I have had to replace 3 (yes 3) ADSL routers in the last  few months, and the causes have all been quite bizarre to say the least, certainly worth documenting I thought seeing as I could find no solutions on Google myself only people with similar problems and so answer to their dilemma. So read on and prepare to enter "The router twilight zone"

Read more...

The Android 2.2 update for the Streak has had many people screaming with impatience and moaning about every extra day they had to wait for it. Me I was quite happy to wait, the phone came with Android 1.6 and I had no qualms with it, a few niggles maybe but nothing major. I then updated to 2.1 a few months ago and found that I had more issues and it wasn't really an improvement so I was sceptical about 2.2, but if you haven't yet made the leap you can find the list of changes here.

Well finally last month my Android 2.2 update announced itself to me, but this time I decided to do a backup as when I did the 2.1 update I lost all my data as it was a clean install. This time round Dell have made it impossible to avoid the backup warning/suggestion as the update takes you through a step by step wizard and tell you to download the backup software, sadly this is however where the problems started.

To backup or not to backup, that is the question.
I downloaded the backup software, but then was stuck, there was no continue or next button, no instructions on what to do next at all. I eventually discovered have to hit back and go to the previous screen to do step 2. DOH! I bet I am not the only one who got confused by this.

So I ran the backup software but it kept telling me to insert an SD card, WFT! I of course had an SD card plugged in and it was working as I could see it from my PC.

So off I went to the forums and found someone with the same issue who said he had just gone ahead and done the update and all his data had been intact, so I thought screw it, I will risk it. I tried the backup one last time and bizarrely it worked, did my 2.2 update, and low and behold everything remained intact, this however was to be short lived.

You didn't want your contacts anymore right ?

The first time I went to make a call I discovered all my contacts phone numbers had vanished, all I had was email addresses. After some investigation it turns out that the Facebook app is set to sync your contacts with Facebook by default (regards how you had it set before), which overwrites all your existing contacts, so be warned, turn this option OFF before your phone has a chance to sync. This is a royal pain, but at least you can just re-sync your phone with your PC and get your contacts back right ? WRONG!!

No more Outlook Sync.

It also turns out that the DEL PC Suite software is no longer compatible with Android 2.2, so you have to download and install the new Dell Mobile Sync by Nero instead. I could not get this to download from the Dell site, all you get is some download manager which kept telling me there was nothing to download. I finally found a link to a direct download on the nero site and got the software that way.

However after installing I was shocked to discover that this new software only sync's photos, music and video, there is no option at all for syncing with outlook, so there was no way to get my contacts and calendar over to my phone, oh how fricking wonderful, what a useless piece of software. What idiot at Dell thought this was a good idea, whoever you are you are a total A**hole.

So I had to find another way to sync my contacts.

Luckily I subscribe to Plaxo, which provided my solution. Plaxo will sync with Google Gmail/Apps and so will Android. So you basically just use Google as the connector. Obviously because I already use both Plaxo and Google Mail this was not a big deal for me, however for others this would not be an ideal solution. If this solution is an option for you, then here is how to do it, you will need a Plaxo premium account. If you do not use plaxo then you can find tools out there to sync Outlook with Google, e.g.
- Google Calendar sync.

- Google Apps sync for Outlook

Sync with Plaxo

Login to your Plaxo account , and go to Plaxo Premium and click Google Sync and follow the instructions.

Now on your phone, go to Settings -> Accounts & Sync -> select your gmail account -> choose which options to sync (mail, contacts, calendar)

If you get stuck with anything try the Andoid forums. The Dell forums probably wont be much help as they mainly full of people with issues and no-one with answers and Dell do not bother reading their own forums or responding to anyone.

Let me end by saying that I do still like the Dell Streak and think it is a great Tablet/Phone, but Dell have made some big cockups with the rollout of all the updates by the looks of it and their support seems to be non existent. I have emailed them a couple of times and so far no reply at all.

CFSearch.com is an old CF project of mine that has been festering unloved for a few years which I have just given a new lease of life. The original site was built back in 1999 and was a ColdFusion directory/search engine type thing allowing users to register their site, product or service and allow it to be searched on. I have barely touched it since then. I kept meaning to build a new site and add features such as a rating and review system but never got round to it, so I eventually just turned it into a Google adwords site.

Recently I decided to revive the project using Google's custom search engine technology which does most of the hard work for you, I still need to extract and verify a lot of the sites from the old database as many of them are probably dead by now, but the system is up and running and has enough data in it to be useful and usable and allows you to categorize sites as ColdFusion, Railo or Bluedragon related. I have kept it very minimalist (Google style) for now, but will add more features over time as I get to grips with the Google CSE API.

So if you run a CFML related site or blog, have written some cf open source software or sell any CF related products or services then please pop over to cfsearch.com and submit your site.

On the cfdeveloper server a user today reported he was unable to connect to his database getting the following error on his site.

This left me scratching my head for a while as I could find no problems, until I tried to connect directly to mysql from the web server to the database server and got the following message back.

I didn't realise this about MySQL, but it appears it will block a server if too many errors occur. Simply running 'mysqladmin flush-hosts' on the MySQL server resolves the problem.

I thought this worth posting as I couldn't find anything else n google.

Earlier this year I attended Scotch on the rocks, it was my first ever time driving in London which was a nightmare experience I can tell you. I'm sure people who live in London think it's fine to drive but I don't think I will ever willingly drive into London again, especially during rush hour when it is almost impossible to get on to busy roundabouts, I spent most of my time trying to avoid lunatic drivers and trying not to get lost.

Anyway as a result of this trip I entered a congestion zone, now I knew this meant I would have to pay a congestion charge, but this is all I knew and I assumed I had been caught on camera and would get a bill in the post.

To my great surprise a few weeks later I got a £120 fine in the post for not paying my congestion charge. As I had not received my congestion charge I responded and stated this fact, only to be told I am supposed to pay it in advance or stop at any shop that has the congestion charge logo and that it is my responsibility to know this.

OK fair enough this is probably common knowledge to anyone who lives or works in London or travels into London regularly, but surely anyone like myself who does not live in London, work in London or have any reason what so ever to drive in London, also has no reason to know how the congestion charges work either. Just as someone who works in a hairdresser has no reason to know CSS, HTML or Flash or even that they should know them. Or is it just me ?

I have of course appealed the fine based on facts above but my appeal fell on deaf ears. Transport for London have made it quite quite clear with their responses that they have zero flexibility, zero tolerance and  absolutely no understanding or sympathy for anyone whatsoever.

After doing a bit of Google research it seems I am not alone and folks like me are in fact their intended prey, poor hapless individuals visiting London who don't know how the congestion charges work and it is from us where they make most of their money, intentionally.

Seems like just another government money making scam to me, rather like wheel clamping.

So for Christ sake, if you plan to travel into London, make sure you know if you will going into a congestion zone and pay your fees in advance or risk a £120 fine.