acloudtree

You’re smart, you’re special, and you’re beautiful

jared.folkins — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:37:32 +0000

About six months ago we moved my daughter into a “big girl” bed. And about then, when it would get late and time for “nigh nigh”, I started a ritual with her.

She would lay down in her bed, we would say some prayers, and then I would say.

“Just remember, you’re smart, you’re special, and you’re beautiful.”

And then I would list everyone in her close family that loves her.

“Your Daddy loves you
Your Mommy loves you
Your Jude brother loves you
Papa and Grandma Folkins love you
Papa and Grandma Bogen love you
Uncle Sean loves you
Auntie Anna loves you
And cousin Elena loves you”

I never really had a plan, I just remember thinking that my daughter needs to know that she is amazing. And she needs to remember all the people who will come running if she calls.

So today I went home for lunch. And it was right around her nap time. Without thinking, I volunteered to put her to bed.

She laid down, and then I said

“Now just remember, you’re-”

But before I could finish, and still with a binky partially in her mouth, she said

“-yur smarr, yur spesh-al, and yur beu-i-ful”

Then she gave me a big hug and smiled.

I melted.

You could wreck my car, steal my laptop, or even lay me off, but you would not be able to ruin my day today. My daughter knows she is valuable.

Developing a Chrome Extension and the “Origin is not allowed by Access-Control-Allow-Origin Error”

jared.folkins — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:30:38 +0000

I have been messing around building a Chrome extension and am fetching some resources using good ol’ XMLHttpRequest(). At least I was trying to do so and instead was getting an epic fail.

I am using the google developer debugger to test (tutorial) and saw the following error in the console.

Example:

Origin [YOUR_RESOURCE_NAME] is not allowed by Access-Control-Allow-Origin Error.

I thought I had configured my manifest.json file with the correct permissions.

...snip...
  "permissions" : [
    "https://*.domain.com"
  ],
...snip...

Turns out I was simply missing the trailing slash /.

...snip...
  "permissions" : [
    "https://*.domain.com/"
  ],
...snip...

Hope that helps someone.

How To: Install FreeTDS and UnixODBC On OSX Using Homebrew For Use With Ruby, Php, And Perl

jared.folkins — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:44:52 +0000

This little project started out as a basic script to connect to a Microsoft SqlServer and get data. It was a nightmare as I probably spent 15 hours learning about and troubleshooting both FreeTDS and UnixODBC. My pain is now your gain.

NOTICE: I have homebrew configured to install all packages into my local directory /Users/jared/.homebrew/

1) Install UnixODBC

[jared@localhost]$ brew install unixodbc
==> Downloading http://www.unixodbc.org/unixODBC-2.3.0.tar.gz
File already downloaded in /Users/jared/Library/Caches/Homebrew
==> ./configure --disable-debug --prefix=/Users/jared/.homebrew/Cellar/unixodbc/2.3.0 --enable-gui=no
==> make install
/Users/jared/.homebrew/Cellar/unixodbc/2.3.0: 24 files, 932K, built in 22 seconds
[jared@localhost]$

2) Edit the FreeTDS formula And install

What we are doing is changing the default tds version, enabling the msdblib, and pointing out where unixodbc installed.

require 'formula'
 
class Freetds > Formula
url 'http://ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/ALPHA/freetds/stable/freetds-0.91.tar.gz'
homepage 'http://www.freetds.org/'
md5 'b14db5823980a32f0643d1a84d3ec3ad'
 
def install
system "./configure",·
"--prefix=#{prefix}",·
"--with-tdsver=7.0",·
"--enable-msdblib",
"--with-unixodbc=/Users/USERNAME/.homebrew/Cellar/unixodbc/2.3.0",
"--mandir=#{man}"
system 'make'
ENV.j1 # Or fails to install on multi-core machines
system 'make install'
end
end

[jared@localhost]$ brew install freetds

3) Start a new terminal session to make sure all your paths update

4) Confirm that you can connect to the server

We need to make sure that you can connect to the sqlserver and that the port is open and available to you.

To do this we use telnet. If you see the following, success! The port is open on the server.

[jared@localhost]$ telnet server.example.com 1433
Trying 192.168.1.101...
Connected to server.example.com.
Escape character is '^]'.

If you see the following. You failed. Check the Sqlserver configuration, firewalls, or network configuration.

[jared@localhost]$ telnet server.example.com 1433
Trying 192.168.1.101...
telnet: connect to address 192.168.1.101: Connection refused
telnet: Unable to connect to remote host

Note: Press the ctrl + ] keys to break to a prompt and then type exit.

5) Tsql

FreeTDS comes with a couple cli applications. One of them is tsql. It isn’t great, but I use it test and see if at least FreeTDS is working correctly. After you install FreeTDS using homebrew try and connect to the host using the following command.

[jared@localhost]$ tsql -H server.example.com -U USERNAME -P PASSWORD -v
 
locale is "en_US.UTF-8"
locale charset is "UTF-8"
using default charset "UTF-8"
1>exit

If you see a prompt, you haz awesome!

6) Sym link the FreeTDS and UnixODBC conf files

I create 3 sym links to the following files just for simplicity.

ln -s /Users/jared/.homebrew/Cellar/freetds/0.91/etc/freetds.conf ~/.freetds.conf
ln -s /Users/jared/.homebrew/Cellar/unixodbc/2.3.0/etc/odbc.ini ~/.odbc.ini
ln -s /Users/jared/.homebrew/Cellar/unixodbc/2.3.0/etc/odbcinst.ini ~/.odbcinst.ini

7) edit the .freetds.conf and add the following

[example]
host = server.example.com
port = 1433
tds version = 7.0

8 ) edit the odbcinst.ini and add the following

You are telling unixodbc where your FreeTDS drivers are located using this configuration file.

[FreeTDS]
Description = FreeTDS
Driver = /Users/jared/.homebrew/lib/libtdsodbc.so
Setup = /Users/jared/.homebrew/lib/libtdsodbc.so
UsageCount = 1

9) edit the .odbc.ini and add the following

[myexample]
Driver = FreeTDS // we just set this up a second ago
Description = MyExample
ServerName = example // this is the name of the configuration we used in the .freetds.conf file
UID = USERNAME
PWD = PASSWORD

10) isql should work

[jared@localhost]$ isql sqlinternal USERNAME PASSWORD
+---------------------------------------+
| Connected!
| sql-statement
| help [tablename]
| quit
+---------------------------------------+
SQL>quit

11) Osql Error

If you try osql, it throws an error.

[jared@localhost]$ osql -S myexample -U USERNAME -P PASSWORD
checking shared odbc libraries linked to isql for default directories...
/Users/jared/.homebrew/bin/osql: line 53: ldd: command not found
strings: can't open file: (No such file or directory)
osql: problem: no potential directory strings in "/Users/jared/.homebrew/bin/isql"
osql: advice: use "osql -I DIR" where DIR unixODBC\'s install prefix e.g. /usr/local
isql strings are:
checking odbc.ini files
reading /Users/jared/.odbc.ini
[myexample] found in /Users/jared/.odbc.ini
found this section:
[myexample]
Driver = FreeTDS
Description = MyExample
Servername = example
UID = USERNAME
PWD = PASSWORD
 
looking for driver for DSN [myexample] in /Users/jared/.odbc.ini
found driver line: " Driver = FreeTDS"
driver "FreeTDS" found for [myexample] in .odbc.ini
found driver named "FreeTDS"
"FreeTDS" is not an executable file
looking for entry named [FreeTDS] in /odbcinst.ini
found driver line: " Driver = /Users/jared/.homebrew/lib/libtdsodbc.so"
found driver /Users/jared/.homebrew/lib/libtdsodbc.so for [FreeTDS] in odbcinst.ini
/Users/jared/.homebrew/lib/libtdsodbc.so is not an executable file
osql: error: no driver found for sqlinternal
[jared@localhost]$

If you go through the error you will find that a certain driver is not executable. You just need to chmod the file.

[jared@localhost]$ chmod 554 /Users/jared/.homebrew/Cellar/freetds/0.91/lib/libtdsodbc.0.so

Now run it again.

[jared@localhost]$ osql -S myexample -U USERNAME -P PASSWORD
checking shared odbc libraries linked to isql for default directories...
/Users/jared/.homebrew/bin/osql: line 53: ldd: command not found
strings: can't open file: (No such file or directory)
osql: problem: no potential directory strings in "/Users/jared/.homebrew/bin/isql"
osql: advice: use "osql -I DIR" where DIR unixODBC\'s install prefix e.g. /usr/local
isql strings are:
checking odbc.ini files
reading /Users/jared/.odbc.ini
[myexample] found in /Users/jared/.odbc.ini
found this section:
[myexample]
Driver = FreeTDS
Description = myexamples
Servername = myexample
UID = USERNAME
PWD = PASSWORD
 
looking for driver for DSN [myexample] in /Users/jared/.odbc.ini
found driver line: " Driver = FreeTDS"
driver "FreeTDS" found for [myexample] in .odbc.ini
found driver named "FreeTDS"
"FreeTDS" is not an executable file
looking for entry named [FreeTDS] in /odbcinst.ini
found driver line: " Driver = /Users/jared/.homebrew/lib/libtdsodbc.so"
found driver /Users/jared/.homebrew/lib/libtdsodbc.so for [FreeTDS] in odbcinst.ini
/Users/jared/.homebrew/lib/libtdsodbc.so is an executable file
Using ODBC-Combined strategy
DSN [myexample] has servername "myexample" (from /Users/jared/.odbc.ini)
/Users/jared/.freetds.conf is a readable file
looking for [myexample] in /Users/jared/.freetds.conf
found this section:
[myexample]
host = myexample.bendcable.net
port = 1433
tds version = 7.0
 
Configuration looks OK. Connection details:
 
DSN: myexample
odbc.ini: /Users/jared/.odbc.ini
Driver: /Users/jared/.homebrew/lib/libtdsodbc.so
Server hostname: myexample.bendcable.net
Address: 192.168.12.103
 
Attempting connection as username ...
+ isql myexample USERNAME PASSWORD -v
+---------------------------------------+
| Connected!
| sql-statement
| help [tablename]
| quit
+---------------------------------------+
SQL> quit

SUCCESS!!!

Some other useful commands.

Useful commands

odbcinst -j
 
odbcinst -q -d
 
odbcinst -q -s

Be Cheap: Use Your Android Phone Without Cellular Service

jared.folkins — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:38:02 +0000

THE STORY

It’s that age old story. Boy meets android phone. Boy buys android phone. Boy’s new employer provides boy with a non-smart cell phone so boy sets out on a journey to uncover the mysteries of having a android device with no cellular service.

THE DEVICE

I’m using a Gen 1 HTC Evo 4G.

THE ROOT

I’m running Cyanogenmod 7.1

THE COST

Lets face it, at $80 bucks a month, a smart phone is not the cheapest luxury. My bi-annual cost for service was running me roughly $1920 ($2496 gross earned) dollars. After receiving a crack-berry from work. I (a) realized how much blackberry’s suck and (b) also knew I couldn’t justify the cost of keeping my android cellular service (sorry sprint).

THE VOICE

I’ve had my number for approximately 7 years. It was important for me to keep it. My problem was solved with the use of Google voice and the ability to port my mobile number. For a one time $20 fee, I now have my old cell number attached to my google voice account.

THE FORWARD

I make my Google voice number forward to my work provided cell phone. So that should I get a call on my old number, I can still answer it.

THE GROOVE

And here is the secret sauce, Groove IP. This little android application allows me to make calls using my google voice number when connected to WiFi. It even uses the stock Android phone dialer so it feels just like a regular call. The quality carries the sound of “tin” a bit, but it’s more than usable.

THE INTERNATIONAL

Taking the device with me will also allow me to make free calls back to my friends and family in the US. That is a bonus.

THE PLUGIN (honorable mention)

While at work, I also use the Google Voice plugin for Chrome so that I can send texts directly from my browser. This is actually pretty awesome as I don’t have to pick up my phone to text my wife back.

THE CONCLUSION

I’ve been using this setup for about a month now. I still can Facebook and Twitter. I still can play games. I still can read eBooks. I still can use it as a calendar. I can still use it as a flashlight. All these things and more, and it is working really well.

I realize that some may consider having a cell phone kind of cheating in this expiriement, but I think I could totally make this continue to function without the work provided phone. I would have to change my habits. Making sure to target locations to shop from with free WiFi and such. But despite this inconvenience, I’d still see the value.