blog.arithm

If Java is showing you tinyint(1) as a boolean bitfield, that’s probably because MySQL recently changed the behavior of tinyint:

As of MySQL 5.0.3, a BIT data type is available for storing bit-field values. (Before 5.0.3, MySQL interprets BIT as TINYINT(1).) In MySQL 5.0.3, BIT is supported only for MyISAM. MySQL 5.0.5 extends BIT support to MEMORY, InnoDB, BDB, and NDBCLUSTER.

To convince your JDBC driver to show you tinyint for the tiny little int that it actually is, rather than as a boolean, try setting the tinyInt1isBit=false parameter when connecting.

If you are trying to get some custom macros to work with Outlook as outlined, for example, here and here, you may be befuddled to discover that that your macros fail silently; usually after restarting Outlook. This is because Outlook is quietly disabling all macros because it hates youI mean, because it doesn’t trust you.  That is to say, it doesn’t trust your self-signed cert.

In Windows 7 it appears as though self-signed certs have to first be copied into a “trusted” group before they can be used. Here’s how to do it:

1. Run certmgr.msc as an Administrator.
2. Open the “Personal” tree node in the left pane.
3. Open the “Certificates” node under the Personal node.
4. Note that your self-signed certificate appears in the right pane.  It may have a red “X” through it.
5. Double-click the certificate in the right pane to see instructions about copying the certificate to the “Trusted Root Certification Authorities” store.  Good thing these important details are so easy to discover.
6. Hold down the control key and drag the cert into “Trusted Root Certification Authorities > Certificates” which should appear immediately below the Personal node.
7. Follow any prompts to completion.  The red “X” should disappear and your cert should know have a key icon attached to it.
8. Inside Outlook, re-associate this cert with your macro.
9. Restart Outlook for the new cert to be applied.

And voila, Outlook trusts you again.

Not, of course, that you should every fully trust it back.

Folks are getting ready for a Brave New America.

Here’s another thing I have to do once per year and can never remember how to do.

If you have Apache extended status activated thusly:

<IfModule mod_status.c>
ExtendedStatus On
<Location /server-status>
SetHandler server-status
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
Allow from localhost ip6-localhost 127.0.0.1
</Location>
</IfModule>

…then you can check in on what Apache is up to via Lynx from the command line:

$ wget -q -O - localhost/server-status | lynx -stdin

Quite handy.

Just in case there’s any doubt as to whose behalf Rick Perry is running.

Fucking bingo. The Bought Congress, and the enabling Bought Supreme Court, have got to go.

And of course Ratigan seems to not see the whole Bought President problem.

First, some background music for your listening pleasure.

So Moody’s has downgraded U.S. debt. Of course, as Peter Schiff points out, this is probably only because they boxed themselves in via previous statements. Other ratings agencies are still mum, although that’s certain to change in the very near future.

At any rate, this particular signpost on the road to economic hell is, in my opinion, pretty clear. Hyperinflation Ahead. The recent debt ceiling increase (charade that it was) brought no meaningful cuts. Instead, Tea Party resistance, blown up to crisis status by rank-and-file Republicrats, resulted in entitlement armageddon fear mongering — with virtually no discussion of reigning in out-of-control empire-ism — and was ultimately leveraged to introduce a dangerous precedent in the form of “Super Congress”.

Although austerity is threatened when expedient, Congress has no real political stomach for budgetary restraint and therefore will continue spending until the dollar ponzi collapses. Some argue that this was the intent all along. True or not, Super Congress makes it even easier to quickly bypass resistance and continue the charade.

When it becomes clear to all that ongoing Federal Reserve clownsmanship is ravaging the value of the dollar, we will be faced with some kind of collapse. This will most likely come in the form of global hyperinflationary panic as investors and, well.. everyone, try to buy anything and everything that stand a chance of preserving value. If this happens, the U.S. could experience social unrest similar to that endured by Argentina in the late ’90s. (Again, Super Congress could play a role here quickly rubber stamping draconian laws in attempt at population control.) The value of physical metals against national currencies will skyrocket.

I am now thoroughly convinced that precious metals are one of the few assets classes that will be remain buoyant when the gathering debt tsunami finally swamps global economies. And while I hope I am wrong, to friends of this blog: I urge you to prepare. Get physical. Investment in a small cache of precious metals, gold and silver, could be a real lifesaver in the event of a widespread paper asset meltburndown.

I’m sure Olivia Newton-John would agree.