native error 0x80004005

This is an OLE DB (Object Linking and Embedding, Database) connection error that comes back from MSSQL. It vaguely means that you cannot connect. The first thing to look at is your connection specs. Beyond that, perhaps the database is "sick."

.7z is the file extension for the 7-Zip archiver.

Get 7-Zip here.

run a Grunt script

If you have Grunt installed at node as suggested here, you may run a Grunt script merely by typing the name of the file at a command prompt (in Windows 7) once you've navigated to the folder holding the file. Grunt may turn around and prompt node to procure other dependencies (should it not have them) with code such as:

grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-jsduck');

npm install and package.json

If you have node installed then opening the command prompt, navigating to any folder, and then typing...

npm install

 
 

...will prompt node to try to find a file in the folder called "package.json" of which the contents might look like so:

{
   "name": "Whatever",
   "version": "0.1.0",
   "devDependencies": {
      "grunt": "~0.4.1",
      "grunt-contrib-jshint": "~0.1.1",
      "grunt-contrib-nodeunit": "~0.1.2",
      "grunt-contrib-copy": "~0.4.1",
      "grunt-contrib-clean": "~0.4.1",
      "grunt-mocha": "~0.3.4",
      "grunt-cli": "~0.1.9",
      "grunt-jsduck": "~0.1.4"
   }
}

 
 

Node will use devDependencies as a list of packages to have. If any of the packages are not yet installed, it will install those packages.

PhoneGap is native shell for iOS.

In case you have to be told like someone I know.

JavaScript Lint

...is more faked compilation safety awesomeness for the JavaScript space. Differing from TypeScript or CoffeeScript this solution does not allow you to write in another language that compiles to JavaScript. Instead it just crawls your JavaScript for common mistakes.

Paranoid Fun!

A group that calls itself the Chaos Computer Club prompted a public outcry here recently when it discovered that German state investigators were using spying software capable of turning a computer's webcam and microphone into a sophisticated surveillance device. The club ...announced last Saturday it had analyzed the hard drives of people who had been investigated and discovered that they were infected with a Trojan horse program that gave the police the ability to log keystrokes, capture screenshots and activate cameras and microphones.

...is some copy from this which speaks to the new reality of our modern lives.