How to set URL for New Tab in Firefox

Setting a certain URL for a New Tab is not supported by default in Firefox 4.

In order to have this you need to install one of the following add-ons, depending on your needs:

- New Tab Homepage (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/new-tab-homepage/)

"A very simple tabbed browsing extension that loads your homepage when you open a new tab. If you have multiple homepages, the first is chosen."

- New Tab URL (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/newtaburl/)

"Select default URL when new tabs are opened: "Blank page", "Home page", "Current page" or a user defined URL."

Windows Update fails with error code: 800B0100

If your Windows Update fails with error code: 800B0100 just disable the Firewall until you update the system and enable it back when you finished.

Exchange 2007: Microsoft Exchange Information Store fails to start

After system restart Microsoft Exchange Information Store fails to start with "Error 1075: The dependency service does not exist or has been marked for deletion".


Here is a quick fix that worked for me:


1. Look for errors in Windows Event Viewer (Start > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer).
2. You will probably see that there is a dependency service that is not found (NtLmSsp, or EXIFS, etc.).
3. Open Regedit (Start > Run > type regedit).
4. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeSA, double click on DependOnService, and remove the dependency that appeared in the error log. 
5. If you can’t find the dependency at this location also try HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS,double click on DependOnService, and remove the dependency that appeared in the error log.
6. Reboot the computer. 

Note: Remember what dependecy service you removed, in case you need to put it back.

Exchange 2007 Mailbox Role fails to install on 2008 R2

I run into a situation today:

While installing Exchange 2007 SP1 on a Windows 2008 R2 server, Mailbox role was failing to install with an “Access denied” error.

I tried using the Add-ADPermission command:

Get-Mailbox -RecipientTypeDetails usermailbox | Add-ADPermission -ExtendedRights "send as" -User "domain\domain users"

to give all the mailboxes that are "usermailbox`s" "the send as" ExtendedRights.

But that did not work…

So what was the solution? Heh.. You’ll never guess..

I simply run the Exchange setup.exe in compatibility mode.

Here are the steps:

1. Right–click the setup.exe icon. 

2. Click Properties. 

3. Click Compatibility tab. 

4. Click Run this program in compatibility mode and select “Windows Vista”.

5. Click OK.

And that did the trick!

Note: Don’t bother installing Exchange 2007 SP2 because it is not supported for 2008 R2.

"Aunt Julia and The Scriptwriter" by Mario Vargas Llosa

    I have finished reading "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter" by Mario Vargas Llosa few days ago. 

Interesting book... Llosa is a very dynamic writer. I enjoyed reading the book and it was definitely not boring.

    The story starts in 1950, in Peru, with young Mario, an 18 years law student that works at Panamericana radio and dreams about becoming a writer. At approximately the same time two very interesting characters appear in his life:

      -       Julia, one of his aunts, 32 years old, divorced, from Bolivia and

      -       Pedro Camacho, a Bolivian scriptwriter that is hired to write scripts for radio soap operas.

    Then the novel is split in two parts that are entangled together:

      1.     Mario’s incestuous relationship with his aunt Julia, and

      2.     Pedro Camacho’s writings.

The love story is not impressive. They fall in love and get married in secret (even if the whole family disapproves).

    But the stories written by Pedro Camacho and the Pedro Camacho character are something else.. He writes them directly from memory and is very dedicated to his work. He wins the coworkers and Mario’s respect with his attitude. The stories are brutal and dramatic following every bad habit society can give.

The episodes are interrupted by the Mario-Julia story (It feels like running and stopping to take a breath from time to time).

    I wonder if Llosa knows about programming constructors and destructors, because this is what I first though about when I realized what happened. To the end he destroys his creations:

- Pedro Camacho gets tired. His memory starts to fail him causing the different stories and characters to mix and create confusion. Eventually he is sent to a mental facility.

Mario finds Camacho after several years completely transformed. There was only a shadow left from the great man he once was.

- The Mario and Julia story ends too, after 8 years. After this he gets married to Patricia, a cousin of his. (Do you see a pattern here?)

I don’t know about you, but I always have some unanswered questions about the books I read. For this one I can think of two:

     -       Who is the “scriptwriter” Mario or Pedro Camacho? If you think the book is about Mario and Julia, then the answer might be Mario. But, if the title reflects the two characters in Mario’s life then the answer might be Pedro Camacho. Puzzling… isn’t it?

    -       How many stories does Camacho tell? I did not count them when reading. Is it a random number, or something that is important to Llosa? That I would like to know...

That’s about it. To summarize, I liked the book. Here is a nice interview with Mario Vargas Llosa about "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter":

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/133_wbc_archive_new/page4.shtml

PS: I already started reading “The War of the End of the World” also by Mario Vargas Llosa, and I plan to read “Conversation in the Cathedral”, in order to have a better understanding of Llosa’s work.

Thank you Mihaela for the suggestions!