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Cannot upload large files into SharePoint v3

by Steve Hernandez on Jul.04, 2009, under Technology

1. Use Notepad to open the Web application Web.config file. By default, this file is in the following folder:

Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
C:\Inetpub\Wwwroot\Wss\VirtualDirectories\ VirtualDirectoryFolder

2. Add the following section at the end of the web.config file in the respective site:

  <system.webServer>
 <security>
  <requestFiltering>
   <requestLimits maxAllowedContentLength=”1073741824“/>
  </requestFiltering>
 </security>
</system.webServer>

Where the number is in bytes.  This amount would allow you to upload 1024 MB (1 GB) and was calculated as follows (1024 B / KB * 1024 KB / MB * 1024 MB / GB).

Note This code sets the value of the maxAllowedContentLength property to 52428800. Therefore, the maximum file size of an uploaded file is 52428800 bytes. However, set the value of this property so that it is larger than the file that you are trying to upload. Also, set the value of this property so that it is larger than the maximum file upload size that you have configured in SharePoint. If you do not, users will not receive an error message that they are exceeding the size limit if they try to upload a file that is larger than the maximum file upload size that you have configured in SharePoint.

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Identity Theives: Independence Recovery Services

by Steve Hernandez on Jun.13, 2009, under Personal

My wife recently recieved a letter from a company with the following contact information:

Independence Recovery Services
2480 Opdyke Rd
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304

Incependence Recovery Services
2480 Opdyke Rd
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304

Please beware that this company / individuals are trying to steal your identity and / or payment information.  DO NOT call this collection agency or send them any information.  Instead, call the company that they ’say’ you owe money to.  My wife recieved the letter from a clothing company that doesn’t have accounts (included an account number) and an amount.  Funny thing is, the company they used does not have ‘accounts’ (no credit cards offered from the company) and my wife doesn’t shop there.

Womp womp.  Nice try guys.

Please beware.  Identity theives.

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HP’s Customer Support = FAIL

by Steve Hernandez on Jun.01, 2009, under Personal, Technology

My Brother Cain recently purchased an HP Tablet PC after the rave reviews I gave it: the size, the power, the functionality, all beautiful.  If you recall, I had issues recieving my order… took about 3 weeks.  3 WEEKS!

Well anyway, he was willing to wait for it, I agreed, and recommended the specifications.  The order was placed.

HP Strikes again.  Read the full story here: HP Customer Support = FAIL

Maybe, just maybe, HP is making so much money that they can afford to treat customers poorly, provide sub-par support, and sell low quality merchandise, without it hurting their bottom line.  Or maybe they’re like all other businesses (think GM) and are starting down a very dangerous path.

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The Hidden Secrets of Online Quizzes

by Steve Hernandez on May.18, 2009, under General, Technology

You can have a ball taking online quizzes on Facebook and other sites, but here are some things you should know before you do.

JR Raphael, PC World

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 04:00 PM PDT 

The Truth About Onine Quizzes 

I am a genius. I’m charismatic, kind, and understanding. I’m also a Disney princess named Aurora and the reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe.

But I’m not crazy (at least, not completely). I’ve just been taking a lot of online quizzes lately — you know, the ones all over the Web promising to reveal your IQ, personality traits, or celebrity resemblances. Aside from discovering my inner Sleeping Beauty, I’ve also learned something important: These quizzes are about far more than providing users with enlightening or entertaining information.

The Real Deal

While Web quizzes may be fun to take, they’re also a powerful tool for companies to collect your data and even your money — and often in ways you might not notice. We’ll get to the spooky stuff in a moment, but let’s start with the simplest method of quiz-based marketing: advertising. The very nature of a typical online quiz requires you to divulge all sorts of details about yourself. Those tidbits of info are like nuggets of gold for advertisers craving a way to connect with you.

“The big trend is about engagement,” says Debra Aho Williamson, a senior analyst with eMarketer. “These quizzes are getting people to pay attention to ads.”

After more than 100 online ‘offers’ appeared, the author gave up on trying to obtain the results of the test he took.

Paying attention, it seems, is almost a requirement: Aside from being carefully targeted at your interests, the ads are often in-your-face and impossible to avoid. Take, for example, TheFreeIQTest.com, a quiz I found via a text ad on Google. By the time I clicked through the 105th “offer” (aka advertisement) it threw in front of my results — no exaggeration — I gave up without seeing the results of the quiz.

“There’s a clear annoyance factor, leading people to one thing, then at the last minute bait-and-switching them,” Williamson says. “The challenge with this type of advertising is walking that line between people wanting it and people wanting it to go away.”

The ads can follow you long after you click away, too. Just look at RealAge, a detailed quiz that assigns you a “biological age” based on your family history and health habits. The site, a recent investigation revealed, takes your most sensitive answers — those about sexual difficulties, say, or signs of depression — and sells them to drug companies looking to market medications.

Bigger Issues

Unwanted advertising, unfortunately, is only the tip of the iceberg. Some online quizzes will surprise you with required payments or purchases before you can access your results. While the requirement may be in the fine print somewhere, it’s often not in a place you’d easily notice before beginning the process.

It’s when the PayPal logo pops up that you realize Test-IQ.com wants $7 to give you your quiz results.

That’s exactly the scenario I found at Test-IQ.com, a quiz advertised on Facebook. The site’s home page makes no mention of a fee–you’d have to click to the privacy policy and read to the bottom to discover the $7 charge. Other sites, such as IQ-Test-Results.com, slip in recurring monthly fees for registered users.

You really have to dig to figure out what this quiz site wants to do with your credit card.
Then there are quizzes like CheckMyPersonality.com. Its Web site says, “Happy! (Shy) Sad? Outgoing, Fun? Which are you? Find Out for Free with CheckMyPersonality.com.” This site goes as far as to periodically access your credit card once you’ve signed up. I discovered a line in the company’s privacy terms that gives it an ongoing right to “verify that your credit card account is valid and has credit available” by charging fees and later crediting them off.

Worse, that line isn’t even in the terms linked on the home page–it’s in a secondary set buried deeper in the site. It comes up under a link labeled “Privacy Policy” on the fourth screen you reach as you fill out the quiz. The page is hosted on a different domain, and is separated from the site’s privacy policy page, but it is still branded as CheckMyPersonality.com.

CheckMyPersonality.com also authorizes its owners to dig up all kinds of information on you. The company states that it may use “third-party service providers” to track down everything from your household income to your buying habits–and then resell that data to marketing agencies.

“These [types of sites] are data-mining havens where users willingly opt-in from the very beginning,” says Ryan Jacobson, an attorney and cochair of the Entertainment Media and Privacy Law Group at the law firm SmithAmundsen in Chicago. “I’m afraid that the average user fails to recognize or take the time to understand what privacy rights he or she is actually giving up by responding.”

CheckMyPersonality.com, incidentally, didn’t respond to our requests for comment.

The Trust Factor

Ultimately, deciding whether you should take an online quiz comes down to a question of trust: Are you comfortable putting your information–personal or financial–into the owner’s hands? Remember, even if you don’t directly input data, it can be passed along. Such is the case with Facebook, where just opening an application automatically grants its developer access to your entire profile. And don’t assume that the developer isn’t going to use the information within.

“The very intimate and detailed nature of the information featured on Facebook profiles makes such a database very valuable to marketers,” says Guillaume Lovet, a senior manager with security company Fortinet.

Finally, bear in mind that the quizzes’ results may not even mean much. In the case of online IQ tests, for instance, many of the exams are about as valid as my excuse for missing mah-jongg night at the clubhouse.

“These things are simply not sophisticated,” says Dr. Martin Eaton, a licensed clinical psychologist and adjunct professor at the University of Southern California. “Calling them intelligence tests would be a misnomer.”

The test that declared me a genius, I can only assume, was a rare exception.

Connect with JR Raphael on Twitter (@jr_raphael) or via his Web site, jrstart.com.

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Wake-Up Call - Better Sleep

by Steve Hernandez on May.16, 2009, under Health

Rise and shine! Follow these 8 tips to start the day refreshed and ready-to-go

By Michele Bender

do in the hour after you get up can help you look and feel your best for the rest of the day.

Tap into the Power Hour

What you

The right moves and foods will give you the focus, stamina, and positive outlook you need to plow through your busy schedule. Plus, you’ll kick-start your metabolism, helping you torch extra calories and melt more fat. Our get-up-and-go routine outlines the latest research-based tips guaranteed to make your morning a true power hour. Here’s how to rise and shine.

1. Cue Energy with Color

“Seeing a bright, vibrant hue when you open your eyes gets your adrenaline going–and that sudden surge of energy helps clear the cobwebs and kicks you into gear,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. Put a red, orange, yellow, or fuchsia throw pillow, blanket, or piece of art in the area you first see in the morning, or slip on a robe in one of these shades. You can even make breakfast visually stimulating (and get a nutritional boost) by pouring yourself a glass of antioxidant rich pomegranate or cranberry juice with a sweet slice of orange.

2. Wake Up and See the Roses

Seeing a bouquet of blooms when they first woke up gave women in a new study a mood lift and energy boost that lasted all day, reports Nancy Etcoff, PhD, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard University Mind/Brain/Behavior Initiative.

3. Stop Hitting the Snooze Button

There’s truth in the adage “You snooze, you lose.” When you hit snooze, your brain knows it will go off again in a few minutes–so you won’t go into the deeper, more restful stages of slumber. That means you’ll be more tired than if you’d gotten up when it first sounded. A better strategy: “Set your alarm for when you really need to get up,” says Jodi Mindell, PhD, associate director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “That extra, uninterrupted sleep makes you feel more rested and refreshed when you get out of bed.”

4. Picture the Day Ahead

Once you’re awake, close your eyes and picture yourself alert and energetic. “Imagining an activity fires up the same parts of your brain that are used when you actually experience it,” says Dana Lightman, PhD, a behavioral psychologist in Abington, PA. “Thinking positively about the day ahead energizes you.”

5. Drink Instant Energy

Drinking a big glass of water as soon as you get up is a good way to replenish the fluid your body loses overnight, and it provides instant energy. “Everything that happens in your body requires water,” says Holly Andersen, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Center. “Without enough of it, your systems have to work harder in every respect–which can cause fatigue.” Indeed, even a 2% drop in water stores can tire you physically and mentally. Starting to sip early also gives you a head start on the 11 cups of water the Institute of Medicine now recommends women consume throughout the day to stay hydrated.

6. Let the Sunshine In

A splash of sunlight makes you feel more awake, so read the paper by a sunny window or step outside for a few minutes while having your coffee. “Daylight signals your biological clock to stop the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that makes you sleepy, and promotes wakefulness,” says James B. Maas, PhD, a professor and past chairman of the department of psychology at Cornell University. It also increases the brain’s level of serotonin, a chemical that boosts mood. If it’s still dark when you get up, consider purchasing a dawn stimulator (from $80; Light Therapy Products), a device that gradually brightens a light source at a preprogrammed time. Set it to create a dawn that breaks a half hour before your usual wake up time and grows to maximum brightness when your alarm goes off–even when your eyes are closed, the light that passes through your lids signals your internal clock to trigger waking neurons in your brain.

7. Give Yourself a Face Rub

“Massaging your face boosts circulation, making it a surefire way to wake up,” says Maggy Dunphy, general manager of the Aria Spa and Club in Vail, CO. Starting at your forehead and working down to your chin, lightly flutter tap or drum your fingertips, varying the velocity, intensity, and location until you’ve touched your entire face. Bonus: These moves give you a quick healthy glow.

8. Have a Romp in the Hay

Physical activity is one of the best ways to shake off grogginess–and having sex boosts your body’s levels of chemicals associated with stamina (testosterone), energy (dopamine), and calmness (oxytocin), says Helen E. Fisher, PhD, a research professor in the department of anthropology at Rutgers University. What a great way to start the day!

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9 Ways To Sleep Better Instantly

by Steve Hernandez on May.16, 2009, under Health

Three exhausted women fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly with the help of a top expert. Learn how you can get more Zzz’s too.

By Camille Noe Pagán, Prevention

A good night’s sleep is as easy as slipping under the covers and closing your eyes—right? If only. More than half of American women say they sleep well only a few nights a week, reports a National Sleep Foundation survey.

“Sleep issues are common for women over 40—and usually very solvable,” says sleep specialist Rubin Naiman, Ph.D., a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Arizona’s Center for Integrative Medicine. “With simple lifestyle changes, you can improve the quality of sleep, as well as mood and overall well-being.” Here’s how he helped three women get the shut-eye they need for optimal health and happiness.

My sleep thief: Hyperactive brain

Margot Tohn, 44, is a self-described overachiever: On top of running her own publishing company, she takes care of her ailing father, volunteers for several charity organizations, and tries to play tennis with friends or go to the opera once a week. Her list of to-dos and obligations never ends, yet she often feels as though she’s not doing enough. Even after she turns in for the night, her mind is still going, running through what she accomplished that day and planning for the next. She doesn’t actually get to sleep until 1 a.m. to 2 a.m., then wakes at about 5:30, feeling anxious to get started. By the afternoon, Margot feels irritable and in desperate need of a nap.

Our expert says: “This sleep problem is primarily psychological,” explains Naiman. “Margot is entirely too hard on herself, and all that ruminating creates anxiety, which shifts the brain into high-alert mode instead of allowing it to wind down.” When she starts to criticize herself or feel guilty about not running an errand right away for her family, for example, she needs to stop and think: Am I really hurting anyone by not doing this immediately? Taking a second to think rationally will help her calm down. The other problem is that Margot’s day is too jam-packed, adds Naiman. “She has no alone time to process her thoughts, so her mind essentially makes up for it at night.” This pre-bed routine will help her mind and body relax:

  • Unplug an hour before bed. That includes the television, computer, cell phone, and any other glowing tech tools. Research shows that the brain misreads artificial light as daylight, so it doesn’t release melatonin, a sleep-regulating chemical, which is normally triggered by darkness.
  • Take a warm shower or bath. Your body temperature goes down when you get out, which makes you feel sleepy. That’s because it mimics what occurs deep inside the body at night, when internal temperature drops to its lowest level.
  • Meditate or pray for 10 minutes. Several studies show that it can help reduce anxiety, release negative thinking, and improve sleep. Sit quietly in a comfortable position and repeat a phrase you find relaxing, such as Keep letting go.

How it worked: “Though I’m not sleeping for 8 hours a night yet, the quality of my sleep has definitely improved because I’m much more energized during the day. The relaxation routine took me a little while to get used to: I never meditated before, so at first, I could sit quietly for only about two minutes at a time. I eventually worked up to 10 minutes, and it does help ease my mind. I also take a hot shower at night and do a few stretches before I go to bed, which relaxes my body. Plus, I started to realize that my all-or-nothing attitude wasn’t doing me any favors, so on nights when I get home late, I make sure to do my pre-bed routine for even just 10 to 20 minutes, instead of forgoing it entirely because I don’t have a full hour.”

Key Move: Keep a journal

“I make a list each night of 10 things I am grateful for—from good friends to a good hair day. I feel less anxious when I take a few minutes to focus on how much I’m blessed.”

My sleep thief: Waking up four times a night

Virginia Camasca, 40, has battled insomnia for five years, trying all sorts of things, from herbs to special diets, with no success. At night, she spends up to an hour trying to get comfortable before eventually dozing off, but then she wakes up several times before the alarm rings—often to use the bathroom, sometimes just because.

She used to dream frequently but now rarely does, which some research suggests is a sign of poor quality sleep. But when she tried taking the sleep supplement melatonin, she had nightmares. Virginia’s insomnia leaves her stressed-out and so exhausted that sometimes she even dozes at work.

Our expert says: “Virginia is stuck in a vicious cycle—the more she agonizes about not sleeping, the harder it is for her to nod off,” says Naiman. Stress keeps the mind active and triggers the release of chemicals that rouse the nervous system—all of which sabotage slumber. There’s no doubt Virginia is waking up too often, but once or twice during the night is normal. Knowing that may alleviate some of the negative feelings she has toward nighttime. A more relaxed mindset—and the following tips—will up the odds she gets better quality sleep:

  • Limit liquids after 6 p.m. The reason she wakes up so often to use the bathroom is simply because she drinks too much fluid during the second half of the day. After 6 pm, have just one to two glasses of water; also do 10 to 20 Kegel exercises daily, which strengthen the bladder. (To do Kegels, clench only the muscles that control the flow of urine.)
  • Set a bedtime and stick to it. Going to bed at different times throws the internal body clock out of whack. It’s better if she hit the sack at the same time every night and set the alarm for the same time every morning—even on weekends, suggests Naiman. This will help get her body on a regular pattern, which makes it easier to fall and stay asleep.
  • Try a small dose of melatonin. The brain makes this chemical naturally, but it’s often in short supply in people with insomnia. Studies have shown that taking a melatonin supplement helps improve sleep, but you need only a small amount: 0.5 mg, 15 minutes before bed. Last time Virginia tried it, she took 3 times as much, and that can cause side effects like nightmares or even depression. Before taking any supplement, talk with your primary care doc.

 

 

How it worked: “I started taking melatonin after a checkup with my doctor, and it seemed to work right away, helping me fall asleep faster than I had in forever—and I’m dreaming good dreams again. Keeping a bedtime was tough at first, but now it feels normal to be in bed by 10. And because I have only one glass of water with dinner and did Kegels regularly, I wake up less often to use the bathroom and sometimes sleep straight until the morning. I’m thrilled that I feel so relaxed and healthy. Friends who didn’t know I was doing this program tell me I’ve never looked better. I guess there is such a thing as beauty rest!”

Key move: Hide the time

“I turn my alarm clock away from me so I can’t count the minutes I’m awake if I get up in the middle of the night. That way, I’m less stressed if I wake up, so it’s easier to drift off again.”

My sleep thief: Night sweats and heavy snoring

Tracy Lobdell, 52, has gained more than 50 pounds over the past five years—and it’s taking a toll on her sleep habits. She snores heavily and suspects she may have sleep apnea, a serious condition that occurs when a person stops breathing for seconds at a time because of airway obstructions, which are often caused or made worse by excess body fat.

She recently lost a few pounds by adopting a healthier diet and practicing portion control, but she never has the time or energy to exercise. Tracy is also in the throes of menopause and suffers from hot flashes and night sweats. Plus, her husband and dog—both of whom share her bed—snore, too, and there’s barely room for the three of them on their queen-size mattress. The result: Tracy tosses and turns all night and is moody, unproductive, and tired during the day.

Our expert says: “Severe snoring, weight gain, and significant daytime drowsiness all indicate possible sleep apnea,” says Naiman. “But even if Tracy doesn’t have the condition, snoring can make it difficult for her to get into the deep stages of sleep.” Although it’s a good idea that she get tested for apnea, Tracy can help ease snoring and other possible apnea symptoms by keeping up the weight loss. To slim down even faster, she should add 30 minutes of aerobic exercise to her routine five or six days a week, says Naiman. Shedding extra pounds may ease night sweats too. And to sleep more soundly, she should try these bedtime tweaks:

  • Switch to the side. Sleeping on the back, as Tracy does now, isn’t ideal for heavy snorers or people with apnea—it allows the soft palate to hang in a direction that can obstruct breathing. Sleeping on either side, however, opens up airways to alleviate breathing issues. To help stay in this position, Naiman suggests propping one pillow behind your back and another in front of your waist.
  • Make the bed a pet-free zone. Tuck the pooch into a doggie bed in another room. When Tracy shares her sleeping space with her pet, it gives her little room to move, and though she may not realize it, her dog’s fidgeting and kicking wakes her throughout the night.
  • Keep the bedroom cool. Exactly how cool depends on your preference, but Naiman suggests around 68°F. Wear lightweight pajamas, and cover up with a sheet instead of a blanket. This will help reduce the severity of night sweats.

How it worked: “For the first time in years, I actually feel well rested. I plan to get tested for apnea, but I’m already falling asleep much faster, and my hot flashes are less frequent and severe. I even got used to sleeping on my side. The toughest part for me was making my dog sleep in the other room. I felt guilty, but it really is so much more comfortable. Instead, I let her spend 10 minutes in bed with me in the morning—I think of it as trading quantity for quality. I’ve continued to lose weight by watching my diet—I’ve dropped 10 pounds and counting. I haven’t made time for exercise yet, but I definitely have more energy now, so it’s next on my list.”

Key move: Cut back caffeine

“I used to drink about six glasses of iced black and orange tea every day. Dr. Naiman suggested that I switch to decaf or 100 percent iced green tea, which can have half as much caffeine. Now in the mornings I have a little black and orange tea, but in the afternoon, I stick to green. I actually don’t miss the caffeine at all.”

 

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5 Sleep Myths Busted

by Steve Hernandez on May.16, 2009, under Health

It accounts for a third of your life and a big chunk of your health and longevity. So why aren’t you sleeping enough?

By Jim Gorman, Men’s Health

What a night. The woman of your dreams appeared. Your pulse raced. Heavy breathing ensued. You do remember it, right? Oh, wait, you were asleep. And that’s not all you missed. Under cover of night, sleep floods your veins with age-defying human growth hormone. Sleep raises an army of T cells and sends them into battle against colds and infection. Sleep resets the appetite controls that tell you to not hit the turn signal when you pass a McDonald’s. And, of course, sleep helps you above the neck as well as below the belt.

“It stabilizes your waking brain, makes you more alert, and allows you to process information faster,” says David Dinges, Ph.D., who studies shut-eye at the University of Pennsylvania. “It helps you remember things and consolidate those memories.” You won’t get that from a Red Bull. So then why are we engaged in a society-wide experiment in sleep deprivation? Average nightly sleep time during the workweek in the United States is down nearly 20 minutes in the last decade, to six hours and 40 minutes. And men ages 30 to 44 are the worst offenders: Thirty percent of them say they log less than six hours of sleep at night, according to a survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The price you pay for this sleep deficit is more than just lost productivity—your health can suffer too. So wake up! It’s time to shed some light on this dark territory.

Successful, driven guys should be good to go on five hours a night: MYTH

True, Napoleon slept four to five hours a night, and Thomas Edison got by on four. But world domination and the lightbulb might have been mere warm-ups had these guys slept more. Sleep scientists estimate that only 10 percent of adults are hardwired to need appreciably less (or more) sleep than the recommended seven to eight hours. And by cheating on sleep, you’re limping through life with the cranial equivalent of a torn calf muscle. Scarier still, people who are sleep-deprived often don’t even know they’ve turned into zombies. After dividing 48 volunteers into four sleep regimens—eight, six, four and zero hours a night (a.k.a. torture)—University of Pennsylvania researchers found that the six-hours-a-night group fared as poorly on measures of alertness and memory after two weeks as the no-sleep crew did after 24 hours. But participants in the six-hour group didn’t feel very sleepy even when they were performing at their worst. Accumulating a sleep deficit also leads to “microsleeps” while you’re awake. “Your brain becomes unstable and will go ‘off-line’ for half a second,” Dinges says. The more sleep-deprived you are, the more frequent and longer the lapses.

 

 

Snooze strategy: If you didn’t sleep seven to eight hours every night this past week, go to bed this weekend at your regular weekday time, but don’t set your alarm clock. Did you rise on Saturday and Sunday at the same time you would have on, say, a Tuesday? Then you may be one of those few people who can sleep less yet remain healthy. The rest of us mere mortals can begin to repay our sleep debt by dozing 10 hours a night on weekends and then sticking to seven to eight hours during the week. Your brain will use this strategy whenever you accumulate a sleep debt, says Ruth Benca, M.D., Ph.D., medical director of the Wisconsin Sleep Center. Otherwise, you want to stay consistent with your sleeping.

Frequently needing to pee in the middle of the night might indicate a health problem: TRUTH

That first stumble to the bathroom in the dark can be chalked up to the beer you drank watching the Knicks game. The second one can spell trouble. “If you habitually take two or more bathroom trips a night, you probably have obstructive sleep apnea,” says Alex Chediak, M.D., medical director of the Miami Sleep Disorders Center. With sleep apnea, the soft tissue at the back of your throat blocks your upper airway during sleep, stopping your breathing for anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute or even longer. This can occur hundreds of times in a night, depriving you of restorative deep sleep and starving your vital organs of oxygen. No wonder sleep apnea has been linked to heart disease, hypertension, and mood disorders.

But why does it wake you up to pee? Because those mini-suffocations result in lower circulating oxygen levels, your heart pumps harder, raising your blood pressure. As excess fluid builds up in your veins, a feedback loop triggers the release of a pressure-relieving diuretic, making you need to pee. An enlarged prostate and high blood sugar can also prompt middle-of-the-night bowl breaks. But with those conditions, says Dr. Chediak, you’ll pee a lot day and night.

Snooze strategy: Raising the pillow end of your bed by a few inches can help prevent that tissue from blocking your throat. Snoring could also be waking you in the middle of the night, and one major cause is nasal obstruction. Wash out mucus and irritants by mixing 1/4 teaspoon of table salt in 2 cups of warm water and flushing your nose twice a day using a medical or bulb syringe. Japanese researchers found that people with nasal obstruction were twice as likely to experience daytime fatigue as people with clear passageways. For video instruction on the technique, visit mayoclinic.com and search “nasal irrigation.” If the peeing persists around the clock, schedule a prostate exam and have your blood-sugar level checked by your doctor after an overnight fast.

The post-lunch bonk can’t be avoided: MYTH

Many Europeans scarf down a carb-loaded lunch and then shut down from 1 to 4 in the afternoon. But with unemployment soaring, let’s assume a three-hour nap won’t play well at the office. If you find yourself entering what amounts to a food coma after lunch, you’re probably eating too many carbohydrates in the morning. And what you’re not getting enough of is making it worse. “A postlunch crash is a telltale sign of poor nighttime sleep, as is dozing in meetings, theater performances, or similar environments,” says Dr. Benca. Not sure if you’re experiencing a modest dip or a true crash? Take a minute or two to fill out the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. This online questionnaire is the same one sleep docs use on their new patients.

Snooze strategy: Along with improving your nightly sleep pattern, eat three small meals spaced two hours apart in the morning. Try a protein shake at 7 a.m., two eggs and a small cup of oatmeal at 9, and an apple and a handful of almonds at 11. You’ll consume fewer carbohydrates, and you won’t be as likely to overeat at lunchtime. In fact, a salad with grilled chicken and avocado on top should be enough to keep your mind focused and your head off the desk all afternoon, says Keith Berkowitz, M. D., medical director of the Center for Balanced Health in New York City.

Waking up at 4 a. m. every day just means I’m an early riser: MYTH

More likely, you—along with 60 million other Americans—have insomnia, an inability to fall or stay asleep. “Insomniacs wake at the slightest disturbance and feel unrefreshed in the morning,” says Dr. Benca. Insufficient sleep exposes the sufferer to a litany of performance and health problems. In a study published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, researchers found insomniacs were more than twice as likely as normal sleepers to call in sick for long periods.

Snooze strategy: Let’s assume that you’ve already cut back on caffeine. What you want to do is make your sleep more efficient, says W. Christopher Winter, M.D., medical director of the sleep medicine center at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, Va. Dr. Winter likens poor sleep to a bookcase missing a few volumes, representing gaps in your sleep. By going to bed an hour or so later, those gaps won’t be as long as or frequent. Soon enough, you should be waking up after the roosters, not before them.

A tiring workout before bed will help me sleep more soundly: MYTH

Regular exercise is one of the best sleep-promoting remedies, but working out late at night risks leaving you wide-eyed in bed. “It’s easiest to fall asleep when your core body temperature goes relatively quickly from very warm to very cold,” says Dr. Chediak. “After exercise, that cooling process takes four to six hours.” It’s better to take a hot bath or sauna session close to bedtime. “Anything that raises core body temperature will help get you started on sleep,” says Dr. Chediak. He says the cooldown period into the sleep zone following a bath takes just two hours—half that of an exercise session.

Snooze strategy: Work out—but do it first thing in the morning for all-day energy and a quick drift into deep, restful sleep. Studies show that exercise improves sleep as effectively as a class of sleeping pills that includes Restoril and Halcion.

Alcohol can help me sleep at night: MYTH

Only if you equate a good night’s sleep with passing out drunk on your girlfriend’s sofa. Alcohol messes with the normal sleep cycle, especially the back end of the cycle. “Four hours into sleep, alcohol wears off and leaves you in an excitable state,” says Dr. Chediak. You’ll sleep lighter, wake more easily, and be hung over when you do wake. After three nights of intoxicated slumber, even the initial knockout punch begins to wane. Dr. Chediak warns of another drawback to using a six-pack as a sleep aid. “Being a muscle relaxant as well as sedative, alcohol can even create sleep apnea symptoms in snorers who don’t otherwise have the condition,” he says. Unfortunately, liquor is a go-to therapy for many sheep counters, used as often as over-the-counter sleeping pills and more often than prescription sleep meds.

Snooze strategy: Be consistent with your overall schedule and you won’t need booze. “Your internal clock is a structure in your brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus,” says Dr. Winter. “To set this clock, eat your breakfast, lunch, and dinner at exactly the same time every day for a week.”

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Ubuntu / RoundCube WebMail Domain Mismatch Issue - Internet Explorer - ERROR: Your Browser Does Not Support / Accept Cookies

by Steve Hernandez on May.16, 2009, under Technology

Introduction

When the domain in the URL of your RoundCube instance and the domain the page is actually being rendered from are different are different, you will recieve an odd error message - your browser does not support cookies - from RoundCube.  My set up has an iFrame from one Domain redirecting to another, where RoundCube sits.  Why did I do that? Because the actual domain is ugly and my client requested the web login to their email be the same as the actual domain their emails come from.

FireFox and Chrome allow the login to work fine, but not IE.

However, Internet Explorer does not allow cookies from a 3rd party domain (the second one in the iFrame) to be downloaded, and silently deletes them - security measure I suppose - it is widely documented.  The only way to get around this is to modify the headers sent to notify the browser that the mismatch is intended.

Problem

Email Domain: emailDomain.com
Web Server Domain: webDomain.com
RoundCube URL: webDomain.com/webmail
IMAP Server: mail.emailDomain.com
Redirects: emailDomain.com redirects HTTP traffic to webDomain.com, emailDomain.com redirects SMTP traffic to webDomain.com

NOTES: emailDomain.com is basically just an alias. 

If you try to login through webDomain.com via RoundCube (actually type in webDomain.com/webmail) it will work, the cookies will match up and everyone will be happy.

If you try to login through emailDomain.com (which will open up webDomina.com/webmail in an iFrame) it will not work with Internet Explorer 7 or 8.

Solution

I added the following line of code to the first line of code (after the comments) within the index.php file.

file: /var/www/webmail/index.php (please note that webmail is where RoundCube is installed)

header(’P3P:CP=”IDC DSP COR ADM DEVi TAIi PSA PSD IVAi IVDi CONi HIS OUR IND CNT”‘);

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Adding multiple users to Ubuntu e-mail Server using a script

by Steve Hernandez on May.16, 2009, under Technology

These two scripts are very important for the system admin who regularly works with mail servers and somehow forgets to backup his system username and password! Let’s say somehow we lost the usernames and passwords of the mail server. In this case the admin has to manually create all the users and then change the passwords for all the users. Tedious job. Let’s make our life easier.

First create a file which contains all the user name. Something like this:

nurealam
nayeem
mrahman
farid
rubi
sankar

Save the file as userlist.txt. Now create the following bash file:

#!/bin/sh
for i in `more userlist.txt `
do
echo $i
adduser $i
done

Save the file and exit.

chmod 755 userlist.txt

Now run the file:

./userlist.txt

This will add all the users to the system. Now we have to change the passwords. Let’s say we want username123 as password. So for user nayeem the password will benayeem123rubi123 for user rubi and so on.

Create another bash file as follows:

#!/bin/sh
for i in `more userlist.txt `
do
echo $i
echo $i”123″ | passwd –-stdin “$i”
echo; echo “User $username’s password changed!”
done

Run the file. All the passwords are changed.

If you want to force all your users to change password, use the following code:

Force all your users to change their passwords because the temporary password is a security risk

#!/bin/sh
for i in `more userlist.txt `
do
echo $i
echo $i | change -d 0 “$i”
echo; echo “User $i will be forced to change password on next login!”
done

I then log as that user and see this

WARNING: Your password has expired.
You must change your password now and login again!
Changing password for user amcorona.
Changing password for amcorona
(current) UNIX password:

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Intel Matrix RAID 5 - Rebuild on Reboot

by Steve Hernandez on May.14, 2009, under Technology

So I finally figured out what was causing my RAID 5 on my Windows Server 2008 box to always rebuild on reboot.  For a little background, since I am currently not offering any services to any clients that require the server to remain powered up 24 hours a day, I shut her down for about 6 to 8 hours in the evening (while I sleep, she sleeps).  Every morning I start her back up, and she would rebuild the Array.  BUT WHY!?  It was a graceful shutdown.  The logs showed nothing out of the ordinary.  So I started to poke around to see what was going on.

To my amazement, the Windows Search indexer was the problem.  This cranky service would not shutdown gracefully, and would actually be in the middle of a write to disk right before the system killed it.  So I tried to remove the RAID from indexing… but that didn’t help.  After looking I found that I had actually set the indexer to save the index on the array, which would have given the array an excuse to rebuild: indexer closed improperly and did not close the index files correctly.

My solution was to remove the array from the indexer’s allowed paths (do not index the array - I’ll wait the extra 10 seconds to find anything that I’m looking for) and I moved the index files to the system drive (yes it may cause minor performance degredation and maybe wear on the system drive, but not nearly as much as a 6 hour RAID rebuild EVERY DAY!).

I have been rebooting for the past 4 days with no issues. :)

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