The tip:

1. Multiply the pounds you want to lose by the number of calories in a pound of fat: 10 x 3,500 = 35,000.
2. Divide the total by the days you’ll diet: 35,000 ÷ 60 = 583.
3. Calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate 100 calories per pound of body weight
4. Calculate your calories expenditure from exercize
5. Then use the formula (BMR+Exercise)-diet=total allowed calories

It has some other useful info on there about tips to rediscover your full limit at meal time. I might try this just to see how it works:

Try this: One night, eat only half the amount of food on your plate. Wait 30 minutes, assess your feelings of satiation, and then wait 90. If you’re still not hungry, you’ve probably been overeating. Most people grossly overestimate the amount of food they need to feel full, says Dr. David Kessler, author of The End of Overeating. A sensible meal will keep you full for four hours, and a sensible snack, for two. Experiment with reducing your portion sizes, and serve yourself those meals on smaller plates or bowls.

Not the vSphere 4 client. Piece of crap. Throws up errors on login:

Error Parsing the server “host ip” “clients.xml” file. Login will continue contact your system administrator.

The irony there is that I am the system administrator. Click ok… then:

The type initializer for “VirtualInfrastrcture.Utils.HttpWebRequestProxy” threw an exception.

Thankfully a quick Bing/Google search popped the answer from the VMware communities… it is all because of a single dll in .net framework that the client relies on.

Browse to the install directory of the client: C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\ and create a folder called “Lib”.

Obtain a system.dll file from a .net Framework 3.5sp1 install on a XP/2003 machine (found in %SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\system.dll).

Copy the system.dll to the folder you created: C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\Lib\system.dll

Then open the client app vpxclient.exe.config file and add a element with a development mode set to true within the bounds of the element (be sure to enclose each line in <>).

configuration
...
runtime
developmentMode developerInstallation="true"/
/runtime
/configuration

Then create a batch file to start up the app… like vpxclient.bat and put these lines in:
SET DEVPATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\Lib
"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\VpxClient.exe"
exit


Start the client with the batch file… works like a champ.

Many users, myself included, visit YouTube on an almost daily basis. Ever since Firefox version 2.0 implemented the session restore function, when you are watching a video on YouTube (perhaps on other video sites as well, I haven’t really tested that), you may notice a tiny freeze-up of the video every 10 seconds or so. This happens because the session restore is by default set to save all open tabs every 10 seconds. This is especially noticeable if you happen to have a lot of tabs open at once.

The quick fix for this problem, at least for my own sake, is to increase the time between each of the saves performed by session restore. By opening about:config in your Firefox address bar, then typing browser.sessionstore.interval in the filter box, you’ll see a value of 10000, which is in milliseconds. (Meaning your session is saved every 10 seconds.) I changed this to 300000, or every 5 minutes, as I don’t have the urgent need for tab restoration. If you feel like being more on the safe side, try increasing it to something a bit lower, say 120000, or every 2 minutes.

I was troubleshooting a bad application install on my Vista x64 box here at work a couple weeks ago, made a couple application-related registry deletions. Nothing major.

And UAC re-enabled itself. I started getting prompts for application use, scripts, etc.

The weird part?

Going into the User Accounts Control Panel applet, and UAC was deselected. Vista was saying that it was disabled, yet I was still getting prompts. I would select it, reboot, check and it was back to deselected. It was stuck on, yet the control panel was stuck with box unchecked (meaning it should have been off). No GPO for Vista on my domain, no overriding apps.

WTF?

So I ran msconfig, clicked the Tools tab, and launched the Disable UAC script. Rebooted.

Fixed.

Weird. Weird. Weird.

And I checked the registry after the boot (I should have checked it prior to see if the value was different), but after the reboot, the registry confirmed it was truly disabled.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\EnableLUA == 0 (disabled).

Another day, another Microsoft bug.

Then I stumbled across this today.

Reduce the amount of RAM Firefox uses for its cache feature

1. Type “about:config” (no quotes) in the adress bar in the browser.
2. Find “browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewer”
3. Set it’s value to “0“;(Zero)

Increase the Speed at Which Firefox loads pages

1. Type “about:config” into the address bar and hit Enter.
   (Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which really speeds up page loading.)
2. Alter the entries as follows:
• Set “network.http.pipelining” to “true”
• Set “network.http.proxy.pipelining” to “true”
• Set “network.http.pipelining.maxrequests” to some number like 10.
• This means it will make 10 requests at once.
3. Lastly, right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it “nglayout.initialpaint.delay” and set its value to “0“;.(Zero)

This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives. If you’re using a broadband connection you’ll load pages faster now.

Optionally (for even faster web browsing) here are some more options for your about:config (you might have to create some of these).

1. network.dns.disableIPv6: set “false”
2. “content.notify.backoffcount”: set “5“; (Five)
3. “plugin.expose_full_path”: set “true”.
4. “ui.submenuDelay”: set “0; (zero)

This little hack will drop Firefox’s RAM usage down to 10 Mb when minimized:

1. Open Firefox and go to the Address Bar. Type in about:config and then press Enter.
2. Right Click in the page and select New -> Boolean.
3. In the box that pops up enter “config.trim_on_minimize”. Press Enter.
4. Now select True and then press Enter.
5. Restart Firefox.

Oh yeah that helps. Since I am not a linux geek by any measure, it was a bit frustrating. So I had to write my own. For anyone that happens to trip here from google, enjoy. These are written for the uninitiated.

Installing HP Insight Management Agents on ESX Server

In this case, I am using HP Insight Management Agents for VMware 8.1.0 (available here). I am also using ML370 G5 and DL380 G5 Proliant servers with VMware versions 3.0.1, 3.0.2, and 3.5 and a pre-existing HP SIM server running in my Windows Server environment.

(Click through for the full instructions)

Note: do not include the quotes (“) when entering commands.

PREP:

1. Download the correct Insight Manager agents for VMware.
2. Unzip the tgz file using WinRAR or something similar, and peruse the readme for up-to-date info.
3. Using the ILO utility or the physical console, hit Alt-F1, login as root at the command line.
4. To allow root ssh access in ESX as well as enable sshd client access (SFTP, SSH), we have to change the local sshd_config file.
5. At the command line, type: “vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config”
6. Go to the line that says PermitRootLogin, change from “no” to “yes”
7. If you are unfamiliar with vi, use arrow keys to navigate, put cursor on the “n” of “no”, hit the i key to insert, then type in “yes” and delete/backspace “no”. Then hit ESC twice to exit Insert mode. Type colon (:) to get the in-editor command line, type “wq!” and hit enter. This will save the doc and exit vi.
8. Back at the command line type: “service sshd restart”, hit enter.
9. After the service restarts, type “logout” to exit the console, hit alt-f11 to go back to the esx screen.

REMOTE, FROM PC:

1. Download WinSCP or a similar SCP utility (PuttySCP, etc). You will also need PuTTY for this process as well.
2. Open WinSCP, connect to your server with root, and upload the .tgz file you just downloaded to the /home folder on the remote system. You can close WinSCP after the transfer is done.
3. Log in to the remote system using PuTTY, login with root. This should look and feel like the console.
4. Switch to /home directory: “cd /home”, where you copied the .tgz file.
5. Issue the following command to unzip the contents: “tar -zxvf hpmgmt-8.1.0-vmware3x.tgz”
6. This will create two new directories (/hpmgmt/810) under your current directory.
7. Change to the new directory by typing: “cd ./hpmgmt/810″
8. Run the command “./installvm810.sh -–install”, it will start the install.
9. Follow the defaults of the wizard (in depth script answers are below), when asked for the public string enter “public” 2 times (it will not be visible), and be sure to have the HP SIM server’s IP or FQDN and the unique private trap string. Pretty much always answer yes when enabling ports and the snmpd daemon. The only things that you will have to change from default is the snmp string info (see script section below).
10. Once the wizard is done and it restarts the services, you should see: “HP Insight Manager agents have been installed successfully!”
11. To check if the configuration has succeeded, log in to the HP System Homepage https://(esx server ip or dns):2381/. You should see the servername on the right side. Use the root login to access the homepage.
12. To log out of the console and close PuTTY type: “logout”, then hit Alt-F11 to go back to the status screen.
13. You’re done! You can log into the web interface and send a test trap to your SIM host.

SCRIPT ANSWERS:

(answers from script can be edited from web interface of insight mgmt agents)

1. This script will attempt to install the hp insight manager agents, do you wish to continue (y)
2. This script will attempt to shut down pegasus CIM in order to manipulate the HP insight manager agents, do you wish to continue (y)
3. For accessing the system management homepage, the port for hpim service (2381) should be enabled in the firewall, do you want to enable this port? (y)
4. For allowing discovery byt HP system management manager, the port for hpim service (2301) should be enabled in the firewall, do you want to enable this port? (y)
5. Do you want to enable the snmpd service? (y)
6. For adding the HP systems insight manager certificate in the SMH, the port (280) should be enabled in the firewall, do you want to enable this port? (y)
7. Welcome to the hp system health application and … hpasm package installation. … Do you wish to continue? (y)
8. Note: Your SNMP stack can load the 32bit hp proliant management extension… Press enter to continue (enter)
9. Do you want to load the hp modules even though they may “taint” your kernel? (y)
10. Do you require SNMP agents? (y)
11. Do you require storage agent support? (y)
12. Do you require NIC agent support? (y)
13. Do you wish to use an existing snmpd.conf? (n)
14. Enter the localhost SNMP read/write community string: public
15. Reenter the same input to confirm: public
16. Localhost snmp read only community strings are already known. Do you wish to change it? (n)
17. Enter read/write authorized management station IP or DNS name: (private ip of your SIM)
18. Enter SNMP read/write community string for management station (private ip): (your private string)
19. Reenter the same input to confirm: (your private string)
20. Read only community strings are already set to rocommunity public, do you wish to change them? (n)
21. The SNMP trap community strings are setup like this: trapcommunity public, do you wish to change this? (y)
22. Enter default SNMP trap community string: (your private string)
23. Trap sinks are set up like this: trapsink localhost, do you wish to change this? (y)
24. Enter SNMP trap destination IP or DNS name: (your private IP of SIM)
25. Enter trap community string: (your private string)
26. System contact is set to: syscontact root@localhost, do you wish to change it? (n) (can change it later)
27. System location is set to: syslocation room1, do you wish to change it? (n) (can change it later)
28. Do you wish to disable hpsmh support? (n)

TROUBLESHOOTING:

• To rerun configuration values after install, run: “perl /usr/local/hp/hpSMSSetup.pl”
• If you really mess it up, just uninstall, run “./installvm810.sh -–uninstall”
• You must enable the firewall port for the `hpim’ service (2381) for accessing the System Management Homepage. The `snmpd’ service should be enabled in the firewall for the Insight Manager agents to communicate properly with the hp Systems Insight Manager. These ports can be enabled by using the “esxcfg-firewall” command in the service console, or by answering ‘y’ when prompted by the installation script.

RESOURCES
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah

So in Outlook, I set my Calendar’s Current View to “By Category”. This handily sorted all the recurring events and duplicated events into a nice list sorted by Holidays and the like. I then just highlighted everything I didn’t want, including all the holidays, old events, stale recurring appointments, and then hit Delete.

Piece of cake.

Then I went back into Calendar options, and clicked the “Add Holidays” button to populate my calendar with the correct Holiday events.

I figured this would come in handy whenever someone wanted to clean up a calendar of never-ending recurring events. A easily selectable list makes managing multiple events a simple thing.

At least that’s what I like to think.