Software
Data Cleansing Tools
It is very common to receive information in a format that cannot easily be formatted and processed as you want it to be. For example, you may have an unstructured list of information that you need in a table; or data in a table that you need as XML; or data in a web page (HTML) that you need in Excel. So many information professionals maintain a tool-kit that allows them to manipulate all sorts of information in different formats.
Diigo Bookmarks 05/20/2011
<p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/knightnet/windows">windows</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/knightnet/ipad">ipad</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/knightnet/iPhone">iPhone</a> </p>
Windows command prompt vs PowerShell vs Cygwin for remote backup scripts
I’ve been struggling with trying to get a new backup routine working for my Laptop. I should point out that I have several complex requirements for backup so my needs are probably not average. However, it really shouldn’t be this hard! I need to use a combination of BZR (Bazaar) for document version control and RSYNC (for files that don’t need version control and for those folders that might contain files too big for version control systems – around 1/3 to 1/2 available memory).
Running Komodo Edit Open Source Code Editor Under Windows 7
The open source version of Komodo’s code editor and development environment Komodo Edit is a great tool for development. I use it for PHP, HTML, JavaScript and more. However, I haven’t done any serious coding for a while so I haven’t needed to run it under Windows 7 even though I had it installed. When I did, I was disapointed to find it behaving very poorly. It wouldn’t resize properly without messing up the screen.
How-to use WebDAV on Windows Vista and Windows 7
Windows is supposed to have a built-in WebDAV client. However, it doesn’t ever seem to have been especially robust and certainly since Vista a lot of people (myself included) have found that it simply doesn’t work on many supposedly WebDAV enabled sites. Thankfully there are a couple of free (and some not free) options that, while not as nicely integrated into Windows Explorer, do enable you to transfer files back and forth.
Sun’s VirtualBox gets on with it!
Yep, I keep being amazed by the quality of VirtualBox which is now owned by Sun. I need to set up a virtual machine to test and demo Sun’s Identity Management (IdM) suite and it needs to be usable with VMware too. So I headed over to the VMware Appliances web site and downloaded a pre-canned Debian 5 server. This is recognised fine by VirtualBox! I gave the VM a Host Networked connection to the network and with no further configuration, fired up the VM.
Easier posting to Blogger Blogs (Zoundry Raven)
Just a quick note to recommend some software that makes writing blog entries very much easier. The software is called [Zoundry Raven][1] and I’m using the latest beta (under Windows 7 beta). The editor is WYSIWYG and has a much more sensible set of standards than the built-in Blogger editor (including the beta version). It also allows you to publish the same entry to multiple blogs if needed. It has image, link and tag handling too and it makes blogging rather more pleasurable.
proxy.pac files, Mozilla (Firefox & Thunderbird) and Vista or Windows 7
I’ve found a problem with Mozilla based products and proxy settings. To automatically configure a proxy for use by Internet browsers, you can use a file called “proxy.pac“. This is a JavaScript function that is loaded into the browser when it starts and redirects requests via a proxy where required. All of the descriptions for this file you will find on the Internet will provide the following example of checking your current IP address.
Windows Mobile applications I use
To round off my mini-series about software I use, I thought I’d do one on Windows Mobile (AKA Pocket PC or PPC). Pocket Informant Keepass PPC Microsoft Reader MobiPocket Reader PIM Backup Pocket Navigator (Memory Map) Laridian Pocket Bible WeatherWatcher Google Maps Tombo Tom Tom Navigator SuperDoku Bejeweled2 There are one or two other small utilities I also use and I have a bespoke WM6 installation that includes some tools. (NB: I’ll add some links and explanations in when I get time).
Windows applications I use
Following on from my post about [what stops me from dropping Windows altogether][1], I thought that I would put together a more complete post about the Windows applications I find myself using. [Memory Map][2] – If ActiveSync is installed, the standard license allows you to push a copy of the Windows Mobile version to a handheld along with extracts of (or whole) maps, POI, routes, etc. It is also best to plan routes and add new POI on the desktop as its easier than the small interface on the handheld.
Linux Applications I use
Finaly got round to installing OpenSUSE 11.0 on my desktop so I thought this would be a good opportunity to keep track of the software I actually use. I’ll edit and update this entry over time. System VirtualBox (virtual machine, cross platform) Wine TurboPrint (paid for printer driver) Makes having a Canon inkjet printer worth-while again! Rather expensive for what it does but it brings the features you would expect from a good, proprietary printer driver.
Update on FreeOTFE
Thought I would add a quick update on using FreeOTFE under Windows and PocketPC. I tried it under Windows on a different PC and it does indeed work OK though it is nowhere near as polished as TrueCrypt. I’ve also tried again a few times on a PocketPC with limited success and I think I know what is happening. Firstly, you must install FreeOTFE for PPC into system memory and not on a storage card – not terribly surprising really.
Living with Firefox
I use Firefox all the time. Both with Windows and Linux but I don’t like the fact that it assumes that you are using Gnome under Linux and doesn’t really play nicely with KDE. Thankfully there are a few things you can do. To get printing to use KPrinter (the default KDE print dialog). Choose the printer called Postscript/default and then change the command that is run to kprinter –stdin. Now, whenever you print to that printer, you will get the KDE standard print dialog where you can choose the printer (most importantly, output to PDF) and change the settings.
