Remove a stuck print job in Windows

I have often recived a call, or gone out to a site where there is a print job stuck in the print que on the server that is holing up everything. You can try to cancel the job at the printer, or at the server. You’ve tried to restart the server and restart the printer but the print job just sits there staring at you the whole time. While not quite as bad as upsetting as the famed “PC LOAD LETTER” error it can still make you want to chuck your printer and/or computer off the roof.

So how do you purge the vexing print que? Its actually easier than you might think. It only takes three lines typed in to your command prompt (you can do it through the Windows GUI too, but its easier this way).

Read more

Drupal DKP Module

The Drupal DKP module will allow you to pull data from an existing eqdkp installation and display DKP stats directly in your Drupal setup. Currently this version is very beta, and there are no options. Your EQDKP installation needs to be in the same database as Drupal, and needs to have ‘eqdkp_’ in front of all table names. You can see it in action on guilds website.

Pulls DKP information from an existing EQDKP installation and displays it in Drupal.

Details

Drupal DKP integrates with EQDKP by giving you the following functionality:

• Display current standings
• Display loot distribution
• Display raid history
• Display individual member history (loot, raids etc)

Dependencies

The loot linking relies on functions from the drupal_armory module, which is located at http://losmuertos.houseofbob.net.

Installation

1. Download the module archive and expand it (you’ve likely already done this).
2. Put the ‘dkp’ folder in your modules directory. Since the /modules/ folder is typically reserved for Drupal core modules, as of version 5.x you should create a sites/all/modules/ directory and put uploaded modules there.
3. Go to administer > site building > modules. Check the ‘Enabled’ box next to the module and then click the ‘Save Configuration’ button at the bottom.
4. Go to administer > users > access control and make sure you set the permissions up, otherwise nobody else will be able to view the page.
5. Go to administer > site building > menus and create add a menu item (typically in your primary links). The name and description are arbitrary, but the path needs to be ‘dkp’.

Configuration

There are currently no configuration options available.

Known Issues

• The wow_armory plugin has many known bugs and is officially unsuported. You may find that item names (typically ones with symbols in the name) will not link properly. This is a bug of wow_armory, and there is nothing I can do. The workaround is to enter the item ID in EQDKP instead of the name.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I do if my eqdkp tables start with something other than ‘eqdkp_’.

You’ll need to go through the dkp.module file and replace every instance of ‘eqdkp_’ with whatever your tables start with. I hard coded the table names because I built this module for personal use, I never planned for it to be release to the public.

What do I do if my eqdkp database is not in the same location as my drupal database.

Because I built this module for personal use, I never planned for this. Without making significant changes to the code, its just not possible.

Anything else?

That about does it – enjoy!

Of Bicycles and Mercedes’

So today, my girlfriend and I hop on our bicycles to go for a nice ride in todays beautiful weather. We rode around exploring the trails that Folsom has to offer and eventually passed through Livermore Community Park. We pause for a little bit because My b-day is coming up and Kerry was point it out as a possible location to have it. After that, we head back down the road.

We get probably a third of a mile down the road and a lady in a brand new white Mercedes SUV (ML-something). Flags us down and says we hit her car in the parking lot of the park we just left. Since she’s parked in the middle of the road now, I told her to drive down to the next street and we’ll take a look at this dent she claims we put in her car.

Map of storyline. Point A is the park, point B is where we exchanged information.

Below is a picture of the dent. It sucks, but it was really small and all I had with me was the cell phone camera.

The lady said she had a picture (or video, it wasn’t really clear) of us denting her car, which she refused to show us. So we refused to give her our information. She was adiment and said repeatedly that she was a police officer and it would be easier if we just gave her our information. After we continued to refuse she called her office in Sacramento (I wasn’t sure if she was PD or CHP). I heard her tell a quick story that we hit her car, quickly ran away and were now refusing to give our information. She asked to be patched through to Folsom, and after she got off the phone she said an officer would be there in a bit to take our information (first question… is that legal? more later).

After a while of waiting, she got on the phone with what seemed like a few people, but she was speaking softly so I don’t know who she called, or what she said. She came back to us and said that the officer would be another 30 minutes and that she was going to go back to her family in the park and we would need to wait for the officer or give her our info now. I decided to f waiting, and gave her my first name and phone number only so that we could be on our way.

Once Kerry and I got back home, I printed the picture and we headed over toFolsom PD to make a report for our records, and possible a harassment report since this off-duty officer (I think she even called herself a Sargent but I could be wrong) seemed to be threatening us with her police status. When we got to the Police Department they told us we cannot file a report since the incident was on private property. I expressed that it was a Folsom city community park, but still… I could not file a report.

So we went back home and I dialed up CHP to see if I could do anything there. I was told they couldn’t really do anything and I believe I got patched to the Folsom PD office and gave them the story and they said the same thing again, that there was no report I could file since it was out of their jurisdiction, that I would have to settle it all privately through insurance. I further explained that the lady who owned the Mercedes had said she was an officer and she had called to have an officer come out to take our information and the lady on the phone said she didn’t have any call like that come in. And if they had, there would have been nothing the officer could have done.

So that leaves me to now. I have her name and phone number but I’m not planning on doing anything more than I have. She has my information so if she wants to have something done about it she can call me. Mostly I just wanted to get it off my chest.

But I wanted to see if anybody here had any other advice, other things so I know I’ve done my due diligence. I’d rather not have it go through any insurance nor do I want to have this end up becoming some “hit-and-run” because we left the parking lot (we certainly didn’t “speed” away on our bicycles though), but I’m also not going to hand her a couple hundred bucks cash to fix a dent that we didn’t cause. The only thing close to the right height is the handlebars of the bike, and they are completely wrapped in rubber. The lady wouldn’t pull her car away from the curb far enough for us to put the bike next to it to see if it was even the right height either.

Sorry if its a bit long winded, but a lot happened in the period of only about an hour.

FW: Unbelivable

Its one thing to admire awesome photographs emailed to you from your co-worker or friend. Some of these things are genuinly spectacular to look at. But please, dont be a leming about it … Below is an email I recived just a little while ago claiming to be pictures of the Space Shuttle Columbia as it exploded in space (apparently the pictures are taken by an Israeli satellite.) Can anybody tell me whats wrong with these pictures?

Click on any for a full sized view.

Magic Kingdom (Disney Day 3)

[fa:p:a=72157600097777196,id=465891128,j=l,s=s,l=i]I was anxious to get to the Magic Kingdom since it’s the Florida replica of the Disneyland we have here in southern California, so we made it our second stop. I had a lot of fun just riding the classic Disney rides. The park is very similar, although all the rides seemed to be at about 2/3 scale. Splash Mountain was almost disappointing. Perhaps I’m just a little bit more grown up, but it hasn’t been very long since I was at a Disney park, and Keith felt the same way [there’s no doubt Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean were much smaller than their Disneyland counterparts - Keith].

A few rides of note: “Stitch’s Great Escape” was much unexpected. I was kind of thinking it would be a simple kid’s ride, but it turned out to be something you just sit in and was really creepy. Part of the ride takes place in the dark, and there are hidden speakers in the seat that you are in that make it seem like Stitch is right behind you. They even went as far as to put in a hot, humid and stinky breath on the back of your neck. The Magic Kingdom still has the Swiss Family Robinson tree house, as the Disneyland Park has botched that treasure by making it a Tarzan tree. The Enchanted Tiki Room has some new guests (Iago and Zazu) and a whole new soundtrack [and the Tiki Room song is gone…wtf? – Keith & Meghann].

For the first time since I’ve been to a Disney park (and have been tall enough) I went on Space Mountain. Usually it has been broken down or under repair/upgrade every time I go. Ironically, it broke down while we were on it so we were able to get a view of the lit up insides of space mountain, but weren’t able to do the whole ride.

We were able to stick around long enough to see the fireworks show at Disneyland, which was an awesome spectacle of music and timed fireworks.

Epcot (Disney Day 2)

[fa:p:a=72157600097357557,p=2,id=465885070,j=l,s=s,l=i]We got a nice early start after being well rested from the previous day’s lack of activity. We took the earliest shuttle to Epcot and turned in our vouchers that we had bought at the hotel for our tickets. Remember the idiot/sneak from the hotel who setup the bogus car rental? He also didn’t give us the tickets he said he was giving us. Instead of getting park hopper (which allows us to go to multiple parks throughout a single day) we got the basic Disney park ticket so we couldn’t go to more than one park in a day. Which wasn’t a big deal with our schedule, but we still paid $10 more than it would have cost at the gate for the same exact ticket [and the guy at the hotel claimed we were saving $3.50 - Keith].

Fortunately that’s basically where the bad stops part of our trip (I say basically because there was still one last downer on the trip). Epcot is made up of two sections; the front half of the park is an exploration into technology and the future, and the back half is a large-scale World’s Fair where you can visit many different countries from around the world. The back half doesn’t open until 11am, so the park was pleasantly empty when we got there. We rode just about everything they had there, more than I should probably list, instead I’ve attached a map and ride list.

[fa:p:a=72157600097357557,id=465893299,j=r,s=s,l=i]There were a few worth mentioning though that stood out in particular to us. “Mission: Space” is freaking awesome. The ride is physically in a simulator pod that is created to resemble a rocket cockpit. They have two versions of the ride the “More Intense” and “Less Intense”. Obviously we did the more intense, and it was well worth it. The simulator spins at an incredible speed making you feel like you are really accelerating from 0 to 6000 miles per hour [it actually blurred my vision similar to what happens when you stand up too fast - Keith]. It makes your cheeks push back, and it’s hard to move your arm forward.

My Second Favorite was oddly not a very intense or even busy ride. It was a simple floating boat ride that took you through some information about how farms work and whatnot, but the thing that made it interesting was the incredibly impressive array of things that they were growing inside of their greenhouses. Massive fruits and vegetables, including 9 pound lemons, thousands of tomatoes from a single plant, and other incredible things. See the pictures for more.

After we had exhausted the front half of Epcot, we made out way on a tour of 9 different countries. We had gone to the UK for some mediocre fish and chips for lunch, so we started on the other side. We didn’t make it through all the countries, but we had a good time of it, and by the time we were all done with the day I think all of us (or at least me) were rather tired.

Grills and Headlights

Below are before and after pics of my new Grillcraft MX Series Grill. Sorry for the moderatly bad pictures. lighting inside the garage sucks, but I wanted to get it done before Kerry came over. Click for a large view.

Overall, it isn’t a very difficult modification to do, the worst part was that in the kits, some idiot at Grillcraft changed the nuts from the u-shaped clip-on type that you see for a lot of body panels that you can put over a hole and it stays in place, to one of these flat nuts that required me to hold the nut in place while getting it attached. This may not sound like it was a big deal, until you realize the nuts end up INSIDE the grill, where you cannot possibly hold it with your hand.

Anyway, I rate it as a two beer job and with the exception of the bad nut experience and a slight misalignment (my fault) on the bottom right grill I am very happy with it.

[fa:p:a=car-parts-and-pieces,id=503493699,j=l,s=s,l=p]I also ran across an exceptional deal on a set of halo projector headlights (like what you see in BMW’s) for the tC. Left is a picture of the headlights (again, click for full view). I expect I’ll see those sometime next week and when I install them, I’ll look at fixing the one skewed grill and probalby buy the U-clips from an auto store to actually secure all the bolts on the grills.

=========

EDIT: WAY better pictures are available now in my tC gallery: http://www.indemnity83.com/album/friends/my-cars/2005-tC/

Delays

I didn’t have many chances to hop on the computer to post any updates. Tyco kept us all rather busy most of the time. I’m currently sitting in Dulles, which once again doesn’t have any free internet so I’m writing to you in notepad and when I get home I’ll post this and fix the timestamp.

Unfortunately my flight home from here has been delayed two hours. There was some nasty weather recently here on the east coast that screwed up flights over the weekend, and I think an airport like this takes a while to recover. So I’m just sitting here listening to “Death Cab for Cutie” and people watching.

Saturday I went out to a couple of the manufacturing plants related to the Amp Netconnect division of Tyco. First was their cable manufacturing plant, where they literally start from a copper rod and un-mixed PVC to create CAT 5, 5e, 6, 6A and 7 cable in all sorts of configurations. Including the new shielded CAT 6 which I expect the consumer market will see in a year or two. Shielded, as well as 6A are both capable of carrying the 10 GBit / second transfer rates that seem almost ridiculous over copper. We also visited their stamping and molding facility that makes all plastic and metal pieces like RJ-45 jacks and plugs. It was all pretty cool to see, even if it was a little rushed. We had some drinks back at the hotel and a mini trade show, and dinner also at the hotel. I of course had the fillet, although I was a little disappointed that it was only about a 4oz cut.

Sunday was a long day. Breakfast was at 6:30, which if you take into account the time change was 3:30 am in California. We spent the morning in what was basically a marketing and demo seminar. I would like to point out I had sat through about 4 hours of seminar around the time you woke up. Did I mention I got up at 3:30? Remember the bad weather I described earlier? It effected us in Winston-Salem NC as well, and we were to be playing golf in the afternoon. As we drove out to the course we went through an absolute down poor and I was pretty well convinced I wasn’t going to be playing golf. We got to Tanglewood (yeah, that’s right, I played at Tanglewood) and sat in their clubhouse for a little while and eventually it cleared up. We played a full 18 holes in what turned out to be a really nice round of golf. I ended up playing in the rough most of the time. My drives were just plain off. So I was a pathetic 45-ish over par.

Today we went out to Wake Forest University to get a demonstration of a integration system that ties together disparate systems (that’s disparate not desperate). I’ll save you the boring talk, it was cool but I think I’ll have a hard time finding a client who can make good use of it.

And that brings us basically up to now, where I’m sitting in the airport, listening to Death Cab for Cutie and people watching (although I just spent the last few min writing this). So I’ll leave you with that long post and go check on my flight again. Wish me luck.

Definatly the Site

Well I thought that knowing CSS, HTML and a little of design principals I could create a MySpace page that was at least decent, showing that at least part, if not all of the poorly done myspace pages were the fault of the owner not the site. My conclusion? Its the site, at least 75% of all shitty designs spur from the fact that you can’t do shit with the design.

This explains why band pages and people who are represented on MySpace but obviously have the resources to make a nice page have totally bone stock profiles, you can’t do shit with it. I spent a good couple hours trying to just clear the formatting they have so I could use my own, but everything is hard coded into the HTML and nearly impossible to overcome not to mention I would have no way of formatting one item at a time due to the total lack of class’s and id’s in the entire site.

I gave up after only getting this far: http://www.myspace.com/indemnity83

I’m going to see if I can develop something that would display like MySpace does, but be nearly completly CSS driven. It would be a good base to start from if I wanted to make a better myspace.

Happy Halloween

Halloween falls on a Monday this year, which is a little hard to deal with if you are actually trying to trick or treat, but it makes for good parties over the weekend. Saturday night Keith, Chadd, Meghann and I did a little pre-game warm-up carving to get into the mood (actually Keith and Meghann weren’t going to be able to make it to the big event Sunday night, so this was their party). Keith, Chadd and I did some fairly typical pumpkin carving. Keith’s and mine are designed to go together, originally Keith’s was going to be puking on top of mine, but after all the carving was done we decided it would look better the other way around. Meghann’s Pumpkin was the definite winner of the night. She started by taking a bit of time to come up with a totally original design and draw it out while the rest of us watched my completed Philmont video. Then she took probably about an hour to carve a magnificent pumpkin that expresses a design that I think is pretty novel. I’m sure you can see what it is, but just in case you cant it’s a girl holding an axe toward her like she is going to strike her face, because there is a spider dangling in front of her. Below are a couple of the good pictures, or click here to see the whole gallery:

784278517857

I was able to get together with friends again Sunday night for our second (now annual) pumpkin carving party. Irene and Charlie were kind enough to host the gathering at their place again this year so I thank you goes out to them. We had a nice pot luck dinner around 4:30. My favorite dish was probably Michelle’s Meatballs, but the desert of choice was Joanne’s Pumpkin Cheesecake bars. We started carving around 5:30 or so and a couple of us didn’t finish until around 8. I did two pumpkins myself, one is a cannibal pumpkin, the other is designed for putting a large flame in, either a road flair or a toilet paper roll soaked in some kind of slow burning fuel (like kerosene). Below are a couple of the good pictures, or click here to see the whole gallery:

792779397951