Norse Technologies Knowledge Base Free Knowledge Articles

Google makes the really neat program Picasa 3 for managing and editing photo/image collections. Since Microsoft Windows it a travesty and I therefore use Linux as much as possible, I was in need of a better and more stable photo management software to replace the buggy unstable F-Spot program. To my glee I found that Google releases a Debian version suitable for using under Ubuntu’s flavor of Debian Linux. I love you Google. Anyway, it was still a 2-step process, which would frighten most Windows users, but this bit of work in the beginning assures that I am using reputable sources for software that can be installed without visiting a website or downloading anything from a web server, as I would have to do if using Windows. Not to mention that by being forced to the wild web in order to download all applications and software just opens up a computer to problems because the user must decide which software makers to trust, not a good situation for casual users who aren’t in touch enough with the current “scene” to be able to make an educated decision about which company’s software is trustworthy and which are not. Alas, I digress…

To install Picasa on Ubuntu:

1. Create a backup copy of your file: /etc/apt/sources.list
2. Edit /etc/apt/sources.list using “sudo” and the editor of your choice e.g. vi, vim, gedit.
3. Add the following line:
   deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ testing non-free
4. Save the file.
5. Update apt-get’s repository list using: sudo apt-get update
6. Try to install Picasa now: sudo apt-get install picasa
7. If it installs, then Hooray! You’re done! However, if you get an error like the following, then proceed to the next steps:
   W: GPG error: The following signatures couldn’t be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 1234567890123456
   W: There is no public key available for the following key IDs:  1234567890123456
8. The long number will be different for you, and you’ll need it for the next step.
9. Run the following commands, substituting 1234567890123456 with the number from your error messages:
   gpg –keyserver pgpkeys.mit.edu –recv-key  1234567890123456
   gpg -a –export 1234567890123456 | sudo apt-key add –
10. Assuming that you get success, and you should as long as there’s no typos, try again to install Picasa directly with Ubuntu apt-get:
    sudo apt-get install picasa
11. Picasa will download and install, you may be required to verify that process before it proceeds, though.

Check put these for a bit more info, and the source of the steps needed for this process:
[Debian] Apt-get : NO_PUBKEY / GPG error
Howto Install Picasa 3.5 in ubuntu

Posted under Freeware, Graphic, Linux, Software

The most awesome emulator of all time, puTTY.exe, just got even easier to use. Along with loggiong automatically into a SSH session add the Windows shortcut that loads a saved session and launches it, now you have one click shell access to your Linux host from your Windows PC.

Here’s how:

1. Download puTTY.exe
2. Save it to the folder  C:\puTTY\
3. Open a Windows Explorer window in C:\puTTY\
4. Run puTTY.exe once, and create a “saved session”, making note of what you name it. My example below uses the name my neatly named Saved Session
5. Right-click-drag puTTY.exe and drop it next to itself, this creates a shortcut to the .exe file.
6. Right-click the shortcut you just created, on the popup menu click Properties.
7. In the Target box, add -load “your-saved-session-name” after C:\putty\putty.exe
8. The final content in the target box should look like:

   C:\putty\putty.exe -load "my neatly named Saved Session"

9. Save the shortcut. Viola! Move or copy this shortcut anywhere you like (e.g. your Desktop, your QuickLaunch toolbar, your custom explorer toolbar, etc.) and you have 1-click access to a command prompt on your Linux / Unix host.

Enjoy!

Posted under Apple, Freeware, Linux, Microsoft, Network, Software, WebDev, ZyXel

Thanks to Mike Dent’s efforts and OTRS, we now know how a CSV file can be imported into the MySQL database directly. Here is the sample code:

mysql> load data infile '/tmp/otrs_test.txt' into table customer_user
fields terminated by '\t' lines terminated by '\r' (first_name,
last_name, address, postcode, phone1, email, customer_id, valid_id,
create_time, create_by, change_time, change_by, login);

Make sure to import all the required fields (that is, the ones that the database requires, see the table schema for details, >show table x;)

Posted under Freeware, MySQL, WebDev

From the MySQL website:

For input, if the FIELDS ESCAPED BY character is not empty, occurrences of that character are stripped and the following character is taken literally as part of a field value. Some two-character sequences that are exceptions, where the first character is the escape character. These sequences are shown in the following table (using “\” for the escape character). The rules for NULL handling are described later in this section.

\0	An ASCII NUL (0x00) character
\b	A backspace character
\n	A newline (linefeed) character
\r	A carriage return character
\t	A tab character.
\Z	ASCII 26 (Control-Z)
\N	NULL

For more information about “\”-escape syntax, see Section 8.1, “Literal Values”.

Posted under Freeware, MySQL

In modern Microsoft Windows operating systems and all Unix / Linux systems the system clock time can be set automatically. The computer will connect to a special server on the Internet called a Network Time Protocol server, and get the current universal time, and then adjust it according to the local time zone on the computer. It keeps the computer clock very accurate and corrects drift before it can become much of a problem.

We recommend using a reliable server: pool.ntp.org

A wonderful group of generous folks provide this extremely reliable cluster of computers for us all to use, free of charge. Thank you NTP Pool Project and all the participants!

Posted under Freeware, Linux, WebDev

When logged in to the MySQL server using the command line interface (CLI) the  generated errors on the previously run command.

mysql> show warnings;

Thanks to Trevor Nichols and www.issociate.de

Posted under Freeware, MySQL

When using MySQL, and wanting to retrieve the first n records from a table, one can use the LIMIT function. It can also be used to grab a range of records, not just a series starting with the first record. Use as follows:

SELECT * FROM yourtable LIMIT yourlowlimit,yourhighlimit;

This will return all rows between the number yourlowlimit and yourhighlimit inclusive.

e.g. SELECT FROM users LIMIT 20,50
will return the rows 20, 21, 22,…, 49, 50

Thanks to dmxzone.com

Posted under Freeware, MySQL

The code in the HTML/PHP markup would look something like:

<?php mysql_query("DELETE FROM yourtable WHERE yourfield='yourvalue' ")
or die(mysql_error()); ?>

This code deletes any record from the table named “yourtable” when that record’s field named “yourfield” is identically equal to “yourvalue”. The names of these objects will, of course, be replaced by the unique names that your set up uses.

Source: tizag.com – excellent tutorials on all kinds of coding, programming, and other technical stuff.

Posted under Freeware, MySQL, WebDev

The redistributable package of Adobe Reader 9.1, without Adobe AIR or Download Manager bundled. This is the simple Reader-only package installer, no Internet connection needed once it is downloaded.

Find all current special offers on Adobe products.

Download

…

Adobe Download: Adobe Reader 9.1

If there is ever a problem when a PDF document is viewed, such as an error generated by Adobe or a failure to print the PDF file, then reinstalling the program is the best option. To do this, simply:

1. Uninstall any currently installed “Adobe Acrobat Reader” programs in the Control Panel’s Add/Remove programs (in Windows Vista and Windows 7 it is called “Programs and Features”).
2. If there are problems uninstalling Acrobat, such as an error such as “THE PATCH PACKAGE COULD NOT BE OPENED. Verify the patch package exists and you can access it, or contact the application vendor.” then do the following sub-routine:
   1. Download Microsoft’s Clean Up Utility.
   2. Run it to install the Clean Up program.
   3. Now run the Clean Up Utility program by clicking Start > All Programs > Windows Install Clean Up
   4. In the list of program that the utility offers fins Acrobat Reader, click once on it to select its line, then click the Remove button.
   5. Download and install Acrobat Reader from the link provided above.
   6. Once it is installed, now uninstall it in the Control Panel’s Add/Remove programs (in Windows Vista and Windows 7 it is called “Programs and Features”).
3. Install the Acrobat program after downloading it from the link above. The program has been “reinstalled” now. This reinstallation takes care of most problems that can occur in Reader, and it’s plugin / add-on for Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.

There have been some mentions of an Adobe Cleanup Tool or Adobe Uninstall Tool made to uninstall Reader manually, but these are still unavailable from the Adobe website to the public. Perhaps their technical support staff can provide the utility if a customer contacts them, as one blogger stated.

Posted under Browsers, Downloads, Freeware, Microsoft

When transferring file directory structures between linux / Unix hosts, usinf FTP was what came to mind.  FTP has been used for many transfers in the past, but when forced (read:allowed) to use the command line to transfer files, the MGET and other FTP related commands were useless. So google to the rescue, and up pops this great simple writeup about how to copy host-to-host using the SCP command. Sweetness defined.

In essence:

scp -vr -P 2222 ./* REMOTEUSERNAME@REMOTEHOSTNAME.TLD:/FULL/UNIX/PATH/TO/DESTINATION/FOLDER/(OR/FILENAMES.ABC)

This command will Verbosely and Recirsively do it’s thang. It will contact the remote host on port 2222 instead of the default port 22 used for SSH. The remote username is the unix username, and the remote hostname is the full DNS name or IP address of the remote unix box. The destination path is reltive to the root of the system, NOT relative to the user’s home dirtectory.

Have fun, and leave FTP for transferring single files or batches of files inside a single directory container only.

Posted under Freeware, Linux, Network