Archive for 2007
E-mail Hoaxes
I think everyone has seen a message in their inbox like this:
PLEASE : READ THIS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (NO JOKE)
I checked with Norton Antivirus and they are gearing up for this virus so I believe this is real. I checked snopes.com and this is for real. Get this sent around to your contacts ASAP…we don’t need this spreading around.READ AS SOON AS POSSIBLE; PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS:
You should be alert during the next days: Do not open any message with an attached filed called “Invitation” regardless of who sent it. It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which “burns” the whole hard disc C of your computer.. This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list, that is why you should send this e-mail to all your contacts. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it. If you receive a mail called “invitation”, though sent by a friend, do not open it and shut down your computer immediately. This is the worst Virus announced by CNN, it has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept. SEND THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW.
COPY THIS E-MAIL AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS AND REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US.
Just because someone writes “McAfee” or “Norton AntiVirus” inside their message, it does not mean that anything in their message is factual. How can you tell? Take three minutes, and check on it before you forward it to your entire e-mail address book and clog up everyone else’s inbox.
Here are some places to check when you’re unsure if something is a hoax:
And, of course, you can always contact ResQTek, too.
Everyone wants their computer and/or computer network to be secure, but by forwarding these messages blindly, you’re just giving underserved attention to something that should simply be deleted. When in doubt, check it out. And you pretty much should always be in doubt. 
SQL Date Logic
I see it all the time: A bug caused by a query that is searching on dates in an SQL database.
Date/time logic is tricky, and deserves a little spotlight to prevent problems.
Take these two SQL statements (SQL Server syntax), for example:
- select * from sales
where datediff(dd,scanDate,getdate()) between 1 and 7
- select * from sales
where scanDate between dateadd(day, -7, getdate()) AND dateadd(day, -1, getdate())
At first glance, they might appear functionally equivalent. One might even argue that query #2 is faster because SQL server can cache the result of the two dateadd function calls. Then, it can use that result for the comparison to every row of the table, while query #1 has to call datediff for every row.
But, a closer look will reveal that query #2 is factoring in time of day, and query #1 is not!
When looking at a report generated by query#2 at 9:00am expecting to see all the items sold in the previous 7 days, only items sold in the last 7 days up until 9:00am of the prior day are displayed. This is very different from the first query, which will return all the sales for all 7 of the days, regardless of the timestamp. Be sure of which results set you’re expecting and code it accordingly.
So, there you have it. Just a little Date/time logic for SQL to help prevent unnecessary chaos.
Windows Help – Vista and More
Microsoft hosts a very comprehensive website that includes very helpful information about Windows Vista. If you have a Vista-based computer, or would like to get one, perusing this site is recommended.
The Windows help website includes step-by-step instructions on how to perform many tasks. Everything from security to desktop wallpaper is detailed. You can also browse Windows XP topics and sign up for the Windows newsletter.
Get more out of your computer and learn something new!
