Invalid argument supplied for foreach in mysqli.php on line 391

 Hosting, Joomla, PHP  No Responses »
Aug 212011
 

This is a note to self.  When you see Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/yourdom/public_html/libraries/joomla/database/database/mysqli.php on line 391 it means the host has run out of disk space on the tmp folder used for sessions and other temporary files.  Specifically Joomla is trying to create a temporary table and it appears it gets as far as creating the pointer and php/mysql errors at the point of reading the data rather than at the point of adding data to the table.

So if you are not me and you have this error then the solution is to ask your host to clear out the /tmp folder and increase the amount of disk space allocated to it so it doesn’t happen again.

Moron Skype! Sorry, that should be more on Skype

 Annoyances, Microsoft, Updates, Upgrades  No Responses »
Aug 012011
 

I have liked Skype for too long. The service is responsible for the reduction in communication costs worldwide. I used it to keep in contact with friends, family and business while living and travelling for the past 10 years. I know, my story is typical.

But Skype, you are throwing that love away…

A few months ago Skype began to force updates on three of my PC’s, each running a different version of Windows, and each of them refusing to run the new code. I even blogged about it in May Stop Skype Auto Updates, Don’t want to upgrade Skype Thanks

Selective Customer Support

I tried the forums (see this) and received no reply to my direct requests for support.

As if it wasn’t difficult enough there is a confusing and circular process just to arrive at the support input form which includes having to login twice. I’m sure someone will dispute this, perhaps their website can’t handle Google Chrome or IE, but the location of this form is not clear and at each stage they want you to read the FAQ or analyse your input to show a list of totally irrelevant answers. This despite pasting the precise error code and message. Ironically the only information to be found on the site about this issue is in the forum where complaints on this subject are either injudiciously slammed by a Skype techie or ignored.

I eventually found the form again and decided before downgrading to a working version of Skype again, I would keep the forced update (on a machine I rarely use) and try work through a fix with them and thus apply the fix to my other two machines so I can put this time-wasting nonsense behind me.

No such luck.

Skype, again, ignored my request, but the next day I received this incredible email from them:-

Skype email Moron Skype! Sorry, that should be more on Skype

First complaint is perhaps picky but why do so many companies thinks its ok to write emails that start with something like “This is an automated email, sent by a friendly Skype robot, please don’t reply.” Control freaks! Another example of “Its ok for us to talk at you but oooh no, we’re not going to listen back!” To be fair Skype and other companies that do this often provide another means to communicate, but in Skypes case… well see above.

I took the survey and gave 100% low rating on everything to do with the customer service representative as he/she never contacted me despite having my phone number, Skype name and email address in the original request for help. I use Gmail and this was used in my request for help. However I have had Skype longer than Gmail existed so just in case they still use my old email address I checked its working. All mail to this address is successfully sent directly to my Gmail account. All spam filtering handled by Gmail so just in case I regularly checked the trash folder and as Google is my witness, Skype never sent a thing.

Downgrading Again

As I needed Skype (and there’s a clue as to why they do so well by ignoring their customers) I decided to follow my own instructions and return to a working copy. After running the uninstall my browser is forced open (having been required to close all programs for the installation to run) to display this message:-

We just wont answer your support request emails or let you phone us Moron Skype! Sorry, that should be more on Skype

You see that handy little link just by the-big-green-download link? The one that says “Do you need some help?” Wonderful! It takes you to the FAQ.

Epilogue

The latest version of Skype, as of a couple of days ago, still will not work on three of my PC’s. As the majority of Skype users do not have a problem I have to conclude its something I have done to make it go wrong though after spending time comparing the machines only Microsoft Office (various versions) and Skype are in common. Perhaps now Microsoft owns Skype they may turn their attention to this problem but I hold out little hope.

One thing that is wrong and can be fixed is their customer support and the attitude of some of their technical staff. I recently paid $25, its not a lot, but I still expect something for my money which right now is impossible to use without Skype attempting to force me to update, at my inconvenience.

Network Natzies Neutralize Net Progress

 Annoyances, Business, On The Front Line, Programming  No Responses »
May 292011
 

3082818 s Network Natzies Neutralize Net ProgressHave you noticed the growing number of communications interrupted by network policies? Recently I have been told by in-house support staff they cannot see links to images and videos in their email. Its natural for companies to police what travels across their network but the current set of rules employed by some companies appear to be draconian and certainly get in the way of good communication. For years I have taken screenshots and more recently video demonstrations for support and training purposes. To avoid email attachment limitations I upload these to websites such as Screencast and Youtube.

Screencast is a professional and paid for service specifically designed for the secure sharing of images and video’s so when government and organisations ban Screencast and Youtube traffic across their network you have to wonder why. Are they not secure? Is this anti competitive? Do they not have protection against virus and malware that maybe included in the stream?

But why Youtube too? Surely Youtube’s rules over what can be uploaded and the many people that report innappropriate material is good enough, why ban the entire site? Is it purely that government and these organisations do not trust their staff that they have to introduce rules reminiscent of 19th century schools?

Its frustrating to put together a report that includes images and video links to help with the description only for it to be rejected by some daft Network Natzie who wishes to exert control over the network presumably to maintain a false impression that he/she is important.

Network policies and protection are important but if it damages the reputation or ability for a company to function then its counter productive. If you cannot protect your network without disabling the value that network provides then why bother? Save yourself a bunch and drill your head into the sand.

Create a Route Card in Word 2010 & Garmin Mapsource

 Microsoft Word, On The Front Line, Programming, Utilities, Video, Walking Hiking Navigating, Word VBA  11 Responses »
May 272011
 

Part of the fun in walking is navigating your way along paths and areas of public access with unfamiliar surroundings. Another important part is the place, I would rather be walking through woods or interesting countryside than shooting the sun in the middle of the Atlantic, and I am sure there’s an even amount of people who prefer the reverse.

One thing in common between air sea and land navigators is the preparation they make before a journey. The more information they have to hand during the journey the easier and safer they and their fellow travellers will be.

<Lecture Warning>
Pilots inform ATC of their intended routes, sailors give the coastguard with their routes and walkers give details of their route to family and proper authorities, at least that’s what is supposed to happen. Have you ever heard a child told off for not letting mum and dad know where they have been? Maybe it’s not so common with mobile phones today but really, if you are a regular walker, runner, climber or enjoy any activity outside it’s a good idea to provide someone with as much information about your activity as you can. This makes it easier for you to be located by rescue services should the need arise.

A Route Card is ideal for this purpose.
</Lecture Warning>

What is a route card?
It’s a list of waypoints and useful information to help you find your way across unfamiliar locations. Combined with a map and compass the route card will make sure you know where you are always. Here is an example:

SDC10327 Create a Route Card in Word 2010 & Garmin Mapsource

Example Walking Navigation Route Card

The idea is simple, you walk from one grid reference to the next after the pre-prepared magnetic bearing. If you have a good eye for distance (or are a neurotic pace counter) you don’t need much more that you see in this example. If you are interested in route cards you already know that.

This walk is straight forward because it follows the shoreline. Ordinarily I would add more notes, things I expect to see at some of the points to help me find them. Google Earth and Bing Maps are good for this.

Bing Maps include Ordnance Survey. You cannot draw your route with a mouse like you can on Ordnance Survey’s website but you can use it to check your folded map is up to date and switching between views helps you to understand the terrain better.

You can print your map from Bing or Ordnance Survey and add bearing checks. By preparing your route card and maps at home you can use satellite views to research potential waypoints and markers for bearings. Here’s the Bawdsey Walk map I prepared:

image1 Create a Route Card in Word 2010 & Garmin Mapsource

Bawdsey Beach Walk Ordnance Survey Map

The dark blue line is the intended track. The numbers are taken from the Route Card. The red lines point to a marker on the map, in this case the church. It doesn’t have to be a single point of course but on this map there are only three distinctive things outside Martello Towers and that’s Sea, Sand and a Church.

The red lines are numbered and I have spaced them at convenient points throughout the walk. At any point in the walk it will be easy to work out my place so long as I can see the Church.

How to use the Route Card Template
I have only tested the template in Microsoft Word 2010, I have no idea if it will work in any other version. You will also need Mapsource from Garmin. You do not need any of the maps, it’s just a way of creating a formatted list of waypoints. Garmin allows you to import KML and GPX files which covers most software, if you are stuck try Getamap from Ordnance Survey, there are some free options, I’m not sure if that allows you to export gpx files but the paid version does (they had a launch offer with 50% off when I bought in April 2011). Go to http://www.getamap.ordnancesurveyleisure.co.uk/ for more information.

The video demonstrates the Route Card template, hopefully that will be enough to get you started but if you find any bugs, have any suggestions, or need help using it please leave a comment.

Download Template

Release Date: 21 July, 2011

  • Now shows elevation and climb
  • Calculates page numbers

Download the Walkers Route Card Template for Word 2010

Stop Skype Auto Updates, Don’t want to upgrade Skype Thanks

 Annoyances, Business, Microsoft, Software, Updates, Upgrades, Utilities  21 Responses »
May 232011
 
Important Update

Chris has found a better solution for some installations and explained how to stop Skype updating by modifying the policies applied to your PC. Click here to jump to his post in the comments. I would try his suggestion first and return to mine only if his doesn’t work. If my solution is brutal then his is subtle; should the Skype installed on your PC follow common standards, it will comply despite Skypes T&C’s

Like several million people I have utilised and enjoyed Skype for many years. Having lived in four different countries in the last 10 years it has been useful to keep in touch with friends and family. Best of all its free.

Stop Skype Auto Updates
Click here to cut the BS
I have it installed on two PC’s and a Laptop, version 5.1.0.112, but now and then I get asked to upgrade and each time it tries the result is the same. Skype no longer works. This has been going on for several versions. Skype support have not been able to fix the problem and forum suggestions have not worked. This is the same for the three machines I use.

So something I have done, some software on each of these three machines is to blame but each machine runs all the software I want from them without problem and as long as I stick with Skype 5.1 then everything is satisfactory.

Forced Upgrades

Skype is the only software I have ever used that forces upgrades. I know how ridiculous that sounds, all software gives you the option to upgrade or not and for good reason. Normal software gives you the choice so that you can manage compatibility issues, if any exist, between it and other sub systems.

Skype is different. They think its OK to take control of your desktop, without permission, and force an upgrade. This is wrong on so many levels that I do not believe they have considered how seriously this could damage their reputation.

Over the last few months I have experienced the following problems because of forced downloads:

1. While rendering videos causing the desktop to freeze. Support says I should not use Skype on the same PC. Nice solution Skype, very intelligent.

2. While completing an online payment form, with my credit card information, address and several fields painstakingly filled a Skype forced download forces a reboot in the background too. No questions asked, no chance to cancel. My time wasted and potentially a security risk. Nice solution Skype.

3. While watching a movie. Do you remember the days when adverts interrupted movies? Well it was a bit like that except on reboot the movie doesn’t start and or find your place again.

The fact that the upgrade never works and means I will have to uninstall and reinstall 5.1 again is more than annoying, its enough for me to look for alternatives.

Read our T&C’s…They Say

Perhaps the most remarkable situation in this horrid affair is the attitude of the Skype folk themselves. Until this issue arose I always imagined them to be a happy bunch of fluffy bunny kind of business men and women who want to do no more in life than please their customers. How sad and let down I felt when I discovered they are actually a bunch of tossers, at least the ones answering forum questions and support enquiries are.

Here are a few replies to people asking why they cannot stop forced downloads:

SKYPE may do things we do not like, but NEVER “dishonest”
It’s in their T+Cs that we all agree to

Yes, you can turn off automatic updates.
BUT
You can NOT turn off forced updates

Skype rarely does that, but their T+Cs allow it

and perhaps the best (and seriously misguided response)

You may not like it, indeed I may not like it, but the Law is The Law.
You agreed to SKYPES Terms and Conditions, and that IS the law.

I’m not sure which country has enshrined the use of Skype on to its statute books but I am sure I don’t live in it.
 

How to Force Skype to stop Forcing Updates

..or here’s one solution to all this nonsense

If Skype 5.3 and 5.2 do not work for you and you want to stick with the version you have and you want to block Skype updates then this may work for you. While hunting the Skype entries in the registry for clues they have an entry called DownloadEtag. An ETag is usually used to find the version of something, usually a cached page in a browser, but I suspect they are using it to decide the last time a forced download is used. Currently the value is set at 12150 but you may see a different value depending on when you read this (possibly depending on whether they have read this too).

Since setting this blank none of my machines have gone through the forced installation process. You can find it in your registry here:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Skype\Installer\DownloadETag

Just set it to blank. Alternatively I have put together a .reg file to do it for you, just download and double-click the .reg file in this zip

And Skype, if you are reading this

I cannot believe you really want to do this. What makes you think you have the right to force people to do things against their will? My desktop belongs to me, not you. I paid for it, I support it and I decide what software I put on it and what I don’t. You cannot legislate away people’s rights through unreasonable “T&C’s”. Just ask Microsoft, they tried it in the 80′s and 90′s and look what happened to them, what makes you think you can do better?

Really, I *love* Skype the product, but this stupid policy is untenable, especially when TWO versions of the upgrades have failed (and judging by your forum continue to fail). Sort it out or you will be on the receiving end of a major disruption. There are huge players waiting for you to screw up, but that’s just the opinion of one, for now.

BEWARE facemoods scam is bullyware!

 Annoyances, On The Front Line, Software, Web Browsers  7 Responses »
Mar 032011
 

897048 low 300x200 BEWARE facemoods scam is bullyware!

I am aware of some of the tricks used to persuade people install malicious software.  It is rare that I get caught but at times I can be gullible too.

It was my turn this morning, and it took a couple of hours to recover from my lack of vigilance.  I don’t suppose facemoods will want to cover that cost though (consider the many hours of productivity lost worldwide down to scams like these).

Fortunately not many organisations take the nasty bullyware approach to business like facemoods. What they hope to gain from such tactics mystified me until I read a complaint by someone called Yang from facemoods in response to complaints flooding in to the Firefox add-on reviews page.  He said “We have millions of users worldwide“.  A cynic would say they have managed to bully millions of users into installing their conware.

He goes on to say the addon is offered 100% free but he’s not telling the truth.  His software replaces adsense publishers codes with his own.  That’s right, he’s hijacking content owners reason for publishing.

Not only have they replaced search engines with a poor quality copy affiliate page (and thus benefiting from the affiliate income any ad clicks they produce) they replace many affiliate links with their own thus hijacking the income from bloggers and other organisations that have worked hard to produce a reputation and good rankings.

Wait a minute – say that again – what do you mean facemoods hijacks income?

bware BEWARE facemoods scam is bullyware!
Yes, its important to understand this.  If you own a blog and earn an income from affiliate revenue, facemoods is hijacking your income.  How does this happen?  Its so easy it’s embarrassing but let’s give you a real world example:

Let’s say you are a famous blogger, and your subject is dog training.  You love dogs, take photos every day, create video and podcasts, and help people with all aspects of dog training, grooming, behaviour therapy, and you are accepted as a leading authority.  To cover the cost of your work and the expenses you have you make book and DVD recommendations and gain a small commission through Amazon for each purchase people make.

I buy a lot of books and I love the idea that I reward the blogger who has taken the time to review the book by purchasing from the link on their page.

This has become the de facto standard method for rewarding bloggers and content providers for their efforts and facemoods thinks it ok to steal it.

So if Mr Yang’s boast of “millions of users” is true then he is making an absolute killing through deceit and dishonest practices.  Hardly 100% free.

Is this really happening?

Those of you familiar with Adsense are going to ask “Surely Google know about this and stop it?” I don’t know but what’s the incentive for Google to do that?  They proved they do not care much for their adsense publishers when they cut 90% of the commission income, and it hasn’t stopped Mr Yang from trying.

How to open PDF files without Adobe Reader

 Annoyances, Reading, Software  2 Responses »
Jan 252011
 

Did you know Adobe pre-loads itself each time you start your PC with the default installation?  This presumably so when you call upon it the results appear fast, make them look good.

Capture 300x195 How to open PDF files without Adobe ReaderIn the mean time other applications fighting for memory are robbed of this resource.  If you are not a heavy user of the reader then the overall effect is to slow your productivity.

They also add a bit of code that checks each time you tart your PC to see if they have any new updates so frequent interruptions to update their sloppy application is necessary too.

I have been using Adobe Reader a couple of times a month but had as many as 20 requests to update it.

Adobe Reader is slow to load (even with its pre-loader) when compared to Foxit and Nitro PDF Reader so I find it difficult to see why so many of us promote their free reader over other free readers.

My preference is for Nitro, it looks better, has the functionality I want, is not supported by ads or any other interrupting messages and works on the same principle as Adobe, if you like it and want more features there is a pro version.  Take a look at something new and rid yourself of the slow performing Adobe Reader here: http://www.nitroreader.com/

How to fix Microsoft Lifecam Cinema out-of-the-box problems

 Annoyances, Hardware, Microsoft, Software, Webcam  No Responses »
Jan 152011
 

stinks1 How to fix Microsoft Lifecam Cinema out of the box problemsA raft of software, drivers and functions load each time the cam attempts to do it’s thing, and this causes numerous problems in other software such as Skype and Microsoft’s own Windows Live Movie Maker, here are a few examples:

  • After a week of perfect operation the sound failed to synchronise with the video in any software (Skype, Movie Maker, Camtasia, Sony Vegas).
  • In Skype the video output randomly switches from Standard Display to Wide Screen.
  • Warning messages appear stating the processor is to slow to record 640 x 360 on a Quad Core 2.4Ghz with 3GB RAM with Skype the only running application.
  • A ‘Focus Frenzy’ caused the Skype recipient to ask me to switch the webcam off as it made them queasy!

The solution is to uninstall Microsoft Lifecam software.  You do not need to do anything else, leave your cam plugged in.  Go to the Control Panel, uninstall the software and then reboot the machine.

Everything works as it should do, the cam fires up when requested through Skype or other software and you can modify the webcam settings as usual.

How to restore the status bar in firefox

 Annoyances, Web Browsers  No Responses »
Dec 232010
 

Firefox is a memory hungry SOB that performs like a slug crawling through molasses, but its still a primary browser.  Why? because Chrome does not have the same list of extensions and its not IE.

So we continue to put up with the ever increasing number of problems it presents us.  This morning the status bar disappeared.  This handy slice of screen real estate has been home to a couple of tools for the best part of the last five years, namely Firebug and Fiddler.  Two tools which I cannot live without and their other browser versions pale in comparison.  So here’s how to recover your status bar when it decides to go AWOL.

How to recover a missing status bar in Firefox

  1. Close all open copies of Firefox
  2. Give it a while, especially if you are on a slow PC, Firefox garbage collection is slow.  Open the Task Manager and check there are no running instances in the  processes tab if you are neurotic (if you do not clear the last remnants of FF from memory things will just get worse).
  3. Start ->Programs -> Mozilla Firefox (Safe Mode)

When Mozilla starts in safe mode you will see the following screen:

Safemoderesettoolbars How to restore the status bar in firefox

Select “reset toolbars and controls” then “Make Changes and Restart” and your status bar will return.

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