Getting SQL Server 2008 R2 Installed The Hard Way

Had a woeful experience trying to get SQL Server 2008 R2 to install on my old XP Pro PC. Every single attempt failed on one component or another. Almost each fail was due to something else. I'd address one issue, another would kill the works. The biggest nut to crack seemed to be Reporting Services.

Finally, I stopped spinning my wheels as myself, and installed the beast logged in as Administrator.

You wouldn't think you're not the administrator of your own computer, but you're not.

Why this computer forced the issue is beyond me. I installed the free versions of these things before as myself.

You can't use reason, however, with an unreasonable PC; it's either the PC's way, or the highway. So finally, hands clasped in prayer, the Nth installation finished without a hitch, thanks to Administrator, whoever you are.

Windows XP doesn't make it very obvious either, how to log in as Administrator, but that's a subject for another blog.

Having learned this other lesson already, I made sure to tell the installer to leave Report Service configuration to me,  and made sure it did NOT try to steal port 80.

Whoo Hoo! Something That Actually Works!

Flawless installment today of Bitnami RubyStack web servers on my old XP and Windows 7 PCs.
This after ripping what little hair Microsoft left me trying to get my WAMP Apache to treat Ruby scripts as web pages.
Never had any such software install and work out of the box so easily.
Accepted different ports than those used by Wamp and IIS without a hassle.
The only thing that wasn't intuitive to a Ruby Newbie was this:
For the browser to read your rb files as text, put them in Apache2/htdocs.
To read as web pages, Apache2/cgi-bin.
At least out of the box.
Get RubyStack at BitNami. It succeeded Instant Rails.
Like Wamp, it comes with PHP, Apache, etc. Also includes a few versioning programs like Subversion.
Ruby on Rails does not have to be tough as nails. I will not torture y'all with any more rhymes.
Someone tell the Spell Check used by Blogger.com that "versioning" is indeed a legitimate word at this point in time. I hate seeing red lines under legit new-age words.

Microsoft HTTPAPI/2.0 disabling Apache and Wamp Server

Ooh, I cannot stand Microsoft. They did it to me again. This time after installing an SQL Server service pack and going into the database. Microsoft HTTPAPI/2.0 ripped port 80 away from Wamp. Again I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure out why this happened. All the prior usual suspects were locked up: IIS, Web Deployment, Skype, etc.
Turned out this time it was SQL Server Reporting Services. Thankfully I came across Griffin.blog to find this out.

Where Were YOU When Godaddy Went Down?

Along with millions of others on earth, I was Godaddied today, Godaddied right up the butt! I was in the middle of testing the site on our Android device when it suddenly disappeared from existence.
how can such a major firm be so naked and unprepared for a hacker attack like this?
The CEO makes his mea culpa on their homepage, apparently the only thing right now that works. Of course the page's main feature remains poor Danica Patrick, their Nascar racing spokesperson.
That's right Scott Wagner, either let your poor customers forever identify Ms Patrick with their misery. Or were you hoping that seeing hwer image would somehow clam everyone down and hypnotize us all into not feeling royally ticked off?
Congratulations, Wagner, for adding "GODADDIED" to the English language verb collection.

Force iPad/iPhone and iEtcetera to reload pages

Found very useful information on Stack Overflow by South African BrutallDev.

I found absolutely NOTHING else in the whole internet universe to successfully fix the problem on iPads and other iOS devices, where web pages are not reloaded upon a person returning to them via the Safari browser back button. No acceptable solution anyway.

Like SQL Authority Pinal Dave, who's been The Man for years as the go-to guy for SQL issues, I nominate BrutalDev for that honor regarding browser back and forth.

 Just in case that Stack Overflow page ever disappears, or changes urls, Brutal's Javascript snippet is as follows:

if ((/iphone|ipod|ipad.*os 5/gi).test(navigator.appVersion)) {

  window.onpageshow = function(evt) {

    // If persisted then it is in the page cache, force a reload of the page.

    if (evt.persisted) {

      document.body.style.display = "none";

      location.reload();

    }

  };

}

Stick it in script tags or a js file as you please.
I also added a blank onunload to the body tag as he suggested for older iOS.

At least he did better than Hakeem Nicks

I figured Victor Cruz would be good for 20 fantasy football points. Only got 11.8 out of him Thursday. At least he did better than Hakeem Nicks. Going to be a tough one going into Sunday. That extra 8 point cushion I counted on could be critical. I need big numbers from my Matts, Ryan and Forte, if I'm to avoid being a door-Matt. And McFadden better not turn into McFootinjury. And the Eagles need to collect a few sacks. That's all I ask of them.

Streetlight Site Meadowbrook Parkway section done

Alright! Finally moving forward. My old Meadowbrook Parkway section, formerly on Geocities back in the very old days, has been resurrected.

http://www.streetlightsite.com/ss1-Meadowbrook-Parkway/

Finally, Streetlight Site is ready for content!

I finally put what I hope are the finishing touches to the Streetlight Site infrastructure, with the first two story pages up and running in the Parkways section.

Assuming there are no unforeseen hiccoughs laying in wait for me, all I need to do now is database the content  and upload the images bit by bit from the old sites.