Tag: free software

FLOSS – software which is, by definition, free, libre and open source

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[ Originally posted here:  http://web.archive.org/web/20130918070911/http://onecool1.wordpress.com:80/2008/09/19/microsoft-outlook-2007-imap-exchange-and-moving-those-special-folders-back/ ]

As a Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 user, I have the option of using either Microsoft Outlook for native Exchange mail server connectivity, or using another, open standard protocol such as IMAP.  So, in my finite wisdom, I decided… why not?!


Why not indeed.  The reason for using IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is so that I could use….. wait for it… a non-Microsoft email client with my Microsoft server.  The very notion.  Well, actually it’s not too bad.  You enable the IMAP service on the server, set up the mail account in Thunderbird, and hey presto – log in!

Unfortunately, my client (Mozilla Thunderbird) then seemed to have done certain things which – only now – take my slightly by surprise.
An Exchange mailbox, as standard, contains some basic top-level folders, such as Calendar, Contacts, Deleted Items, Drafts, Inbox, Outbox, Sent Items and Tasks (this is probably not an exhaustive list).  In contrast Thunderbird, by default, contains Inbox, Drafts, Sent, Deleted, Junk and Trash.  So, what’s in a name?

Well, after using Thunderbird/Exchange via IMAP (and not actually noticing this at the time of doing so), a couple of the Exchange folders had disappeared.  I only noticed this later when using Outlook again, and couldn’t locate my Sent Items or Deleted Items folders.  I then found them lurking within my Trash folder.  Ok, so this has got very messy.

It sadly got worse.  Now that these “Special Folders” in Microsoft parlance have been moved, they could not be moved back in Outlook.  When trying to drag “Deleted Items” to my top-level Mailbox, I would be told “Cannot move special items.  Special folders, including the Inbox, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Tasks and Journal folders, cannot be moved.”  Oh, I see.   Although I tried various methods within Outlook to achieve the same thing, I failed miserably.

So what is the solution?  Ironically, going back to Thunderbird and simply dragging the folder from Trash into the top-level mail account/box did it.  It re-sync’ed over IMAP and everything gets copied correctly.  How ridiculous.

The solution is not to run scanpst.exe or scanost.exe, or to start up Outlook using the “Safe” switch, thus:
C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice12OUTLOOK.EXE” /safe

It’s not even starting up Outlook with “Reset Folders”:
C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice12OUTLOOK.EXE” /resetfolders
… or the combination of both.

This is one of those annoying, inexplicable problems that you somehow just get used to.  I hope this helps someone else out there who has suffered the same issue.

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Thunderbird and Firefox are GTK+ apps.  GTK+ is a windowing toolkit that GNU/Linux application developers tend to use when creating software on the GNOME Desktop Environment.

If you decide to switch to an alternative desktop environment, such as KDE, the default settings for GNOME/GTK applications may be ignored.  This is because KDE uses the Qt windowing toolkit instead.

To fix this, you need to do it tell KDE to pick up the GTK settings and apply them to your GTK apps.

In Fedora/CentOS, this is simple:

# yum install qtcurve-gtk2.x86_64

Then in KDE, point to Kicker (the application menu) > system settings > Application Appearance > GTK+ Appearance

Change the Widget Style (dropdown) from Redmond to qtCurve.

More information for Ubuntu users is here:

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Linux User & Developer magazine
– a good read while having your car MOT’d

I was delighted to take my car to Swiftest in Aldershot this morning, for one simple reason (see pic – and no, it wasn’t because of the coffee, although that helps!)

Female Friendly policy:
A Good ThingTM

In fact, there are two good reasons to use Swiftest in Aldershot.  Three, actually.

First, the aforementioned reading material.

Second, the professional, helpful and polite staff (Rob, James & co).

Lastly, it has to be the “Female Friendly” policy.  I was there first thing (7:30am) for my car to be MOT’d, and the only other two customers to come in at this early hour were both female.  I’d say that was testimony enough.

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I remember once watching a documentary on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bodybuilding career (or was it this one?) in the ’70s and early ’80s.

All of the bodybuilders in that golden era had their own training programme managers and promoters.  I recall that one manager/promoter, working for another bodybuilder, loved his own quotes.

These quotes would range from the urbane, “the pen is mightier than the muscle”, to somewhat more characteristically humorous: “remember the golden rule: he who has the gold, makes the rules“.

Well, in the completely unrelated world of PHP programming, this perl of wisdom (sic joke) is worth hanging on to.  Why?  Well, if you have ever used PHP’s variable variables, knowledge of the correct syntax is worth its weight in gold.  It’ll save hours, if not days, of debugging.
So, anyway, I’ve been coding a calendar system for a valued client for the past ten days or so.  My first attempt I pretty much scrapped as it got too complex and almost impossible to debug.  The second version is much better, except for one issue which has been giving me grief until now.

Variable variables in PHP are extremely useful, but I throw in a word of caution immediately: use them sparingly.  It can be easy to quickly lose track of what’s called what and why it’s there.  Especially if any single script is 400+ lines long.

To set a variable variable, it’s easier to start off giving a value to an ordinary variable:

$myVar = "myVarVar";

Now, I want to create a variable variable with the name $myVarVar, so this is how it’s done:


$$myVar = "this is my variable variable";

To see the contents of the variable variable, you can do either of the following:


echo $$myVar;     // or
echo $myVarVar; 

Both will output “this is my variable variable” to the screen/page.

Snooker Loopy
Things start getting interesting when you introduce arrays and loops. Take the following example:


for($i=0; $i<4; $i++) {
$myVar = "myVarVar".$i;
$$myVar = "  Variable variable £".$i;
}
creates and produces:

echo $myVarVar0; // "Variable variable #0"
echo $myVarVar1; // "Variable variable #1"
echo $myVarVar2; // "Variable variable #2"
echo $myVarVar3; // "Variable variable #3"

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Stencil of a shopping cart with the head of th...I

Last week

Work

  • [X] It’s all about the shopping cart system :-), but if there’s any time left…
  • [X] Organise and attend various 1-2-1 meetings
  • [-] Update CRM database with new data/purge old
  • [-] Modify company site (content/volume/images)
  • [-] Price review
  • [ ] Review marketing and sketch out action plan
  • [-] Finish templates for sales process
  • [-] Finish help documentation for new web-based calendar tool

Life

  • [ ] Continue documentation effort for F/LOSS project
  • [X] Kung Fu – reacquaint myself with yellow sash routines
  • [ ] Swimming x 2

Misc

  • [ ] Cook something I’ve never cooked before
  • [ ] Test a couple of lenses for the DSLR

This week

Intentionally short in number but still high in volume.
Work

  • [ ] Continue the Zend Framework shopping cart system
  • [ ] Produce marketing data
    – [ ] Mail merge
    – [ ] Review & print
    – [ ] Envelope
  • [ ] Attend networking training
  • [ ] Attend other networking event (optional)

Life

  • [ ] Continue documentation effort for F/LOSS project
  • [ ] Swimming x 1 
  • [ ] Attend wedding party

Misc

  • [ ] Get presents/cards
  • [ ] Cook something I’ve never cooked before
  • [ ] Test a couple of lenses for the DSLR
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(to view all photos in this article, visit my flickr photoset)

I’ve been needing a netbook for work for a little while.  So, chancing upon Martin Lewis‘s wonderful MoneySavingExpert web site, this article on cheaper netbooks was the prompt I needed.

My main criteria for a netbook were:

  • Battery life as long as possible.
  • With my large hands, it must be as ergonomic and accommodating as possible.
  • Preferably without Windows.  What’s the point of paying for something I won’t use? 
  • Linux must work well on it.
  • As light & small as possible.

Given that nearly all early (pre dual core) netbooks are based on Intel’s Atom / 945 mobile chipset, most of the above criteria were already met.  Ergonomically, I’d read that each netbook had its foibles, so this point was moot.  The battery life was, for me, the deciding factor, which is why I chose a Samsung N130: the only model in the discounted range which ships with a 6-cell battery.  In ideal circumstances, this will last 6 hours.


Order process, shipping, packing and unpacking

The Argos outlet on eBay accepted only PayPal payments, but this didn’t matter to me.  The purchase process was as painless as you could expect.  I ordered the unit on a Friday morning.  On a Monday morning, at my office, it arrived courtesy of a cheery DHL delivery chap.  No complaints so far!

The packing itself was as you’d expect: satisfactory for the job, with nothing much else to note.  Unboxing the unit was a quick affair, and before long I had a shiny netbook on my desk.  Considering this unit is classed as “refurbished”, I could see absolutely no defect or mark on it whatsoever.  I would have been very happy were this brand new.

Plugging in, powering on, first impressions

When unpacking the device, I was impressed with the general feel of it.  The plastic shell feels robust and the lid action is smooth.  Instead of a clasp, the lid clamps to the base by means (I’m guessing) of a magnet arrangement, which has a lovely feel about it.  Furthermore, Fedora behaves as expected, going straight into standby when the lid is closed.

The weight of the unit was good too.  Before I put the battery in, that is.  After that, the weight felt subjectively like it had more than doubled, which would put some people off I’d imagine. However, it’s hardly as heavy as my laptop so by my standards it’s still very light.  A positive effect of the battery unit is in providing more stability while on a desk, and more resistance to the motion of closing/opening the lid.  All together, it works well.

Along the front, left of the touchpad, are 5 LEDs.  I question the value of having an “on” LED in addition to a “charging” LED, but these are tiny devices so power consumption is likely to be equally tiny.  Besides, if unplugged, the charging LED isn’t illuminated. Again, another moot point.

The feel of the keyboard is good. There isn’t a compromise in terms of key press action, although to fit in a full QWERTY keyboard, some compromises in layout have had to take place. As you can see, the hash (#)/tilde and right square-bracket/brace keys are squashed in, but the compromise is acceptable.

Fedora installation and general usage

I use Fedora, CentOS and Red Hat in my day job, so for me it’s the architecture that I prefer due to familiarity (which, in this case, has not yet bred contempt!).

Using the usblive-creator tool in F13 on my laptop, I was able to set up a USB drive with a Fedora 12 live CD image, ready to boot and install on the netbook.  I’d opted for F12 because I’ve had issues with mobile broadband on F13 that worked fine on F12, and mobility is the primary goal here.  A quick change to the boot order in the BIOS and it was good to go.


I was surprised how quickly the installation completed.  After having read about Atoms generally being slow processors, I’d expected an unhealthy dose of lethargy when installing the OS.  The first boot wasn’t particularly tardy either (and this is running on a 160GB Toshiba hard drive with Fedora’s default encrypted LVM set up).  It’s comparable to my HP laptop (2007 model) with a Turion TL-60 (@2GHz) w/4GiB RAM (@667MHz).  In usage, though, it’s somewhat slower than the AMD laptop, taking considerably longer to load up Firefox (with half as many extensions, too).

As hoped, my Huawei E270 mobile broadband dongle worked straight away.  I was also pleased that the webcam worked with no effort whatsoever (screenshot shows Cheese; ’nuff said)! So, what doesn’t work straight away?

  • Brightness controls on the keyboard.  Probably fixed easily by identifying the char code generated with the keystroke and binding it to the dim/brightening function in GConf (he says, having no real clue..)
  • Wireless.  I believe a Broadcom 4312 is under the bonnet, so this shouldn’t be a hard fix with a quick visit to linuxwireless.org.
  • Some things I haven’t tested yet, like monitor switching and the built-in microphone.  But everything else seems to work fine.

A bit more on ergnomics

It has taken me a little while to get used to the layout of the keyboard and touchpad.  A problem I am overcoming slowly is that the touchpad’s two buttons are actually a single, rocker-style button.  It sits flush to the surface of the base, and this lack of tactile feel I find awkward.  I often find my thumb in the wrong position, mistakenly pressing on the bottom of the touchpad rather than the left button.  The pointer then jumps across the screen instead of clicking on the intended widget.  A small but annoying issue.

Also, the keyboard is great to use while typing (as I do here, writing this review on the N130) but for cursor positioning it can become more tricky.  Hitting CTRL-End to position the cursor at the end of some text, for example, is now CTRL-Fn-PgDn(End), given the multi-function aspect of the PgDn(End) key.  Likewise, the cursor keys are just a shade on the small side.  But these are minor complaints in the overall picture.

Final analysis

Taking into account the annoyances, weighing them against the needs of the many… I would have to have to award this machine 8/10.  At £150 (incl VAT) + £4 postage, it has exceeded my expectations.  Sure, it’s not perfect, but the price, utility and solid build get my vote.  I would recommend one for a partner, friend or colleague….. maybe even a parent 😉

Oh, there is one thing about it that I couldn’t understand.  There was this sticker on the top which made no sense (“Designed for Windows XP”).  Surely you design an operating system for target hardware and not the other way around..?  Well, regardless, I think the new location for the sticker makes much more sense.  🙂


< – old

new ->

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Well Apple-lovers, you sure do choose interesting products. Like the iPod; a “revolutionary” portable audio player, being probably the first to have a non-replaceable battery. I might be wrong, having done no research on the subject, but this was enough to turn me off. Let alone the insistence of using iTunes.

Or the iPad; the computer-but-not-a-computer consumer device that let’s you do anything you want with your media.  So long as it is on Apple’s terms.  I don’t get why someone as apparently intellectual as Stephen Fry gets so excited about it. Yes, it’s so exciting, in fact, that I’d go immediately to iPad.com and check it out!

The iPad. I mean, for goodness sake, it’s a laptop without a keyboard, but with potentially harmful restrictions, a proprietary operating system and about as much appeal as a colonoscopy. According to Fry, it also has no “multitasking, still no Adobe Flash. No camera, no GPS”. But it does have a touch-screen and 3D desktop effects… Perhaps that’s why the Free Software Foundation dropped “Freedom” Fry’s video from their homepage: who’d want to appear as hypocritical as that?

And then there’s the iPhone. This is the biggy. Apple are using typical Microsoft-like tactics here.  Make an “irresistable” upgrade, probably for free or very cheap, and subtly attach some conditions to it. This time, as exposed in Giorgio Sironi’s blog post, The Apple of Sin, the condition is that you must only develop iPhone applications in languages prescribed to you by Apple.

The reasons, given by Giorgio, are pretty clear: Apple want to kill any chance of Flash appearing on the iPhone, else it might be inconsistent with the new iPad policy.

So, Mac users, be aware that your choice of platform may well come to haunt you in a year or two, when Apple extends this anti-Flash policy to OS X.  There is one nice aspect of this, though: Apple might just force Adobe to open-source Flash.  Then will follow a review-and-embrace process, where Flash gains recognition as an open standard.

Then we’ll see if Apple is embracing open standards as it “seems” to be with its current policies.  If not, then you’ll get more choice of hardware and software if you choose Windows. And even more if you opt for Linux and, not only would that be cheaper, you would also retain your right to choose what you do with it.

Sorry about that. 😉

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I recently ‘dented’ (tweeted on identi.ca) a question to a group of software developers: what music do they listen to that is conducive to coding?I received a variety of answers, with just as wide-ranging tastes as you could expect, really. Clearly, I hadn’t conducted a very economic experiment. Perhaps I was asking the wrong question.

The question I should have asked is this: which music do you listen to that evokes a calm, creative and logical state of mind? In other words, I needed to key-word the question to (a) elicit greater impact on the reader and (b) give the question more scope, more context.

The premise of the question is the science behind brainwaves. Apparently, alpha waves in the brain (those which occur at between 8-13Hz [cycles per second]) are the most conducive to creative AND logical thinking. It is commonly associated with a meditative state of mind, deeply relaxed, daydreaming, fantasizing and creatively visualising various scenarios.

This dispels some notion that left brain/right brain dominance exists. I can’t remember which is which, but it is said that the right hemisphere is more creative and the left, more logical/analytical. Or vice versa.

But this alpha wave state could, in fact, also support such dominance, if it allowed for the idea of submission of the dominant region during periods of relaxation. In other words, we will have one personality profile when active, busy, even stressed, and another profile when relaxed, calm, clear.

It follows, then, the people seeking to produce creative works – whether it be software code, writing, visual art or music, should always seek the best environment to create alpha brain waves. Music is just one component; meditation, light scents, lighting, physical comfort and staying hydrated also contribute, as does the avoidance of caffiene and alcohol.

But for me, most of all, it’s music.  And quite often, that’s trance. 😉