Staples 10% off in-store coupon

Linky

Valid 12/20~12/26.

Old Navy Printable 30% off Single Item In-Store Coupon

Good until 12/19. Applies to any single item (inc. sales items I believe)

Linky

astraweb yearly special at $96/year ($8/month)

This is an excellent deal for a premium usenet server.Works out to be $8/month which I consider is money well spent and cheaper than most other usenet servers.

Linky

If you don't like paying annually, there's also a deal available for $11/month

 Linky

Best buy 10% off coupon

Valid til 12/14. Good for some last minute Christmas shopping.

Linky

Notes on sql query: sort by date in sql server

I recently encountered this in one of the sql stored procedure I worked on. The query is to select from a table then sort by a date time field.

Select * from Table 1
Order by date

It works fine when all the dates are in the same year, but if there are dates in different year, then we see entries like this

11-26-2008
11-26-2009
12-01-2008
 
For some reason sql server seemed to sort the datetime field by the order of month, day, year. To fix this, we need to change the order by statement to sort the year component first.

Select * from Table 1
Order by year(date), date

or

Select * from Table 1
Order by datepart(year, date), date

The result is now correct
11-26-2008
12-01-2008
11-26-2009

Cheap Sprint phones (Touch Pro2 $50, Hero $30 etc) and 20% discount off plan

Update 12/02/2009

Looks like the deal is now dead. Good luck to those who get in.


Saw this information on Howard Forums and Slickdeals.net and thought I'd pass along the information. I've not personally tried this since I do not want to give up my SERO plan but from the forums it seemed to work. Apparently people are paying $25 on ebay to get this link.

Linky

Some notable phones
Sprint HERO $29.99
Samsung Moment $29.99
HTC Touch Pro2 $49.99

All without rebate. And you also get 20% discount on your monthly bill. Supposedly works for newline and upgrade, 2 yr contract extension is needed.

You should be able to also use code SAVE50 to get $50 credit.

Buying used Kawai and Yamaha pianos

There's a lot of information online about the so-called gray (grey) market pianos (mainly Kawai or Yamaha brand). Some claim that there's no difference between ones made for Japan/asia and ones and others claim it's best not to buy those. After some digging, I found that Kawai and Yamaha do explain these issues on their website so I put these 2 links for reference.

Kawai on used pianos


Yamaha on used pianos

you've got to be kidding me

JC Penny $10 off $25

Good til Nov 23rd

At JCP.com use code 104YOU

Printable version for in-store

30% off coupon for GAP, GAP Outlet, Banana Republic, Banana Republic Factory Store and Old Navy

As the title suggessted.  The 30% off printable coupon is good for

GAP
GAP Output
Banana Republic
Banana Republic Factory Store
Old Navy

Valid from 11/12~11/15

Linky

Free Microsoft eBook: Introducing SQL Server 2008

Linky

You need to sign up to download.

$10 off Disney UP! and $8 off Monsters Inc. blu-ray

To get $8 off Monsters Inc. Blu-ray coupon

1. Join Disney movie wards
2. Click here to add codes
3. Enter code 786936164886
4. Print Coupon

To get $10 off UP! Blu-ray combo
1. Click here to print coupon

You need to install coupon printer to print both coupons

Also Target offers $10 off UP & Monsters Inc (Must buy both)
1. Click here
2. Go to page 3 and print coupon

Staples instore 10% off coupon

Expires 11/14/09

Linky

Amazon Blu-ray Buy more save more sale and UP blu-ray deal

Seleced from a list of blu-rays and get the following discount
Buy 3, Save $20
Buy 6, Save $50
Buy 10, Save $100.

Linky

They also have a deal on disney's UP (Blu-ray/DVD combo) where you purchase and get $10 off 2nd Blu-ray title by entering code DISNEYBD at checkout

UP deal

c# Crystal Reports Parameter Fields Notes

When I was working on some crystal reports related projects in Visual Studio 2008 I kept getting the following error:

CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.ParameterFieldCurrentValueException: Missing parameter values. ---> System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x8004100E): Missing parameter values.

After going through my code and looked at online samples, I still couldn't figured out what's wrong. Below is my original code

Report rpt = new Report();
ParameterValues crParamValues = new ParameterValues();
ParameterDiscreteValue crParamGrpName = new ParameterDiscreteValue();
crParamGrpName.Value = "value";
crParamValues.Add(crParamGrpName);
rpt.DataDefinition.ParameterFields[0].ApplyCurrentValues(crParamValues);
rpt.SetDataSource(ds);
rpt.ExportToDisk(pdfFormat, filePath);

After much fiddling and googling, I finally found out what was the problem. It seems that in Visual Studio 2008, you need to set data source BEFORE setting parameters, not after. Once I set data source first everything exported fine. Also I realized that the code I used to set parameters can be replaced by just one line. So the final code becomes

rpt.SetDataSource(ds);
rpt.SetParameterValue(0, grpName);
rpt.ExportToDisk(pdfFormat, filePath);

Looks much nicer right?

Individual plan comparison for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon wireless

Just for the fun of it I decided to do another comparison, this time for individual plan that suits my need. Again this is with my company discount (20% for AT&T and Sprint, 22% for Verizon wireless).

	Sprint SERO	Sprint ERRP	Sprint	AT&T	Verizon	T-mobile
Minutes	500	500	450	450	450	500
M2M	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
N&W	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	5000	Unlimited	Unlimited
Data	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Text	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	200	250	Unlimited
Other	-	GPS Nav.	GPS Nav.	Rollover	-	No contract, expensive phones
Price	$30	$59.99	$55.99 ($69.99)	$60.99 ($74.99)	$60.18 ($74.98)	$59.99

Looks like all plans are more or less the same. Sprint is cheaper with or without discount and offers a bit more (unl. text), but without a high-end phone like iPhone or Driod, the $5 or so difference is really not a big deal, not to mention that prices are the same across the board if people don't use text.

-- update 5/18/10
Sprint is set to finally release a nice phone that is comparable to other carriers' offering but unfortunately they tack on $10 extra (EVO tax) if you want the phone, so that would put the Sprint's pricing at $65.99 ($79.99) compared to the other 3, which makes it really unattractive if you don't have 4G speed in your area.

Another way to save some money is to get a non t-mobile branded smartphone what supports their 3g band. This way you can opt for the cheapest t-mobile voice plan (500min $30) + $10 web = $40/month, or (500min + unl text $40) + $10 web = $50. This would potentially make it the cheapest plan out of all 4 carriers.

Sprint Everything Plus Referral Program

This is basically a new sero from Sprint. Slightly cheaper than regular Sprint Everything plan, but no corporate discount can be applied.

Go here

use email Russ.S.Mcguire@sprint.com
and CID 383 to login.

He's a VP or something that posted his information for everyone to use.

Some example plan from the site
Everything Plus Data. 500min, Unlimited N&W, Any mobile, Text, Data, and a bunch of other stuff for $59.99.

Interview questions, a project manager's perspective

While my ex-coworker was looking for a new job, he asked one of the senior project manager on our team to prepare him some questions. Although we are an IT workshop in a financial company, I found these questions very useful even though it's not that technical. So hopefully it'll help someone's job hunting.


Interview questions, a project manager's perspective

Know what you want in terms of a job, a boss, company structure, etc-meaning know what works best for you, what are your critical requirements and what would you be willing to be flexible on.

Questions you may want to ask the interviewer:

1. Are there SLA's for each application; in terms of how long they can be down, how long to bring it back up?
2. What is the process used to prioritize break fixes? 
3. Who is involved in the prioritization? 
4. How many items are open on average and how long have they been open?
5. What application do you use to track "incidents", what are its strength and weakness?
6. How do you differentiate between projects, break fixes, nice to haves, business as usual?
7. Tell me about the process for keeping support documentation up to date? What tools are used, what are the expectations?
8. What are the major challenges facing the organization as a whole?
9. Is this is new position or did the incumbent leave; if the latter than why did that person leave?
10. What does sucess look like for this position? Are there established goals? 
11. Tell me about your management style?
12. Can you share something with me that is on your development plan?
13. What are the short term and long term goals of the organization?
14. Is anyone of your staff currently working on their Master's Degree? If so, what support do you or does the company provide?
15. How often will we meet to discuss my work?
16. Please describe your leadership style?
17. Describe the current make up of the team I would be joining?

Questions for You:

1. What are your career aspirations? What do you want to be doing in 5 years?
   
2. If you were faced with predicament of speed versus quality what would you choose and why?
3. What do you require from your direct supervisor?
4. What type of environment do you work best in?
5. Give me an example of when you had to create a business application and how you handled it? Did it succeed? (If it didn't what did you learn?)
6. How do you prioritize your daily work?
7. What are the five most important things to you when considering a job and prioritize them from most important to least.
8. Tell me a time when a critical system went down and what you did to bring it back up?
9. Tell me about how you would allocate your time between being a project team member on a critical business project versus supporting the daily business needs? What are the issues you would consider?
10. Give me an example of when you had to explain a technology issue to a business user in order to have them understand the criticality as well as their need to make a decision?
11. Describe for me the methodology/process you use when working on a development initiative? 
12. What are the pros and cons to SDLC?
13. What don't you like about your current position?
14. What are your weaknesses?
15. If I were to ask your boss about you what would he/she say?
16. How do you keep your manager informed about your work load and status?
17. How would you handle a situation where you were given unclear work direction and your boss works in a different location and its always available?
18. Tell me about a time when you couldn't make a deadline and what did you do?
19. What is your favorite book?
20. When you are not at work, what do you do? What are your hobbies?
21. Tell me about how you go about giving work direction to individuals who are your peers or do not have direct reporting relationship to you?
22. Tell me about a time when you had to influence others-whom you didn't have control over-to get work done because your work depended on their completion.
23. Tell me about how you work with the Business Analyst to understand the customer's requirements.
24. Why do you want to leave your old company?
25. Tell me how you keep your development skills sharp with the rapidly changing languages?
26. What is your knowledge of the Capital Markets?
27. What are the challenges a developer faces when dealing with multiple database platforms?
28. If you were to accept this position what would your first 30 days look like? What would you do and how would you do it?
29. Describe what is 'good' customer service?
30. What are your strengths?
31. Tell me about a time when you had to deliver results in a highly pressurized environment?
32. What do you do to relax and relieve stress?
33. How do you handle multiple tasks, keeping track of open tasks, issues, risks?
34. How would you handle the situation where there is a production issue and the current code is not written in the standard format/language but re-writing the code may take more time?
35. Tell me about a time when you had to review another developer's code and provide constructive feedback because it was written poorly. 
36. Tell me about your leadership style and experience.

Comparison with AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile family plan (Updated 7/20/10)

A reminder to myself if we ever decide to switch our wonderful Sprint SERO plan to a family plan. All the prices quoted are with my company's discount (20% for AT&T and Sprint, 22% for Verizon, and no discount for T-Mobile, prices in braces are the original price) and configured to my needs (Not a lot of minutes, data on both lines, some text) as cheaply as possible. N&W stands for Nights and Weekends. M2M stands for Mobile to Mobile.

	Sprint SERO	Sprint EPRP	Sprint	AT&T	Verizon	T-Mobile
Minutes	500/line	1600	1500	550	700	750
N&W	Unlimited*	Unlimited*	Unlimited*	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
M2M	Unlimited	Unlimited+	Unlimited+	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Text	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited++	Unlimited++	Unlimited
Data	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	2GB/Month	Unlimited	Unlimited
Other	-	Has GPS Navi	Has GPS Navi	Rollover	-	No Contract, phones not subsidized
Price	30/line	129.99	123.99 (149.99)	89.99 (109.99)	110.77 (129.97)	109.99

* Sprint nights start at 7PM
+ Sprint any Any-mobile
++ Android phone has google voice and iPhone has free app providing free unlimited SMS. AT&T charges $30/month for unlimited group SMS/MMS. Verizon charges $10/line for 500 messages + unlimited m2m messages.

I have to say Sprint's offer looks best for someone that needs data on both lines and some text. AT&T is actually better than I thought if we don't use text that much, and also it has the Jesus phone going for it. T-Mobile's pricing is also fairly good but has poor 3G coverage. As for Verizon, unless their Driod handsets are really head and shoulder above iPhone and other Sprint's Android's handsets, there's almost no point picking Verizon since I get excellent reception from all 4 companies. If we don't use text at all, then AT&T and Verizon each would be $10 cheaper, in which case I'd ditch Sprint and go for AT&T for sure just for the iPhone :P

--update 5.24.10
Looks like there were some changes with my company and Verizon's agreement now that the data for 2nd line does not get discounted so that makes the plan $6 more expensive then before. Also for Sprint, as with single person plan, if you want Evo you need to add $10/line to the plan.

--updated price chart again to reflect some changes (7/20/10)
1) Sprint now charges $10/month per line if you want their top of the line phones (HTC Evo/Samsung Epic)
2) There's free unlimited text option on iPhone and Android phones so Verizon/AT&T's prices go down
3) AT&T now changed their data pricing: $15/month for 200MB or $25 for 2GB. $15 plan is not discounted.
4) Starting in Aug/Sept, Sprint will no longer offers discount on lines 3-5 on family plan.
5) The chart is updated based on the assumption that I want the latest phone each carrier has to offer for both lines.

As we can see, with that stupid $10 "Premium data" charge, Sprint is now the most expensive carrier if you don't want text. Even with text added, Sprint's price is no better. To me this is one of the dumbest move Sprint can make, especially when they are still losing customers left and right.

Firestone Oil Change and Tire Rotation for $18.99

Linky

The expiration date keeps changing, but as of now it expires 11/29/09.

Best buy 10% off coupon (Exp. 11/2)

Just got another Best Buy coupon. It's for reward zone members, but it's free to join anyway.
10% off most stuff, and 12% off major appliances from Whirlpool, Maytag or KitchenAid. Also $50 off Sprint HTC Hero making it $129.99 if you sign a 2 year contract with Sprint.

Linky

Borders 40% off coupon

Good coupon, makes books cheaper than Amazon.

Linky

Also works on borders.com
Code: BRE1129H


Valid 10/28/09 - 11/2/09

mms test from sprint touch pro 2

Sprint HTC Touch Pro 2 programming instruction

Useful if the phone doesn't work after activation.

http://support.sprint.com/support/article/Program_your_HTC_Touch_Pro2/case-oi926679-20090915-102343

Sprint 27% discount?

Disclaimer: I've not personally verified this yet since my account is not eligible for corp discount, so try this at your own risk!

From slickdeal.net
Sign up for the @post.com (which is part of citigroup) email which is the 8th choice down on the drop down list at http://slickdeals.net/?sdtid=1582705&u2=https://signup.mail.com/. Then go here or to here. Put that @post.com email address in as your work address. You will get 27% monthly and get those phones without a rebate when going to sprint.com/citigroup. Easy as that!

To order phones without rebate (and touch pro 2 for $199!!) go here, then select upgrade. Then sign into your account. You can get any Sprint phone without the need to mail in a rebate

Best buy 10% off coupon (Expires 11/30/09)

Linky

Expires 11/30/09. This makes Canon s90 purchase even more tempting..

cameras to consider in the near future..

Since my sony T10 is sort of dying, it's time to consider a new camera. I need something that can do good low-light shots, and is not too big to carry around, preferably with wide angle. So far I've found 3 new cameras that seem to suit my need, but none of them are released yet..

• Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX1/H 10MP, similar size to my T10, but no wide angle.
  
• Canon Powershot S90. Good size, has wide angle
• Panasonic DMC-GF1. Not exactly compact, but guaranteed to have the best picture quality, and is twice the price of the other two.
  

How to install HP m1522nf printer on Windows 7

UPDATE 1/21/10

Looks like HP has released Full Solution Software for Windows 7 x86/x64. I'd assume that includes driver as well as the necessary software for scanner/faxing.

Link to Win7 32-bit

Link to Win7 64-bit

-----------
As of now there's no driver for m1522nf on windows 7. Last I heard is that the driver will be out sometime in Nov, which is bad news for me since I just switched all my pc to windows 7. After some searching I found the following post that lets me at least print to m1522nf

Source

Steps

1. Select Start, Printers and faxes from the Windows desktop.
2. Double-click the Add Printer icon.
3. Click Next until the manufacturer and model selection screen appears.
4. Select "HP" in the left column and the "HP LaserJet 6P driver" (or another printer in the list) printer in the right column and then click Next.
5. Select the appropriate port(Dot_4 for USB and LPT1 for N/w cable) and click Next.
6. Select Yes to make this driver the default printer and click Next.
7. Click Finish.

If you are using N/w cable, map the driver to the IP address of the printer, please refer to the following steps, although it seems like if you select network printer in step 3 above a lot of things are setup already:

a) Click the Start icon, click Control Panel, Printers and faxes
b) Right-Click the HP LaserJet printer icon that you installed and select Properties.
c) Click Ports tab.
d) Click Add Port.
e) Select Standard TCP/IP Port and click New Port.
f) Click Next and enter the IP Address of the printer and click Next.
g) Click Finish.

Windows 7 x64 RTM on Thinkpad X61

After I get a new webcam that works with windows 7 I decided to upgrade my OS on my thinpad x61 to Windows 7 x64 to take advantage of the 4GB ram I had. So far so good with all the drivers loaded on the first go. The only problem I've encountered is my mute button doesn't work correctly. It would mute, but the sound icon in the task bar doesn't show, and it also won't un-mute.. But everything else works well and is fairly speedy on T7250. I'll update this post as I go along install various apps.


--update 11/26/09

It looks like Lenovo updated several drivers for Win7 support. Link here
The mute button issue is addressed by installing Lenovo System Interface Driver

Sprint Touch Pro Data not working

I had this problem when I received my touch pro. Everything works, voice, text etc but no data. After googling a bit I found the follow solution works

1. Get BAF MSL Grabber and install it on the phone. Run it to get the MSL code. Note you may need to install the latest version of Microsoft .NET Compact framework (I tried 3.5)

2. Go to phone, press ##DATA# (##3282#), press edit, and enter MSL number

3. Edit Active Profile and make sure it's 1

4. Save and restart

5. Goto Start > Settings > System > Update Profile. Let it let run and then try to see if your internet/data connection works.

Costco discount for Alamo car rental

Contract ID 7014844 gives 25% off on all rentals.

Coupon code AF3819JDF to receive a free day:

• Reserve a compact through full-size before 12/31/09
• Keep it for 5 days or longer
• Sat night is a must
  

Windows Vista sp2 cleanup utility

This cleans up unnecessary files after sp2 installation, but it'll also make sp2 permanent, i.e., there's no roll back.

Go to start -> run, type cmd.exe
run the following command

c:\windows\system32\compcln.exe

when prompted, press Y

Asp.Net Gridview notes

Some notes on things I encountered recently. Will put some sample code once I am done with current project and have a stable code

1. Gridview OnRowBound event is fired when we do gridview.databind(); When we do a postback the data in the gridview is displayed using viewstate if gridview viewstate is enabled, but any formatting done in OnRowBound is lost.
2. If you have dynamically generated controls in gridview header (dropdownlist, textbox etc), it's better to put the code that generates the controls in gridview RowCreated event, since it'll get fired even when postback.
3. To sort gridview we need to have a SortExpression bind to a boundField. We then have a method to handle GridViewSortEvent.
   

Free Passport photo site

This site allows you to create passport photo easily from your digital camera shots. And free too!

E passport Photo

TGI Fridays buy one jack daniel's entree get one free

Enough said. With the frequency of bogo coupon from tgi fridays, I don't think I'll visit them again with the coupon....

Configure Windows Vista Auto Logon

To avoid entering password when log on to windows do the following:

1. Go to Start, type in netplwiz, if UAC windows pops out, just click continue.
2. At User Accounts windpw, uncheck the box "Users must enter a user name....", enter password when it asks you.
3. Restart computer, you should be able to logon to Vista desktop automatically

Ruby Tuesday buy one get one free coupon

nuff said. Expires 3/24/09

Linky

Caledonia

Heard this song from a Scotland promotion video on my friend's blog. Loved it very much, especially the lyrics.

Caledonia

I don't know if you can see
The changes that have come over me
In these last few days, I've been afraid
That I might drift away
So I've been telling old stories, singing songs
That make me think about where I came from
And that's the reason, why I seem
So far away today

>>Chorus
Oh, but let me tell you that I love you
That I think about you all the time
Caledonia you're calling me
And now I'm going home
If I should become a stranger
You know that it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I've ever had


Now I have moved and I've kept on moving
Proved the points that I needed proving
Lost the friends that I needed losing
Found others on the way
I have kissed the ladies and left them crying
Stolen dreams, yes there's no denying
I have traveled hard with coattails flying
Somewhere in the wind

(Chorus)

Now I'm sitting here before the fire
The empty room, the forest choir
The flames that could'nt get any higher
They've withered now they've gone
But I'm steady thinking, my way is clear
And I know what I will do tomorrow
When the hands are shaken and the kisses flow
Well I will disappear

(Chorus)

Here's a version sang by Celtic Woman

TGI Fridays Buy one entree get one free coupon!

It's back, TGI Fridays now has a coupon for buy one entree get one free. Valid until 3/1/09. I believe this can be combined with their 1/2 of appetizer promotion.

Free Parallels Workstation for Windows and Linux

This is a vrtualization software like vmware or virtual pc. Register and they'll send you the registration key.

http://www.parallels.com/getkey/lunarp/