Life Beyond Tech

How to Convert Between Decimal and Binary in T-SQL

February 21, 2018March 29, 2024 Andrew Comeau

For the past six months, I’ve been teaching night classes in database programming and my students are just about ready to take Microsoft’s 98-364 exam. Now, we’re transitioning over to C# programming for the next phase of the program but I have to keep their SQL skills fresh for the exam. Tonight, it was time to teach them to understand the binary number system. I dropped some hints on it a couple of months back to brace them but now it was time to get it done with once and for all.

Then, as I like to do with this class, I came up with a lesson plan that would incorporate the best of both subjects …

Programming, SQL

Performing a Basic Install of MySQL or MariaDB in Windows

May 21, 2017February 18, 2023 Andrew Comeau

One of the great things about MySQL and MariaDB are their versatility of installation. They can be setup as a Windows services and trimmed out with some extra utilities or it can be installed on a flash drive as a portable server.

The easiest installation is certainly the Windows Installer with a wizard for MySQL or the MariaDB MSI that will guide you through the installation of the server and all the options you want. Myself, I still like self-contained programs that won’t interfere with anything else on my system and can be easily removed without leaving hidden traces. I also don’t like adding a lot of stuff to my Windows startup.

If you have a basic comfort with using the Windows command line and control panel, doing a minimal installation of either MariaDB or MySQL is not difficult once you understand a few steps. The MySQL full documentation and the MariaDB Knowedgebase are available for reference on their respective sites but here are the essentials to get you started.

Database Design, How-to

Unplugging to Reconnect – The Technology Sabbath

January 2, 2017June 16, 2025 Andrew Comeau 1 Comment

Update – August 2024

Ironically, I thought this article would be a good test for NotebookLM’s new Audio Overview podcast feature. You can check out the podcast based on this article and other sources or move straight on to the article below.

This A.I.-generated podcast was created using NotebookLM based on information provided in this and other pages. The content has been reviewed and approved as an accurate reflection of the ideas in this article.

It Started With a Game …

By now, you’re probably familiar with Pokemon Go, the game where people search for Pokemon characters around town with their smartphones. In 2015, I played a forerunner of this game called Ingress. The basic idea was the same – run around town accessing game spots, collect digital items, compete with other players for territory, etc..

At first, the game seemed like a great idea. I figured it would get me out for some desperately needed exercise and it did. I found out some of my favorite walking routes had a bunch of game spots I could access while walking and I was out there at 6 a.m. every morning … willingly! It was a miracle!

Articles, Personal

Screen Rapidly Flashes On and Off After Windows 7 Update

December 28, 2016July 13, 2026 Andrew Comeau 1 Comment

Problem After installing updates in Windows 7, I found that my primary display flashed on and off rapidly and I was unable to activate any menus on the screen. My extended display, powered by a StarTech USB to VGA Adapter, remained off even though the drivers were properly installed and everything had been working prior…

Hardware, Software

Windows 7 Update Gets Stuck While Looking for Updates

December 28, 2016November 9, 2022 Andrew Comeau 1 Comment

After doing my year-end rebuild of my Windows 7 system, I went ahead and did a check for updates, preparing to wait for awhile as there were currently over 150 important updates for my system even after installing SP1. So I waited … and waited … and waited some more. After a couple hours, I…

How-to

Primes in the Key of C#

December 21, 2016July 13, 2026 Andrew Comeau

Yes, prime numbers are a go-to challenge for me that I’ve been casually playing with since my earliest programming days. I’m not alone; prime numbers are important and popular enough that there’s an entire distributed computing project dedicated to finding the highest Mersenne Prime number (primes such as 31 and 127 that are one less than a power of 2). A decent grounding in math is also important for programmers and prime number algorithms are a much better programming exercise than “Hello, World”.

That’s why, during a holiday trip to a local Barnes & Noble, I was looking through their collection of quick and shallow knowledge books (“100 Factoids That Will Make You Sound Knowledgeable …” ) and found one called Math Squared: 100 Concepts You Should Know. I wasn’t expecting a degree out of this small, 256-page book but it’s been awhile since math class, I thought it might give me some good ideas for programming exercises and I like the feel and smell of new books.

Read More “Primes in the Key of C#” »

C#, Programming

My First Steps with Python – Prime Numbers

November 27, 2016July 13, 2026 Andrew Comeau 1 Comment

I recently started studying the Python programming language. I’m getting ready for a new programming-related position next year and one of my colleagues suggested using Python as part of it. I’ve heard of Python more and more over the past several years and I figured now would be as good a time as any to finally learn it.

I can definitely recommend Udemy’s Complete Python Bootcamp by Jose Portilla. This course is written for complete programming beginners and does an excellent job of introducing the fundamentals and guiding the student through various programming concepts. It’s probably more basic than I actually need but it never hurts to go back to school.

Programming

Alexa and the Echo Dot on the Go

November 27, 2016July 13, 2026 Andrew Comeau 5 Comments

Amazon Echo Dot at my office. — Setting up the Echo Dot at my remote office and hoping Alexa will absorb some more technical knowledge.

I’ve been playing around the Amazon’s Echo Dot for just under a week now and was curious about its portability. Obviously, the hardware just needs a place to plug in and a Wi-Fi network to access but I was really wondering if I could run its data through my phone’s 4G hotspot. Public networks are fine and I don’t do any secure transactions through the Dot but I just had to know!

I have one of the Samsung Galaxy Prime phones which has served me pretty well for the past year. I don’t use the hotspot much but it comes in pretty handy when I want to login to a private site from a local restaurant and the MetroPCS 4G signal is really good in the area.

Hardware, Personal Tech

My First 24 Hours With Alexa

November 23, 2016July 13, 2026 Andrew Comeau 2 Comments

Chatting with Amazon's Alexa and the Echo Dot

I couldn’t resist any longer and decided to welcome Amazon’s Alexa into my home. I was a little hesitant at first about letting Amazon put a microphone in my house but my curiosity won out. I live alone anyway and the device can always be unplugged if necessary. At worst, it might get me to stop talking to myself so much.

I wasn’t sure how useful the service would ultimately be but at $49.99, I decided the Echo Dot was affordable enough to take a chance on. Miniaturizing the Echo and setting the price low was a smart move on Amazon’s part. In addition to decreasing the cost of purchase, it also turns it into a potential repeat purchase as customers decide they want access to Alexa throughout their homes. Amazon is even offering the Dot in discounted 6- and 12-packs.

Personal Tech

A Quick Guide To Keeping Your Flash Drive Data Safe

August 12, 2016October 6, 2024 Andrew Comeau

Flash_Drive_v._Floppy — Personal data storage has come a long way …

When I started using computers about 30 years ago, the floppy disk was the standard of personal data storage. I actually started out using the 5.25″ disk so the 3.5″ disk with it’s hard case and a little bit more space was a welcome improvement at the time.

We’ve come a long way in the last three decades and now we have flash drives that can store tens of thousands of times as much data as the old 1.44 MB disk. Although smaller sizes are still available, the smallest flash drive you’re likely to see now can carry 8 GB of data which would have been enough to backup my first hard drive a few hundred times over.

While file sizes have gotten much bigger, that’s still a lot of data to carry around, especially if some of it is of a personal nature. That has its own risks as I found out first hand a couple weeks ago.

Hardware, Personal Tech