Persistent questions during meetings

There are some people who are really impatient and incapable of delaying their understanding of things.

So when you are doing a presentation they will keep interrupting with questions. However, due to their impatient nature, if those questions are not easily answered they will keep doggedly pursuing the point in their quest to get the answers that satisfy them. This causes the discussion to get further and further off track.

I find it helps to just politely ask them to allow me to finish the presentation, or at least wait till I get to the end of the current chapter or section, and ask questions then.

Another thing that helps is to discern if the question is out of bounds for that meeting. For example, if I promised to provide just an overview of that topic, and the question is really intense and detailed, I can politely tell them that today we are just doing an overview. I can get to their detailed question later or on another day.

Adding Google Analytics to Blogger

Great info here on Kevin Sandlin's blog.
https://generalassemb.ly/blog/how-to-connect-your-blogger-account-to-google-analytics/

DMM SIM needs access point registration for data connection

I am temporarily using a SIM-free LG G2 mini (Japanese).

I inserted my DMM SIM card.  Phone and SMS worked fine, but there was no internet connection via 3G or LTE. I simply couldn't figure it out.

I thought about sending DMM a tech support ticket but before doing so went through their FAQs. It turns out you need to register the dmm.com access point for it to be able to work. 

Here is the info (Japanese):
DMM mobileのSIMを端末に入れても、通信できません

Gotta remember that.

Business hotels

If you are stuck in Japan without accommodation, there are actually tons of small hotels called "business hotels".

Generally you can always find vacancy in those somewhere in the city. The name sounds luxurious but they're actually low-priced and no-frills.

They typically don't have a restaurant or many amenities, and the rooms are small. However they are clean, comfortable and get the job done. They are mainly used by people on business trips.

I've used them a lot myself and was always pretty satisfied. However most of them don't have much info in English. If needed I can give you a hand with that when you're here.

Export iCloud Contacts fails on IE, succeeds on Firefox

Downloading iCloud Contacts on Windows does NOT work on Internet Explorer, but works fine on Firefox.  Which is weird since IE is the recommended browser for iCloud on Windows.

The steps to export your iCloud contacts on a Windows machine:

1. Log into iCloud.com
2. Go to the Contacts application
3. Click on the gear icon at the bottom-right. -> A menu pops up.
4. Select "Export to vCard"

When I tried it on IE, very simply, nothing happens whatsoever.  However when I tried it on Firefox it works perfectly.

My environment is Windows 8, running the latest IE and FF.

My wife got the exact same results.  She uses Windows 7 with whatever the latest IE is there.

Accessing MS SQL databases from classic ASP

I am writing a CMS (content management system) in classic ASP using Microsoft's JScript language (a server-side language based on ECMAScript3) with a database in Microsoft's MS SQL.

Why I am using such an ancient technology as classic ASP/JScript is a topic for another time.  Today I will focus on the steps it took to get it working, and the troubleshooting I had to do along the way.

First of all, you start by instantiating an ADO connection object as follows.
Next, connect to the database using a connection string.

try 

{

var objADO = new ActiveXObject("ADODB.Connection");

var dbConnStr = "Driver={SQL Server};server=MyMachine\\SQLEXPRESS;database=MyDB;uid=MyId;pwd=MyPw;";

objADO.Open(dbConnStr);

... use database ...

}

catch(err)

{

Response.Write(err.description);

}

Note that the code is in a try/catch structure.  The output from err.description helps a lot in diagnosing problems.

First problem

err.description had value:

• [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]Login failed for user 'MyId'.]

The solution to this was found here:

• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/555332

The problem was that in SQL Server Management Studio I had set the authentication of SQL Server itself to

• Windows Authentication mode

It should be:

• SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode

Second problem

err.description had value:

• [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]Login failed for user 'MyId'.  Reason: The password of the account must be changed.]

The solution to this was found here:

• https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/sqlserver/en-US/3174e9f5-5e51-4d95-89cc-bc81a9f16351/login-failed-for-user-please-what-am-i-doing-wrong

The problem was that I had set following property for the login for MyId in SQL Server Management Studio.

• User must change password at next login

It should be unchecked.

END

Test post

Checking out what is going on with the management of photos in Blogger.
Attaching a pic from last year's trip to Seoul.