Solving technology problems, one at a time
When attempting to launch browser-based SCORM courseware, people have been getting the error: “Several Java Virtual Machines running in the same process caused an error”
Apparently many people have this issue since upgrading java. I came across it because it can affect the delivery of elearning courses if the learning management system relies on a java-applet based scorm adaptor to communicate.
Continue readingOver the last few days Mail.app started refusing to send my emails from any of my email accounts. I use only one smtp server for all the accounts: smtp.att.yahoo.com, on port 25 with non SSL
Continue readingTumor Necrosis Factor is a type of signaling molecule (cytokine) involved in inflammation. It has been found to be an important factor in a variety of disease processes, because it promotes the inflammatory response which,
Continue readingIn planning for a trip to Europe a few months ago, I found that one of the biggest weak points in the iPhone package is the cost of international calling and data services on the AT&T network partners.
If you don’t do a little pre-trip planning, as soon as you get off the plane in another country and start using the phone, you will start ringing up enormous charges.
Voice: At the moment, there is no way to get really good per-minute rates for calling with an iPhone, until someone comes up with an iPhone application that really does SKYPE well. Even with AT&T’s “World Traveler” package (not to be confused with “World Connect”), you only save 20-30 cents/minute, and the per minute charge can remain quite high – often a dollar or more per minute. Still, it is worth the $5.99/month.
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A new security setting in Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 has been causing problems with requests between iframe and parent. There is a security setting in the Internet options called “Navigate sub-frames across different domains”, which in IE6 was set to “Enabled” under Medium security, but is set to “Disabled” in IE7 by default.
An example of the type of communication that is blocked is shown here:
The container page sends a message to Page 1, in Domain A: “Change your location to Page 2”. In IE6, this is not a problem. But in IE 7, it is allowed.
Continue readingHow do you use javascript to get the value of a variable on the opener page, from a popup window? Use “window.opener.variablename“. This will work as long as the pages are in the same domain.
It consists of 2 pages. On the first page, a variable “timer” has been defined, and it automatically increments upward every 5 seconds. The current value is displayed in a div on the opener page.
Continue readingIn Word 2003, it is not immediately obvious how to export pictures that have been inserted into a Word document. Even if you select “File: Save As…” and select the format “Web Page” in the “Save As” dialog, the images that get saved along with the web page are usually low resolution.
The solution to this is a menu selection “Compress Pictures” which is hidden in the “Tools” menu in the “Save As” dialog.
I maintain a library of learning modules which are constantly under development and revision. Our users often want PDFs to print out or view off-line, but we can’t maintain up-to-date PDF’s of each module manually. We needed a way to make on-demand PDFs of whatever the current state of the module is when the pdf is requested.
After looking at many pdf solutions I settled on “ABCpdf ASP 6.0” by WebSuperGoo.com.
ABCpdf has the advantages of fairly low cost (about $400.00 for one server, or FREE if you link back to them), a better HTML-rendering engine than most, and an easy to learn API, so you can write custom dynamic PDF applications.
Continue readingA rare but irritating problem I’ve had with Safari for a couple of years now is its habit of suddenly no longer responding to mouse clicks. It simply stops dead: you can’t click links, type
Continue readingAmazon “aStores” are very easy to set up, but you will probably find you want to customize the navigation, particularly if you want to integrate the store into your own site. I’m in the process of doing just that, and decided to construct my own navigation system for the DesignSpace book shop.. The php script that creates the tabs for the store is based on the YUI (Yahoo UI) “Tab View Control” and can be easily adapted to your own site.
This is just a down and dirty approach but it is a good start for you to build from.
