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| FoxRockX July Issue! |
2010/07/05 |
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The July/August issue of FoxRockX is hitting the streets now. You can download it now! Details? Subscriptions here and on the July issue here.
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| Making Sense of Sedna and SP2 |
2010/06/01 |
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You thought VFP 9 was the last of the line? Think again. Service Pack 2 includes major reporting enhancements and Vista compatibility. Sedna is the name for a collection of open source components that provide improved developer tools and better interoperability with SQL Server and .NET. And like the predecessors, What's New In VFP 7/8/9, this book tells you what you need to use all of these tools. See details and a complete table of contents here.
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| FoxRockX May Issue! |
2010/05/28 |
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The May/June issue of FoxRockX is hitting the streets now. You can download it now! Details? Subscriptions here and on the May issue here.
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| FoxRockX March Issue! |
2010/03/28 |
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The March/April issue of FoxRockX is hitting the streets now. You can download it now! Details? Subscriptions here and on the March issue here.
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| FoxRockX January Issue! |
2010/01/25 |
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The January/February issue of FoxRockX is hitting the streets now. You can download it now! Details? Subscriptions here and on the January issue here.
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| FoxRockX November Issue! |
2009/11/11 |
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The November/December issue of FoxRockX is hitting the streets now. You can download it now! Details? Subscriptions here and on the November issue here.
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| Effective Techniques, 2nd Ed. (VFP 9.0) |
2009/10/26 |
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The long-awaited update to our first book, Effective Techniques, is now available for purchase as an e-book (PDF.) Jim Booth has updated the book to cover VFP 9.0's new capabilities and offers additional techniques now available. See details and a complete table of contents here.
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| FoxRockX September Issue! |
2009/9/14 |
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The September/October issue of FoxRockX is hitting the streets now. You can download it now! Details? Subscriptions here and on the September issue here.
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| FoxRockX July Issue! |
2009/8/06 |
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The July/August issue of FoxRockX is hitting the streets next Monday. Along with the Usual Suspects, Eric Selje makes his debut with an article on Test-Driven Development and FoxUnit. You can download it now! Details? Subscriptions here and on the July issue here.
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| FoxRockX May Issue! |
2009/5/07 |
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The May issue of FoxRockX is hitting the streets. Better... you can download it now! Details? Subscriptions here and on the May issue here.
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| DokuWiki Book is here (almost) |
2009/5/4 |
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A wiki is one of those tools that, once you include it in your software developer tooklkit, you'll wonder
how you ever got along without it. I've searched long and hard for a wiki that
met my needs as an independent software developer, and DokuWiki is my choice. As always, I had to
write about it. The first few chapters are available now and all the info, including a very detailed table of contents, is
here.
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| FoxRockX March Issue! |
2009/3/01 |
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The March issue of FoxRockX is hitting the streets. Better... you can download it now! Details? Subscriptions here and on the March issue here.
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| The Visual FoxPro Stack! |
2009/1/10 |
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The most exciting news about Visual FoxPro in a long time... Ken Levy discusses the VFP Stack in FoxRockX this month. Info on subs here and on the January issue here.
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| FoxRockX January Issue! |
2009/1/01 |
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The January issue of FoxRockX is hitting the streets. Better... you can download it now! Details? Subscriptions here and on the January issue here.
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| FoxRockX November Issue! |
2008/11/01 |
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The November issue of FoxRockX is hitting the streets. Better... you can download it now! Details? Subscriptions here and on the November issue here.
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| FoxRockX September Issue! |
2008/9/01 |
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The September issue of FoxRockX is hitting the streets. Better... you can download it now! Details? Subscriptions here and on the September issue here.
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| Musings on Twitter |
2008/6/15 |
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It's said that 99.9% of the people have never heard of Twitter, and the other 0.1% are addicted to it. I've joined the latter group, kicking and screaming, but I now can't live without it. As a 50-something FoxPro and Linux greybeard, it was embarrassing at the start, but I'm now
convinced that IT professionals need to have Twitter in their lives. Read the whole boring story why here.
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| FoxRockX is coming! |
2008/3/09 |
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Many of you remember FoxTalk, the monthly newsletter that, before Eli Journals got their grimy little hands on it, used to be worth something. Heck, even I remember it. Well, nifty news for you old FoxTalk fans. The successor to FoxTalk, FoxRockX, is coming! Subscriptions to FoxTalk 2.0 have been taken over and will be fulfilled with FoxRockX issues. We're taking orders now and will be shipping the first issue within the next two weeks. More details on subscriptions here and on the inaugural issue here.
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| Synchronizing Your Palm Treo with Google Calendar |
2008/2/25 |
A group of elitist snobs out there disparage the Palm Treo for one reason or another, but for those of us who have work to get done, it's a great device - combining a phone and a Palm Pilot in one moderately compact device. Its fully-functional Web browser, Blaser, provides access to most websites (unlike crippled browsers from competitors that don't enable cookies or javascript), including... Google Calendar. This makes the Treo a perfect device for multiple members of a group to use for a synchronized calendar. This paper shows you the tricks. The article is here.
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| Reconfiguring the MBR for Multiple Installations |
2007/12/05 |
I've written a couple of articles on multiple boot configurations. Upon adding a third operating system to a dual-boot machine, I managed to overwrite the machine's MBR (master boot record) so that it pointed to the wrong bootloader. This paper addresses the solution. The article is here.
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| Linux Graphical Disk Space Tools |
2007/11/10 |
While hard disk space is cheap, it isn't free, and it often comes up short at the most inconvenient times. Just what is taking up so much space on your hard disk and why the #&$@! do you only have 26K left in ~? Here are some tools that provide a graphical view of the files and directories on your hard disk, and, in some cases, on all network drives as well. The article is here.
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| Thoughts about Visual FoxPro 10 |
2007/9/4 |
I get asked for my opinion on the future of Fox fairly often. After we ship a book, those questions increase in frequency for a while.
The release of the MySQL + VFP book has caused a significant spike in questions; perhaps because it melds two generations of applications - monolithic proprietary desktops and open source database backends. This time, I thought I'd write up a page for folks instead of trying to write an original email each time I get asked.
There are several variations on this question. They range from the maddingly vague ("WHat do you think the Future of Fox is?") to the unnervingly specific ("We have a 17 user network running of on on . Will VFP keep running on this network for the next 15 years?")
I'll try to answer a couple of the appropriately specific without repeating myself over and over. And over and over and over.
Read the rest...
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| MySQL Client-Server Applications with Visual FoxPro now on sale |
2007/8/13 |
After far too long a wait, the eagerly awaited companion to our Client/Server Apps with VFP and SQL Server book from years ago is here. The brand new 414 page MySQL Client-Server Applications with Visual FoxPro covers Client-Server apps from the perspective of the hugely popular open-source SQL database, MySQL. Learn how to install, configure MySQL and then connect specifically with VFP. Then get your hands dirty bringing data - both flat files and DBFs - into MySQL databases. Build a variety of user interfaces. Learn about development and deployment scenarios with this multi-platform backend. Each step of the way, real world problems ('What if the connection fails?') and potential solutions will be discussed.
Visual FoxPro has long been the perfect front end for client-server
applications. Featuring a robust programming language, a full-featured
IDE, and a powerful object model, rich client development has always
been a joy. Inside, a native local data engine, integrated hooks into
binding with remote data, and Rushmore technology make VFP your secret
weapon when connecting to SQL back-ends.
MySQL is the world's most popular open source SQL database, running on
Windows, Linux, and Macintosh platforms. Version 5 incorporates
"big-iron" features like stored procedures and transactions.
These features, together with the royalty free runtime model of VFP and
the open source licensing of MySQL make client-server applications built
with these tools the most powerful and economical combination on the planet.
Shipping on August 30, you can pre-order now and download the ebook in PDF format to get a head start on your first MySQL C/S app!
Details are here, including a table of contents and, natch, info on ordering.
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| Dual-Boot with Fedora Core 6 and Windows XP |
2007/02/06 |
Not everyone has a half-dozen computers in their office or home so that they can use a separate machine for each OS they want to work with. After all, Tom Watson of IBM once said that he couldn't imagine a need for more than five computers in the entire world. As a result, setting up a single machine to host more than one operating system is a common requirement. Unfortunately, much of the reference material out there is old or inappropriate for a dual boot of Fedora's latest release and the tried-and-true Windows XP. Here's how to get the two to co-exist nicely on the same computer with a minimum of fuss, and not too much Linux expertise either!
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| Managing Linux Services with chkconfig |
2006/11/17 |
The Linux command, chkconfig, allows you to
configure the automatic start and stop of services in the /etc/rc.d/init.d
scripts via a command line interface. Here's
a ten minute guide to using chkconfig.
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| Resetting the Root Password in Linux |
2006/10/21 |
So, Bunky, you forgot your root password,
eh? Or maybe you've inherited a machine for which someone else set
the password and said password wasn't handed down to you. Or perhaps
an administrative mistake left a server hidden away in some back corner
with an old password that no one remembers anymore. In any case, if
you've got physical access to the machine and a little bit of time,
you can probably reset the root password with the methods in
this article which in itself is a cautionary
tale about security (but that's another article).
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| My Favorite Firefox Add-on |
2006/8/10 |
There's a nifty add-on for Firefox that allows you to manipulate the
engines in the Search Engine drop-down in the Firefox toolbar.
- You can change the position of the engines simply by dragging them
from one place to another.
- You can sort the entire list alphabetically (and reverse-alpha) with a
single click.
- You can delete engines you don't want. (eBay?)
1. Open Firefox.
2. Select the "Add Engines..." link in the Search Engine drop-down.
3. The Firefox Add-ons page opens.
4. Enter "Search Engine Order" in the search text box in the upper right
corner.
5. Two results will probably be displayed. You want the one named
"Search Engine Ordering 0.9.6" (or something similar.)
After you install, close Firefox and restart. The engine manipulation
functionality is now "built-in" to the drop-down. This is how software _should_ work.
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| Flying Fox: Applying VFP Reporting to Any Data, in any Environment now on sale |
2006/7/10 |
VFP legend Lisa Slater-Nicholls has teamed up with our friend from across the pond, Rainer Becker, to
produce a new Visual FoxPro book that covers the use of VFP as a reporting front end for any type of back-end data. Much to my
delight, she uses MySQL as her sample back-end through 150 pages of wise and targeted advice. Like a number of our books, this is
one that you'll want to read several times in order to "become one" with the concepts and techniques; it will grow with you upon
each reading. Rainer's group has published it and asked us to distribute printed copies here in the U.S. (Folks in Europe and
parts that-a-way should order direct from him while those in Oceania and thereabouts have their choice.) Details are here, including a brief table of contents and, natch, info on ordering.
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| Ballmer Spoof Video |
2006/6/12 |
This one has been making the rounds. In case you'd not
seen it yet, it's kinda cute.
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| How hard could it be? |
2006/6/1 |
Ever said that to yourself? Alan Bourke points out this
link
on something really simple. Ted Roche adds, "Vista: where simple
things are difficult and difficult things are fixed in SP2"
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| Fedora Core 5 Installation and Configuration whitepaper |
2006/5/28 |
I'll bet that you're thinking this weekend, as it unofficially marks the beginning
of the summer, would be a good time to dig out that spare machine and finally get around to
learning something about Linux. And if that's what you're thinking,
here's an updated version of
my "Installing Fedora Core" whitepaper, targeted at the latest version, Fedora Core 5.
Just in time for those of you who are thinking about using MySQL on a Linux server!
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| No, this is not my license plate... |
2006/5/27 |
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There's been a long thread on a list I
frequest about the ridiculousness and bullying attitude of the
various Microsoft EULAs, and then I saw this in a local parking
lot yesterday. Too funny to pass up. |
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| MySQL Client-Server Applications with Visual FoxPro |
2006/5/25 |
As you've probably heard, all my VFP development over the past seven years has been with
a SQL backend, and over the past four, that backend has usually been MySQL.
It's the perfect complement to VFP - inexpensive, fast, and with 5.0's
introduction of stored procedures, triggers, views and transactions,
there are precious few VFP applications out there that need to spend the
'big' bucks for the 'big' backends. Even better, it'll run on darn near
any OS that you have lying around - Windows, Linux, Mac, and others.
It's worth a look, to say the least.
I've been putting together my notes on VFP and MySQL this spring,
and have had a few people review early chapters. A number of folks
have asked when they could get their hands on it, and although the
book isn't done, it's ready for advanced ordering. The first two chapters
are available for download as you read this, and I'll be releasing
chapters 3 and 4 this weekend. Interested in plunking down a couple
bucks now so you can get started? Details, including a long (but still
tentative) table of contents, are here.
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| Microsoft says to run Office
in 'safe' mode until mid-June |
2006/5/24 |
A particularly nasty 'zero-day' exploit has forced Microosft to advise their
customers to run Microsoft Office in 'safe' mode until a fix can be released. Details
here. The company says they expect a fix to be available by the middle of June, so you're stuck until then.
Or..... you could run Office in 'safe' mode like we do here - by using
OpenOffice.org. Version 2.0 has been out for a few months and is well
worth the few minutes it takes to install. It'll run side-by-side
with Office, if you just want to give it a try. And, by the way, we've
been using OOo to write, edit and publish our books since 2002, in
case you're concerned that it might not be 'heavy duty' enough for
your needs! Download here.
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| Visual FoxPro Best Practices ebook now on sale |
2006/5/5 |
So you missed GLGDW 2006 much to your chagrin,
eh? You wanted to go, but couldn't shake loose for the weekend in
question. Well, here's your chance to pick up on the lowdown at the
event, via the conference proceedings. 415 pages of whitepapers covering
every session, plus source code and slides, and a couple of extra
goodies, all put together in one neat package. Here
are the details, including a very detailed (17 pages) table of
contents and info on ordering.
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Download Updates
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10/1: Additional files for What's New in Nine Chapter 7 source code available.
(More)
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6/5: Update to BuildFox source code available. Slight update to code on page 317.... (More)
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| 5/13: Chapter 9 (draft) for Linux Transfer
for Web Admins posted. Chapter 9 covers Dealing with Attacks...
(More)
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| 5/1:
Chapter 8 (draft) for Linux Transfer
for Web Admins posted. Chapter 8 covers Additional Security
Issues... (More)
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