Windows Vista Error
Well, I ran into my first unknown error with Windows Vista. The Windows Update kept running in the background saying that it was downloading an update with 0% finished. This kept on for a couple of days, so I opened up the Control Panel and got one of those wonderfully vague error codes '80070020' - with no other explanation. There's an option to "Get Help" so I tried that and it just took me around in another loop of opening up Windows Update, blah, blah, blah.
So I started Googling ... and found this article: 0x80070020 The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.
Ok, right error code, wrong explanation. Sort of. Turns out that if you have real-time antivirus protection running it will interfere with some Windows Updates. Long story short, you have to disable your anti-virus just long enough to get the update installed. I tried that and it worked. Lesson learned.
April 29, 2007
Happy Blog-a-versary
I just noticed that I've been blogging here for 6 years now (the Archive goes back to April, 2001). Can't help but comment on how hugely popular blogging has become. Back in '01 there were a few interesting sites worth reading and it was a cool thing to do. Now it's crept into the corporate world and they're everywhere. Was blogging the beginning of a web revolution, the start of the social web, Web 2.0? Heck, I remember back when Gopher, Archie and Veronica were "new" tools to use on the Internet. Yes, I'm old. hahahahahaha
I just noticed that I've been blogging here for 6 years now (the Archive goes back to April, 2001). Can't help but comment on how hugely popular blogging has become. Back in '01 there were a few interesting sites worth reading and it was a cool thing to do. Now it's crept into the corporate world and they're everywhere. Was blogging the beginning of a web revolution, the start of the social web, Web 2.0? Heck, I remember back when Gopher, Archie and Veronica were "new" tools to use on the Internet. Yes, I'm old. hahahahahaha
Web Development on a Mac
I've written and coded web pages all sorts of ways and platforms. All the way from WYSIWYG tools like Dreamweaver or Front Page to Notepad. Even using vi on a Linux box isn't all that bad. I still prefer to work on Macs and so I usually use some sort of text editor like BBEdit. There's a vast difference in web design tools written for the Windows platform and those for a Mac.
One company that has gotten the right idea is Panic Software and their new all-in-one development tool called Coda. It's got a text editor, FTP client, Telnet client and reference lookup tool all rolled up into one nice looking interface.
I've just downloaded it and tried it out once, but at first glance it's got my vote. I've been using Panic's Transmit FTP client since 2003 and it's great. Match that with a text editor and that's how I work web pages on my Mac. The trouble is that there's no way to synch up updated pages and I'm of course always jumping back and forth between applications. Coda gives you one place to work with all your web pages and sites.
I've written and coded web pages all sorts of ways and platforms. All the way from WYSIWYG tools like Dreamweaver or Front Page to Notepad. Even using vi on a Linux box isn't all that bad. I still prefer to work on Macs and so I usually use some sort of text editor like BBEdit. There's a vast difference in web design tools written for the Windows platform and those for a Mac.
One company that has gotten the right idea is Panic Software and their new all-in-one development tool called Coda. It's got a text editor, FTP client, Telnet client and reference lookup tool all rolled up into one nice looking interface.
I've just downloaded it and tried it out once, but at first glance it's got my vote. I've been using Panic's Transmit FTP client since 2003 and it's great. Match that with a text editor and that's how I work web pages on my Mac. The trouble is that there's no way to synch up updated pages and I'm of course always jumping back and forth between applications. Coda gives you one place to work with all your web pages and sites.
April 04, 2007
Happiness is having a browser that doesn't suck
Oh, it's been a long and unhappy story, these browser wars. Everyone knows that Internet Explorer has lots of serious problems. Here's a collection of happy stories about people that have switched to a better way to browse the Internet: Browse Happy
Oh, it's been a long and unhappy story, these browser wars. Everyone knows that Internet Explorer has lots of serious problems. Here's a collection of happy stories about people that have switched to a better way to browse the Internet: Browse Happy
March 08, 2007
Programming in SQL 2005
File this under the "I didn't know that" category - Microsoft has rolled the .NET Common Language Runtime into SQL Server 2005. What does this mean? You can extend your T-SQL with any of the CLR languages like VB.NET. Neat!
An Introduction to the CLR in SQL Server 2005
File this under the "I didn't know that" category - Microsoft has rolled the .NET Common Language Runtime into SQL Server 2005. What does this mean? You can extend your T-SQL with any of the CLR languages like VB.NET. Neat!
An Introduction to the CLR in SQL Server 2005
February 18, 2007
Bored to Death watching TV?
This was an interesting story: Man's body found in front of TV year after death.
Living alone myself, this makes me wonder if I died tomorrow, would anybody notice? You'd like to think so.
This was an interesting story: Man's body found in front of TV year after death.
Living alone myself, this makes me wonder if I died tomorrow, would anybody notice? You'd like to think so.
February 15, 2007
Cross-Blog
Ok, I went ahead and started (yet) another blog on Microsoft's Live Spaces:
http://darrell24401.spaces.live.com/
There really was no need to have another blog other than I just wanted to try out the new Live Spaces product. I still like Blogger a tad bit better.
Ok, I went ahead and started (yet) another blog on Microsoft's Live Spaces:
http://darrell24401.spaces.live.com/
There really was no need to have another blog other than I just wanted to try out the new Live Spaces product. I still like Blogger a tad bit better.
February 08, 2007
Secure QuickTime for Windows?
As announced on this blog by Secunia, if you download QuickTime for Windows, you don't get the most secure version: http://secunia.com/blog/7/
However, there is a procedure for getting the security update on a Windows machine, it's just a little more complicated: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304989
Of course, if you're using a Mac, you get the patched and secure version. Plus, the OS X Software Update would have also updated your QuickTime automatically (if you have it set to do so).
As announced on this blog by Secunia, if you download QuickTime for Windows, you don't get the most secure version: http://secunia.com/blog/7/
However, there is a procedure for getting the security update on a Windows machine, it's just a little more complicated: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304989
Of course, if you're using a Mac, you get the patched and secure version. Plus, the OS X Software Update would have also updated your QuickTime automatically (if you have it set to do so).
January 05, 2007
Beware that Spyware Remover
Add to the list of "rogue" spyware remover programs: SpyWare Wizard
While visiting my parents over Christmas, I was told the story about how their Internet Explorer home page had been hijacked by a pr0n page (nothing new there, old trick). The new twist was that a popup window would encourage the user to buy "SpyWare Wizard" to remove the problem, which my parents did. Long story short and $49 later, their computer is infested with malware/spyware and Windows got completely corrupted. *sigh*
After spending an afternoon reinstalling Windows, I think their computer is back to normal (maybe).
Add to the list of "rogue" spyware remover programs: SpyWare Wizard
While visiting my parents over Christmas, I was told the story about how their Internet Explorer home page had been hijacked by a pr0n page (nothing new there, old trick). The new twist was that a popup window would encourage the user to buy "SpyWare Wizard" to remove the problem, which my parents did. Long story short and $49 later, their computer is infested with malware/spyware and Windows got completely corrupted. *sigh*
After spending an afternoon reinstalling Windows, I think their computer is back to normal (maybe).
Lose that PDF Password?
Here's a really handy utility for recovering lost passwords on your Acrobat PDF files: Guaranteed PDF Decrypter.
Here's a really handy utility for recovering lost passwords on your Acrobat PDF files: Guaranteed PDF Decrypter.
August 30, 2006
DTV will just have to wait
This was supposed to be the year all analog channels were to be retired. The new "firm" date is February 17, 2009.
Also in the works is a Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon program to help ease the transition for those that do not HDTV sets.
Read more about it here: DTV In The News (FCC sponsored web site).
This was supposed to be the year all analog channels were to be retired. The new "firm" date is February 17, 2009.
Also in the works is a Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon program to help ease the transition for those that do not HDTV sets.
Read more about it here: DTV In The News (FCC sponsored web site).
May 30, 2006
Office 2007
This alone may make it worth upgrading to Office 2007 when it's released: Support for the PDF Format in Office “12”
This alone may make it worth upgrading to Office 2007 when it's released: Support for the PDF Format in Office “12”
May 11, 2006
Startup programs
Just saving this for future reference. Does a good job of covering how programs load at startup and what to do about it: Startup Program Loading
Just saving this for future reference. Does a good job of covering how programs load at startup and what to do about it: Startup Program Loading
Buzz words
Amateurization - that's a new word (to me anyway). There wasn't anything on it on Dictionary.com, but there's this interesting blurb: (Weblogs and) The Mass Amateurisation of (Nearly) Everything... (plasticbag.org).
We all know where the Web has been, but where is it going in this post-tech-bubble-burst world?
Amateurization - that's a new word (to me anyway). There wasn't anything on it on Dictionary.com, but there's this interesting blurb: (Weblogs and) The Mass Amateurisation of (Nearly) Everything... (plasticbag.org).
We all know where the Web has been, but where is it going in this post-tech-bubble-burst world?
May 08, 2006
Hex Colors
I'm always searching for one of these charts. Might as well blog it so I can find this one again.
Web Design Group's RGB Values Page
I'm always searching for one of these charts. Might as well blog it so I can find this one again.
Web Design Group's RGB Values Page
Back to Blogging
So, I decided to get back to this blog's original purpose, keeping track of interesting web design and scripting sites.
I'm currently working on a page for accepting credit card payments. For developing the validation script, here's a good place to start: Credit Card Check Digit Validation.
So, I decided to get back to this blog's original purpose, keeping track of interesting web design and scripting sites.
I'm currently working on a page for accepting credit card payments. For developing the validation script, here's a good place to start: Credit Card Check Digit Validation.
November 20, 2005
Death of a Blog
Ok, I just don't have enough time for blogging anymore. *shrug* The reason for keeping this blog in the first place was so that I could keep track of interesting articles on web design and ASP. Which was fun for awhile, but now it's become old to me. What used to be new and exciting has become mundane and commercialized. I guess the blog comment SPaM was the last straw.
While I'm on a soap-box rant, Yahoo has become just plain evil in the pursuit of the almighty "click-thru" dollar. Google is heading down the same path.
Ok, I just don't have enough time for blogging anymore. *shrug* The reason for keeping this blog in the first place was so that I could keep track of interesting articles on web design and ASP. Which was fun for awhile, but now it's become old to me. What used to be new and exciting has become mundane and commercialized. I guess the blog comment SPaM was the last straw.
While I'm on a soap-box rant, Yahoo has become just plain evil in the pursuit of the almighty "click-thru" dollar. Google is heading down the same path.
November 13, 2005
Blog comment SPAM
Take a look at the comments on my previous entry - there are now people SPAMMING Blog comments! When I checked this morning, there were 13 different comments, all with a link to a web page (probably with a script for injecting malware of some sort too). Obviously, it's a program that searches for certain keywords on known blogging sites and then inserts the comments.
Guess everyone is going to have to turn off comments now. *Sigh*
Take a look at the comments on my previous entry - there are now people SPAMMING Blog comments! When I checked this morning, there were 13 different comments, all with a link to a web page (probably with a script for injecting malware of some sort too). Obviously, it's a program that searches for certain keywords on known blogging sites and then inserts the comments.
Guess everyone is going to have to turn off comments now. *Sigh*
September 13, 2005
Well, duh!
Here's an interesting quote from this article - IE7 being developed to resist spyware:
"When users run programs with limited user privileges, they are safer from attack than when they run with Administrator privileges, because Windows can restrict the malicious code from taking damaging actions..."
Uhm, didn't we learn that in Computer Science 101? Ok, I know not every computer user in the world has a degree in CS, but for crying out loud, shouldn't the software developers at Microsoft know this? I would venture to guess that a large percentage of the security problems found in Windows and Internet Explorer is because MS simply did not follow basic common sense.
Here's an interesting quote from this article - IE7 being developed to resist spyware:
"When users run programs with limited user privileges, they are safer from attack than when they run with Administrator privileges, because Windows can restrict the malicious code from taking damaging actions..."
Uhm, didn't we learn that in Computer Science 101? Ok, I know not every computer user in the world has a degree in CS, but for crying out loud, shouldn't the software developers at Microsoft know this? I would venture to guess that a large percentage of the security problems found in Windows and Internet Explorer is because MS simply did not follow basic common sense.
Yahoo Messenger is just ... Evil
I've long suspected that Yahoo IM was bad, this article confirms it - Yahoo IM users get more than they bargained for.
Here's a quote from the article: "By accepting Yahoo's 'typical' installation of YIM with Voice, it will also download Yahoo's Search Toolbar with anti-spyware and anti-pop-up software, desktop and system tray shortcuts, as well as Yahoo Extras, which will insert Yahoo links into the Internet Explorer browser. The IM client also contains "live words," which will automatically show an icon when the user highlights words online and then hyperlink to Yahoo search results, definitions or translation tools. Finally, the installation will alter the users' home page and auto-search functions to point to Yahoo by default."
Ok, how is this different than any other Spyware? Including "anti-spyware and anti-pop-up software" is just a way to kill off the competition!
To me, YIM is just another trojan-horse spyware program. End of story.
I've long suspected that Yahoo IM was bad, this article confirms it - Yahoo IM users get more than they bargained for.
Here's a quote from the article: "By accepting Yahoo's 'typical' installation of YIM with Voice, it will also download Yahoo's Search Toolbar with anti-spyware and anti-pop-up software, desktop and system tray shortcuts, as well as Yahoo Extras, which will insert Yahoo links into the Internet Explorer browser. The IM client also contains "live words," which will automatically show an icon when the user highlights words online and then hyperlink to Yahoo search results, definitions or translation tools. Finally, the installation will alter the users' home page and auto-search functions to point to Yahoo by default."
Ok, how is this different than any other Spyware? Including "anti-spyware and anti-pop-up software" is just a way to kill off the competition!
To me, YIM is just another trojan-horse spyware program. End of story.
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