Most of us have run into a hugely annoying bug with vSphere Client (a.k.a. VMware Virtual Infrastructure Client v4.0) running on Windows 7 RC. When you start the program, you’ll run into an error message:

Error Parsing the server 1.2.3.4 clients.xml file. Login will continue contact your system administrator

After clicking OK, you get the real message:

The type initializer for “VirtualInfrastructure.Utils.HttpWebRequestProxy” threw an exception

A workaround for the solution was posted by ftublo on the VMware Communities forums.

1. Create a folder (e.g. Lib) in the Windows 7 machine where the vSphere client is installed (%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\).
2. Obtain a copy of %SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.dll from a non-Windows 7 machine that has .NET 3.5 SP1 installed. Copy this file into the folder created in Step 1.
3. In the vSphere client launcher directory, open the VpxClient.exe.config file in a text editor and add a <runtime> element and a <developmentMode> element within the <configuration> element. Save the file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
...
<runtime>
<developmentMode developerInstallation="true"/>
</runtime>
</configuration>

4. Create a batch file (e.g. VpxClient.cmd) in a suitable location (e.g. Desktop). In this file add a command to set the DEVPATH environment variable to the folder where you copied the System.dll assembly in step 2 and a second command to launch the vSphere client. Save the file.

SET DEVPATH=%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\Lib
"%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\VpxClient.exe"

NOTE: If you are running 64-bit Windows, replace all instances of Program Files with Program Files (x86).

You can now use the VpxClient.cmd (or the shortcut) to launch the vSphere client in Windows 7.

This workaround bypasses the normal .NET Framework loading mechanism. Assembly versions found in the DEVPATH folder are not checked. Handle with care.

Yes, it’s true.  Finally a way to get your personal files on each machine you work with that gets backed up online without any worry of who is rummaging through your data when you aren’t looking!  It’s the secure online backup you were looking for!

Windows? Linux? Mac? No problem.  Installers are available for all three systems.

DropBox (a glorified subversion system for the rest of us) has finally worked its way out of beta and will become the backbone for our project.  Transmission of data to DropBox is via HTTPS, so we at least have half the problem resolved.

The second problem is DropBox’s STORAGE of my files.  If they defect to the goverment faster than AT&T did with the NSA, then you can be sure your private key and personal bookmarks to porn sites will be used against you.  I wanted the storage of my files encrypted. Since I couldn’t trust DropBox, I turned to my good old friend, TrueCrypt.

The solution here is to create a TrueCrypt volume inside of your DropBox folder.  Even though DropBox has a 2GB folder limit, you shouldn’t use all of it for your TrueCrypt drive.  Unfortunately, TrueCrypt creates the encrypted partition to it’s maximum capacity, which means if you create a 1GB encrypted volume, it actually takes up 1GB on the harddrive even with nothing in it.  And transferring a 1GB file many times for little to no content isn’t the best plan.

Since the volume is filled out to maximum filesize even with no data, it’s best to create a few smaller drives (in the 256MB range) as DropBox has to upload the entire file at least once and you have to download the synchronized file on every computer.  TrueCrypt can mount about 12 volumes automatically, so my recommendation is to keep the volumes small and increase the sizes for volumes you don’t modify often.

Don’t feel guilty about using encyption.  Don’t be guilted into the “If you have nothing to hide” mantra; privacy is your right as a human, exercise it.

The Internet would be better if two related technologies would work together:

1. Google needs to get their ass in gear and present their Single Sign-On (SSO) package.
2. Forum Coders and Popular Websites need to embrace this technology.

I’m TIRED of having to create a new sign-on for every stupid shitty website (including THIS one) I want to post information on. Read the rest of this entry »

I was finally annoyed with Ads to the point I blocked them on every single device that accesses the internet through my network. Screw you all, there’s too much, it’s out of control. On the Wii, on the iPhone, in my RSS feeds, punch the monkey, win an xbox… ENOUGH.

With the help of Squid + SquidGuard + Rick752’s EasyList for AdBlock Plus, I broke free from the clutter that is web advertising.

Yes, it’s easy and you can do it. Read on for my scripts.
Read the rest of this entry »

Mailbox Map is a USPS mailbox locator that uses Google Maps to be interactive.