Max Rice

Learning Git and updating the Excel Geocoding Tool

max — Wed, 16 May 2012 01:16:38 +0000

Two months ago, I forked an Excel Geocoding Tool, originally created by Juice Analytics. It seemed like an ideal opportunity to use Git, which I had never used before. Git works extremely well, and it’s now something that I wonder how I ever lived without. Github was a huge help in helping me understand how to setup Git, and I’ve since setup a few more projects there. Git can’t show changes to an excel file, so I exported the VBA modules, which allows for revision tracking of the code itself.

I haven’t worked in visual basic since high school, so it took some time to remember everything. My initial release fixed some long-standing issues with the tool and simplified the setup and usage. However, it still didn’t work on Mac, due to two issues: The RegEx and HTTP libraries aren’t available. I ended up rewriting the regex expressions with string functions that are definitely more confusing to understand, but work on both PC and Mac. The HTTP library was a bit more of a challenge, and I ended up using MacScript() to call cURL, which works beautifully.

Try the Excel Geocoding Tool out for yourself!

MAS 200 SQL Firewall Setup

max — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 22:41:10 +0000

During a recent migration at work from Sage MAS 90 to MAS 200 SQL, we had an issue with the firewall configuration on the server. Sage doesn’t mention this in the install/admin manual, so I hope this helps. Make sure you’re running the application server as a service, and make sure you select a TCP port between 9000-10000.

Open the TCP port you selected for the app server
Allow access thru the firewall for this program: \MAS90\Home\pvxwin32.exe
Set a static port for SQL to TCP 1433 if there are no other named instances running on the server (see MS KB 823938)
Open TCP 1433. MAS 200 Clients will access Crystal Reports and process locally, so they need direct access to the SQL server
This MAS 200 SQL Overview PDF was particularly helpful in understanding the application architecture, as we had some issues with Crystal Reports and the install/admin manual was pretty terrible.

3 Podcasts worth listening to

max — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:28:55 +0000

With a 40 minute or so commute, I like listening to a few different podcasts (and audiobooks on occasion). Here’s 3 that are worth your time:

The Dave Ramsey Show (iTunes link) – ~40 minute daily radio show with minimal commercials where Dave Ramsey takes calls about money, getting out of debt, budgeting, etc. You’ll either love it or hate it. They’re updated every day around 5pm, and only the previous day’s podcast is available. Highly recommend listening to the Debt-Free Friday podcast — it’s very motivating to hear people call in who have paid off thousands in debt.

Mixergy (iTunes link) – ~1 hour long interviews with various entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, authors, and more. There’s well over a hundred available to download. I like picking out 5 at a time to listen to. Some are boring, but most are pretty insightful. Minimal commercials.

Motley Fool (iTunes link) – ~40 minute weekly with news and commentary on various business and financial topics. Far, far better than the WSJ podcast. No commercials.

Quick Tip: Tweak your Blackblaze exclusion list

max — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:33:30 +0000

Backblaze is awesome. I’ve been using it for a few weeks after switching from JungleDisk and I love it. Look for a review post soon. The default exclusion list is pretty solid (at least on Mac OS X), but you can improve it by adding these paths. The concept is to not backup things that you could easily download again if you needed to, so things like podcasts, itunes U files, etc. Note these paths are osx-specific, but the principle applies on Windows too.

/users//music/itunes/itunes media/itunes u/
/users//music/itunes/itunes media/podcasts/

Fixing the “Please Wait” error with Magento when Addding/Editing Products and Categories

max — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:08:14 +0000

I’ve been working extensively with Magento in the past few weeks and while it’s an amazing e-commerce system, their support and documentation is pretty terrible. A common error with the past few versions (I’m using 1.4.1.0) is that the page freezes with “Please Wait” showing when you try to add products to categories, or add/edit categories themselves. Some users have also reported the same issue when uploading images or adding/edit products themselves. These are some fixes that people have suggested. If you’re having trouble, give them a try and leave a comment if you want me to add a fix to the list.

1 . Try a different browser

This fixed the problem for me, as I was using Firefox 3.6 (OS X) to access the admin backend, and switching to Safari 5 (I’m guessing Safari 4 would work also) fixed the issue. I tested this on IE7 (WinXP) and it also worked.

2. Disable mod_security and add whitelist

Check your mod_security audit log and if you see entries from the admin backend, have your host investigate and temporarily disable the module. If your issues goes away, ask your host to whitelist your admin backend.

3. Check your www vs. no www redirects

Make sure you’re only using one form of redirection, either in cPanel, Magento, or .htaccess. See this post for in-depth instructions.

Hope these help!

Welcome

max — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:14:32 +0000

I’m finally restarting my blog to be bigger and better than ever. Look for new posts about technology, business, marketing, remodeling, firearms, and everything in between. While you wait, maybe you’d like to follow me on Twitter?