Saturday, June 11, 2011

Dell SmartStep 250N Upgrade

I installed Windows 7 on the Dell SmartStep 250N and although it runs, it's slow and could use some help.
Current specs:


Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Microsoft Excel 2007 Import CSV File Formatting

When importing CSV files into Microsoft Excel 2007, DO NOT include spaces after the delimiter (,).

Example 1:

Column 1,Column 2,Column 3,Column 4,Column 5
Some text here,Some more text,data,data,data

Column 1Column 2Column 3Column 4Column 5
Some text hereSome more textdatadatadata

In the simple case, the data does not contain any CSV specific characters, namely the delimiter, the comma (,) and the text qualifier, the double quote (").  The data columns are separated by the delimiter with NO spaces between the columns and the delimter.  In the simple case, the it is acceptable to include a space between the delimiter and the columns, but you will find later, that this will cause data import issues.

Example 2:
Column 1, Column 2, Column 3, Column 4, Column 5
Some text here, Some more text, data, data, data

Column 1Column 2Column 3Column 4Column 5
Some text hereSome more textdatadatadata

Example 3:

"Column 1","Column 2","Column 3","Column 4","Column 5"
"Some text here","Some more text","data","data","data"

Column 1Column 2Column 3Column 4Column 5
Some text hereSome more textdatadatadata

To be more generic, it is better to surround each data column with the text qualifier in case a special character in included in the data.  In the above Example 3, the data does not include any special characters, so the text qualifier is not necessary.

Example 4:

"Column 1","Column 2","Column 3","Column 4","Column 5"
"Some text here, with comma","Some more text","data,more data","data","data"

Column 1Column 2Column 3Column 4Column 5
Some text here, with commaSome more textdata,more datadatadata

Example 4 contains the delimter between text qualifers, in this case, the comma will be treated as a character instead of a delimiter.  At this point, the space before and after the delimiters becomes important.  Placing a space after the delimiter will cause Excel to treat ALL commas in the CSV as a delimiter, therefore, the string

"Some text here, with comma"

will be split into 2 columns

"Some text here
with comma"

Example 5:

"Column 1", "Column 2", "Column 3", "Column 4", "Column 5"
"Some text here, with comma", "Some more text", "data,more data", "data", "data"

"Column 1""Column 2""Column 3""Column 4""Column 5"
"Some text herewith comma""Some more text""datamore data""data""data"

Example 6:
"Column 1","Column 2","Column 3","Column 4","Column 5"
"Some text here, with comma","Some more text with ""double quote""","data,more data","""extra"" data","data"

Column 1Column 2Column 3Column 4Column 5
Some text here, with commaSome more text with "double quote"data,more data"extra" data"data

To include data columns with a double quote character ("), escape it by replacing the double quote (") with 2 double quote characters ("").

Example 7:
"Column 1","Column 2","Column 3","Column 4","Column 5"
"Some text here with newline,
with comma","Some more text with ""double quote""","data,more data","""extra"" data","data"

Column 1Column 2Column 3Column 4Column 5
Some text here with newline,
with commaSome more text with "double quote"data,more data"extra" data"data

Under NO circumstance is the newline character allowed in the the data column, even if it has double quotes surrounding it.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Dell SmartStep 250N Overheat Solution

I have an old Dell SmartStep 250N and let me tell you it's been hell trying to figure out a solution to the overheating problem.

Symptoms:
Computer runs for a period of time, but as soon as the CPU usage spikes and the CPU fan kicks in the computer automatically shuts down.  Things like playing mp3's and video files for a sustained amount of time causes the shutdowns.


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Sony Vaio Z Intel Core i7 Is Back

I don't know when it exactly happened, but I just checked Sony's sonystyle.com website today, 2011-04-05, and the Sony Vaio Z has a Intel Core i7 option!  It's not obvious from looking at on the main page though; it advertises "Intel Core i5 processor", however, if you customize the Z series, the Intel Core i7-640M 2.80GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.47GHz option is there.

Looks like Sony did another laptop shake up as well (see Sony's laptop selection here):

The P series is gone:  the narrow subcompact notebook with GPS that looked like a lady's wallet.
The X series is gone:  the premium super slim and light netbook.
There were 2 S series notebooks a 3.8 lbs and I think a 3.2 lbs/3.4 lbs version of the S series and they have been merged to the heavier 3.8 lbs S series model.
The W series is gone:  Sony's netbook.

Not sure about the bigger notebooks.  But it looks like some of those might have dissappeared as well.  I don't keep track of those as much.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Apple Hater - Apple Cinema Display 23" M8536

Back in 2004, I payed $2999, for an original Apple Cinema Display, the Apple Cinema Display 23" M8536.


It's a great monitor, it still works, but my #1 beef with Apple is that they've completely screwed me on the ADC (Apple Display Connector) connection.  The Apple Cinema Display was one of the first high resolution LCD monitors offered at the time and was visually appealing as all Apple products are and was only challenged by the venerable SGI 1600SW (view at SGI) which used the OpenLDI connection.  I'm a PC user so naturally, I needed an ADC to DVI converter, so I purchased the Dr. Bott DVIator for $150 along side the Apple Cinema Display.  For a long time, I used the monitor with a desktop computer, but my lifestyle changed and I moved over to laptops.  Now this is where my tragic story of the Apple Cinema Display begins.

In the early days of the widescreen notebook computer, these computers didn't come with DVI out ports, because, why would you want an external display if the computer you're using has an awesome huge, 17" display?  Well, I do.  I have a awesome super huge 23" Apple Cinema Display.  Well, what do I do now, how do I use an Apple Cinema Display with an ADC connection?  For a few years, I shelved the Apple Cinema Display until I purchased the Sony Vaio TXN series notebook computer.  Now this subnotebook could benefit from an external monitor.  The Sony Vaio being the ultra portable computer that it is didn't come with a DVI port, only a VGA port.  Enter the Dr. Bott VGAtor.  I purchased the VGAtor at $99 to convert the Apple Cinema Display's ADC connection to VGA.  The annoying part of the Sony Vaio TXN series is that it didn't support 1920x1200 on VGA.  I guess they figured not a lot of people had monitors with that kind of resolution at the time.  The highest I could get is 1600x1200 off the VGA port on the Sony Vaio TXN.

So now in this new generation of notebook computers, they generally only support a VGA port or an HDMI port.  Not very useful when you've got a monitor that uses ADC, a converter that does DVI that doesn't translate well to HDMI, and the last resort, VGA.

Would you believe that I actually got the Apple Cinema Display to work for a brief period when I had a Dell Latitude D620.  The docking station for the D620 worked!  But alas, the victory was short lived because my new Dell Latitude E6410 has a DisplayPort port and the DisplayPort to DVI adapter to the DVIator to the ADC connection on the Apple Cinema Display produces no image.  Even using the DVI port on the docking station for the Dell Latitude E6410 produces no image.

So at the moment, I'm back to the VGAtor and analog display on an expensive digital display.

I've been reading that perhaps the Apple ADC to DVI adapter may do the trick, but it runs at a premium for the used product since Apple doesn't sell those anymore nor does it support the ADC connection.

2012-01-05 Update

The Dr Bott VGAtor has died on me.  Instead of purchasing another Dr Bott VGAtor, I've decided to give the Apple DVI to ADC Display Adapter M8661LL/A (A1006) a try.  Purchased a used unit on eBay for a premium of $150.

Apple DVI to ADC Display Adapter M8661LL/A (A1006)



Since getting the Apple DVI to ADC Display Adapter, I've run into a few glitches that I determined would be good to share.  The same day that I started using the adapter, my monitor went black with all the lights (the power button and the brightness button) blinking.  I couldn't get it to come back on without removing the ADC connector from the adapter and plugging it back in.  I had positioned the adapter flat on the table and it was HOT, very hot.  I had read on other websites it's normal for it to get hot, so people have been placing it vertically.  So I did just that.  I flipped it on it's side and it was generally fine.  However, ocassionally, the LCD would then blink on and off and all my USB devices would disconnect and connect.  I got so frustrated with it that I removed the USB devices and unplugged the USB cable from the adapter from the computer.  No problems since I've removed the USB cable from the adapter from the computer.  Not sure what's going on, but it's either that the ADC USB connector is glitchy or my Dell E6410 docking station USB port is glitchy.

That said, the good news is that I have the Apple Cinema Display 23" M8536 working with a Windows PC, a Dell Latitude E6410 with an nVidia NVS 3100M.  This is the first time it's been working on a digital connection in about 4 years, so I'm very happy.

It is important to note.  For all you out there still have this monitor or an older monitor, the Apple Cinema Display 23" M8536 has a resale value of approximately $150 - $200.  The Apple DVI to ADC Adapter USED is $150.  Something to think about, maybe it's time to retire an obnoxious old monitor and go for something brand new.  You can get a pretty good monitor for $300, but if you're like me you're going to go for (as of 2012-01-07):


Update 2012-03-07

At some point the Dr Bott VGAtor started to crash on me and I isolated it to the USB connection.  I removed the USB connection from the Dr Bott VGAtor and the Dell e6410 docking station.  Once I got the Apple DVI to ADC Display Adapter M86611L/B I had the same issue where the Apple DVI to ADC Display Adapter M86611L/B crashed.  Once I removed the USB connection the problem has gone away.

Update 2012-05-21

Another thing I hate about the Apple Cinema Display 23" M8536 is the more-or-less fixed angle of the display.  I personally found that the display leans back too much.  I prefer my monitor almost vertical.  Since the monitor is a tripod, using a standard monitor riser is out of the question.  So what now?  Well, I went over to the Home Depot and grabbed some scrap wood to build a riser.  For the back leg that modifies the angel of display, I added a block of wood and made an anchor so it wouldn't slip off.

Parts:
  • 4x 1x3.5x5.5 inches wood
  • 2x screw eyes #208 (about 1/4 inch diameter)
  • 1x 1/4 inch diameter 5.5 inches long bolt (threaded all the way)
  • 2x 1/4 inch diameter nut

For the front 2 legs, the block of wood is 1 inch high x 3.5 inches wide by 5.5 inches long.  For the front 2 legs you can actually probably make the block a little shorter 1 x 3.5 x 4 inches.  I tried to make all the wood pieces the same length, but as you can tell, one of the back pieces ended up being a little short.


For the rear leg, I raised the leg an extra 1 inch by stacking an extra block.  This part needs to be at least 1 x 3.5 x 5.5 inches.  I measured the center of the block and screwed in the 2 screw eyes about 1/2 cm away from the edge of the rear leg on either side.  The 1/4 diameter 5.5 inch bolt was the right length for the wood block.  However, notice that the bolt is hanging out on the other end.  I'm going to buy another bolt nut to place on the front end so that it even with the length of th block and doesn't shift around.


 The viewing angle is much better now in my opinion.

Summary

Apple Cinema Display 23" M8536 - $2999
Dr Bott DVIator - $150 (MSRP as of 2011-03-28, $94.95 on vgator.com)
Dr Bott VGAtor - $99 (MSRP as of 2011-03-28, $299.95 on dviator.com)
EnTech Taiwan PowerStrip software - $29.95
WinACD, Apple Cinema Display HID driver and control panel for Windows XP
Dell Latitude D620 docking station - different docking stations for DVI support for various computers over the years
Dell DisplayPort-to-DVI adapter - $22.99
Dell Latitude E6410 docking station - different docking stations for DVI support for various computers over the years
SEE2 Xtreme UV200 TRIUV200 - $99.99
Thinking about buying the Apple DVI to ADC Display Adapter M86611L/B - $150.00 on eBay.  Purchased as of 2012-01-05.

So, lots of money and a couple of software packages and a pile of hardware later, I have a really expensive analog LCD display.

Why am I an Apple Hater?  I supported Apple by buying a product from them only to have them drop support for it and leave me no way to continue to use a large investment.  At least with the SGI 1600SW, you buy 1 converter original or aftermarket (PIXsolution (don't exist anymore from what I can tell) or Sharper Technology) and you're set.  It's not like a bought a $500 monitor.  Instead I'm left on my own to fend for myself and put together a ragtag solution to make it work.

Apple PowerBook G4 Narcolepsy Alternate Solution

This weekend, 2011-03-6, I was helping out a friend and repairing a Apple PowerBook G4 12" laptop that had suffered a hard drive head crash after being dropped a few times by a relative.  I replaced the original Hitachi 60 GB HDD with a Western Digital Scorpio Blue 80 GB HDD and the system was up and running again.  However, the PowerBook G4 laptop was being plagued by the fabled Narcoleptic Aluminum Powerbook Syndrome.  There several discussion threads on the Apple forums discussing the PowerBook G4 narcolepsy such as this one.

This particular PowerBook G4 laptop had the following issue:  Under normal operation conditions, word processing, typical web browsing, the computer didn't suddenly go to sleep.  However, when performing tasks requiring high levels of CPU usage such as Adobe Flash videos, the laptop CPU fan starts up on high and eventually goes to sleep.


Friday, March 18, 2011

Converting PDF Tables

If you're someone that uses PDF's on a frequent basis, there's one thing that probably drives you the most crazy, and that's tabular data in PDF's generally cannot be copy and pasted into an Excel spreadsheet.  This is because a PDF is designed for visualizing and printing a document, a digital version of a paper document.  Thus PDF's are not designed to be used for analytical purposes like a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet where you can sum up rows, convert tabular data into a pivot table, etc.

To be fair to Adobe, PDF's are capability of storing the structural metadata a table.  Generally, when you use PDF printer software, even Adobe PDF Writer or Adobe Distiller, the software converts a table into lines with coordinates and positions data within the bounds of the lines that represent a cell of the table instead of retaining the table's metadata of table, row header, column header, row, and column.

The solution is to convert the PDF document to a format where tables are represented as tables with structural information so that software such as Microsoft Excel can recognize the table and import it into the program.

Before we get into software, please note, I've personally used a few of the PDF converter software products out there, but I'll post links to software vendors that I personally know as being reputable because some software vendor's websites can look a bit shady.  Again, I've used some of them myself and I'm not saying that they're not trustworthy, but please use good judgement when downloading software from the internet.  If you're not sure check for the software on a reputable freeware/nagware/shareware/trial software library such as CNET Download.

PDF to Text
The seemingly easiest solution is to convert the PDF to a text file with the data positioned correctly so that it looks like a table, but this isn't as easy as it seems.  PDF's do not store textual data the you visualize it.  Changes to the PDF are appended to the document, so when you extract the text from the PDF, you may find you textual data interlaced and positioned incorrectly.  Remember, PDF stores positional data for all elements of the PDF document so that when it is rendered to the screen or to a printer, everything is positioned correctly, but the data is not necessarily in order when extracted from the document.  The textual data must be read and reassembled.  Generally the free PDF to Text converters have the problem where PDF's with updated text is appended to the document generates a text file with the text out of order.

Here's a Google search to get you started:  convert pdf to text.

PDF to HTML
PDF to HTML converters suffer from a far different problem than PDF to Text converters because HTML represent structured and unstructured data.  Most PDF to HTML converts take the easy way out and instead of converting tabular data to <table>...</table> tags, it generates a HTML file with what looks to be a <div> tag explosion.  These <div> tags have absolute positioning so essentially, what you have is a direct PDF to HTML conversion which doesn't really help your cause any because there's still no structural information, but at the very least, it "looks" right.

Here's a Google search to get you started:  convert pdf to html.

PDF to Excel
This is probably the best solution for what you're trying to accomplish, convert visual tables into an actual table of data.  However, it's the hardest to acheive because most of the software products available are not free and tend to be trial versions.  Thre are 2 types of PDF to Excel converters and most of the software products to convert PDF to Excel falls into the first category.

1.  Manually map the PDF tables for extraction.
This method allows you to open a PDF file and draw a table over the tabular data.  The software product then uses the metadata created by you to extract the tabular data into an Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Here's a Google search to get you started:  convert pdf to excel.

2.  Automatically convert the PDF to a spreadsheet
This is my preferred version because it's automatic and the entire document gets converted into an Excel spreadsheet.  You can get wierd results if you've got a combination of both text and tabular data in the same document, but it works out ok.

Here I can vouch for a software product, Nuance PDF Converter can automatically convert a PDF into Word or Excel or other file types.  It generally works well and a trial version can be downloaded here from CNET Download.