Personal blog of Josh Lyon

  • Remove Directory from Git Repository

    I recently started working with the integrated Version Control System (VCS) features of PyCharm and accidentally pushed my IDE / PyCharm project settings to my Google Code hosted Git repository. Basically, all of the files in the .idea folder of my project were pushed to the repository. While these files didn’t necessarily contain any proprietary…

  • SQL Subquery / Function in Group By

    I ran into an issue this week where I had written a table function (ITVF) to help convert a datetimeoffset column from UTC to the destination timezone within a query. Generally, we handle all date conversion at the application layer using simple .NET DateTime / TimeZone functions, but in this case we were trying to…

  • ManualResetEvent with BackgroundWorker Threads

    In this post I wanted to briefly discuss using the ManualResetEvent with BackgroundWorker threads. I often find myself using BackgroundWorkers to perform processing of data without locking up the user interface for a user. Occasionally, I have UI tasks that would need to continue only after the background processing has completed. Instead of wiring up…

  • Joomla and Windows Live Writer

    Windows Live Writer makes for an excellent blog authoring tool and supports many modern blog platforms like WordPress, Blogger, Windows Live Spaces and blogs that support RSD (Really Simple Discovery). While Joomla is not supported by Windows Live Writer out of the box, you can easily add support for Writer by installing the XMLRPC plugin…

  • Favorite Software/Tools 2013

    I recently upgraded my work laptop and as part of the process I have been reinstalling all of my favorite software utilities. I had my last laptop for a few years and some of these tools have become an integral part of my daily workflow without me even realizing it. I figured I would share…

  • Avoid “S to Skip” Message Ubuntu

    After following the steps in my XBMC Live Drives Mounted as Odd IDs article, wherein the user modifies the label of the drive and sets it to be recognized as part of the fstab process, I found myself occasionally seeing the message that indicates that Ubuntu can’t find the drive. I found it frustrating that I would…

  • Logitech diNovo Mini Status Lights

    During the normal operation of the diNovo Edge keyboard, the battery light on the top of the keyboard will indicate the battery status of the keyboard: The light will remain off during normal use, indicating more than 10% charge remaining. A single red light indicates the battery level is critical and will require recharging. During…

  • Outlook 2010 – Disable Images in RSS Feeds

    When reading RSS feeds in Outlook 2010, I was always bothered when images were automatically downloaded. When reading feeds in my RSS reader, I prefer to focus on the content rather than an image. In particular, I’ve noticed that a number of RSS feeds are now including very large images in their RSS feeds which…

  • Dual Boot Windows XP and Windows 8

    After installing Windows 8 on one of my test computers (a Panasonic ToughBook  CF-19), I noticed that I had lost my option to dual boot Windows XP and Windows 8. The new bootscreen for Windows 8 is really nice – it has the metro look, it’s touch friendly, and it’s mouse friendly – but it…

  • XBMC Remote – Windows Phone 7

    It’s here! I’ve finally published my first Windows Phone 7 App. If you’re a previous reader of my blog, you may have noticed that I’m avid XBMC supporter. I run XBMC on several machines in my house including a Linux based HTPC and on Apple TV devices throughout my house. My company recently started piloting…

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