Posts by Reverend Jim

Please show us what you have done so far. We are not going to write the app for you. In the future, please post all relevent files on this forum by clicking the paperclip icon in the edit box toolbar. It would also help if you were to show us (using your sample text) exactly what information you want to extract. Your description is incomplete.

A pint of beer, maybe.

You might also want to read this privacy article

I don't see the problem. Include the Crypto class (and the required Imports) then use the Encrypt/Decrypt methods to do what you want.

cpswd = crypt.Encrypt(pswd, passPhrase)

Good point about the password. Of course you don't want to hard code it. I just did that for the example. I should have coded the password as a user entry textbox or InputBox to make that clear.

Try

worksheet = workbook.ActiveSheet

Part one of the tutorial can be found here.

There are a number of services that offer file sharing/syncing via the "cloud". The free versions come with limitations on file size. As well, DropBox suffers from security issues in that encryption is done at the server meaning that any files you upload can be made available to the authorities by court order. SpiderOak encryption is done at the client which is more secure, but again, storage space is limited.

In all cases, you are dependent on the availability of a server over which you have no control.

You are likely familiar with BitTorrent which received more than its share of bad press because of its abuse in piracy of music and videos as well as cracked software (and the viruses that tagged along). BitTorrent, however, has also gotten wide use for distribution of Linux packages. Traditionally, BitTorrent required a server to manage the sources and connections. With BitTorrent Sync, no third party server is required. And, like traditional BitTorrent, sync speed is actually improved as the number of computers in the cluster increases. BitTorrent Sync always uses the shortest path available which means that for computers on the same network (for example, in your house connected to the same router), internet access is not required.

As with traditional BitTorrent, files are logically broken up into segments. Only differing segments need to be transmitted so that when small changes are made to large files, the entire file need not …

Make sure you disable all the things that would violate your privacy.

The following uses a form with one button, and two multi-line textboxes. To test, paste some code into txtClear then click the button to encrypt. Click again to decrypt. I'm not clear on some of the details but it does work. If you google "vb.net cryptography" you can get more information. Unfortunately, most of the examples online give about the same level of detail as I give here.

Imports System.Security.Cryptography    'for encryption/decryption
Imports System.IO                       'for memory streams
Imports System.Text                     'for UTF8 support

Public Class Form1

    Private cryp As New Crypto

    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        btnExecute.Text = "Encrypt"
    End Sub

    Private Sub btnExecute_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnExecute.Click

        Select Case btnExecute.Text
            Case "Encrypt"
                txtEncrypted.Text = cryp.Encrypt(txtClear.Text, "my passwword")
                txtClear.Clear()
                btnExecute.Text = "Decrypt"
            Case "Decrypt"
                txtClear.Text = cryp.Decrypt(txtEncrypted.Text, "my passwword")
                txtEncrypted.Clear()
                btnExecute.Text = "Encrypt"
        End Select

    End Sub

End Class

Public Class Crypto

    Private salt As String = "mySaltString"
    Private hash As String = "SHA1"
    Private ivec As String = "@1B2c3D4e5F6g7H8"

    Private keysize As Integer = 256
    Private numiter As Integer = 2

    Private saltBytes() As Byte = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(salt)
    Private ivecBytes() As Byte = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(ivec)

    Public Function Encrypt(ByVal clearText As String, passPhrase As String) As String

        Dim textBytes() As Byte = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(clearText)
        Dim password As New PasswordDeriveBytes(passPhrase, saltBytes, hash, numiter)
        Dim keyBytes() As Byte = password.GetBytes(keysize \ 8)
        Dim symmKey As New RijndaelManaged()

        symmKey.Mode = CipherMode.CBC

        Dim encryptor As ICryptoTransform = symmKey.CreateEncryptor(keyBytes, ivecBytes)

        Dim memoryStream As New MemoryStream()
        Dim cryptoStream As New CryptoStream(memoryStream, …

You may also want to have a look at this code snippet.

The easiest way to separate out numbers delimited by one or more blanks is with a regular expression. Here is a sample

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions

Public Class Form1

    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

        Dim rex As New Regex("[0-9]+")
        Dim line As String = "   123     45    67   89   "

        For Each m As Match In rex.Matches(line)
            Debug.WriteLine(m.Value)
        Next

    End Sub

End Class

The expression [0-9]+ matches the longest possible string of digits. This works whether the delimiters are blanks, commans, or whatever. The caveat is that this works only on integers. If you want to include numbers with a decimal point use the pattern [0-9\.]+. To allow for an optional leading sign use [-+]*[0-9\.]+.

I have completed a tutorial on BitTorrent Sync 2.0 which shows how to set up sync between two computers on the same network (the only configuration I can test at the moment). By the end of September I should be able to test a configuration between to separate networks (computers behind separate routers/firewalls).

The tutorial is currently awaiting editorial review. When it is released you will find it under

Hardware & Software
    Networking

I had just finished reading a rather long article on a topic I find interesting. It had to do with the destruction of local community due to the increasing number of people who would rather "connect" via facebook, twitter, texting, anyway, it seems, other than in person. Whem I am in a restaurant I see people at tables who would rather text than converse with others at the same table. I was recently at Carnegie Hall listening to a magnificent new composition by a Hungarian composer. From the balcony I couldn't help but notice several people who had their faces buried in their iPads. Sad. Here at the cottage on Lake Shebandowan we used to have a connected community with frequent social functions at the community centre. That has come to an end, mostly because the younger generation no longer feels connected to the community.

Yes, my comment may have been not to your liking but it was prompted by these recent experiences. Obviously I also make use of technology to connect to people beyond my immediate sphere but I limit it pretty much to this forum. I do not pretend that Facebook Friends are the same as real friends.

My closing phrase "you should try it" was, on reflection, not entirely appropriate and I apologize for that. But I think you might have been a little more eloquent in expressing your opinion than just calling me an a$$hole.

OK. It took me 15 minutes to set up a BitTorrent Sync on two laptops. And that includes taking screen shots. I'm working on putting it all together in a tutorial. I should have something posted today or tomorrow.

I actually talk to people. You should try it.

One thing we'd be well rid of is the automated trading on the stock exchange. We've seen the abuses where algorithms are used to trade ahead by microseconds thereby robbing the system of a billion here and there and adding nothing of value.

And some sort of version control history for when things go wrong?

There is an option that when selected will archive deleted/modified files in a sub-folder for 30 days before being deleted. There is no other versioning built in, however, it would be easy to add on some type of cooperative locking such as renaming a file in use like

somefile.txt
somefile.txt.jim

which would indicate that user jim has "locked" a file for exclusive use. All other users would see that and know the intent, but the file would still be available for all to see. It could be done manually, or a small vb GUI could be easily written to handle it.

I'm basing all of this only on what I have read. I have not actually set up an instance to play with although I may even be able to try this at the cottage without worrying about using up my bandwidth, based on the fact that it uses the shortest path for syncing which would keep all of the traffic local.

I've already started work on the tutorial.

That happens with technology. At first it is a convenience, then we become dependent on it. Think about modern agriculture. We are so dependent on non-sustainable techniques that we will eventually be unable to feed everyone (and I'm not talking just third world countries). What happens when antibiotics are no longer effective? What would we do if vaccinations were no longer available. We'd be one plague away from the total collapse of civilization.

Does anyone recall a BBC sesries from the 70s called Survivors? I thought it was an excellent depiction of a post-plague society in miniature.

As for the internet, what about if we just lost the ability to phone?

Just a thought, are all family members on the same local network (inside the same firewall/attached to the same router)? If that's the case, why not just invest in a common drive with its own IP address that you can all access?

I can't do this until the end of the summer when I return home but perhaps I could set up a BitTorrent Sync on my home systems and write up a tutorial on the installation/maintenance. Would that be of any interest to you?

I strongly suggest you use Parameterized Queries. For one thing, you won't have to worry about adding appropriate field delimiters and names containing single quotes (like O'Brien) will be automatically adjusted so that they insert properly. Lacking that I suggest the following format to make it easier to read what you have coded.

cmd.CommandText = "Insert into Employee values(" &
                  "'" & Cmbgender.Text & "'," &
                  "'" & CmbTittle.Text & "'," &
                  "'" & Txtname.Text & "'," &
                  "'" & Txtsurname.Text & "'," &
                  "'" & Dateofbirth.Text & "'," & 
                  "'" & TxtPhysicalAddress1.Text & "'," & 
                  "'" & TxtPhysicalAddress2.Text & "'," &
                  "'" & Cmbcountry.Text & "'," & 
                  "'" & Txtprovince.Text & "'," & 
                  "'" & Txtcity.Text & "'," & 
                  "'" & CmbEmpType.Text & "'," &
                  "'" & ComboBox1.Text & "'," &
                  "'" & TxtEmail.Text & "'," &
                  "'" & Txtphone.Text & "'," &
                  "'" & Txtusername.Text & "'," &
                  "'" & Txtpassword.Text & "'," &
                  "'" & Hiredate.Text.ToString & "')"

However, the proper format for an insert would include the field names. The format for that is (and I am assuming you meant Title rather than Tittle)

cmd.CommandText = "INSERT INTO Employee (Gender, Title, Name, " &
                  "  Surname, DateOfBirth, PyhsicalAdress1, " &                                 "  PhysicalAddress2, Country, Province, City, " &
                  "  EmpType, Box, Email, Phone, " &
                  "  UserName, Password, HireDate) " & 
                  " VALUES(" &
                  "'" & Cmbgender.Text & "'," &
                  "'" & CmbTitle.Text & "'," &
                  "'" & Txtname.Text & "'," & …

By default, the Excel app is open invisible. It will only show if you set Visible to True.

I've mentioned arrays before. To set the column headers you might do

Dim headers() As String = {"Prop ID", "Arrival Date", "Departure Date",
                           "Booking Date", "Room Type", "Rate Plan",
                           "Rate", "Payment Type", "Guest Name", "Group",
                           "Source"}

For col As Integer = 0 To UBound(headers)
    xlWorkSheet.Cells(1, col + 1) = headers(col)
Next

I'd try this out locally but there are too many things missing. You have a number of variables such as propertyNo bookingDate and saveRestran, not to mention a few control variables like newResOnly that just cause the whole thing to fall apart.

I realize that but

Dim num As Integer = CInt(some string)
Dim pt1 As Integer = num Mod 1000
Dim pt2 As Integer = num \ 1000

is clearer than substringing since it's a numerical problem, and you don't have to account for varying numbers of digits (and calculating string lengths and offsets). The code could be put into a Function which would also check to make sure the string is an integer value.

Incidentally, the advantage of SpiderOak over DropBox is that encryption/decryption with SpiderOak is done at your computer whereas with DropBox it is done at the server meaning that with SpiderOak your files cannot be decrypted by the service provider based on a court order. Your files are more secure with SpiderOak.

The advantages of Bittorrent Sync are

1. Your files are never on a server in the "cloud".
2. You are not held hostage by the service provider changing the terms of service.
3. Synching works faster the more computers you add to the sync.

Just a thought - I think you would be better off parsing the numbers as integers rather than strings. To get the two "parts" of a number you can do

num Mod 1000   'for num = 98765 this results in 765
num \ 1000     'for num = 98765 this results in 98

This works for any positive integer and you don't have to worry about substring errors.

The flight simulator was in the building that the plane crashed into.

In 2014 three people died in a plane crash while in a flight simulator. A plane flew into the building killing them and the pilot. Source

You might want to have a look at BitTorrent Sync. It will sync data between computers without requiring a server in the cloud. Your data never appears anywhere but the source/target computers.

I wrote a tutorial on How to Use BackGroundWorker to Create Threads that should help. Have a look and if you have any follow-up questions feel free to ask here.

In 2002, The US passed The American Service-Members' Protection Act which would authorize the United States to invade the Netherlands in order to prevent prosecution of US military personnel by the International Criminal Court.

Source

I think that is the better choice. My feeling is that vb.net is gradually being phased out on favour of C#. Python is always a good chooice regardless but C# is easier (because of visual studio) for building GUI based apps.

Hackers Remotely Kill a Jeep on the Highway - With Me in It.

On TV (and in the movies) a gun silencer reduces the sound of a gunshot to not much more than a "click" or "phhht". In actuality, silencers reduce the sound by about 30 dB which is about the same reduction offered by ear protection at a firing range. A typical super-sonic round produces 160-180 dB while a sub-sonic round produces 147-160 db. Using a silencer reduces this to (minimally) 130 and 117 dB respectively. A police siren clocks in at 100-140 dB so the "silent whisper" you see on TV is completely bogus.

Titanic is considered the highest grossing movie of all time, however, when you adjust for inflation (using the same dollars) the top grossing list looks like this (domestic gross only)

$1,640,602,400 1939 - Gone With the Wind 
$1,446,331,100 1977 - Star Wars (Episode IV)
$1,156,412,900 1965 - The Sound of Music  
$1,151,857,200 1982 - E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial 
$1,100,052,700 1997 - Titanic 
$1,063,720,000 1956 - The Ten Commandments 
$1,040,000,000 1975 - Jaws 
$1,007,979,900 1965 - Dr. Zhivago 
  $898,065,200 1973 - The Exorcist 
  $885,080,000 1937 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 
  $811,328,100 1961 - 101 Dalmatians 
  $797,226,800 1980 - The Empire Strikes Back 
  $795,760,000 1959 - Ben-Hur 
  $789,712,800 2009 - Avatar 
  $763,762,400 1983 - Return of the Jedi 
  $746,406,300 1993 - Jurassic Park 
  $733,334,000 1999 - Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 
  $723,868,900 1994 - The Lion King 
  $723,840,000 1973 - The Sting  
  $718,837,500 1981 - Raiders Of The Lost Ark 

Source

The problem is that the loudest journalism in America is generally saying the least.

John Oliver (Last Week Tonight)

Start your own religion. I hear there's big money in that. It's like the ultimate vapor-ware product.

If the government outlaws tactical nuclear missiles then only criminals will have tactical nuclear missiles.

That should point out exactly how insane the "if the government outlaws guns..." argument is. By definition, if the government outlaws anything then only criminals will possess it. Otherwise what would be the point of having any laws?

Sometimes I feel like we're heading to the plot in the movie Idiocracy.

Anyone can buy a gun. In some states, open carry, even of assault rifles in airports is protected. Every response to gun deaths is to further relax gun laws. In the mean time you can get 20 years for posession (in most states) of a plant that is responsible for no deaths.

Sex is being pushed in your faces almost 24x7 by all facets of mass media yet the fraction of a second of a glimpse of a nipple throws the entire country into a tailspin and wastes court time and resources for over four years. In the mean time it is quite permissible to show ever increasing amounts of violence and gore on TV because, unlike nipples, violence and gore never twisted anyone's mind.

Heading to the plot? I think that ship sailed long ago.

I recommend that you use something like Microsoft Word (which does have grammar correction) to compose your posts, then use copy/paste to submit the post.

Source

The universe is once again unfolding as it should.

No scientific consensus on GMO safety

Note two of the comments

Rigorous studies investigating the safety of GM crops and foods would normally involve, inter alia, animal feeding studies in which one group of animals is fed GM food and another group is fed an equivalent non-GM diet. Independent studies of this type are rare, but when such studies have been performed, some have revealed toxic effects or signs of toxicity in the GM-fed animals.

Among the animal feeding studies and reviews of such studies in the list, a substantial number found toxic effects and signs of toxicity in GM-fed animals compared with controls.

The first is called Funeral March of the Marionettes. It's amazing how hearing that can take me right back to that time.

<edit>
Funeral March of a Marionette by Charles Gounod.
</edit>

Some friends were recently discussing TV theme songs/scores. We are all old enough to remember when theme music lasted longer than 10 seconds. I thought it would be interesting to get some input from the Daniweb community. My top three favourite TV themes are:

1. Man In a Suitcase by Ron Grainer
2. The Avengers by Laurie Johnson
3. Peter Gunn by Henry Mancini

Honorable mention goes to Perry Mason by Fred Steiner

Ron Grainer, by the way, was also the composer for the themes for the shows The Prisoner and Dr. Who. These scores were good enough that I would gladly sit through the entire closing credits just to hear the music.

I never claimed that the liver was the only organ that helps to cleanse the body of harmful "stuff". Yes, the kidneys play an important role as well. The whole point was not to get mired down in minutiae. The point is that we have been pumping toxic chemicals into the environment for decades and to claim that these chemicals are harmless is to deny decdes of science that says otherwise.

You have to add adodb as a .NET reference to your project and do

Imorts ADODB

TextBox.Text values are strings and should be tested/converted to numeric before trying a calculation. Either that or the operation should be done within a Try/Catch block.

"clearing" is not the same as detoxifying, detoxifying is making something toxic not be toxic anymore which rarely happens in the body

Detoxification (detox for short)[1] is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including, but not limited to, the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Source

de·tox·i·fi·ca·tion (dē-tŏk′sə-fĭ-kā′shən) n.

1. The process of detoxifying.
2. The state or condition of being detoxified.
3. Physiology The metabolic process by which the toxic qualities of a poison or toxin are reduced by the body.
4. A medically supervised treatment program for alcohol or drug dependence designed to purge the body of intoxicating or addictive substances.
   Source

de·tox·i·fy (dē-tŏk′sə-fī′) v.

1. To counteract or destroy the toxic properties of a substance.
2. To remove the effects of poison from something, such as the blood.
3. To treat a person for alcohol or drug dependence, usually under a medically supervised program designed to rid the body of intoxicating or addictive substances.
   Source

And I'll add (again) this from How The Liver Works from The Canadian Liver Foundation

Cleanses blood:

metabolizing alcohol and other drugs and chemicals,
neutralizing and destroying poisonous substances.

By definition, the liver is a critical part of the body's mechanisms to detoxify itself.

The body does not "detoxify" things.

detoxify: v - remove toxic substances or qualities from.

If your body was not able to to detoxify itself you would die from the eventual buildup of toxic substances. Among the many functions of the liver are:

• Conversion of harmful ammonia to urea (urea is one of the end products of protein metabolism that is excreted in the urine)

• Clearing the blood of drugs and other harmful substances

That is the very definition of detoxify.

The synthetic chemicals in food and the environment are so low they can't cause damage anyway.

Pesticides aside, fracking alone uses 600 different chemicals in the fracking fluid, including known carcinogens and toxins such as lead, benzene, uranium, radium, methanol, mercury, hydrochloric acid, ethylene glycol and formaldehyde. These all go into the environment, often directly into the drinking water. Can you explain to me how tap water that can be set on fire has contaminents that are "so low they can't cause damage anyway"?

In 2011, the New York Times reported that it obtained thousands of internal documents from the EPA, state regulators and fracking companies, which reveal that "the wastewater, which is sometimes hauled to sewage plants not designed to treat it and then discharged into rivers that supply drinking water, contains radioactivity at levels higher than previously known, and far higher than the level that federal regulators say is safe for these treatment plants to handle."

A chronic kidney disease epidemic has …

A 2014 study links glyphosate to 22 different diseases. The current hypothesis is that because glyphosate interferes with the body's ability to detoxify itself, exposure to the numerous chemicals in food and the environment, such as endocrine disrupting chemicals and carcinogens, could be causing levels of damage that would not occur if the body were able to detoxify them.

Monsanto modifies crops to be ever more resistant to Roundup in order to combat weeds that are evolving to be more resistant to Roundup. The result is that each year, increasing amounts of Roundup (and therefore glyphosates) are being released into the environment.

Although perhaps the best evidence is that pretty much all farm animals in the USA eat some GMOs in their feed (be it alfalfa, soybeans, or corn) and no body has noticed an increase in any kind of illness or decrease in health amongst those millions of animals.

Keep in mind that it is in the best interest of industry to not report health problems with their animals. If you had several thousand head of cattle and one tested positive for BSE, your entire herd would be worthless. Several states (US) now have laws in place making it illegal for whistle-blowers to reveal problems of this nature.

if the gene product is already eaten by people in different crops it should be assumed safe and have minimal testing required,

I'm not sure I understand. Are you taking the position that "you can't …