Scheduling a service to stop and start

I lol at the vendor windows service that dies but appears to still be running from the services window.

1. Create a stupid bat file to stop the task with the contents of
   NET STOP "ServiceNameGoesHere"
2. Create a stupid bat file to start the task with the contents of
   NET START "ServiceNameGoesHere"
3. Create a scheduled task to run the first bat.
4. Create a scheduled task to run the second bat a few minutes later.
5. Does this really need a post, am I really going to forget this? Probably.

Notes:

• Use a domain user to run the tasks because it just doesn't want to work otherwise
• Make sure the user has the log on as batch thing (http://www.power-programming.co.uk/post/2010/11/18/Task-Scheduler-This-task-requires-that-the-user-account-specified-has-Log-on-as-batch-job-rights.aspx)
• The dudes on the internet reckon you might need to make the user an admin (I didn't)
• The dudes on the internet reckon you might need to explicitly give the user Full Access to the folder and .bat even if they are an admin (I didn't)

Sarcasm

Landing pages for the patient administration system:

CSC, we love you too.

Noah PC desktop is sad

So, how do you feel about having to install all these different bits of software on the Noah PC?

Config for getting GitHub going at work that I always forget

GitHub, you make me so :/

How to set proxy:

git config --global http.proxy http://user:password@proxyname:port

How to unset proxy:

git config --global --unset http.proxy

Stop the 'fatal: unable to access 'https:github.com/[whatever]/' : SSL certificate problem: unable to get local issuer certificate::

git config -- global http.sslVerify false

If you give people options they will choose the wrong one

We started with a tick icon and it was rejected because people might get confused thinking a tick means you're in the office, not on leave:

These options were then presented:

1. A cross, like you know, a calendar date crossed out:

2. A generic exit icon:

3. The head of Macho Man Randy Savage:

They did not pick the Macho Man.  They didn't pick Macho Man!!!

There was a problem starting C:\Program

 

I've had this a few times recently when trying to uninstall something from Control Pannels -> Uninstall or change a program.

The uninstall is trying to run something in program files and is choking on the space in the path. So the problem is coming from a path somewhere which doesn't have quotes around it. Bunch of rookies.

How to find what the uninstall is actually running? It's in the registry. Depending on whether it is x86 or x64 it'll be in one of these locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

In each of those locations there will be a heap of folder. Go through them till you find the one for your application - you can check the DisplayName value for this.

When you find the application you are trying to uninstall locate the 'UninstallString' value

This will look something like:

RunDll32 C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\InstallShield\Professional\RunTime\11\50\Intel32\Ctor.dll,LaunchSetup "C:\Program Files (x86)\InstallShield Installation Information\{0363D88C-A222-4715-AE00-76AC8DB8C377}\setup.exe" -l0x9  -removeonly

It needs to have quotes around path directly after RunDll32.  Like this:

RunDll32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\InstallShield\Professional\RunTime\11\50\Intel32\Ctor.dll",LaunchSetup "C:\Program Files (x86)\InstallShield Installation Information\{0363D88C-A222-4715-AE00-76AC8DB8C377}\setup.exe" -l0x9  -removeonly

You can either update the registry setting and run the uninstaller from the control panel window again or just take the updated string and run it from a cmd window.

Webstock 2014, was all like, weeeeeeee.

http://www.webstock.org.nz/14/

Prepare yourself for basic facts:

• two day conference for around $1000, couple of (optional) days of workshops beforehand for additional $$ 
• heavily design focused - this is not a technical conference. You get the good stuff like motivation, inspiration and entertainment, but you prob won't learn new skills or hear about new technology.
• single stream, so no hard decisions for you over what to see.
• there is free ice cream.
• occasionally there is free beer, but it is too hard to get because the line is ridiculous. But it's craft beer anyway, so don't be too upset.

Some of the presentations I particularly liked were:

• Tom Loosemore talking about UK govs digital plans - trashing a whole lot of existing stuff that isn't working, getting a good work culture, a team that has the power to change things, making products that people want. 
• Dan Saffer - microinteractions. Little basic things that applications do, how they can impact the user experience & be memorable or disastrous.
• Charlie Todd - Improv everywhere. The stuff these dudes do is pretty funny so this was very entertaining.
• Sha Hwang - When it's out just go watch it.

There are some photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/webstock06/

My rating, I give this conference 5 custom fonts out of a possible 5 custom fonts.

I sure do like bullet points.