RBI Tech Blog

If you are running DNN (DotNEtNuke) and you want to include a PayPal buy now button, here is the code alterations required.

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:14:00 GMT

HowTo: put PayPal Buy Now buttons in your DotNetNuke Portal

You can do this with a simple javascript trick.
Step 1. Remove the

tags from your PayPal "Buy Now" code.
Step 2. Add
onClick="this.form.action='https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr';

this.form.submit();"
to the buy now input button.
Step 3. Paste what is left into the html module

What it does is change the action for the Form that is already embedded into the DotNetNuke default.aspx page.
Here is an an example:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

payments@snapsis.com">

onClick="this.form.action='https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr';this.form.submit();"

src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/x-click-but23.gif" border="0" name="submit" alt="Make payments with PayPal - it's fast, free and secure!">
https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1">

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You can find more advanced ideas in this thread on the asp.net forums.

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Category: Web Site Design

New HTS Satellite Launch for Xplornet coming soon!

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:40:56 GMT

Xplornet Communications will be launching their new high speed Internet, 4G Satellite very soon. Tentative launch dates are Oct 19, 2011. Activation of new customers on the system should begin in late Dec 2011.

The new 4G Satellite system will allow for speeds of up to 25Mbit per second, with latency times of ~150ms. which is multitudes faster than anything currently in use for satellite Internet service. The new satellite system has more capacity than every satellite currently in orbit COMBINED!

A typical monthly package with be $44.99 + $15 CPE rental = $59.99 per month. For this rate you will get 3.0Mbps speeds, and a 20GB Bandwidth Allowance.

A higher end business package will be $124.99 + $15 CPE rental = $139.99 per month. For this rate you will get 5.0Mbps speeds, and a 100GB Bandwidth Allowance.

Additional bandwidth will be $3.50 / GB.

When comparing this to the current Satellite Internet offers from Xplornet, the new system will be over twice the price, and less than half the cost.

For more information and/or to find out about the pre-sell offer for new and existing customers, contact Reality Bytes at 403-823-2983 or email info@realitybytesinc.com

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Category: Internet

Facebook Tips for Web Designers

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 17 May 2011 22:21:14 GMT

Facebook is usually fairly easy to use, work & play… However, when integrating Facebook into your website, you may run into some headaches. I’ve gone through the steps below several times, usually looking up the information each time. So, this blog post is just as much for me as it is for you!

Step 1: When to use a Page OR when to use a Group

Facebook Pages are best used for the corporate identity or non-profit public site. A group is better used to discuss a specific topic, and the group limits you to only certain functions. I would recommend you have a page first, and if needed, also a group for more targeted tasks.

Step 2: Claiming your Facebook URL

In order to properly link to your newly created Facebook page from a website, email, or even on a business card, you need to claim a Facebook url. To do this, visit the website http://www.facebook.com/username

At this site, (sub-site of Facebook) you can create a URL to your page, such as www.facebook.com/realitybytesinc

Step 3: Claiming your Facebook Place

Places – is the Facebook equivalent of Foursquare. It allows a Facebook mobile user to find your business, and comment, etc. What can be confusing is that you have a “place” a “page” and probably a “group” also. To simplify things for users, go to the “place” for your business, and you will be able to claim it by clicking the link in the bottom corner of the “place”

Once claimed, you can merge it with your Facebook page, and voila, two become one. More details are in the link below….

https://www.facebook.com/help/?page=1154

Step 4: Get rid of the Group

If you don’t have a use for the old group you had previously setup, you need to boot everyone out of it, and then make it private and hidden. It currently cannot be deleted, but if you hide it, its effectively gone from peoples’ browsers. This just eliminates the duplication.

Step 4a: Repurpose the Group

What we did here, was boot everyone out of the group, make it private, and then we added in just the staff. We now use the group for loose discussions about product, deals, etc. I highly would not recommend using it for talking about anything sensitive, as Facebook security is not exactly iron clad.

Feel free to comment with any other ideas or suggestions. I would love to hear them!!!

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Bob Muglia talks about his INSANE computer setup at home

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 03 May 2011 23:16:55 GMT

Bob is one of the senior VPs at Microsoft. In an effort to understand ALL the Microsoft technology available, he has installed all the major technology Microsoft provides into an extensive data center, in his home.

The setup is capable is serving 200-500 workstations, so it is a huge overkill for a house. The room is AC controlled of course, and well, just watch the video.

What I think is really cool is that he has used terminal server, with a touch screen to implement touch panels all throughout the house, to provide streaming audio & video.

In one of my next blog entries, I will show you my MUCH scaled down version of this setup at my house. It runs dual purpose, both as a data center for our home, and also as a complete off site backup of our business facilities, and data center at Reality Bytes.

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Category: Computers

Category: Internet

HyperV Dynamic Memory–Love it, and hate it…

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:42:40 GMT

One of the new features post SP1 in both HyperV server 2008 R2, and Server 2008 R2 is the ability to use dynamic memory allocation for your hyperV VMs.

A similar type of function has existed in VMWare for several generations, but Microsoft has put their own twist on the technology and included it as a free update in SP1.

Dynamic memory allows you to configure a base amount of RAM memory for the VM, that can expand and contract with resource demand on the system. It’s a very efficient use of your RAM memory for servers running multiple hyperV VMs.

As you can see from the above screen shot, the memory demand, assigned memory, and memory status columns are all new in post SP1 hyper V

Assigning / setup of dynamic memory is pretty easy.

- Install SP1 on your HyperV host
- Install SP1 on your client OSes
- Install the Server 2008 patch for dynamic memory (not required for server 2008 r2)
- shut down the hyperV guest OS
- go into settings –> memory
- changes are now available

IF YOU DON’T SEE THESE SETTINGS, KEEP READING!!!

What I love:

Efficient use of RAM for HyperV hosts
More guest OSes per physical box available as RAM is more available
Easy to setup and maintain

What I hate (the gotcha’s):

You must have Server 2008 R2 SP1 to view these new settings. If you are running a Server 2008 (not R2) and have installed the SP1, you are temporarily out of luck (MS has a new remote admin tools pack coming out soon that will fix this)
On server 2008, you won’t be able to make changes to the dynamic memory settings, or enable/disable it. You need R2, with SP1!
Exchange 2007/2010 has back pressure monitoring enabled by default, which monitors available server RAM, and HD space. Of course, this COULD cause problems if your guest OS has dynamic memory enabled (it did for me today!) Make sure to disable back pressure protection. https://exchangepedia.com/2007/03/exchange-server-2007-how-to-turn-off-the-back-pressure-feature-on-transport-servers.html

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Category: Computers

Category: Internet

Every later riser needs a #Clocky

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 23:42:05 GMT

Coming Soon (Apr 4) to Reality Bytes

Are you a late riser? Have trouble hitting snooze in the morning? How about an alarm clock that jumps off your nightstand and runs away from you?

Can't wake up? You're not alone. Stats show that 40% of people 'abuse' the snooze. Typical alarm clocks just don't work well. Ours never lets you oversleep again. Clocky runs away and hides if you don't get ott of bed. When the alarm sounds, Clocky will wait for you to get up. But if you snooze, Clocky will jump off of your nightstand (from 3 feet), and run around your room, determined to get you up on time. Clocky's hip, innovative and charming. What could be better to wake up next to?

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Netflix Bandwidth Adjustments save you MAJOR bandwidth usage

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 03:56:36 GMT

Great news. I just received this email from Netflix. What a great improvement for both users AND Internet providers!!!

Email start ---->

Starting today, watching movies & TV shows in Canada will use 2/3 less data on average with minimal impact to video quality. For example, watching 30 hours of Netflix movies & TV shows will only use 9 GB of data, well below most Canadian ISP data caps. Previously, 30 hours from Netflix typically used 31 GB.

Why the change? We know that many of our Canadian members have monthly Internet data caps. This new default account setting will significantly reduce the amount of data Netflix delivers to you each month.

You now also have the ability to manage how much data Netflix delivers to you. Visit Your Account to adjust your settings anytime you want.

Regardless of which setting you choose –– Netflix is still only $7.99 a month.

As always, we will continue to innovate and try new things to ensure Netflix is a great experience without high data use. If you have any questions, please call us at 1-866-923-1277.

–Your friends at Netflix

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Category: Internet

Category: Computers

Drumheller Chamber of Commerce

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:22:27 GMT

Starting in 2010, I began my first term as a board member on the Drumheller Chamber of Commerce. Recently, I was nominated for the position of Treasurer. I am proud to be a part of this organization as it is involved in all sorts of community projects, business team building groups, and supplies value added services to it’s members.

The board consists of a well balanced team of individuals, each with their own respective outlook on where the community should go, and what we should strive to achieve. Our regular meetings are held at 7am on specific Thursdays, which is extremely early for this night owl, however it’s always worth the time spent.

If you have any questions regarding the Chamber of Commerce, or have comments or ideas for us, feel free to email me at jshoff@realitybytesinc.com or phone me at 403-823-2983. I am always available to discuss any matters you may have.

Thank you,

John Shoff

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Using voice dictation in windows 7

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 23:13:30 GMT

Voice dictation is a built in feature in Microsoft Windows 7. You can use voice dictation in any program application or even on the Internet.

This blog post was entered using the voice dictation software in Microsoft's windows. So far I am very happy with how the voice dictation works, it took about 5 minutes for me to train my voice to the computer before it can start using software.

The more you use the voice dictation application the better it becomes an understanding of voice. The voice dictation software will also scours through your documents and spreadsheets for wording and grammatical information.

I would say the largest hurdle with using voice dictation is getting used to talking to your computer. The room in which you do the voice dictation needs to be relatively quiet, or you will experience several errors in the voice dictation. Voice dictation has been around for several years in both Microsoft Windows and Microsoft office, however previous generations of voice dictation software have been marginal at best.

I can see the voice dictation being a large advantage for offices such as law firms, writers, or any other type of profession that requires a lot of the dictation. I can also see that as I am speaking to this blog post, the voice dictation software is getting better. Currently I have been using it for approximately 15 minutes, and I would say it's already at about 80% accuracy.

You have to say the word. And the word, in order for the software to understand they are grammatical punctuation. I also find up by speaking faster this software is actually more capable of picking up my voice. If I speak too slowly the software thinks that I have said multiple words when in fact it is one word well annunciated.

All in all I am very happy with the voice dictation software, and I think I will use it for further blog posts to this site as well as any letters, estimates, contracts, emails.

If you would like to get started using voice dictation yourself, just go into the control panel of your windows seven computer, and look for the menu called speech recognition. Once you're in this menu, the best idea is to set up the microphone correctly using the instructions on the screen. Second I would recommend you take the training, which is very intuitive and easy to follow.

I would love to hear feedback from you if you have tried voice dictation, as I would like to know how well it works for you.

Thank you and have a great afternoon

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Category: Computers

Windows Phone 7

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:05:23 GMT

A phone, to save us from, our phone…. They are quite slick! The live tiles do save you time, and the way it integrates all types of social networks into one system is such a huge timesaver!

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Category: Computers

Category: Bell

Category: Telephone

Adding a Website to your Trusted Sites

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:52:00 GMT

Certain websites required a higher level of access than others. Specifically, those that have the need for login or are secured with SSL (https://www.site.com)

Commonly, in a Terminal Server Environment, these sites need to be added to the “Trusted Sites” list.

To do this, first open Internet Explorer, and look for the zone at the bottom of the window.

Double click the zone name, to get into the Internet Security window (alternatively, you can click on tools –> internet options –> security tab)

Click the icon for trusted sites, then click the SITES button.

Add your website to this list, then click CLOSE, and OK until everything is closed.

You’re done!!

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Category: Computers

Category: Managed Services

Motorola Atrix - First Look

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 06:03:00 GMT

So, for the first time in, well, I think ever we got a product for launch. This could mean one of two things... either there is good stock availability from Bell on the Motorola Atrix, OR we now have serious klout with Bell distribution. (my guess is the former, not the latter)

So, anyhow the Moto Atrix is the first phone is what I believe will become an entire shift in telecommunications and computers. This is not to say that the Atrix IS the phone to change the landscape, but it is something new, something very new...

Tags: Atrix,Internet,Bell,Superphone

Category: Bell

Category: Computers

Opening a Quattro Pro file in Microsoft Excel

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:30:00 GMT

Recently, we did a PC replacement from someone who was on Wordperfect and Quattro Pro and updated them to the latest version of Office 2007.

While Word will automatically convert WPD files on the fly, we found out fast that QPro will not. Luckily there is a simple convertor you can download for free from Microsoft (why it is not embedded is beyond me).

Anyhow the link is here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/excel/HA010448731033.aspx

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Tags: Document Conversion,Word,Microsoft Office

Category: Computers

Category: Training & Tutorials

Way too funny!!

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:13:00 GMT

Completely reset your TCP/IP settings to default without a rebuild

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:43:00 GMT

In certain circumstances, usually due to a virus, the TCP/IP stack, and WINSOCK reg data, and files can become unstable, or corrupted. Usually this means a rebuild, however you can run the steps below to prevent such work.

The Netsh.exe utility (netsh) is a command-line scripting tool that you can use to configure and monitor Windows Server 2003 networking. This tool gives you an interactive network shell interface.

Tags: TCP/IP,Internet,Networking

Category: Internet

Category: Computers

Dealing with the Winmail.dat issue

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:39:00 GMT

Dealing with the winmail.dat file: the problem and the solutions

The Problem

Email users sometimes find that they receive email messages with a strange file attached, called winmail.dat. When they attempt to open this file, either it can't be opened at all, or it contains "garbage" data.

The situation causing this is that people are using several different email client programs to receive, read, and send email. The most commonly used email client programs at GPC seem to be Microsoft Outlook and Netscape (specifically the Messenger component), with a small minority of techno-geeks using Eudora. Unfortunately, Outlook does not "play nice" with the other email programs all the time. This causes problems, not for the sender of the email, but the recipient, particularly when actual files are attached to messages.

All about CAT-6A Cable, and the difference between UTP, and STP

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:25:00 GMT

Augmented Category 6 (Cat 6A) is the new cabling kid on the block! Many once thought copper cabling would never support speeds above 1 Gig, but Cat 6A has proven that wrong and allowed copper cabling to live on. There is even talk that copper cabling may still be around when we reach 40 Gig!

CAT-5 Wiring Diagram

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:21:00 GMT

Use the following diagram to properly create a ethernet cable using CAT 5 or CAT 6, with RJ-45 ends.

Ten Tips to Keep your Computer Running Smoothly

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:15:00 GMT

Use these tips to help your PC run smoothly...

HOW TO: Use the TSSHUTDN Command to Shut Down a Terminal Server in Windows 2000 Terminal Services

jshoff@realitybytesinc.com — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:14:00 GMT