I just finished the book last night - it's a G.K. Chesterton and somewhat reminiscent of his Father Brown stuff. It's a detective novel, but not a very conventional one. The detective in question is one Basil Grant, a retired judge and unsocial but not antisocial type, who is followed about by his brother Rupert, an ever suspicious amateur detective himself, and the narrator of the book, Swinburne.

As described on the back, there are six chapters, but not a crime in any of them, unless of course, you could consider some of the actions involved in investigation criminal. That is, of course, where the Club of Queer Trades comes in, that mysterious bureau of entirely new occupations. And they really are queer, in that old British sense of the word. I confess that some of them had me until the very end (and they certainly have Rupert and Swinburne to the end every time).

Basil seems insane to his friends, but I found myself rather trusting him even if his ideas seemed absurd. So, to wrap this bit of the post up, it's not too long of a read (my edition is 126 pages) and is worth a read for each chapter, and especially for reading through and discovering the ending (if you don't guess it before, that is).

Dev Update

Now then, the report on the new a broken mold. I'm happy to say that the development, which consists of bending WordPress and CSS to my will, seems to me to be almost over. While I'm here, let me give Firebug a plug; it's a web development add-on for Firefox, and boy is it ever cool. It has JavaScript and DOM tools, which I don't use, but the HTML and CSS tools are handy. The killer feature: you can edit code and see the results in real time (I'm not sure how that works with JavaScript). If you've ever done CSS work, you can probably imagine how handy that is.

I'm also happy to say that I contacted NearlyFreeSpeech.NET last night and was elated to learn that I could pay through the parents' plastic (with me giving them equal cash, of course) since I don't have a checking account yet.

So I'm hoping to get it up within the next half a month, and I suppose a month at the latest.

Time for homework now -- catch you later.

Two common maxims are: "Familiarity breeds contempt," and "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

While there is latent truth to be found in these statements, one might conceive of a scenario where proximity to an object brings one under some some degree of influence of that object, causing one to take a more favorable view of said object. In this case, distance from the object in question and the resulting objectivity could in fact engender contempt. In this way, the proverbial dynamic may be shown to not always hold true.

Just by way of sharing one of my more interesting trains of thought...

For me, that is.
I blogged a while back about Vista/XP Virtual Desktops being virtual desktops in Windows done right-er. Well, I have a new love. VirtuaWin.
I believe that probably over a year earlier than this second time, I have used VirtuaWin (the default taskbar icon looked familiar). I probably didn't like it so well back then, but I think it's pretty rad now.

• under 10 MB memory usage on my system
• low CPU usage on my system
• simple
• fast
• small size of core files
• extendable by modules

Awesome, huh? It doesn't do any fancy Exposé style desktop previews like some other ones, but I don't really think Windows is setup for that (hopefully Microsoft will make some changes in this direction in the future. Native virtual desktops in Windows would be great).
And some nice news for the Ubuntu (and others, I think) users among you: you can set up hotkeys to switch and follow windows to the previous and next desktops.
Sweet, huh?
As a postscript, I like using the XP bars icon set for VirtuaWin because it allows me to keep tabs on which desktop I'm on, Ubuntu/GNOME style (pic). Check that set out or take your pick of the others. You install them by putting them in the icons folder in the VirtuaWin folder. Refer to the help file included for more info (help not working on Vista? Try xchm for Win32 [v. 1.16]).

Having finally read Claus' post about Kon-Boot from the 25th, I thought it pretty cool and felt like posting about it over here.

He goes into some detail about the tool, so you can check it out if it interests you. But here are the juicy and important points.

What it does is modify the operating system kernel in memory (grabbing control at the BIOS to bootloader handoff), changing the necessary parts to disable the need to use a password to log in. It runs off of a CD (or a floppy… maybe you could get it to work off a USB stick, too). Hot stuff.

From what I read at GSD, such techniques aren't new, but this is a pretty sweet implementation. It doesn't work with computers on a domain setup, but that makes sense; you would have to inject code into the server, too, to make it work, because the computer needs to authenticate with the server, and unless the server is compromised, too, it's not gonna let you login with out proper credentials (password, keycard, whatever). And even if you could get through to a local account on the computer, you might not be able to nab anything important since user data might be stored on the server. I'm not sure about the caching methods used, though (I'm talking about Windows here; I don't even know if Linux has domains). Maybe some user data would still be cached on the hard disk, I don't know.

In any case, it's a pretty cool technique, even if I'm not so geek about it as Claus.

Last Friday (4.10.09), Nathaniel, Hugh, Elliot, and I gathered to build the computer I had researched and purchased the parts for. It was my first build, and quite educational and satisfying, even if it did thwart our purposes until the early hours of the morning.

Specs:

Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz
PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W
ATI HIS Radeon HD 4850 512MB DDR3
Crucial 4GB PC2-8500/DDR2-1066
Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB SATA 7200rpm
LG 22X DVD±R Black SATA GH22NS30
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW
LG 19" Flatron W1952TQ-TF

The log of events:

5:13:00pm Watches synchronized.

5:16:26pm Pictures of components.

5:18:28pm Case removed from box.

5:19:35pm Side panel removed.

5:23:19pm Pictures of heart throbbing loot.

5:28:00pm Preinstall SATA drivers downloaded from Asia.

5:31:23pm Front panel removed.

5:33:41pm Motherboard drivers transfered to floppy disc via USB floppy drive.

5:47:27pm Moved to kitchen in order to circumvent electro-static discharge risk.

5:51:52pm Removed motherboard from box and anti-static bag.

6:03:54pm I/O panel busted out after much difficulty.

6:04:09pm Installed I/O panel.

6:14:49pm Standoffs installed.

6:17:47pm Motherboard mounted.

6:33:31pm Began testing screws due to irregularity in tightness.

6:35:54pm Standoff discrepancy diagnosed and motherboard removed.

6:49:39pm Discovered we had no less than FOUR faulty standoffs.

7:05:59pm Dinner break.

8:15:21pm Motherboard installed.

8:21:14pm Power supply installed.

8:38:51pm Front panel connections established.

8:50:45pm Prepared heatsink for installation.

8:53:34pm CPU installed!!!

8:57:03pm Checked motherboard screw tightness.

8:03:52pm Arctic Silver thermal compound applied to CPU.

9:08:12pm Heatsink installed.

9:12:27pm After much deliberation decided to install HDD in the top slot.

9:14:49pm HDD installed.

9:23:41pm Memory modules installed.

9:34:33pm GPU installed

9:42:27pm Optical drive installed.

9:56:08pm Double checked everything.

10:09:07pm POST!!!

10:14:36pm The zip-tie attack begins.

10:59:07pm Windows XP installed.

11:14:01pm BSOD due to incorrectly configured AHCI BIOS options.

11:26:07pm Began reinstalling Windows XP, having floppy problems.

12:20:00pm Tried enabling Mode 3 Floppy support.

3:24:17pm Must.... have..... sleeep.

[Next day]

2:07:14pm Successfully switched to AHCI mode after Windows XP installation.

I got a bit envious of the nice breadcrumb style location bar while messing with Snowbird recently. So, I went a-Googling.

With some light searching, I turned up two options: QT Address Bar and Minimalist Explorer Breadcrumbs. Both are shell extensions to Explorer, taking the form of toolbars.

I downloaded both, but have not installed QT Address Bar because of reported issues and the stellar performance of Minimalist. Also, QT looks like Vista, but Minimalist blends in nicely enough with your visual style.

Screenshots of Minimalist (traditional Address Bar disabled):

Note: StExBar (StEx in screencap) is a different shell extension I have; it's not related.

And, a nice feature, just like Vista, is that when you click on some empty space in the bar, it switches to an address bar and highlights the current path.

 

Having been shown by Elliot how the Vista breadcrumbs work, I think this shell extension has done a good job of bringing a (hopefully) helpful Vista feature to XP (and supposedly to 98/ME/2k/2003, too, though they haven't tested on those).

One last note: Explorer Breadcrumbs is completely free and functional, but they ask you to register it ($7.95) if you find it useful. Time will tell for me.

I actually had gotten the security tab via a shell extension a while ago, but it seemed to be the source of instability problems, so out it went. There are other ways to do it, but MS lets you have it for free with the Windows NT SP4 Security Configuration Manager. I haven't tried it out yet, but it sounds pretty sweet. Not that I really need it, but hey, it's power for nothing.

Here's the download page, here's the FTP folder it's in, and here is a direct link. If you check out the FTP folder, the file you want is SCESP4I.EXE.

[found via Grand Stream Dreams]

Update, December 19, 2009: Having just had to install this due to a couple of folders on my external hard drive getting locked by my previous XP install, I can now recommend a specific install procedure. Run SCESP4I.EXE, select a folder in which to extract the files. Go to the folder, right-click setup.inf, click Install, and wait for the magic to happen. It will inform you, if I remember correctly, that you will need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect. That, fortunately, is not true. You can test this by right-clicking a file, going to Properties, and going to the Security tab. There it will be in all of its XP Pro glory. Enjoy.

I was checking out this blog. It belongs to StormEffect, one of the users on NBR (Notebookreview.com forums). On it I found a couple things that looked really interesting, so I thought I'd link them here. As far as the oil-filled computer goes, you can see for yourself that there is a measure of doubt about it from the comments below the article. However, if you go to the actual website, you can find hard facts--bench marks and the like. Anyways, looks interesting. And the possibilities...aquarium computers? =]

Oh, and the Cooliris. I only just got it installed, so I can't comment too extensively on it's stability and productivity, but it sure seems fast and pretty slick. One thing I like about it, if I'm getting this right, is that it allows you to view the full image when you click on one from the wall, without actually following the link as in Google search. Anyways, it seems like it could be useful.

So, that's it for now. Merry Christmas!

Maybe.

It's actually become fairly like the OS X dock. The idea is, "why show a button for an app that already has one in Quick Launch?" So Quick Launch is getting consolidated. This is actually a pretty big move, considering how long the taskbar has been relatively the same. And I'm told there will not be an option to go back to the old style. It's a pretty cool idea, but of course it has risks and naysayers. One person pointed out that taking the text off of the title bar could remove a source of information via changing window titles (e.g. a game score or inbox count). Good point. Also, it was asked in the comments, "how do you know what's running and what's not?" Also a very good point. I think if the W7 team can pull off making it concise, clear, and useful, it's worth it (and customers might even like it).

Also interesting: Aero Peek. Move the mouse over a window thumbnail from the taskbar and that window appears and others fade away. Sounds like a cool feature to me. Not actually switching, but you can get a bigger look if you want to.

This post over at the Engineering Windows 7 blog (yup, from the MS team) illustrates and talks about the new taskbar in depth. Definitely worth reading if your interested in that sort of thing.

Update, March 30, 2009: I updated the post to note that the Vista folder is in a bit of a different place. Also, I found out today that version 2 of the plugin was released in January. And I didn't even notice until when investigating the Vista path via my bro on his Vista laptop, I saw the file name and the extension of the plugin was different and that he actually had a Facebook icon in his Picasa. Also, the new version seems to install fine automatically (just a couple of boxes to click through). I did a small test and it seems to work fine using my Picasa 3 installation. The new plugin is for Window/Mac Picasa 2 or 3 (still no Linux, augggg!). The old version of the plugin seems to be working, still, and is still downloadable by the address I specified in the post (as of 03.30.09) so if anybody wants it, get it there; if that link goes dead, I uploaded it here. Oh, and I couldn't say anything about manual installation of either plugin on a Mac... sorry, I don't own one and don't feel like chasing down the correct folder. /end of update

The Picasa Facebook plugin is brilliant. There is a Linux version of Picasa, too, but unfortunately, the plugin only works with the Windows (and now Mac) version.

It downsizes the images in Picasa and uploads them to Facebook, which makes it tons faster. Pretty seamlessly. Which is nice, especially if you're on dial-up. And a great solution for anyone, considering you can't download the full size images off of Facebook anyway (not as far as I know).

I would just link and leave if that was all there was to it. Unfortunately, I had to manually install the plugin. There is a installation button on the Facebook page, but it doesn't work (at least for some people). So, I knocked together a guide in a Facebook note. This is the rewrite. Please note, although I have heard the plugin works with Picasa3, this guide is for Picasa2. It may or may not work for installing it in Picasa3. I don't know. If anyone has info on this, please tell me.

So, if the installation doesn't work automatically for you, follow these instructions. These are for XP, but pretty much the only difference in Vista is that the folder to put it in is different:
C:\Users\[your username here]\AppData\Local\Google\Picasa2\buttons\

1. Have your web browser running
2. Paste http://www.webkinesis.com/fbpicasa/facebook.pbf into a new tab or window and go or just follow this link
   For version 2 of the plugin, http://www.webkinesis.com/fbpicasa/packages/v2/facebook_v2.pbz or link
   
3. If your browser asks you what to do with the file, choose to save it and select whatever location you want (don't forget where, though)
4. If your browser didn't ask you what to do with the file, you should be seeing what is actually the content of the file. It's a bunch of text. If you don't understand it, don't worry, it doesn't matter. Just save it like you would a webpage (File > Save as or Save Page As) to wherever you like.
5. Now, we have to put the file in the right place. Copy the file first.
6. Open My Computer. Open C:\Documents and Settings\[your username here]\
7. Now, you're going to have to have hidden files visible to continue (Tools > Folder Options, View tab, Show hidden files and folders, OK)
8. Now open \Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Picasa2\buttons. (So now you're in C:\Documents and Settings\[your username here]\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Picasa2\buttons)
9. Paste facebook.pbf into this folder
10. Now, open Picasa
11. Open the Tools menu and select Configure Buttons…
12. On the left side will be your Available Buttons, on the right side your Current Buttons. Find the Facebook button on the left, select it, and click Add>>
13. The Facebook button will appear with your other buttons on near the bottom of the Picasa window.
14. Select some pictures, click the button, follow the prompts, and enjoy! Keep your eyes peeled: there should be a link at the bottom of the window that appears at some time, offering to let you enable Extended Access (it's a Facebook thing). Do it. Otherwise, you'll have to approve all photos you upload from Picasa on Facebook itself before they are published. That's a drag.

Notes: if you're not a power user, you probably will want to turn off hidden files. Just follow the same steps you used to turn them on, except this time select Do not show hidden files and folders.

Feel free to ask questions and otherwise comment.

I discovered a new virtual desktop app a while ago… through Grand Stream Dreams, not surprisingly… all the previous ones were rather disappointing after having used Linux multi-desktops. Vista/XP Virtual Desktops is much closer. Still is a little clunky compared to Linux, but it seems significantly better than everything else I've tried. A few of sweet features: a min-toolbar that is somewhat like what you might see in Ubuntu (shows you what desktop you're on and lets you switch desktops), the ability to move windows between desktops (suhhh-weeeetness!!!!), and live desktop previews in Vista using DWM.  No 3D cube goodies, but quite functional. I'm reluctant to use it all the time because of it's memory usage, but those of you with and abundance of memory might consider trying it out.

Unlocker (Windows) - Ever have a flash drive or such that Windows just doesn't want to Safely Remove? Fire up this baby and see what's holding on to it. I think if it's explorer.exe, it should be safe to Unlock it or just yank out the drive, as long as you know you aren't transferring data to  or from it, or moving files around on it. Otherwise, assuming you aren't doing data work like I just mentioned see what else is tying up your device (backup managers, mp3 player managers, and so on…). Can also help you out the same way if you have a file you want to work with, but you get a message something else is using it. I'm not sure, but I think it might even help you get past an Access Denied (you'd probably have to be an administrator). Brilliant little tool.

ExifTool (Windows/Mac/Linux under Perl) - this one is a command line tool for dealing with metadata. I found this tool in a search for something to edit the date taken on digital photos, because sometimes one forgets to reset their camera clock. *Ahem* Certainly not me. Never. Anyway, to fix my mistake, I mean such a mistake, this will do the trick (though I haven't actually put it to use yet). Now, I know all you out there are shivering in fear of using a command line tool on your beautiful photos. Well, make backups of them before you start anyway, but there are some GUI's to make things so much safer and more comfortable. 
ExifToolGUI - Windows (tested on XP SP2). Lot's of nice GUI options for accessing the awesome power of ExifTool. You'll need to download ExifTool separately.
Mac users, you can check out the "Related Utilities" section on the ExifTool homepage.
Linux users, stop being a weenie and use the command line. Heh.

PDFCreator (Windows) - It installs as a printer on your system and allows you to make PDF files from any app that can print to it. Pretty nifty. Now I can make PDF's from WordPerfect 8 (yep, that's what I use, for real).

Hope this brightens your day at least a little bit.

Not the actual official results, but CNN has a pretty cool page for keeping track… this is the presidential page, with all it's sweet Flash glory. I recommend you go check it out and keep it up in your browser.

In case you haven't heard about it yet, Google has released a searchable index of the web in 2001. In other words, it's like searching Google in 2001. And you can view the old pages from archive.org Internet Archive. Gnarly.

If you use Vista with Aero enabled, this one's for you. Using the Glasser extension and some Stylish styles, you can get an effect much like IE 7 with Aero. It looks good, too. Maybe better than IE 7.

Here's for you, Matthew. X-BoT's OMF Universe. Lots of tournaments.

This is pretty rad… live updates from Twitter users, and you can filter by candidate and VP. It's like a stream of politics. [link]

When you mouse over a music file, it plays! No media player needs to be open.