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		<title>Tom Muck's Blog</title> 
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		<description>Tom Muck's Blog</description> 
		<webMaster>tom.muck@gmail.com</webMaster> 
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			<title>Music tidbits</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>Haven't posted much here lately. I wanted to post a few links here to access my music and writing.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;My <a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEvaD-nOe4s&list=PLfH0-hJxra6TSjVWfyr18lx9vYQYf5UqC&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;Tom Muck's Blues Covers&quot;>blues cover playlist is here</a>. It also includes the Robert Johnson songs I did a few years ago.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;My <a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdB5gnO-TaE&list=PLfH0-hJxra6QHnUiLKiIOcpvoxYAKWwd3&index=3&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;Robert Johnson Challenge&quot;>Robert Johnson Challenge is here</a>. I did all 29 Robert Johnson songs, one per week.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;My <a href=&quot;https://tommuck.substack.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;Tom Muck's Substack&quot;>Substack is here</a>. It includes the above material with the articles around them, and some other additional music related articles.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;The Reverbnation link for <a href=&quot;https://www.reverbnation.com/alphadogbluesband&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;Alpha Dog Blues Band&quot;>Alpha Dog Blues Band is here</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=220</link>
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			<pubDate>Fri, 25 Apr 2025 17:28:17 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>GE Advantium Microwave oven, model number zsc2202j3ss</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>G.E. Monogram - Advantium Oven, model number zsc2202j3ss</p><p>We had high hopes for this oven. The $3100 price tag was hard to swallow, but if it worked and lasted it would be worth it. Unfortunately, the oven door crapped out after a couple of years and had to be manually pushed shut every time you used it. The estimate for a new door was about $1500! They couldn't replace just the spring or the hinge....stupid design. So we decided to wait. </p><p>A year went by and the entire oven crapped out and stopped working -- no lights or anything. We bought a countertop microwave to use in the meantime, knowing there was going to be a huge price tag. I called a company to service it a few weeks ago, and they were able to replace a couple of boards inside to allow it to work again, but they also said it might not last because the door is still not fixed--it CAN'T be fixed because GE no longer supplies that door. So we basically have a $4000 (after repairs) piece of junk. We also installed other GE appliances, but I'm now waiting for those to die too. If they do die, I'll bet the parts are not available anymore. The quality control is horrible and the service non-existent. I would never buy a GE appliance again, which is sad because we thought they were a good company. We purchased in Nov. 2017 and installed in April 2018, so the oven is only 6 years old, and the last two years it has been unusable. I would think for $3100 it would last a lifetime, or at least as long as we would be in this house.</p><p>Bottom line: avoid GE like the plague.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=219</link>
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			<pubDate>Tue, 11 Jun 2024 14:42:11 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Robert Johnson challenge</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>A couple weeks ago I decided to take on a Robert Johnson challenge -- learn and post one song per week until I get through all 29 songs. I know a few already, but it's an ambitious undertaking for me and not sure I'll be able to complete it, but I'm giving it an effort. The first two are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdB5gnO-TaE">Kind Hearted Woman</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XgCAtv49Bg">I Believe I'll Dust My Broom</a>. Here is the complete list of <a href="../../music/RobertJohnson.cfm">Robert Johnson songs</a>, along with the key, tuning, and master number. I'm doing them in order of master numbers, which may or may not be the order they were recorded.</p>
<p>Update: This is the schedule I intend to follow:&nbsp;</p>
<table border="0">
  <tr />
  <tr>
    <td>Kind Hearted Woman Blues&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">1</td>
    <td>Sunday, Jul 03, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>I Believe I'll Dust My Broom&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">2</td>
    <td>Sunday, Jul 10, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Sweet Home Chicago&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">3</td>
    <td>Sunday, Jul 17, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Ramblin' on My Mind&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">4</td>
    <td>Sunday, Jul 24, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>When You Got a Good Friend&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">5</td>
    <td>Sunday, Jul 31, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Come On in My Kitchen&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">6</td>
    <td>Sunday, Aug 07, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Terraplane Blues&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">7</td>
    <td>Sunday, Aug 14, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Phonograph Blues&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">8</td>
    <td>Sunday, Aug 21, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>32-20 Blues&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">9</td>
    <td>Sunday, Aug 28, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>They're Red Hot&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">10</td>
    <td>Sunday, Sep 04, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Dead Shrimp Blues&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">11</td>
    <td>Sunday, Sep 11, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Cross Road Blues&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">12</td>
    <td>Sunday, Sep 18, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Walkin' Blues&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">13</td>
    <td>Sunday, Sep 25, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Last Fair Deal Gone Down&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">14</td>
    <td>Sunday, Oct 02, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Preaching Blues (Up Jumped the    Devil)&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">15</td>
    <td>Sunday, Oct 09, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>If I Had Possession Over Judgment    Day&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">16</td>
    <td>Sunday, Oct 16, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Stones in My Passway&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">17</td>
    <td>Sunday, Oct 23, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>I'm a Steady Rollin' Man&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">18</td>
    <td>Sunday, Oct 30, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>From Four Till Late&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">19</td>
    <td>Sunday, Nov 06, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Hellhound on My Trail&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">20</td>
    <td>Sunday, Nov 13, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Little Queen of Spades&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">21</td>
    <td>Sunday, Nov 20, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Malted Milk&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">22</td>
    <td>Sunday, Nov 27, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Drunken Hearted Man&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">23</td>
    <td>Sunday, Dec 04, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Me and the Devil Blues&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">24</td>
    <td>Sunday, Dec 11, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Stop Breakin' Down Blues&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">25</td>
    <td>Sunday, Dec 18, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Traveling Riverside Blues&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">26</td>
    <td>Sunday, Dec 25, 2022</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Honeymoon Blues&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">27</td>
    <td>Sunday, Jan 01, 2023</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Love in Vain&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">28</td>
    <td>Sunday, Jan 08, 2023</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Milkcow's Calf Blues&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
    <td align="right">29</td>
    <td>Sunday, Jan 15, 2023</td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> A few things that I want to clear up about Robert Johnson's playing. 1) The recordings are the correct speed. There are a bunch of "slowed down" versions out there, where people insist that they sound better and that they are more accurate. This is utter hogwash. &quot;Sounding better&quot; is pure opinion. Debunked <a href="https://www.elijahwald.com/johnsonspeed.html">here</a>. 2) Johnson used his own &quot;special&quot; tunings. Several people have come up with various tunings (including an Aadd9 tuning) because they think that the songs are too hard to play if you tune to the regular &quot;standard&quot;, &quot;Spanish&quot;, or &quot;Vestapol&quot; tunings that Robert  (and all blues singers) use. Also utter hogwash. All you have to do is look at the picture of Robert with his long fingers to know that he can reach all those 7ths and other notes that apparently some folks can't play easily. If someone wants to use their own tuning, that's one thing, but don't assert that Robert used the tuning without proof. Interesting to note that some of the people pushing the speed hoax also pushed the mysterious &quot;third picture&quot; hoax and push the tuning hoax. </p>
<p>Update: cross-posted at <a href="https://tommuck.substack.com">Substack</a>.</p><p>Update 8/18/22: Currently up to 7 songs. Full list is on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfH0-hJxra6QHnUiLKiIOcpvoxYAKWwd3">Youtube</a></p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=218</link>
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			<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jul 2022 15:18:02 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Title Case Function for SQL</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>I saw a few &quot;title case&quot; functions online for SQL Server, but none of them seem to take into account the fact that minor words like &quot;the&quot;, &quot;a&quot;, &quot;and&quot; are not capitalized in a title. Most of them also use slow-running loops. This function is fast, using a built in string_split function for splitting the title into a table of words, then using COALESCE to put it back together, using some string functions to capitalize major words:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><div class="code"><p>CREATE FUNCTION fn_TitleCase (@InputString VARCHAR(4000) )</p><p>RETURNS VARCHAR(4000)</p><p>AS</p><p>BEGIN</p><p><br /></p><p>DECLARE @val VARCHAR(4000)</p><p><br /></p><p>Select @val = COALESCE(@val + ' ' +&nbsp;</p><p><span style=&quot;white-space: pre;&quot;>	</span>CASE WHEN value IN ('and','as', 'but', 'for', 'if', 'nor', 'or', 'so', 'yet','a',&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;'an', 'the', 'as', 'at', 'by', 'for', 'in', 'of',&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;'off', 'on', 'per', 'to', 'up', 'via') THEN LOWER(value)&nbsp;</p><p><span style=&quot;white-space: pre;&quot;>		</span>ELSE UPPER(LEFT(value,1))&nbsp; &nbsp;+ LOWER(RIGHT(value,len(value)-1) )&nbsp;</p><p><span style=&quot;white-space: pre;&quot;>	</span>END,&nbsp;</p><p><span style=&quot;white-space: pre;&quot;>	</span>UPPER(LEFT(value,1)) + LOWER(RIGHT(value,len(value)-1)) )</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; From STRING_SPLIT(@inputString, ' ');</p><p><br /></p><p>RETURN ISNULL(@val,'')</p><p>END&nbsp;</p></div><p>&nbsp;</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=217</link>
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			<pubDate>Sun, 08 May 2022 05:25:53 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Remodeling project from hell</title>
			<description><![CDATA[]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=216</link>
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			<pubDate>Sat, 17 Apr 2021 19:42:04 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Angies List is awful</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>When did Angieslist become such a pile of crap? You used to be able to go on there, search for a certain type of contractor, find several to contact, then go about your business contacting them when you like. Now, you are forced to answer a series of pointless questions, don't ever see the full list, and get calls from contractors for days, even if your job is finished already. It's become a bad imitation of Homeadvisor, which is another crappy web site. It's like intentionally signing yourself up for unsolicited phone calls.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=212</link>
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			<pubDate>Tue, 21 Jan 2020 12:15:32 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>New server</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>Moved to a new server....still tweaking settings.</p>  <p>Most things seem to be working finally. Thanks to <a href=&quot;https://www.web-workers.ch/index.php/2018/03/31/how-to-install-adobe-coldfusion-9-x64-on-windows-server-2016-x64/#comment-417&quot;>Tom Huerlimann</a> for the great article on configuring ColdFusion 9 with Windows server 2016/IIS 10.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=211</link>
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			<pubDate>Tue, 29 May 2018 20:26:49 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Robert Johnson Guitars</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>We'll never know what guitars Robert Johnson used on the recordings from 1936 and 1937, but there are various theories out there as well as a few known facts. The two known pictures of Robert Johnson show two different guitars: a studio portrait taken on Beale Street in Memphis shows him with a 1929 Gibson L1<br> <img src="/blog/images/johnson_studio.jpg" width="400" height="225" alt="Robert Johnson Gibson L-1" title="Robert Johnson Gibson L-1" width="800" height="449" border="0" /><br> This guitar may or may not have belonged to him. The self portrait with the cigarette dangling from his mouth shows what appears to be a Kalamazoo KG14, or similar Gibson-made guitar from the same period (the Carson Robison guitars made by Gibson had the same configuration).<br> <img  src="/blog/images/s-l500.jpg" alt="Robert Johnson Kalamazoo" title="Robert Johnson Kalamazoo" width="368" height="500" border="0" /><br/> The KG14 is essentially a budget model L1 or L0, with ladder bracing instead of x-bracing, and no truss rod. They sold out of mail order catalogs for about $12.75, whereas the L1 sold for about $35-50. The KG14 became available in 1936. This is a picture of my late '30s Kalamazoo: <img src="/blog/images/s-l1600.jpg" alt="Kalamazoo KG 14" class="floatleft" width="215" height="530" /></p> <p>To further complicate matters, Don Law, who supervised the sessions, stated that Johnson used a borrowed guitar for the San Antonio sessions (1936) at the Gunter Hotel.  Johnson arrived on Sunday to record, but was arrested that night and had to be bailed out of jail.  Apparently, during the arrest the guitar was not available any more (broken, confiscated, or lost), and when recording was started on Monday, November 23, the studio obtained a guitar for Johnson to use. It could be anything. Stephen LeVere, who oversaw the mastering of the Complete Recordings, postulates that the San Antonio sessions sound like a flattop whereas the Dallas sessions sound like an archtop. Johnson probably used his own guitar for the Dallas sessions. It is known that Johnson liked the Kalamazoo archtop guitars, so this is plausible, and it does sound like an archtop to my ears as well. Johnny Shines stated that Johnson liked Kalamazoo and Stella guitars, and also mentioned that both he and Johnson had Kalamazoos with f-holes (archtop) and liked archtops, so the theory holds water <a href="http://jasobrecht.com/johnny-shines-complete-living-blues-interview/">(Johnny Shines interview)</a>. </p>
<p>Johnson had some of the best acoustic guitar sounds on record, for my money, in addition to being one of the greatest players of acoustic blues, but there are 3 distinct guitar sounds among the various recordings. The only thing this proves is that Johnson's sound came from his fingers, and the guitar he used is not important. This page lists his songs, recording dates, and master numbers, among other things and is a work in progress: <a href="http://tom-muck.com/music/RobertJohnson.cfm">Robert Johnson songs</a>. Johnson recorded 59 takes of 29 songs, of which 42 takes still remain. Maybe someday others will be found, but it's likely many of the masters were destroyed during the war for the metal. <strong>Update: </strong> Among the 17 missing songs are 2nd takes of Terraplane Blues, Walkin Blues, Preachin' blues, and Hellhound on my Trail, and a third take of Milkcow's Calf Blues.</p>
<p>One thing I will say about the guitar sound, I think the Gibson L1 shape and size is perfect for blues. Every guitar I've played in this configuration, including my own Martin CEO7 and my Kalamazoo KG14, sound amazing. The best sounding guitars I've heard have been old 1920's and 1930's Gibson L1 guitars. Whether or not he used something like this is open to speculation.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong>The other question is, what sounds more like a Robert Johnson recording today, an 80 year old guitar with 80 year old wood (which was brand-spanking new when Robert Johnson recorded) or a brand new guitar built in a similar style to the old 30's guitars?</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Here is "Kind Hearted Woman Blues" from the San Antonio sessions: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82yNxiF-T4A">Kind Hearted Woman Blues</a>. "Me and the Devil Blues", recorded in Dallas, uses the same tune, but you can here the difference in guitar tone. It has a more "ringing" tone, and the bass is more percussive sounding: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7ZzfjRzZuk">Me and the Devil Blues</a>. Below is my Kalamazoo KG31, which may or may not be the type used by Robert on the Dallas sessions (or was it a KG21?):<img src="http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/images/s-l16001.jpg" width="270" height="400"  class="floatleft" />. The KG 31 is bigger, with a 16" lower bout, whereas the KG21 has a 14 3/4" lower bout, similar to a Gibson L1.</p>
<p><strong>Update 6/20/2019:</strong> Changed the information about Johnson's San Antonio sessions based on information in the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1641600942/basicultradev-20">new Johnson biography</a> by Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Warlow. Johnson recorded all of the sessions with a borrowed studio guitar.</p>
<p><strong>Update 11/21/2020:</strong> Finally obtained a Kalamazoo KG-21 archtop <img src="http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/images/kg21.jpg" width="270" height="400"  class="floatright" />, which is likely the type of guitar that Johnson used on the Dallas recordings. He and Johnny Shines carried Kalamazoo archtops (either a KG-31 or KG-21) with them until around December 1937 when they were lost in a fire. After that, Johnson likely obtained his Kalamazoo KG-14 that is seen in the famous cigarette photo in Steele, Missouri.</p>
<p><strong>Update 8/17/2021:</strong> Annye Anderson's book about her step-brother Robert is a must-read: <a href="http://tom-muck.com/amazon.cfm?asin=0306845261">Brother Robert</a>. The cover is the most recently discovered picture of Robert with his Kalamazoo KG-14 guitar. In this more recent interview with Annye Anderson, <a href="https://anchor.fm/preston-lauterbach">interview</a>, she describes obtaining Robert's guitar. Apparently Robert's sister Carrie sent her son Louis to Greenwood to obtain it, and it was transported to Anapolis and then Churchton, MD. It was subsequently lost.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=208</link>
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			<pubDate>Sun, 17 Jul 2016 16:34:00 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Spring cleaning sale</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>All extensions on sale 40% off. Use promo code "springcleaning".</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> This was an old post, but it's still at the top so I've reinstated the code for this year as well. Take 40% any purchase on the site.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=206</link>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=206</guid>
			<pubDate>Wed, 06 May 2015 23:51:38 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Facebook</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>Facebook is quickly following the path of MySpace. Features designed to increase their revenue and make the site more relevant to advertisers have destroyed the usefulness of being on Facebook at all. You used to be able to "like" a page and you would then receive all updates for that page. Now, it's impossible to tell which pages have been updated in your newsfeed. You might be interested in "African Swallows", but one day you'll find yourself wondering why the African Swallow page has stopped posting, so you go to that page and find that they have been posting but you have not gotten any updates! Good strategy Facebook. Pretty soon it will be pointless to remain a member.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=205</link>
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			<pubDate>Sat, 02 May 2015 01:07:59 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Delivery drivers</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>What is it with delivery services? Can anybody deliver a package without treating it like it's garbage? Yesterday I watched the FedEx driver throw boxes on the ground before delivering them to my house. Not just FedEx, they are all the same. Pure laziness. The UPS deliveries I've had recently have all been damaged (large bed headboard and footboard, both delivered twice and all damaged). A recent FedEx delivery of a guitar amp was jostled so hard that the chassis dislodged from the amp and was floating in the box. Postal service delivered a guitar amp that was jostled so hard that the speaker came loose from the amp and smashed the tubes in the amp. USPS also delivered to me an empty envelope that was supposed to contain a rare book, with a note that the package was damaged in delivery. I've watched our mailman put packages out at the street under the mailbox in the rain, right next to the trash cans, rather than bring the package up to the front door. The DHL driver used to throw packages at the front door. I could hear them hit the door, and he was 15 feet away. Another DHL driver clipped the front end of my car doing $3000 in damage because he cut the corner too short, THEN forgot to give me the package that he was supposed to deliver. What a bunch of bozos. If you can't do a good job, get a new line of work.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> After posting this, the delivery scheduled for today from the USPS shows as "delivered" on the tracking page, but it's not here. Who has it??? USPS is the worst of the lot.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=204</link>
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			<pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2015 16:01:38 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Tube amps</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>As a guitar player, to me there is nothing better than the sound of a good tube amp. Tubes have a special sound that you can't achieve with solid state components. Most of the greatest recorded guitar sounds ever were through tube amps. I'd rather play guitar through an old amp component removed from a TV or radio from the 50's than through any modern solid state amplifier. Back in the late 70's when I started playing, I had a solid state amp (because it was cheap) but I found an old Heathkit tube preamplifier with several 12AX7s in it to warm up the sound. I still remember being able to ride my bike up to Radio Shack and use their tube tester to test tubes. Those days are long gone.</p><p>With a good tube amp, you can set the amp for a good crunchy tone when pushed hard, then just back off the volume control on the guitar to play clean tones. &nbsp;For blues players who don't have the amp overdriven as much as rock players, the overdriven sound is much more subtle. A good tube amp is like an extension of the guitar--it's like playing another instrument at the same time and trying to get the best music out of both.&nbsp;</p><p>Every tube amp I've played has a &quot;sweet spot&quot; where it sounds best. Some amps have a great sound in several places. An old Marshall head was always best with everything on 10. For smaller venues when you can't reach the sweet spot, a pedal can boost the signal going into the amp to give it a slightly overdriven sound even though the volume is low. It's not quite the same as cranking the amp, though, but sometimes you don't have a choice.</p><p>Different output tubes (aka amplifier tubes, power amp tubes) have different tonal characteristics. The 6V6 tubes were used in Fender amps in the 60's and have a clean tone until pushed hard, then have a nice breakup. Depending on the amp and the circuit used, they can sound &quot;mushy&quot; when pushed too hard, like in an old Princeton, but I've recently heard a Swart Spacetone that sounds pretty darned good even when pushed to 10. One 6V6 puts out roughly 5 watts or so, and some amps have two in a push-pull circuit putting out about 10-14 watts. Fender Deluxe &quot;blackface&quot; had 2, and is one of the Holy Grail amps for guitar players.</p><p>A 6L6 is like a big brother to the 6V6, and puts out about double the output. Some amps that use the 6L6 are the old Fender Bassman, and newer EVH amps. &nbsp;Loud American amps mostly had 6L6 tubes in the old days.</p><p>EL84 tubes have a more glassy sound (some say it sounds like an ice pick) but produces a more definite mid-range &quot;crunch&quot; when pushed hard. It puts out about 6-7 watts, but a push-pull pair can put out 14-20 watts or more, depending on the circuit. The Fender Blues Junior uses EL84 tubes.</p><p>EL34 tubes are the EL84's bigger brother, and used in Marshall amps and clones. They have that great rock &quot;crunch&quot; when pushed hard, and glassy clean tones when the volume is backed off. Marshall amps were essentially clones of the Fender Bassman, only using EL34 tubes instead of 6L6 tubes, and utilizing closed back cabinets.</p><p>One tube you don't see very often is a 6973, used in some old Supro and Gretsch amps. I think this tube might have the best sound of all, but I don't own one of these amps. Yet. It sounds somewhat like a cross between the 6V6 and EL34, getting a pretty nice clean sound, but a moderate overdrive when cranked to 10, not as crunchy as an EL34, but not as mushy as a 6V6.</p><p>These days I have different tube amps for different venues.&nbsp;</p><p>For small gigs I bring my VHT Special 6; hand-wired point-to-point like the old days, but made in China. It might be the most well-made mass-produced amp out there without going to a boutique amp builder. The VHT takes a 6V6, but it can be swapped out for a 6L6, EL34, or with an adapter, an EL84. I keep an EL34 in mine, and it sounds great. It's a simple amp with no reverb or effects of any kind.&nbsp;</p><p>For slightly larger gigs I use a Bugera V22, which I picked up ridiculously cheap. It has a great natural sound, somewhere between and old Vox and a blackface Fender. It uses EL84 tubes, but sounds much less ice-picky than other EL84 amps I've played through, and more like an old-school amp.</p><p>Next is my Sligo Surfman, built by a local guy Steve Clark. It uses 6L6 tubes and puts out about 40 watts, but has a master volume for getting some breakup at lower volumes.&nbsp;</p><p>For larger blues gigs I usually bring out my Sonny Jr. &quot;Super Sonny&quot;, which is essentially a hand-wired clone of an old tweed Fender Bassman, but modified for harmonica. It sounds great with guitar too, especially with a pedal boosting the signal slightly in front of it.</p><p>I also usually carry with me a backup amp, which is a hand-build Bogen clone. Bogen built PA amplifiers in the 50s and 60s. This one has 2 6V6 tubes and sounds pretty great with guitar, even though it's not a guitar amp.&nbsp;</p><p>I also have a small practice amp, which is a Magnasync Moviola amp, taken from an old 50's/60's film editing machine, utilizing a 6AQ5 output tube. The power of the amp is not enough for a gig with other musicians, but it sounds pretty nice for recording or as a bedroom practice amp.</p><p>&nbsp;I also recently obtained a Bugera 6262, essentially a 100 watt clone of a British style (Marshall) amp that is low budget but sounds great. I will use this for rock gigs.&nbsp;</p><p>The quest for the best guitar tone continues every day. Even though I have enough amps for a lifetime, I'm always looking for the ultimate guitar sound.</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=203</link>
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			<pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2015 11:37:12 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Indexes</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>I find it amazing that most developers I know do not know how to index, or don't consider it part of their job. As a developer, the most important part of the job is indexing the database. It is not a task for the DBA or anyone else.</p>
]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=202</link>
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			<pubDate>Thu, 22 Jan 2015 15:42:15 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>iTunes and Media players? Do they all suck?</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>Any good audio players out there? I'm giving up on iTunes and Media Player. The geniuses at Apple and Microsoft have made them both unusable. I can't figure out how to do the most basic things. Where are the menus? How do you repeat a song? Play a CD? I have to use Google every time I need to do something.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=201</link>
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			<pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2014 18:40:59 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>The importance of backups</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>I'm currently running a 5 or 6 year old backup of my web site. Luckily, the data is current, since I'm running nightly <a href="/blog/index.cfm?newsid=193">SQL Server backups</a>, and since the site is mostly data driven, things are still mostly working. We had some construction in the house, and the server filled with dust causing one of the drives to fail -- the main data drive. Backups failed too, so I'm left with an old copy. It's possible that the problem was not the dust, but there was a LOT of dust in the machine. It's about 7 years old, so I was due for a new hard drive, but I'd rather control the circumstances myself.</p><p><strong>Update:</strong> Hard drive restored, back to normal.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=200</link>
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			<pubDate>Fri, 11 Apr 2014 12:57:42 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Spring sale</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>Spring shopping! Use promo code "spring" at the checkout and take 30% off all products. The promo code is good until midnight PST on 6/30/2013.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=199</link>
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			<pubDate>Sun, 09 Jun 2013 13:48:47 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>SEO Spam</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>I'm really tired of getting spam from SEO companies. I seem to get about 5 or 6 a week. Why would a good SEO company need to spam? Wouldn't they rank high in web searches and get all kinds of web traffic? A spam from an SEO company indicates to me that they aren't very good at what they do.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=196</link>
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			<pubDate>Wed, 13 Jun 2012 20:40:19 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Upgrades and Backups Pt. 2: Shrinking SQL Server Express Log Files</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p><a title="SQL Server Express automated backup for ColdFusion" href="../index.cfm?newsid=193" target="_self">Part 1</a> described how to create a bare bones SQL Server automated backup plan for a SQL Express database using a ColdFusion scheduled task. I also wanted to truncate and shrink old log files on a schedule, so came up with a stored procedure to do it, cobbled together from various snippets. The new stored procedure takes in a database name as parameter, then looks up the log file name. If it's found (it should be if the db name is correct) it truncates and shrinks the file. Here's the script:</p><p class="code">USE [master]<br />GO<br /><br />SET ANSI_NULLS ON<br />GO<br />SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON<br />GO<br /><br />CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[sp_TruncateLogs]&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; @databaseName nvarchar(1024)<br />AS <br />BEGIN <br />&nbsp;SET NOCOUNT ON; <br /><br />&nbsp;DECLARE @sql NVARCHAR(1000) <br />&nbsp;DECLARE @logfilename NVARCHAR(1000)<br /><br />&nbsp;SELECT @logfilename = b.name <br />&nbsp;FROM sys.sysdatabases a&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;INNER JOIN sys.sysaltfiles b <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ON a.dbid = b.dbid <br />&nbsp;WHERE fileid = 2 <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;AND a.name = @databaseName<br /><br />&nbsp;IF @@rowcount = 1 BEGIN<br />&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;SET @sql = '<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;USE ' + @databaseName + '<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;BACKUP LOG ' + @databaseName + '<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;with truncate_only<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;dbcc shrinkfile (' + @logfilename + ', 1)'<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;EXECUTE sp_executesql @sql <br />&nbsp;END<br /><br />END </p><p>Next, just add it to the loop in the original ColdFusion scheduled task script:</p><p class="code">&lt;cfstoredproc datasource=&quot;master&quot; procedure=&quot;dbo.sp_TruncateLogs&quot;&gt;<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cfprocparam cfsqltype=&quot;cf_sql_varchar&quot; value=&quot;#ListGetAt(variables.databases, variables.i)#&quot; /&gt;<br />&lt;/cfstoredproc&gt;<br /></p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=195</link>
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			<pubDate>Sat, 26 Feb 2011 13:21:55 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Deployment Process in ColdFusion Builder</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>I decided to start using ColdFusion builder alongside Dreamweaver for my development. At work, we use Eclipse exclusively, but it is severely limited, and much of it doesn't work right (code hints...what the heck is hamcrestassert and why does it get inserted when I move to the next line???). I'm much more comfortable coding in Dreamweaver -- especially since the enhancements of CS4 and CS5 -- but have started liking the Ant build process and the Subversion integration of Eclipse/ColdFusion Builder. So I decided to start setting up projects in both. </p>
<p>My work environment is a lot different from the typical development workflow that I am accustomed to, so I wanted to set up an Ant build script for my local use on my laptop, and a remote FTP development server. ColdFusion Builder has most of what is needed, with the exception of a couple of Java classes for the FTP functionality (<a href="http://commons.apache.org/net/download_net.cgi" target="_blank">commons-net-*.jar</a> and <a href="http://www.java2s.com/Code/Jar/JKL/Downloadjakartaoro208jar.htm" target="_blank">jakarta-oro-*.jar</a>). Download these and add to the ColdFusion Builder (or Eclipse) plugins /lib folder for Ant, located here typically: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe ColdFusion Builder\plugins\org.apache.ant_1.7.1.v20090120-1145\lib</p>
<p>I haven't found a lot of useful information for the ColdFusion developer on setting up Ant build scripts, so hopefully this will help someone. Basically, a build script is XML that contains a project tag and one or more target tags under it. You can also set up a property file that contains details about your project. This makes it easier to set up a generic build script that can be reused. Simply change the properties in the property file.</p>
<p>I'm going to assume that the project will have all the files to be deployed at the root of the project. This is not always the case, and indeed not usually the case, but changing paths is easy enough in the script. I'll add a build folder to the root of the project, and add the build.properties and build.xml files to this directory.</p>
<p>My build.properties file looks like this:</p>
<p class="code">#deploy to LOCAL server<br />
deploy.dir.local=c:/inetpub/wwwroot/mysite<br />
<br />
#deploy to DEV server<br />
deploy.dev.ftp.host=myftpsite.com<br />
deploy.dev.ftp.username=myusername<br />
deploy.dev.ftp.password=mypassword<br />
deploy.dev.ftp.basedir=/<br />
<br />
#deploy to LIVE server<br />
deploy.live.ftp.host=myliveftpsite.com<br />
deploy.live.ftp.username=myusername<br />
deploy.live.ftp.password=mypassword<br />
deploy.live.ftp.basedir=/
</p>
<p>It contains information on the local directory where I do local testing,  the FTP site where the development server resides, and the live server where the final deployment will happen. My build.xml file looks like this:</p>
<p class="code">&lt;project name=&quot;My Project&quot; basedir=&quot;../.&quot; default=&quot;deploy.local&quot;&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&lt;!-- Load properties --&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&lt;property file=&quot;build/build.properties&quot;/&gt;<br />
	<br />
	&nbsp;&lt;target name=&quot;deploy.local&quot; description=&quot;Deploy to local webserver&quot;&gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;echo&gt;Copying files to local webserver...&lt;/echo&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;mkdir dir=&quot;${deploy.dir.local}&quot;/&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;copy todir=&quot;${deploy.dir.local}&quot;&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;fileset dir=&quot;.&quot;&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  &lt;include name=&quot;**/*&quot; /&gt; <br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  &lt;exclude name=&quot;build/*&quot; /&gt; <br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/fileset&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/copy&gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
	&nbsp;&lt;/target&gt;<br />	
	&nbsp;<br />
	&nbsp;&lt;target name=&quot;deploy.dev&quot; description=&quot;Release to remote dev webserver&quot;&gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;echo&gt;Copying files to dev FTP server ${deploy.dev.ftp.host}...&lt;/echo&gt;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;ftp server=&quot;${deploy.dev.ftp.host}&quot;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;remotedir=&quot;${deploy.dev.ftp.basedir}&quot;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;userid=&quot;${deploy.dev.ftp.username}&quot;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;password=&quot;${deploy.dev.ftp.password}&quot;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;depends=&quot;yes&quot;&gt;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;fileset dir=&quot;.&quot;&gt; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  &lt;include name=&quot;**/*&quot; /&gt; <br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  &lt;exclude name=&quot;build/*&quot; /&gt; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/fileset&gt;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/ftp&gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;&lt;/target&gt;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;&lt;target name=&quot;deploy.live&quot; description=&quot;Release to remote webserver&quot;&gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;echo&gt;Copying files to live FTP server ${deploy.live.ftp.host}...&lt;/echo&gt;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;ftp server=&quot;${deploy.live.ftp.host}&quot;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;remotedir=&quot;${deploy.live.ftp.basedir}&quot;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;userid=&quot;${deploy.live.ftp.username}&quot;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;password=&quot;${deploy.live.ftp.password}&quot;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;depends=&quot;yes&quot;&gt;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;fileset dir=&quot;.&quot;&gt; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  &lt;include name=&quot;**/*&quot; /&gt; <br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  &lt;exclude name=&quot;build/*&quot; /&gt; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/fileset&gt;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/ftp&gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;&lt;/target&gt;&nbsp;<br />
&lt;/project&gt;</p>
<p>A couple of explanations: the <em>fileset</em> tag includes the directory outside of the build directory (project root in this case), and the exclude tag excludes the build directory from the build process. You don't want these in your deployment directories. The <em>depends</em> attribute in the FTP tag allow you to exclude unchanged files from the FTP process, otherwise the build will FTP the entire project each time.</p>
<p>With these files in place, you can right-click on the build.xml file in the project and click Run As &gt; Ant Build.... This brings up the Run dialog (clicking the option  without the elipsis runs the build using the last known configuration). </p>
<p><img src="http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/images/build.jpg" alt="Ant Build Script for ColdFusion Builder" width="584" height="456" /></p>
<p>Here, you can simply check the deployment options you want to use. If you are doing only local testing, check only the deploy.local box. If you want only the dev server, check that box. You can also check any combination. Next time, you can click Run As &gt; Ant Build without the elipsis and it will just run using the last configuration. For example, if doing only local testing, check that box, so every time you hit the Run button, only local files will be deployed. The process is fast. Only changed files are deployed.</p>
<p><img src="http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/images/run.jpg" alt="Run button in ColdFusion Builder" width="200" height="60" /><br />
<em>Run button </em></p>
<p>When you run the build, the Console window will show the results of building</p>
<blockquote>
	<p style="color:blue">Buildfile: <u>C:\Documents and Settings\tmuck\Adobe ColdFusion Builder workspace\myproject\build\build.xml</u><br />
		deploy.local:<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:orange">[echo] Copying files to local webserver...</span><br />
		[copy] Copying 1 file to c:\inetpub\wwwroot\myproject<br />
		BUILD SUCCESSFUL<br />
		Total time: 407 milliseconds</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I hope that helps someone.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=194</link>
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			<pubDate>Mon, 14 Feb 2011 11:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Upgrades and Backups: Automated Backup for SQL Express</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>I've been lax in my blogging and my ColdFusion duties lately. I just today installed CF 9 for the first time, and I'm usually way ahead of the curve on that. Work has been super busy, and we are stuck on CF 8 at the office for the foreseeable future. So far, the upgrade has been quick and painless. Now I need to start diving into the new features. I think the main feature for me is the general performance enhancements, but I'm sure I'll get into the Office integration as well. One nice thing about upgrading is being able to try out the features as Enterpise version for a month before putting in the license key for Pro version and losing the functionality. 
</p>
<p>I was also thinking about a SQL Server upgrade. I'm running the Express version, which is perfect for most small-medium web sites. One thing it doesn't have is a way to do maintenance. I've been doing manual backups. Well, after looking at the price of a SQL Server license, I decided to look for a good automated backup. I found a backup script online at <a href="http://www.mssqltips.com/tip.asp?tip=1174" target="_blank">http://www.mssqltips.com/tip.asp?tip=1174</a> and modified it to meet my needs (made directory name a parameter)</p>
<p class="code"> CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[sp_BackupDatabase] <br />
	@databaseName nvarchar(1024), <br />
	@type CHAR(1) = 'F', <br />
	@directory nvarchar(1024) = 'C:\SQLBackup'<br />
	AS <br />
	BEGIN <br />
	SET NOCOUNT ON; <br />
	<br />
DECLARE @sql NVARCHAR(1000) <br />
DECLARE @currentDate NVARCHAR(20) <br />
<br />
SELECT @currentDate = REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR, GETDATE(),111),'/',') + <br />
REPLACE(CONVERT(VARCHAR, GETDATE(),108),':',') <br />
<br />
IF @type = 'F' <br />
	SET @sql = 'BACKUP DATABASE ' + <br />
	@databaseName + <br />
	' TO DISK = ' + <br />
	@directory + '\' + <br />
	@databaseName + '\' + <br />
	@databaseName + '_Full_' + <br />
@currentDate + '.BAK' <br />
<br />
IF @type = 'D' <br />
	SET @sql = 'BACKUP DATABASE ' + <br />
	@databaseName + <br />
	' TO DISK = ' + <br />
	@directory + '\' +<br />
	@databaseName + '\' + <br />
	@databaseName + '_Diff_' + <br />
@currentDate + '.BAK' WITH DIFFERENTIAL' <br />
<br />
IF @type = 'L' <br />
	SET @sql = 'BACKUP LOG ' + <br />
	@databaseName + <br />
	' TO DISK = ' + <br />
	@directory + '\' +<br />
	@databaseName + '\' + <br />
	@databaseName + '_Log_' + <br />
@currentDate + '.TRN' <br />
<br />
EXECUTE sp_executesql @sql <br />
END </p>
<p>Next, I created my own stored procedure for deleting old database backups. Basically, in a "real" SQL Server, the backup task will delete backups back to a date you specify. We'll pass in the database name, type of backup, timeframe (in weeks), and the directory name. </p>
<p class="code">CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[sp_RemoveOldBackups] <br />
@databaseName sysname, <br />
@backupType CHAR(1) = 'F', <br />
@howlong integer = 4, <br />
@directory nvarchar(1024) = 'C:\SQLBackup'<br />
AS <br />
BEGIN <br />
SET NOCOUNT ON; <br />
DECLARE @type nchar(3)<br />
SET @type = 'BAK'<br />
if @backupType = 'L' BEGIN SET @type = 'TRN' END<br />
DECLARE @backupPath nvarchar(2048)<br />
SET @backupPath = @directory + '\' + @databaseName<br />
declare @DeleteDate nvarchar(50)<br />
declare @DeleteDateTime datetime<br />
set @DeleteDateTime = DateAdd(ww, -1 * @howlong, GetDate())<br />
set @DeleteDate = (Select Replace(Convert(nvarchar, @DeleteDateTime, 111), '/', '-') + 'T' + Convert(nvarchar, @DeleteDateTime, 108))<br />
<br />
EXECUTE master.dbo.xp_delete_file 0, @backupPath, @type, @DeleteDate,1<br />
<br />
END </p>
<p>Now, rather than use Windows scheduled tasks for this, I wanted a simple ColdFusion scheduled task. The stored procedures should be stored in the master database, so you'll need a datasource that will allow execute permissions on these two stored procedures. Finally, save the following into a ColdFusion file and store it in one of your web sites. Set the scheduled task to execute once a week.</p>
<p class="code">&lt;cftry&gt;<br />
	&lt;!--- List of databases to backup ---&gt;<br />	
	&lt;cfset variables.databases = &quot;mydatabase,Northwind,myOtherDatabase&quot; /&gt;<br />
	&lt;!--- Path to the backup folder ---&gt;
	<br />
	&lt;cfset variables.backupPath = &quot;Z:\SQLBackup&quot; /&gt;<br />
	&lt;!--- How many weeks to keep backups ---&gt;
	<br />
&lt;cfset variables.howLong = &quot;4&quot; /&gt;<br />
<br />
&lt;!--- Loop through the databases ---&gt;<br />&lt;cfloop from=&quot;1&quot; to=&quot;#ListLen(variables.databases)#&quot; index=&quot;variables.i&quot;&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cftry&gt;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;!---	First, backup the database ---&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cfstoredproc datasource=&quot;master&quot; procedure=&quot;sp_BackupDatabase&quot;&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cfprocparam cfsqltype=&quot;cf_sql_varchar&quot; value=&quot;#ListGetAt(variables.databases, variables.i)#&quot; /&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cfprocparam cfsqltype=&quot;cf_sql_char&quot; value=&quot;F&quot; /&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cfprocparam cfsqltype=&quot;cf_sql_varchar&quot; value=&quot;#variables.backupPath#&quot; /&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/cfstoredproc&gt;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;!--- Next,	delete the old databases ---&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cfstoredproc datasource=&quot;master&quot; procedure=&quot;sp_RemoveOldBackups&quot;&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cfprocparam cfsqltype=&quot;cf_sql_varchar&quot; value=&quot;#ListGetAt(variables.databases, variables.i)#&quot; /&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cfprocparam cfsqltype=&quot;cf_sql_char&quot; value=&quot;F&quot; /&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cfprocparam cfsqltype=&quot;cf_sql_integer&quot; value=&quot;4&quot; /&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cfprocparam cfsqltype=&quot;cf_sql_varchar&quot; value=&quot;#variables.backupPath#&quot; /&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/cfstoredproc&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cfcatch&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cflog application=&quot;yes&quot; text=&quot;Database backup failed #now()# for #ListGetAt(variables.databases, i)#&quot; /&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/cfcatch&gt;<br />
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/cftry&gt; <br />
&lt;/cfloop&gt;<br />&lt;cfcatch&gt;<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cflog application=&quot;yes&quot; text=&quot;Database backup failed #now()# outside loop&quot; /&gt;<br />&lt;/cfcatch&gt;<br />
&lt;/cftry&gt;
</p>
<p>Obviously, this is the bare bones of a backup system. You can modify the scripts to perform differential backups to meet your needs, log file backups, and add some error handling to the stored procedures, but this is a good start.</p>
]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=193</link>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=193</guid>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:16:41 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title>Dreamweaver CS5</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>I haven't been posting a lot lately, but had to post to recommend the latest version of Dreamweaver -- CS5. I usually  upgrade to the latest version, because for my business I have to maintain compatibility with current versions of the program, but this is the first time in a while that I feel like I have to heartily recommend the upgrade to people spending good money. CS5 has quite a few of the features I've been wanting in the program for years -- foremost among them, code hints for custom code, code completion, and context-sensitive help. Most good code editors have this built in, but DW has not had capabilities in this regard. CS5 changes that and turns DW into a quality coding environment. </p>
<p>For ColdFusion coding I have been using Eclipse at work for the past couple years, only because that is the standard that we have at the office and require it's Subversion support, but it's sadly lacking in many key areas. It doesn't have a design view, which is a pretty basic feature for a web development environment. Also, the most frustrating part is that the code hinting, code completion, and context-sensitive help is pretty poor, and often inaccurate. I don't know how many times I've hit a key and had some bizarre code completion happen that has no relation to what I'm typing. A good coding environment is two steps ahead of you and knows what you want to type next. Apple's Xcode IDE is brilliant in this regard, as is Microsoft's coding environments. Dreamweaver is finally starting to get there, after all these years. Not quite there yet, but it's much better than alternatives for ColdFusion programmers, in my view. For PHP coding, it's pretty great, too. </p>
<p>All of my <a href="http://www.tom-muck.com/extensions/">available extensions</a> seem to work without issue in Dreamweaver CS5. If anyone has any issues, please let me know. </p>
]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=191</link>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=191</guid>
			<pubDate>Tue, 08 Jun 2010 03:41:04 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title>Sale on extensions</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>I'm having a sale on all extensions from now until December 31, 2009 -- 30% off all purchases. Use promo code "take30" when checking out and the price will be reflected in the cart.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=189</link>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=189</guid>
			<pubDate>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:40:55 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title>Blues jams and my latest gigs</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>I haven't been posting much lately, mostly because I've been pretty busy with life. I got a new job back in Nov. 2007, after 8 years at my previous company, and have been trying to cut back on some of my other outside work. The biggest change has been that I've gotten back into music. I played in a band all through the 80's and 90's, but gave it up for about 10 years and didn't play much at all, not even at home. A couple years back I started getting buying new equipment -- guitars, mostly. I got rid of some of my older, loud equipment and got some stuff to use in smaller clubs. Back in January, I started going to local blues jams. This has been a lot of fun, and I usually go to 2 or 3 every week now -- Sunday nights at <a title="Bangkok Blues" href="http://www.bangkokblues.com/" target="_blank">Bangkok Blues</a> in Falls Church, VA, and Thursday nights at the <a title="Zoo Bar Washington, DC" href="http://www.zoobardc.com/" target="_blank">Zoo Bar</a> in Washington, DC are the two main ones for me. The music in both venues is varied, but mostly top-notch. Some nights are really great for blues music. I also occasionally trek down to the <a title="Fat Boy's Country Store" href="http://www.fatboyscountrystore.com/" target="_self">Country Store</a> in St. Mary's County, MD or the Beach Cove in Chesapeake Beach, MD. There are some other local blues jams that I have not tried yet, but will likely get out to play at soon. </p><p>Bigger news is that through these blues jams I've joined a couple of local bands -- The Alpha Dog Blues Band and the Southside Georgetown Bluesbreakers. Alpha Dog plays regularly at the Cowboy Cafe, <a title="JV's Restaurant" href="http://www.jvsrestaurant.com/index.php" target="_blank">JVs</a>, and 219 Restaurant. The Bluesbreakers have played one gig at the DC Blues Society fish fry this past month. </p><p>Through the jams I've met a lot of great people and fine musicians. Some cool local DC bands to check out if you can are Idle Americans, Big Boy Little Band, Swampkeepers, Hot Rods and Old Gas, and the Andy Poxon Band. </p><p><a href="http://www.myspace.com/alphadogbluesband/">Alpha Dog Blues Band</a> is playing the following dates:</p>
<iframe src="http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?showTabs=0&amp;showCalendars=0&amp;showTz=0&amp;mode=AGENDA&amp;height=300&amp;wkst=1&amp;bgcolor=%23ffffff&amp;src=l96n6lsud8s4pgq7nn9t9u5q9o%40group.calendar.google.com&amp;color=%23AB8B00&amp;ctz=America%2FNew_York" style=" border:solid 1px #777 " width="500" height="300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=188</link>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=188</guid>
			<pubDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:28:39 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title>3000 Articles</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.communitymx.com/">Community MX</a> released its 3000th article the other day. It's hard to believe we have been at it for 6 years now releasing 2 articles every day. In celebration, we're having a contest that ends March 10th. Sign up to win an Adobe software title or other prize at <a href="http://www.communitymx.com/3000/">http://www.communitymx.com/3000/</a>. My most recent articles there are below:</p>
<table>
<tr><td><a href="http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=D4B69">Conditional PHP: Using the Ternary Operator</a></td><td><em>09-Feb-09</em></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Category: PHP</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Description: There are many uses for conditional statements in programming. The basic principle of conditional programming is that you want to execute code based on a certain condition. The essence of conditional programming is executing code based on the condition being true, with an alternate piece of code being executed if the condition is not true. The article will explain the ternary operator, which creates if/else logic that is more concise than other methods. </td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=A7973">Using Table Aliases</a></td><td><em>29-Jan-09</em></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Category: SQL</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Description: When writing SQL statements, using the table names in the code is often necesary to avoid confusion in the database server. For example, if you have a Customers table with a customerid field, and an Orders table with a customerid field, if you are joining both tables, you will need to use the table name on the customerid field in order to differentiate between the two tables. This can turn your queries into much longer, hard to read statements -- especially if you are using proper naming conventions and your table names are long and descriptive. <br />
<br />
Using a table alias in the code is a beneficial way to increase readability and performance. Readers of this article should understand basic SQL coding, including joins. It will apply to most databases (SQL Server, MySQL, Access, etc). </td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=C94C2">Using Subqueries</a></td><td><em>15-Jan-09</em></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Category: SQL</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Description: Most database systems support the use of subqueries. If you have never used them, don't know what they are, or are confused by joins, then this article is for you. I'll be using the Northwind sample database that is readily available for SQL Server and Access, and available as a download for MySQL from my site. </td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=4A287">Adding an Auto-Logout Feature - Part 1</a></td>
<td><em>17-Dec-08</em></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=D1778">Adding an Auto-Logout Feature - Part 2</a></td>
<td><em>06-Jan-09</em></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Category: Javascript</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Description: If you have a site that is built using one of the server technologies, like ASP, PHP, or ColdFusion, that has a login feature, chances are you also have a logout function. What happens when the user keeps the browser open and doesn't log out? Many times he will go back to the page and attempt to click on something, only to find out that he has to login again. For example, the user might fill in a complex form and walk away, only to come back to try to submit the form and be kicked out of the site. <br />
<br />
Because this is a client-side JavaScript function, it will work with any server-side language. 
<br /></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=695E2">HTML/CSS Crash Primer</a> <img height="16" alt="Free content" src="http://www.communitymx.com/images/free.gif" width="28" /></td><td><em>02-Dec-08</em></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Category: CSS, HTML</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Description: This article is intended as a re-introduction to HTML and CSS, and something I have used in the past to give to any new employees who may have had HTML experience, but exhibited some bad habits in actual coding. You may think HTML is simple and you may think you know all you need to know, but HTML is misused daily. Following are some basics to help correct some of the common problems. </td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=56D0F">Creating a Formatted Unique ID in PHP</a></td><td><em>19-Nov-08</em></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Category: PHP</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Description: There are often times that you need a unique id in an application, but don't want to use an auto-incrementing integer. If an application is well designed and secure, an auto-incrementing number is usually fine, but to be on the safe side a unique identifier other than an integer is better as an id. For example, a customer number is a good use of a unique identifier, or an order number. </td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=26071">Blank Pages in PHP</a> <img height="16" alt="Free content" src="http://www.communitymx.com/images/free.gif" width="28" /></td><td><em>06-Nov-08</em></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Category: PHP</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Description: If you are a PHP developer, you are likely familiar with the blank page -- an error page with no error message. PHP has some default settings that prevent any error messages from appearing when you install PHP and do not adjust the error display settings. This article will show how to show your error messages. </td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=8CFC6">Creating MySQL Logins   for a Web Site </a></td><td><em>20-Oct-08</em></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Category: PHP, SQL</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Description: MySQL is a popular   database to use for your web site, allowing the power of a server-based database   management system to be used for free. With the added power comes added   danger-MySQL is frequently targeted by hackers. My article on <a href="http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=DB3FF">preventing SQL   injection attacks</a> mentioned database login security briefly. 
<br />
<br />
In this article, I will expand on how to actually create users   for your web site, which is vital knowledge when you are acting as a database   administrator. If you have a PHP site using MySQL and you don't have a database   administrator-you are it. </td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=9D6F8">Creating SQL Server   Logins for a Web Site </a></td><td><em>08-Oct-08</em></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Category: SQL</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Description: SQL Server is a   popular database to use for your web site, especially since the Express version   has been released, allowing the power of SQL Server to be used for free, making   it a much more viable solution than some of the other free databases out there,   like MySQL. With the added power comes added danger -- SQL Server is frequently   targeted by hackers. My article on preventing SQL injection attacks mentioned   database login security briefly. In this article, I will expand on how to   actually create users for your web site. </td></tr>
</table>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=187</link>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=187</guid>
			<pubDate>Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:35:18 GMT</pubDate>
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		<item>
			<title>New round of SQL injection from China</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>Be on the watch for new SQL injection attempts, coming from China, using an ascii-encoded binary string. Essentially, what it does is find a vulnerable database and append a string to the fields in every table. The string is  a closing &lt;/title&gt; tag with a script, followed by a comment to hide the rest of the page:
</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bloombit.com/Articles/2008/05/ASCII-Encoded-Binary-String-Automated-SQL-Injection.aspx">http://www.bloombit.com/Articles/2008/05/ASCII-Encoded-Binary-String-Automated-SQL-Injection.aspx</a></p>
<p>I put something like this in my application.cfm file to re-rout the 
	attackers temporarily:</p>
<p class='code'>&lt;cfif FindNoCase('user&gt;0',cgi.query_string) OR findNoCase('declare',cgi.query_string) <br>
	OR findNoCase('EXEC(@',cgi.query_string)&gt;<br>
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;cflocation url=&quot;http://www.ftc.gov&quot;&gt;<br>
&lt;/cfif&gt;<br>
</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=184</link>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=184</guid>
			<pubDate>Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:02:55 GMT</pubDate>
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		<item>
			<title>Storms</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>We got hit by some kind of odd storm yesterday...tornadoes, wind, rain, and other assorted nastiness. My server has been out the entire time -- over 24 hours -- but I'm back now. </p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=183</link>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=183</guid>
			<pubDate>Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:04:44 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title>Dreamweaver 10 (CS4) Beta open to the public</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>Adobe has released the latest version of Dreamweaver to public beta at <a title="Dreamweaver beta" href="http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/dreamweavercs4/">http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/dreamweavercs4/</a>. As always, I have had a love/hate relationship with the program. Having used it a while now, I can say the same for the new version. I like many of the new features, like the related files views, the Subversion integration, and the collapsable panels (it's about time for this feature!). I will definitely be using DW 10 in the future, and have no intention of going back to the previous version. The collapsable panels alone are worth the price of admission. DW has always had problems with the usability of panels from the earliest days, but this time they got it right.</p>
<p>On the other hand, some things look like they were tacked on as an afterthought, and the overall interface is not as user-friendly as a basic Windows program should be that has been around for as many years as it has. The title bar is gone and the path to the current file has been stuck into a little spot that is reserved for page tabs. It sounds like a minor thing, but it's one of the most important parts of coding in a multi-tab editor. As soon as you open more than a few pages, the file path is cut off, and with a few more open, it disappears. Major step backwards here:</p>
<p><img src="http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/images/filepath.jpg"  alt="File path cut off in Dreamweaver" /><br />
</p>
<p>The other obvious usability problem here is the black text on dark grey in the tabs. On a laptop it's impossible to see, as is the white text on the dark grey. Also, the individual pages have a close button (X) which is a great bonus, but it would have been nice to have a close button on the frequently used panels (like Find/Replace) so you don't have to right click to pick a menu item to close a panel. Also, the entire border of the program is gone, making it blend into other open programs on your desktop. I understand this is the new "owl" interface, but owls should be left in the woods to live in trees. We really don't need the artsy fartsy stuff in a code editor.</p>
<p>But all in all, I would recommend the program. I use Eclipse all day long at my place of employment, and it is simply not as intuitive or easy to use as DW. Code view in DW has come a long way since the days of Ultradev. Download it and try it out, and by all means make suggestions in the forums on things that can be made better.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=182</link>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=182</guid>
			<pubDate>Tue, 27 May 2008 23:13:36 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title>CMX is 5 years old</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.communitymx.com/">Community MX</a> is celebrating its 5 year anniversary this week. They said it would never last, but we have been putting out 2 pieces of fresh content every day for 5 years, for a total of 2557 articles, tutorials, extensions, Jumpstarts, and more. Congratulations to the partners at CMX for 5 good years.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=181</link>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=181</guid>
			<pubDate>Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:33:13 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title>Selling my Marshall</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=320223067115&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=011" title="eBay Marshall 100w JMP head"><img src="http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/images/marshall.jpg" alt="Marshall 100w Head" style="float:right" /></a>I've finally decided to sell my old 100 watt Marshall head and 412 cabinet. It has been sitting around my house now for almost 10 years without any use, so it doesn't make sense to keep it any more. On top of that, the townhouse I live in is small and too close to neighbors to play guitar at any decent volume. The <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=320223067115&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=011" title="eBay Marshall 100w JMP head">eBay link is here.</a>. It can't hurt to try to drive some traffic to it. :-) It got a lot of good use back in the 80's and 90's, but it's time to find a new owner. If I ever get in a situation where I need volume, I'll have to pick up another one on eBay, I guess. . . .</p>
]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=180</link>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=180</guid>
			<pubDate>Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:43:24 GMT</pubDate>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title>New phishing scams using Ebay</title>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>There seems to be a new rash of scamming/phishing attempts, and eBay is partly to blame. It seems eBay itself has a redirection service in place on one of their pages. Scammers are using links that point to the real eBay site, but redirect to the scammer site. This is especially insidious, as the link you see and the link you hover over are actual eBay addresses, and eBay is actually forwarding you to the scammer site. Below is a the link used in one I received:</p>
<p><strong>http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?RedirectEnter&partner=ShowItem&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fus.ebayobjects.com%2F2c%3B9739597%3B9123118%3Bz%3Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fcontactbay-ws-bayisapi.xm.com%2F</strong></p>
<p>It's amazing that with all the phishing attempts out there, eBay is actually falling down on the job by allowing their own site to redirect unsuspecting users to the phishing web site.</p>]]></description> 
			<link>http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=179</link>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.tom-muck.com/blog/index.cfm?newsid=179</guid>
			<pubDate>Sun, 24 Feb 2008 22:43:06 GMT</pubDate>
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