Cisco and Notepad++

While looking through some Cisco configs recently a colleague mentioned that Notepad++ was really helpful in viewing configs, I agreed as it’s handy doing a search across 5 different config files to find where a device is connected.  However what he pointed out was that Notepad++ could do more than that using “User-Defined Language”…

Notepad++ supports a wide range of programming languages which is what makes it so popular.  However it’s also possible to define your own ‘language’ to make life easier for yourself.  At first I tried to see if anyone else had done for Cisco and they had, here’s the ones I found:

• Lots of user-defined languages are here, including some Cisco
• Cisco ASA

These are useful but didn’t give me what I wanted as everyone has their own ideas about what they want to see.  However it turns out it’s easy to define your own!

1. Firstly open on the config file you want to review

2. Go to ‘View’ – ‘User-Defined Dialogue..” and “Dock2 the screen that pops up (see notepad++ site for more info) & make sure you have ‘Language’ set to ‘User-Defined’

3.Decide if you want to ‘group’ any information.  This will let you ‘fold’ lines of info to make it easier to read.  I did this for ‘interface’.  This goes into “Folder & Default” on the User-Defined Language tab.  Now I can collapse/expand interfaces for easy reading

3. Decide what the key pieces of info you want to highlight.  For me this was ‘interface’, ‘description’, ’speed’, ‘duplex’ and a few others.  There’s four separate groups of keywords that you can highlight differently so group them the way it makes sense to you, and decide what formatting you want for each group.  You are provided with a live view of the formatting you apply so you adapt it to suit what you want.

There’s also options for Comments, Numbers & Operators but I’ve not made use of them

4. Make sure you save, I’ve saved mine as a new User-Defined language called ‘cisco’.

5. Now when you open a new config file you can go to Language and select your newly defined ‘Language’

I’ve quickly passed over details on how to use ‘User-Defined Languages’ principally because there’s plenty of other resources out their, start with the Notepad++ site and you should find what you need.  However, User-Defined Languages open up a lot possibilities…

Filed under: network stuff, useful stuff , cisco, notepad++, technology, xml

Microsoft Jscript Error Fixed (for me)

I’ve been searching for ages about how to resolve an error I’ve been having. Basically what happens when I log into certain sites at work that use Java I get the following error:

My initial Google led me to uninstalling/installing various versions of Java, without any change. I also tried Chrome but without success, and Firefox didn’t work at all.  And I tried turning on/off MS Java in my browser settings.

I did however find a useful MS techie community forum (lost the link, sorry) that suggested the problem was associated with proxy files. Indeed at work I used a proxy so that certainly could have been an issue. It’s difficult however to change proxy settings because there’s an edict that prevents you surfing without it. I was in luck though and one of my key sites could be visited without the proxy. So with the proxy turned off I visited the site again and didn’t get the error

It seems the error is caused by a dodgy .pac file where someone has done too much cut/paste and there’s a missing ;

So if possible turn off the proxy and try the site again.  If you can’t then you could try telling IT their proxy file is wrong, not that will make much difference…

Another thing I found out while trying this out was how to run Google Chrome without using the IE proxy settings, very useful in this case. There’s a simple startup switch that defines the proxy, using the following command ignores IE proxy settings: chrome.exe –proxy-server=

Filed under: useful stuff , chrome, java, jscript error, microsoft, proxy

SyncToy

While trying to figure out how to best sync my work laptop with the network I’ve come back to a recurring MS tool, SyncToy. Now at version 2.1 it also supports 64but, which is handy for me. The reason I’ve been looking at this is because I work from a laptop but I’m not always connected to the LAN, this means the file shares are not always available to me. However I appreciate my laptop might get lost*stolen*dropped so I don’t want to leave it all on my laptop either. There’s many free and paid for tools out there that I’ve played with at home, but being my work laptop I wanted something simple that didn’t break copyright and scare the IT guys. So I looked at SyncToy again…

The latest version is better than ever with improved features that allow it to recognise removeable drives, even when they’re plugged in and get different drive mappings. However what I wanted was something I could script, ideally at start up/shut down that would sync my files to/from the network. If you’ve the time and patience you might be able to get xcopy to work, but I prefer the easy life. It turns out though that you can run SyncToy from the command line which means I can script it in a batch file (nice and easy!). So here’s what I done:

1. Set up a folder sync using SyncToy GUI
2. Ran the sync to make sure it worked
3. Ran the sync from the command line to make sure it worked
“C:\Program Files\SyncToy 2.1\synctoycmd.exe” -r files
** where “files” is the name of the SyncToy pair
4. Created a batch file that I could run the sync and shut down my laptop when I’d finished
“C:\Program Files\SyncToy 2.1\synctoycmd.exe” -r customer_files
pause
shutdown -s
** the pause is in there to check it’s done what I think it should

So what this does is give me tool (like the old MS Briefcase) where I can sync my files as I shut down my laptop, really handy when I’m not on the network! Now I work from my laptop and update the network when in the office.

Filed under: useful stuff , dos, microsoft, mobility, synchronisation, synctoy, technology

64 Bit OS?

Can’t remember how I found the following site but it seemed to be too to be true!

I was trying to get my (elderly) Canon scanner (LIDE50) working with my shiny new’ish laptop, but was having big problems. The issues arose from the fact I’m running 64bit Windows 7 on my Dell laptop and it turns out all the standard drivers are for 32bit and don’t work on 64bit. After some hunting around I found the following site:

http://www.start64.com/index.php

At first it looked like some type of scam and I approached with caution. However I did manage to find a 64bit version of my cannon scanner driver and it worked first time! However it’s not just Win7 64bit it does, it does other versions of Windows, as well as Linux. And it’s not only drivers, it does software, security and other general info. So if you’re running 64bit and need some help, this is definitely a place to go!

Oh and not forgetting, it links you to 64bit version of Firefox aka Shiretoko!

Filed under: useful stuff , 64bit, canon scanner, drivers, firefox, lide 50, mozilla, OS, technology, windows 7

Handy cmd Switch

Just found this really handy (Windows) cmd switch over at http://ss64.com/nt/cmd.html.  If you bring up the command prompt a lot to ping or tracert a server then you’ll like this shortcut.

Imagine you want to ping www.google.com, normally you do Start-Run-cmd then type ping www.google.com in the resulting window.  However if you do..

Start-Run- cmd /K ping www.google.com

then it runs your ping right away.  I’ve been looking how to do this for years!

Filed under: network stuff, useful stuff , cmd switch, ping, windows

My Version of “Get Things Done” aka JFDI!

For a while now I’ve been using my own version of Get Things Done (GTD) and it seems to work for me so I thought I’d sahre my experiences and thoughts so far.

I got into GTD because lots was going on around me but I was loosing track of what I needed to do, or kept loosing any notes I’d made about important stuff.  While I thought I was an organised person, this wasn’t really the case.  So I done what most people do these days, I turned to the web for help.

There’s certainly plenty of websites out there to help you track ToDos with Remember The Milk (RTM) and Google Tasks being two of the popular ones I’ve tried.  And then there’s also loads of ways of keeping notes, such as a simple text document or wiki’s or Google Notepad or Evernote, all of which I’ve also tried.  And then there’s various GTD methodologies that I’ve dabbled in.  However the majority of these need time to plan in front of a computer so you can organise yourself, and then you need to commit to some ritual that you slavishly need to stick to (you can tell my thooughts on these ).  I’m trying to spend less time in front of the computer, not more! – although I have recently received my nice new Dell laptop, now with Win7 Ultimate on it!

A while back however I stumbled across Moleskin notebooks at one of my favourite sites Lifehacker.  From here I found various articles about how people have used Moleskin norebooks to help them organise themselves.  Going back to ‘analogue’ sounded interesting so I decided to try pen and paper!  I carry my personal Moleskin (large lined) most places with me, and I have one for work as well.

While I’ve had many notebooks in the past there’s something about the quality of Moleskins that make the experience different.  However what also helped was some organisation.  Now at the start of every notebook I have the following:

* Index

* To Do list

Each page is then numbered for easy reference.  The initial pages are marked with a couple of sticky labels to make it easier to find them.  And I’ve managed to attach a pen to my Moleskins with some Duct tape.  I keep opposite pages blank, this is in case I remember something later, or if I need to highlight something – or in my work one where I highlight my actions.

I find Moleskin brings a number of advantages over other notebooks:

* There’s a handy puch at the back for storing train tickets, business cards etc

* They’ve got an elestic band to help keep them closed when you stuff them with paper

* Better quality notebook – while a bit intangible it works for me

So now I jot down my notes in my Moleskin and index it at the front, with a simple ToDo list at the front as well, and that’s just about it!

It has proved really effective for me.  I don’t deny it would be a hassle if I lost one of my notebooks, there’s no ‘backup’, but maybe that just makes me more careful.

I do however ’still’ use eletronic notes.  I use the ToDo list on my mobile phone for when I need reminded to do something by a certain time/date (often!).  And I do still use Google Tasks on occassion.  I am also really trying to use Evernote as so many people rave about, I still though find it too onerous.  Maybe it’ll just click one day and I’ll live it, haven’t got there yet.

A final FYI, I wrote all this on my Moleskin while sitting on the train, with no internet (free) access.  For me a lot of the GTD theories seem to spend to much time planning and not doing!  Just like at school/Uni when I spent more time writing my study plan tha actually studying.  So I’ve nick-named my direct approach as Just Do It (JFDI)!  If you need to do something, write it down on your list, if you need to remember something, write it down and index it – SIMPLE!

Filed under: useful stuff , evernote, google, google notebook, GTD, JFDI, lifehacker, moleskin, RTM, technology

Another Glasgow Pic

I’ve just linked my WordPress and Twitter accounts to I want to see what happens when I post to WordPress.  Following on though from my last post, and trying something else new on WordPress (for me anyway), I’m posting another photo of Glasgow.

Railway Bridge Over River CLyde in Glasgow

Filed under: photography , glasgow, photography, twitter

Photo Down the Clyde

Took this photo a while back.  It’s sunset down the River Clyde in Glasgow.  Can’t deny that I done a bit of Photoshop to emphasis the colours…

Filed under: photography , glasgow, river clyde

Photo Hosting Sites

I’m coming up for renewal again of my photo hosting sites and I’d thought I’d write down my thoughts which should help me decide what to do. At the moment I’m using the following sites:

• SmugMug – Paid for (http://halesy.smugmug.com/)
• Flickr – Paid for (http://www.flickr.com/photos/halesy/)
• Picasa – Free (http://picasaweb.google.com/halesy)

Each has it’s own advantages but none of them has all the features I’d like.  So here’s a quick comparison…

Smugmug - Great looking site (ignoring my photos ).  There’s plenty of opportunity to customise your home page that the rest of the world sees.  It’s also relatively quick and the album views are well organised.  My paid for version gives me unlimited space.  The downside for me that there’s not a big community feel around Smugmug.  I’m sure SmugMugers might disagree but I’ve not found it very interactive, although maybe I’m not active enough myself.  And while there’s a number of print options available, they’re all US based services (I’m in the UK).

Flickr - Interface just is not as good as Smugmug as there’s little customisation available.  While there’s some neat features there (I like the Collections approach), you can’t create a custom home page for others to see (apart from selecting between pictures, sets and collections).  I’d like it if I could put my tags and Collections on the front page, and select which pictures are shown first – all of which I can do on Smugmug.  However where Flickr does win out is the community aspects, I’ve had random (nice) posts about my pictures which is good.  This is helped by the fact I know more people who use Flickr.    I’ve also got unlimited storage with Flickr

Picasa - Well Google isn’t the best at everything!  While Picasa is free it misses out on the best features discussed above.  The home page is not readily customisable and there’s not much of a community to it either.  The Picasa software however is good, although I don’t actually use it (still on PSE5).  The Picasa software does however provide online sync’ing which is useful (still working on this though).  The free account has 2G storage and you buy more, but I won’t.

So ideally I’d have the Smugmug interface with the Flickr community!

One of the issues I have though is keeping my photos in sync.  These sites don’t really provide FTP access which is my preferred option, easier to keep things in sync.  So instead I use Fireuploader which is a really useful Firefox extension.  With more than a few hundred pictures uploaded it would be great for these sites to support some type of sync’ing, Picasa being the best option.

A final point of this though is about Photobox, if you’re in the UK and want to print photos I can highly recommend them.  I have to admit though that I also use them for hosting my pics, which I’m probably not meant to really do.  I think you’re space is limited based on the number of orders you’ve placed, but as I’ve been with them for years that not a major for me.  The interface for Photobox is pretty nice, although a bit slow in comparison to the others here.  You don’t get the same community either, although they do use Facebook (which I haven’t really bought into myself).  They are pretty active on Twitter as well which is a good way of keeping up to date.  Of course the other advantage of Photobox is that you can sell your photos online, for a suitable margin .

Filed under: photography , fireuploader, flickr, google, photo hosting, photobox, photogra, photography, picasa, smugmug

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Filed under: useful stuff , flickr