Convert VHS mpg files to mp4 to import in DaVinci Resolve

I recently got my hands on a bunch of mpg files ripped from VHS cassettes (32 files spanning 157 GB), and I wanted to edit them with DaVinci Resolve. To my surprise, mpg files are not supported, so I had to convert them. I choose to use FFmpeg and convert them into H.264/MPEG-4 AVC compression format with Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) using the following command:

Genomics in Azure

Genomics analysis is an interesting field that has high computational and storage requirements. On top of that, there are compliance requirements, especially if the analysis happens on top of patient clinical data. This makes genomic research activities great candidates to run in an compliant elastic cloud, non other than Azure cloud which even has the recent NEN 7510 standard that is a mandatory requirement for all Netherland organizations that process patient health information.

Network link is disconnected

You get a new device that has a 1Gb ethernet card (mine has the I219-LM) and you start getting random network disconnects. Been there and it is frustrating. There are a couple of reasons why this could happen (faulty drivers, faulty hardware, more than 100m from router) but in my case, it was a faulty cable that was easily identified with a ethernet cable continuity checker.

Remove unknown locale qaa-Latn from windows

Got a fresh window 10 installation where I configure US keyboard as default and added Greek as well (the language with π and Σ symbols). I noticed that when I was switching languages a 3rd locale (qaa-Latn) appeared in the list which I couldn't remove from the windows list. In my case the keyboard was emitting Greek characters but the windows spelling couldn't recognize the words. In order to remove the extra locale I had to use the following powershell.

Set proxy for command line in windows

 Ever wanted to force tools like curl and az cli to pass their traffic through a proxy while running them in cmd.exe?

Set the following environment variables and netsh will automatically pick up them and use them for all network connectivity.

Download new chromium based edge via powershell

If you ever need to download the stable version of the chromium based Edge via powershell, you can use the following one liner:

# Stable
# Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://c2rsetup.officeapps.live.com/c2r/downloadEdge.aspx?ProductreleaseID=Edge&platform=Default&version=Edge&source=EdgeStablePage&Channel=Stable&language=en" -OutFile "EdgeSetup.exe"
# Dev
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://c2rsetup.officeapps.live.com/c2r/downloadEdge.aspx?ProductreleaseID=Edge&platform=Default&version=Edge&source=EdgeStablePage&Channel=Dev&language=en" -OutFile "EdgeSetup.exe"

Fixing an old Wordpress plugin to run on PHP 7

You should always update your CMS engine and individual plugins. Unfortunately this is not always possible especially when you have a non actively maintained website and you've used commercial theme or plugins.

In my case, I had to deal with an old Wordpress site which was updated but was still running on an older PHP version 5.6.40. Changing the PHP version  on the server to 7.3, the site broke with a sneaky Call to undefined function mysql_error() on the frontend and [] operator not supported for strings on the admin area. Both errors were caused from a plugin installed by the theme which doesn't support auto updates. More specifically Revslider 4.6.0 which looks like it was used by various themes in the past.
I had no other option but to try and fix them manually since I couldn't downgrade to older PHP version anymore nor invest more resource to change/update the theme and plugins.