xcud

Add Yammer to Chrome Apps

Fri, 27 May 2011 10:32:00 -0500

Yammer SHOULD be in the Chrome App Store but isn’t. Tell them so.

In the meantime, you can add them into your own personal apps by following these 5 simple steps:

Download and unzip this manifest/icon app folder for Yammer: http://db.tt/64K0l8W
Open up the Chrome Extension by clicking the wrench icon, choosing ‘Tools’, then choosing ‘Extensions’
Click the ‘+’ next to ‘Developer mode’ to open up the developer tools
Click the ‘Load unpacked extension’ button
Navigate to the unzipped yammer_app folder, click ‘OK’

Get-NetworkStatistics (or 'netstat' for PowerShell)

Thu, 26 May 2011 14:28:00 -0500

Shay Levy did an excellent PowerShellization of ‘netstat’ (link) on his blog back in February. JRich also had an excellent take on implementing NetStat in PowerShell (link). There is also a simple one-liner [net.NetworkInformation.IPGlobalProperties]::GetIPGlobalProperties().GetActiveTcpConnections() that will get you Tcp connection information without the process information but IMHO the info provided is practically useless in most real world scenarios without the process info.

One can argue over which solution is more PowerShellicous, “inlining c#” or “scraping cmd output”. Meanwhile while that flame war is happening I’ll be over here extending either of these solutions because PowerShell is awesome like that. Here I added filtering to the Shay’s solution. Behold:

PS C:\Users\ben> Get-NetworkStatistics skype | ft -AutoSize

Protocol LocalAddress LocalPort RemoteAddress RemotePort State     ProcessName PID 
-------- ------------ --------- ------------- ---------- -----     ----------- --- 
TCP      0.0.0.0      443       0.0.0.0       0          LISTENING Skype       4068
TCP      0.0.0.0      9841      0.0.0.0       0          LISTENING Skype       4068

PS C:\Users\ben> Get-NetworkStatistics -ProcessId 3368


Protocol      : TCP
LocalAddress  : 192.168.10.115
LocalPort     : 49899
RemoteAddress : 204.152.18.196
RemotePort    : 443
State         : ESTABLISHED
ProcessName   : chrome
PID           : 3368

Here’s the source:

Change the welcome background image in Windows7: Set this key...

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:01:07 -0600

Change the welcome background image in Windows7:

Set this key value to 1: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background\OEMBackground

Overwriting this file: %windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds\backgroundDefault.jpg

Back from #MMS2010

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:54:00 -0500

Back from #MMS2010

Get Process Owners

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:06:00 -0600

I really like the @PowerTip blog series but I find myself wanting to talk back with more than 120 characters. ~~Please enable comments~~ ~~@PowerTip~~. Comments are enabled for authenticated users. ~~In the meantime, I’ll blog my comments.~~

re: Get Process Owners

function Get-PSOwner($searchString)
{	
    $foundProcess = ps $searchString
    if($foundProcess -eq $null) { return; }
    gwmi Win32_Process -Filter ("Handle={0}" -f $foundProcess.id ) | 
        % { Add-Member `
            -InputObject $_ `
            -MemberType NoteProperty `
            -Name Owner `
            -Value ($_.GetOwner().User) `
            -PassThru } | 
        select Name, Handle, Owner
}

The four minor changes I made to the @PowerTip script are: 1) it’s functionized, 2) the input is a search string for process (wildcards accepted), 3) it spits out the correct errors if the process can’t be found, and 4) the process handle is added to the results.

Download the script here: http://bitbucket.org/xcud/powershell-snippets/src/tip/Get-PSOwner.psm1

Get-DominosOrderStatus, a profound poshcode contribution

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:17:00 -0500

(tongue set firmly in cheek)

I happened upon Dana Merrick’s blog entry with a ruby script that retrieves an order status from dominos. In the spirit of “anything you can do I can do better” i threw this Psh equivalent together and submitted it to PoshCode.org. It’s phenomenally simple. It makes a request to the Dominos SOAP order status service and selects and displays the order status nodes if they exist.

function Get-DominosOrderStatus($pn) {
  [xml]$content = (new-object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString(
    "http://trkweb.dominos.com/orderstorage/GetTrackerData?Phone=$pn");
  $statii = select-xml -xml @($content) `
    -Namespace @{dominos="http://www.dominos.com/message/"} `
    -XPath descendant::dominos:OrderStatus
  if($statii.Count -gt 0) { $statii | %{ $_.Node } }
  else { "No orders" }
}

Sample Output:

Version               : 1.3
OrderAsOfTime         : 2008-06-04T16:40:48
StoreAsOfTime         : 2008-06-04T16:44:55
StoreID               : 3189
OrderID               : 2008-06-04#73694
Phone                 : 3145551234
ServiceMethod         : Delivery
AdvancedOrderTime     :
OrderDescription      : 2 Small(10") Hand Tossed Pizza

OrderTakeCompleteTime : 2008-06-04T16:27:52
TakeTimeSecs          : 0
CsrID                 : Power
CsrName               :
OrderSourceCode       : Web
OrderStatus           : Out the Door
StartTime             : 2008-06-04T16:27:52
MakeTimeSecs          : 237
OvenTime              : 2008-06-04T16:31:49
OvenTimeSecs          : 360
RackTime              : 2008-06-04T16:37:49
RackTimeSecs          : 179
RouteTime             : 2008-06-04T16:40:48
DriverID              : 0818
DriverName            : Edna
OrderDeliveryTimeSecs :
DeliveryTime          :
OrderKey              : 1dRprcnzmWxaOXvlzj06OlFdzuexcIC/
ManagerID             : 5560
ManagerName           : Danillo

#text : Out the Door

You can download it here: http://bitbucket.org/xcud/powershell-snippets/src/tip/Get-DominosOrderStatus.psm1

Out-AnsiGraph

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:47:00 -0500

Inspired by Chad Miller’s work MSChart I threw this ANSI barchart module together:

#
# Out-AnsiGraph.psm1
# Author:       xcud
# History:
#       v0.1 September 21, 2009 initial version
#
# PS Example> ps | select -first 5 | sort -property VM | 
#             Out-AnsiGraph ProcessName, VM
#                 AEADISRV ███ 14508032
#                  audiodg █████████ 50757632
#                  conhost █████████████ 73740288
# AppleMobileDeviceService ████████████████ 92061696
#                    btdna █████████████████████ 126443520
#
function Out-AnsiGraph($Parameter1=$null) {
	BEGIN {
		$q = new-object Collections.queue
		$max = 0; $namewidth = 0;
	}

	PROCESS {
		if($_) {
			$name = $_.($Parameter1[0]);
			$val = $_.($Parameter1[1])
			if($max -lt $val) { $max = $val}		 
			if($namewidth -lt $name.length) { 
				$namewidth = $name.length }
			$q.enqueue(@($name, $val))			
		}
	}

	END {
		$q | %{
			$graph = ""; 0..($_[1]/$max*20) | 
				%{ $graph += "█" }
			$name = "{0,$namewidth}" -f $_[0]
			"$name $graph " + $_[1]
		}

	}
}

Export-ModuleMember Out-AnsiGraph

Download the script here: http://bitbucket.org/xcud/powershell-snippets/src/tip/Out-AnsiGraph.psm1

MSChart in Psh

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:29:00 -0500

Read Chad Miller’s blog entry on using MSChart from PowerShell. This is another great visualization extension for PowerShell. To make it work:

Download and install Microsoft Chart Controls for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5

Download LibraryChart

The easiest way to enable it is to import the library with a call to ‘Import-Module’. Now run one of the samples:

If you see this error or one like it it’s an easy fix. Edit the lib and edit the input param list in the function “New-Chart” from this:

param ([int]$width,[int]$height,[int]$left,[int]$top,$chartTitle)

To this:

param ([int]$width,[int]$height,[int]$left,[int]$top,[string]$chartTitle)

Voila. Re-import the module and the error is gone. The only item on my wish list for this lib is that it attempt to infer the X and Y fields. A call like this, for example, should be able to (but can’t) infer that xField is ‘name’ and yField is ‘ws’:

ps | Sort-Object WS | select name, ws -first 5 | out-chart

It makes eye-candy. Check this one out. Grab the top 5 memory consuming processes and push them into a relative pie chart that auto-updates itself.

out-chart -chartType ‘pie’ -xField ‘name’ -yField ‘WS’ -scriptBlock { Get-Process | Sort-Object -Property WS | Select-Object Name,WS -Last 5}

enable 'svn commit' from PowerShell

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:12:00 -0500

If you’re trying to use Subversion from the PowerShell command line and you can’t get around this error message:

PS C:\Users\Public\Source> svn commit .

svn: Commit failed (details follow):

svn: Could not use external editor to fetch log message; consider setting the $SVN_EDITOR environment variable or using the —message (-m) or —file (-F) options

svn: None of the environment variables SVN_EDITOR, VISUAL or EDITOR are set, and no ‘editor-cmd’ run-time configuration option was found

Set your SVN_EDITOR preference with this command (substituting “type” for your preferred editor):

PS C:\Users\Public\Source> set-item -path env:SVN_EDITOR -value “type”

back from vacation

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:38:07 -0500

Vacation pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/benvierck/sets/72157621985515336/

I’m not completely back. i have not quite completed re-entry back into my daily work habits. I was a bit gobsmacked at my encounter with the ocean and our history. The vastness of the ocean which it seems to me could swallow us all up in an instant or two and not mind one bit on the one hand. The encounters with historical peoples whose very daily existence represented more adventure than I’ll know in a lifetime are on the other hand.

Tomorrow i’ll shove this aside and do some work on the build process to make this last push to VMWord more productive and I’ll get the next build ready to go for a Monday release.

PowerShell Version Poll

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:10:20 -0500

If you use PowerShell please participate in this poll.

The Developer Is In

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:50:00 -0600

Starting next week I’ll be back in an office again for the first time since September. During these first three months of early R&D stage my office has been wherever my laptop happens to be. We’ve reached a new stage in development that requires more coordination. Tuesdays and Fridays from here out you can find me in my office down the hall from my partner. The nearer we get to release the more days I’ll add to my in-office schedule.

Update … another milestone reached. We will unstealth soon.

vmxbuilder.com

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:21:00 -0600

VMWare utilities maven Robert Petruska has joined forces with Devfarm. Yesterday we debuted the new site where we’ll be distributing Robert’s VMWare Utilities as well the new software that we’ll be building together at http://vmxbuilder.com. JYoseph put together an awesome site design for us.

For those keeping score at home (and starting to connect the dots) this is our second strategic rollout in the past month.

A Rough 30 Days

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:15:06 -0600

It’s been a rough 30 days. Maybe the hardest 30 I’ve had to work through ever which is testament to how soft my life really is. Starting the first week back from vacation our house ran through the Flu twice. It infected everybody for a first pass over the course of 4 days then the same symptoms hit each and every one of us again for the next 2 days. A couple of days later the colds, sniffles, and sneezes hit. The next week ear infections and sinus infections. As a topper strep throat hit us this past week. Oh, and I ruptured an ear drum for good measure.

While all this sickness was going on we got a tree, decorated the house, hosted 3 holiday get-togethers and attended 2 others. And … then there’s the whole matter of the startup that I SHOULD have been cranking out 12 hours a day on. Joe and I did manage to release a cool web service (see http://PingVine.com) that fills a niche and is powered on the back-end by Devfarm software. Still, while you enjoy your Christmas-to-New-Years holiday I’ll be getting a head-start on January to make it The Best Month Ever.

Twitter API 417

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:19:36 -0600

Twitter’s servers have started returning HTTP error 417 for requests that come with an Expect header containing “100-continue”. .NET automatically appends this header to every request. Before executing your WebRequest set this static property to false:

System.Net.ServicePointManager.Expect100Continue = false;

Now you’re forwards-compatible with the API/server change at Twitter.

Editorial Power

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:13:00 -0600

Leave a comment counting to 3 if you secretly sing Britney Spears songs in the shower when you think noone’s listening.

Oh Georgia

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 03:00:00 -0600

We get up in the morning and collectively decide that we’ve had a lot of fun but that we’d all just like to go home so we packed everything up, checked out, and we were on our way out at 8:30am. The GPS said we would be back by 12:30. Knowing that stops for gas and food balance out the time gain we get for speeding just a tad we were hopeful for sane arrival time. I realize now that I should have reset the triptick on my GPS. I’m still kicking myself. Anyway, we pulled out of the hotel drive-thru mickey-dees for some breakfast and get on our way.

Then the hurlfest began in the back seat. Both boys sicked on cue (whose cue? Blues cue — hah! Sorry, parent joke). For fifteen minutes we were stuck barely a block from our hotel. Being the hardy Viking descendants that we are we just started bailing on the go whipping out dirty clothes (outerwear only) as towels. After about an hour the all-clear siren rang and we made it through the rest of the trip without further body fluid cameos.

Which isn’t to say it was a completely uneventful day. Northbound Georgia was just as packed Saturday as Southbound was on Wednesday. We watched as the GPS estimated arrival time slowly creeped up from 12:35a to 2:30a while we plodded along in stop and go traffic for hours. It finally thinned out in the southern suburbs of Atlanta when the highway split in two. Half went each way with us striking off to the Northwest.

Between the light rain and the mountains we lost another 15 minutes or so in Tennessee and Kentucky but we picked them up again in nice flat dry Illinois. At or around 2:30a Sunday morning we finally pulled up into our garage safe and sound. Everyone was tucked in and asleep by 3 including me. And that was that.

Half Epcot, Half Magic Kingdom

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:49:00 -0600

There aren’t alot of things for three year olds to be interested in at Epcot so we decided to ‘skim’ it on our second morning at the park before heading back to the Magic Kingdom.

We rode the Nemo ride. There is a line outside which leads to a room inside which is a line room which when you finish the line and move through the door leads you to the beginning of another line room which when you finish and exit the door deposit you a the beginning of another line room but THAT line leads you to the LAST line room before the ride. It left me with the impression that the line IS the attraction. Still, the kids loved the it once we were through the lines and that’s all that matters. Right?

We strolled around through the international circle around the lake. We took Fish and Chips for lunch in England. Shopped in Morocco. Stood by the Viking ship in Norway.

Picked up craft works in Japan. By the time we made it around to the other side we were all tired and ready for a nap. We walked right by the 1.5 hour+ line for Spaceship Earth and headed back to the hotel. It was all exactly as I remembered it on my very first trip 22 years ago except for the missing Captain EO show (played by Michael Jackson).

While Tempe and the kids napped I went off the grocery store to pick up snack supplies for which we don’t have to mortgage our house to pay for. Around 5 local time everyone got up refreshed and ready for a night in the Magic Kingdom.

I took fewer pictures this evening as it was all about revisitting our favorite rides from the day before. As we came in the park people were lining up getting ready for the 9pm show (and parade?). Tempe took the lead and navigated us around the crowds to Fantasyland and Toontown where we hopped right onto the Teacup ride. There was absolutely no line. Next up, the Barnstormer rollercoaster ride. It was the third time on the ride for Magnus and I.

It was the second time around for Douglas, Becca, and Tempe.

We watched the fireworks show from Liberty Square. Great view, no crowds. I perched Magnus on top of a recycling bin next to me and put Douglas on my shoulders. They both ooh’d and aah’d. Dougie kept saying “Oooh! Red! My favorite color!”. It was very cute.

Next we did the Pirates of the Carribean. Again, no line. Tempe and Becca then went for another ride in the Haunted Mansion this time without the bonus time inside due to technical difficulties while the boys grabbed a snack in Frontierland. Then we met up with Mickey and Minnie again this time then hung out at Minnie’s house for a bit.

As an bookend to the trip we rode on the Small World ride again before heading out. The only other stop was to buy a couple of souveniers.

Overall this nighttime excursion to the Magic Kingdom was 10 times more pleasant than the one the day before. There were practically no lines for any rides (everyone was watching the parade or had already left) and there were no crowds to push through navigating from one place to another.

Inside Magic Kingdom

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 23:01:00 -0600

Took shuttle to parking lot. Rode monorail from lot to Magic Kingdom entrance. Self-took Safety Pictures of the kids in today’s outfits (Tempe’s pessimistic but very good idea). Walked down Main Street. Admired Cinderellas Castle.

Walked (when reading “walked” please note that this term only strictly applies to those over the age of 3) to Fantasy Land. Rode It’s a Small World (I’ll be omitting details about lines except when they surprise us by being short). We grabbed a Fast Pass for the Peter Pan ride not knowing how Fast Passes worked. Got in line for Teacup. Saw Donald across the way. Rode Teacup.

Lunched. Went to Toon Town. Rode Barnstormer which incidentally is the kids First. Ever. Rollercoaster. Weeeeee!

Had audience with Mickey and Mnnie.

Minnie wiggled her nose while doing eskimo kiss with Becca. Got free hats for no apparent reason.

Got on the train. Waited on train for 15 minutes due to parade delay two rows in front of a very unhappy toddler. Rode train to Frontierland. Walked to Adventureland (train does not go to Adventureland due to rampant pirating). Rode Pirate of the Caribbean (no line; thank you parade). Went back to Fantasyland. Rode Dumbo. Rode Carousel. We studied our previously attained Fast Pass to discover that we could redeem it now and so we turned a 60 minute line into 10 minute wait to ride the Peter Pan attraction.

Mostly ate dinner but didn’t really push it after tasting the kids food ourselves. Toured the haunted mansion (ride stopped 4 times due to technical difficulties; extra spooky bonus). Saw Cinderella’s castle at night on the way out.

The photoset has been updated; here.

Florida Wasn't Closed

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:44:00 -0600

Florida wasn’t closed but the line to get in was horrendous. We spent most of the day in bumper to bumper stop and go traffic between from the northern suburbs of Atlanta until we were nearly out of Georgia. Still, we made it safe and sound to our intended destination within 12 hours of our expected time so I’ll take that as a win.

Only one of our three weren’t asleep immediately upon impact with the bed and he (Doug) was singing of Mickey. I grabbed this video:

The flickr photoset is here and updated.