Owner: Jason Slater Weblog URL:http://www.jasonslater.co.uk Join Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:11:39 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: blogging about technology Site statistics:Click here
Database Normalisation (Making Sense of Data) - 3NF Third Normal Form 2007-04-23 12:46:00 3NF or Third Normal
FormFor a proposed data table to meet 3NF requirements it must already be 2NF. The further requirements for 3NF are very similar to 2NF however we must now compare non-key fields with each other (remember in 2NF we were comparing non-key fields with parts of a combined primary key).So, in our previous example we ended up with 2 tables.Table 1: Username,Computer with a Primary Key of (Username,Computer)Table 2: Username,Fullname with a Primary Key of (Username)As it is our tables would both meet 3NF requirements however to demonstrate the point lets add some more fields to Table 2. Say, Address, Postcode and Email Address.Table 2: Username,Fullname,Address,Postcode, Email Address with a Primary Key of (Username)So,If we know the Fullname can we find out Address,Postcode, or Email Address ? NO because the person may have multiple addressesIf we know the Address can we find out Fullname,Postcode, or Email Address ? NO because more than one person may live at the addres Read more:Database
, Sense
Database Normalisation (Making Sense of Data) - 2NF Second Normal Form 2007-04-23 12:29:00 2NF or SecondNormal
FormThe very first step to ensuring a proposed data table will meet 2NF (Second Normal Form)requirements is that the table must already be 1NF.That said, if the 1NF table has a primary key that is just one field (not a group of fields working together) then it is automatically 2NF.The idea here is that for every part of the primary key we need to ascertain whether we could identify any non-primary key field. So, in the previous example we ended up with the following:Username,Fullname,Computerwith a Primary Key of (Username,Computer)Now, we need to ascertain the following:Can we identify the Fullname just by the Username - YES we can. So this does not meet 2NF requirements. Ie, Fullname is not functionally dependent on the Primary Key (Username,Computer) for identification.Can we identify the Fullname just by the Computer - NO because the computer (laptop, mac, pc) may be owned by many people in the database.This means that to make the table meet 2NF requirements we Read more:Database
, Sense
2000 hits and growing - thank you 2007-04-23 11:12:00 I've just hit the 2000 hits counter since starting my blog and this is a huge milestone for me.Thank you for visiting and supporting me in this blogging exercise.Meet Monk, he is my alter-ego, I sketch him from time to time living his life dealing with all sorts of inherited IT Junk.Today, however, Monk is celebrating with me so, I've given him the day off from managing IT at the monastery - he'll leave it in the trusty hands of Max the Mouse - his erstwhile apprentice and sidekick.Let's just hope the Monastery IT systems are still functioning when Monk gets back!
Database Normalisation (Making Sense of Data) - 1NF First Normal Form 2007-04-23 10:56:00 I need to catch up on the three Normal
Forms.For a given data table (somewhere we are planning to store information) it can be classified into one of the following Normal Forms, and then refined towards the 3NF. The idea is to make the most sensible use of data by arranging it appropriately.1NF or First
Normal Form1NF ensures there will be no repetition of similar information within a record (one set of data). It also states there must be a valid Primary Key (a unique Index - or a non-repeating field or group of fields that has a one to one relationship with the rest of the information).So a proposed data table for users with up to 3 home computers might look like:Username,Fullname,Computer1,Computer2,Computer3This could contain 1 record that looks something like:jbloggs,Joe Bloggs,laptop,pc,macIt's quite apparent that the three field Computer1,Computer2, and Computer 3 all describe similar information and 1NF tells us it can't. So we change the table to look like thisUsername,Fullna Read more:Database
, Sense
Upcoming Movies 2007-04-23 10:15:00 There are a few movies coming up that I'm looking forward to. Hopefully, Sharon and I might manage to go and see at least one of them sometime this year!The first is the Bourne Ultimatum, a trailer is here on AOL's website. The other two Bourne movies have been great fun. Non-stop action from the get go and well worth a trip to the multiplex with a nice hot Latte, a hot-dog and a tub of M&M's (Peanut) or Minstrels.The other is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, a trailer is here on AOL's website. This is mostly to see how Harry, Hermione and Ron have grown up since the first movie. I've missed the last Harry Potter film that came out but hopefully not too much of the ongoing plot will have been affected by that.The Fantastic Four I'm looking forward to mainly because I was a big fan of their comics, and of the Silver Surfer - I still have one of his 1970s Annuals somewhere around. The trailer is here, again on AOL.And finally, 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to the Brit Horror Read more:Upcoming
Monday Morning is here again ... Yippee 2007-04-23 09:16:00 I've said it before and I'll say it again. I love Monday
s. The start of a bright, clean, new week full of optimism. It's only towards the end of the week the cynicism kicks in but while I'm here, on Monday morning, I'm a happy bunny.Key things to do this week:Finish Uni Assignment and hand it in on FridayWork on other Uni Assignment that is due next WednesdayArrange a demo of Mitrefinch TIme and Attendance SystemReview the Remote Access Solution that uses NetillaMove a bunch of stuff to the offsite StorageFinish installing my laptop now its back from hospitalFinish the migration of the company website into French and German languagesConfigure the Sharepoint SiteConfigure the Certificate Services on the AD Master so certificate warnings don't appear on OWAGo to a Microsoft WPF/E Events Tomorrow in Manchester (finishing at 12pm then get to Wolverhampton Uni by 2pm).So, there you have it. A fun filled week of busy busy busy. Throw in a hundred, or two, other things that need to get Read more:Morning
, Monday Morning
Update your Antivirus package ... Do it now! 2007-04-22 17:23:00 Be safe online ... and off. Ensure your Antivirus package
is up to date. If it's switched off, switch it on. If you don't have one ... download one now or use an online version such as Trend Housecall, link here. Some free Antivirus packages include:AVG Anti-Virus, link hereBitDefender 8, link hereKaspersky (Free Trial), link hereWhatever you do, Do it Now... Read more:Update
Website Translation continued 2007-04-22 15:41:00 I've been working on incorporating the translations, specifically French, into a new website. In doing this I have made a number of observations that you might find useful if you ever get into doing this. I will attempt to keep it short but I do have a prolix tendency sometimes. The comments are specifically related to our website at www.singlesourceportions.com but most of them could be generalised.- Some of our links point to UK Specific URL's e.g. www.splenda.co.uk instead of www.splenda.fr- The Health advice is based on UK health advice. Even though its been translated into French it probably isn't entirely relevant to French people as their government may have difference guidance on these topics.- The tooltips (hover tips or whatever they are called) have been missed by the translators- There are a number of images on our website that have a distinct UK bias, in either text or imagery/location- We include a contact section and this has been translated, however the people at the Read more:Translation
Website Translation 2007-04-22 12:24:00 I'm spending the day at work translating our website into French and German. Actually, what I should say is that translation has already been done - I'm actually building two websites based on our standard English website. One problem I've come across is that meta tag for the charset. Previously, it had been set to:http-equiv=Content-Type content=text/html; charset=utf-8 But this was throwing up far-eastern characters in some sentences, change it to the following has fixed the problem:http-equiv=Content-Type content=text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 Read more:Translation
Jessie and Daniel update 2007-04-22 10:21:00 I never dreamed of being a parent. It' s not something that was ever particularly in my life agenda and I would never have called myself a 'baby' person. But since it happened its been a joy. Of course there have been ups and downs, but the ups far outweigh the downs and children have a real way of bringing you back down to earth, especially when you're drawing pictures, or playing with ball, or just watching the Ninky Nonk and Upsy Daisy on TV.When you have children people tell you to enjoy them because time flies so fast and they grow up so quickly. I can honestly tell you that this is true, both of ours are growing so fast and every few days you can notice something different about them.Jessie
is just over two years old now and Danny is coming up to his first birthday and they've both come on in leaps and bounds. Jessie is stringing words together to make sentences and is in that really helpful phase where everything is a joy, and she loves having her picture taken (as you can Read more:Daniel
Calling all Field based and Remote workers 2007-04-22 09:32:00 What do you like about your remote access solution? What do you dislike? Is it available 24x7?What helps and what doesn't? What do you use and is it fit for purpose?I'm looking into the area of remote solutions, from Office, Email and Intranet to VPN, login controls and access speeds for our remote workers and field sales teams. I have gained their feedback but I would love to hear your comments and experiences on these things to help me through the remote access quagmire.For our current field based sales team we use the following:ADSL home connections at 256KB/s (some at 512KB/s)Backup AOL dial-up accounts when on the roadLaptop with Windows XP, Microsoft Office, Symantec Anti-Virus, Sonicwall VPN, Terminal Services for access to ERP, Netbax online backup, Microsoft Desktop Search, Outlook Email and recently OWAWebsiteLogmein Rescue for remote supportLocally attached printers including HP K80, HP Laserjet 1320 Read more:Calling
, Field
, Remote
Would you spend 100 quid on one of these? 2007-04-20 22:13:00 I am a big fan of Dragons Den, a TV show where budding entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to hungry investors (Dragons). More often than not they are simply blown off or shown up as the unprepared fools some of them clearly are. But now and again something really clever comes along.This is one such product that made it through, but I have to say at 100 quid a pop, would you buy one of these? I wouldn't.The link on the firebox website is here.
Illustrator Tip 2007-04-20 19:52:00 Something useful if you use Illustrator
, is how to make a pearshape/tear drop shape.Firstly, draw a circle as you would normally, then click on the direct selection tool (you can also press the 'a' key) then click on the top node of the circle and drag it upwards.Incidentally, you can hold shift while dragging to ensure you dont veer off left or right.
Re-engineering the network continued 2007-04-20 19:14:00 A quick update on the network
re-engineering
. An APC 5kva UPS has been added together with an APC PDU (Power Distribution Unit). These will handle the power requirements of the network at the moment. Together with these I took the opportunity of adding a Sonicpoint Wireless Access Point to the network, a PoE (Power over Ethernet) device that will provide firewalled/vpn access at up to 54MB/s to wireless users. The re-engineered network thus far is:The glaringly obvious omission on the network thus far is the DNS Server and this, an AD Master actually, will be the first Server addition to the network. It will also provide WINS and DHCP to clients. If you've been keeping up on recent posts you will know that we bought and I recently configured a 64bit HP DL380 G4 server for AD Master duties running Windows 2003 64-bit. That will get added to a later diagram.
Syslog and the need for retaining event information 2007-04-20 18:15:00 From time to time a network error occurs. Fortunately, it is only 'from time to time' but when it does all hell breaks loose. Tracking down the source of the problem is a huge time consuming quagmire of event
logs, alerts, system traces and manual graft. This is where a syslog should prove useful. The WIKI has good background on it and this site, syslog.org, has a good range of tools.On our firewall we moved to Sonicwall Viewpoint, a custom syslogger with a graphical front end which helps immensely but is focused purely on the firewall itself. What I need is something similar for the whole network, to be able to collect, analyse, act up on, and either keep or discard information
relating to the health of the network. Devices include printers, print devices, routers, firewall, servers (with event logs), IP Phones, terminals, routers, switches and hubs as well as a bunch of other equipment that I just can't think of at the moment.Some sysloggers I've come across includeKiwi, link her
puTTY: A useful terminal utility 2007-04-20 17:28:00 If you need a simple, free, terminal
client for telnet or ssh connections, try out puTTY. Make sure to check out the legal warning about encryption in your country.The site can be accessed here, and more information can be obtained from the WIKI.This program is definitely getting added to the toolkit.
Event 8003 MRxSmb 2007-04-20 16:06:00 I have been receiving this Event 8003 on my AD Master.Event Type: ErrorEvent Source: MRxSmbEvent Category: NoneEvent ID: 8003Date: 20/04/2007Time: 01:02:30User: N/AComputer: someserverDescription:The master browser has received a server announcement from the computer SOMELAPTOP that believes that it is the master browser for the domain on transport NetBT_Tcpip_{ID}. The master browser is stopping or an election is being forced.For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.I found this thread that describes how to fix the problem, basically I need to disable the computer browser service on the offending laptop to prevent it taking part in elections. That should cure the problem.
Me and Danny 2007-04-19 18:35:00 I noticed I hadn't put a picture of Danny
and me up for a while so here is one. This was taken at Roaries a month or two ago. Roaries is a great place in Telford to take the kids and it does a mean sausage and bacon sandwich too.
Sharepoint Problems 2007-04-14 21:35:00 I couldn't help but take a look at the Sharpoint installation problem. I had a thought that uninstalling Sharepoint
Services and rebooting may not be enough. I am in the process of uninstalling .Net Framework 3 then I intend to reboot, re-install .Net Framework then WSS again. All this because I changed the servername.
Useful Tools USB 2007-04-13 23:45:00 It's always useful to have a USB stick handy loaded with useful tools, some of my suggestions are:Windows XP Service Pack 2: Link HereAdvanced Office Password Recovery Pro: Link HereAdobe Acrobat Reader: Link HereAVG Free Anti-Virus: Link HereCheckpoint Zone Alarm Free Firewall: Link HereSpybot Search & Destroy: Link HereAdaware SE Personal: Link HereSoftperfect Network Scanner: Link Here for network informationSiSoft Sandra: Link Here for benchmarking and diagnosticsTufftest Lite: Link Here for hardware testingThe Font Thing: Link HereTransmac: Link Here for reading Mac Media on a PCCrossfont: Link Here for converting fonts between Mac and PCWS FTP Pro: Link Here a good solid FTP programNotepad2: Link Here a good replacement for NotepadNet Stumbler: Link Here for wifi analysisEthereal: Link Here for detailed network analysisSamba: Link Here for mounting Unix drives in WindowsActive@Kill Disk: Link Here for really erasing diskspuTTY: Link Here for a simple, free, terminal emulatio Read more:Useful
, Tools
Re-Engineering the Network 2007-04-11 13:17:00 Ok, so where are we with this?I've mentioned before that when our infrastructure was first put in five years ago the priority was speed. The business needed to start ... and it needed to start running. At that time technology wasn't quite in the price range of the SME but we still opted for 3Com SuperStack Switches and various HP LP2000R servers.The first step in the re-enginnering plan was to get hold of a Gigabit switch. I opted in the end for a HP Procurve Switch 2824, details here: http://www.hp.com/rnd/products/switches/2800_series/overview.htm. The idea is to put a number of infrastructure 'rings'. Previously everything was attached to everything and everyone could potentially access everything within the lan. As a number of users had 100Mbps access they effectively had as much priority as a server desperately trying to server multiple users.This HP switch is the heart of the new infrastructure. All of the servers are to be connected to this 1Gb HP switch. Users will be conne
Re-Engineering the Network 2007-04-10 18:46:00 The first stage in re-engineering the network is to put the basic lan into place. This includes the Wide Area connection, the firewall, and the back-end switch giving 1Gb/s on the LAN. I am happy with the 2MB/s connection for the primary and the 256KB/s backup connection. Unusually I've found the 256KB/s connection when active seems somewhat faster than the 2MB/s connection. I have no control over what routers they use as they are both provided by the various ISP. The output of these both go into a Sonicwall 5060 high-end firewall box in an active-passive arrangement. The 5060 also acts as a VPN master and Content Filter for web browsing, but that's for another day.The sonicwall is the first device to be connected into the new HP Procurve 1GB/s switch. The new network arrangement thus far is as follows:
Atkins progress 2007-04-03 13:22:00 4 pound weight loss this week. It's getting pretty expensive to weight in these days. It started out at 10p, then it was 20p, now its 70p for a fully monty of 50p just for a weight reading. For two of us that over £25 per year!Anyway, this brings my weight down, yet again, to 23st 6lbs. I've been this weight three times on this blog so far. We have Easter due at the weekend and you know what that means ... what goes around comes around Read more:Atkins
, progress
Tripping Out 2006-04-10 12:33:00 Second week of Atkins and my first proper weigh in and I've lost 3 pounds. Not the great start I was looking for but I suppose you've got to stick in there and keep it going. Hopefully if I can shift another 2 or 3 this week then that gets me near my first half stone. Started day-dreaming of chocolate biscuits and creamy apple turnovers.Me, baby and grandpa went to the Safari Park on Saturday - it was a great day out. The weather held up all day :) It took a good 2 hours driving around the safari area and baby Jess was very patient throughout - she even managed to feed an animal.
Baby Jessica 2005-02-07 11:25:00 Baby Jessica
got another weigh in this morning, it seems she has only gained one and a half pounds over the last week when she should be gaining at least five. The solution looks like it might be to introduce formula to ensure she is getting enough, at least her sleeping looks as though it is improving, she was only up once in the night for a post-midnight snack! Her little feet seem much better as each day passes so we are very hopeful for her scan on Thursday.As for the rest of life, we had some luvverly sausages for dinner, they are from ASDA and taste grrrrrrreat as Tony the Tiger would say. Tried one of Boots low carb solid chocolate bars; they were tasty but not as good as the JC's Kitchen ones, now they are moreish.
Google Calendar 2007-04-27 18:38:00 I'm still using GoogleCalendar
and it's SMS reminder facility and so far ... I love it ! I get a daily email and SMS of my agenda for the day. No more missed birthdays, anniversaries or such like. It's actually working for me. It has actually put me back in touch with my appointments. No longer are they distant, scribed manually onto a desk calendar (actually they still are but that's a throw back to the past), but now they adorn the fabtastic Google Calendar
. The thing I've discovered is that the google.com version of the Calendar applet on the personalised homepage is far superior to the one found on the google.co.uk and yet ... isn't it actually the same applet? The days are not highlighted on the UK one - they are on the .COM version, where I also get Quick Add, Create Event and Show Agenda. The .co.uk version is surprising sparse. Check out the following two images, one from google.com and the other from google.co.uk
One Assignment done ... one left to go 2007-04-27 12:48:00 That's the assignment finished - and it's a relief I can tell you. Fortunately, my brother has kindly offered to print it out and hand it in for me as he's in the area of the student registry today which is of great help to me as I can spend some extra time on the next assignment - only one more to do then I am officially assignment free, and once the exam is over that's me done for the year (until September that is!).It feels like everything is on hold at the moment whilst I get these things done and out of the way. It's my own fault leaving things till the last minute but that said historically I've produced some of my best work when under extremely stressful conditions. During the calm I always find it difficult to maintain focus - if only I could flip that on its head I'd be unstoppable (yeah right).The diet has gone right out of the window too. It's back to the junk food I'm afraid ... for now at least but I'm starting to feel it this time, the tiredness and lethargy are Read more:Assignment
Longhorn Beta 2007-04-26 18:00:00 I'm currently downloading the beta of Microsoft Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn
" Beta 3 Enterprise Edition. This is a time-limited release of "Longhorn" Beta 3 and will expire on April 7, 2008. There are a number of versions available include x64 bit versions and web server only versions. I've settled for the x86 version as hopefully it will install in a VS2005 partition where I can experiment with it safely.A 1.8Gb .ISO download means that I'll have to dig out ISO Recorder. I may also give Microsofts unsupported Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel for Windows XP another go.There are generally two ways of dealing with ISO images, either burn the ISO images to a CD-ROM (using something like ISO recorder) or use a virtual CD-ROM drive (like the Virtual CD-ROM) that can mount ISO images. My experience of the latter has been a bit hit and miss but I'll keep my options open at this stage.
A busy ole day 2007-04-25 20:53:00 It's been a busy ole day today. Lots of users have wanted a piece of me today, whether it's due to EDI queries, Colours on the computers, problems with the fax machines, trying to find somewhere to plug their laptops in to the translated websites and resetting user account passwords and privileges. I also had to produce a Splenda France flyer too - at least that's another one ticked off the list.I'm falling behind in a number of things which is why I haven't been posting very much. Administrative work is stacking up on my deskI and have a Uni assignment due Friday and another next Wednesday. I also have to sort out Sharons presents for her birthday, and spend some time with her, Jessie and Daniel. The Car also needs booking in for a service and I still haven't sorted out that fencing in the garden.I'm sure Danny is started to look at me thinking 'who's this guy?'.
Microsoft Silverlight 2007-04-24 20:23:00 I've been off to a Seminar today which I thought was about WPF/E - and indeed it was. However, WPF/E is now official Silverlight. The Official Silverlight site from Microsoft
is here.Silverlight is, at least in my view, Microsofts attempt at Flash. It uses XAML and Javascript with a dash of .NET and currently requires a 1.1MB runtime download to use it. It seems an interesting enough product but we'll see once software starts to drip out that supports it.The venue was at Digital World near the Lowry in Salford Quay, Manchester. I got there late as the darn Satnav wouldn't work again. Not only that but it had never heard of Salford, and you can't put postcodes in - I mean what use is that?I became even later because I had to pay £3 to park and had no cash so they let me park up and run to a cashpoint 'You got 10 minutes' was the shout down the road - just in case I made a dash for it I suppose. Strangely the cash point was almost exactly five minutes away so I made it back just i
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