Gary Pronych

Gmail Chat Bug: Excessive CPU Usage when Chat is blocked

For those of you using Gmail and the integrated Gmail chat client you could be affected by this bug if access to the Google talk server is blocked by a firewall or another method.

The past 2 weeks I noticed that Gmail is using 100% of one of my processors when I am at the office. Access to the Google talk servers is blocked at our firewall so my Gmail integrated chat client is disabled when in Gmail, at least that is what Gmail tells me. See the attached picture on the right. However, when the integrated chat is expanded (+) it uses 100% of one processor even though it reads 'chat is disabled'. If I collapse the chat module (-) this problem goes away, processor usage goes to normal levels. I assume the Gmail chat client is unneccessarily trying to connect to the chat server even though the client is 'disabled'. Fail! I have posted this bug on Google forums and I will update this post once I have been notified this has been resolved. http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/gmail/thread?tid=4ba2c7660e1a21d6&hl=en For now, if your chat client is disabled, collapse the feature or else you will be running with one less processor.

*Gmail integrated chat client expanded

I have confirmed this a problem with
- FireFox 3.5.2
- Chrome 2.0.172.43

Gary Pronych

posted @ Friday, September 04, 2009 11:15 AM | Feedback (3) | Filed Under [ Perspective Musings IT Pro Tools ]

Regina Technology Community Launch: Sept 16th – SQL 2008 R2 and Project Madison

The Regina Technology Community welcomes Nick Nastic!

Topic: SQL Server 2008 R2 and project codename "Madison"
SQL Server 2008 R2 is the next generation of the Microsoft SQL Server database platform, planned for release in the first half of 2010. SQL Server 2008 R2 expands on the value delivered in SQL Server 2008 to help organizations improve IT and developer efficiency with:

• new and enhanced tools for the management of applications and multiple servers
• master data services
• complex event processing

Nick's presentation will cover the new Self Service Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities that empower end users to access, integrate, analyze and share information using business intelligence tools they already know - Microsoft Office. Nick will also discuss the "Madison" Project and the Microsoft Data Platform roadmap.

Speaker: Nick Nastic
Principal Technical Solution Professional for Microsoft Data Platform, Western Canada
Location: University of Regina
Event: Classroom building, room CL 126 (North-West end of campus)
Map: pdf
Date: Wednesday Evening, September 16th, 2009
Cost: Free

Schedule:
5:30 pm: Food and social - please register if you are joining us for dinner
6:00 pm: Welcome and opening announcements
6:15 pm: SQL Server 2008 R2 and project codename "Madison"
8:15 pm: Closing

Registration:
We need to know how much pizza to order! :) If you're joining us for dinner, please register through the Regina Technology Community website.
Registration deadline is Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 12:00 pm.

Sponsors:
A big thank you to our Facilities Sponsor, the University of Regina!
We've just begun our sponsorship drive for the 2009-2010 season. Want to invest in your community? Check out our sponsorship page.

posted @ Tuesday, September 01, 2009 7:12 AM | Feedback (1) | Filed Under [ Musings ]

Regina Technology Community: Many Technologies. One Community.

I am happy to announce the launch of the Regina Technology Community.
The Regina Technology Community has formed from a consortium of local special interest groups:
• .NET User Group
• IT Pro User Group
• SQL Server User Group
• SharePoint User Group

We recognize that no technology is an island. We work in technological ecosystems that requires an understanding of many disciplines. Having one community allows us to deliver a wide spectrum of content to our members. It also provides the forum for additional topics such as development methodologies, business analysis, project management and information technology management.

The Regina Technology Community is organized by a team of local volunteers. We currently have over 300 members and are growing. The community is composed of developers, analysts, testers, architects, administrators (systems, applications, servers, databases) and students. Many different industries and local organizations are represented.
The community is scheduling monthly events in the above disciplines for IT professionals.

We encourage people interesting in the community and our events to join our newsletter at our website
http://www.regina-technology-community.ca/

Special thanks to Carlin Pohl and Chantal LaPlante that have been champions in developing this new community.

posted @ Tuesday, September 01, 2009 7:08 AM | Feedback (0) | Filed Under [ Musings ]

Developer Evangelism at the Office

I was reading the Developer Evangelist Handbook which is a good guide for public facing developer evangelists created by Chris Heilmann of the Yahoo Developer Network.
Check out the online handbook here
http://developer-evangelism.com/

In this handbook there is some great advice for people who complete public presentations or someone who want to expand their current speaking engagements.
In reality many developers are evangelists (or should be) at there places of employment. Developers often feel pain in their ecosystem, the only way to change it is to deal with it.
I will take a twist on this article and talk about what developers can do to promote developer evangelism at the office.

First, what do I mean by developer evangelism?
- Someone who is passionate about continuous improvement through process, technology or development strategies
- Speaks with experience or knowledge
- Trusted by developers and employers

How is developer evangelism accomplished?
- Being a proprietor for continuous improvement.
Mediate with the technical staff and determine areas for improvement.
- Introduce new practices, design patterns and technologies.
Note: What was considered 'best practice' last year may be considered harmful today.
- Find an avenue to promote your suggestions such as blogs, speaking or tutorials.

Many employers and project managers do not like change, they like to see consistent progress so they can predict release dates. They consider changes as a risk of failure which complicates the prediction process.
However change requests happen regardless, success can be found through failure.

You may have a meeting with your employer somewhere along these lines
Your Employer: 'Tell me why we should change our development environment from VB6 to Visual Studio 2008?'
Well, if you have this exact conversation, you have other issues.

Typically you may need to sell why you need to upgrade from VS 2005 to VS 2008, SQL 2005 or SQL 2008, etc.
There are times when you may need to sell installing a Service Pack (SP). For example, VS 2008 SP1 included new functionality such as Entity Framework or breaking changes in SQL 2000 sp3.

An example of what is harmful today includes using SourceSafe source control when you have many other free options that will support tagging, branching and Continuous Integration (CI).
Not having these features will cause you pain, that is where the next section comes into play.

How to remove pain from your development ecosystem.
What cause you pain in your current development practices? Is there a better way to complete a task?

Do your research, find out how introducing a practice or technology to ease your pain.
Create a demo project in a timebox (a few hours or days) and demonstrate how this functionality increases productivity.

Know your audience and their needs
Your boss does not want to spend money or delay current progress.
However, if the investment increases productivity those are well spent dollars.
Do the above, do your research and propose your changes.

What is not developer evangelism
Developer evangelism may lead to the 'ooo it's shiney' developer or a Magpie developer.
By the definition above, evangelism comes from experience. If you feel your new process is worth merit, do your diligence, follow the steps in 'How to remove pain'.
Prove this solution is viable solution that meets your project needs and corporate politics.

Providing a list of 5 things your team needs to improve on is a good to note but that introduces major change. Remember, your employer does not like change.
My experience has been to introduce new processes as needed. Select the easiest attainable improvement and work you way to completing that change. Then you can carry onto the next area for improvement.

Sometimes no change is the best change
Keeping up with industry changes can be a daunting task. But is change even necessary?
Will that new design pattern really benefit the team or will it just cause confusion?

An veteran knows that you need to pick and choose your battles; you don't need to win every battle to win the war.

posted @ Saturday, August 08, 2009 1:01 PM | Feedback (0) | Filed Under [ Musings ]

Tether your BlackBerry for Internet Sharing

There is some confusion in how-to setup a BlackBerry in tether mode to share internet with your laptop or PC so I would like to share my setup process.

Overview:

Since you are already paying for a data plan why not take advantage of this data connection when you are away from home? Hotels and other facilities can charge you $15+ per day for Internet access.
BlackBerry and other hardware providers allow you to tether your smart phone as a modem to your laptop or computer.

Keep in mind that your tethered modem will not operate any faster than your data plan.
GPRS and EDGE will give you 2G speeds of approximately 56 – 114 kbit/s depending on signal strength; which will be similar to a dialup modem connection.
3G can provide up to 14.4 MBit/s download and 5.8 MBit/s upload.

RIM has provided instructions on how-to connect to the Internet using a GPRS, EDGE or UMTS smart phone as a tethered modem.
I had to make some modifications to these instructions to allow my smart phone to properly allow tethered access to the Internet. It is possible that each smart phone provider has slightly different setup so these instructions may not work for you.
These instructions work on the Rogers Canada wireless network, in particular, a BlackBerry Curve 8300.
These instructions should work with other data devices in tether mode.

Setup:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 1) Download the Software
Do this first, Download the BlackBerry Desktop Software 4.1 or later which will install the USB and virtual com ports.
Otherwise your computer will not discover your mobile device.

The desktop software will allow you to copy files to your smart phone such as MP3, videos and load applications.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 2) Setup an APN (If Required)
Task 2 of the RIM instructions states you need to setup an Internet APN (Access Point Name), some data providers may not require an APN.
I found an APN is not needed as part of the Rogers wireless network. Do not setup an APN if you use Rogers or else your tethered modem will not work.

If you do not know your Internet APN or have connection troubles, contact your service provider.

To Set up Internet APN
From your PC:

• Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel
• Double-click Phone and Modem Options
• In the Phone and Modem Options window, click the Modems tab
• Select Standard Modem and click Properties
• In the Standard Modem Properties window, Click the Advanced Tab
• In the Extra initialization commands field, type the following: +cgdcont=1,”IP”,”your Internet APN”
  ie. +cgdcont=1, “IP”, “Internet.com”
• Click OK
• In the Phone and Modem Options window, click OK

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 3) Configure Dial-up Network

Windows Vista

1. Click Start.
2. Select Connect To.
3. Click Setup a connection or network.
4. Click Setup a dialup connection.
5. In the Dial-up phone number field type *99#.
6. Type the user name and password provided by your service provider.
7. In the Connection Name field type BlackBerry (or any name you wish).
8. Click Dialing Rules.
9. Make sure the APN profile created in Step 2 has been selected (if required), and then click OK.
10. Select Connect to establish an internet.

Windows XP operating system

1. Click Start > Settings > Network Connections.
2. Double-click New Connection Wizard. The New Connection Wizard opens.
3. Click Next.
4. Select the Connect to the Internet option. Click Next.
5. Select Set up my connection manually. Click Next.
6. Select Connect using a dial-up modem. Click Next.
7. If the Select a Device screen appears, select the Modem - Standard Modem check box. Click Next.
8. In the ISP Name field, type a name for your connection. Click Next.
9. In the Phone number field, type *99#. Click Next.
10. Indicate which users will have access to the connection. Click Next.
11. Type the user name and password provided by your service provider. Click Next.
12. Click Finish.
13. In the Connect window, click Properties.
14. In the Properties window, verify that Modem - Standard Modem appears beneath the Connect using heading, and then click Configure.
15. In the Modem Configuration window, clear the Enable hardware flow control check box and make sure none of the other check boxes are selected. Click OK. In the Properties window, click OK.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 4) Connect to the Internet using Dial-up Network

1. Power on your BlackBerry smart phone and connect it to the computer / laptop.
2. Open BlackBerry Desktop Manager.
3. Click Start > Settings > Network Connections > <name of your new connection>.
4. Type the user name and password provided by your service provider.
5. Click Dial.

The user name and password for the Rogers Wireless network is
user name: wapuser1
password: wap

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Troubleshooting:

There are all sorts of posts on various forums looking for setup instructions and APN values.
Be sure to contact you data phone provider for APN settings, it is very likely they will offer you very little to no support on this setup process (I have been told by family and friends).

Common problems I found are
- APN issues
- Desktop Manager must be running in order tether your device

Happy Tethering!

Gary Pronych

posted @ Saturday, July 04, 2009 9:20 AM | Feedback (0) |

Vista SP2 Release, Evaluation Build 6002 Removal

Last year Microsoft pre-released SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 as build 6002.16497 under KB948465.

One of the most annoying features of using this build is that it would apply an evaluation watermark to the bottom right hand corner of each of your desktops (if you have 2+ monitors it will appear on both screens).

Honestly, for months I thought the watermark meant my license was detected as a evaluation license but I know I am using an OEM license.

Afterwards I found some guides to remove the watermark by making some system changes.
I am not one to download DLL’s to override OS libraries for security reasons so I just accepted this annoyance.

April 30th 2009 Microsoft released Vista SP2 RTM to TechNet subscribers.
As KB948465 describes, you need to uninstall any pre-released versions of SP2 prior to the RTM installation.

If it wasn’t for the evaluation build watermark, I may have neglected to update to the RTM build since the pre-release build does not expire until May 1, 2010.
I couldn’t find any other way to detect I was using a pre-RTM build although I only did a couple minor checks;
- Computer | Properties show Service Pack 2.
      However, On the same screen Help | About may show a version number; my RTM reads ‘Version 6.0 (Build 6002: Service Pack 2)
- Programs and Features | View installed updates; showed ‘Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB948465)’

If you download the 1.4 GB SP2 ISO from TechNet it will tell you if you need to uninstall a previous installation of SP2, it will also tell you if you have the correct build installed.
I am sure their is a better way to detect your build

The x64 SP2 is 591 MB, the x32 SP2 is 356 MB, the I64 SP2 is 461 MB; the TechNet ISO contains all three versions of the KB.

Update:
-------------------------------
As of May 25th 2009, Vista and Windows Server 2008 sp2 downloads are now available.

x86 at this link
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=656c9d4a-55ec-4972-a0d7-b1a6fedf51a7&displaylang=en
64 bit at this link
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=656c9d4a-55ec-4972-a0d7-b1a6fedf51a7&displaylang=en

posted @ Sunday, May 03, 2009 9:54 AM | Feedback (2) |

Regina Events

We have been busy organizing a number of community events.
I would like to share some events Regina.NET has been working on and other community events.

All the below events are free and open to the public.

Regina.NET
Date: April 8th @ 6 PM

Speaker: Rod Paddock
Topic: JQuery with ASP.NET

Web 2.0 is here to stay. jQuery is a JavaScript library that abstracts away all of the gory details of working with JavaScript for web applicatons. This session will demonstrate how to add jQuery to your ASP.NET applications today. This session will focus on proper uses of jQuery including how to organize your JavaScript code, how to use selectors in jQuery and how to manipulate your web content dynamically. Along with uses of the standard jQuery library, time will also be spent exploring some of the most useful jQuery plugs-ins.

More details and registration
http://reginadotnet.blogspot.com/2009/03/rod-paddock.html

Thanks to DevTeach we will be giving away a conference registration worth $1249 CDN!

-----------------------------------
TechNet
Date: April 21th @ 6 PM

Speaker: TBD
Topic: From the Client to the Cloud

Windows 7. Windows Live™. Windows Azure. The Microsoft-based platform presents a bevy of opportunities for all of us. Whether you are an IT Manager, Developer, or IT Pro knowing how these will impact you is critical, especially in the new economic reality.

Registration Information
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032405565&Culture=en-CA
Community Link
http://reginadotnet.blogspot.com/2009/02/technet-community-event-energizeit.html

-----------------------------------

Regina.NET
Date: May 5th @ 6 PM

Speaker: Uwe Schmitz
Topic: Introducing SOLID Object-Oriented Design Principles and Microsoft Unity


More details and registration
http://reginadotnet.blogspot.com/2009/04/uwe-schmitz-solid.html

posted @ Wednesday, April 08, 2009 10:55 AM | Feedback (0) |

Regina.NET Event January 22nd: SQL 2008 Community Launch

Regina.NET is participating in the INETA SQL PASS sponsored SQL 2008 launch.

We have 2 sessions at this years event on January 22nd at the University of Regina.

What is a community launch?

Microsoft and others provide registered speakers with Web Casts, PowerPoint, code sample and / or hands on labs for a number of areas in the promoted product.
The beauty of this type of event is that ANYONE can qualify to be a speaker. As a registered speaker, you are provided guidance in the launch topic.
Speakers can provide the sessions verbatim, but the samples are often from beta software may be to general or specific for your needs. I typically get ideas from the web casts and create my own schedule.
Occasionally Connected Systems (OCS) is something that adds value to me personally and I can see it being very useful to others, so that is my topic of choice for this event.

These launch events have been great for small communities that do not have access to many local speakers such as my community, Regina.NET.
Regina.NET and Regina IT Pro participated in the Windows Server 2008 / SQL 2008 / Visual Studio 2008 community launch back in May 2008; it was an excellent cross community event.

Regina.NET SQL 2008 Launch

For the SQL 2008 launch, we are holding 2 sessions.
Vance Petriew and I have been invited to give these sessions at the Saskatoon .NET user group; we haven’t confirmed any dates yet.

ADO.NET Sync Services using SQL 2008 and Visual Studio 2008
Presented by: Gary Pronych .NET User Group Leader (Me)
Abstract:
Do you have client applications that are not always connected to the network? Do you develop using smart clients?
Do you have large tables that contain static data or Slowly Changing Dimensions? What methods do you use to cache this data?

There are time consuming manual methods you can implement to replicate data to these systems but then you must also handle conflicts and sharing cached data.
In this presentation, we will discover how we can use SQL CE 3.5 in standalone and smart client development.
We will advance this topic and discover how SQL CE allows us to develop occasionally connected systems and synchronize changes from the client cache back to the source database.

 

What's new in SQL Server 2008 for DBAs
Presented by: Vance Petriew, SQL Database Analyst
Abstract:
In this session we will provide an overview of the important new features found in SQL Server 2008.
Then we will dive into feature examples including data compression, encryption, filestream objects and spatial indexes.

How to find Events in your area?

There is a listing for SQL 2008 Launch events located here http://www.microsoft.com/sql/experience/Events.aspx?loc=en
For the previous community launch there was a web site that you can search for an event in your area, it was to the point and easy to use.
I think they dropped the ball this time, the site is quite painful to use and they missed my submission somehow (Bastards!).
Coordinating international events can be difficult so I can give them some slack.

Helpful Links

If you are interested in great SQL 2008 material here is another resource I found; you just need to skip through the cheesy ‘Get on the Case’ theme.

http://www.isvinnovation.com/SQL/Challenge.aspx

 

Gary Pronych

posted @ Sunday, January 18, 2009 8:32 PM | Feedback (0) |

Affordable SQL Server High Availability

SQL server high availability comes in 2 basic categories.

1) Clustering using a SAN drive and multiple physical servers attached to the disk storage
2) Stand alone equipment acting in parallel

A SAN configuration is an expensive solution; typically a disk storage array needs to be purchased with high speed communication channels (typically fibre).
Therefore #2 is often the recommended configuration for smaller shops and less critical databases.
Awareness of this topic is important for developers to be able 'talk the talk' and provide recommendations so I will expand on this topic today.

First, let me define some of the terminology used so we are all on the same page

Redundant - Not to be confused with high availability (see redundant); meaning having more than necessary (ie. Redundant power supplies mean there are 2 power supplies or more).
High Available - Meaning available often, unaffected by failures and downtime.
High Performance Mode (asynchronous) - Transactions are commit without waiting for the mirrored servers to commit, which maximizes performance.
High Safety Mode (synchronous) - A committed transaction is committed on all systems in replication before the next transaction is processed, but at the risk of increased transaction latency (I have tested up to a 30% performance hit).
Replication - Making a copy
Failover - The capability of switching to another system
Quorum - A group of servers required; in this topic, a Principal, Partner and Witness are required
Principal - The server or database instance that is processing transactions
Partner - The server that is being replicated to and is available for failover
Witness - Required to decide if a failover is required (participates in a quorum 'vote')
Split Brain - Principal and Partner databases become out of sync
Load Balancing - Share the transaction load between multiple servers
Automatic Recovery - System is able to process any missed transactions during failover / downtime

 

Principal and Partner

Pros: High Availability, both servers could be available for queries (great for Business Intelligence(BI))
Cons: Manual Failover* (see programming considerations), manual recovery is required

Description:
2 servers are required; you can replicate to as many servers as you wish.
I know about environments replicating to 10+ environments to provide Slowly Changing Dimensions (SCD)  to remote sites; I will cover my recommendations on using the ADO.NET Sync Services in a future post and a community presentation.
In this diagram, YTSdb1 is the principal server and is replicating to YTSdb2.

This model suffers from split brain, as it is can allow transactions written directly to the partner.
Recovery from split brain (because of failures, downtime, etc) is a manual process as you can see the information flow is one-way; from the principal to the partner.

*Note: You cannot query the Partner database if you are using the Mirror configuration as it is unavailable. Only when using replication methods such as log shipping are you able to access the replicated tables.
Log Shipping allows you to replicate to many databases as the Partner database consumes transaction log files.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Replication

Pros: Allows load balancing (manual), Automatic Recovery
Cons: Asynchronous transactions, Manual failover* (see programming considerations), not the next P2P Kazaa

Description:
2 or more servers act in asynchronous replication, each database is known as a node.
In a non-clustered environment, this is the only method that can provide load balancing. Load balancing would be configured by the developer utilizing different servers in their connection strings.
Transactions are asynchronous; if you are using this method for load balancing there is a risk that not all the servers have been replicated to all servers.
Recovery is automatic; once the failed server comes back online, the missed transactions are replicated.

 

Principal, Partner and Witness Quorum

Pros: Can run in Safety or Performance Mode, Automatic Failover* (see programming considerations), Automatic Recovery
Cons: Witness is required but I can be any version SQL, Partner is not available for queries

Description:
This is the most powerful configuration for High Availability.
YTSdb1 is the principal in this diagram, if it fails, a vote is taken place to see if the Partner should be promoted. Once YTSdb1 is back online, it will be given all the missed transactions and it will assume the role of Partner. If YTSdb2 then fails, then YTSdb1 will then be restore back to the Principal.

 

Programming Considerations

ADO.NET 2.0+ (Visual Studio 2005+) supports a Failover Partner configuration in the connection string as shown below.

Data Source=SQLA\INST1;Failover Partner=SQLB\INST1;Initial Catalog=DBMTest;Integrated Security=True

This attribute allows both manual and automatic failover since the application then becomes aware of the principal / partner configuration.

Automatic failover will happen when connected to a Quorum configuration.
If even there is no Partner set in the configuration file, the ADO.NET provider will be sent the partner connection information and cache it. If a failure happens during application processing, the application will then failover to the new principal once the failover has been completed. My tests have shown a 20 second delay in failover; this may depend on your timeout configuration.
You can prevent any transactions from being lost by implementing retry logic into your applications, otherwise there is a risk of losing 1 transaction per client.

 

Summary:

All the above I have tested so these are my notes on my research and tests.
I completed these tests using SQL Server 2008; I would suspect most of these configurations can apply to SQL 2005.

I can certainly go into more depth and include additional strategies, but the purpose of the post is for awareness of these methods.

Hope this help you in your SQL Server configurations,
Gary Pronych

posted @ Friday, January 09, 2009 10:20 AM | Feedback (1) |

DevConnections Keynote: Next 10 Years of IT

Steve Riley, Microsoft Senior Security Strategist provided a keynote at DevConnections in Las Vegas.

The topic was, ‘Next 10 years of IT’.
The keynote was very unique and thought provoking, so I would like to share some thoughts.

Green IT

How many servers do you have in your server room? What is their utilization?

Personally, over my last few clients I know of a handful of servers that running less than 20% CPU utilization. Is this efficient?
If these machines where VM’d they could be reallocated and share resources on a single box.

This is a very important strategy in an area where businesses have growing concerns with their bottom line as the market tightens.

Streamline IT

In an era with SOA taking the stage, it is very possible program developers will only write services.
Information workers can use tools like WorkFlow (WF) to connect single responsibility services, this tool will allow them to assign business rules and logic.
A lot of productivity is lost explaining business logic / rules to programmers. If we could provide our business users with the tools to write their own rules, there will be signification productivity gains.

Consolidation of Vendors and Services

We did a quick review of hardware vendors from the 80’s to today; there were 20+ server vendors from this area. Today there are less than 10.
Is this because these companies could not adapt to change? Or they could not innovate?

IT must be Adaptive to Change

We did a quick review of the mainframe era, how IBM ruled the industry; soon thereafter, the PC came available.
It was desirable for end users to use personal devices, the mainframe systems could not adapt, therefore were left behind.
IBM ended up being left behind and lost significant market share.

How do we predict the future?
By looking at the past; history tends to repeat. We need to be agile and open to new ideas.

posted @ Thursday, November 13, 2008 6:48 PM | Feedback (0) |