iTunes software update – Network connection timeout

I wanted to update my new iPhone with a new version. Things seemed to be running fine. But when the download was finished I got this error:

"There was a problem downloading the iPhone software for the iPhone. The network connection timed out"

I tried running the update for several more times with no luck and exactly the same “Network connection timeout” error.

Finally, I got that the problem was due to the fact I was using Kaspersky Anti Virus. Pausing Kaspersky and running the update again solved the problem. I assume other anti viruses might cause the same problem.

Rename all files from one extension to another using DOS command line

I was looking for a fast way of massively renaming files from one extension to another. Apparently, DOS command line was pretty handy solving this issue.

For example, in order to rename all the files with extension “jpg” to “test” on the directory named “C:\My Pics” you should do:

ren "C:\My Pics\*.jpg" *.test

This is how it looks on the DOS command line:

Disable password complexity on Windows 2008 Server

Windows 2008 server enforces by default a pretty hard restrictive policy for defining user passwords. Actually, it is so hard, that after 15 minutes of trying to define a new password I simply gave up. Instead, I simply disabled the password complexity requirements.

Here is how you can easily disable password complexity on Windows 2008 Server:

First, you have to load a program named “gpedit”. Press on Windows “Start” button, and on the text box write: “gpedit.msc”. This is how it should look:

When “gpedit” is loaded, on the tree, go to: Computer Configuration –> Windows Settings –> Security Settings –> Account Policies –> Password Policy. This is how it looks:

On the right pane, you will see list of policies. Search for a policy named: “Password must meet complexity requirments”. It should be “Enabled”. In order to disable it, double click on the policy. A dialog will open:

Choose: “Disabled” value and press “OK”. That’s it. Now you will be able easily define/change passwords on Windows 2008 server.

EXIF Eraser – Free EXIF/IPTC/XMP erasing software

A long time ago, I was using Delphi to write all of my software. I think Delphi was and still is the best choice for rapidly developing Windows UI applications (though I have to admit, I have superficial familiarity with Visual Basic and C#, that I believe are also good candidates for Windows UI development). The biggest problem with Delphi, is that you have to write in Pascal, which is kind of an anachronistic language.

Anyway, a month ago, I decided It will be a nice thing, to have a look at Delphi again, and check what way it did along the years I left it. I downloaded the latest Delphi version from http://www.embarcadero.com/, which I believe is currently the company that maintains and develops the future of Delphi. Back then, Delphi was strongly identified with Borland. I was surprised to find, that things didn’t changed much along the years. Many features of modern IDEs were added, but the main idea was pretty much identical.

In order to refresh my Delphi development skills, I decided to write a small utility program, that wipes EXIF, IPTC and XMP meta data from image files. EXIF (Exchangeable Image File) data is a record of what camera settings were used to take a photograph. This data is recorded into the actual image file. Therefore each photograph has its own unique data. EXIF data stores information like camera model, exposure, aperture, ISO, what camera mode was used and whether or not a flash fired. IPTC and XMP are also additional meta data that are attached to image files.

I named the utility: Free EXIF Eraser. The nice thing is, that it deletes EXIF, IPTC and XMP meta data without doing any modifications to the original image. That means, the quality of the original image is kept untouched.

It was so fun and easy to get back to Delphi development, that I decided to put a bit more effort on my small utility: I dedicated for it a special domain and created a home page. If you need a small and lightweight utility, that will easily erase EXIF, IPTC and XMP meta data, you can check: http://www.exiferaser.com