Tips & Tricks

145 posts

Identifier is null or empty error when adding stored procedure in entity framework data model

You can add database tables and stored procedures in your Entity Framework data model, but you may encounter an ArgumentException error in Visual Studio when adding a stored procedure: An exception of type ‘System.ArgumentException’ occurred while attempting to update from the database. The exception message is: ‘Identifier is null or empty’ The error message is confusing because the actual cause of this error is that the stored procedure does not have a return value. In […]

Session Cookie Does Not Contain the “Secure” Attribute

Recently we scanned one of our web applications by two famous source code analysis tools: Qualy’s Web Application Scanning tool and HPE’s Fortify Static Code Analyzer, but the results are different. Qualy’s WAS picked up one XSS security vulnerability and two information disclosure warnings, but HPE’s Fortify didn’t find anything vulnerable. It would be interesting to find out why, but I am not gonna cover that today. Today I would like to talk about one […]

How to add days, months, and years to a date in JavaScript

Several years ago I wrote a post about how to add days, months, and years in JavaScript, and it was a quick-and-dirty workaround for a project and I didn’t pay much attention to value checking when writing the JavaScript function. For example, if the old date is 07/19/2017 and you need to know what date it is after adding 25 days, the JavaScript function will throw an error because 07/44/2017 is not a valid date […]

HP Envy laptop black screen after BIOS update

I have a habit of keeping my computer system as up-to-date as possible, including Windows updates and hardware drivers, so when I noticed there is a new version of BIOS for my HP Envy laptop the other day, I started the update process right away without giving much thought about the potential danger of updating the BIOS. The download of the BIOS update utility was smooth and the update process completed without interruption. Supposedly, the computer should reboot […]

Selected boot image did not authenticate error after rolling back Windows Insider update

If you are in the Windows Insider Program and later on decided to opt out, you can choose to roll back to the last stable release you installed. However, the rollback may cause a very annoying error as show in the screenshot above: Selected boot image did not Authenticate. Press <Enter> to Continue. When you press <Enter>, you computer will shut down and the error repeats when you restart your computer. Based on my investigation, […]

Linux Mint running in software rendering mode on VirtualBox

In my previous posts, I introduced two Linux distros for new users: Zorin OS and elementary OS. Zorin OS provides a Windows-like interface and elementary OS provides a macOS-like interface, with the hope of making both Windows users and macOS users feel less intimidated when switching to Linux. According to the Linux distro watch, both Zorin OS and elementary OS are getting popular. In 2016, Zorin was ranked No. 7 while elementary was ranked No. […]

How to play Pokémon GO the smart way

Since its initial release on July 6, 2016, Pokémon Go has generated more than $1 billion of revenue worldwide, according to Sensor Tower. You might be curious how Pokémon GO make money because there is no ads in the game. Well, it makes money via the in-app purchase. Like all the other mobile games with in-app purchase option, you can play and enjoy the game totally free, but if you want to level up and get […]

Regedit in Windows 10: error writing the value’s new contents

The Windows Registry is a critical and essential part of the Windows operating system and stores low-level settings for both the OS and the applications, such as device drivers, services, security settings, and so on. It is intended for advanced and experienced users to modify the system especially when there is no other way to do it,  because modifying Windows Registry may cause your Windows system not to operate and even crash. Therefore, normal users are […]

Sumsang Galaxy S6 fingerprint scanner finds no match and how to fix it

You probably already know that fingerprint does not provide the maximum security for locking your smartphone, but it is better than PIN or pattern, and it is very convenient especially when you need to unlock your phone quickly. A side note, however, is that fingerprint is NOT protected by the Fifth Amendment, so if you don’t want the law enforcement or the government to peek into your smartphone, then do NOT use fingerprint to unlock […]

[Fix] LG G3 blue screen of death and fix

I never imaged that Android has blue screen of death until my son handed to me his LG G3 smartphone with a blue screen of death. And after several seconds, the blue screen disappeared and the phone went “dead” and would not respond to any buttons, including long-holding the power button. After I opened up the phone case, take out the battery, and put it back, I was able to turn the phone on, but immediately […]