Owner: Gabriel Monge-Franco's blog URL:http://blog-gabriel.mongefranco.com Join Date: Sat, 07 Jun 2008 11:42:14 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Hacking, poetry, programming... oh my!
Oooh... A new site is coming!!! :D 2008-12-31 19:10:00 Dear readers,
I am tired of not having access to communication tools in Google Sites and Blogger, so I'm switching to a completely new web hosting provider. Besides, imagine paying only $4 bucks for 5 years with unlimited bandwidth on eBay--can't beat that! :)
I am completely redesigning MongeFranco.com from the ground up to make it into a social network and online community. My new site will include features like letting you participate more actively in my blogs, and allowing you join forces as a team and blog together! There will also be (hopefully) an OpenID server available for family, friends, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends of family friends.... So pretty much you included. This will give you the opportunity, if you so desire, to use your MongeFranco.com login on hundreds of sites without sharing your login credentials with them (and vice versa).
Please be patient as I embark into this fun web development experience. I will be blogging
New audio/video poem: I Dream of a Day by The Sea 2008-12-20 04:33:00
Now that my poetry database is fairly well populated (about 20%, or 70 poems), I have started uploading poetry readings as well. I will try and keep an audio file (and probably a video as well) for each poem.
You can view the first one, I Dream of a Day by The Sea, on my Video Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKpnpWA1CzcCopyright (C) 2008-2009 by Gabriel Monge-Franco.
All rights reserved. Todos los derechos reservados.
Making kick-ass graphs in Excel 2007 2008-12-13 13:00:00 Yesterday, I was tasked with graphing survey results for a PowerPoint presentation. My tool of choice: Office Excel 2007. I was expected to come up with professional-looking and easy-to-understand graphs (after all, they will be presented to vice-presidents and directors). As an added requirement, I also needed to present both values and percentages. However, as I found out yesterday, Excel 2007 does not allow the presentation of both percentages and values in the same graph. I had to come up with an alternative that will allow my manager to update the graphs with new data going forward, but without forcing her to mess with the graphs.
There are some ways to accomplish this. One way is to present values in the graphs, and insert text boxes that link back to percentages in a data section of the spreadsheet. This can be tricky with bar and pie graphs, since the position of the text boxes would need to change depending on the height and width of Read more:ass
Making kick-ass graphs in Excel 2007 2008-12-13 13:00:00 Yesterday, I was tasked with graphing survey results for a PowerPoint presentation. My tool of choice: Office Excel 2007. I was expected to come up with professional-looking and easy-to-understand graphs (after all, they will be presented to vice-presidents and directors). As an added requirement, I also needed to present both values and percentages. However, as I found out yesterday, Excel 2007 does not allow the presentation of both percentages and values in the same graph. I had to come up with an alternative that will allow my manager to update the graphs with new data going forward, but without forcing her to mess with the graphs.
There are some ways to accomplish this. One way is to present values in the graphs, and insert text boxes that link back to percentages in a data section of the spreadsheet. This can be tricky with bar and pie graphs, since the position of the text boxes would need to change depending on the height and width of Read more:ass
I'm certified... again. 2008-12-13 12:34:00 I was supposed to take a certification exam for my capstone class. It did not matter if I passed it or not -- I just had to take it to meet that graduation requirement. My original intent was to to take the GSEC exam, but it was too expensive, and I did not have time to prepare for it in just one semester. Besides, that certification is more or less intended for security administrators, and I am currently leaning more towards software engineering and databases. My second choice was a computer forensics exam, but as it turned out, there were no testing centers in Michigan. Of course, I didn't find that part out until a few weeks before the end of the semester! It would not have helped me anyway, as a new law in Michigan prohibits performing forensic examinations of computer equipment unless a special permission is obtained from the state (or working for a law enforcement agency).
Well, I procrastinated a little and finally signed up for another test
I'm certified... again. 2008-12-13 12:34:00 I was supposed to take a certification exam for my capstone class. It did not matter if I passed it or not -- I just had to take it to meet that graduation requirement. My original intent was to to take the GSEC exam, but it was too expensive, and I did not have time to prepare for it in just one semester. Besides, that certification is more or less intended for security administrators, and I am currently leaning more towards software engineering and databases. My second choice was a computer forensics exam, but as it turned out, there were no testing centers in Michigan. Of course, I didn't find that part out until a few weeks before the end of the semester! It would not have helped me anyway, as a new law in Michigan prohibits performing forensic examinations of computer equipment unless a special permission is obtained from the state (or working for a law enforcement agency).
Well, I procrastinated a little and finally signed up for another test
A surgical epiphany 2008-12-11 16:56:00 I understand that most of you, my readers, would rather see a hacking article or an epic kissing story than a personal blob, but this is too cool to pass out. So, bear with me, because I think I am having an epiphany... O yes, here it is: I can hear the music. The angelic choir in my head is performing an a cappella song of ever unmatched beauty. A hypnotizing spotlight is shinning on me, while everything else turns dark, leading me to believe that this thought must be important. There is nobody here but me, a computer and one of those flashbacks disguised as one of my frequent daydreams....
I was ready to leave the basement of the hospital and be on my way back to the office. After three hectic hours of receiving computer products three levels below ground, I needed to either get enough caffeine to push that beef & chili burrito through my veins, or run to the parking lot with little consideration to traffic, ice and a possible asthma attack. L
A surgical epiphany 2008-12-11 16:56:00 I understand that most of you, my readers, would rather see a hacking article or an epic kissing story than a personal blob, but this is too cool to pass out. So, bear with me, because I think I am having an epiphany... O yes, here it is: I can hear the music. The angelic choir in my head is performing an a cappella song of ever unmatched beauty. A hypnotizing spotlight is shinning on me, while everything else turns dark, leading me to believe that this thought must be important. There is nobody here but me, a computer and one of those flashbacks disguised as one of my frequent daydreams....
I was ready to leave the basement of the hospital and be on my way back to the office. After three hectic hours of receiving computer products three levels below ground, I needed to either get enough caffeine to push that beef & chili burrito through my veins, or run to the parking lot with little consideration to traffic, ice and a possible asthma attack. L
Community on Wheels 2008-12-02 20:56:00 I finally got acquainted at my new place. It's big and cozy, not to mention dirt cheap! The best part is that I am a block away from a major bus line -- one that comes every 15 minutes, and runs until midnight. I missed being able to take the bus anywhere. At my old apartment, the bus only ran every half an hour, and only until 7pm. Having the chance to use public transportation again gives me great freedom.
I took the bus to work this morning. First, I had to catch a bus to central station. The driver was one of those really nice people who can start a conversation with anyone about anything. The people on that route are very friendly. Once in central station, I just had to wait a few minutes for the express bus, which would take me straight to work. During those few minutes, I met a couple of very interesting characters -- a very loud cat lady (seriously, she had one her five cats in a cage; I guess she was on her way to t Read more:Community
Community on Wheels 2008-12-02 20:56:00 I finally got acquainted at my new place. It's big and cozy, not to mention dirt cheap! The best part is that I am a block away from a major bus line -- one that comes every 15 minutes, and runs until midnight. I missed being able to take the bus anywhere. At my old apartment, the bus only ran every half an hour, and only until 7pm. Having the chance to use public transportation again gives me great freedom.
I took the bus to work this morning. First, I had to catch a bus to central station. The driver was one of those really nice people who can start a conversation with anyone about anything. The people on that route are very friendly. Once in central station, I just had to wait a few minutes for the express bus, which would take me straight to work. During those few minutes, I met a couple of very interesting characters -- a very loud cat lady (seriously, she had one her five cats in a cage; I guess she was on her way to t Read more:Community
Tonight, I drove 2008-11-22 20:48:00 Some young people my age went out to a bar tonight. They had a few drinks, danced with a date, watched a football game and stayed up with their friends. Some others like my friend Kristin had to work tonight. Maybe business was slow, and they were bored to death, but they were there to make a few extra bucks. Others stayed at home and watched a movie with their siblings and cousins. They had fun watching that thriller over popcorn on the family living room, laughing on the couch and even making memories.
Some others roamed an icy street, looking to escape from their awful life at home. Others partied all night on campus, without regards to the valuable neurons that alcohol deprived them from. Many looked for shelter and food, not just for them but also for their loved ones. Others robbed a helpless guy around the corner and felt good about it -- even powerful. Some others had sex. Some others cried. Many suffered, while
Tonight, I drove 2008-11-22 20:48:00 Some young people my age went out to a bar tonight. They had a few drinks, danced with a date, watched a football game and stayed up with their friends. Some others like my friend Kristin had to work tonight. Maybe business was slow, and they were bored to death, but they were there to make a few extra bucks. Others stayed at home and watched a movie with their siblings and cousins. They had fun watching that thriller over popcorn on the family living room, laughing on the couch and even making memories.
Some others roamed an icy street, looking to escape from their awful life at home. Others partied all night on campus, without regards to the valuable neurons that alcohol deprived them from. Many looked for shelter and food, not just for them but also for their loved ones. Others robbed a helpless guy around the corner and felt good about it -- even powerful. Some others had sex. Some others cried. Many suffered, while
Jesse 2008-11-15 19:22:00 I went to Burger King today, the one on the busiest street in town. As I was driving there, I was debating whether I wanted Subway instead, which would be healthier. Yet, I decided to keep going straight and get some of those really great BK fries. While waiting at the stop light in the busy intersection, I saw two people crossing the street, dressed in what seemed like dirty old clothes. In a flash, I told myself not to judge, since I knew nothing about these two strangers, and I could just as easily be misjudged.
I got to Burger King and ordered a chicken sandwich with large fries. Nothing sounded better than hot french fries in such a cold day. As I was waiting for my order, I saw the man from the intersection come in. He was touching the walls, as if looking for the door. I soon realized he was blind. When I opened the door for him, he asked me which way to the cash register. Just walk straight, I said; it will be on your
Jesse 2008-11-15 19:22:00 I went to Burger King today, the one on the busiest street in town. As I was driving there, I was debating whether I wanted Subway instead, which would be healthier. Yet, I decided to keep going straight and get some of those really great BK fries. While waiting at the stop light in the busy intersection, I saw two people crossing the street, dressed in what seemed like dirty old clothes. In a flash, I told myself not to judge, since I knew nothing about these two strangers, and I could just as easily be misjudged.
I got to Burger King and ordered a chicken sandwich with large fries. Nothing sounded better than hot french fries in such a cold day. As I was waiting for my order, I saw the man from the intersection come in. He was touching the walls, as if looking for the door. I soon realized he was blind. When I opened the door for him, he asked me which way to the cash register. Just walk straight, I said; it will be on your
Wow your visitors with cool gadgets 2008-11-11 16:19:00 I got a little bored on my lunch hour today, so I started pimping up my department's SharePoint site. I added some new sections, a radar map widget and a mood survey that shows the results as a smiley. Once everything was put together, I was very satisfied: my site had become, without question, the coolest SharePoint site in all of IT. :)
Still, there was something missing. I needed something to make my visitors feel welcome and appreciated. That's when I remembered seeing a visitor tracker on a blog that showed the most recent visitors, where they came from and what they were reading. My search eventually led me to Wowzio.com, a site with "beautiful blog widgets." Wowzio has a small collection of very cool widgets, which although designed with bloggers in mind, can be easily adapted for any type of Website. One of the widgets creates picture shows from all the pictures available in one's blog. Another one is a visitor tracker -- exactly what I was looking for:
Very impr
Wow your visitors with cool gadgets 2008-11-11 16:19:00 I got a little bored on my lunch hour today, so I started pimping up my department's SharePoint site. I added some new sections, a radar map widget and a mood survey that shows the results as a smiley. Once everything was put together, I was very satisfied: my site had become, without question, the coolest SharePoint site in all of IT. :)
Still, there was something missing. I needed something to make my visitors feel welcome and appreciated. That's when I remembered seeing a visitor tracker on a blog that showed the most recent visitors, where they came from and what they were reading. My search eventually led me to Wowzio.com, a site with "beautiful blog widgets." Wowzio has a small collection of very cool widgets, which although designed with bloggers in mind, can be easily adapted for any type of Website. One of the widgets creates picture shows from all the pictures available in one's blog. Another one is a visitor tracker -- exactly what I was looking for:
Very impr
How to add Google Gadgets to SharePoint pages 2008-11-05 19:18:00 SharePoint 2003 pages are plain boring -- it's that simple. Now, there are a few ways to spice them up a little, but making them really cool requires using custom pages, web parts or web services. Unfortunately, most of the really nice web parts out there are not free. An alternative is to use the hundreds of free widgets and gadgets available in repositories such as iGoogle and Widgetbox.
Here is how to pimp up your SharePoint site with free Google Gadgets.
Step 1: Find a cool gadget. Go to http://www.google.com/ig/directory and pick your favorite gadget.
Step 2: Select your gadget. Once you find something that is sure to wow your visitors, click on the gadget's title (do not click Add Now).
Step 3: Customize your gadget. Click the Embed this gadget>> link on the right side of the page. This will take you to the gadget's properties. Fill out all the required fields and customize it to your liking.
Step 4: Get the code.
How to add Google Gadgets to SharePoint pages 2008-11-05 19:18:00 SharePoint 2003 pages are plain boring -- it's that simple. Now, there are a few ways to spice them up a little, but making them really cool requires using custom pages, web parts or web services. Unfortunately, most of the really nice web parts out there are not free. An alternative is to use the hundreds of free widgets and gadgets available in repositories such as iGoogle and Widgetbox.
Here is how to pimp up your SharePoint site with free Google Gadgets.
Step 1: Find a cool gadget. Go to http://www.google.com/ig/directory and pick your favorite gadget.
Step 2: Select your gadget. Once you find something that is sure to wow your visitors, click on the gadget's title (do not click Add Now).
Step 3: Customize your gadget. Click the Embed this gadget>> link on the right side of the page. This will take you to the gadget's properties. Fill out all the required fields and customize it to your liking.
Step 4: Get the code.
How to add Google Gadgets to SharePoint pages 2008-11-05 19:18:00 SharePoint 2003 pages are plain boring -- it's that simple. Now, there are a few ways to spice them up a little, but making them really cool requires using custom pages, web parts or web services. Unfortunately, most of the really nice web parts out there are not free. An alternative is to use the hundreds of free widgets and gadgets available in repositories such as iGoogle and Widgetbox.
Here is how to pimp up your SharePoint site with free Google Gadgets.
Step 1: Find a cool gadget. Go to http://www.google.com/ig/directory and pick your favorite gadget.
Step 2: Select your gadget. Once you find something that is sure to wow your visitors, click on the gadget's title (do not click Add Now).
Step 3: Customize your gadget. Click the Embed this gadget>> link on the right side of the page. This will take you to the gadget's properties. Fill out all the required fields and customize it to your liking.
Step 4: Get the code.
Secure database authentication in ADO.NET applications 2008-11-02 19:29:00 If you have developed database-driven desktop applications with ADO.NET, you have probably come across the password problem. Whether your application was written in C#, VB.NET, C++ or other .NET language, the desktop side must always authenticate to the database in order to send and receive information. Although there are many ways to accomplish this, the easiest and most popular, but also the least secure way, is to store a user name and password in a configuration file or the code itself. Before doing that, however, consider this: What if a savvy end user opened the configuration file, read the user name and password and used it to create havoc in your database? Would the ease of this method outweigh the risks? Probably not. That is where the following authentication alternatives may come in handy.
The Database Users OptionWith this method, you would keep a collection of users in your database. Before any data can be accessed, the user would
Secure database authentication in ADO.NET applications 2008-11-02 19:29:00 If you have developed database-driven desktop applications with ADO.NET, you have probably come across the password problem. Whether your application was written in C#, VB.NET, C++ or other .NET language, the desktop side must always authenticate to the database in order to send and receive information. Although there are many ways to accomplish this, the easiest and most popular, but also the least secure way, is to store a user name and password in a configuration file or the code itself. Before doing that, however, consider this: What if a savvy end user opened the configuration file, read the user name and password and used it to create havoc in your database? Would the ease of this method outweigh the risks? Probably not. That is where the following authentication alternatives may come in handy.
The Database Users OptionWith this method, you would keep a collection of users in your database. Before any data can be accessed, the user would
Secure database authentication in ADO.NET applications 2008-11-02 19:29:00 If you have developed database-driven desktop applications with ADO.NET, you have probably come across the password problem. Whether your application was written in C#, VB.NET, C++ or other .NET language, the desktop side must always authenticate to the database in order to send and receive information. Although there are many ways to accomplish this, the easiest and most popular, but also the least secure way, is to store a user name and password in a configuration file or the code itself. Before doing that, however, consider this: What if a savvy end user opened the configuration file, read the user name and password and used it to create havoc in your database? Would the ease of this method outweigh the risks? Probably not. That is where the following authentication alternatives may come in handy.
The Database Users OptionWith this method, you would keep a collection of users in your database. Before any data can be accessed, the user would
Of Value and Cheese 2008-10-30 17:53:00 Matthew Moran's The IT Career Builder's Toolkit makes a point to make one's IT career personal by shinning off one's most valuable assets. This is an attempt to finding my most valuable asset.Sometimes, I picture myself as a mouse looking for cheese. I come out of my little hole in the wall after sniffing the opportunity of tasting this life-morphing, yellow-tainted, laser-drilled Swiss cheese. Oh yes, the cheese -- so delicious, so victorious, so fulfilling. It is right there, so reachable and within my grasp, with only one thing standing in the way: A vigorous big bad cat. A big, evil, black, astute cat whose only purpose in life is to sing Elvis Presley songs outside in the middle of the night; secrete ammonia into a litter box in such a high concentration that it could mutate all fetuses within a one-mile radius; and of course, catch me with his giant claws and tear me apart, little by little, with his shark-sharp teeth.Yet, with all his Coyo
Of Value and Cheese 2008-10-30 17:53:00 Matthew Moran's The IT Career Builder's Toolkit makes a point to make one's IT career personal by shinning off one's most valuable assets. This is an attempt to finding my most valuable asset.
Sometimes, I picture myself as a mouse looking for cheese. I come out of my little hole in the wall after sniffing the opportunity of tasting this life-morphing, yellow-tainted, laser-drilled Swiss cheese. Oh yes, the cheese -- so delicious, so victorious, so fulfilling. It is right there, so reachable and within my grasp, with only one thing standing in the way: A vigorous big bad cat. A big, evil, black, astute cat whose only purpose in life is to sing Elvis Presley songs outside in the middle of the night; secrete ammonia into a litter box in such a high concentration that it could mutate all fetuses within a one-mile radius; and of course, catch me with his giant claws and tear me apart, little by little, with his shark-sharp teeth.
Yet, with all his
Of Value and Cheese 2008-10-30 17:53:00 Matthew Moran's The IT Career Builder's Toolkit makes a point to make one's IT career personal by shinning off one's most valuable assets. This is an attempt to finding my most valuable asset.
Sometimes, I picture myself as a mouse looking for cheese. I come out of my little hole in the wall after sniffing the opportunity of tasting this life-morphing, yellow-tainted, laser-drilled Swiss cheese. Oh yes, the cheese -- so delicious, so victorious, so fulfilling. It is right there, so reachable and within my grasp, with only one thing standing in the way: A vigorous big bad cat. A big, evil, black, astute cat whose only purpose in life is to sing Elvis Presley songs outside in the middle of the night; secrete ammonia into a litter box in such a high concentration that it could mutate all fetuses within a one-mile radius; and of course, catch me with his giant claws and tear me apart, little by little, with his shark-sharp teeth.
Yet, with all his
OpenID: A single login to rule them all! 2008-10-26 02:41:00 Have you heard all the buzz about OpenID? It's a way to simplify your digital life across multiple websites by letting you use a single user name. What that means for you is that instead of remembering multiple user names and passwords, you just have to remember a single URL -- your OpenID URL.
How does it work? It's quite simple, really. All you need to do is open an account with a provider you trust. A few of them include Blogger, AOL, Yahoo!, WordPress, MyOpenID, Vox, LiveJournal and many others. You can find a comprehensive list at openid.net. Anyway, once you have an account setup, you can start logging in to your favorite sites using your OpenID URL. For example, after I setup a custom OpenID for my domain name, I can login to SourceForge using openid.mongefranco.com/gabriel, which then takes me to MyOpenID to login, which brings me back to SourceForge after a successful login. That way, SourceForge doesn't get to see my username and password -- only MyOpenID does.
OpenID: A single login to rule them all! 2008-10-26 02:41:00 Have you heard all the buzz about OpenID? It's a way to simplify your digital life across multiple websites by letting you use a single user name. What that means for you is that instead of remembering multiple user names and passwords, you just have to remember a single URL -- your OpenID URL.
How does it work? It's quite simple, really. All you need to do is open an account with a provider you trust. A few of them include Blogger, AOL, Yahoo!, WordPress, MyOpenID, Vox, LiveJournal and many others. You can find a comprehensive list at openid.net. Anyway, once you have an account setup, you can start logging in to your favorite sites using your OpenID URL. For example, after I setup a custom OpenID for my domain name, I can login to SourceForge using openid.mongefranco.com/gabriel, which then takes me to MyOpenID to login, which brings me back to SourceForge after a successful login. That way, SourceForge doesn't get to see my username and password -- only MyOpenID does.
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