Dell Zino HD Windows Experience Index

Processor: 5.2
RAM: 5.9
Graphics: 3.6
Gaming Graphics: 5.2
Primary Hard Disk: 5.9

Posting to a Facebook Page

Just spent 6 hours with the new Facebook Graph API to figure out how to post to a Facebook Page.

Firstly, you need to register an app to get the App ID and Secret Key

(the basic app registration process is dead simple now. 2 textboxes, a drop down list and a submit button!)

This is for the portion that says "This is my status update - 6 minutes ago via Your App Name"

On the developer's end, you need to do 2 things:

1 - Provide a link for the user to click to log in to Facebook / authorize your app with the relevant permissions
a) Facebook Authorization Docs: http://developers.facebook.com/docs/authentication/
b) Extended Permissions: http://developers.facebook.com/docs/authentication/permissions/

2 - Provide a page for Facebook to return to once the User has logged in / authorized your app

a) Facebook will return the access token (code) that the developer can use to manipulate user data

Extended Permissions

==================

Seems that the 2 minimum extended permissions you will need are publish_stream and manage_pages. This should come under the "scope" querystring when doing the Authentication link, as mentioned above.

Get the authenticated User's accounts details

Note that "Accounts" refers to the Pages that the User administers

"https://graph.facebook.com/me/accounts?access_token=" + strAccessToken

Account details will return Page ID, Name, and Page Token

Note that the Page Token is different from the User's Token in the sense that if you POST something to Facebook using the User's token, the User will be reflected as the one contributing the POST. Example, "Muhammad Yussuf posted an update".

When you use the Page Token, it will look like this instead: "[Page Name] posted an update"

Publishing to Facebook Reference:

http://developers.facebook.com/docs/api#publishing

Facebook User Setup

====================

The only requirement to this is that the User must be the Owner / Creator of the Page to impersonate it. That means, the average Facebook user does not have any data under the "accounts" API call.

Other Notes:

=====================

The Facebook Graph API returns JSON only. So it's a bit of a headache to integrate with C#. Google for JSON.NET at CodePlex

Guess What? I Just Completed Warcraft 3

With all the amount of people playing DOTA these days, I picked up an old copy of Warcraft 3 and started playing.

I realized I never really finished the Night Elf campaign. And now I have.

After so many years.

And just in time too. The PC died again today. Sigh.

What We Did

It's funny 'cos it's true. - http://xkcd.com/674/

Two Zero One Zero

The future is here... so where are the robots and flying cars?

Attack Of The 7 Year Old PC

Success! My PC's up and running again after buying a generic power supply ($40) from CyberActive at Sengkang Compass Point.

It's been down for almost a year as I simply couldn't find the time to go and buy one.

I have totally forgotten what crappy specs it has.

Gotta get some new parts so I can install Windows 7 RC and enjoy Aero.

2 x 1GB DDR SDRAM 266MHz at $50 each

http://sg.hardwarezone.com/priceguide/priceguide.php?id=121

Currently, BIOS says I have 768MB RAM.

Manual (http://downloadmirror.intel.com/15322/eng/D845RG_D845BV_ProductGuide_English.pdf) says 'board can support 2GB of RAM max.

Largest 3.5" IDE HDD I can find:

http://sg.hardwarezone.com/priceguide/priceguide.php?id=60&filter=&sortby=price&pg=0

500GB at $80

A new LAN card $20

http://sg.hardwarezone.com/priceguide/priceguide.php?id=34&filter=&sortby=price

I have no idea where my current LAN card or it's driver comes from. Windows 7 and Google can't find the drivers either

That's $200 to run an OS that WILL die in March 2010

Now I'm wondering if it's worth it

Work Stuff: System.Net.Mail Notes

Spent a rainy afternoon wrestling with Windows Server 2008, IIS 7

First Error:
System.Net.Mail.SmtpException: Failure sending mail. ---> System.Net.WebException: Unable to connect to the remote server ---> System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it 127.0.0.1:25
at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.DoConnect(EndPoint endPointSnapshot, SocketAddress socketAddress)
at System.Net.ServicePoint.ConnectSocketInternal(Boolean connectFailure, Socket s4, Socket s6, Socket& socket, IPAddress& address, ConnectSocketState state, IAsyncResult asyncResult, Int32 timeout, Exception& exception)
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at System.Net.ServicePoint.GetConnection(PooledStream PooledStream, Object owner, Boolean async, IPAddress& address, Socket& abortSocket, Socket& abortSocket6, Int32 timeout)
at System.Net.PooledStream.Activate(Object owningObject, Boolean async, Int32 timeout, GeneralAsyncDelegate asyncCallback)
at System.Net.PooledStream.Activate(Object owningObject, GeneralAsyncDelegate asyncCallback)
at System.Net.ConnectionPool.GetConnection(Object owningObject, GeneralAsyncDelegate asyncCallback, Int32 creationTimeout)
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpConnection.GetConnection(String host, Int32 port)
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient.Send(MailMessage message)
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient.Send(MailMessage message)
at webservice.sendNotification(Int32 iAppID, String strFromUID, String strToUID, String strMessage) in c:\inetpub\wwwroot\webservice.ashx:line 1001

Solution: Go to Services and make sure the SMTP Service is running (Don't trust the Feature Manager)

Second Problem:
System.Net.Mail.SmtpFailedRecipientsException: Unable to send to all recipients. ---> System.Net.Mail.SmtpFailedRecipientException: Mailbox unavailable. The server response was: 5.7.1 Unable to relay for nickfurry@live.com
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpTransport.SendMail(MailAddress sender, MailAddressCollection recipients, String deliveryNotify, SmtpFailedRecipientException& exception)
at System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient.Send(MailMessage message)
at webservice.sendNotification(Int32 iAppID, String strFromUID, String strToUID, String strMessage) in c:\inetpub\wwwroot\webservice.ashx:line 1001

Solution:
SmtpClient objClient = new SmtpClient();
objClient.DeliveryMethod = SmtpDeliveryMethod.PickupDirectoryFromIis;
objClient.Send(objMail);

The Delivery Method is the key.

Heroic Dinosaurs

The real reason they're extinct

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

It was a dark and stormy night, almost a conclusion to the long day I've had. But the day was not yet done with me.

The Mrs was sick, Sarah's fever had shot up overnight and Johan got his new nickname, "Grumpy Bear".

All alone and awake, after everyone has had their drowsy medicine, I decided to check in on Sarah in her room, to see how she was doing.

I opened the door and a careful glance told me she wasn't in her bed or mine. Since it was very dark, I entered the room silently and carefully explored the beds with my hands...

"Just a bunch of pillows and blankets," I thought. "The Mrs must have picked her up into her room. Or she got up and wandered in."

Knowing that the Mrs was in no state to take care of Sarah, Johan and herself that night, I went into her room with the intention of "kidnapping" Sarah back. The night light in the room was on. The Mrs was sleeping soundly with Johan beside her. There was no sign of Sarah.

Concerned and puzzled, I stepped into the room for a closer look. As quietly as I could, I searched the room. Johan was there. My wife was there. Asleep. Looked at the corners of the room: nothing. Checked the master bedroom bathroom: nothing.

Fought the urge to wake my wife up and ask her where Sarah is.

Went out, closed the door behind me and went back to Sarah's room and turned on the light. No Sarah on the bed.

Went into the hall, checked her play area. Nothing. Into the kitchen. The bathroom. Nothing. Opened the front door and checked her shoes. All accounted for. And the gate was locked.

Earlier in the evening, Sarah finally managed to open up the unlocked gate by herself, put on her slippers and wandered out. A small scare, but I caught her just in time.

A small lightbulb went off over my head.

I went back to her room, climbed into bed and examined the tiny gap between my bed and the wall.

There she was, face down and quiet, almost halfway under the bed.

Always fearing the worst, I checked her body temperature and for signs of breathing. She's alive!

Somehow, I managed to carefully pick her up from the cramped space without waking her up and settled her into her own bed.

Then I settled into my own bed and blogged about it.

The Next Singapore IT / PC / Computer Show

So... how do you plan to blow your cash away? By following the annual IT / PC / Computer show timetable of course!

March

http://www.itshow.com.sg/

June

http://www.thepcshow.com.sg/

September

http://www.comexshow.com.sg/

November

http://www.sitex.com.sg/

Did I miss any?

How to set up (additional) MemCacheD servers on Windows

Go find the latest Windows binary. Such as: http://code.jellycan.com/memcached/

Install the application somewhere like C:\memcached\

Open up command prompt

Type in the following line:

sc create memcached11211 binPath= "C:\memcached\memcached.exe -d runservice -p 11211 -m 2048" start= auto DisplayName= "MemCacheD 11211"

Notes:

-m 2048 is the amount of memory to use in MB. Default value is 64. Maximum value is 2048.

Don't use up 100% RAM. Remember to leave some RAM for the OS.

To utilize more memory on the same machine, repeat the steps given on the same machine but assign a different port number.

In the example above, all instances of the string "11211" refers to the port number.

Do take note of the space after each "=" sign.

Check out Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services for results.

This post is derived from:

http://www.mail-archive.com/memcached@lists.danga.com/msg02791.html

The (Growing) Movie List

I've finally sat down and wrote a list of movies that I kinda wanted to see but missed since the kids were born. My goodness, what a crappy list it is.

Mostly involves comic books, video games, science fiction or Jason Statham.

Don't Promise Sarah Anything

Sarah's memory at this point surprises everyone around her.

Top Things Not To Promise Sarah:
Go swimming (She'll bug you and bug you for days and when you finally go, and discover the swimming pool is under renovation, you jump into a cab immediately to go to another)
Go to the playground
Eat ice cream (if you do, she'll start licking an imaginary one)
Bathe

My BIL's A Funny Guy

BIL = Brother-In-Law

Flickr Panda Madness

I found some crazy API calls in Flickr called "panda".

The "Description" pages didn't help much, so off I went to Google "flickr panda" to get to the bottom of the madness.

Here's the direct URL to the Flickr DevBlog that sort of explains the crazyness.

http://bit.ly/vlm8s

Magmaniac Fish

Caught with the following stats:

1,425,581pts
Fire Sludge Chum
Level 38 Cubey Incinerator
Top Skill: Secrets Of Favoria

Just documenting...

Catching Up

Day 10162:

I wonder why I always feel apologetic whenever I think about my blog. It's probably due to the fact that I don't update it as often as I like to. I'm actually a pretty busy guy, even though probably don't look it.

A lot's happened in the past month. Johan finally came out and everyone's rushing about, acclimatizing themselves to his presence.

I saw in the papers about Singapore's first tweeted wedding. WTF? That got into our newspaper? The reporter probably knew the couple or something.

Check out mine: Singapore's (first?) tweeted birth! Starting from http://twitter.com/supersuf/status/1727134905

Sarah's in her 2nd month of full-day child care at Cherie Hearts. It's costing us a bomb, in terms of money AND time. The Mrs knows this and sometimes offers to pull her out, but I really like it, compared to the alternatives she offers.

She also misses her mummy terribly. I know this - as I'm now her sole, full-time caretaker at home. The Mrs already has her hands full with the newborn. But Sarah's coping well.

The workload at the office also eased up too - thanks to the nice people in the office. But I'm feeling bad about it and plan to start pulling my weight more.

Time! Did I say I'm a busy guy? Pick Sarah up by 1730hrs, feed her dinner (if the Mrs is busy), entertain her, bathe her, tuck her into bed, make her formula at 0100 and 0500hrs. Changing diapers.

Missed so many movies in the theatres. At this point in time, the last movie we watched was "Confessions of a Shopaholic" before Johan popped out. Next, the Mrs plans to dump the kids somewhere to go catch Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen. Really hope we can pull it off.

Flickr upload complete. Take a look-see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/supersuf/

Cicak Cicak Kita Yang Mulia

Translated: Our Noble House Geckos

Sarah says the strangest things these days. Actually, the title above comes from her favourite line from the national anthem, which they've been singing in school. It just comes out of her mouth like that.

Also, according to Sarah, Daddy (that's me) has a space giraffe that he keeps outside the house. (Because he's too tall?) and Grandpa has an elephant in his room.

She also talks like a gangster on the phone. "Hello?!" she demands of the person on the other side.

Working Dad / Stay-At-Home Dad

With the expected arrival of baby boy, things have gotten pretty hectic around here.

The Mrs is effectively immobilized - simply walking to the bus stop leaves her breathless, and takes her a good 1/2 hour. (It's a 5 min walk for me)

That means I've got to take a over a whole lot of responsibilities that were mostly taken care of the Mrs.

Here's what I've been doing the past couple of weeks:
0700-0800: Get up and get ready for the day
0800-0830: Send Sarah to school
0830-1200: Go to office and work
1200-1300: Journey back to Sarah's school to fetch her home
1300-1400: Journey back to office
1400-1830: Work
1830-2030: Home / Dinner / husbanding / fathering / son-ing
2030-2200: Shower Sarah / wind down / Sarah's bedtime

If I'm lucky, I'm still awake at 2200hrs to do my own things. Else I usually fall asleep beside Sarah.

This past week though, contractions have started.

So, after fetching Sarah home, I wind her down for her nap.

I feel like my days are really full and occupied. And tiring too! Bleargh.

So, as a compromise, Sarah's gonna start on full-day child care starting May. I can't, in good conscience, carry on taking half-days off from work even though the peeps there are so nice and understanding.

And last Wednesday was the Mrs' birthday too!

Went to Sakae Sushi. No pics yet though. It's somewhere in our phones.

Delicious!

Been using delicious for quite some time for my online bookmarks and only recently discovered their widgety thingies.

Implemented them onto my sidebar under.... Delicious

I like tag clouds.