SeanKilleen.com

How To: Compare Two Sets of Internet Explorer Security Settings [Field Notes]

2012-02-22T13:43:00.000-05:00

The Problem
A web application doesn't work correctly for a user, and from the description of the issue I think it might have to do with security settings. The application works fine for me.

How do I see what settings I have that the user doesn't?

The Solution
Enter Aaron Margosis's excellent IEZoneAnalyzer utility. It allows you to do just that: view, export, and compare Internet Explorer Zone settings.

The steps I generally use are below:

Download the utility: visit the IEZoneAnalyzer 3.5 page, or use this direct download link (from the page).
Unzip the utility: It is a standalone .exe file; no installation necessary.
Run the utility. It will analyze some things as it starts up.
From the File menu, select Export Local Settings... and save under the filename of your choosing.
I usually then repeat this process on my machine so I have a snapshot to compare it to.
From the File menu, select Import saved Settings... and select the file with the snapshot. Repeat this for the user's snapshot and your own. Pro Tip: You can use CTRL+Click to select multiple files to import.
Under the "View / Compare Entire Collections of Settings" section, select your settings and click the Add Set to Comparison List button. Repeat the process for the user's settings.
Click the View/Compare Sets button.

At this point, the program will pop up a window with all the different zone settings, and any differences will be highlighted in yellow. You can export to CSV or Excel at this point.

And that's it! Thank you to Aaron for providing such an excellent utility.

How To: Convert an Oracle FLOAT Value to A Time Span [Field Notes]

2012-02-11T16:38:00.001-05:00

The Problem
We have a bunch of "durations" stored in Oracle as FLOAT datatypes (as day intervals, meaning they are an interval that includes days).

This makes sense. from a database storage perspective. However, I didn't know how to get those values into the more human-comprehensible hh:mm:ss format.

The Solution
An Oracle function called NUMTODSINTERVAL is exactly what we need here. As the name suggests, it converts a number to a DateStamp interval (which is to say, interprets a number as a time span). We can tell it the type of time span (days in this case), and then extract the appropriate time values.

Syntax: NUMTODSINTERVAL ([yourvalue], '[typeofinterval]')
Basic Example: NUMTODSINTERVAL (tablename.durationfield, 'DAY')
The above example takes my field named 'durationfield' and tells oracle it's a DAY interval.

From here, we use the EXTRACT function to get what we want.

Solution Examples
Gets the number of hours (and converts all day values to 24 hours each):

EXTRACT(DAY FROM NUMTODSINTERVAL(TABLENAME.DURATIONFIELD, 'DAY')) * 24
+ EXTRACT(HOUR FROM NUMTODSINTERVAL( TABLENAME.DURATIONFIELD , 'DAY'))

AS DURATIONHOURS

Gets the minutes in the same fashion:

EXTRACT(MINUTE FROM NUMTODSINTERVAL( TABLENAME.DURATIONFIELD , 'DAY'))

AS DURATIONMINUTES

Gets the seconds in the same fashion:

EXTRACT(SECOND FROM NUMTODSINTERVAL( TABLENAME.DURATIONFIELD, 'DAY'))
AS DURATIONSECONDS

SQL Tricks: The Not-Equals Join [Field Notes]

2012-02-07T11:32:00.002-05:00

The Problem
I needed to pull back a list of dates in a certain range for each employee, but didn't have a common join criteria, as I wanted all the dates but they did not come from a table.

The Solution
I knew that the dates would never equal the employee name, so in this case, I could actually use a "not-equal" join to connect the two. I always forget about this one, but it's handy.

I did something along the following (edited for brevity):

select * from (...) ActiveLabor left outer join (...)DateRange on (activelabor.laborcode != to_char(DateRange.DateItem))

This allows the left outer join only if the items are not equal (which we happen to know will always be the case).

The end result? As I expected -- the full list of dates showed up for each employee, just as I'd hoped.

A Note: Because I was comparing a date to a string, I had to cast the date as a varchar2 in the join statement. The date value itself still comes back as a date, but during the comparison we need to make sure we're giving Oracle an apples-to-apples comparison.

February 6, 2012 [The Grocery List]

2012-02-06T19:35:00.000-05:00

Stopped by Giant and picked up:

Baby bella mushrooms
Peppers (assorted red, green, yellow)
2 Peaches
6 apples
A spaghetti squash (god, I love that spaghetti squash)
Spinach

How To: List all Dates for sysdate +/- 30 in Oracle

2012-02-06T16:33:00.000-05:00

Discovered an answer to a StackOverflow question I'd posted, and wanted to share.

I needed to, within a view, dynamically generate a list of dates before or after sysdate. I wanted to do this so that I could limit some of the records coming back (we have millions but the date range will always be between 31 days before sysdate or 31 says after.

In Oracle, the SQL to do this is as follows:

SELECT *
FROM   (SELECT TRUNC(SYSDATE - ROWNUM) DateItem
        FROM   DUAL
        CONNECT BY ROWNUM < 32
        UNION
        SELECT TRUNC(SYSDATE + ROWNUM) DateItem
        FROM   DUAL
        CONNECT BY ROWNUM < 32)DATERANGE;

This SQL does the following:

Uses the dual table (a special table in Oracle as I understand) to scroll through x amount of rows (in this case, 32, because we want to make sure it includes 31 days)
For each of those, it returns the sysdate - the number of rows, or sysdate + the number of rows in the case of the second query. It calls this column "DT".
It unions those two queries together, to give the full range of values. This also has the nice effect of removing duplicate dates from the results.
I then wrap it in a select * statement so I can call it what I want and refer to it later.

Learning Oracle as I go, and I'm enjoying discovering these little tricks.

How To: Swap Views/Tables Within the Same Database Using Crystal Reports 2008 Designer [Field Notes]

2012-02-02T20:14:00.002-05:00

Background
I have a database with a few different views. They all return the same fields in copies of the same exact report, but those fields are calculated differently (hence the views).

The Problem
I wanted to be able to swap these views out without losing my fields, but couldn't seem to find a way to do it.

Crystal has a method for changing data sources, and for setting tables up to be overridden in this way, but there didn't seem to be any way to swap out a view that was already in the same database.

The Solution
NOTE: The solution below depends on the fact that your new tables or views should be returning the exact same fields (the new one can have additional fields, but not vice versa, which makes sense).

After some playing around, I figured it out. The best solution I've been able to come up with is:

While in your report, right-click on the Database Explorer and select Set Datasource Location.
In the bottom pane, select the datasource from your list as if it is a new datasource.
In the bottom pane, navigate to the table or view you'd like to replace.
In the top pane, click the table or view you'd like to replace.
In the bottom pane, click the table or view you'd like to replace the original table/view.
Click Update.

This will work, but it will appear to fail. That's because Crystal Reports keeps the same alias in its list of datasources. To double-check this, you can go select Show Query... from the Database menu and you'll be able to see that the SQL is just covering up your new data source with the old alias name.

This might be fine for some folks, but it drives me up a wall. To fix that issue and get the names back in sync:

Right-click on the database and select Database Explorer.
In the panel on the right, right-click the improperly named datasource and select "Rename".
Enter the name of the table or view it is currently pointing to.

At this point, you'll have successfully completed the swap, with all your report fields making it out alive.

January 31, 2012 [The Grocery List]

2012-02-01T07:18:00.004-05:00

[A new tradition where I keep myself honest by posting the things I buy at the grocery store.]

Picked up from Giant:

6 Apples
1 spaghetti squash
Asiago cheese
Razors
Shower cleaner

Crafty, Google+. Very Crafty.

2012-01-31T22:27:00.001-05:00

A quick observation: on most social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) you'll see the option to connect with folks that you know.

Google+ applies this intuitive concept, but with a twist to its own benefit.

On the right-hand side of the Google+ home page, I noticed the option to add folks, and (wrongly) made the quick assumption that these folks are already on the network, despite the fact that some buttons are instead labeled "Add and Invite". Picture below:

Notice the difference? You might not at first glance.

It's not the end of the world or anything, but if G+ just duped me into inviting 10+ people unwittingly, it likely has gotten many more sign-ups this way.

A subtly shady tactic on Google's part. They might argue that they've streamlined the process, but to me, inviting someone actively to a social network (i.e. telling them they should join) is a much different vibe than adding them if they are already on the network.

I just made this mistake with a few former co-workers and friends I haven't connected with in a while (sorry if you got a weird invite, all!), so I wanted to make note of the design difference.

Makes me appreciate all the more that sites like LinkedIn make it clear with an icon who is a member and who isn't yet.

New Tradition: The Grocery List. [The Grocery List]

2012-01-24T19:49:00.003-05:00

Ed. Note: This is a post category I'm trying to start, as a form of public disclosure, listing items I bought at the grocery store, available publicly for your reference or critique.

Alright, since this is the first one of these, I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to do it all the time. I'll likely scan my lists, but for now, I'll list the items.

I think this is an okay start:

A green pepper & a yellow pepper
Sliced baby bella mushrooms (I'm lazy, sue me)
6 apples
Dozen eggs
An onion
A tomato
1/2 Gallon Fat-Free Milk
Crumbled Feta cheese
Boatland Farms Strawberry / Banana Juice
Celery Sticks
Asparagus
A Cucumber
Garlic

My Plan

Apples for Snacks
Tonight: Orzo (package some up for lunch tomorrow with an apple, celery sticks, & sliced pepper to snack on throughout the day)
Tomorrow morning: Eggs and leftover tomato & onion with garlic
Tomorrow evening: Asparagus and mushrooms with chicken & garlic (with planned leftovers for lunch)
Glass of milk each morning

This is mainly my "keeping me honest" thing, but your thoughts & suggestions are always welcome in the comments.

Some Things I've Been Bad at, and What I'm Going to do to Change it.

2012-01-24T19:41:00.000-05:00

Ed. Note: This is one of those weird public-disclosure blog posts. If you only come here for tech stuff, then move along; nothing to see here. :)

Ed. Note 2: This isn't a "new years resolution" post. It's an "I waited way too effing long to do this stuff already" post.

Ed. Note 3: I'm clearly my own editor.

I had an epiphany in the middle of the night last night. I realized two things simultaneously:

I suck at taking care of myself in lots of ways, and
in that regard, I'm very good at tricking myself by letting things become excuses.

Some ways in which I'm guilty of this:

I don't sleep enough.
I don't eat well at all (or eat well enough regularly enough).
I let tasks pile up. Not work things or big things, but little things. Laundry, returning a package, cleaning my room, buying supplies.
Don't even get me started on exercise.
I let work fill in the cracks of my life because I feel responsible or it's necessary or it feels good/rewarding.

But overall, there was one major theme: instead of making time to keep myself healthy and take care of myself, I've been letting the bullshit of being "busy" take away too much from some important things. Generally, I havent' been respecting the time it takes to do these important things, and as a result have been trying to minimize them or shortcut them.

So I decided to knock it off. Cold turkey. I'm not phasing it in, because I've let "busy" distract me from the things I need to do for so long. I'm just doing it, and I'm going to do my best to stop making excuses not to do these things, because there is no excuse not to take better care of myself.

So, What am I Going to Do About It?

For Starters:

Quit Nutrisystem. Wait, what? This sounds counter-intuitive, I know. I've lost some weight on nutrisystem. But its' is full of sodium, processed, etc. etc. Most importantly in my situation, it became a crutch. I'd cram a bunch of Nutrisystem because I didn't have time. I'd stop buying fresh food and subsist on their food which is only half of what they tell you to do anyway. So I consumed too much of their food. The effect started reversing itself. And honestly, it just didn't feel natural. The combination of my methods and the food made me feel like I was eating food for machines. I want to eat food for people, because I want to be more of a person.
Not rushing to work and instead prepping for my day. I get to work earlier than most people every day anyway. But I wake up, rush, neglect breakfast, taking time to center myself, relaxing, etc. I love the morning, but I don't appreciate it nearly enough.
Replace my after-work Starbucks trip with an after-work trip to Giant. They're in the same damn parking lot, and yet I've been neglecting healthy food for its short-term energy supplement.
Buy fresher things. One technique I'm using is to attempt to spend all my time at Giant in the fresh food sections. If I don't stray too far from that except for items I know I need, then the stuff I discover should generally be better for me.
Plan meals better, and plan them for leftovers. I'm one dude. I need better organization for the food I make. I suck at this now, but it'll be a good challenge. For starters, I'll attempt to be packing a lunch before work every day.
Exercise 30 minutes a day. A bare-minimum requirement, but one I haven't been meeting.
Drink more water. I received a nice water vessel for Christmas, yet I haven't used it. Ridiculous. It's 70% of my body but I've been drinking coffee like it's water. Only water is water.
Take vitamins. It's easy as hell to take a vitamin a day.

But most importantly:

Hold myself to these things as publicly as possible. You'll be seeing more blog posts like these, with different themes. I hope you'll indulge me and feel free to comment if you see fit. Be critical, encourage me to do better things. See a better choice I could have made? Add your thoughts. I can fool myself, but I can't fool you smart people.

Well, now that that's all out in the open, let's start this adventure, shall we?

A Metaphor for SOPA / PIPA

2012-01-20T19:57:00.001-05:00

I just thought it up -- taken from an e-mail response I just wrote to Al Franken:

"They would protect an stagnant industry that wants to pour its own cement shoes while complaining that the water is rising."

I think it brings home what the industry is doing to itself. By refusing to evolve and instead fighting innovation under the guise of lost profits (the battle over the VCR, anyone?), helping the industry with legislation is stopping it from helping itself.

Am I completely off base? Do you agree? I'd love to hear in the comments.

WMATA lies! (Or: "In which I make a mild deal out of nothing")

2012-01-09T17:55:00.003-05:00

[Ed. note: I'm very much aware that this is not a big deal. Just having some fun with observations.]

Is it:

Or:

Get your story straight and then get back to me, WMATA.

Fix: Crystal Reports 2008: "Default printer is not available" and/or Un-expandable Collapsed Sections [Field Notes]

2012-01-09T17:36:00.000-05:00

Issue
In Crystal Reports 2008, when opening up a report that came from elsewhere (usually another user's machine), I see "default printer is not available".

Oftentimes, this will be accompanied by a strange behavior that will cause reports (or subreports) to look completely collapsed, like the following image:

"Oh", you say to yourself, "I'll just expand those sections manually and carry on." Well think again, renegade -- Crystal Reports will have none of it. The sections appear frozen in place forever.

Your report sections. It is as painful as it looks.

Solution
Luckily, per usual, StackOverflow was a big help here.

This solution has two different parts -- you may only need one or the other, but I've found them both to be a pretty effective one-two punch in this situation.

Part 1: Change Your Printer Settings

While in the report, click File --> Page Setup...
Check the box labeled No Printer (optimize for screen display).
Check the box labeled Dissociate formatting page size and Printer Paper Size.
The box should look like below:

That should do it.

Part 2: Change Display Options
In case you have some sub-reports, etc. that didn't quite get the message to thaw out, bro, it's likely because they were hidden before or hidden as a result of the printer situation being screwy.

Try the following:

While in the report, click File --> Options...
Click the Layout tab (usually visible by default in my experience)
In the Design View section, check the "Show hidden sections" option. This will cause any unwieldy sections to fall in line and become visible.

FYI -- Potential downtime

2011-12-27T12:53:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note: I'm transferring some domains away from GoDaddy (a long time coming), and this is one of them. If you experience some downtime while I wait for things to switch over, I apologize, but we'll be back up and running soon.

Plaintext password offender: Yankodesign.com

2011-12-21T07:52:00.003-05:00

I recently created an account at Yanko Design (they have some neat stuff I wanted to further explore).

The welcome e-mail I received was as follows:

Yep, that's my password, in plaintext. Luckily I used a throwaway, but still, come on. What's it going to take for merchants and e-commerce platforms to do better than this?

How To: Insert Group Name Text into a Crystal Reports 2008 Section [Field Notes]

2011-12-19T14:20:00.002-05:00

Problem
I accidentally deleted the group name text from a section of my Crystal Report in Crystal Reports 2008, and now I would like to re-insert the text.

Solution
This is embarrassingly simple, and yet I found it to be surprisingly counter-intuitive. Maybe it's just me..

In the Field Explorer section, expand the "Group Name Fields" section and drag the name onto the report.

It's not under insert, not as a menu shortcut, etc. -- as far as I can tell, the only place to drag a Group Name field from is there.

How To: Toggle Fields in a Crystal Report Based on Whether Records are Returned [Field Notes]

2011-12-19T13:30:00.004-05:00

Problem
In a Crystal Report, you would like to show or hide sections based upon whether the report contains results or not.

Solution
Step 1: Create a Shared Variable and Increment it

Create a formula with a shared variable in your report -- for the sake of this example, we'll call it v_RecordCount.
The contents of the formula should look like this:

//Excute this formula as records are read into the report
WhileReadingRecords;
//define a variable that is available throughout the 'main' report
Global Numbervar RecordCount;
//increment the variable
RecordCount := RecordCount+1;

Step 2: Place the Variable in the Report header and Suppress it

Drag the formula into the "Report Header A" section.
Right-click on the formula you added in the report and select Format Field...
Click the Common tab.
Check the Suppress button.
Click OK.

Step 3: Craft the Proper Suppression Formula for the Sections
Note that the formula we have created will return null when there are no records. This is key to crafting the formula.

Right-click on the section you would like to show or hide based on having results.
Click Section Expert...
Next to the Supress (No Drill-Down) option, click the Formula button.

If you want to hide a section if there are no results, enter the following:

If IsNull({@RecordCount}) then true
else false

This tells Crystal to hide the section if the RecordCount is null (i.e. there are no results), and to show it otherwise.

If you want to show a section if there are no results, enter the following:

If IsNull({@RecordCount}) then false
else true

If (Not(IsNull({@RecordCount}))) then true
else false

These both say "if the record count is not null" (i.e. there are records), suppress this field. Otherwise, show it (if there aren't any results).

Crystal Reports 2008 Gotcha: Subreports with multiple parameter values [Field Notes]

2011-12-15T09:38:00.001-05:00

The Setup

I have a report in Crystal Reports 2008.
The report uses a few different sub-reports.
The report links the subreports to the main report by passing the main report parameter to the subreport parameter.

The Problem

When calculating totals, it works correctly if I pass in a single parameter value to the main report.
However, if I pass in multiple values for a parameter to the main report (think multiple work order numbers for a WONUM parameter), the subreport calculates totals for all the fields

The Solution
At first, it seemed like the issue was due to me not resetting the subreport total calculations on each page. But, I knew that I was doing this, and doing it correctly according to multiple reference points.

However, the issue (and thus, the solution) was simpler.

Because I was passing the main report parameter to the sub-report, Crystal was passing all parameters that I passed into the main report into the subreport, so the subreport was being told to calculate across all those values each time.

Instead, I changed the link to the subreport parameter. Instead of passing it the main report's parameter, I passed it the main report field that contained the work order number, thus assuring that it would only receive that one work order as a parameter.

See the StackOverflow discussion for more references and comments.

A brief video on the dangers of SOPA / Protect-IP

2011-12-14T14:15:00.000-05:00

And this barely begins to cover it. There's a lot beyond this, too.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Please act on this before it's too late for the internet. [Not Hyperbole]

2011-12-14T14:09:00.001-05:00

Important enough that I'm giving it space here. PLEASE take action on this.

Another Underwhelming Experience With UPS MyChoice

2011-12-13T08:18:00.004-05:00

UPDATE: This is entirely my fault. I leave the text below only as a reference and to shame myself. The issue is that UPS sent me an e-mail at 12:07 saying a package would be delivered the next day. Because it was Sunday night, I thought it would be Monday, but it was technically Tuesday at that point because the e-mail had been sent 7 minutes after midnight.

You win this one, UPS. But maybe batch those e-mails to 4 in the morning or so?

Normally, when you pay for extra convenience despite the fact that a service business's reputation is normally based on that coming standard, you would expect a little something extra, right? UPS MyChoice doesn't seem to think so.

I paid $40 for the year to join the service, which promises more convenient options such as holding shipments at the UPS store, delivering shipments to another address, picking a 2-hour delivery timeframe window, etc. This is great, considering the problems I've had with package carriers.

And at first, the service does seem promising. You receive e-mails that tell you when a package is en route to your address, and when it is expected to arrive -- even if you didn't have a tracking number. This e-mail allows you to change options for the package, etc.

So when I received an e-mail Sunday night saying that my winter gloves would be delivered the next day, I was thrilled. I would be at work, and so I needed to have them hold it at a store.

The e-mail said it would be delivered the next day (Tuesday) between 1:15 and 5:15. I received the e-mail at 12:07am, and at 12:08am I had chosen to have it held at the store. I was very excited that this was working out the way it's supposed to. More than I should be, really.

Fast-forward to Tuesday at 4:15pm. I show up at the store where I'd asked the package to be held, but they didn't get any deliveries for the day. I knew it wasn't supposed to be until 5:15 at the latest, so I asked them to track the package -- only to find out that it had experienced a "delivery exception" (a.k.a "we changed your stuff on you, sorry!"). Why? Apparently when I selected the convenient option of having it delivered to the store that day, they conveniently also added an extra day onto the delivery time.

This is exactly what I was trying to avoid. Get an e-mail at 12am saying a package will be delivered at 5pm. Ask them to hold it at the store down the street, but they need an extra day to figure out how to do that? Also, no notification about an updated delivery date, and no e-mail about a package exception at all. So I still made the extra trip, and I still had the package delayed, only this time I was supposed to feel like it was convenient, and pay them $40 a year for the privilege.

Doubt I'll be renewing that subscription, UPS.

[Redacted]

2011-12-13T06:47:00.003-05:00

████ to ████ on my █████ █████ ████. ███████ ███████ to it! But for now, ████ is ████ █████████. ██████ ████ ████ to ████ on the ████████ and ████████ ███████████ of ████. ██████. ████ ████ ████████. And ████, ████ you (█████████) ███████ ████ I did ████ ████ ███████████ is ███████ of, █████ ████ ████ ████████ it. ███████ █████████, ████ ███████████ ████ ████ won't █████ ███████.

http://americancensorship.org/posts/400/uncensor

Building a Build Process, Part 1: Introduction

2011-12-09T23:15:00.001-05:00

[This is the first article in a series of articles I'll be doing about building a Build Process for an application. You can refer here at any point for all of the published articles in the series.

Under Construction: The language in these posts may be a little terse at first, but I'll be fleshing it out over time -- be sure to check back!]

Articles in This Series

Part 1: Introduction (this article)

Why Undertake This (Plus: Look at my Presentation!)

I've seen too many instances in various jobs and projects where the build/integration process is not afforded due diligence (or any diligence, really).

I decided I needed to do something about it. Part experiment, part challenge, part reference guide. I'm going to see if I can put together an entire continuous integration / build process for .NET environments from scratch.

Below, you can find some slides from a presentation I gave at work (and yes, the design ideas are at times ripped directly from Zach Holman's article as I tried to emulate his style. He's awesome, and I'm shameless. Credit was given.) This talk highlighted the benefits of inte"great"ion and what I was about to undertake.

My Goal

In short, dear reader, my end desire is to have a completely integrated build process for .NET using (almost) free and/or open-source tools, and to share my process with you.

The build process so far will include the following:

Subversion repository on CentOS VM
An ASP.NET MVC Project Added to the Source control
Trac web site connected to Subversion repository on CentOS VM
Build Server VM (Windows Server 2008 R2)
CruiseControl.NET running on the Build Server
Building the Project with MSBuild via CCNet
Building a Release build via CCNet; if successful, publishes to AppHarber via a cloned git repository
NUnit Tests
NCover code coverage metrics
SpecFlow User Acceptance Test / Feature Test coverage
Selenium Server as a web driver to execute specflow tests
Selenium Grid executing tests on multiple OSes / platforms
Adding FxCop to the mix to check my coding standards
Adding StyleCop to the mix to make sure the code is consistently written.
Utilizing Nuget packages and Octopus to transform releases for different environments.

Hoo-boy, Here We Go

It's a lofty goal -- especially for someone who's not a pro developer -- but I'm excited for everything I'm about to learn during this process.

Onward and Upward!

Tip: Does your workplace block Google Chat? Use Google+ to talk to people in your circles

2011-12-08T09:21:00.001-05:00

[Ed. Note: For the record, I discovered this by accident, and don't particularly intend to use it unless absolutely necessary.]

While circumventing your workplace's chat policy is never necessarily a wise thing, if your office place blocks Google Chat, you can (partially) circumvent this to allow Google Chat with folks in your Google+ circles.

To do so:

Sign into Google+.
On the home tab, you should see a notification about being able to chat with your circles.
Click OK, and your contacts will appear on the home screen with standard gchat-like indicators.

Some things of note so far:

Your friends' job titles take the place of chat statuses within Google+ chat.

Tip: When presenting, ALWAYS have backup formats [Field Notes]

2011-12-06T11:15:00.001-05:00

A brief anecdote:

I prepared a presentation yesterday to present today to colleagues on subjects such as Continuous Integration, Unit / Spec Testing, Source management, etc.

I created the presentation in MS PowerPoint 2010, and saved it with some embedded fonts in .pptx format. It runs great. I open it on my work PC this morning, and it runs great. I save it to a thumb drive, and it opens fine.

We get into the conference room late, I log onto the PC that's there, I open the presentation..
...and PowerPoint crashes.

I try copying it from the USB Drive to the Desktop, I open it ...and PowerPoint crashes again.

Luckily, I saved a version in .ppt format so that it would be backwards compatible with PowerPoint 2000-2003. I open that ...and PowerPoint crashes again.

Luckily, I also uploaded the presentation to SlideShare. I attempt to open that ...and the computer has trouble connecting to the internet.

Luckily, I had also exported the presentation to a PDF file. I open that in Adobe Acrobat Reader, put it in full-screen mode, and gave the presentation.

I hope that illustrates the point well enough without further explanation.