Microsoft ahead of it’s time on Active Desktop.

I think microsoft were way ahead of their time with active desktop on Windows 98.

You probably remember Active Desktop as that crash you used to get in Windows 98 when you would start your computer and be shown a white screen instead of your desktop background with a button to restart active desktop.

I know I just switched it off on every machine I used.

What they were trying to do is very similar to what KDE is trying to do with Plasma. Make the desktop more useful. More then just a dump of files on your screen. Instead what if your desktop (under the icons) was active, programmable and could access the web?

No one liked it. They scrapped it in XP.

WEB 2.0 is a reality now however. I wonder how Active Desktop would fare today.

Windows 7 and KDE4 Multitouch

KDE4 is being designed with multi touch interfaces in mind. Its fascinating stuff. I think open source is going to do amazing things with this technology when it goes mainstream.

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7615673&postID=4063138588683319581&pli=1

From the comments on aseigo’s blog.

“One great feature would be if the the files on the desktop where show as tumbnails that can be resized, rotated and moved in a way that can be easily used in multitouch interfaces.”
when we get multitouch devices in the hands of developers, i’m sure this will happen quite naturally. one of the main reasons we have rotate in there right now is in preparation for such developments, actually.

Microsoft with their money are going to be the ones who make multi touch go mainstream however. If as promised Windows 7 includes multitouch functionality we may soon see multitouch hardware on new machines. I can’t wait
If you don’t know what multi touch is have a look at the video at the bottom of this post. http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/29/microsoft-announces-surface-computer/

Exciting stuff!

Ubuntu is good for Debian

I have been a fan of Debian for a long time. I think it’s biggest positive is that it won’t compromise on quality. Everything is tightly controlled by policy.

One tiny example is man pages. If there is a command in Debian there is always a man page. There are countless other examples. Packages in Debian are always of very high quality.

This makes an awesome system to build on. It’s flaw is that because of it’s very strict rules the community can seam very elitist and exclusive. I think the barrier to contribute to Debian is quite high.

Thats where Ubuntu comes in. A flood of enthusiastic users.  Lower barrier of entry for contributions. Ubuntu can focus on the desktop user while Debian continues to create a great base system.

All these contributions flow back to Debian anyway. And the momentum can only help Debian.

Outlook fails to show inline attachments

This post is about two errors I came across separately that both have the same cause.

The first problem is attachments failing to open in outlook. When you double click the attachment you get the following error message: Can’t create file: xxx.xxx Right click the folder you want to create the file in, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu to check your permissions for the folder.

The second error is images failing to display when they are attached inline in emails. They just show the small red x for image not found.

When outlook opens an attachment, adds an attachment or displays it inline in an email it first saves a copy under temporary internet files. If the file already exists it appends (01) to it, then (02), then (03) … All the way to (99). Once you get to 99 outlook will fail with the above error message. If an email has 3 images they are saved as image001.jpg image002.jpg image003.jpg. If those files exist it will use image001 (02).jpg etc.

It’s pretty common for certain employees to receive attachments with the same file name every day. A receptionist may receive a word document each day to file for example. After 99 days they will fail to open. It can also happen attaching documents with the same name every day or receiving lots of emails with inline attachments.

How can you fix it?

First you have to find where outlook stores its temporary files. Send yourself a text file as an attachment. Open it in notepad. Go to file save as. Note down the default folder it wants to save the file. It will be something like C:\Documents and Settings\jkells\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK47. The numbers at the end of OLKxx always seam to be different. On my machine they were 47 another machine was 60.

This folder is hidden by windows. Regardless of your explorer settings you can’t just browse to it. You can open it up by typing it straight into the Address bar of windows explorer or you can go to Start -> Run and type the folder name in.

Once its open you can safely delete all the files or scroll down and delete all the files with the same name as the one you cannot open.

Is there always a way to win solitaire?

No. I thought about this for a while. It’s easy to prove that a random deck can’t always be solved in solitaire. You can easily set up a deck so that you can’t make a single move.

What about windows solitaire? I thought maybe the game would only set up the game so you could possibly win if you made all the right decisions.

Today on windows mobile solitaire I ran into a game that from the start I couldn’t make a single move. That kills my enthusiasm for that game a bit

R18+ Classification For Video Games

Here is what the OFLC has to say about video game classification http://www.classification.gov.au/special.html?n=294&p=191 You will notice there is no R18+ classification for video games.

Video games are for children you see. No one notices that the average age of the Australian gamer is 28.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/rrating-risks-influx-of-excessively-violent-games/2008/02/24/1203788146608.html

I think this is crazy. Not sure what I can do about it though. The state attorney generals decide. What’s up with that? They have agreed to canvas public opinion before making a decision. Well this is my opinion. Let adults decide what they want to watch regardless of the medium it is delivered in.

This is the enquiry form for the OFLC. http://www.classification.gov.au/special.html?n=1&p=227 I filled that in with my opinion.

This is the SA attorney general who is blocking R18+ classifications for video games http://www.ministers.sa.gov.au/ministers.php?id=7 I will send him an email.

This is the list of current house of representative MP’s follow the links to find their email addresses. http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/mi-alpha.asp

Here is the email I wrote to my representative:

Dear Sharon Bird,

At present there is no R18+ or X18+ classification for video games in Australia. If a video game is considered too violent or contains strong adult themes it is either censored, banned outright or incorrectly classified as MA15+

According to the Entertainment Association of Australia the average age of the Australian video game player is 28 and more then 50% are over the age of 18. As an adult I believe it is my right to choose to view adult content regardless of the medium it is delivered in. Whether it be books, magazines, movies or video games.

I believe this is draconian government censorship and should be reviewed.

Kind Regards
Jared Kells

– Address Removed –

Corey Worthington, What A Legend

This kid held a party while his parents were away. So what? Like a teenager hasn’t done that before. He made it open invite and put it on his myspace so all his friends would see it. Big deal.

A large group gate crashed his party and then went a bit crazy and vandalized some things. That’s what mobs do. How is that his fault? I don’t think he even left his house. Really as Bianca let slip on Big Brother, you don’t hate him, you hate what he represents.

He has become a pillar for you to focus your anger of what you think society has become. He takes it all on the chin an then out wits Anna Coren when she patronizes him on TV. That’s why he is a legend.

The media make out like he murdered someone, stigmatized him and you all lapped it up. The older generation just loves to hate teenagers. Teenagers have been the same for generations,  You think that youth are different these days? When you were young they had respect?

As generation after generation go by they are always accused of being worse then the last. When you get to the age where you start to hate teenagers think to yourself logically. They haven’t changed. It is you.