QuickDock 2.0 posted

Not much to say, QuickDock 2.0 has been posted to Yahoo.

Note: I recommend starting completely over by making a fresh shortcut directory and making new shortcuts directly from the .EXE files.

Remote Desktop causes Unexpected Shutdown in Windows

(Worst title for a post ever...)

I'm struggling to troubleshoot Remote Desktop with Windows Vista. It seems that when connecting through the RDP Vista will reset itself with an "Unexpected Shutdown." It works better (but not perfectly) with Themes unchecked, but I don't have any idea why.

This isn't a reported bug, so I'm hoping some one stumbles across this and chimes in.

QuickDock 2.0

Look for a new version of QuickDock to be posted in the next few days. A majority of the work was done by contributer Art McBain, but I have added a few visual updates for the next release.



The widget is currently pending approval...

Vista Gadgets...

Now that I've got Vista installed at home, I'll be looking into development of Vista Gadgets (i.e. Widgets) for useful (or not) desktop items.

Here's the practically hidden development site.

Vista Thoughts...

For the first time since Windows 98 I didn’t participate in Microsoft’s beta program for their next big operating system. I figured that I’d get Vista when comes out and not have to deal with buggy software, apps that didn’t work, poor performance, etc. So, the beta came and went (and this time they opened it to pretty much anybody) and I chose to keep plodding away with WindowsXP.

Now, that I’ve upgraded, I’m really surprised how many applications I run on a daily basis that work great in XP but poorly or not at all in Vista. Here’s a short list of what I’ve found so far…

• Quicken
• CD/DVD Burners (Nero or Roxio)
• Audio software (due to a lack of drivers…)

And most of the game software I wrote for Windows 2000 runs with warnings, but anything I wrote using OpenGL (like my rss screensaver for windows) has major issues.

This wouldn’t be so bad, but almost every vendor website that mentions Vista compatibility issues are charging for new releases that are Vista certified. In my case, my DVD drive came with DVD burning software for free, but to simply get my Drive working in Vista I’ll have to spend $40. (Vista, of course has it’s own DVD writing component, but I’ll have to use it more to either condone or condemn it.)

Long story short, if I didn’t have to upgrade Vista so I can support it in my past and future software, I might have waited until I bought a new system.

Quick Dock 1.2

Version 1.2 of Quick Dock has been submitted to the Widget Gods for approval. It incorporates McBain's updates as well as a few other fixes. (He added a very cool Drag and Drop for new shortcuts...)



Assuming this fixes the last of the issues, I'll work on some more features.

rsssaver updated

I pushed a fairly big update to my rss screensaver for windows...

That's right, I skipped a whole version number... This version tackles the big interactivity problem and sets the stage (finally) for foreign characters. Here's what's new now...

• Hold down the SHIFT key to speed up the current story (fast forward)
• Hold down the CTRL key to snap the current story to full frame
• Hold them both to quickly view stories
• Some additional color palettes added to config

Check it out at rsssaver.com.

Quick Dock 1.1

I updated Quick Dock to support a custom shortcut directory to fix the issues many people we having (mostly from non-US versions of WindowsXP.) It has been sent to Yahoo! for approval and should be available from this link soon.

Quick Dock 1.0

I had some down time over the holidays, so I worked on an upgrade to rsssaver and started a new project called Quick Dock. Quick doc is a Yahoo! Widget Engine widget to replace your Quick Launch Toolbar with something that looks more like the Apple iDock in OSX.



I'm still waiting on approval before it's available via Yahoo!'s Widget Library, but I'll update this page when it can be downloaded.

Update:

The widget is available for download here.

Web 2.0 Style for Free with Inkscape

Sick of "Web 2.0" style buttons and badges yet? Me either. (Or me too, depending how you answered.) However, one of the problems I have with the whole silky smooth movement is that everybody uses PhotoShop to do their work. There's nothing about that style that can't be done in vector (and for free) using the great open source program Inkscape.

Here's the proof... (Click for a bigger image.)



These graphics could be "good to go" as SVG files on a web page, dropped into Flash, or converted to JPGs or GIF for traditional HTMLing.

Here are the source files of the images above.

Coming Zune?

The new Ipod challenger from Microsoft comes out net week and has a very interesting marketing site that hypes the free content that will ship on the device. This includes songs, posters and music videos.

www.zune-arts.net

So, whether you like the device itself or not…

www.zune.net/en-US

…or think that Microsoft can’t compete in this hip space (especially with a brown MP3 player, ewww) the way they’ve gone about getting the word out through their "Coming Zune" campaign is pretty interesting.

We're number 9!

Bridge Worldwide, my day job, was named the 9th Best Small Business to Work For in America by the Society for Human Resource Management. This is the same organization that lists Fortune Magazine's Best Companies to Work For.

So, it seems were doing something right. Also, we are in need of technology people who are looking for a great place to work. Feel free to submit your resume at our website.

A Programming Font?

I never thought about what font would be best to view 1000s of lines of code. Of course it needs to be monospaced, readable and “zeros” need to look very different than “Ohs.” Oher than that, I though Courier was a fine choice—and then I found Triskweline.

Triskweline is a fixed-width font especially suited for text editors and programming environments. It was designed for maximum legibility and tidiness and supports all important symbols and Latin-1 characters.

Make the switch—your eyes will thank me.

[Edit-Check out Tim's related article here.]

Portal Alternate Reality Game

Alternate Reality Gaming has become an interesting way to grab internet buzz for a product launch. For obvious reasons, computer and console video games have latched on to the method to extend the experience prior to when their games are released. With shows like LOST, TV has also joined the ARG revolution.

Today we’ll look at a game called “Portal” that has a theme built around science experimentations. To get an idea of what this game is like, visit the trailer on YouTube…



The game trailer mentions the “Aperture Science Enrichment Center” as the place these experiments take place. A quick Google search reveals….

http://www.aperturescience.com/

If you type the word LOGIN, the experience begins. Pick a user name (the password is obviously PORTAL) and type HELP to see what you can do.

ARGs are all about secret codes and this one is no different. If you type THECAKEISALIE, there is a hidden video and text, in which someone comments on how Aperture Science's Relaxation Vault has no doors on it, and how the installation is on lockdown, seemingly because someone has escaped from the doorless room.*

To quote the game, "If at first you don't succeed, you fail."

* Stolen from Wikipedia's Hint Page

Google should filter Russian Spam

This Russian spam thing is really beginning to annoy me. I’d say about 20% of the spam that makes it through Google’s spam filters is in a Cyrillic character set that I can’t read and I’m 100% sure I don’t want.



I tried writing a filter that looked for tell-tale Cyrillic characters (see image) and flagged those as spam, but the issue became that any email that may be 99% English would get thrown out if it had the briefest mention of the “Mother Land.”

I propose the smart people at Google add a language filter that could attach a label to email that may arrive in any give language. Easy right?

Wow. This space is dead...

Can you tell I've had a busy summer? I can.

Never fear, there are a few things in the works that I'm hoping to wrap up in the next few weeks. rsssaver has an update, as well as Mr. Bigshot, and a few "play" websites I've been toying with.

Hang tight, things are coming soon.

SketchUp 3D for Free

Google has released a free version of the 3D program SketchUp.

Google SketchUp (free) is an easy-to-learn 3D modeling program whose few simple tools enable you to create 3D models of houses, sheds, decks, home additions, woodworking projects – even space ships. You can add details, textures and glass to your models, design with dimensional accuracy, and place your finished models in Google Earth, share them with others by posting them to the 3D Warehouse, or print hard copies. Google SketchUp (free) is a great way to discover if 3D modeling is right for you.

Hopefully Google buys more software I like and releases it for free.

Who Killed the Electric Car

I’ve always been fascinated by the "activist documentary." Classic films like Roger and Me and the more recent Super Size Me did an amazing job shedding light on corporations that have made decisions that they weren’t so proud of.

Sony Pictures Classics has a new documentary about a pure electric concept car that had great potential, but was eventually pulled and seemingly covered up.

Click the play button below to watch the trailer…

CMS + Wiki

I've been looking for a simple CMS program that has Wiki-like capabilites. I think I might have found it...

When it comes to publishing on the internet, beginners and experts alike are met with a bothersome paradox: word processors and graphics applications allow anyone to do a pretty good job of managing text and images on a personal computer, but to make these available to the worldwide web – a seemingly similar environment of documents and destinations – ease of use vanishes behind sudden requirements for multilingual programming skills, proficiency in computer-based graphic design, and, ultimately, the patience of a saint.

Sounds about right. I'm going to try to install this on a server somewhere and check back with a review.

Wei-Hwa's Puzzle Challenge

I spent some time today figuring out Wei-Hwa's Puzzle Challenge...

Using the numbers 3, 3, 8, 8 (in any order), make a mathematical expression that equals 24. You can use only addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division (and parentheses), but in any order you wish. Note that you have to use all four numbers; otherwise 3 times 8 would be valid -- and that wouldn't be much of a puzzle, would it?

It took a little while, but I figured it out. Here's a link to a Google Calculator version of the solution.