Don’t be a Billy!
October 28th, 2009 adminCute video – but plenty of good computer security tips too:
SCOTIA SYSTEMS BLOG
Setting up Home Automation X10 CM11a
October 21st, 2009 adminHad a tough time yesterday getting Homeseer (excellent product!) to talk to my CM11a X10 adapter.  If you’ve never seen one of these – it plugs into the mains and talks to the PC via a serial connection.
Simple – you might think!  However, not so simple when Homeseer is running on a virtual 2008 Hype-V machine!
Eventually got it going using a Lantronix EDS4100 serial over ethernet adapter.  The problem that stumped me for a while though – was that the CM11a needs to run at 4800 baud (not the 9600 default of the EDS).  Anyway – all up and running sweetly now 
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I still have a small issue of problems with Homeseer running as a service on 2008 – but from the Homeseer forums – looks like I’m not the only one with this issue.
Shrink a 2005 SQL Log File
October 21st, 2009 adminIf you have a 2005 SQL log file which is growing out of control – here are the steps needed to truncate it:
In SQL Server Management Studio – start a new query:
USE <DB Name>
Go
select * from sys.database_files
This will give a list of all database files – you’re looking in the “name” column for the name of the log file you want to shrink.
In a new query:
USE <DB Name>
Go
DBCC SHRINKFILE (‘<name from previous query>’, 1)
