Installing PM Fastrack exam simulation tool in ubuntu using wine

If you are studying for the PMP exam, then you need some kind of exam simulation tool like PM Fastrack. The problem is that it's not available for Linux and only works on Windows.
I solved this by finding a way to make it work with Wine.

Instructions are as follows:

1) Install the latest Wine using apt-get. In a terminal type:

# sudo apt-get install wine

2) Download winetricks.

# wget http://www.kegel.com/wine/winetricks
# chmod +x winetricks

3) Setup a new wine directory and install msdac28. We'll use .wine-fastrack to install the application.

# WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-fastrack ./winetricks mdac28 gecko

# rm -rf ~/.wine-fastrack/drive_c/windows/system32/user32.dll

# rm -rf ~/.wine-fastrack/drive_c/windows/system32/kernel32.dll

4) Now that we have a separate "bottle" for running our application, we'll download the trial and install. Go here and register yourself to download the trial.

5) Now type the following:

# WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-fastrack wine /path/to/fastrack.exe

(this will install the software, just follow the installation wizard)

6) After it's done, you just can double-click the icon the installer put on your desktop to run it.

Note: I actually used crossover linux to install, this would be the translated to wine instructions. If you have any problems following them, please let me know and I'll try to help.

Additionally if you want smooth fonts (anti-aliased) then execute the following:

# WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-fastrack winetricks corefonts tahoma droid fontsmooth-rgb

If you get a dialog about date format, just press ESC to close and continue.

Enjoy you PMP exam.

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Put windows live messenger back to the system tray in Windows 7

If you are working in Windows 7, either the 32 or 64 bits versions, and you are as annoyed as I am by having every little app just wondering around in the "superbar", this trick may be for you.
It simple eliminates the program from the taskbar while the main window is not open and put it back to the system tray as in Windows Vista / XP / 2000.
The trick is to run msnmsgr.exe in Vista compatibility mode.

1. press the windows key and type msnmsgr.exe
2. right-click the file and choose properties
3. go to compatibility tab and choose Windows Vista (which version doesn't matter)

That's it, you have the icon back to where it belongs. Enjoy!




msnmsgr.exe is normally located at "C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Messenger" or "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Messenger" if you are running the 64 bit version of Windows 7.

Thanks to Marcus F. and the supersite blog for posting the tip.

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Installing Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) in IBM Thinkpad T61b

Installing Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) 64 bits in IBM Thinkpad T61

General Information

Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) was released on 29 October 2009.

Hardware Support Details

Untested

Active Protection System: unknown

Card Reader: unknown

Bluetooth: unknown

Modem: unknown

FireWire (IEEE1394): unknown

ACPI

• Suspend: works running the restricted 185 nvidia driver
• Hibernate: unknown

Tested: Worked "out of the box"

Video 2D/3D

• Intel (GMA X3100): works. Compiz working with full effects.

WiFi

• Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN: works

• Front switch (airplane mode): works

Audio (AD1984 HD): works

• Headphones: works
• Microphone: works. Internal Mic: Microphone 2.
  

Ethernet (Intel Gigabit): works

Touchpad: works

Touchpoint (including middle-click scrolling): works

Special Keys (volume, Fn-, ThinkVantage):

• ThinkVantage button: works. go to System -> Preferences -> Keyboard Shortcuts and assign a task to it.
• Fn-F5 (Wireless/Bluetooth): works by default
• Fn-F8 (Enable/Disable touchpad): works by default

DVD Drive

• Ultrabay Slim Super Multi-Burner Drive : works

Tested: Needed tweaking to obtain full functionality

Trackpoint vertical/horizontal scrolling functional after creating /etc/hal/fdi/policy/mouse-wheel.fdi

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Installing_Ubuntu_9.10_%28Karmic_Koala%29_on_a_ThinkPad_T61

Install HDAPS - IBM Active Protection System Linux Driver

sudo cp /etc/modules /etc/modules_backup
sudo aptitude install tp-smapi-source
sudo module-assistant prepare tp-smapi
sudo module-assistant auto-install tp-smapi
sudo modprobe tp-smapi
sudo aptitude install hdapsd
echo 'tp-smapi' | sudo tee -a /etc/modules

Installing and configuring software:
AT&T Network Client for 64 Bits

Afmacedo and Dmitriy Ushakov kindly provided an updated version of the AT&T Client Debianizer that supports 64-Bits Ubuntu here.

Instructions are as follows:

1. Download the rpm from here.
2. Download the AT&T Client Debianizer that supports 64-Bits Ubuntu to the same folder as above from here.
3. chmod +x ubuntu_rpm2deb_v0.3.sh
4. Install dependencies by running: ./ubuntu_rpm2deb_v0.3.sh --deps
   
5. Run the script: ./ubuntu_rpm2deb_v0.3.sh agnclient-1.0-2.0.1.3003.i386.rpm
   

Or just go the easy way:

1. Download the installer: agnclient_1.0~2.0.1.3003-1.1_amd64.deb
2. You may need to install tcl as a dependency.
   

   In a aconsole type: # sudo apt-get install tcl8.4

3. Proceed with the installation by double-clicking the downloaded file. deb package manager should pop-up and do the rest.sudo nano /etc/agnclient/agnclient.conf
   

If you encounter problems accessing the intranet, Add the line: NETVPN_DEF_DOMAIN="ar.ibm.com ibm.com"
to /etc/agnclient/agnclient.conf

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VB.Net: Convert a rootless XML document to an XMLDocument

I was given a rather unusual task to perform. It involved typing information from several sources into 5 different applications. As I'm not a fun of this type of work, I immediately derived my efforts into a rather automatic way, creating my own merging application that is.
With that in mind, the first problem I encountered was the dissimilarities in formats between the appliactions. One striked my in particular, the application was driving it's data from and to a wrongly constructed XML file. It didn't had a single root, instead it had several different roots. Since I'm not trying to recreate the file but rather pull data from it, and XMLDocument doesn't allow multiple roots, I was in front of a dilema. To use a rather ugly and unperformant XMLReader to deal with the whole file and extract the information I wanted, or find my own method to convert it to an XMLDocument. Of course, I did the second.
That

This evolved into a single method that reads an pseudo-xml document from a text file, create a root (called "root" in this example) and add the elements of the file to it.

    1 'Create our XMLDocument wich will hold our transformed file

    2 Dim xr2 As New XmlDocument

    3 'Loar a default root node

    4 xr2.LoadXml("<root/>")

    5 

    6 'Create a document fragment

    7 Dim docFrag As XmlDocumentFragment = xr2.CreateDocumentFragment()

    8 

    9 'Set the contents of the document fragment to our external file

   10 docFrag.InnerXml = IO.File.ReadAllText("myfile.xml")

   11 

   12 'Add the children of the document fragment to the original document

   13 Dim currNode As XmlNode = docFrag.FirstChild

   14 Dim nextNode As XmlNode = currNode.NextSibling

   15 

   16 Do While nextNode IsNot Nothing

   17 

   18     If nextNode.NodeType = XmlNodeType.Element Then

   19         xr2.DocumentElement.AppendChild(nextNode)

   20         nextNode = currNode.NextSibling

   21 

   22     End If

   23 

   24     nextNode = nextNode.NextSibling

   25 

   26 Loop

   27 

   28 '

   29 Console.WriteLine("Display the modified XML...")

   30 Console.WriteLine(xr2.InnerXml)

The code simply reads the file with IO.File.ReadAllText("myfile.xml"), and parse it to a XMLDocumentFragment.
The snippet may need some optimization, and may be hard to read, but it's working for my purpose.

In case you are wondering how to read it with an XMLReader, here is a possible way:

    1 Public Sub GetXMLFragmentFromFile(ByVal filename As String)

    2 

    3     'We need to tell XMLReader that we are expecting a fragment,

    4     'that is a document with no root or multiple roots

    5     Dim Xsettings As XmlReaderSettings = New XmlReaderSettings()

    6     Xsettings.ConformanceLevel = ConformanceLevel.Fragment

    7 

    8     'Let's read our file

    9     Dim xr As XmlReader = XmlReader.Create("testfile.xml", Xsettings)

   10 

   11     Do While xr.Read

   12 

   13         If xr.NodeType = XmlNodeType.Element Then

   14             'do something with the element found

   15         End If

   16 

   17     Loop

   18 

   19     'Let's dispose our reader

   20     xr.Close()

   21 

   22 End Sub

Comments are welcome.

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Make Your Extensions Work with the Firefox 3 Beta

Firefox 3 Beta only: If you've taken the plunge into testing the brand new Firefox 3 beta
but your favorite extensions are disabled, that's because developers
haven't updated them and may not be providing secure updates yet. If
you're an impatient risk-taker who needs your extensions back NOW,
here's a cheat that may get them to work. Big Honking Warning: Only do this if you're willing to deal with possible bleeding edge extension bugs and security risks!

• Type about:config into Firefox's address bar and click the "I'll be careful, I promise!" button.
• Right-click anywhere. Choose New&gt;Boolean. Make the name of your new config value extensions.checkCompatibility and set it to false.
• Make another new boolean pair called extensions.checkUpdateSecurity and set the value to false.
• Restart Firefox.

All goes well, and any extensions that aren't yet officially Firefox 3 Beta 3 compatible and don't have secure updates (like Better Gmail and friends) will be enabled. Final warning: These changes may lead to unexpected wacky behavior. Proceed at your own risk!

Thank to Lifehacker: http://lifehacker.com/355973/make-your-extensions-work-with-the-firefox-3-beta

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