We traveled by plane this past week for Thanksgiving and took with us our anti-bacterial hand sanitizer, zinc lozenges, vitamins and Airborne tablets.  We’re not paranoid, just cautious.  So when my sister-in-law introduced us to Sambucus Elderberry Extract, I was intrigued.  She gives her three kids the elderberry extract and takes it herself to stay healthy during the cold & flu season.  When I got home, I picked up our own bottle of Nature’s Way Sambucus Black Elderberry Syrup to try.  It’s only been two days taking the syrup but after doing some research, I felt inclined to share…Surprisingly, it tastes pretty good – not medicine-like.  I’ll write an update in March and let you know if I avoid the flu for the season.

More about Elderberries:

One of the most important health benefits of the elderberry stems from its anti-viral capabilities. These richly colored berries are a good source of flavonoids including quercetin and the anthocyanins. It appears these flavonoids have significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects and can activate immune cells that help the body to fight off viruses. The elderberry fruit is also a source of components known as lectins which have been shown in the laboratory to stop replication of ten different strains of the flu virus.

Elderberry extract in the form of Sambucol appears to have activity against some strains of influenza virus. Be cautious when eating elderberries. The unripe fruit, bark, leaves, and stems may contain cyanide which is poisonous. Never eat the green parts of the Elderberry plant. Keep in mind that the anti-viral and anti-flu effects were seen with Sambucol, the elderberry extract, which would be safest form to use for influenza. Always purchase the extract from a reputable source. (I found mine on sale at Whole Foods)

These are basic security precautions.  Click here.

Spent last week down in London with Sky TV editors teaching them FCP 7. First time running lots of machines at once and had a few bugs.
One machine would only show footage as a white screen (usually a missing codec but wasn’t) tried everything even L. Jordan was stumped. Might need a system re-install.
Most of the others were fixed by deleting Final Cuts preferences (HD>user>library>preferences) there are 2 lots the com.apple.final cut studio plist and some of the final cut user data folders contents (3 icon items inside). The update to 7.01 caused some issues until the prefs were trashed so look out.
It won’t last forever. Can’t remember the last time I trashed prefs in FCP 6.

You install an automatic update for Microsoft Office Word 2007 on a Windows Vista (or Windows 7) -based computer and then restart the computer. If Word 2007 was running when the computer was restarted, you experience one or more of the following symptoms:

• The mouse does not work when you use Word.
• You cannot open a Word document from the Search window in Windows Vista.
• You cannot open a Word document from Windows Desktop Search.
• Word crashes when you try to start or exit Word.
• Word crashes when you open the Open dialog box.
• Word crashes when you save a document.
• Word crashes when you close a document.

To resolve this problem, delete the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data registry subkey. Close regedit and start Word.

More detail here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940791

Nice list of suggestions.  Click here to read.

Problem: Not all drivers are speaking in a Genelec 1037C loudspeaker.

Solution: I decide to check the built in amplifier first.  A check of all the fuses turns up a bad one.  The good thing about fuses is that before any over-current badness happens to the electronics, the fuse says “no more” and blows.  Its a cheap and easy fix.  It just so happens that the last two pieces of gear that went through the shop are protection fuse problems.  Fuses melt for other reasons, like blown output transistors, but in these two cases, I lucked into easy fixes and not major damage to the gear.

Problem:  Tascam M2600 MKII console is not passing a signal.  When I hook a noise generator to the input, nothing happens.  I do get 48V (or just under) out of the mic inputs as expected.  I’m thinking it might be a power supply problem.

Troubleshooting Steps:

1. Check the integrity of the cable from power supply to console.  Result: Its electrically good.  Plug it back in. The end going into the power supply is a little loose when connected to the box.
2. 
3. Check voltage output of the power supply.  This is a 15 pin cable.  Thankfully, the user manual has the output pin assignments.  Result: +5, +48 are fine, +-20 is not.  I don’t have an elegant way to measure the voltage.  The Multimeter probes are too big for the 15-pin cable. I have to improvise with paper clips, being extremely careful not to short out the supply and blow something else!
4. 
5. Open the hood. The W2 Fuse looks suspicious.  Continuity test: Fuse fails.
6. 
7. Replace fuse.  I don’t have a 4A 250 volt 5×20mm package, slow-blow fuse so I insert a 2A fuse for a quick test. It works.
8. 

Time to order the correct fuse. I suspect the power supply cable was stressed enough to almost break it, and in the process, the 20V supply shorted out and blew the fuse. The evidence does point in that direction with a partially broken connector.  Either that or Pruis Hall was really rockin’.

Problem: Printing error from 10.5.8 to HP LaserJet 5200dtn

Solution: I don’t know what spool area the error message is referring. Is this the computer /var/spool area?  Or, does the HP have a spool area?  I’m thinking it might be an HP problem since it is happening from multiple computers. But, then again, most of our computers have similar setups.

What I tried: Update HP LaserJet 5200dtn firmware from 08.060.1 to 08.061.2 (had to use terminal–read the readme).  This seems to be doing the trick.  I’m going to keep an eye on it.

You may have come across the following messages in the execmgr.log file on your SCCM clients:

Failed to open to WMI namespace '\\.\root\ccm\Policy\Machine' (8007045b)
Failed to ConnectSettings for ICcmPolicyAgent in CSoftDistPolicyNamespace::ConnectToNamespace
Failed to ConnectToNamespace in CSoftDistPolicyNamespace::GetMachinePolicy
Failed to connect to machine policy name space. 0x8007045b
Failed to connect to user policy name space
CSoftwareDistPolicyMgr::GetSWDistSiteSettings failed to connect to machine namespace
Failed to instantiate UI Server {C2F23AE4-82D8-456F-A4AF-A2655D8CA726} with error 8000401a
Failed to instantiate UI Server 2 {E8425D59-451B-4978-A2AB-641470EB7C02} with error 8000401a
Failed to instantiate Updates UI Server {2D023958-73D0-4542-8AD6-9A507364F70E} with error 8000401a
Failed to instantiate VApp UI Server {00AAB372-0D6D-4976-B5F5-9BC7605E30BB} with error 0x8000401A

These messages are the result of WMI repository corruption. Other sources online have suggested:

1. Stopping the SMS Agent Host service (net stop ccmexec)
2. Stopping the WMI service (net stop winmgmt)
3. Deleting the WMI repository (rmdir /s /q %WINDIR%\System32\wbem\repository)
4. Starting the WMI service (net start winmgmt)
5. Starting the SMS Agent Host service (net start ccmexec)

This may work, however I have noticed other people in the past suggest that deleting the WMI repository is not ideal, even though it may work. Why exactly that is, I can’t necessarily explain off the top of my head. Either way, I recently encountered a client that was experiencing these errors, and instead of doing the usual WMI repository deletion, I instsead simply ran “winmgmt /resetrepository”. From the description of the command in the help, it would seem that it does more or less the same thing as deleting the repository, although this seems like a “cleaner” way of handling it. After all, the command was written and distributed by Microsoft, so I’m more apt to trust this method. The command help reads:

/resetrepository
The repository is reset to the initial state when the operating system
is first installed. MOF files that contain the #pragma autorecover
preprocessor statement are restored to the repository.

From what I can tell, running this command on the problem client has resolved whatever issues were present. Manually firing off an advertisement worked just fine, and the execmgr.log did not reproduce these messages (yet).

I was using the 8.9.2.1002 iaAHCI driver (dated 08/07/2009) from Intel in WinPE 3.0, on a Lenovo T60 (and other models), and when I tried to browse the fixed disk (c:\), I get this message: “The volume does not contain a recognized file system. Please make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not corrupted.” This driver is available from Dell, if you choose for example, the Dell Latitude E6400 from their support site, and select Windows 7 32-bit drivers (see link below). Intel does not currently host this driver version on their website. The latest version of the Windows 7 Matrix Storage Manager Driver that Intel offers directly is 8.9.0.1023, dated 06/04/2009.

Naturally, you may want to use the “newer” driver that Dell offers in your boot image, for better compatibility. Unfortunately, I’ve found that this driver from Dell causes the error referenced above. That said, MDT 2010 is still able to format, partition, and write to the disk, although I’ve been experiencing some performance problems that I believe are related to this incorrect driver.

Be careful about which drivers you add to your WinPE 3.0 / Win7 boot images!

Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver 8.9.0.1023

Dell Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver 8.9.2.1002

Update (2009-11-05): After some further testing, it appears that the 8.9.0.1023 driver from Intel does not work with the Latitude E6400 in Intel Rapid Restore Technology (IRRT) mode, which is the factory default setting. I added the 8.9.2.1002 driver back into my boot image, so that the E6400 will work, but at the expense of the error message on the T60. At least this configuration allows MDT to do its work, it just prevents browsing the filesystem from within WinPE 3.0.

I have been spending hours testing various configurations, with different driver versions, and so far I have not been able to come up with anything perfectly stable. There are two other iaStor/iaAHCI driver versions I have seen that seem to work with a full Windows 7 OS, 8.6.x and 8.8.0.1002. I don’t have all the other exact information handy at present, but I believe the 8.6 driver is included in the Windows 7 installation.

That’s all for now …

Microsoft released the Office 2007 Cumulative Update for October 2009 which includes an Outlook 2007 hotfix package.  This is of particular interest to any organization that uses a document management system like InterWoven and are looking to deploy Communicator to their end users.  The following bug is resolved in this patch:

You install an Office Outlook add-in to open Microsoft Office Word documents from Outlook 2007. However, when you run Office Outlook 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator at the same time, you cannot open Office Word documents by running the add-in.

What this fix refers to is the fact that Communicator tends to monopolize the DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) channel to Outlook which prior to this patch caused other applications to fail to execute a call to DDE.  For example, a document management system that uses Outlook to call Word would fail to launch Word because Communicator would be blocking the DDE channel.

Your friendly neighbourhood Exchange Admin.

Hello,

I just wanted to take a few moments to share the thought process that I use to troubleshoot failing software updates in Configuration Manager. On several occasions for me, this has been the most straightforward method of figuring out why an update is failing, and determining how to resolve the issue.

How to Manually Troubleshoot a Software Update

1. Identify the GUID or KB article number of the software update
2. Find the update in the ConfigMgr console’s Update Repository
3. Open the update’s property page
4. Go to the Content Information tab
5. Find the appropriate line item, click it, and Ctrl + C to copy it
6. Open Notepad, paste the line into it, and parse out the URL
7. Download the update with your web browser
8. Extract the update file(s) from the CAB
9. Manually execute the update with any command-line options for logging
10. Examine the resulting log file to determine the failure reason

These steps have usually worked for me, and it is a more direct method of troubleshooting than examining the Configuration Manager log files, since you are manually executing the patch, and can enable additional logging. The SCCM client’s log files can help with initially identifying a failing update, but to dig deeper, you may want to follow the above steps.

ConfigMgr Client Software Update Log Files

• UpdatesDeployment.log
• UpdatesHandler.log
• UpdatesStore.Log
• WUAHandler.log
• WindowsUpdate.log (located in the root of %WINDIR%)

Hope this helps!

I always pray to God that my goals will be achieved with his help, and suddenly, it all seems to be falling into place perfectly.

What do I ask from God?

Wirnida to get closer to me and be my girlfriend by this year

I then got her number and she is talking to me quite often, either on msn or through sms

My body to be nicer than Mei Xian by the time I ORD

By coincidence and totally not in my plans, I went to California Fitness at Somerset after upgrading my phone plan @ Starhub Service Centre, Cuppage Road because I happened to walk by there looking for a a place to eat, preferably at that moment, BK. I then grabbed a McChicken and went to the fitness centre, with no plans to sign up as a member at all and just wanting to check out my body fats. After talking with the people there, I ended up signing up for a membership and getting a personal trainer, all at a highly discounted rate than the one offered to the general public. Looks like my 2 months fitness plan could actually work out after all.

Getting IPPT Gold and SOC pass

I already got my IPPT gold at my first try. And I did all the stations reasonably well, all 5 points bar the chin-up station which I got 4 points. But the most satisfying result was getting the 2.4km running timing of 9.04 s, never in my life did I imagine I could get so close to a 9 min flat timing. Its an improvement of 36 secs from my previous IPPT gold running result. As for the SOC test, I’m not sure if I can pass it, but I hope I can as well.

For me to be a disciplined guy and skillful and profiecient in everything that I do.

This was the surprising one to me, God gave me the chance and the insight to win the Section Battle Course challenge. I got the highest score among all the other commanders and this result raised my stock in front of OC’s eyes. I hope I can do more great things, it can only be good for my reputation and myself; after all the bad press.

To pass my freelance journalism course and get into Ngee Ann Polytechnic

As for this one, its still hanging in the balance, and could go either way. I just received an email by the Bureau and they said to send it by email instead. At least I am on track to pass my journalism course?

Not to be blur anymore and see things clearly and figure things out quickly.

This one burns hot and cold, I’m not as blur as I used to be, but still sometimes not using my brains as I should. I’m still working on this one.

The time is another thing, much like the date, that when it is incorrect, it can drive you up a wall. It stares you in the face all day long, as if it is mocking you. Do not be shackled to incorrect dates any longer!

Again you need to be at extension 10 or 11 to do any system changes so be sure to be at one of those stations before you begin.

First: Press the Feature button and then press the zero (0) button twice, then press the left intercom button twice.

You are now in the system programming mode and if you press the wrong buttons then things can get really messed up in your system, so do only what is instructed. As long as you do, your businesses telephone system will continue to run as it should and be as reliable you need it to be.

Next: Press the pound (#) key then press the number combination “103″. Your screen should say something to the effect of “system time, data” then some numbers. The numbers are what the system currently THINKS the time is, but again, if you are doing this, the system is probably wrong.

Next: All you need to do is dial in the correct time on your key pad. The time you input can be in either 12 hour format or in 24 hour format. So just dial the four numbers that are the correct time, this can be found on your computer desktop, your cell phone, even on that thing that used to be on your wrist or wall that goes by the title of “watch” or “clock”. Again, I jest because of the absurdity of technology acting like it makes life easier but really makes it so much more of a pain in the neck. Seriously, instead of turning my wrist to get the time I find myself digging in my pocked to get my cell out, flip it open, see that I have a text, read it then respond, and slip my phone back into my pocket. Then I realize that I forgot to look at the time so I have to repeat the whole process, hoping that the person has not responded to my text because I know that if they do I will forget to look at the time again. and between the two devices my super intelligent mind decided to ditch the watch!

Now your screen should be displaying the correct time. Now for the all important final step, getting out of the system programing mode. Doing something you have already done accomplishes this task. Press the Feature button then press the zero (0) button twice. Your screen should now be displaying what you normally look at all day, but now it has the correct time.

YOU DID IT!!! Not too difficult eh? Now you need not be driven crazy by that incorrect time in your display. Feel free to discard that old fashioned watch or wall clock, you shall not need it any more, but we all know that the whole dig your cell out of your pocket routine will more than likely continue.

Until next time, have a great rest of the day and may your phone system be like another employee that profits your business

Good day one and all! I am Daniel Benoy. This in my new blog called “Ask the AVAYA Tech” if you have any questions relating to AVAYA telephone systems you can ask away! If I know the answer I will tell you and if i do not, I will do my best to find it for you.
Here is today’s tip… if your AVAYA Partner phone system has the wrong date, which if you have this problem, I’m sure it drives you nuts, just follow this simple button combination.

In order to do any programming within the system you need to be at extension 10 or 11. So go to one of those two extensions and lets get to fixing that date!

First: Press the “feature” button, then press the zero (0) button twice, then press the LEFT intercom button twice.——-now you are in the system programming mode. Be careful when you are in this mode because if you press the wrong things you can really mess up your system. If you do end up messing up your system you probably pressed the wrong things and please to not come to me telling me that i messed up your system. You pressed the buttons, not me. Follow my instructions to the letter and all will be well in your office.

Next: Press the pound (#) key then press the number combination “101″. The screen should say “System date, Data,” then some numbers. These numbers are supposed to be the current date in MMDDYY format. If you are doing this then those numbers on the screen more than likely do not match up with the ones in your outlook, blackberry, iphone, or your good old fashioned desk or wall calendar. Does anyone still use those things by the way? In this day of advanced technology all the tried and tested things we have always used have fallen by the way side, and that is such rubbish because they have worked for thousands of years…but I digress.

so once you are at the system date screen all you need to do is simply press the correct date on your phone in MMDDYY format and the system will be reset to have the correct date. all you press is the six number combination, as the system does not have any sort of space, dash, hyphen, etc for separation purposes. so if i were to press today’s date into the system i would simply dial 102609 (October twenty sixth two thousand nine) and the screen on my phone would have the correct date on it.

Now for the most important part. you need to get out of the system programming mode so some poor employee does not come in after you and mess the whole system up, which typically leads to angry calls coming in my direction and I don’t like those! So to get out of system programing mode all you do is something you have already done. Press the feature button then press the zero (0) button twice. Now your system should be at the normal screen with the correct date and time. If it does not show up with the correct date and time please do not touch anything to try to correct it as you might do the opposite of your goal. Please call me and I will walk you through how to correct the issue. My direct number is (559) 243-2294.

If your phone does display the correct date and time…HOORAY YOU DID IT!!! If it worked for you let me know and I will applaud you from my desk. No more aggravating wrong date. good job!! You are now one step close to making me obsolete and jobless. I think I should go home and rethink this whole blog thing.

Any how, I hope you have a great rest of the day and may your phone system be like a mac and always work as you expect it to.
~Daniel Benoy~

What is Lomilomi?

Hawaiian Lomilomi Massage was first practiced by the kahunas and family elders of Hawai’i. Today, lomi is practiced by massage therapists and is performed with prayerful intentions and blessings, deep breathing, music of the islands, hot stones, and guided visualization.  Sessions are usually 90 minutes – 2 hours or can be more of a retreat and last multiple days.

My experience

So I picked the gloomiest fall day in Kansas to treat myself to a Hawaiian Lomilomi massage.  I figured this would be a good thing. Listening to a little ukulele during a massage just might transport my brain away from the gloom & gray of the Midwest into the warm paradise of the islands…It was worth a shot.

I’ve known my Lomi practitioner Tamara Creighton for awhile, but I had never taken the time to experience this type of massage.  I can usually justify a 60 minute massage for overall wellness…but 90 minutes? It seemed like too much of an indulgence…but I got past this…fairly quickly.

This was unlike any massage I had ever experienced.  And I mean that in a good way.  With most massages, I find myself practicing my relaxation techniques to settle and still my mind during the massage.  I usually try not to “think” too much – so that my body & mind can relax and let go. This massage was very different.  As Tamara mentioned at the beginning she would be focused on my external self (my muscles, tissues, body) and I would be encouraged to focus on my internal self (thoughts, feelings, reflections)….I’m paraphrasing that – but that’s what I took away.  So, while Tamara worked with rhythmic, but firm massage techniques and hot stones, she guided my through visualization exercises to reflect on my internal wellness.  What was I carrying around that I needed to let go of today? What stories from my life needed some re-writes or changes? What stories were perfect just as they were and should be cherished?  These were just some of the questions that I heard during my massage…Amazingly, as I would reflect on these things…holding on to some things and letting others go, tension in my body would release and emotions would well up and subside.  I left with my body, mind and spirit feeling nurtured and refreshed.  I also left with a greater awareness of the links between our thoughts and emotions and how those show themselves in the body.  For example, when I have a lot on my plate in terms of responsibilities, obligations, burdens…I feel that load in my shoulders and upper back.   As Tamara noticed this as well and commented, it was a good reminder for me to take time to care for myself and manage that load before I have too much to carry.

For more information

• In Kansas City: http://www.tcreighton.com/hawaiianlomilomimassage.html

• To find a Lomilomi practitioner in your area:

http://www.lomilomi.org/directory

Ever closed and opened a shell because you needed to refresh the history to pull up a command you used before? Nevermore! Read this excellent post on briancarper.net to make your terminal life much easier.

Problem: Finale 2008 lost its authorization. If you tried to re-authorize, the MakeMusic server would not allow because we already allocated all seats of our site license.

Solution: Evidently a known problem with the Mac 10.5.7 update. Finale has a patch fix. http://makemusic.custhelp.com/app/answers/preview_detail/a_id/1679

Run the patch. Restart. Problem solved on some machines. I’m contacting customer support for the others.

Now if I could get Finale to not crash every time you quit the program.  Not a huge problem as you are trying to close it out anyway, but it just seems wrong.  Applications should quit without crash issues.

Make sure that you have a Master (C:\ in my example) and a Slave (D:\ in my example) setup on your system. The Slave (or “Target”) is where all the data on the Master is going to copy to.

First: On the Master, empty Temporary Internet Files, empty recycle bin, thorough sweep with the AV, then do the Scandisk, followed by the Defrag.

Second: Scandisk then a thorough Defrag the Target.

Third: Right-click on the Target drive and click on Format. When the box comes up, click your mouse onto the “Full” button.

Fourth: After Formatting the Target drive, run a Scandisk again and click on the button that says “Autofix Errors”.

Fifth: Initiate a the XCOPY command from a DOS prompt. Click on Start/Run, then type CMD into the Runbox and hit OK. At the DOS prompt, type the following:

XCOPY C:\*.* D: /c/h/e/k/r and then press the “Enter” button. When its all finished, pull the Master from the system, designate the Slave as the Master (jumper settings).

Gotta try this with Robocopy some time…

Problem: Some instruments load, some are missing samples.  If you navigate to computer folder using Kontakt database, the samples aren’t shown.

Solution: It works fine in admin account. Turns out some samples do not grant read and execute for “everyone”. I went ahead and changed permission for the entire loops and samples folder. chmod -R o+rx /Loops\ and\ Samples/

Problem: Kontakt convolution effect not working (grayed out) in student user account.  Plus, presets in other effects not loading.

Solution: Both situations work in the admin account. Must be a permission conflict. Set Library/Application Support/Native Instruments to student as the group and read and execute permissions (recursive).  Or, I could just set “everyone” to have read and execute permissions for the entire folder.