GVim Portable Home Page

GVim Portable Home Page

This goes under my Software list. vi is just a wonderful editor to use sometimes. I still find it has the most powerful search and replace features of any editor I have used, and now I can put it on a thumb drive.

Sometimes the simple pleasures are the best.

In addition to the mp3 files, I found an old copy of nethack. Apparently there are still people mucking around with it at nethack.org. Recent Win32 downloads are here!

Weather Map for Mount Laurel, NJ 08054 simplified by Chirag Mehta @ chir.ag

http://chir.ag/w/08054

This is a pretty amazing mash-up of Virtual Earth (virtualearth.net) maps and Weather.com weather information. The rendering is amazing and I'm not sure how Chiraq Mehta (chir.ag) hacked it.

It renders fine under IE or Firefox.

Product: Star Wars: Yoda

 

Product: Star Wars: Yoda Stamps - pretty cool, but Barb says I can't use them for Christmas Cards.

Gadwin Systems, Inc. - Print Screen

Gadwin PrintScreen is an easy to use utility that allows you to capture any portion of the screen, save it to a file, copy it to Windows clipboard, print it or e-mail it to a recipient of your choice.

Another All Microsoft All The Time post.  I left the full link for Gadwin Systems because they deserve the kudos for a great screen capture program.  This isn't a Microsoft specific application, but it fills a niche for my day-to-day work.

I have Gadwin PrintScreen configured to use the Print Screen key and by default I pick a rectangular portion of my screen and it is captured to the clipboard.  Optionally, you can define a default directory and file name template (like ProjectName$1.jpg) and default format (BMP, JPG, etc).

The automatic file capture is awesome when documenting a project and it beats using Alt-Shift-PrintScreen and dumping it to Word.

Highly Recommended.

 

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Bike Nashbar web site crashed

I didn't even know the Bike Nashbar site crashed, but they sent out a note with a 10% discount code.  What a great PR move.  I buy a lot of my bike gear from Nashbar and they continue to impress me with good customer service.

I liked the picture they included with the notice.

Download IE7Pro

Download IE7Pro

In my quest for "All Microsoft All the Time" (AMAT?), I found I really missed ad blockers in IE. A quick search and I found IE7Pro, after using it for a day, it appears to fit the bill. You can optionally block or unblock Flash as well.

It has been transparent and has a neat feature to enable a blocked Flash object by clicking on it.

The company also offers services like bookmark synch (also a neat Google/Firefox feature). I will review all the application Preferences and update this post over the weekend.

Personal Computing Experiment

I am in the process of re-architect my personal computing life.     Over the next 3-6 months I want to re-focus on technology.  Partly this is a response to my attending Microsoft TechEd 2007 this past June.  The last time I attended TechEd was in June, 2003.  This was when Microsoft released Windows 2003 and Exchange 2003.  This year, I was very, very impressed with not only the depth, but the enterprise quality of the products.  I feel that doing a 'Total Immersion' in Microsoft technologies will help me become a better technical resource for my group, and also improve my ability to provide comprehensive, cost effective solutions to our clients.

Starting this week and through the end of the year, I plan to move from a 'best of breed' approach to a pure Microsoft environment for all aspects of my personal and professional computing.  I will document the process and note exceptions and challenges as they occur. 

I am starting by converting all my tools to Microsoft and upgrading my home network to Windows 2008.  We will be All Beta All The Time!

I am posting this with the latest release of Windows Live Writer.  This web site is running on a CentOS server I share with Peter Gamble.  I will maintain this site, but also experiment with Microsoft Live Spaces where I have a site.

Verizon opt out CPNI list

Verizon Wireless: If you don’t opt out, we get to share your CPNI call data

This has been posted a few places over the weekend. I opted out when I read the enclosure in my Verizon bill, but it’s just luck that I ever read the details.

Verizon Wireless has been contacting its customers via mail to inform them of their intent to share CPNI data with "our affiliates, agents and parent companies (including Vodafone) and their subsidiaries." The company says that customers who do not want their CPNI data shared need to call 1-800-333-9956 to "opt-out." Upon dialing the opt-out number, Verizon customers will be prompted for their phone number, billing ZIP code, and last four digits of their Social Security Numbers (in the case of businesses, their Employer ID numbers).

Failure to opt out will be interpreted by Verizon Wireless as "consent" the company's data-sharing practices. Given that the FCC has been very concerned about the protection of CPNI data, we wonder if Verizon has truly given proper notice of their intent to share the data, and why.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071014-verizon-wireless-if-you-dont-opt-out-we-get-to-share-your-cpni-call-data.html

Google Mobile Maps

Google Mobile Maps

Google Mobile Maps is awesome. We were talking about GPS's at work and one of the SE's mentioned google.com/gmm. It is a 2-3 minute install on your SmartPhone, Palm, or BlackBerry. Internet access is required on your mobile phone plan, but the speed is impressive and the database is very comprehensive. I already used it in MA and CT last weekend finding gasoline, hotels, and Starbucks based on zip code and city, state data.

GPS support is available for some model of Blackberry's, but I have not tested this feature.

Dynamic Periodic Table

Dynamic Periodic Table

I have always been interested in the Periodic Table, but this is the best I have seen to date. The presentation is very flexible, with check boxes to display the full names of the elements, include the number of electrons for each. The customized tables can be saved as PDF or PNG graphic images in letter, legal, and A4 formats.

As an added feature, when you click on an element, all the physical property data (photo included), atomic properties, and, where appropriate, isotopes of the element are displayed.

The extended data is from Wikipedia, but data I reviewed appeared to be very complete and accurate.

Seagate Technology - OneTouch III Mini Vista Software

Seagate Technology - OneTouch III Mini Vista Software

While attempting to migrate files from my home laptop running Vista to my work computers, I had problems connecting my Maxtor OneTouch III external USB drive.

I had to Google a few times, but located the 266 Meg Maxtor OneTouch III driver update for Vista. That's pretty big!

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Creationists rewrite natural history - Telegraph

Creationists rewrite natural history - Telegraph

Censored versions of Sir David's award winning programmes have been broadcast in Holland without any references to evolution, speciation, descent and timescales of millions of years, after being censored by Christian creationists who are opposed to Charles Darwin's ideas.

I'm glad to see that David Attenborough is pursuing this farce. I'm tired of seeing companies protect their 'intellectual property' while letting 'Christian' idiots run amok. It is particularly surprising to see this happen in Holland, which is known for it's liberal politics and intellectual freedom.

Go David!