Solved: SQUASHFS error on install (Ubuntu 8.04LTS)

Installing Ubuntu 8.04LTS on a new system this week and ran into a SQUASHFS error when booting from the LiveCD. If you Google this error, it appears to be extremely common.

I burned multiple copies of the CD. Tried the alternate CD iso. No go.

Anyhow, all I did was burn the same iso image onto a DVD. Booted from that and no errors.

So, while I can't explain why, it seems the solution is to burn the CD image to a DVD (provided your target machine has a DVD drive).

Operation must use an updateable query workaround

This MS Access problem occurs for many reasons. For some reason, you can't use an aggregate query to update a table. I'm not exactly sure why. Anyhow, some people have proposed working solutions using DLookup... but that method is awkward (especially if you have thousands of records to deal with).

Others have proposed creating a temporary table to store your query results, then running an update query to transfer the results from the temp table to your permanent table. This method works, but the intructions I found online were (with my limited experience) difficult to follow. So I have documented my method below in hopes that it may assist you. Please feel free to post corrections or whatever other input you have.

I created 3 queries; a select query to get the data, a make-table query to store it in a table, and an update query to do the table to table update.

1st: create a normal select query to aggregate all the data you want to update your other table with. We'll call it MYSELECTQUERY. Run the query and make sure it has all the data you want. Look out for duplicated data since this can cause you headaches down the road.

Next: Create a Make-Table query (MYMAKETABLEQUERY) to create a new table called MYTEMPTABLE with the data from MYSELECTQUERY.

3rd: Create an update query (MYUPDATEQUERY) to update MYTARGETTABLE with the data from MYTEMPTABLE.

4th: Test it, then put it all together with code so that a user can execute the update without complication. I set this up as the code behind the click event on a button.

-start code-
DoCmd.SetWarnings False
DoCmd.OpenQuery "MYMAKETABLEQUERY"
DoCmd.OpenQuery "MYUPDATEQUERY"
DoCmd.SetWarnings True
On Error Resume Next
DoCmd.RunSQL "DROP TABLE MYTEMPTABLE"
-end code-

That last line deletes the temporary table (MYTEMPTABLE). The DoCmd.SetWarnings False (and True) lines suppress (and reanable) the prompts Access would normally throw at the user to get them to confirm that they really want to run a query. There is a more elegant want to suppress these prompts, but I can't remember what it is. It's sad.

downforeveryoneorjustme.com is garbage, don't use it

Executive summary: downforeveryoneorjustme.com is garbage, use host-tracker.com instead.

Okay. This drives me wild.

My webhost (for another site) had a (legit) problem with the CPU load for our domain. So they move our domain to their "high load" server and send me an email about it.

Problem? The high load server settings block traffic from 40% of the planet including several parts of the USA (Florida, Texas, California) and Canada (Montreal, Ottawa, etc). So now I can't get to my own server.

The thing is, since they sent me the email to the account at the domain they moved (which I now cannot reach), I can't read their email.

So... Noticing on my own that there appears to be a problem, I contact them via live tech support chat.

And here it occurs...

The tech points me to downforeveryoneorjustme.com and says... "it's just you".

The fact that I point out that people I have contacted by phone (who have different ISPs and are in different cities) can't access our site seems irrelevant to him. Because the poorly conceived downforeveryoneorjustme.com site says we're up - so case closed.

Had I known about host-tracker.com at that time I could have forced the issue. Now I do, and I have.

8 hours now "partially offline". The host now acknowledges that it isn't in fact "justme" and that the problem is at their end. They're "working on it".

The point is: The fact that a site is up from a single point (like downforeveryoneorjustme.com), isn't very helpful. host-tracker.com provides useful data. If they say you're up, then you're up.

Want a discount TalkSwitch memory card?

In the spirit of sharing...

Talkswitch is a very nice phone switch option for a small business. Auto-attendant, call logging, intelligent routing, the whole bit. Really a nice piece of hardware. But when you decide you need a voicemail storage upgrade, I can guarantee their pricing will make you think twice.

TalkSwitch memory cards cost a fortune.

You can use a blank SmartMedia card. Works fine. I've been running my system on one for 5 months.

That's all. SmartMedia cards are actually defunct, but you should have no problem finding them (new) online.

I just saved you hundreds of dollars. Think $375 vs $47.

Ubuntu terminal server client - exit full screen

It took me a while to figure out how to exit full screen mode in terminal server client. The toggle keys are CTRL-ALT-ENTER.

The documentation on the sourceforge page for TSClient isn't the best.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/tsclient

Being new to Linux, I continue having trouble keeping track of Gnome, KDE, Ubuntu, etc (different things that don't even fall into the same category - oh well, I'll learn).

New blog - Healthy Cooking on a Budget

I've created my first BlogSpot hosted blog... a themed blog (they're the best) about healthy cooking on a budget. I've called it (this is amazing) Healthy Cooking on a Budget.

http://healthycookingonabudget.blogspot.com/

Hosting on blogspot has really improved. Now that I've seen what is available, and they you can use your own domain name (no need for blogspot.com) I plan to migrate all my blogs over to blogspot to take advantage of the extra services they offer.

Shooting at stuff with a CO2 Laser

My company makes pulsed CO2 laser systems. They have a peak power output of 5000000 watts. So we thought it would be fun to shoot at stuff with the laser and upload the video to Youtube... Unfortunately in this case... We didn't plan at all, and failed to set up a spot focus to concentrate the energy and get the ball to explode.

Anyhow. Here is the video.