TT(O)M

  On February 13th, Sage Evolution software experienced a start-up failure.  Running the client application produced no visible result. This issue mirrored a similar incident from two years before. The temporary workaround involved changing the date on all computers and server to a day other than February 13th. While this allowed the software to function, it created significant problems with transaction dates and impacted other software such as 2FA Authentication Codes. Upon reverting the server and client dates to the correct date, Sage's anti-piracy measures were triggered, requiring client software re-registration.  This registration process involves providing the company name, a system-generated PIN, a registration code, and a serial number. The serial number, derived from the other provided information, necessitates contacting the client's Sage solution provider.  Until all required details are entered, users are unable to access the software. Unconfirmed source...

This screenshot shows an erroneous transaction from my banking app - one I personally experienced. The incident taught me several lessons, but most importantly: check your statements regularly. Had I not caught this withdrawal, it likely would have become permanent. For accounts with significant activity, weekly reviews are essential. These checks needn’t be time-consuming - just a few minutes, perhaps during an ad break, to verify your recent transactions. When I reported the error, the bank responded within 24 hours and confirmed their mistake. However, getting them to explicitly admit “We made a mistake” proved surprisingly challenging. Mistakes can happen even with advanced technology and controls in place, despite everyone’s best intentions. Yet it raised a troubling question: what if our roles had been reversed? Had I made the error instead of the bank, I would likely have faced multiple charges - “processing fees,” “adjustment fees,” “error fees” - all automatically appli...

This article explores a Microsoft Power Apps canvas solution that implements a Wordle computation engine. In this application, users input a target word (the “answer”) and a guess. The engine then processes the guess and returns a string representing the match status, using the following colour-coded indicators: G (Green) : Indicates that the character in the guess matches the character in the answer at the same position. Y (Yellow) : Indicates that the character in the guess is present in the answer, but at a different position. B (Black) : Indicates that the character in the guess is not present in the answer.   Enabling User-Defined Functions This engine utilizes an experimental Power Apps feature called User-defined functions , which must be enabled as follows: Click the Settings (cog) icon. Select the Updates tab. Scroll down to User-defined functions and enable it.   Download the Source Package The source package for this solution is available for dow...

Some people prefer online shopping, while others enjoy browsing through physical stores. Regardless of your preference, these tools can help you make informed purchasing decisions. They provide the best price for an item, show how its price has changed over time, and help you determine if customer reviews are trustworthy or if they might be biased by manufacturers to boost sales. The tools in this edition of GTL focus specifically on Amazon products. However, even if you’re not an Amazon fan, many large retailers—both online and in-store—will match prices if you ask. Some of these tools offer browser extensions. Only install extensions from sites you trust and need, as they can track your browsing behaviour even when you’re not using them. Furthermore, extensions can slow down your browser. None of the tools listed here require you to install a browser extension. For Europeans, we share tools that help you discover the lowest Amazon-country price for a product. A Note for Our Read...

  Introduction In Step 7 of our Proxmox-NUT Homelab HowTo series, we will cover the topic of backups, specifically focusing on backing up your virtual machines (VMs). If you prefer a visual tutorial, you can watch the video below.   This series includes a torrent file that allows you to follow along. The torrent file contains VMware snapshots for each step in the series. You need VMware Workstation, which is now free for personal use. The link to the torrent file is available here . Once you extract the torrent and open it in VMware, select  Step 7 snapshot. If you’ve just discovered this series and would like to review the earlier steps, please visit: https://www.alanbonnici.com/2024/08/proxmox-nut-homelab-howto-step-0.html .   What is covered In this HowTo, we will back up to two endpoints: A USB device plugged directly into the Proxmox server, which is assumed to be entirely dedicated to Proxmox. A network share. No backup strategy is complete unle...