How to replace the battery on a Casio MTG-900DU solar powered watch

1. Get a replacement battery from Casio UK on 020 8450 9131 https://support.casio.co.uk/Telephone.aspx
2. Follow steps here on how to replace it (be careful not to loose the spring). http://forums.watchuseek.com/f43/how-change-ctl1616-rechargeable-battery-41076.html

Windows 8.1 USB installer and dual booting

Looks like Microsoft make the task dead simple for you now…

http://www.neowin.net/news/here-is-how-to-get-the-windows-81-iso-and-create-a-usb-install-stick

Although if you get into the trouble I had with GPT bios issues, then use this trick instead…

http://techverse.net/how-to-create-bootable-usb-flash-drive-install-windows-8-1/

Also for all you need to know about dual booting between various flavours of Windows see here

http://www.pagestart.com/dualbootkorner.html

EaseUS Backup Free here (for system imaging backups)

http://download.easeus.com/free/tb_free_installer.exe

MyDefrag defragger to move MBT here

http://www.mydefrag.com/Manual-DownloadAndInstall.html

No Cache Attribute in MVC

    using System;
    using System.Web;
    using System.Web.Mvc;
    using RRA.Core.Services.Utilities;

    /// 

    /// Disables browser caching.
    /// 
    [AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Method)]
    public class NoCacheAttribute : ActionFilterAttribute
    {
        /// 

        /// Called by the ASP.NET MVC framework before the action result executes.
        /// 
        /// The filter context.
        public override void OnResultExecuting(ResultExecutingContext filterContext)
        {
            filterContext.HttpContext.Response.Cache.SetETag((Guid.NewGuid()).ToString());
            filterContext.HttpContext.Response.Cache.SetExpires(SystemDateTime.UtcNow.AddDays(-1)); 
            filterContext.HttpContext.Response.Cache.SetValidUntilExpires(false); 
            filterContext.HttpContext.Response.Cache.SetRevalidation(HttpCacheRevalidation.AllCaches); 
            filterContext.HttpContext.Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.NoCache); 
            filterContext.HttpContext.Response.Cache.SetNoStore(); 
            base.OnResultExecuting(filterContext);
        }
    }

My VS macros

Imports System
Imports EnvDTE
Imports EnvDTE80
Imports EnvDTE90
Imports EnvDTE90a
Imports EnvDTE100
Imports System.Diagnostics
Public Module Module1
    'Empty routine that just causes VS to flush its memory to disk
    Sub ReleaseMemory()
    End Sub
    Sub RebuildDocumentationUpwards()
        DTE.ExecuteCommand("ReSharper.ReSharper_GotoPrevMethod")
        DTE.ExecuteCommand("Tools.SubMain.GhostDoc.RebuildDocumentation")
    End Sub
    Sub AttachToW3p()
        AttachToProcess("w3wp.exe")
    End Sub
    Sub AttachToLocalWebDev()
        AttachToProcess("WebDev.WebServer40.EXE")
    End Sub
    Sub AttachToMyProcess()
        AttachToProcess("MyProcess.exe")
    End Sub
    Sub AttachToMyProcessScript()
        AttachToProcess("MyProcess.exe", True)
    End Sub
    Private Sub AttachToProcess(ByVal ProcessName As String, Optional ByVal ScriptOnly As Boolean = False)
        Try
            Dim dbg2 As EnvDTE80.Debugger2 = DTE.Debugger
            Dim trans As EnvDTE80.Transport = dbg2.Transports.Item("Default")
            Dim dbgeng(2) As EnvDTE80.Engine
            dbgeng(0) = trans.Engines.Item("Script")
            If ScriptOnly Then
                Array.Resize(dbgeng, 1)
            Else
                dbgeng(1) = trans.Engines.Item("Managed")
            End If
            Dim proc2 As EnvDTE80.Process2 = dbg2.GetProcesses(trans, System.Environment.MachineName).Item(ProcessName)
            Call proc2.Attach2(dbgeng)
        Catch ex As System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException
            Select Case ex.ErrorCode
                Case -2147352565
                    ShowMessage(ProcessName & " is not currently a running process")
                Case -1989083106
                    ShowMessage("You are already attached to " & ProcessName)
                Case Else
                    ShowMessage("Unhandled error message from Attach to process macro")
            End Select
        Catch ex As System.Exception
            MsgBox("Unhandled exception occurred: " & ex.Message)
        End Try
    End Sub
    Private Sub ShowMessage(ByVal message As String)
        Call MsgBox(message, MsgBoxStyle.Exclamation, "Attach to process macro")
    End Sub
End Module

GOTCHA: The resurrection of TFS source control folders

Today we found something very interesting with Team Foundation Server (TFS) source control folder workflow. A colleague of mine had deleted a source control folder from TFS source control, but as I hadn't got latest on the parent folder, I was not aware that he had done this.

I was then able to add a script to this deleted folder, check in my change, and this had the implicit effect of undeleting the folder that my colleague wanted removed.

One to watch out for in case you don't always do a full get latest from the route of your source control project.

Preload Images with CSS, Javascript or Ajax

See here for many ways to achieve this...

http://perishablepress.com/3-ways-preload-images-css-javascript-ajax/

Personally I'm sticking with the following...

http://jsfiddle.net/chafferm/VU2dq/

Note the type check for array in this example is probably overkill, as it is for all browser versions, we could have used jQuery isArray instead, or even Array.isArray in ECMA script 5 (IE 9 or higher).

How to put back AirDroid 2.0.3 on Galaxy S2

1. Force stop
2. Move it to SD Card
3. Uninstall

Then download the .apk from another device that's running the old 2.0.3 version, using airdroid against that device, apps, download button, and then install that on your Galaxy S2 again.

or just use the one here

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2APGSXHNH_bbXVnWmhsOXpIWk0/edit?usp=sharing

All is good in the world again.

Note: The direct browser link to airdroid version 2.0.3 is now

http://web.airdroid.com/history/v2.0.3/1306281148/

Plunkr Noughts And Crosses Game

Spent some time with my new favourite javascript online editor of the moment http://plunkr.co. I've found I can use my tablet, an iPad and even a smart phone to edit my HTML using this editor, although most of the time it's done using Google Chrome on a laptop.

My daughter and I find this game is best played with two wireless mouse devices plugged into the laptop, and you take it in turns to move the pieces into the squares.

P.S. Some hidden gems in Plunkr are the keyboard shortcuts:

Ctrl+S = Save
Ctrl+Up/ Ctrl+Down = Cycle through files
Ctrl+Enter = Preview / Run your code

To run the game, click here:
http://run.plnkr.co/plunks/kLcfW2/

To edit the code, feel free at this link:

http://plnkr.co/edit/kLcfW2?p=preview

Plunkr - Noughts and Crosses Game

How to reinstall MSDTC

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891801#appliesto

Unit of work pattern in WCF

See here for an example of how to implement a unit of work pattern in WCF (using Unity).

http://blogs.5dlabs.it/post/2012/05/23/Implementing-Repository-and-UnitOfWork-patterns-in-a-WCF-service-using-Unity.aspx

public class CustomServiceHostFactory : ServiceHostFactory
{
protected override ServiceHost CreateServiceHost(Type serviceType, Uri[] baseAddresses)
  {
return new CustomServiceHost(serviceType, baseAddresses);
  }
}

public class CustomServiceHost : ServiceHost
{
static IUnityContainer _container;
static CustomServiceHost()
  {
    _container = new UnityContainer();
    _container.RegisterType<ICompanyRepository, CompanyRepository>();
    _container.RegisterType<IUnitOfWork, DbUnitOfWork>();
    _container.RegisterType<SVCContext>(new ServiceInstanceLifeTimeManager());
  }
public CustomServiceHost(Type serviceType, params Uri[] : base(serviceType, baseAddresses)
  {
  }
protected override void ApplyConfiguration()
  {
base.ApplyConfiguration();
    Description.Behaviors.Add(_container.Resolve<UnityServiceBehavior>());
  }
}

public class UnityServiceBehavior : BehaviorExtensionElement , IServiceBehavior
{
IUnityContainer _container;
public UnityServiceBehavior(IUnityContainer container) : base()
  {
    _container = container;
  }
public void AddBindingParameters(ServiceDescription serviceDescription,
ServiceHostBase serviceHostBase,
Collection<ServiceEndpoint> endpoints,
BindingParameterCollection bindingParameters)
  {
  }
public void ApplyDispatchBehavior(ServiceDescription serviceDescription,
ServiceHostBase serviceHostBase)
  {
Type serviceType = serviceDescription.ServiceType;
IInstanceProvider instanceProvider = new UnityInstanceProvider(_container, serviceType);
foreach (ChannelDispatcher dispatcher in serviceHostBase.ChannelDispatchers)
    {
foreach (EndpointDispatcher endpointDispatcher in dispatcher.Endpoints)
      {
        endpointDispatcher.DispatchRuntime.InstanceProvider = instanceProvider;
        endpointDispatcher.DispatchRuntime.MessageInspectors.Add(
new UnitOfWorkMessageInspector(_container)
        );
      }
    }
  }
public void Validate(ServiceDescription serviceDescription,
ServiceHostBase serviceHostBase)
  {
  }
public override Type BehaviorType
  {
get { return this.GetType(); }
  }
protected override object CreateBehavior()
  {
return this;
  }
}

public class UnityInstanceProvider : IInstanceProvider
{
IUnityContainer _container;
Type _serviceType;
public UnityInstanceProvider(IUnityContainer container, Type serviceType)
  {
    _container = container;
    _serviceType = serviceType;
  }
public object GetInstance(InstanceContext instanceContext, Message message)
  {
return _container.Resolve(_serviceType);
  }
public object GetInstance(InstanceContext instanceContext)
  {
return this.GetInstance(instanceContext, null);
  }
public void ReleaseInstance(InstanceContext instanceContext, object instance)
  {
  }
}

 

 

public interface IUnitOfWork
{
void Commit();
}

public class DbUnitOfWork : IUnitOfWork
{
SVCContext _context;
public DbUnitOfWork(SVCContext context)
  {
    _context = context;
  }
public void Commit()
  {
    _context.SaveChanges();
  }
}

 

public class UnitOfWorkMessageInspector : IDispatchMessageInspector
{
IUnityContainer _container;
public UnitOfWorkMessageInspector(IUnityContainer container)
  {
    _container = container;
  }
public object AfterReceiveRequest(ref Message request, IClientChannel channel,
InstanceContext instanceContext)
  {
return _container.Resolve<IUnitOfWork>();
  }
public void BeforeSendReply(ref Message reply, object correlationState)
  {
    ((IUnitOfWork)correlationState).Commit();
  }
}

Icon editor for favicon in the web

Came across this in the book I'm reading at the moment, http://www.xiconeditor.com/ - rather clever little tool from Microsoft for creating the favicon for your website, for when users book mark it on their iPad / iPod or desktop PC.