There were a number of posts including David Klein’s and Waxtadpoles regarding SQL 2005 and the “TypeGuessRows” setting in the registry.  Their suggestion was to set the value to 0 (zero), in order to force SQL to parse all rows in the excel sheet, not the first 8 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/189897)

This was ultimately the solution, but not as stated. For us, possibly because we were running 64bit or differences in SQL 2008/Server 2008, the registry entry was not where either the Microsoft Bulletin or the two posts above stated. By searching the registry for this Dword Value we found several other instances of it at:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Jet\4.0\Engines\Excel
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Jet\4.0\Engines\Lotus

 

After making the change to “0″, our error was resolved. Thanks to both the posters above, and Philip Michael’s persistence.

UPDATED

It turns out this is indeed related to the 64bit OS. Apparently the Jet Engine runs in “Windows On Windows 64″ 32 bit run-time. Here is a little information on WoW64. And David Jennaway has some more information on SQL 64bit, Excel providers and DLLs in this article: The Registry settings for the 32 bit OLEDB provider for Excel have moved.

Constant polling in Push mode

The first thing we detirmined was that the phone was constantly polling the exchange OMA (Outlook Mobile Access) website of the exchange server.  This was both visible and audible if you are near a set of computer spearker that can pick up the iPhones RF.  Switching the ActiveSync mode to Fetch, did indeed resolve the battery issue, but it simply masks the problem.  If you are an Exchange Administrator or have a good relationship with one, you can verify this is an issue by checking the Excahnge OMA website logs in iis.  These are difficult to read, but for a medium sized business, you’ll see a noticable increase in the traffic to that website, as the iPhone polls iis constantly.  This might also be noticalbe in Firewall https logs.

Resolution

We found the problem to be caused by a corrupt “Meeting Request” in the users mailbox.  The phone was not able to open this and process automatically, thus causing an error and the ActiveSync polling to restart.  No other functionality seemed to be impared, only that ActiveSync push would constantly fire, due to an inability to sync all mail items. 

1) To eliminate it, we sorted the Users Inbox by Type in outlook. 

2) We then deleted all the meeting or calendar mail requests. 

3) Empty the deleted items as well to completely remove the corrupt invititation.

4) Deleted the iPhones Exchange Account, recreated it, and let the mail sync up.

Once you delete the account, you can recreate it using the AT&T infomration below.  No data will be lost, as this is simply a syncronized copy of the exchange server.

http://www.wireless.att.com/support/knowledgeBase.do?content=KB103217.html

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

PASSING GAME
Matt seems to be having trouble seeing receivers that are or are becoming open.  There are more than a half dozen plays he misses deeper opportunities that are WIDE open.  And another half dozen in which the ball could have been thrown safely, where the only one able to catch the ball would have been a Chiefs receiver.

I don’t believe this is a lack of time.  There were several instances, when the wide-out had already begun to break open (having already beaten the corner or safety) and Matt decides to throw to a check down or keep and run with the ball…well after he could have launched a pass to the deeper and more open receiver.  This may indeed be internal pressure he feels from having been pounded to the ground every other play…but this will be a point that Cassel can learn from reviewing game film.   No interceptions should be achieved by WHERE you throw the ball, not by declining to throw it.

One other item to watch is “eye discipline.”  On several plays, the deep safety breaks hard towards his intended target, even abandoning a receiver on the other side.  Since he is doing this BEFORE Cassel starts to throw, I assume Cassel’s eyes are taking him there. 

Mechanically set them, then create a passing lane, and THROW!  D-Bowe…catch it!

RUNNING GAME
Larry is running hard this year, IMHO.  But he gives up on the hole too often.  Plays are mostly designed for a specific spot on the line.  The blockers are attempting to create a lane, by sealing defenders to one side of the other.  If I am a blocker, and I expect the running back to run by my left side, I’ll attempt to turn the defender to my right.  If the running back mysteriously changes route and runs to my right, we have a slight problem.  My first reaction is why the defensive lineman is all of a sudden trying to go to my right.  My next reaction is, because that is where the running back is now.  And since I setup on the left, I have no leverage to prevent him from going right, except to hold.

Larry needs to run through the designed hole.  If a read is involved, he needs to set the block hard, by not giving away a direction until the very last second…nearly running through the blocker.

BLOCKING
Sean Ryan had a very rough game last week. In blocking, the idea is not to necessarily catch the rabbit.  It’s to keep the rabbits away.  So, when it comes to blocking, chasing two rabbits is a good thing!

Sean, keep your head on a swivel.  I will say he got better as the game progressed. 

TACKLING
On the other hand, tackling is NOT like blocking.  You MUST catch the rabbit.  When you chase both, you catch neither.

The Chiefs defense had their work cut out for them today.  And it wasn’t because of the powerful running game of the Raiders.  It is because the Raiders only play on half the field.  If you get the ball near your opponent forty…Sebastian Janikowski is dangerous.  But today, Shane Lechler put on a Pro Bowl demonstration of punting.  His net average yards were impressive.  The play of the entire special teams left the Raiders a chance to win this game at the last minute, and that is exactly what they did – practically on one play.

Enough about getting beat.  It was encouraging to see the play of Bobby Wade, acquired this week off waivers.  I thought both he and Dwayne Bowe were playing tough, especially across the middle (You know, the area of the field Tony Gonzalez used to play in).  Speaking of Dwayne, I thought today it was evident that he is indeed maturing.  Also playing better IMHO was Tank Tyler.  And DJ … that’s two!    And of course, the other Johnson, Larry was hitting the holes faster and running tougher.  Last season he seemed to come down if someone thought about touching him…today – you had to hit him hard and low.  But, man do I miss T-Rich.  Imagine LJ behind a T-Rich lead.

One thing is for sure.  True accountability in the clubhouse…or office place…makes a difference.  We’ve seen it week after week from this coach.  A player can’t even get off the field without finding out the coach’s feelings about his performance.

OFFESNSIVE COORDINATOR

While we’re on the subject…I liked Chan Gailey as a person.  He was an extremely polite and pleasant person.  But watching the new blocking schemes today in conjunction with the breadth of play calling (moving pockets, screens, etc.), I must say I think Todd Haley is a better O-Coordinator.  Larry Johnson obviously has talent, and Todd seems to be finding a way to use it.  Now let’s see if he can dodge the freight training coming on the NFC East Railroad.

Enter the HDR-SR series.  I won’t cover the specs – cause it’s been done…but this verson is a 120 Gig internal hard drive.  This new camera had everything I was intrested in except, a 20x optical zoom and HDV versus AVCHD.  The 20x just isn’t happening.  I believe due to the sensor size and format, it’s just too expensive to produce this – for now.   Nevertheless, the 12x smaller Carl Zeiss lense is very good.

Waiting for HDV was ignorance on my part.  I’m stunned how good AVCHD format looks.  My first playback straight out of the camera (not compressed to DVD), left me speechless.  And AVCHD’s storage capabaility is remarkable.  I’ve been using the camcorder for personal footage for nearly six months.  While I’ve downloaded everything, I’ve not erased anything from the camera’s internal hard drive.  And it still has nearly 10 hours of recording capacity left.  Seriously, this camera will pay for itself inside of two years through saved tape cost.  Given this, I think the AVCHD format is more than capable for consumer and semi-pro use.  It seems as though more and more apps are becoming compatible with it as well.  There is something about the concept of compression (and throwing away data) that offends the pro in me.   But AVCHD does a nice job.  Afterall MP3 sounds good at 190kbps and above.

If you have an Intel Mac, Final Cut Pro 6 can read the files straight off the camera.  It must convert to ProRes to edit.   You CAN use the motion picture browser that comes with it for maintaining the oringal files.  This is windows only – I run mine through a virtural Vista instance (Parallels Windows for the MAC).  This software allows for quick burn to DVD and the facial recognition feature. 

ONE-BUTTON DVD BURN
This is cool concept, but the conversion from AVCHD to DVD (which requires MPG2 format) is less than speedy.  Easy, yes!  Quick, no!  A typical DVD might take 1 to 2 hours to convert and burn.

FACIAL RECOGITION INDEXING
This feature was an unexpected suprise.  When this is turned on, the camera idenifies faces while shooting.  It then provides a list of faces as indexes for each clip.  While you are viewing it in browser mode, you can browse through faces, not just locations or dates.  At first glance, this seemed to be somewhat silly.  But it works well and is actually quite useful.

10 MEGA-PIXEL STILLS
Keep in mind, I love my Canon 40D.  Seriously, I love SLRs, high dollar lenses, and controlling depth of field.  I’m very excited about Canon’s new 5DmarkII - which shoots video in HD format.  With that said, having a quality camera built into a camcorder, is extremly convient and sound idea as well.  I would suspect for the non-discriminating photographer, this camera is more than enough. And even for the more discriminating, the ability to grab a still while shooting (even if the quality isn’t pro) is very cool…and inviting.

LOW LIGHT
Two steps forward, one step backward!  This might be Sony’s worst low-light performer in years.  It doesn’t get a failing grade here, just a low one.  Don’t expect to shoot stunning footage in a dimily lit room or outdoors at night.  It does have the “night vision” mode – but I’m referring to color shooting.

CONCLUSION
I would highly recommend this camcorder for personal use to anyone, even pros.  And given the smaller hard drive versions are farily cheap…the savings realized from not having to purchase blank tapes allows anyone to shoot in High Def for little expense.  Do it.  Seriously, explain to your wife how much savings you’ll realize, and do it!

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

“Nobody ever could have, or would have, predicted that one play could cost multiple teams playoff spots and Super-Bowl winning coaches their jobs and change the course of NFL history.   But it did…”  

Sliding doors….

After performing a clean install of Microsoft Office 2008, Entourage began to give me the following error:

“Unable to establish a secure connection to servername because the correct root certificate is not installed.”

I followed various post regarding installing our Exchange Server’s certificate.   After installing this, I began to receive this error:

“Unable to establish a secure connection to servername because the server name or IP address does not match the name or IP address on the server’s certificate. If you continue, the information you view and send will be encrypted, but will not be secure.”

Clicking okay, will allow Entourage to connect – but the error will return and is annoying.

However, the error continued.  After much experimenting, I was able to resolve the issue, but the error is so ambigous, that it can be caused from several different misconfigurations.  

If you desire to use SSL, your server must have a valid certificate.  If the certificate is through a public provider, I don’t believe you will not need to install any certificates at all.  If your system admin has provided you a private certificate you will need to install it into Keychain Access.  Install it to system chain if all users on the computer will need it, or to login chain if only you need it.  There are several documents on the web for doing this.  However, if you have installed the certificate, and you still recieve this error, read on.

RESOLUTION
Several blogs have discussed the new AutoDiscovery Service issue within Exchange 2007, however we use Exchange 2003.  

The problem with my Entourage was being caused by our domain structure.  The hardware firewall passes mail ports to the Exchange server.  The Exchange server has a public accessible Security Certificate through GO DADDY.  

However, the LDAP port is forwarded to the domain controller running the Active Directory.  Because in our setup, we don’t publish a separate internet host record the LDAP (for example ldap.mydomain.com), there is no way for the machine name listed in the certificate for mail.mydomain.com to match 2 different machines (the Exchange server and LDAP server).  Therefore the error is valid, and not a Microsoft bug in Office/Entourage.

Since the LDAP lookup is what was causing the error, the error would not popup until a lookup function was needed.  Because of this, it was possible to have Entourage sessions without getting this dialog.  In order to prevent this error, do not require LDAP functions to connect sercurely.  

1. Under the ENTOURAGE menu select ACCOUNT SETTINGS
2. Double click your Exchange Account.
3. Select the Advanced Tab under the EDIT ACCOUNT dialog.
4. Ensure “This LDAP server requires a secure connection (SSL)” is NOT selected.

All mail activity is still handled through an SSL secure connection to the Exchange server.  Only directory lookup function is changed.  Some organizations allow non-secure LDAP access, if yours does not and you are using a separate server for LDAP functions.  Then it will be necessary to obtain a certificate that has a matching internet host record to machine name.   You can also ignore the dialog box safely – though it is very inconvenient.

You can also use this procedure to ensure the error is being caused by LDAP functions.

CONCLUSION
At the very least, I can reassure you that OSX 10.5.6 and Microsoft Office for the Mac (Entourage) 12.1.5 do work together without error.  Microsoft has fixed whatever error/bug was involved, so don’t give up trying to resolve it.  And definitely don’t wait in vain for Microsoft’s next update to do so.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

IMHO, this is a home run from both Clark Hunt and Denny Thum.  Certainly Pioli is the man with the greatest pedigree.   He is a four time NFL Executive of the Year.  He has three rings.  His assistant, former Chiefs,Thomas Dimtroff was responsible for getting Atlanta back on track this year.   And perhaps most important, is his ability to discern talent.   Remember, Tom Brady was a 6^th round pick.  And Matt Cassel was a 7^th rounder who was a backup in college behind two Heisman Trophy winners.    But the single greatest benefit is just what Chiefs fans need most – HOPE!

Do I think Mr. Pioli success is given?  Of course not, but I believe in Denny Thum’s ability to have and build synergy with the former Patriot.  As with any manager, you live and die by those you pick to trust.  And the Patriots synergy through this decade has certainly payed a fantasic dividend.

Here is what Robert Kraft (Patriots owner) has to say about Mr. Pioli:

“Scott Pioli was an integral part of the many championships the New England Patriots have celebrated this decade and I would like to thank him for his countless contributions throughout the past nine seasons.  Scott is a great evaluator of talent.  He is thorough in his evaluations, extremely organized and has done a tremendous job mining all possible resources to help Coach Belichick and his staff field the players needed to win consistently.  He has played an important role in building a championship tradition with players that I am proud to call Patriots.  On behalf of the entire Patriots organization, I wish Scott continued success in his new role and offer best wishes to his wonderful wife Dallas, and their beautiful daughter Mia.  I think Clark Hunt and the Kansas City Chiefs have made a very wise hire.”

Here’s to 2009!!