NULL The electric and super-compact design car

The electric and super-compact design car of the future, beautiful and futuristic design by Jeongche Yoon. This is the Null, a mobile widget concept for next generation EV (Electric Vehicle) has been designed as solution to save energy and space. Inspired by smart phone industry based on the open-source marketing of app store, this is more like hardware that you put on your car to make it do more.

This is exciting new opportunities for automobile industry to establish a clean and creative design for the future society.






Source

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Posted in: Design

Panther: EXISTS or NOT EXISTS

This article is written in English and Portuguese
Este artigo está escrito em Português e Inglês

English version:

I'll continue with the quick and easy posts about Panther (v11.70). This time I'll focus on some new SQL that was added in Panther. Most (if not all) CREATE and DROP statements now allow for IF NOT EXISTS and IF EXISTS clauses respectively. These clauses allow us to write CREATE/DROP statements that will not raise errors in case the objects already exist and we're trying to create them, or when they don't exist and we're trying to drop them.
As an example:


panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -

IBM Informix Dynamic Server Version 11.70.UC1 -- On-Line -- Up 00:03:17 -- 369588 Kbytes

panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> dbaccess stores -

Database selected.

> DROP TABLE test;

206: The specified table (test) is not in the database.

111: ISAM error: no record found.
Error in line 1
Near character position 15
> DROP TABLE IF EXISTS test;
>

These two clauses can be used for TABLE, PROCEDURE, FUNCTION, DATABASE, INDEX, ROLE etc. (both for create and drop).
This can be used in scripts to prevent that they abort prematurely. Also interesting is the fact that this syntax can be found on mySQL. So it's easier now to port existing code into Informix.



Versão Portuguesa:

Vou continuar com os artigos rápidos e fáceis sobre a versão 11.70 (Panther). Desta vez vou abordar uma mudança no SQL que foi adicionada ao Panther. A maior parte (se não todas) as instruções CREATE e DROP suportam agora as cláusulas IF NOT EXISTS e IF EXISTS respectivamente. Estas cláusulas permitem-nos escrever instruções CREATE/DROP que não geram erros caso os objectos já existam e os estejamos a tentar criar, ou quando não existem e os estamos a tentar eliminar.
Como exemplo:


panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -

IBM Informix Dynamic Server Version 11.70.UC1 -- On-Line -- Up 00:03:17 -- 369588 Kbytes

panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> dbaccess stores -

Database selected.

> DROP TABLE test;

206: The specified table (test) is not in the database.

111: ISAM error: no record found.
Error in line 1
Near character position 15
> DROP TABLE IF EXISTS test;
>

Estas duas cláusulas podem ser usadas para TABLE, PROCEDURE, FUNCTION, DATABASE, INDEX, ROLE etc. (tanto para o CREATE como para o DROP).
Isto pode ser usado em scripts para evitar que abortem prematuramente. Também é interessante o facto de que esta sintaxe pode ser encontrada no mySQL. Portanto será agora mais fácil portar código existente para Informix

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Posted in: 11.7,create,drop,if exists,if not exists,informix,panther,sql syntax

Post weekly (weekly)

• Online Spreadsheets - EditGrid

  Need a quick spreadsheet? This is excellent, if you've not seen it before

  tags: spreadsheets

• Pittsburgh Public Schools | Instructional Technology (OIT)

  Distance Learning opportunities. Got video conference equipment that's collecting dust?

  tags: videoconferencing

• 98 Snow Leopard tips, tricks and tweaks | News | TechRadar UK

  "We're willing to bet that even the most seasoned Mac user won't have used half of these cunning techniques on their machine. With this huge selection of tips at your disposal, prepare to speed up the way you work on your Mac forever. "

  tags: macos

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Self Computer Maintenance: Part 3 Using the Defragmentation Tools

Greeting to all, to continue on this series another way of accessing the scan disk tool is by pointing your mouse on the my computer picture or icon then double click to access the item of the icon, then select the hard disk drive you want to be fixed. After selecting the hard disk point the mouse on the disk and press the mouse right button or just press the right click button. From here a menu will appear from that menu select the properties tab at the bottom of the menu and the dialog box for the my computer icon will appear. Then select the TOOLS tab which contain the Scandisk, Defragmentation and Back-up tools. Then select Scan-disk and press start. Again if it needs to be scheduled then just followed the instruction on the screen.

Now after finishing the repair and diagnostic of the scandisk, your hard disk is now ready for the defragmentation tools. Now you may ask, what the heck is that tool and what does it do. First of all your hard disk files tend to be fragmented from all those usage day in and day out. You sometimes notice that the response time of your computer has become increasing slow this past days, weeks and months. And your wondering what is going on with this computer, it seems fine, it boot-up well there was no error or problems encounter in its operations. But when i try to access my files they seems a bit slow and yes it boot up well but its a little bit slower compare last week or last months. So what is going on inside there. Remember your hard needs to spin in order to work and to access data, during that operation sometime your file tend tend to be separated from its component. What????, well actually your file is compose of several parts which i not go into to detail because it will become to technical and will defeat the purpose of this blog. Just know that a file store on the hard disk has many parts okay, and this part seems to be separated from the whole because when where using our computer, some other files is also being used. And there are plenty of them. The job of the defragmentation tool is to correct this error so that you can access your files much faster or same as before. Its put the file most used in the hard disk location where is can be accessed easily and can be loaded mush faster, the other files that is not being used much is put on the farthest part, well something like that. The fragmentation of the hard disk as a whole and your files as well is also fix.

Well anyhow before is actually begins the fixing of the problem, it first analysis your computer hard disk drive to see how large is the fragmentation. After doing this it will display a report about this in percent like telling you that your hard drive is 50% fragmented and its recommendation of proceeding with the used of the tool to correct this error. Oh i need to mentioned that when your going to this, you cannot used your computer while deffragging is going on. So this one need to be scheduled as well. Now how long will it take to do this stuff. Primarily it defends on your hard disk size and how much files is there to check. If you have a very large amount of files to check. You can do this before you go home, set-it up and start the tools, of course leave it alone once it has begun to work. Just turn off the monitor of you computer and let it be. Another thing If this is your scheduled you report this to you Tech Support Staff so that they will now what your doing and can monitor your machine first thing in the morning. If  your going to do this on your home computer then scheduled it before you go to sleep. Just do as mentioned above and check it the next day to see if its done. I hope i was able to help you in this little way on how to used this tool which is available to you. You don't need buy other tool and software for maintenance purposes. This two will suffice. But again for a more serious problem you need to consult a qualified technician to help you out on your computer problem.

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Tweet it from Everest: "OMG! We're halfway up!"

KATHMANDU, Nepal - You can not get away from a cell phone call, Even at the top of the world.
Thanks to newly installed 3G towers near Mount Everest's base camp, dog explorers surf the Web, Facebook tweet and post updates Without Worrying Their Signals That will disappear Into thin air. The new high-speed service, Announced Friday by Ncell, a Subsidiary of Swedish telecom company TeliaSonera, will allow mountaineers setting off to the summit of the world's tallest mountain to access wireless Internet and make video calls to family, friends and supporters.

"You know, I think it's kind of good and kind of bad, But to me it's kind of inevitable," Said renowned climber Ed Viesturs, frequently Described as The Strongest U.S. high-altitude mountaineer. The 51-year-old veteran of seven climbs to Everest's 29.035-foot summit Said the new technology is not for him. "I'm kind of old school," Said Viesturs, Who Has climber all 14 of the world's Highest Peaks. "But You Can imagine the newer generation Saying, 'No, bring it on. The more the better.'"

Every year, Thousands of trekkers from all over the world walk to Everest's base camp at 17.000 feet, and Hundreds of mountaineers take on the arduous and dangerous route to the summit. Until now, They Were Forced to carry heavy - and expensive - satellite equipment to transmit information and images from base camp. On the climb, mountaineers carry handheld VHF radios to talk with base camp, an expedition Though Might Also carry a satellite phone to contact sponsors and family.

For 25-year-old Leif Whittaker, WHO summit Everest for the first time in May - calling His mother on the descent, using a satellite phone - the Advantage Comes Down to Being Able to Easily phone home. "Just Being Able to Communicate with your family and friends Would make it a lot Easier to spend two months in a tent away from home," Said Whittaker, Whose father, Jim Whittaker, Was the first American to summit Everest.

But There Is A Risk That It Could Be A Dangerous distraction, the Port Townsend, Wash., resident said. When Attempting the summit, "You Need to Stay Focused in the moment." Dave Hahn, Who Has 12 times Everest climber, More Than Any Other American, Noted That the north side base camp in Tibet've Had Several cell service for years, But Not the south side in Nepal. The 48-year-old from Taos, NM, Said That When I first Everest climber in 1991, I Had That equipment allowed him to transmit lines of Telex. "That was pretty high-tech in 1991."

And in 1999, Hahn When That WAS on the expedition found the body of legendary mountaineer George Mallory Inglés, Who Died on Everest in 1924: "I remember sitting up all night Figuring out how to send the photos out in big enough resolution." That Will Be a thing of the past now. Might But Facebook, Twitter and the high-pitched sound of ringing Dozens of cell phones cheap the experience?

"I Hear That all the time," Hahn said. "And What can you say? Things change that way. And Those of us who've Beamed home pictures and stories from the place, well, we've accelerated That change." Gordon Janow, Who Helps set-up base camps for expeditions led by Alpine Ascents International of Seattle, agree. Trekkers in the lower Himalayas Elevations Also the use of cell phones, and "I do not know if it's good or bad," I said. "It was one of the FEW places Could you go and lose yourself from the world."

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Posted in: Social media,Twitter

China assured Clinton on rare earth exports

HANOI, Vietnam - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday sought and Receive assurances from China's Foreign Minister about the country's key export of exotic metals to the global high-tech industry, a U.S. official said.

The official Said Clinton raised the matter with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on the sidelines of a summit of East Asian Leaders in Vietnam. Clinton "sought clarification on the Chinese Government's policy on the export of rare earth minerals and Receive assurances," the official said.

The official, Who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation Diplomatic, Did not Specify What the assurances were. But this week China Said It Would Not use the exports of rare earth minerals as a bargaining chip with Other Political countries.

Restrictions on the Recent Chinese out of rare earths Have drawn international concern 'and prompter calls for Nations to Diversify the production of the minerals, Which Are Needed to produce items Such as cell phones, missiles and solar energy panels, China now produce 97 Percent of the world's supply after MOST of the Industrialized World, Including the United States, Japan and Europe, largely abandoned in favor of Their production Cheaper Chinese exports.

Earlier in Hawaii, Clinton Said Chinese Export Restrictions Imposed on Japan in the Midst of a territorial dispute Deepening Were a "wake-up call" for the world to find sources of rare earths Additional.

Japanese companies say Beijing has blocked rare earths Since shipments to Japan in September. 21 after a Chinese fishing boat captain near WAS Detained Disputed islands. The captain WAS Later released Japanese Authorities say But Have yet to resume supplies.

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Posted in: Technology news

Russia will create a Windows operating system to stop

The Russian state plans to upgrade their computer to a new operating system that allows independence from U.S. giant Microsoft.

Moscow allocate $ 4.9 million dollars to develop a system based on Linux. Ponomarev, a computer expert, said some details would be revealed in December at a meeting led by Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov.

"We are independent from Windows, but we risk becoming a reflective implementation of Linux."

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Posted in: Technology news

The Spirit has made important discovery on Mars

Spirit is an unfortunate robot that is stuck in the sand on Mars last year, but sedentary in their months has made a great discovery: evidence of subsurface water on the planet.

Recall that the Spirit ended its mission in 2004 and was embarked on an extra task, but in April 2009 was stuck in the sand. While he tried to leave, followed jammed and seven months after it broke a second round. Now is a scientist as stationary.

To take advantage of the situation, they let this young scientists introduced an underground conduit for sampling. The tests varied compositions found in the soil layers under the Spirit, insoluble materials near the surface and soluble below. This has led scientists to believe that there is water in the form of frozen or melted snow on the Martian surface.

Our friend is in hibernation while supporting the hard winter and as soon as possible (in March) shall operate its solar panels.

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Posted in: Social

Top Three Web Based Image Editors

If you are using a computer that doesn't have a decent image editor program, then you can make use of a variety of web-based image editors. Having surveyed those that are freely available, I present a list of the top three. Each of these alows you to perform a variety of simple tasks upon an image, such as cropping and resizing. Each also includes the usual drawing tools as well as supporting layers. Please try them out and leave a comment to share your experiences.

Editor by pixlr.com
Editor enables you to create new images or open image files from your computer or from the web in the following formats: bmp, gif, jpg, png, psd and pxd (Editor's own format). You can save images as bmp, jpg, png or pxd to your computer or to Facebook. It offers a good selection of tools and filters.


Sumo Paint 2.0
Sumo Paint also lets you create new images and open files from your computer or the web. You can open files in gif, jpg, png and its own sumo format, and you can save as jpg, png and sumo. It has the best selection of filters and tools of the three here.


Splashup
Splashup will open bmp, gif, jpg and png files not only from your computer and the web, but also from Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket and Picasa. You can save files back to each of these in jpg, png, and the somewhat obscure fxo format. It has the most limited selection of tools and filters of those listed here.

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Posted in: Graphics,Websites

At the International Dyslexia Association Conference in Phoenix

Wow if only they had used Ginger to check the spelling! In any case-I just got into Phoenix yesterday where I will be helping out at the Ginger Booth at the 60th Annual International Dyslexia Association Conference. It was great meeting and talking with all of the educators who had a chance to come over and see Ginger in action. Each attendee received a free copy of Ginger which they can download to their own computer when they get home. Everyone who I spoke to yesterday was in awe as they watched Ginger process the spelling errors and make the correct suggestions. With each and every release of Ginger the spelling and grammar correction gets better and better. A new spelling intervention module will be added in the upcoming weeks that will identify specific lessons based on the students pattern of errors. Look for a post when this is released. If you are attending the conference please stop by Booth 200 and say hello. Regards from Phoenix!

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Posted in: brian friedlander,Ginger Software,international dyslexia assosication

New blog from Paraguay

This article will only be written in English
Este artigo só tem versão Inglesa. Para ver esta notícia em Português consulte o site do Cesar Martins

There is a new south American blog, written in castilian. It's located here:

http://informixpy.blogspot.com/

The author is Javier Gray.
Apparently Javier wants to translate some articles from other blogs (he already did it once from Cesar's blog) besides writing his own articles. Javier also requested my permission to do the same from my blog. So, permission is granted as long as a reference to the original author is kept (as he did with Cesar's article). Hopefully, some of this blog's articles will be available in English, Portuguese and Castilian! That's great! Anybody wants to pick up for French and Chinese (and others?)

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Posted in: blog,castilian,informixpy,javier gray,spanish

Capture Web Page Scrolling Screen

I Have found a Firefox Add ons to Capture Web Page Scrolling Screen for long time, but a tragedy happen and i must reinstall my operating system and forgot it's name.

What the hell is the name. I search on google and cannot found the add ons because it was less popular in search engine.

A day later i remember the name and suddenly i install it again. The name is ScreenGrab. it was popular add ons to Capture Web Page Screen and it can be doing task like Capture Web Page Scrolling Screen.

Here it is the result of ScreenGrab

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Posted in: Image Processing,Software

Self Computer Maintenance Part 2: Using the SCANDISK and DISK DEFRAGMENATION software

To continue on this series, if you already has a UPS and its up and running, congratulation. The next set of tools is also very important as its take care of a specific hardware device on your computer the all important Hard Disk Drive. Yup this two software is often ignore because they take time to implement. But sometimes we need to pause for a moment to know what is going on and know the status of our computer, especially the hard disk drive.

The two software i'm mentioning is the scandisk and the defragmentation tool for windows user. Both software are completely free. Its already inside windows you just need to access and used to see its benefit. Now why do we need this to software tool? Well this tool is used to simple make the files in your hard disk drive much easier to access. Also they check to integrity of each files and repair them and also your hard disk. Its test every sector of your hard disk to see is they are damage. If it is found to be damage the file ocupying that sector or place in your hard disk is moved to another location complete with notice to all the software that is associated with it. Its just like your moving to another place and you want people to know that you are moving and have moved already. You inform all important people about the moving away activity. It is important to imform all that is involved in the process so that no-one will be lost when they try to communicate with you. You do not want to lost a file when maintaining your computer specially the important ones.

The first tool to be applied should be the SCANDISK. The hard drive should be check first for storage error and data error or file error. But first where it is licated on the computer. Well follow this step, first click the START button then point to the ALL Programs and then to the ACCESSORIES and the final submenu is the SYSTEM TOOL where you will find both of this tool. Click on the Scan disk menu name and a dialog box will appear select the TOOL TAB and press CHECK NOW to used the Scandisk tool. Okay this is getting to technical, i have provided a picture on the next step. From the picture aboved just check the to boxes and press start to begin the disk checking. However for some reson the scandisk replied to you like " DISK CHECK NEEDS TO SCHEDULED, WOLUD YOU LIKE TO SCHEDULED ON THE NEST RESTART?". There is an option there for a YES or NO answer from your. You must press the YES button the start the scandisk on you next restart. It will automatically activate itself after restarting the computer because you have scheduled it. If the scandisk finds some error in your files and or hard disk it will automatically fix these things. Also there 5 stage during the scandisk diagnostic, you must allow all stages to be finish in order for the diagnostic to be completed.

That it the scandisk. How the Disk Defragmentaion tool, can i use it before using the scandisk. Well sometimes it work you can used it without suing scandisk first. But most of the time if try to used it. It will suggest that check your disk first by using scandisk before using this tool. This is geeting too long Part two on the Disk Defragmentaion on my next post.

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Providing Technical Support with Glance

During the course of a week, I am spending more and more of my time working with teachers, providing them with professional development on various assistive technologies that can be implemented in the classroom. For many of the teachers that I work with this is their first encounter with many of the assistive technologies that are being introduced. Not being on site, I often leave access to software guides and reference materials on my Google Site for the teachers to access- should they need help. There are those times when these materials are not enough to pinpoint a particular issue and technical support is needed.

 Just last week I received an email from a middle school teacher who was puzzled why the software was not  working as she had anticipated. Rather than emails going back and forth, I set up a time for her to speak with me as well as a link where I could see and remotely control her screen. As part of my services to schools, I offer "Just in Time Training and Support." Using Glance an easy to use screen sharing tool, I was able to email the teacher a link so that when we spoke I could see her screen and take control of her computer. Once we connected on the cell phone and I started the screen sharing session I was able to see the teachers screen and she was able to walk me through the steps so that I could see the process. While doing the screen sharing - the teacher realized that she had left out a step which could explain why the program did not work as expected. We quickly went through a new scenario and added the missed step and all of the issues were quickly resolved. What would have taken weeks to solve was handled in 5 minutes using Glance. If you have not had a chance to use Glance click here to find out more information.

Glance has become an indispensable tool which I use for doing webinars and for providing on the spot technical support. If you are looking for "Just in Time Technical Support" for your assistive technology program let me know and I would be glad to send you a proposal. In the end the teacher was up in running in minutes and now is confidently going back into the classroom and using the software with her students. Without this support the teacher would have put the software aside until I had our next scheduled training session. To make sure you are getting the most out of your software investment consider contacting me for "Just in Time Technical Support."

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Posted in: brian friedlander,Glance,just in time training

Assistive Technology Webinar: From Knowledge to Advocacy

For someone who has been in the field of assistive technology for over 25 years it is really very exciting to see how far technology has come to assist students with special needs. For as long as I have been in the field, I know just how important it is for special education students to have have access to assistive technology. Unfortunately, not every school has the personnel who are knowledgeable about the latest advances in the field of assistive technology and so students are generally not offered the opportunity to try these tools. It is with this in mind that this webinar came to be. I reasoned that if parents became more knowledgeable about what assistive technologies are available- that they could become their child's best advocate in the schools and begin to request these services.

In this 1 hour webinar, Assistive Technology: From Knowledge to Advocacy- Dr. Friedlander will review the rules and regulations that pertain to assistive technology and talk about technologies  that can be employed to support access to the curriculum. Emphasis will be placed on meeting the needs of students with mild to moderate needs. Dr. Friedlander will talk about tools for reading , writing, organization, and math. Come learn about some of the new and exciting ways that computers, iPads, and eReaders can be used to address the needs of students with special needs. The fee for the webinar is $24.95 and includes the 4 page Assistive Technology Laminated Guide: What Every Educator Needs to Know About Assistive Technology which was recently just published- it is chock full of information about what you will need to know to advocate for assistive technology for your child. So join me for this informative webinar on November 19th at 1:00 pm. Sign up early and get your laminated guide mailed to you before the webinar! Once you are signed up you will receive via an email, the link for the webinar and information about how to connect to the teleconferencing center.

To pay for the webinar cick on the PayPal button below:

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Posted in: assistive technology,webinar

Using PaperShow for Teachers in the Music Classroom

I was talking with my wife and daughter, who are both musicians about PaperShow for Teachers and how it could be used in the music classroom, when it dawned on me how great this could be for writing music on staffs that everyone could see. In order to accomplish this with PaperShow for Teachers I did a quick search on Google for musical staffs in a PDF format that were in the landscape orientation.

I found a rather good site to download some staffs in the landscape mode and then I launched PaperShow for Teachers, imported the musical staff into the application and then printed it on the PaperShow for Teachers interactive paper on my HP Color Inkjet printer. Once I had the page printed I was able to draw the G Clef and add a couple of notes. Now imagine for a moment that you are a music teacher in the classroom just how handy this could be. Everyone can clearly watch you as you write the notes on the staff and when you are through you can export it as a PDF and send it to all of your students.

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Posted in: brian friedlander,Canson,music,PaperShow for Teachers

Technical Support: Sharing a small knowldege

Greeting to all, before i continue with the series on Self computer maintenance, i would like to share a bit of information on how to make a Technical Support job easier. Offcourse this not applicable to all Tech Supp job outhere. But i hope with this i can help some Tech Guy how to make your job easier if your the only one in your company and if that company allows employee to take good care of there own computer unit. Again this not applicable to all. Being a technical support guy for all sort of computer problems in a company is reely hard and it also harder if your the only one there. Your expected to solved almost any computer problem that the company and its employee encounters. Luckily we have the good all internet as our resources to help us in our daily task of trouble-shooting the computer hardware and software and to help and guide all the employee and Big Boss at our company. Now how can we possibly make it more simple and less demanding. The answer share a little bit of your knowledge on almost everything you do to all of them. After the training you must follow it up every now and then to make sure they are doing it. Also to let them know that this is serious stuff and you are serious in training them.

At first it will require a huge amount of task and energy on your part but the benefit of this in the long run will be more than enough satisfaction if done correctly and positively. even your manager will be able to notice the different in productivity for each employee by reducing idle time and maximizing the effectiveness and prologing the life of the computer.


Star with the basic, like how to properly refresh the computer if its being used all day long. Explain it to them in plain simple terms that the computer just like any other machine needs to be refresh from time to time in order for it to function longer, therefore making them more productive. Don't do it by yourselves, guide them on a step by step task on how to properly shutdown and restart the computer. This way they will be able to do it by themselves id they feel that the computer is becoming sluggish in it performance. Explain it to them nicely and keep it simple how important it is do this as to maintain the right condition to make the computer more reliable in the long run. Be a friend them them and have the patience to share this one with them. Thereby giving them the basic tools needed to understand how there computer works. Also the solution to the most complex computer problem is sometimes prevention. Just alike a sickness or deceases, before started to become more serious, at its earlier stage the problem should be nip in the bud. This must be emphasis on the employee by your the Tech Support Guy pf the company. They will listen to you because they know that it is your job to know how to solve or fix the problems they encounter. Another plan of action is to scheduled seminar with actual hands-on exercises. Make a plan in advance draw up the topic you wish to train the employee. Topic that doe snot require in-depth technical knowledge for them. It must be easy and FUN for them so they will not be bored and they will become interested and pursue it even after the training. Of course you have to coordinate this with your boss and every person involved in the decision making.

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Post weekly (weekly)

• Khan Academy

  WOW! Make sure your math folks see this resource. Make sure your STUDENTS know how to get to this.

  tags: math resources

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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iTunes Apps Store Now Has Special Education Section

A couple of weeks a go I had the opportunity to work with a student who was having difficulty in the area of fine motor skills and decided to bring my iPad along. I had downloaded a number of apps to trial with the student but was counting on using the  iWriteWords app to see how the student would do with it. To say the least it was incredible to watch the student use the app and to see just how focused he was while working with it. His special education teacher and some of his therapist who watched the demonstration were amazed at his task engagement and attention.

It has been really exciting to see the iPad move into the realm of special education and I know for myself that it will find a place that is dear to the heart of special educators. There are lots of stellar apps out there that have the potential to change the way we think about assistive technology and the delivery of the services that we provide. Apple has always been at the forefront of accessible technology and recently added a Special Education section to the iTunes App Store. So check it out and let me know what apps you plan on trying with the students you work with.

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Posted in: App Store,Apple iPad,assistive technology,iTunes,iWriteWords

Self Computer Maintenance Part 1: Using UPS on your Computer

Greetings, today i will begin a series of self computer maintenance blog. This series is for those who is does not have a technical background or the ordinary user who wants to maintain there computer by themselves. I hope i can impart to you some simple things on how to maintain your computer without the help of a technical guy. To begin with do you know a electrical device that maintain power to your computer on a short period of time in an event of a power failure? This electrical device can really help us in such a scenario to SAVE our documents or works in progress and to properly shutdown our computer. Properly turn off your computer is one of the major factor that will prolong its life and its usefulness. With the help of the UPS, untimely shutdown during power failure or power fluctuation can go a long way in maintaining the health status of your computer.

So what is a UPS and how does it work. Well for one UPS stand for uninterruptible power supply or uninterruptible power source. Plain simple is a battery pack for the desktop computer. Just like the laptop computer which has a battery. The laptop computer does not get its power directly from the outlet but the battery charges up when connected to a regular AC outlet then the battery supplies the needed power for the laptop to function properly. The same is true with the UPS for the desktop computer, when it connect to the outlet your turn on then it start to store electrical and when you hook it up with your computer it is the one the supplies the computer its needed power to function properly. One of the main benefit of using the UPS against ordinary AVR or power source it that when something goes wrong with the normal supply of power in your area, the UPS can provide with enough time to save your files, close up all open software and properly shutdown your computer. Before using your UPS you need to read the instructions manual first, so you could gain a bit of an understanding on how its work. Basically every UPS needs to be charge up for about 8 hours before it is connected to a computer. Unpacked it from the box and connect it to the outlet in your house. Then leave it alone for 8 hours this way , it is conditioning the battery of regular used and it will have enough charge to power you computer. If it has a ON switch, turn it on to make it working properly an charging properly. The manual is were your going to get that information. So its a requirement to read your manuals, not just for UPS but for every appliances before using them. After charging it for 8 hours then its the time to connect it

It can do this becuase its has a battery unit inside that has charge enough power to supply your computer to do all those things mentioned above. Therefore keeping your computer hardware free from harm of sudden electrical loss while in used. Electrical outages or electrical ups and down can really do a great deal of damage on your computer hardware on a continuous basis. This is also true for almost all appliances today. This rectangular black things called IC or integrated circuit inside your appliances can work with little amount of current. But give more that they required and presto you have a cooked IC and there goes your appliances. Typically a personal UPS will give you about 15 minutes 0f power if its regularly and properly charge. Some more costly UPS is about 30 minutes, that enough time to save all your open files and properly shutdown your computer.

Now back to the UPS. Another thing it can do is SAVE your FILE which currently your are working. Its has become a habit of waiting to finish a document before saving them. It a really bad bad habit.Let say you have a five page document and during the last page and while finishing it suddenly the power went off, your computer suddenly shutdown. The result the entire document you just type in is now gone. Wasted time and effort you have to redo them again. Of course this is a Auto save feature on your word processing software, but let say you forgot to set it a a right time interval. It wasn't able to save your file information as it should be. Well this were the UPS come in handy, its save you the trouble of doing it again and it also helps you in maintaining your computer health status. You dont need a tech guy to maintain or check on your computer on a regular basis. Having also this UPS connected to tour computer than a regular AVR is a lot safer and better for your computer. If you don't have one now better start thinking of the possibilities of getting one today because if you take care of your computer, then you will be the one to reap its benefits and less head ache to from loss files and malfunctioning computer. 

 

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Informix today: an executive statement / Informix hoje: Declaração de um executivo

This article is written in English and Portuguese
Este artigo está escrito em Português e Inglês

English version:
I'm doing a pause in the Panther related articles to make echo of something equally important. The ones more involved in the Informix community surely recognize the name of Robert D. Thomas. He's an IBM executive, more precisely a vice president for Information Management and he has been addressing some communications to the Informix community.
He did it in March and he's doing it again
I won't repeat here what he writes in his latest letter, but I'd like to mention something about him. As you can see in both these letters and also on his session in IIUG conference in 2010, he always and I mean always starts his messages with a story. It may look strange but we must admit that it really works. It's like a signature. In this case, with a very short paragraph he condenses all the rest of his ideas. And it does sound good. I don't know if he digs these stories, or if he has someone to do it for him, or if he has a pocket reference of inspiring stories :).... How he does it, I don't know, but that he does it perfectly he does it.
The topic of this letter is the status of Informix, and how IBM has delivered (or not) on what Rob laid down in March.
Interesting read. You'll love the story.
I'll refrain myself of commenting on his statements, since any agreement would look suspicious and any disagreement could get me fired :)


Versão Portuguesa:

Estou a fazer uma pausa na série de artigos sobre o Panther, para fazer eco de algo igualmente importante. Quem esteja mais envolvido na comunidade Informix certamente reconhece o nome de Robert D. Thomas. É um executivo da IBM, mais precisamente o vice presidente para Information Management e tem endereçado algumas comunicações à comunidade.
Fê-lo em Março e está a fazê-lo agora
Não vou repetir o que escreve nesta sua última carta, mas gostava de mencionar algo sobre ele. Como pode confirmar por ambas as cartas e também na sua sessão na conferência anual do IIUG em 2010, ele começa sempre e repito sempre as suas mensagens com uma estória. Pode parecer estranho mas tenho de admitir que realmente funciona. É como uma assinatura. Neste caso, com um curto parágrafo condensa todas as ideias restantes. E soa bem. Não sei se ele pesquisa estas estórias, ou se tem alguém que o faça por ele, ou se tem uma referência de bolso com estórias inspiradoras :)... Não sei como o faz, mas garantidamente sai-lhe bem.
O tema desta carta é o estado do Informix, e como a IBM tem cumprido (ou não) com o que o Rob expôs em Março como sendo o caminho a seguir.
É uma leitura interessante. Vai adorar a estória.
Abstenho-me de comentar as suas afirmações pois qualquer concordância seria suspeita e qualquer discordância poderia fazer com que fosse despedido :)

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Posted in: comunidade informix,informix,informix comunity,marketing,Rob Thomas

Supporting Students in the Classroom with PaperShow for Teachers

For many students with learning disabilities, taking notes can be a daunting task. In classrooms where teachers are providing in-class support having access to PaperShow for Teachers can be invaluable. PaperShow for Teachers is a digital pen and paper technology that allows teachers to easily share written notes with the entire classroom. Simply plug in the PaperShow for Teachers USB key into your Mac or PC and start writing on the notebook paper that is supplied. With your computer connected to a data projector now all of the students can see what is recorded in real time. Just imagine for a moment that as the support teacher, you are writing the notes with PaperShow for Teachers and everything that you are recording is able to be seen by the classroom.  After the class is over you can easily save what you have recorded and export the notes as a PDF or PowerPoint file.

So if you are looking for way to add a new strategy to your bag of tricks - look no further and give PaperShow for Teachers a try.  For more information please feel free to contact me via email.

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Posted in: Canson,Papershow,PaperShow for Teachers

Panther: "extenting" indexes / "extenting" indíces

This article is written in English and Portuguese
Este artigo está escrito em Português e Inglês


English version:

Very short article for very simple feature: Since v11.7 (Panther) you can now define the extent size for indexes as we use to do with tables (data). Many people may find this a great feature, or a must have (specially if you worked with other RDBMS before), but for me it's relatively useless (unless it makes easier to port SQL scripts).
Why do I think this? Because Informix has been clever enough to find a good size for the index extents. It simply doesn't need us to tell it. It knows the size that the key will need for each index entry, and it knows the table's extent size. So it can calculate how many rows will fit in the data area (since it knows the extent size) and then it can calculate the space that number of rows will consume in the index.
I don't recall having a discrepancy between the index number of extents and the tables data extents. So I'm assuming it worked ok over the years.

The syntax is similar to the CREATE TABLE. But let's start by seeing how it works without specifying the index extent size:


panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> cat test_100k.sql
DROP TABLE test_100k;

CREATE TABLE test_100k
(
col1 INTEGER,
col2 CHAR(4)
) EXTENT SIZE 100 LOCK MODE ROW;

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX ix_test_100k ON test_100k(col1);
panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> dbaccess stores test_100k.sql

Database selected.


Table dropped.


Table created.


Index created.


Database closed.

panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> oncheck -pt stores:test_100k | awk '/Extents/,/^$/ {print $0}'
Extents
Logical Page Physical Page Size Physical Pages
0 4:4627 50 50

Extents
Logical Page Physical Page Size Physical Pages
0 4:4677 81 81


So, the data extent size of 100K generates an index extent size of 162K.
If we double the data extent size to 200K:


panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> cat test_200k.sql
DROP TABLE test_200k;

CREATE TABLE test_200k
(
col1 INTEGER,
col2 CHAR(4)
) EXTENT SIZE 200 LOCK MODE ROW;

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX ix_test_200k ON test_200k(col1);
panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> dbaccess stores test_200k.sql

Database selected.


Table dropped.


Table created.


Index created.


Database closed.

panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> oncheck -pt stores:test_200k | awk '/Extents/,/^$/ {print $0}'
Extents
Logical Page Physical Page Size Physical Pages
0 4:4758 100 100

Extents
Logical Page Physical Page Size Physical Pages
0 4:4858 162 162


So, doubling the data size doubles the index size.

What we can now do it establish the index extent size explicitly:


panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> cat test_100k_new.sql
DROP TABLE test_100k;

CREATE TABLE test_100k
(
col1 INTEGER,
col2 CHAR(4)
) EXTENT SIZE 100 LOCK MODE ROW;

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX ix_test_100k ON test_100k(col1) EXTENT SIZE 40 NEXT SIZE 162;
panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> dbaccess stores test_100k_new.sql

Database selected.


Table dropped.


Table created.


Index created.


Database closed.

panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> oncheck -pt stores:test_100k | awk '/Extents/,/^$/ {print $0}'
Extents
Logical Page Physical Page Size Physical Pages
0 4:4627 50 50

Extents
Logical Page Physical Page Size Physical Pages
0 4:4677 20 20


Truly simple and obvious. Hopefuly this will bring peace to some souls who think that this was needed. And let's hope people won't start making wrong calculations and choose wrong extent sizes.


Versão Portuguesa:

Um artigo muito curto para uma funcionalidade muito simples: A partir da versão 11.7 (Panther) podemos definir o tamanho de cada extent para os índices tal como fazemos para as tabelas (dados). Muita gente pode considerar esta como uma grande funcionalidade, ou algo mesmo necessário (especialmente se já trabalhou com outros RDBMS antes), mas eu considero-a relativamente inútil (a menos que facilite a transposição de scripts SQL).
Porque penso assim? Porque o Informix sempre foi esperto o suficiente para encontrar um bom valor para os extents dos índices. Simplesmente não necessita que lhe digamos. Ele sabe o tamanho da chave necessário a cada entrada do índice, e sabe o tamanho dod extents da tabela. Portanto pode calcular quantas linhas caberão na área de dados (pois sabe o tamanho do extent) e assim consegue calcular quantas páginas é que o índice irá necessitar para esse mesmo número de registos.
Não me recordo de ver discrepância entre o espaço no índice e o espaço dos dados. Só posso assumir que tem corrido bem ao longo dos anos.

A nova sintaxe será semelhante à do CREATE TABLE. Vejamos como funciona sem especificar:


panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> cat test_100k.sql
DROP TABLE test_100k;

CREATE TABLE test_100k
(
col1 INTEGER,
col2 CHAR(4)
) EXTENT SIZE 100 LOCK MODE ROW;

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX ix_test_100k ON test_100k(col1);
panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> dbaccess stores test_100k.sql

Database selected.


Table dropped.


Table created.


Index created.


Database closed.

panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> oncheck -pt stores:test_100k | awk '/Extents/,/^$/ {print $0}'
Extents
Logical Page Physical Page Size Physical Pages
0 4:4627 50 50

Extents
Logical Page Physical Page Size Physical Pages
0 4:4677 81 81


Um tamanho de 100K para o extent dos dados gera um extent para indíces de 162K
Se duplicarmos o extent de dados para 200K:


panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> cat test_200k.sql
DROP TABLE test_200k;

CREATE TABLE test_200k
(
col1 INTEGER,
col2 CHAR(4)
) EXTENT SIZE 200 LOCK MODE ROW;

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX ix_test_200k ON test_200k(col1);
panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> dbaccess stores test_200k.sql

Database selected.


Table dropped.


Table created.


Index created.


Database closed.

panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> oncheck -pt stores:test_200k | awk '/Extents/,/^$/ {print $0}'
Extents
Logical Page Physical Page Size Physical Pages
0 4:4758 100 100

Extents
Logical Page Physical Page Size Physical Pages
0 4:4858 162 162


Portanto, duplicando o tamanho para dados, automaticamene o motor aumenta o tamanho do índice na mesma proporção

Podemos agora tentar estabelecer o tamanho do extent do índice:



panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> cat test_100k_new.sql
DROP TABLE test_100k;

CREATE TABLE test_100k
(
col1 INTEGER,
col2 CHAR(4)
) EXTENT SIZE 100 LOCK MODE ROW;

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX ix_test_100k ON test_100k(col1) EXTENT SIZE 40 NEXT SIZE 162;
panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> dbaccess stores test_100k_new.sql

Database selected.


Table dropped.


Table created.


Index created.


Database closed.

panther_clone@pacman.onlinedomus.net:informix-> oncheck -pt stores:test_100k | awk '/Extents/,/^$/ {print $0}'
Extents
Logical Page Physical Page Size Physical Pages
0 4:4627 50 50

Extents
Logical Page Physical Page Size Physical Pages
0 4:4677 20 20


Completamente simples e óbvio. Esperemos que isto ajude a pacificar algumas almas que acham isto necessário. E também que as pessoas não comecem agora a calcular mal o espaço a alocar.

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Posted in: extent size,index,informix,storage clause

The Hard Disk Drive Part 2

As i mentioned on part1 of this blog. Your requirement is important in determining the size of your hard disk. I also mentioned the term IDE, EIDE and SATA, well this are just some of the technology involve in a total hard disk makeup. The other technology is the RPM or Revolution Per Minute.The WHAT?????. You see there are plates inside the hard disk, this circular plate is coated with a certain material that make it able to store your data. Now what is that material, you may ask. I will try to give a less technical explanation of that as i can. I need to maintain a less technical look for all this technical stuff so i can reach out to all the other people who does not need to understand a more technical terms and approaches. Now lets go back to the RPM. You see the plate inside the HDD needs to spin around in order to save and/or access the data or your infoemation. If for somehow it cannot spin well then your hard disk is in alot of trouble there something wrong with it and it needs to be replaced.

IDE Drive connector

The higher the RPM of your HDD the faster it can get your data. For example a hard disk with a 5400 rpm is slower than a 7200 rpm and vice versa. Other hard disk can have an RPM of 10,000. The standard rpm for regular hard disk is 7200. Also thie is cost related, the higher the RPM the higher the cost of the hard disk. Yup that the truth of it, You may ask,what the diffrent of a slower RPM than a faster RPM. Well in small files or simple application usage let says playing solitare then there is not much differences in terms of perofrmance of your hard disk. But as your requirement grows then you will begin to  notice that it taking a bit longer than the usual to get that files to run may favorite games or software, my music player suddenly takes longer to load, my computer seems a bit slower than before, and also a whole lot of things, you begin to notice.

Inside a typical Hard Drive

The RPM of the hard disk is also a factor in determining the overall speed performance of your computer. Its contribute to the the time your computer "BOOT" meanng the moment you press the ON switch on your computer it will do a self check. It examined itself to see if all the necessary parts for it to work properly is there and that they are working fine. Its check the keyboard if its connected and working properly, that why when you see the ligths on your keyboard blinks it means its checking it and same  is true with your hard disk, because the hard disk is where the software the control the hardware that your computer to see if the hard disk is working fine and is properly configured. As soon as all of this is done, then its load the software that would control or use the hardware. Without the hard disk or if something is wrong with the hard disk on your computer then, the software will not load properly, but this is just one aspect of it. Whewwww there are alot of them out there.

Okay back to the RPM of your hard disk, the size of the file or files that your intend to use is also a factor for a faster or slower RPM. You see the bigger the files, software and othes, the slower its appear on your screen. This is the moment you click on that file the hard disk access it from the hard disk location. When it finds it then it load from the hard disk to the memory and then it appear on your screen. That the only time you can use that file. The faster it can access that location where your file is located the faster it cen be loaded to the memory and the faster it will appear on your screen.

I hope i was able to help you in understanding the RPM and process the take place inside your hard disk and your computer when a files is accessed and how the RPM can contributes to the overall speed performance of your computer. 

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AnyBook Reader from Franklin - Teacher Tested

When I first learned about AnyBook Reader from Franklin I knew I had to get my hands on it and give it a test run. The idea behind AnyBook Reader is very straightforward. Pick a book any book, activate one of the provided stickers, record the page, and then let your child hear your voice reading the book. When my AnyBook Reader arrived from Franklin, I was excited to give it a whirl. I first installed the 2 AAA batteries and then followed the simple instructions that were provided and within seconds I was able to hear myself read the book. Following the sequence in the instructional  guide was made even easier as AnyBook Reader provides auditory cues to let you know when you are ready to record the page. Once you record the  page you simply touch the AnyBook Reader to the sticker and voila your page is read. AnyBook Reader comes with package of reusable stickers as well as stickers with pictures on them that make fun sounds and noises. It is easy to remove the plain stickers and re-record over them when you are ready to use them with another book. If you need to you can always reorder additional stickers. The AnyBook Reader is available in two different models- one that can store 60 hours of recording and another model which can store 15 hours of recordings. AnyBook Reader is priced at $59.99 for the higher capacity reader and $39.99 for the lover capacity reader. Children will find it easy to adjust the volume when using the AnyBook Reader and will enjoy the high quality audio when listening to the pages being read. AnyBook Reader makes it difficult for students to re-record a page by virtue of the sequence that is required to do so.

As much as I enjoyed using AnyBook Reader- the true test for AnyBook Reader had to take place in the classroom. I was so excited with the potential of AnyBook Reader that I decided to demonstrate it to one of my advanced assistive technology classes that I teach. All of my students immediately saw the value of AnyBook Reader  and could think of many ways to use it in the classroom. With this in mind, I decided to loan AnyBook Reader to one of my students who teaches preschool children so that she could field test it. I went over the directions on how to record the pages and set her off to give it a try. The preschool class had the opportunity to use AnyBook Reader for a two week period and when my student came to class to share how it went, she was so excited to share her observations. My student shared the she couldn't believe just how wonderful AnyBook Reader was in allowing her preschool children to sit and have the book read in her voice. She shared that the students were enthralled with AnyBook Reader as they sat there and listened attentively to the book being read. It was very exciting to hear this feedback and know that this is from an experienced teacher who actually field tested it in her classroom. I know that she will go out and purchase one for her classroom. The only comment that she made was that she wished there was a way to plug in a headset or ear buds. Which I would concur. For more information about AnyBook Reader click here.

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to make books accessible then you have to take a look at AnyBook Reader from Franklin. This is an affordable and fun way to engage students in the reading process. And along the way I'm sure you will come up with interesting ways to use this device to modify all kinds of materials :-).

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Posted in: accesible,AnyBook Reader,books,Fraklin

Panther: oninit -i ... ups... too late... or not / Panther: oninit -i ... ups... tarde de mais... ou não

This article is written in English and Portuguese
Este artigo está escrito em Inglês e Português

English version:

I hope that this one will be quick... How many of us have tried to initialize (oninit -i) an already initialized instance by mistake? Personally I don't think I did it, but our mind tends to erase bad experiences :) But we have heard too many stories like this. A problem in the environment setup and this can easily happen.
Well, the good folks from R&D tried to keep us safe from ourselves by introducing a new parameter called FULL_DISK_INIT. It's something that magically appears in the $ONCONFIG file with the value of 0, or that simply is not there... It's absence, or the value 0, means that if you run oninit -i and there is already an informix page in the rootdbs chunk, it will fail. Let's see an example:


panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -V
IBM Informix Dynamic Server Version 11.70.UC1 Software Serial Number AAA#B000000
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -
shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER 'panther'
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -c | grep FULL_DISK_INIT
FULL_DISK_INIT 0
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> oninit -i

This action will initialize IBM Informix Dynamic Server;
any existing IBM Informix Dynamic Server databases will NOT be accessible -
Do you wish to continue (y/n)? y

WARNING: server initialization failed, or possibly timed out (if -w was used).
Check the message log, online.log, for errors.
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -m
shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER 'panther'

Message Log File: /usr/informix/logs/panther.log
Wed Oct 20 00:02:10 2010

00:02:10 Warning: ONCONFIG dump directory (DUMPDIR) '/usr/informix/dumps' has insecure permissions
00:02:10 Event alarms enabled. ALARMPROG = '/home/informix/etc/alarm.sh'
00:02:13 Booting Language from module <>
00:02:13 Loading Module
00:02:13 Booting Language from module <>
00:02:13 Loading Module
00:02:19 DR: DRAUTO is 0 (Off)
00:02:19 DR: ENCRYPT_HDR is 0 (HDR encryption Disabled)
00:02:19 Event notification facility epoll enabled.
00:02:19 IBM Informix Dynamic Server Version 11.70.UC1 Software Serial Number AAA#B000000
00:02:20 DISK INITIALIZATION ABORTED: potential instance overwrite detected.
To disable this check, set FULL_DISK_INIT to 1 in your config file and retry.

00:02:20 oninit: Fatal error in shared memory initialization

00:02:20 IBM Informix Dynamic Server Stopped.

00:02:20 mt_shm_remove: WARNING: may not have removed all/correct segments

Very nice. It didn't allow me to shoot myself in the foot.
And if we don't have it in the $ONCONFIG?:


panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> vi $INFORMIXDIR/etc/$ONCONFIG
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -
shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER 'panther'
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -c | grep FULL_DISK_INIT
#FULL_DISK_INIT 0
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> oninit -i

This action will initialize IBM Informix Dynamic Server;
any existing IBM Informix Dynamic Server databases will NOT be accessible -
Do you wish to continue (y/n)? y

WARNING: server initialization failed, or possibly timed out (if -w was used).
Check the message log, online.log, for errors.
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -m
shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER 'panther'

Message Log File: /usr/informix/logs/panther.log
The default memory page size will be used.
00:06:43 Segment locked: addr=0x44000000, size=224858112

Wed Oct 20 00:06:44 2010

00:06:44 Warning: ONCONFIG dump directory (DUMPDIR) '/usr/informix/dumps' has insecure permissions
00:06:44 Event alarms enabled. ALARMPROG = '/home/informix/etc/alarm.sh'
00:06:44 Booting Language from module <>
00:06:44 Loading Module
00:06:44 Booting Language from module <>
00:06:44 Loading Module
00:06:50 DR: DRAUTO is 0 (Off)
00:06:50 DR: ENCRYPT_HDR is 0 (HDR encryption Disabled)
00:06:50 Event notification facility epoll enabled.
00:06:50 IBM Informix Dynamic Server Version 11.70.UC1 Software Serial Number AAA#B000000
00:06:52 DISK INITIALIZATION ABORTED: potential instance overwrite detected.
To disable this check, set FULL_DISK_INIT to 1 in your config file and retry.

00:06:52 oninit: Fatal error in shared memory initialization

panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes->

The same. So if I'm trying to configure a second instance and I point the ROOTPATH to an existing one I'm safe.... But this raises one question: How can I really re-initialize an instance? I know what I'm doing, so let me work!... It's simple... If you really know what you're doing, set it to 1:


panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> vi $INFORMIXDIR/etc/$ONCONFIG
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -c | grep FULL_DISK_INIT
FULL_DISK_INIT 1
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> oninit -i

This action will initialize IBM Informix Dynamic Server;
any existing IBM Informix Dynamic Server databases will NOT be accessible -
Do you wish to continue (y/n)? y
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -

IBM Informix Dynamic Server Version 11.70.UC1 -- On-Line -- Up 00:00:32 -- 369588 Kbytes

panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -c | grep FULL_DISK_INIT
FULL_DISK_INIT 0
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes->

Perfect! It allowed me to initialize it, and immediately changed the FULL_DISK_INIT parameter to 0 to keep me safe again.
This has been in the feature request list for years. Now that it's implemented we should be jumping up and down in plain happiness... But I'm not. Why? Because instead of sending the deserved compliments to R&D for implementing this I want more!
This is terribly useful, and will save a lot of people from destroying their instances. But unfortunately I've seen many other cases of destruction that can't be avoided by this. A few examples:

1. A chunk allocation for a second instance on the same machine (using RAW devices) overwrites another already used chunk from another instance
2. A restore of an instance overwrites another (either fully or partially)
3. A restore of an instance on the same machine using the rename chunks functionality uses an outdated rename chunks file (-rename -f FILE ontape option). This file doesn't have a few chunks that were recently added. So these chunks will be restored over the existing chunks!

So, what would make me jump would be something that covered all these scenarios. It would not be a simple ONCONFIG parameter and a change in oninit. It would require changes in more utilities and server components (onspaces, SQL Admin API, ontape, onbar...), but that would really keep us safe from our mistakes. For now this is a good sign, and if these questions worry you, be alert and if you have the chance make IBM know that it is important to you.

One instance was destroyed to bring this article to you... I'll spend another 30s to get the data back into it :)



Versão Portuguesa:

Espero que este seja rápido... Quantos de nós já tentámos inicializar (oninit -i/iy) uma instância já inicializada por engano? Pessoalmente não me recordo de me ter acontecido, mas a nossa mente tende a apagar episódios traumáticos :) Mas já ouvimos demasiadas estórias como esta. Basta um problema na configuração de um ambiente e isto pode acontecer facilmente.
Bem, os bons rapazes do desenvolvimento tentaram manter-nos a salvo de nós mesmos, através da introdução de um novo parâmetro chamado FULL_DISK_INIT. É algo que aparece magicamente no nosso $ONCONFIG com o valor 0, ou que simplesmente não está lá... A sua ausência ou o valor 0 significam que se tentarmos correr o oninit -i e já existir uma página Informix no nosso chunk do rootdbs irá falhar. Vejamos um exemplo:


panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -V
IBM Informix Dynamic Server Version 11.70.UC1 Software Serial Number AAA#B000000
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -
shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER 'panther'
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -c | grep FULL_DISK_INIT
FULL_DISK_INIT 0
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> oninit -i

This action will initialize IBM Informix Dynamic Server;
any existing IBM Informix Dynamic Server databases will NOT be accessible -
Do you wish to continue (y/n)? y

WARNING: server initialization failed, or possibly timed out (if -w was used).
Check the message log, online.log, for errors.
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -m
shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER 'panther'

Message Log File: /usr/informix/logs/panther.log
Wed Oct 20 00:02:10 2010

00:02:10 Warning: ONCONFIG dump directory (DUMPDIR) '/usr/informix/dumps' has insecure permissions
00:02:10 Event alarms enabled. ALARMPROG = '/home/informix/etc/alarm.sh'
00:02:13 Booting Language from module <>
00:02:13 Loading Module
00:02:13 Booting Language from module <>
00:02:13 Loading Module
00:02:19 DR: DRAUTO is 0 (Off)
00:02:19 DR: ENCRYPT_HDR is 0 (HDR encryption Disabled)
00:02:19 Event notification facility epoll enabled.
00:02:19 IBM Informix Dynamic Server Version 11.70.UC1 Software Serial Number AAA#B000000
00:02:20 DISK INITIALIZATION ABORTED: potential instance overwrite detected.
To disable this check, set FULL_DISK_INIT to 1 in your config file and retry.

00:02:20 oninit: Fatal error in shared memory initialization

00:02:20 IBM Informix Dynamic Server Stopped.

00:02:20 mt_shm_remove: WARNING: may not have removed all/correct segments


Muito bem. Não me deixou dar um tiro no pé.
E se não tivermos o parâmetro no $ONCONFIG?:

panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> vi $INFORMIXDIR/etc/$ONCONFIG
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -
shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER 'panther'
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -c | grep FULL_DISK_INIT
#FULL_DISK_INIT 0
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> oninit -i

This action will initialize IBM Informix Dynamic Server;
any existing IBM Informix Dynamic Server databases will NOT be accessible -
Do you wish to continue (y/n)? y

WARNING: server initialization failed, or possibly timed out (if -w was used).
Check the message log, online.log, for errors.
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -m
shared memory not initialized for INFORMIXSERVER 'panther'

Message Log File: /usr/informix/logs/panther.log
The default memory page size will be used.
00:06:43 Segment locked: addr=0x44000000, size=224858112

Wed Oct 20 00:06:44 2010

00:06:44 Warning: ONCONFIG dump directory (DUMPDIR) '/usr/informix/dumps' has insecure permissions
00:06:44 Event alarms enabled. ALARMPROG = '/home/informix/etc/alarm.sh'
00:06:44 Booting Language from module <>
00:06:44 Loading Module
00:06:44 Booting Language from module <>
00:06:44 Loading Module
00:06:50 DR: DRAUTO is 0 (Off)
00:06:50 DR: ENCRYPT_HDR is 0 (HDR encryption Disabled)
00:06:50 Event notification facility epoll enabled.
00:06:50 IBM Informix Dynamic Server Version 11.70.UC1 Software Serial Number AAA#B000000
00:06:52 DISK INITIALIZATION ABORTED: potential instance overwrite detected.
To disable this check, set FULL_DISK_INIT to 1 in your config file and retry.

00:06:52 oninit: Fatal error in shared memory initialization

panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes->

Acontece o mesmo. Portanto de estiver a tentar configurar uma nova instância e por lapso apontar o ROOTPATH para outra já existente estou salvo... Mas isto levanta uma questao: Como posso re-inicializar uma instância? Eu sei o que estou a fazer, por isso deixem-me trabalhar!... É simples... Se sabe realmente o que está a fazer só tem de o definir para 1:


panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> vi $INFORMIXDIR/etc/$ONCONFIG
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -c | grep FULL_DISK_INIT
FULL_DISK_INIT 1
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> oninit -i

This action will initialize IBM Informix Dynamic Server;
any existing IBM Informix Dynamic Server databases will NOT be accessible -
Do you wish to continue (y/n)? y
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -

IBM Informix Dynamic Server Version 11.70.UC1 -- On-Line -- Up 00:00:32 -- 369588 Kbytes

panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes-> onstat -c | grep FULL_DISK_INIT
FULL_DISK_INIT 0
panther@pacman.onlinedomus.net:fnunes->

Perfeito. Deixou-me inicializar e imediatamente mudou o parâmetro FULL_DISK_INIT para 0 para me salvaguardar de novo.

Isto estava na lista de pedidos de coisas a implementar há anos. Agora que está implementado devíamos estar aos saltos de contentamento... Mas eu não estou. Porquê? Porque em vez de enviar os merecidos cumprimentos ao desenvolvimento quero mais!
Isto é tremendamente útil, e vai salvar muita gente de destruir as suas instâncias. Mas infelizmente eu tenho visto muitos outros casos de destruição que não podem ser evitados por isto. Alguns exemplos:

1. Uma criação de um chunk para uma segunda instância na mesma máquina (usando RAW devices) sobrepõe outro chunk já em uso noutra instância
2. Uma reposição de um backup sobrepõe outra instância (completa ou parcialmente)
3. Uma reposição de um backup de uma instância, na mesma máquina, usando a funcionalidade de troca de paths dos chunks usa um ficheiro de rename desactualizado (opção -rename -f FICHEIRO do ontape). Este ficheiro não contém alguns chunks que foram adicionados recentemente. Portanto estes chunks serão restaurados sobre os existentes!

Assim, o que me deixaria aos pulos de contentamento seria algo que cobrisse todos estes cenários. Não seria tão simples quanto uma mudança no ONCONFIG e uma mudança no oninit. Requeriria mudanças em mais utilitários e componentes do servidor (onspaces, SQL Admin API, ontape, onbar....), mas isto sim, conseguiria manter-nos a salvo dos nossos erros. Por agora, esta funcionalidade é um bom sinal, e se estas questões o preocupam, esteja alerta e se tiver oportunidade faça com que a IBM saiba que isto é importante para si.

Uma instância foi destruída para fazer chegar este artigo até a si. Agora vou passar mais 30s a repôr-lhe os dados :)

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Posted in: chunk overwrite,FULL_DISK_INIT,informix,inicializar,initialize,instancia,intance,oninit -i,sobreposicao chunk

Adobe Unveils New Acrobat X Solutions

Easily Create, Review and Share Compelling Documents with Greater Productivity Across Organizations

SAN JOSE, Calif., — Oct. 18, 2010 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today introduced the Adobe® Acrobat® X software family – Acrobat X, Reader® X, the Acrobat X Suite and new document exchange services at Acrobat.com – that empowers professionals to innovate and create higher quality content, driving tighter collaboration and productivity across teams in today’s dynamic business environments.

“Companies today need to work with their customers and partners in multiple time zones, languages and cross-functional teams,” said Melissa Webster, analyst, IDC. “Seamless, fluid content creation and collaboration is critical to how organizations use, repurpose and share information – it is no longer a ‘nice to have’ – it is an imperative to success in today’s business world.”

Acrobat X delivers new guided Actions to simplify multi-step document preparation and publishing processes; completely new customization capabilities in PDF Portfolios unify multiple file types into a compelling presentation. New document services available at Acrobat.com give individuals the ability to collaborate more efficiently. Integration with Microsoft SharePoint enables consistency of PDF documents across the enterprise; re-use of content is now easier with higher quality export to Microsoft® Word and Microsoft® Excel.

New Acrobat X Highlighted Features

·         Automate routine, multi-step tasks with new guided Actions and easily share them with coworkers and collaborators, reducing the burden of training.

·         Change how users view, think and interact with content and its context with PDF Portfolios using new layouts, visual themes and color palettes.

·         Maximize the power of Adobe Photoshop® and Adobe Acrobat to easily create dynamic communications with the new Acrobat X Suite. Quickly capture, edit and combine digital content right from the desktop.

·         Increase productivity across the organization with new Microsoft® SharePoint integration. Check-in, check-out PDF files for reviewing and editing shared documents.

·         Streamline the process for large organizations to deploy, configure and manage updates and conform to ISO standards, in both Adobe Reader X and Acrobat X, including support for Microsoft SCCM and SCUP.

·         Display the most commonly used tools all in one pane with the updated user interface.

New in Adobe Reader X

·         Commenting is now available in Adobe Reader X, with Sticky Notes and Highlighter tools available to all users.

·         Expands PDF access to mobile devices with free Adobe Reader X for Android, Windows® Phone 7 and Blackberry Tablet OS.

·         Safer viewing of PDF files with new Protected Mode security capabilities in Reader X.

New Services via Acrobat.com

·         Adobe SendNow, a valuable new document exchange service at Acrobat.com, enables users to send and receive large files and track them with proof of receipt, avoiding e-mail gateway issues, complicated FTP servers, or the costs of expensive overnight mail.

·         Adobe CreatePDF for easily converting files to professional PDF documents from within Adobe Reader X or any Web browser.

Quotes

Kevin M. Lynch, vice president and general manager of Acrobat, Digital Enterprise Solutions Group, Adobe

·         “Today, more than ever, people need to communicate and collaborate reliably and professionally with people outside their organization. Acrobat X is a response to this dynamic – to drive more fluid collaboration and to create richer experiences in today’s fast-paced, complex business environments.”

Larry Hawes, lead analyst, Collaboration and Enterprise Social Software, at Gilbane Group

·         “Collaborative documents is a visionary collaborative content model that is just now beginning to be realized. Perhaps the clearest, productized articulation of this vision that I have seen is the PDF Portfolios component of Adobe Acrobat, enabling content creators to bring together multiple related files into a single space without altering them, and then share that bundle with others. Think of a PDF Portfolio as a ZIP file in which the relationship between the individual files in the container is defined and sequenced, as are the slides in a presentation.”

Bill Rue, chief information officer, HASSELL, international network of architectural design studios

·         “Using advanced Microsoft SharePoint functionality in Acrobat X, we can seamlessly integrate documents into our workflows, simplifying projects and helping to ensure we have the right people working on the right project, at the right moment.”

Johnny Chloride, solution delivery manager, HASSELL

·         “Acrobat X offers a sleek user interface and tool panes that make the software extremely easy to use for anyone.”

Mason Farmani, COO and managing partner, Barkley Court Reporters, the largest court reporting firm in California

·         “With Acrobat X, streamlined document commenting and collaboration improves sharing ideas and information. For us, it helps accelerate our internal learning processes and gives our clients the tools to work together more effectively.”

Ron Usher, managing partner, Bell Alliance, real estate and estate planning leader

·         “The Action Wizard in Acrobat X empowers our staff to transform many of their time consuming tasks into simple one-step processes.”

·         “In the latest release, Adobe has found a great balance between rich features and delivering an intuitive application with a modern, clean interface.”

Helpful Links

·         Adobe TV: Top 10 New Acrobat X Features

·         Adobe TV: Insights on Protected Mode with Brad Arkin

·         Adobe TV: Insights on the Future of Services with Rick Treitman

·         Adobe TV: Customer video on Acrobat X: Bureau Veritas

·         Adobe TV: Customer video on Acrobat X: Universal Mind

·         Acrobat X product box shots and screen shots

·         Acrobat blog

·         Acrobat Twitter account

·         Acrobat User Community

Product Family

This release line-up includes the following Acrobat X products:

·         Acrobat X Standard

·         Acrobat X Pro

·         New: Acrobat X Suite, includes Adobe Photoshop® CS5, Adobe Acrobat X Pro, Adobe Presenter 7, Adobe Captivate® 5,  Adobe Media Encoder CS5, Adobe LiveCycle® Designer ES2 software.

·         Adobe Reader X

·         Acrobat.com services, including new Adobe SendNow and Adobe Create PDF online document exchange services.

Pricing and Availability

Acrobat X and its associated products are scheduled to ship within 30 days, with availability through Adobe Authorized Resellers, the Adobe Store and Adobe Direct Sales.

·         Estimated street price for:

o    Acrobat X Standard is expected to be US$299 ($139 upgrade)

o    Acrobat X Pro is expected to be US$449 ($199 upgrade)

o    Acrobat X Suite is expected to be US$1199 ($799)

·         Pricing for Education available through the Adobe Education Store.

·         Free 30-day trial of Acrobat Pro will be available upon product ship.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

###

© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Captivate, LiveCycle, Photoshop and Reader are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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Posted in: Adobe,Adobe Acrobat,Adobe eLearning Suite,adobe x