Wednesday, February 28, 2018

excess CPU usage from Windows Update Agent

Noticed that an SVCHost process was taking up 50% CPU on my 2-core Windows XP machine. This behaviour started around a week back. Killed the process, ran Trend Micro's House call online anti-virus, did not detect anything. If I directly kill the SVCHost process itself, sometimes it disables audio - that thread is also on that process. Googling for solutions, got one way to do it using process explorer. 




Right-clicking the process and going to properties, in the threads tab, we see that Windows Update Agent is the culprit - killing or suspending it stops the high CPU usage.

There are some posts about solutions, like

but apparently this particular problem was fixed already,


"The problem that the "Symptoms" section describes was corrected in Windows Update Agent 3.0 and in update 927891. These updates were distributed through Microsoft Update in June and July, 2007. If you are still experiencing a problem that resembles the one that this article describes, it may be a different problem. To troubleshoot similar problems, please see the "Similar problems and resolutions" section later in this article."

So, currently I will just live with suspending the thread. 

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Saturday, February 24, 2018

removing a recent audio file

Got a request to remove a recently played program from our downloadable content. So, deleted from local server ~/audio folder, also deleted from dl.radiosai.org so that old saved download links will not work, and have edited the remote database so that it shows - as description and does not show a download option. That seemed to be the easy way to delete the entry which is linked to a recently played file, without having to go into all the other linked tables. Similarly have edited local database, and have put "cannot play" flag on. 

Thursday, February 22, 2018

MAT types in OpenCV

From http://ninghang.blogspot.in/2012/11/list-of-mat-type-in-opencv.html

A Mapping of Type to Numbers in OpenCV

C1C2C3C4
CV_8U081624
CV_8S191725
CV_16U2101826
CV_16S3111927
CV_32S4122028
CV_32F5132129
CV_64F6142230

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

pause and exist

Matlab, Octave etc have these commands, which could be useful to do some action if a file exists - pause and exist. For example, to open a file in real time, use
exist
to check for file, and
pause
to wait for desired time.

Friday, February 09, 2018

using an old 1st generation iPad

Some tips on using an old 1st generation iPad.

How to install apps - from
https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/135060/how-to-install-apps-which-require-a-newer-version-of-ios-on-a-1st-gen-ipad

1.    On your old iPhone/iPad, go to Settings -> Store -> set Apps to Off.

2.    Go onto your computer (it doesn't matter if it's a PC or a Mac) and open the iTunes app. Then go to the iTunes store and download all the apps you want to be on your iPad/iPhone.

3.     If the iTunes on the computer and your iPad are both signed into the same Apple ID, and the iPad is connected to the internet, then go on your iPad/iPhone to App Store -> Purchased -> tap on an individual app you want to install.

4.     You'll get a message that says "The current version requires iOS 6.1 or later, but you can download the last compatible version," just hit Download.

This method should at least allow you to have most apps on your outdated device. Most of them will work, but sometimes even once you have the app installed on your it still won't run correctly. That's just tough luck. But in my experience that's not too common; apps usually work just fine.

How to get ebooks on the ipad:

1. Using Amazon Kindle Store and Kindle App
2. Using direct links to pdfs, or email attachments - when opened in safari, they show a "Open in" button on the top. You can open pdf and epub in Freading, mobi in Kindle.
3. Using gutenberg.org
4. https://www.thebalance.com/places-to-get-free-kindle-books-1357954
5. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/ebooks.php?forumid=128


Thursday, February 08, 2018

converting csv files in google drive to google sheets

This stackoverflow answer seems to be good. Either download and re-upload after enabling "convert uploads" in Drive settings, or use an Apps script. 

Wednesday, February 07, 2018

prevent emails from going to spam

Adapted from https://www.booklending.com/faq.htm

For Windows Live and MSN Hotmail users:

1. Go to the "Options" page.
2. Under the "Junk E-mail" section, click on "Safe and blocked senders".
3. Click on "Safe senders".
4. In the "Sender or domain to mark as safe:" field, type "@radiosai.org", and click on the "Add to list" button.

For Google Gmail users:

1. Click Contacts along the left side of any page.
2. Click the New Contact button in the top-left corner of the Contact Manager.
3. Type "noreply@radiosai.org" in the "Email" field.
4. Click "Save" to add your contact.


For Yahoo! mail users:

1. Click on "Contacts".
2. Click on "Add Contact".
3. Type "noreply@radiosai.org" in the "Email" field.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "Save".


For AOL mail users:

1. Click on the drop down arrow to the right of 'Mail Options', then click on 'Address Book'.
2. Click on "Add Contact".
3. Type "noreply@radiosai.org" in the "Screen Name" block.
4. Click the "Save" button.


For Microsoft Outlook users:

1. Go to "Tools" and click on "Address Book".
2. Go to "File" and click on "New Entry".
3. Select "New Contact" and click on "OK".
4. Type "noreply@radiosai.org" in the "Email" field.
5. Click "Save and close".


For Verizon Users:
1. Go to your Verizon Inbox.
2. Click Options.
3. Select the Block Senders tab (near the top of the screen).
4. On the Block Senders screen, you'll see both a "Block Sender List" and a "Safe List". In the space where it says, "Enter e-mail address or sub domain to always accept even if the domain is blocked", enter noreply@radiosai.org 


For Comcast Users
1. Sign in to Comcast Webmail, and select ‘Preferences’ from the left menu
2. Select ‘Restrict Incoming Email’ from the ‘Preferences’ list
3. Select ‘Yes’ to Enable Email Controls
4. Select ‘Allow email from addresses listed below’
5. Enter "noreply@radiosai.org" and click “Add”
 

Tuesday, February 06, 2018

signing out of google account on Android

This link has the details for Android 5.0+  

On Android 5.0+, Settings -> Accounts -> Google -> Choose the account you wish to sign out of -> Menu with 3 dots on top right -> Remove account

On the LG Q6 running Android 8.1, there is a search field in settings where I can enter Accounts, and directly get listings of the Google accounts. Clicking on an account brings up a page with Remove account also listed.

creating a dashboard

One way of creating a dashboard for an organisation spread over different campuses, who have disparate IT setups - creating a google site with google docs or charts embedded from each campus - each campus can modify their charts separately, and the modified charts are reflected in the main site.

An example is at