Who Gives a .... Anyway

I could not believe how hard it was to find a simple example on how to append a record on condition (in this cast the date has change) for Access, so after I got the code working I thought why not post it. VBA is not my favourite language by any stretch of the imagination, so excuse any inappropriateness: Code Sample: ' Append a record to the a Table if it is a new day for tracking purpose Dim db As Database Dim rsTracker As Recordset Dim bDoAppend As Boolean Dim iLastCount As Long Set db = CurrentDb Set rsTracker = db.OpenRecordset("TotalCountTrackerTbl", dbOpenDynaset) ' check if the database has a record, and if the date is valid bDoAppend = IsNull(rsTracker("TrackDate")) If rsTracker.RecordCount <> 0 Then   rsTracker.MoveLast Else   ' no records so do append   bDoAppend = True End If ' still must not append then check if it is a new date since last record stored If Not bDoAppend Then   bDoAppend ...

Last night we went to go see the adaption to move of the book by John van de Ruit. In the days BC (before children) we saw movies regularly, but now a days catching more than one movie a year is a treat (at a movie house that is). Likes So first let me say what I liked: The movie's main character and of course the Gov (Clease) where well cast, even if John Milton had to grow on me. The Dad, Wombat and the Mom where also well cast. The use of original footage of the news of the announcement that Madiba is to be released, was fantastic The use of lots of South Africa music was great, would have like them to be specific to 1990, when the book is set though The Oliver Twist part is well done Setting was fantastic, go on Michael house for letting them use their grounds (I assume it was) Bonus: was the Dad's car The scenes with the narative where relatively well done So on the whole I enjoyed the movie enough to say it was mildly enjoyable Irritations To call them di...

Computer Crashed :( Recently my old computer that I was running iTunes on gave up the ghost. IT was running RAMBUS memory and the memory decided its day had come. So I could not get into my old machine where all my music is. Since there is some legal issue around downloading music from iTunes in South Africa, I have relied on ripping CD to the iTunes library. Thinking I was clever that I could save time doing this all again (I have over 500 CD's, a collection started in 1985). I decided that since the hard drive in my old machine was still okay I would get an external chassis and lace the drive in there. Loaded new goodies After the experience of the crashed drive I also bought a new external drive so that my music library would be portable. I copied the music folder to a new folder called music in the root of the new external drive. Then I loaded iTunes onto the new machine. I set the iTunes folder to the new folder on the new external drive and the library imported fine. Fine ...

For years now I have used Synctoy to do backups. I love this product, it has everything you need to backup and the best thing is that it is free. Download details: SyncToy 2.1 All you do is use an external hard drive (1 or more). Create a set of the data you want to always backup (1 set per drive), the you select run all. You can also add it to the scheduler to do the backup whenever you want. From Help: Usage Examples: SyncToyCmd -R MyFolderPair SyncToyCmd -R  So add a scheduled task under administration tools (Vista and 7, other wise under control panel) The navigte to program files syntoy and add  syntoycmd and you have a free backup.

Here is a great little e-book. It has 20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web . It has been put together very well and may answer a few common questions.

A simple and quick pasta recipe, that is delicious and vegan. Serves a family of 4. I did submit this to Meat Free Monday website. Ingredients ½ an onion 2 Teaspoons of olive oil Garlic clove (optional) 1 x tin tomatoes and onions, or 4 chopped skinless tomato 1 x tinned peas (must be tinned) Penna pasta recommended – assuming dried, if freshly made boil water as you add onion Method Heat 1 teaspoon of oil Add the chopped onion, when soft add the garlic (crushed or chopped) Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the tinned tomato and onions or tomato Put water for pasta in kettle for more efficient boiling Simmer the sauce while water boils. Once water boiled cook pasta, as pasta is cooked, remove heat from sauce, add the tinned peas. If you like pepper and salt add now. Drain pasta using a sieve or colander and place the sieve / colander back on to pot you cooked the pasta in. Pour the rest of the olive oil over the pasta and toss. I suggest adding the pasta to the sauc...

Mattresses | babycotsforsale.co.za This is a place I found that sells at factory cost. Based in Epping Cape Town

The Arabs, and the Turks popularized coffee, and when they were the biggest consumers they ruled the world. When coffee entered Europe, specifically Germany, France and Holland in the 1600's people were consuming large amounts of alcohol every day. Some research suggest 8 bottles of wine a day, with children also drinking, it was so common. Is it not interesting that with the spread of coffee and coffee houses through out Europe so too spread science, art and technology? It makes sense that replacing 8 litres of a bad brew resulted in more cognitive ability, since the mind was not permanently dulled by this total abuse of alcohol. Look at the fact that people were so driven to almost rely on alcohol from day to day, you would think this lesson would be learnt by the so called conquerors of the world, or western man, when they introduce the locals to alcohol. The main reason why the colonised have not risen up is because they suffer the same problem Europe suffered in t...

Serves 6 I got the original recipe is from Meat free Monday – fry’s news letter. They said the creator was Jodi-Ann Pearton who has just won Chef of the Year 2010. Modification in GREEN NOTE:  This uses cheese so technically it is not meat free, so vegans this is not an option. Ingredients 4 large eggplants (Used 3 more than enough) Salt 300ml olive oil 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 2g fresh thyme 2g fresh parsley 1 box VEGETARIAN MINCE 10g fresh basil leaves (I needed 30g) 2 tins tomatoes 4 potatoes, sliced thinly (skins on) – I would suggest par boiling them, or extending the cooking time to 60 minutes 300g goat’s cheese (Used chunky cottage cheese, since 300g of goats is not easy to come by, 250g not enough, would recommend ricotta cheese) 3x tomatoes for the top although the picture does not have them, and I think this is a mistake below 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Method Mine did not look like this, but tast...

For many years I have always supported the shareware model. Initially this was a great model, you had full use of a product, and when you felt it was the right fit for your solution you bought it. In my time I have bought many of the products I have used. One of the problems with doing that is you need to remember what product you purchase with which email address and also store registration information somewhere that allows you to use your product. The other problem is that these companies change their policies and pricing and sometimes sell out and you loose your "life time" license. So more and more I have relying on freeware, and I have some reviews of these already logged below. I will try and post more as things progress. One of the products that I purchase, and have since lost my registration details in Nero Burning ROM. So off I went to look for an alternative so far these are what I have found CDBurnerXP: Free CD and DVD burning software , great interface, had an...

In the anti-cancer life book, talks about how we have made Grazers out of Browsers, and wonder why the animal we poison are poisoning us. The lower the incidences of Meat eaters in a country the lower the incidence in that country of the "western" diseases of diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Is it not time to take notice: Here is a video worth watching. 'The Happy Meal ain't so happy' - new film reveals why beef is such bad news for the environment - News Join MFM, Meat Free Monday, and start being conscious about your decisions one day a week! Join here: www.supportmfm.org Recipes from them here: recipes Other Links: Animal Vegetable Miracle Recipes Meat Free Monday background information Livestock’s Long Shadow – Environmental Issues and Options Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations Rome, 2006 Slaughtering the Amazon Greenpeace International 01 June 2009 Global warning: climate change and farm animal welfare Compassion in World ...

Preamble I am often of YouTube, and have found there are videos that I keep going back to for the kids and reference. In video Jug once you are a member you can download videos, YouTube nada. So I decided to look at YouTube downloaders. I run Vista, with 1Gb RAM, otherwise nothing special. I decided to document the results of the quest, the results were revealing, none of the downloader I found seem to do the job, and some of the ones claiming to be free are NOT. I did a simple test went to 3 videos, one from the home page of YouTube the others a muppets, and a coffee related video Firstly the ones that worked Chrome Extension Chrome YouTube Downloader - 1.5.7 by FlavioBayer , after restarting Chrome, clicked update now under chrome://extensions, still nada, then I noticed that there was a download button added underneath the video on the YouTube sites, and it works like a dream, you can select the quality an the video type. Chrome Extenstion: Loudtronix YouTube Download...

Pondering: What frame of mind are you in to allow bad things to happen to you? Many believe in karma. That good be-gets good. Surely that in itself is a limiting belief.  Why do you need to do good to get good. If you believe in good and that it should happen to you, surely that is enough. If  you apply the law of attraction, and the the law of least effort then believing in good things should be enough. The question perhaps is: Do you need to actively believe? By that I mean reinforce the belief by affirmation, meditation or some other method. Perhaps only if that is not a core belief within you, then you need to reaffirm it. Since if there is a basic a belief in your core that is conflicting with you conscious belief, you need to drive the impeding core belief system out. Tell them the lease is up and they are on longer welcome in the house of your subconscious belief. Your subconscious belief is built on a rocky foundation of badly formed incomplete ges...

In a blog I wanted to do a four column unnumbered list, I looked around and found a few sites showing you a method: alistapart.com csswizardry.com Summary of CSS Essentially you want an inline list that has a width, so first define the UL, with a margin, then make the list items inline and have  a width item1.1 item1.2 item1.3 item1.4 item2.1 item2.2 item2.3 item2.4 item3.1 item 3.2 etc Code <ul style="margin-bottom: 20px; overflow: hidden; width: 100%;"> <li style="border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; display: inline; float: left; line-height: 1.5em; width: 25%;">item1.1</li> <li style="border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; display: inline; float: left; line-height: 1.5em; width: 25%;">item1.2</li> <li style="border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; display: inline; float: left; line-height: 1.5em; width: 25%;">item1.3</li> <li style="border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; display: inline; float: left; ...

This week I was in the unfortunate position that I had one original DVD that would work in our Portal DVD player since the stupid player a TEAC does not have an enter button on the player. After much investigation and trying Handbrake and DVD ripper and all that sort of rubbish I found this link: DVD to AVI/DivX/XviD - VideoHelp.com Downloads I will be updating this post with the name of the product I decided to use in the end. With AVI I can store movies on a memory stick or USB stick and the kids will be entertained for hours, without the interference of a Remote. Update in the meantime I have contacted both Disney and NuMetro, still no response from NuMetro, but Disney told me that for fast play to work the DVD has to have its default language set to English. I have also found a better link: http://www.easyfreeware.com/freeware/dvd_to_avi.html And the one product Mediaprosoft free dvd to avi mpeg seems quite good you can rip to different media formats and even devices. A...

This is for general POP email Assuming that the phone is not setup, from the setup menu select setup email: Select method to connect to the internet select Other enter in the full e-mail address Select POP/IMAP Check that the settings of the email are correct; remember that the user name is normally the full email address. Scroll down to in coming email server, enter the text box, in Quaffee's case it is mail.quaffee.co.za, select ok Incoming mail select SSL for security or None (for Quaffee), this will select the port automatically Then set the outgoing email server as per the settings the cell phone service provider, these are what I found: For Vodacom 3G, outgoing server is smtp.vodacom.co.za For MTN 3G, the outgoing server is mail.mtn.co.za For Cell C the outgoing server is mail.cmobile.co.za Set the outgoing mail security to None Send and receive and email. The email is now setup Setting up synchronisation to be hourly This will set up that you email is downloaded one an hour ...

This was originally inspired by Good Food Magazine, as published on BBC Food website called Chickpea Tangine. This is not a Tangine, since it is not cooked in the Tangine cooking pot. Tastes better with butter beans Ingredients Method 2 tbsp olive oil 2 onions 2 garlic cloves ½ tsp each ground cinnamon, garum marsala, coriander and cumin – can add ½ tsp chill too for a bit of bite 6 courgettes 3 chopped tomatoes 1 can of butter beans 225ml vegetable stock 1 ½ cups frozen peas 2 hand full’s of chopped coriander T ake each courgette and cut them from just below stem end to tip and then turn them 90 degrees and repeat. Then cut of the tip, and then cut into thirds, this should give you 12 quarters. Into a container empty the herbs, and add the courgettes to the container, make sure each is covered in herb mixture. P lace a pot on a low heat and add the oil into the pot. Chop the onions now this gives the oil time to be warmed up, add onions to oil and fry them ...

This is part 5 of the process of creating you own Domain and Website so that you can you own free email and website, that is completely legitimate. So far we have, found a domain , created it on ZoneEdit, applied for the domain registrar to register the domain name, and setup ZoneEdit to get ready for the Web and Email forwarding . Check All is in Place Before you continue with Part 5, it takes about 24hrs for the domain or DNS propagation to occur. You need check that all the previous parts work. So if the propagation has worked: First check the website forward is working. In this case we have a site on google site called onecoolname, if you type in www.onecoolname.co.za , it should take you automatically to sites.google.com/site/onecoolname . Then from another email account, send an email to the email address you forwarded to (in this case joe@onecoolname.co.za ) and if it gets to the Gmail address then you are ready to continue. Setting Google Sites to point to your reg...

We continue from the previous posts. So far we have found a domain name that is available for registering ( onecoolname.co.za ), and we have signed up at a DNS service provider (in this case it is ZoneEdit), and posted a registration form to the domain registrar. Part 4: Setting Mail and Web Forwarding up While waiting for the registration to be processed, or after it has been processed you can go back to ZoneEdit and then set up the domain to forward to your email and website. Go into ZoneEdit.com, log in Then Click on Edit Zone Click on the zone you want to edit onecoolname.co.za You will see under Mail Forwards the mails are forwards to the email you used to register the domain, if you click on Mail Forwards you can then add individual email addresses, and forward them on to other people. In our example we will setup joecool@onecoolname.co.za to forward to our GMail address Click on Web Forward, add you www. onecoolname.co.za , to your sites.google.com/site/onecoolna...

We continue the process of getting you own free or low cost site and gmail, from the previous post. Recap:  So far we have found a domain name that is available for registering ( onecoolname.co.za ), and we have signed up at a DNS service provider (in this case it is ZoneEdit). Part 3: Sending Through the Domain Registration We are working with the co.za domain registration process in this example which uses a manually submitted text file. In Part 1 you downloaded the registration from co.za, it is very important that you DO NOT open this is word, you must open it is a text based editor. DO NOT FORMAT this form in any way. No matter how get the form from page  http://www.coza.net.za/coza_reg.txt , then select the whole page, If you are using a browser to do this then go to the bottom right corner, and while holding the mouse down I drag to the top left corner. I then press Ctrl-C (or right click copy). For Mac users you need to do it a different way The from you...

Free Website with Domain Preamble In this multi-part post, I will go through a step by step process for setting up a low cost or free website. The only cost in this process is the registration of the domain through the registrar. There are domains that are free like za.net, as long as their is no commercial interest. Before starting this process you need to have created an email from a free email provider like GMail , and a set up a website from a free website provider like Google Sites . In the parts that are coming we will assume that these are the providers you are using. If I get a request to use other providers I will look at them as an option. Part 1: Finding a Domain. The first thing you need to do is find a domain name that is available. Depending on the domain you need to go to the source of those domains. For this exercise I will be using the co.za domains. So go to http://co.za Click on Whois (Registration Details) Enter in a name you would want (no co.za), an...

Got some time on you hands? If you have a website and you want to see how many people are search the web, and using what word, so perhaps you can target your audience in a different way then you need the: Google AdWords: Keyword Tool Although this is designed around adwords, it is using the hit rate of search words used by web users. You can check how popular the keywords are by country and, if you are targeting mobile users, then only those users. You can check your website tot the competitions request for a particular word. Essentially this gives you an insight into web users, the search they are using on google, and how your site stacks up. But remember I did say do you have time on your hands.

Gnocchi Neapolitan with Aubergines Ingredients (for 4) Method For Sauce 3 tbsp olive oil 1 onion chopped 1 garlic clove Marinade of : ½ tsp each cumin, ground coriander, paprika and salt 1 x large aubergine 2 x tins chopped or whole tomato Hand full of fresh herbs (origanum, basil or parsley whatever you can get) Optional: ½ glass red wine. G nocchi is store bought, if you can make it yourself then do   P eal aubergine, and chop into small dice sized pieces. Place aubergine, 1 tbsp olive oil and marinade into freezer bag, and toss. Heat the one pot, add 1 tbsp oil, when warm add onion into pot for 1 minute, reduce the heat and add garlic, stir then add contents of freezer bag. Cook for about 10 minutes, stir occasionally, and make sure heat is low.   R emove the aubergine from the pot, add to bowl, do not wipe the pot. Add the tins of tomato, removing the very runny liquid and reduce. If you like a bit more body in the sauce add the wine. Should take about 25-30 mins medium to low, to ...

Before I start let me tell you that I cannot stand pretentious rubbish. Using synonyms and marketing talk to beef up a product line is hogwash. That is why I hate places like Porters Market and the biscuit mill. These places are fashion accessories and not the real macaw. Earth nature and craft market and farmers markets that are true to their vision rather than being bling are what I prefer. That said I was told by a local microbrewery (Darling Brew) that there was a microbrew market at the biscuit mill. Fighting the urge to vomit I decided that my fascination with micro things like micro roasters , and micro mills, and micro bakers and recently micro brewers was a big enough motivation to see past the marketing rubbish. So off I went, suffered a 1 hr queue, which I still cannot understand why they just did not move the crappy sitting tables out to the parking lot and make some space for clients. Here is a list of brewer I found (some I have tasted before): Camelthorn – a local rep of...

I have been looking for some contact us form templates that use CSS rather than HTML tables Here are a few links for the ones I have found. I prefer to use CSS links that do not use "ID" but these are just templates Fancy form - Stu Nicholls | CSSplay | CSS styling of forms Form with help - http://jeffhowden.com/code/css/forms/ Gradient form - http://www.alistapart.com/d/prettyaccessibleforms/example_3/ Form with a small tutorial - http://www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/tweak/forms/ While looking for these I found this cool reference from MS on custom error pages, and the variables that are available to them. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306355 If I find a few more will post the link. Of course I would never use the mailto command, I have a Email C# class that I have written to do that. Perhaps I will post that on request, as it has a little error handling too. Just have to add configurable password, smtp and email addresses to t

Best of what was offered? So the South African Wine Amorim Cap Classique Winners Announced : Best MCC went to "Bon Courage Jacques Bruére Blanc" And Best Vintage went to Kumkani Infiniti Brut 2004. I have ordered both to check them out. I love the way South African MCC's, are getting better, the real surprise for me was that the best Non-Vintage award went to Pongrácz Brut, Best Rosé went Pongrácz Rosé. I would have choosen Ross Gouwer, not sure if it was submitted. Also wonder if Tanzanite's Rose and Brut where in the running. The problem with best, is best of what selection, and they do not list that :( Update After doing a comprehensive tasting test I can now say that I was a little disappointed with the Bon Courage, I reckon the Tanzanite is better, it probably was not part of the selection. That said I was impressed with the Kumkani 2004. It is of a very high quality and the price is very reasonable. Will definitely be ordering more of that.

While looking for information on photographic equipment, workshops, I stumbled upon this site: Blog.Photo.Net Interesting read. Will use some of it while setting up the wildlife photographic and artist retreat , in the Klein Karoo, as I am looking for base equipment to have available. Anyone want to offer additional suggestions, I am keen to hear them, as it is a blank slate we are starting with.

Found this online via a newsletter, have not tried it out but looks interesting for later play. Will report back then to see if it helps with anything: Download My-Config License Freeware Size 3.4 MB Added 2010-09-16 Price $0.00 OS WinXP, Vista, Win7 Author Cybelsoft Support My-Config Support Description My-Config is a small application that allows you to identify and publish hardware from 1 to 10 network PCs under Windows. Once the hardware is detected you will be able to obtain the latest drivers corresponding to the identified material in a few clicks.

It is funny how you can be motivated to remove the cob webs of your mind by the silliest things. Today I had a brainwave on how to clean frothing pipe for a the Jura Impressa . I pasted so string through the pipe and then soaked the one end in soapy water, and passed the string back and forth through the pipe. Afterwards I was left with a shoddy piece of string. I tied it so that it mad a loop and then remembers that thing you do with you fingers and thumbs to pack string patterns. (see left). I can do the teacup and eifel tower easily so started looking around for others. this is what I found A few more here -> http://www.alysion.org/figures/introkids.htm Text based one -> http://www.astro.cornell.edu/~brs/strfigs/more.htm Will post more if I find them

I was reading Newsweek (new week) magazine this week, and also found the article on-line -> http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/14/will-boredom-and-the-costs-of-constant-connection.html Is it not interesting that as humans we are the only animals that probably get bored, is this the ultimate evolution trait? I found this fascinating that this may be the case. I suppose it may be because we no longer have to be alert 24x7 that we may become someone's dinner that gives us this ability. Or perhaps this is why we are so inventive, is it not through boredom that we have evolved to have all sort of goodies, that we never would normally. In the article thy speak about how boredom is now a trait that can be identified in 30 minutes, i.e. it only takes a newer generation 30 minutes to become bored. An alternative though is perhaps boredom is something that means that we are not active, perhaps we have got to the point where if we are not doing then we are bored. Are we losing the ability to ...