regedit, which is the most common way to change a Windows setting, Microsoft now provides a button within knowledge base articles that will change the Registry setting for you.

As I was working on a spreadsheet today, I realized that I had several cells with extra spaces at the end. I knew that there was a Trim function in Excel, but I didn't want to go through the hassle of determining the syntax and use, so instead I went to Google. THe third link I followed, I found Ablebits.com Trim Spaces for Microsoft Excel . Trim Spaces for Microsoft Excel is easy to install and easy to use, and works on many version of Excel. Here are the steps I followed: Downloaded Opened the zip file Opened the Readme.txt, which contained instructions Closed Excel Ran setup.exe Closed the Zip file Opened my Excel file in Excel Highlighted the cells to trim Clicked the Trim spaces button Saved my Excel file It doesn't get any easier! You can even use a silent installation -- great for IT groups who want to deploy. Ablebits.com Trim Spaces for Microsoft Excel is freeware, "The add-in is free for private and commercial use." That's a bargain, too. Here's are

As a Firefox user, there are a few times that I run across a site that requires Internet Explorer (IE). With the right add-ons to Firefox, it's easy to switch the rendering engine with a single click. Of course it would be even easier if the site Firefox recognized sites that require IE, and switch for me. If you use the IE Tab add-on, that is exactly what you can configure it to do. Here's how to do it: Download and install the IE Tab add-on (like all add-ons, this will require a restart of Firefox) Go to the site that you want to render each time in IE Open the IE Tab Options (Tools >> IE Tab Options -- Sites Filter tab) The page you just navigated to should be in the URL box, so you just need to click Add You can skip step 2 and enter any URL manually into the URL box Click OK Now every time you go to a site that is listed in the Sites Filter section of IE Tab, it will automatically render in Internet Explorer. There's one more trick related to this that may be re

Greenwich Mean Time ( greenwichmeantime.com ) has a nice converter from GMT to your time. They also have a time check , so you can validate your computer's clock. And finally, an application is available that you can run on a Windows or Mac computer to keep your clock on time. The Greenwich Meridian (Prime Meridian or Longitude Zero degrees) marks the starting point of every time zone in the World. GMT is Greenwich Mean (or Meridian) Time is the mean (average) time that the earth takes to rotate from noon-to-noon. GMT is World Time and the basis of every world time zone which sets the time of day and is at the centre of the time zone map. GMT sets current time or official time around the globe. Most time changes are measured by GMT. Although GMT has been replaced by atomic time (UTC) it is still widely regarded as the correct time for every international time zone. View Larger Map Back to the time converter, one thing required is that you need to know your own GMT offset. Fo

With the low cost of color ink jet printers, most of us have one. I like to buy the manufacturers photo paper and collage frames, to display some of the better pictures I have of my family. Often in this process I print more photos than end up in the collage; I've now found a use for those extra photos. Take your refrigerator magnets and tape them to the back of the photos. Now instead of the tacky magnets (or throwing them out), I have more photos of the family. Using a scissors, you can cut the magnets to place at either side of a larger 4 x 6 or, cut the photo to better fit the magnet.

Gizmodo's Prof. Dealzmodo takes a similar approach to buy PCs as I do. Buy a low-end machine and then buy third-party components if/when required. You can read the Gizmodo article to get an idea, but I'll also throw in some of my own thoughts. First, you must get at least 2 GB of RAM. If you can still get Windows XP, then you can stop at 2 GBs. If you are stuck with Vista, add at least 1 more GB -- if you add 2, giving you 4 total, 0.5 GB will go to waste unless you go with a 64-bit Vista. This introduces potential compatibility problems with older hardware and games, so likely you will want to stick with the non-64-bit versions. For monitors, it's likely you already have 1 or more. If it's time to get a new one, look for 3rd party deals. Sometimes running 2 side-by-side can be more effective than one large display -- putting them at an angel can be easier to view than turning your head from side to side (avoid the 30" displays). In terms of a video card to drive

I recently found that my Word and Excel files were associated with another program and I wanted to change them back. Windows XP as with prior versions of Windows allows you to do this through Explorer, but it's time consuming and easy to do wrong. Here's the quick and easy way to associate a file type with an application. Right-click on a file of the file type (e.g. "My-Word.doc") Click Open With... Click Choose Program... (last option in the list) Choose Select the program from a list and click OK Select the program you want associated to the file type If you don't find the application program you're looking for, click Browse... and locate the programs .exe file Click the box next to Always use the selected program to open this kind of file Click OK This opens the file in the program you chose and the icon of the file will change to the programs icon.

When you create Excel charts, you can populate the title with a formula. You might find this helpful to display a total quantity, such as in this example. Suppose you have 30 students and you are displaying their grade distribution in a pie chart. Here's what you do. Steps 1 - 4 set up the data; step 5 creates the Title formula; step 6 creates a pie chart. In the first column, skip the first line (A1) for the Title (we'll come back) In rows 2 - 6 of the first column (A2:A6), add the letter grades, A - D and F In column 2, rows 2 - 6 (B2:B6), add the number of grades of each type In column 2, row 7 (B7), sum the number of grades to get your student total Now go back to the first cell (A1) and add the following formula: ="Grade Distribution, " & B7 & " students" B7 is the same cell we put our total in, in step 4 If you want to format the value contained in B7m remember the TEXT functioned discussed in an earlier post Create your pie chart Highlight t

Recently my Apple TV remote quit working. When I pressed the buttons, the light on the Apple TV lit, but nothing happened. I've since learned, similar to "pairing" your wireless key for your car, the Apple TV remote needs to be "paired" with your Apple TV. It's an easy process: Hold the Menu and Previous buttons for 6 seconds. You should see a new graphic appear, a remote and a broken chain. Then, Hold the Menu and Next buttons for 6 seconds. The graphic will go away, as you have just "paired" your remote with your Apple TV.

I got a new external hard drive to use for backups. Before starting, I wanted to format the drive as NTFS, instead of the default FAT32. When I tried though, the system always gave me an error message,"volume is in use by another process." Of course I checked and checked, and was certain nothing else was using the drive. It turns out that the drive when initial setup was added to the System Restore Monitoring; I needed to remove it to format the drive. Here's how to do that: Go to Start >> All Programs >> Accessories >> System Tools >> System Restore Click the System Restore Settings in the right pane Highlight the drive Click Settings Check "Turn off System Restore" on this drive Click OK Click OK again Click Cancel (to close the Welcome to System Restore dialog) For a drive that I am using as a backup drive (a data only drive), there is no reason to use System restore, so after formatting, I did not re-enable. Note that if you are a Win

When I get data from the screen view in Salesforce.com, the results have an empty row between each row of data. With a little VBA help to create a macro, it's easy to clean it up. Here's how to do this: Go to Tools >> Macros >> Visual Basic Editor OR press Alt-F11. The Project Explorer should be open in the upper-left corner. If not press Ctrl-R. In the Project Explorer, double-click the worksheet name to add the macro only to a single worksheet. Double-click ThisWorkbook to have it available to all worksheets. Paste the code (option 1 or option 2) into the worksheet. Go to View >> Microsoft Excel OR press Alt-F11. Select column A. Go to Tools >> Macros >> Macros OR press Alt-F8. Highlight the DeleteRows macro and click Run. Wait as it process through each row. To make it faster, only highlight the rows you want checked. OPTION 1 Sub DeleteRows() RowCount = Selection.Rows.Count ActiveCell.Offset(0, 0).Select Application.ScreenUpdating = F