The Amigo's musings

Expiring email? no, not really

2007-07-27T01:33:00.000-05:00

After reading this article, I feel obligated to point out the total lack of features provided by such services. It's worse than providing people with something useless, it's providing people with a false sense of security.

The sales pitch
Here's a couple of choice quotes from BigString's about page and FAQ:

"BigString’s emails look and feel like any other emails that you get"
"If the sender chooses the non-print/non-save feature, then the email, while looking like every other email, will print nothing when the receiver clicks print on the computer and show nothing if the receiver tries to save the text or image.

How it works
BigString (or maybe we'll just call them BS for short) doesn't just send the words you type, that would leave the recipient with total control (as is the case for regular email). Instead, they make a picture of your words, store that picture on their web server and send an HTML email that has an embedded link to that picture.

Myth #1: BS messages look & feel like other email messages.

Most mail clients (including Outlook 2003+, Thunderbird, Yahoo Mail and Gmail) don't display images unless you ask them to. This is largely due to the prevalence of so called web bugs and the use of linked images in spam. Since the entire content of the message sent from BS is images, most readers will end up with something like this:
As far as BS claim #1, it doesn't look like other email I receive. Even after clicking to show images, it doesn't feel like other email I receive... the text doesn't wrap to my window width (obviously, because it's an image, it can't).

Myth #2: Can't save, print, copy or forward email
Since they're hosting the image on their server, they do have some control. Primarily, they can delete the image from their server so that it won't show up anymore. Does that make it hard to save, print, copy or forward? Well, if you use the buttons in your email client, the way you would for normal email, you'll find that messages do disappear. But due to the initial display as shown in the screenshot above, you've already been tipped off that this isn't a normal message.

There are two one-click methods that anyone receiving such a message can do to preserve the content:

Hit the PrintScreen key - It's been a built-in feature of Windows since Win95... just a single press and the entire contents of your screen are on the clipboard. You can then easily paste that into something like Paint (comes with Windows), a word processor, and even some email clients (e.g. Thunderbird). Tools like ScreenPrint32 and Directory Opus make the task even easier.
When viewing the message in a web browser (using Firefox or IE to check your Gmail or Yahoo mail), you can right-click on the message content and choose Set As Desktop Background.

Those may not be as convenient as saving a regular email, but it shows how easy it is for someone else to permanently save your message before it self destructs.

Looks to me like this message hasn't really expired. Not only that, but I've managed to copy it and post it for the world to see... a bit more wide-spread than forwarding it. You can even print it.

Other problems with BS:

I download all my mail before getting on a plane and compose replies that I'll send when I get off. Having messages from someone that show up as broken image icons means they get thrown in the trash... guess that person didn't really want me to see the message.
Email messages that are comprised solely of images are typically spam... meaning that spam filters are likely to catch mail from BS.
The only text in the messages sent from BS is "This email has been through a Virus, Spam and Spyware email filter." That's really reassuring! I bet no virus author would ever think of including that bit of text in their email. I think I need to re-iterate one of my previous points: BS is doing its customers a dis-service... it's providing them a false sense of security.

Is there a workable solution?
Well, in general, if you can see it on your screen, you can save it. Can a program try to stop you? Sure, but it's a losing battle:

Stopping the right-click menu:
It's possible for JavaScript code to block the right-click menu in web browsers. But browsers have the final say in what they allow. For example, in Firefox, got to Tools->Options->Content and next to "Enable JavaScript", click Advanced... Uncheck the box that allows scripts to "Disable or replace context menus".

Stopping the PrintScreen key:
A message could be delivered as an executable that prevents use of the PrintScreen key. Forgetting for a moment that you've just made the message unreadable to all but one operating system and broken one of the cardinal rules of email: don't attach executables, many mail gateways won't even bother running a virus scan, they'll just delete the message. How would a recipient work around your clever program that breaks the PrintScreen key? The word camera comes to mind here...

My proposal
How do you make messages are easy for a person to read, but hard to save/print/forward/copy? Well, you have to make some sacrifices. In particular, you have to loosen up on the "easy for a person to read" part... how about starting with "possible for a person to read and no more inconvenient than necessary".

If I wanted to prevent people from using the PrintScreen key, then I'd have to make sure that it wasn't just a way of disabling the key on the keyboard... it has to be something that a camera can't capture either. The best way to do that is to make it be interactive.

The simplest interface I can think of is this:

You open your inbox and have a message from me. It reads:

"You have been sent a secret message by The Amigo. To read the message, click here."

You click the link and it's a web page that uses Flash.
The message is black text on a black background. Your mouse works like a flashlight that will only illuminate the text close to the pointer.

It's far from perfect. If someone sent me a long message that way I hope they wouldn't expect me to read the whole thing. Meanwhile, instead of a camera, it would take a camcorder. Instead of PrintScreen, it would take screen recording software. It is harder for the user to capture, and you can easily dress it up with a cloak & dagger theme to add to the experience.

Bottom line: self-destructing email isn't. If you believe in it, your worse case may be similar to Michael Crooker, who believed Compaq when they said even they couldn't decrypt a secure hard drive.

Logitech MX1000 mouse locking problem solved

2007-04-10T14:24:00.000-05:00

So here's a problem that many people have posted about: "My mouse keeps locking up". The first thing to clear up is that there isn't a single solution to this problem.

Some people have found that they have a loose wire in their cord (mine is cordless).
Others have found viruses on their computer (mine's clean).

My setup: WinXP+SP2, using a Logitech MX1000 mouse. I really like the mouse, although I wish the drivers were more flexible. I'd like to customize what the thumb buttons do to be different based on which application has the focus. AutoHotKey goes a long way toward helping.

Anyway, after about 2 years of working great, it started locking up. Whenever it would happen, I'd have to turn the mouse upside down, flip the switch off, then back on. It didn't require re-syncing with the base station. Sometimes it would go for 2 days without locking, other times it would happen only 30 seconds apart. It was very frustrating.

When I started paying closer attention, I found that it would happen more often while moving faster, and more often when dragging windows from the right monitor to the left. But not all the time. Eventually I figured out that it wasn't where on the screen the mouse was moving, but somewhat related to that, it was dependent on where on the mousepad I was moving the mouse!

Having used the same mousepad for almost 2 years, there's a spot that's lost its texture and become smooth. If I move the mouse too fast over that spot, the mouse will lock... every time.

The solution was simple, yet totally unexpected: replace the mousepad! Since then, it's been working perfectly without locking at all.

15% Motorola discount

2007-02-27T17:35:00.000-06:00

Here's a coupon code you can use for a 15% discount on some Motorola products:

FRND_59397 (valid through March 21, 2007)

The Motorola store is online here: http://www.store.motorola.com where you can find things like cell phones, headsets, chargers and more. Use the coupon code above for a 15% discount.

You can buy some things there that you can't get from the carriers, such as unlocked GSM phones. If you've already got service with a carrier, you can buy a phone from Motorola without any contract, but the price will be more. The cheapest prices are almost always for new customers who sign contracts with carriers.

HOWTO: Remove a Sharpie marker stain from an LCD

2006-07-19T21:18:00.000-05:00

There are some solutions for life's little mishaps which you hope you never need. But when one of these unfortunate situations presents itself, it's nice to know that there is an answer.

It all started yesterday.
My girlfriend wrote me a note. At this point, I can't remember the contents of the note, but the circumstances surrounding the delivery are unforgettable. Ensuring prompt delivery, she put it on my computer keyboard. As I approached the computer, I see the note. I pick it up to read it and my other hand instinctively moves the mouse to wake up the computer. That's when I saw it... exactly in the middle of my pristine 20-inch LCD is a 1" long black streak. Staring at it in disbelief, I try to brush it off with my finger. It doesn't budge. That's when I put the scene together: the note was written with a Sharpie. The same Sharpie she reached for a week ago when I told her "this is for labeling CDs, use a pen for writing."

Needless to say, I wasn't happy. Rather than yell at her and get all worked up about it, I did a bit of googling (BTW, that's an official English word now). The Internet's a big place; lucky for me. I'm not the first person to face this problem. Although, a more common example is the intro: "My 2 year old son got hold of a Sharpie and..."

Like having the hiccups, people will give you all manner of advice. The trick is sorting out the people who are just guessing from the people who know. For all the proposals, I didn't see anyone say they'd tried them. Maybe they just wanted to see someone else try. Cross-referencing the list of what gets out Sharpie stains with a list of what not to use on an LCD, it came down to isopropyl alcohol.

The Solution.
A trip to the local drug store and $1.79 later, I had a bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol. Grabbing a cotton ball and inverting the bottle to wet it, I was ready to test the theory. Turns out it works amazingly well. It's nearly impossible to tell that there was ever a problem.

The remnant of the mark is now much less noticeable than a Trinitron line. In fact, if you were here looking at my screen now and I didn't tell you where it was, you'd be hard-pressed to find it.
Click the image for a full-size closeup.

Kudos to the Internet which has once again helped a soul in need find that hard-to-find tidbit of knowledge.

How to run a secure wireless network

2006-06-01T22:04:00.000-05:00

The Goal: You want your users to have secure remote access to your network.

The Problem: All the existing wireless encryption protocols are insufficient. A quick google search will turn up cracking tools for WEP, LEAP, WPA and WPA2... they've all been broken.

Well, now you're thinking, "If they're all broken, why are they so popular?" They're not completely useless. For the average home user, it's simple to turn on WPA in their access point and on their laptop. They're not completely secure, but it keeps their casual neighbors out (there are plenty of easier targets out there).

But for a corporate network, using any of the encryption built-in to an access point is foolishly insecure. The reason that it's so easy to break those types of encryption is that they're very weak. That's not an accident. They have to be simple, and not require much processing power so as not to over-burden the poor little embedded processor in access points and Wi-Fi cards. Those low-powered chips just can't keep up with a full-strength encryption algorithm.

The Solution: Most corporate networks already have a means of allowing users to login from home (or elsewhere) across the insecure Internet... a VPN. Those VPNs have much stronger encryption because they're making use of a full-powered CPU to do the hard work. Leveraging that existing infrastructure for wireless users is just a short setup away.

Simply isolate all the Wi-Fi access points onto their own subnet. From that subnet, the only thing the wireless clients are allowed to connect to is the VPN server. Rogue wireless users can ping the VPN server, but failing to login, have full-access to nothing.

Such a setup relies on the same encryption for wireless clients as remote Internet users.

I run my home Wi-Fi almost the same way (with the exception that I allow unauthenticated users access to the Internet). After setting up my home network this way, I was pleasantly surprised at a luncheon event hosted by Counterpane when Bruce Schneier described using the same method.

USB Device Drivers

2006-05-18T22:59:00.000-05:00

I just bought a new scanner. It's the same story you've all been through... check the docs because some USB devices say "Install the CD first" while others say "Connect the device to your computer, then install the CD when prompted for drivers". Neither one is the magic "plug it in and it works" that we were promised when USB first came on the scene.

But why can't it be? I can be. There's an obvious solution. Sure, it takes a little bit of programming, but once it's done, the same solution can be re-used by every manufacturer.

Here's how it works: The USB device (printer, scanner, coffee maker, etc) has some flash memory (in today's ad, Fry's is selling 512M for $2). In that flash memory is everything they would have put on the CD. When you connect the device to your computer, the flash memory shows up as a standard USB mass storage device (just like your USB keychain does). At the same time, when your OS sees the new device, it also has the drivers available. Want an update? The files in flash include a URL to check for updates.

How hard is it? On the technical side, in order for the one physical device to show up as two (mass storage and a printer) it has to claim that it's a USB hub with two devices attached. Yes, it's possible, but nobody's bothered to do it (at least not that I've seen).

Just imagine: You buy a new USB toaster, plug it in and the drivers are installed automatically.

Software Updates

2005-12-11T11:19:00.000-06:00

New things to download:

ForceWare 81.95 - driver for nearly all nVidia cards
WinAMP 5.12 - Mostly bugfix updates.
Skype 2.0.0.43 Beta - New features like video chat
Paint.NET 2.5 - Finally out of beta
Audacity 1.3 beta - Includes a few new features

Audacity 1.2.4 is the new stable release. It doesn't include very many new features, most of the new features are in 1.3 which is still in beta.

And of course, Firefox 1.5 is out. But the bigger question is... are your favorite extensions updated to work with Firefox 1.5. Here's a quick rundown of my extensions and their success with FF 1.5.

Extensions that work fine with 1.5: (should auto-update without issue)

Adblock
Disable Targets For Downloads
DOM Inspector
EditCSS
fireFTP
Flashblock
Forecastfox
FoxyTunes
Gmail Notifier
Greasemonkey
Image Zoom
MediaPlayerConnectivity
Paste And Go
PDF Download
SessionSaver
Sort Extensions
SwitchProxy Tool
Tabbrowser Preferences
Web Developer

Extensions that can work with FF 1.5: (I had to get updates that are not yet available via addons.mozilla.org)

AutoCopy 0.6.0
BugMeNot 0.9
GDirections 0.9.99 (to install, save the download, then drag the .xpi file into FireFox)
Live HTTP headers 0.11
Venkman [aka JavaScript debugger] 0.9.85.jw2 (this is an unofficial hack that makes it somewhat work with FF 1.5)

Extensions that don't yet work with FF 1.5:

Event Spy 0.2.1
View Formatted Source 0.9.3.4

Now that nearly all of my FF extensions work with 1.5, it's worth it for me to upgrade. Are there other extensions you like that aren't on my list? Tell me what you like.

Firefox 1.5 (rc) and extensions

2005-11-05T16:34:00.000-06:00

So you've been using Firefox for a while and have even installed some extensions. Well, get ready for the biggest upgrade since Firefox's initial release. 1.5 will be out very soon, the curious can download the release candidate now. The release notes cover the major new features.

One major concern that's held me back is extension compatibility. I use many extensions in FF and some (but not all) of them have been upgraded to work with FF 1.5 yet. To save you the trouble of upgrading only to find that your favorite extensions don't yet work with FF 1.5, I'm posting my list here.

Extensions that work via automatic update:

Extensions that were intially disabled in FF 1.5:

After a bit of messing around, I got a few more updated:

Notes on the manually-updated extensions:
None of the ones that show as enabled in that last screenshot were able to update automatically... they all needed help of some kind.

Extension	Version	Notes
Flashblock	1.3.3	Tedious to update, see web site. Says that an automatic update will be available when FF 1.5 is released
Image Zoom	0.2	Update available on home page.
Auto Copy	0.6.0	0.6.0 is still in beta and works with 1.5 beta, but not 1.5 rc
SessionSaver .2	0.2.1.030	Update available on home page.
Greasemonkey	0.6.2	Update available on home page.

If there's an extension that you really want to work with FF 1.5, but the author hasn't yet updated it, you can force it to load. This isn't really the best way though (the extensions have version compatibility restrictions for a reason). But if you're willing to risk instability for some cool features, here's what you can do:

Download the .XPI (right-click -> Save as... on the Install link).
Rename the .XPI to .ZIP and open with your favorite zip tool.
Extract install.rdf
Open the install.rdf file in your favorite text editor and find where it says "em:maxVersion" and change the number after it to be the version of FF you're running.
Put the modified install.rdf back in the .ZIP and rename it back to .XPI

The more complex an extension, the greater the chance that it won't work. Since you're not actually checking the code and making any updates, it may really be incompatible with FF 1.5. If that's the case, then you'll have to wait for the extension's author to update it.

Happy browsing and keep an eye out for FF 1.5's imminent release.

Software updates

2005-10-21T15:10:00.000-05:00

Several major updates just came out. Most of them are worth the upgrade, but others should be considered first... I'll keep those seperate.

Update for sure - no reason not to get these

OpenOffice 2.0 - It's finally out of beta and the Windows version now has an installer!
nVidia Forceware 81.85 - Latest video drivers for nearly all current nVidia cards
WinAMP 5.11 - Most bugfixes
WinZip 10 Beta 2 - Adds some features, nothing to get excited about
Skype 1.4.0.78 - Has call forwarding, but still won't pop up the chat window for incoming messages
Ethereal 0.10.13 - Still the best packet sniffer around
Paint.NET 2.5 Beta 4 - More powerful than MSPaint and easier to use than PhotoShop
VMware Player - A free tool that can run existing VM setups created with VMware workstation or server
Thunderbird 1.5 beta 2 - Very stable (I use it all day every day). It's now easy to manage multiple identities per acct (quite handy). For reference, 7 of my 16 extensions work, the others haven't yet been updated, but that's not too bad, TB is quite usable without any extensions.
Flash Player 8 - It may not appear different to the user, but for developers, it's a major change. As they start developing content using the new Flash8, you'll eventually need the player.

Worth considering - some good points, but not shiny-happy all the way 'round

ACDSee 8.0($50 or free trial) - They keep adding more features and it keeps getting slower. Some of those features are very nice and quite powerful. But if you only want a viewer, try ACDSee 3.1 (Irfan view doesn't cache next/prev so scrolling with the wheel is slow)
Firefox 1.5 beta 2 - It's a nice upgrade, but if you depend on extensions, you may want to wait... many extensions aren't yet FF 1.5 compatible. I'm still using 1.0.7 because I'd rather have all 31 extensions work than upgrade to 1.5 and only have some of them. I'll check again when 1.5 is released.

Coming soon - the highlights of what to expect in the next several weeks.

Firefox 1.5 - Drag tabs to reorder, built-in SVG support, many other new features
Thunderbird 1.5 - Spell-check as you type, built-in phishing detection, ability to delete attachments and more

Lost: spoiler alert!

2005-10-19T15:39:00.000-05:00

If you haven't yet seen up through 2x03 "Orientation", finish watching, then come back here. As I write this, I've also seen 2x04, but it doesn't change any of my theory, nor do I spoil that episode.

There are several unexplained things that have been happening on the island. Maybe some of them can be tied together... I now have a theory that explains some key plot points:

How Locke can walk
Why the people in the orientation video were on the boat
Why Walt was abducted and how he appeared to Shannon in the forest


I'm moving away from the alien abduction theory and going with ... they're
in the Matrix!

How can Locke walk?
"Is it really so hard to believe? Your clothes are different. The plugs in
your arms and head are gone. Your hair is changed."
Locke can walk because he's in the matrix.  He's not burdened by "residual
self image"... he wanted to walk and explore so badly that when plugged
into a virtual reality, he envisions himself without the paralysis.

Same people showing up?
The people in the orientation video who started project Dharma showed up on
the boat and kidnapped Walt... they created the matrix and are free to come
and go as they please.  They came and took Walt... they unplugged him.  The
people who were on the raft (Michael, Jin and Sawyer) haven't seen the
video yet... when they do, they'll recognize the kidnappers and that will
bring them one step closer to realizing that there is no spoon.

Why did they take Walt?
"We have a rule.  We never free a mind once it has reached a certain age.
It's dangerous, the mind has trouble letting go."
Walt is still young enough to have a malleable mind.  They're afraid that
he'll quit believing and wake up.  Apparently, he figured out how to
communicate with people on the inside and sent the message to Shannon (her
hallucination).

This all still leaves the questions of how and why.  Are they still on the
plane?  Were they ever on the plane?  Perhaps they're in a simulator at the
Sydney airport.  What exactly do the numbers mean and why are they in
ascending order?  What happens if they don't press the button?  Will they
wake up?  It certainly doesn't explain everything, but I think it's
consistent and doesn't conflict with anything we've seen so far.

Software updates

2005-09-06T13:19:00.000-05:00

Some new minor versions:

nVidia nForce drivers 78.01 - Works for all current nVidia cards on Windows
WinAMP 5.1 - Excellent MP3 & video player
BSplayer 1.36 - Another great video player
OpenSSH 4.2 - If you have to ask what it is, you don't need it :)

Software updates

2005-09-01T13:28:00.000-05:00

Several new betas just came out:

WinZip 10 Beta - It's still not free despite what was posted to Slashdot
OpenOffice 2.0 Beta 2 - Site is down right now so I don't know what's new
Skype 1.4.0.47 Beta - Some new features (e.g. Call forwarding)
Paint .NET 2.2 Alpha 1 - Several new features added (e.g. transparent GIF support)

The next beta of Firefox (1.5 b1) is due out on Sept 8th.

Two sound cards?

2005-07-26T12:59:00.000-05:00

So you're using Skype, right? Well, even if you're not, you may be able to make use of this info in other ways.

Typcially, you'd have a headset handy for making phone calls and speakers for listening to music. It seems to work ok, but it's just a minor inconvenience that you either plugin the headset when making/receiving calls or you leave the headset in all the time, even for music.

There is a better way... two sound cards!
Adding a second sound card, leave the speakers plugged in to the first card and attach the headset to the second card. Leave the original card as the default and set Skype to use the secondary card. In Skype, under Tools -> Options -> Sound Devices, there thre three settings. Audio In, Audio Out and Ringing. Set both Audio In/Out to be your new sound card (the one with the headset). Leave the Ringing set to "Windows default device" that way, you'll hear the ringing sound on your speakers.

That's all there is to it!
Buying a second sound card isn't an expensive addition, shopping at a local computer show or even online, you can find one for < $10. The more expensive sound cards add features like digital output, environmental effects, better midi, higher sampling rates, surround sound, etc and none of those features will help a voice call sound better.

Taking it one step further
If you make a lot of calls from your computer, you'll start to feel tied down by your headset (who doesn't have a cordless phone yet?). There's a solution for that too! BlueTooth. You can find BlueTooth headsets at most electronic stores and cell phone shops. If you have a new laptop, it may already have BT built-in. If not, you can buy a small USB adapter that adds BT to your computer (desktop or laptop). Now you're not tied to your computer by a wire.

Also note that since BT is wireless, you don't need to buy a second sound card.

Have fun Skyping :)

Software updates

2005-07-25T11:30:00.000-05:00

Couple of smallish updates:

Software updates

2005-07-20T11:29:00.000-05:00

Last week's releases of Firefox and Thunderbird 1.0.5 fixed some security holes. Unfortunately, they also broke compatibility with some extensions. The 1.0.6 releases restore compatibility with those extensions.

Software updates

2005-07-14T15:38:00.000-05:00

Most of these updates are pretty small and primarily bugfixes. The Alpha releases are the ones with new features:

Skype 1.3.0.57
SecureCRT 5.0.1
SecureFX 3.0.1
Mozilla Suite 1.7.9 Release Candidate - Close to, if not the end of the suite builds
Firefox 1.0.5 - Security fixes
Thunderbird 1.0.5 - Security fixes
Firefox 1.1 Alpha 2 (Deer Park) - Not yet recommended to replace Firefox 1.0.x, just use for testing.
Thunderbird 1.1 Alpha 2 RC - No, I don't know why it's labeled Alpha and RC... is the real Alpha 2 still to come?

If all the Mozilla/Firefox/Thunderbird versions are too confusing, then just get 1.0.5 of both Firefox and Thunderbird.

Software updates

2005-07-07T09:58:00.000-05:00

Two minor updates:

Software updates

2005-06-30T12:42:00.000-05:00

A couple minor updates, and the long awaited Nvu 1.0.

Nvu 1.0 - The free, Mozilla-based web site editor
Skype 1.3.0.54 - Minor bugfix
GIMP 2.2.8 - Bugfix release

Software updates

2005-06-24T13:35:00.000-05:00

Several new updates this week:

nVidia ForceWare 77.72 - Driver for all nVidia video cards.
DivX 6.0 - video codec (based on MPEG4)
WinAMP 5.093 - minor update
OpenOffice 1.9 m109 - Freeware Office suite
NSIS 2.07 - Installer for Windows
SecureCRT 5.0 - Non-free, but very good telnet/ssh client for windows
SecureFX 3.0 - Non-free, but good ftp/sftp client for windows
Skype 1.3.0.51 - Free VoIP software
BS Player 1.32 - Free video player with some nice features.

WinXP x64: it's not yet ready.

2005-06-23T10:28:00.000-05:00

After much talk, I finally got around to building a new desktop system. I was overdue for an upgrade and this time, I went all out (well, almost). It's a dual Opteron system. With these nice new 64-bit CPUs, I thought I'd give WinXP x64 a try.

MS touts the advantages of 64-bit and how it's faster, supports more RAM and still lets you run all the same 32-bit apps. Those are all true, but there's one major problem that they're not talking about: drivers! On a 64-bit OS, all the drivers need to be 64-bit too. What's that mean? It means that you can't use the same driver that you downloaded for your Whiz-Bing 2000, you have to go back to Acme's web site and see if they have a 64-bit version of their driver. Oh, Acme doesn't make the Whiz-Bing 2000 anymore so they don't care about updating the driver.

In the two hours that I ran WinXP x64, here's the problems I found:

No Lexmark Printer/Scanner drivers (here's 32 pages of missing printer drivers)
No drivers for my Creative SB 16 PCI (yes, I use two sound cards)
No TweakUI for x64 (the Itanium version doesn't work)
No Daemon tools
No Sony Cybershot drivers

That was enough to put me off. I went back to the regular WinXP. In theory, it's not quite as fast as the x64 version would be, but it actually works. With regular XP, it also limits me to 4GB of RAM... guess I'll have to make due :)

I'm sure they'll get there soon, but vendors are going to have to start making x64 drivers before it catches on. Who knows, maybe XP x64 won't ever get major support... we may just have to wait for Longhorn (ETA: August '06).

Screen captures

2005-06-16T02:32:00.000-05:00

Ever since Windows 95, the PrintScreen key will take a screen capture by default. The only catch is that it's not obvious to the average user how it works. "Hey, I pressed PrntScr and nothing happened!" Well, as most of you already know, the screen capture is silently stored in the clipboard.

My typical screen capture routine is:

Press PrntScr
Win-R -> pbrush to launch Paint
Ctrl-V to paste into Paint (as of WinXP, it auto-enlarges the canvas without asking)
Alt-F4 to quit
y (yes to save before quit)
Enter a file name
TAB -> P (to save as PNG)
Enter (save the file and quit)

I've gotten pretty quick at it, but when you want to take several screen shots in a row, it's time to find a better way. Today I finally got around to searching and I found a better way.

I found a slick tool called Screen Print 32. It's just what I've been looking for. After a quick install it runs and I go through its setup screen to pick the options I want:

Capture Full Desktop or Active Window (just like Windows default behavior)
Capture Key: Prt-Scr (just like Windows default behavior)
Load at Startup: Yes
Enable Printing: No
Save Captured Area to Disk: Yes
Filename: Capture [rdate] [time]
File Format: PNG
Folder: \My Documents\My Pictures\Screen Captures

Now the aforementioned eight-step process is down to a single keypress. I simply press the PrntScr key and it pops up a small note to tell me that it's captured the screen (goes away in a couple seconds). Looking in my Screen Captures folder, I can see the .PNG files showing up every time I press PrntScr. I'm happy!

BlueTooth Headset

2005-06-15T10:59:00.000-05:00

On Monday, I got my BlueTooth Headset (Motorola HS820). So far, I love it!

At first you think "what's the big deal, wire/no wire, whatever". For years, I've been using a wired headset while driving. The car ritual was getting tiring

take phone off hip
untangle headset cord
plug headset into phone
clip phone back on hip
put earpiece in ear
clip lapel clip on (so the earpiece doesn't fall out)

It was enough that if I was going to stop somewhere on the way to work (e.g. dry cleaner's), I just wouldn't use the headset.

Well, with the BlueTooth (BT) headset, I get in the car and:

press button to turn on
hook headset on ear

I'll admit that it took me a while to come around to spend the money on something that was just going to save me those few steps. But now that I have, I see that there are even more benefits.

For example, while driving with a wired earpiece, it's still not so easy to use voice dialing. I have to take the phone off my hip, flip open the lid and press the voice dial button. With the BT headset, I can simply press the button on the earpiece and say the name... no need to remove the phone from its holster.

So that's all? No. I found another great use for the headset: Skype! Skype? Yes, Skype. :) I paired the BT headset with my laptop (built-in BT) and configured Skype to use "BlueTooth Audio" as the preferred device for conversations. Now I can make phone calls over the Internet without being wired to a computer... it's like having a cordless phone at home (how many people do you know who are still stuck with a corded phone?)

What about quality, features, etc?

Sound quality is identical to that of the phone (obviously, it can't be any better)
Volume is good (adjustable on the headset)
Mic seems good... I've asked several friends and they couldn't tell the difference
Uses internal, Li-Ion battery (non-replaceable)
Charges in about an hour
Uses same charger as standard Motorola cell phones
Very light weight (I've already forgotten I was wearing it a few times)
Hook flips to fit either ear

My only regret is that I didn't buy one sooner.

Software updates

2005-06-14T23:40:00.000-05:00

Latest software updates

Software updates

2005-06-02T23:38:00.000-05:00

This week's updates are mostly betas

Mozilla Firefox 1.1 Alpha 1 (Deer Park) - Not ready for mainstream consumption... many extensions haven't been updated to work with it yet. The good news is that by default, it installs in a new folder so it won't mess up existing FireFox installs.
OpenOffice.org 2.0 Beta (build m104)
NSIS 2.07 Beta 0
Winamp 5.092
SecureCRT 5.0 Beta 6
SecureFX 3.0 Beta 6

Software updates

2005-05-23T12:52:00.000-05:00

Two minor updates: