Old-Computer

Coding on my “social network” has commenced!

Jeff — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:42:40 +0000

Yep, you read that right. I have finally gotton my butt into action, and started seriously coding (I had done a bit of work, but nothing that big) my social network. Not much is done yet, but I’m kinda proud of what is. Here’s a quick teaser…

Why Time Machine should be enabled on your Mac

Jeff — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:40:21 +0000

So, I figured I’d merge the files stored on my flash drive with the ones in my documents folder on my mac. So, I copy them over. OSX prompts me to replace, and I thought it would just replace the files that were already there, not the whole folder. Now, I’m out probably 4 hours of work, and there’s no way to get it back (I’ve already tried all of those recovery programs. I’m enabling time machine right this minute, and I’m backing up to my windows drive (on my server), using this nifty command in terminal:

defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1

Also, following the steps in this guide can greatly enhance your chances of success.

“Superbar” in Windows 7 build 6801

Jeff — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:30:05 +0000

Windows 7, shown at PDC, has one cool feature… the SuperBar! It is a bigger task bar that loses the text (hmm… can anyone say OSX dock?), and is better for touchscreen computers. It also has plenty of transparency. Anyways, Microsoft passed out a build of 7 at PDC to attendents. This build, however, doesn’t include the SuperBar. Most thought that enabling it was a lost cause. However, this person didn’t. Say hello to the SuperBar in 6801.

Here’s the important part of the post:

Simply download a copy of a tool I whipped up for either x86 or x64 (untested thus far), drop it into your Windows\ directory and execute the following commands as an Administrator in a command prompt window:

takeown /f %windir%\explorer.exe

cacls %windir%\explorer.exe /E /G MyUserName:F (replacing MyUserName with your username)

taskkill /im explorer.exe /f

start unlockProtectedFeatures.exe

After changing the protected feature lock state, you can re-launch the shell by clicking the Launch button.

[OC x86 Mirror] [OC x64 Mirror]

Halloween

Jeff — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:56:10 +0000

Oh, how you gotta love Apple(s).

Site Updated!

Jeff — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:27:34 +0000

As you probably noticed, the site has undergone a big redesign. However, a redesign isn’t without its flukes. What do you think of the site? The new logo?

Please, tell me your opinion in the comments.

I’ll also probably be making some small changes in the upcoming few days, too.

One thing I will be trying to correct in the near future is the fact that the background for the page is almost 1MB. Quite a download.

One more thing; this theme will eventually be drawn out to all parts of the blog, including the podcasts, projects, and possibly a new landing/home page.

Switching to Windows Server 2008

Jeff — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:09:32 +0000

As some of you may know, this site is hosted at home on my Windows Vista box. However, as I bought my MacBook, I’ve decided that I need to run a more solid OS on my Server. So, In comes Server 2008. I’m eligable for the Microsoft DreamSpark Promotion (read: Free Server 2008), so I figure I might as well get some use out of it.

Anyways, with that said, there might be a little downtime in the next couple weekends.

New MacBook

Jeff — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:10:19 +0000

I just went to the local Apple Store and bought a new aluminum MacBook! It has a 2Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB DDR3 1066Mhz RAM, and 160GB HDD. Some people may think you need the top-of-the-line model, but I do not.

Update: Some of the features that I greatly enjoy (after using it for about a week) are the glass trackpad (with multitouch gestures: amazing!), the ambient light sensor for the display, and the chicklet keyboard (lowers errors and improves typing speeds in my opinion). Maybe sometime I’ll write a full review, but for now, all I have to say is that I would rate it a 4.5/5!

Favorite Windows Sidebar Gadgets

Jeff — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:01:49 +0000

Here are a few of my favorite Windows Sidebar Gadgets.

1. isAlive

Checks every 10 minutes to see if your website is up
mirror

2. Piano (no longer avaiable)

A small (or large, if you drag it off the sidebar) piano that you can play by clicking the keys or using your keyboard.
Still beta, abandoned.
download

3. Network Meter (download: wired/wireless)

Although sometimes buggy, this gadget allows you to see all of the traffic going in and out of your computer’s NIC.
mirror: wired/wireless

4. Skype Gadget by Craig

Gadget that allows you to see who’s online.
mirror

5. Amnesty

This is a cool generator that lets you make your own gadgets out of web widgets from your website of choice. Its pretty cool.

I hate skype!

Jeff — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:05:04 +0000

[rant]

Right now, skype is being really stupid. I have been chatting with someone for the past hour and all of the sudden, skype decides that it is too good to chat with this person and disconnects me. Not only does it disconnect, it won’t reconnect. Occassionally, one chat message goes through, however, that is very very rare. I really want skype to work, but maybe WLM or AIM is in my near future. Goodbye.

[/rant]

It’s time for a redesign!

Jeff — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:26:48 +0000

I know that I haven’t posted anything super useful in a while, and to tell you the truth, making blog posts every day gets tedious and looses its fun after a while. Therefore, I have decided to redesign this blog. It may consist of a pre-built theme, or maybe I’ll make my own (doubtful, but it could happen ). Anyways, it won’t change for a while, but it will sometime soon… I also have another big announcement to make, look for that in the next few weeks.