First, I’m developing a multimedia project for Pacific University’s MFA master’s degree. It’s going to be a JQuery-driven audiovisual presentation consisting of slideshows alongside of literary readings. It will be a great project but nonetheless a difficult one.

I’m also into development of Every Husband’s Nightmare Bazaar, the jewelry/crafts/antiques show in Hillsboro, Oregon. This will be pretty much a fully featured informational site with a gallery and several “web application” functions for registering and other mechanisms like that.

I am also considering two background projects that may or may not go, depending on how heavy my school overhead is. I have a couple upper-division classes that could be a lot of work.

Yep. That’s about all for now. Don’t expect any decent blog posts in awhile. That’s okay, if you’re reading this then you probably know that this is kind of a slow, “every once ‘n awhile” type sites.

Until next time, amigos.

In other news, I just revamped my hobby site. Honestly it’s still a little messy here and there but for the most part I think it’s quite an improvement.

As I began to read the latest one they sent out (just now), it occurred to me that, my my, they’re all the same. I’m noticing patterns in what goes where, and the type of items they favor. In my account settings they describe these emails as “Weekly savings on Newegg’s hottest products,” “The latest updates on hot new product releases and 24-hour sales,” and “Sweepstakes and giveaways from top brands.” People go to Newegg to buy computer parts. Perfectly accurate. But check it out — the “hot new products” and “top brands” don’t seem to change very often.

The Intel Processor from the Latest Line-up

Without fail, I always see whatever Intel’s pushing at the time. Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, iThis, iThat, and now the Sandy Bridges. Next up, Ivy Bridge takes center stage. I think this trend has to do with CPU reliability. How many times in your life have you had a bad CPU? By their nature, CPUs tend not to fail, and as a result, 92% of all reviewers on Newegg give it 5-stars. What a solid $320 that is, eh? Stick that sucka’ right on center stage!

The Asus/Acer Run-of-the-mill Monitor

Asus and Acer seem to make the most popular monitors on Newegg. Without fail, I see one either in the spotlight or in the product grid. Personally, I think they’re fine monitors, but if you’re a designer, I’d say you want to look for an IPS panel that doesn’t cost $150. I have seen my share of these types of monitors and they always look extremely saturated and bright. Crowd-pleasers, no doubt, just be careful if you want to be part of the crowd.

 The Dirt Cheap G.Skill Memory

Seriously, people just love the price of G.Skill memory. Rightly so, but I’d bet many aren’t particularly fond of the ugly heatsinks. The Newegg email department still clings to these memory units every time. From what I’ve heard, you get what you pay for. More than once I’ve been recommended to stay away from G.Skill memory and spend a little more for something that’s going to last. Crucial, Corsair, Mushkin, and Kingston are all better options.

Back on the topic though, I think Newegg could make these emails vastly more interesting by diversifying them, or adding a new type of newsletter that showcases unpopular items of quality rather than those that customers can’t get enough of. There is a difference between popularity and quality. For example, I never see a rack-mountable computer case or full size headphones (even though I do see a pair on the homepage a lot). What about nicer monitors or decent memory? I use Newegg as a tool to determine item quality and a place to avoid retail price, and I think these promotional emails could cater to that need a lot better.

Just kidding — but seriously now, do a search for “outlook 2010 suggest contacts problem” and you’ll see what I mean. People seeing only some of their contacts, the feature failing some of the time, and everyone attempting to rebuild the cache of these contacts. What we have here, lads, is one poorly-implemented feature that is still broken to this day. The masses have it figured out for pre-2010 versions. In 2010, Microsoft changed the way it works so that the “NK2″ file, the suggested contacts index in older versions, is no longer relevant. I don’t think this is dumb — the reason they did so was to keep the cache with the user’s account rather than the workstation s/he used. Brilliant! But why is it that in a simple use case where Outlook’s contacts are filled to the brim, does it not immediately start suggesting names from these? If you ask me, there’s absolutely no good reason why at any point should typing in a part of a name or email address fail to turn up results from one’s address book.

Gmail or Thunderbird (hell, even Opera now) have this down, and well. Gmail isn’t even a conventional program, and it functions better than Outlook. But for reasons unknown to me, Microsoft has yet again determined the best way to carry on is to walk to the beat of their own drum. They’re already doing that with Internet Explorer, so why improve Outlook to actually compete with other email clients?

The difference this makes is astounding. Tabs are widely accepted as a UI standard, seen not only on the web but also in Windows dialog boxes. Hell, they’ve been around since the days of Windows 2000, right? Almost every “Properties” dialog is organized by tabs. Even though they are gray and ugly, even in Windows 7, not once have I ever thought to myself, “man, this Properties dialog is clunky.” In fact, I think they’re even easier to understand and navigate than other newer Windows features, like the Control Panel or configuring a Library.

So tabs are not a scary new UI structure for Windows, yet somehow they haven’t made their way into Windows Explorer. Let’s see, Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft’s first browser to have tabs, was released in March 2009, with Windows 7 following in October that same year. Even though Firefox had tabs for a long, long time before then, it seems that Microsoft didn’t get the message that the masses were expecting tabbed interfaces until their development on IE8. How did they miss the boat for Windows Explorer in Windows 7?

To get just a straight-up bar of tabs without any other clutter, you have to mess around quite a bit with QTTabBar’s extensive menu of options. Additionally, you have to right-click on the left side of the toolbars, on the bumpy ridge handle thing, in Windows Explorer and uncheck everything but QTTabBar itself. I found this is the cleanest implementation.

Hope this helps.

The game’s “compatibility magic” comes from a utility called NFS Stock Pack. Discussed in this post on the NFSCars fan site, it is essentially a compilation of many different patches and workarounds created over the years of battling NFSHS’s compatibility. I was seriously impressed by how simple this was compared to back in the days of error message after error message.

Where do you start, might you ask. Unfortunately, the old NFSHS installer presents some caveats. Let’s jump right in from the start:

1. Reboot your computer. On my Win 7 64-bit system, autoplaying the CD had about a 20% success rate. Disappointing! Then, I figured out that it usually took a fresh reboot to work. So, restart your rig before launching the installer.
2. Bypass the OS check. SETUP.EXE is hardwired to ensure the host system is running only Windows 98/ME. So, to get around this, right click on SETUP.EXE on the NFSHS disc and enable compatibility mode for Windows 98/ME.
3. Install the game, kill the process after it’s done. I found that although the installer accepts configuration and sets up all files and registry entries, mine did not make it to the absolute end. Fortunately, it makes it far enough. Once you see the dialog asking you if you want a shortcut on your desktop, that’s as far as you’ll get. At this point, launch the Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Escape), switch to the Processes tab, and kill the InstallShield process. It was named “_INS5576._MP.” Aside of this, there shouldn’t be any error messages, though if you get anything weird, I recommend searching NFSCars.net to troubleshoot.
4. Install the Stock Pack. Pick up the installer from this thread on NFSCars or just Google “NFSHS Stock Pack.” This is your ticket to ride. During the installation, you’ll have several options to choose from. The default options should be fine, though here’s a quick break down to help you make up your mind:
• IPLounge: A little client that brings multiplayer to NFSHS. I didn’t try it, but from previous failed installations the program seemed pretty rudimentary and poorly designed. I’m sure it works fine, and I encourage you to check it out.
• Patch 4.50: Get it. Fixes various things, just a “nice to have” item.
• Patched ‘nfshs.exe’ file - Get it! Great to not have to deal with the CD. The installer will copy over the music.
• EP & Highpoly Menu Patch - Important if you want to add custom cars to the game. Eliminates a crash caused by very detailed models. Grab it.
• All Cars & Tracks, New 3D setup, Vista/Win7 Tweaks, NFSHS Starter, and Set NTFS rights - I’d get all of these. Really no reason not to.
• Multicore patch - Only if the game runs too fast (it didn’t for me). I didn’t need this.
• Firewall entry - Sure, why not?
• Enable movies - Want to see that fuzzy, low-res intro movie? Naah.
• Glide Wrapper - IMPORTANT! This is what emulates the ancient video graphics technology, and the graphics to actually render. Might be a good idea, no? I tried both nGlide and “Zechensack’s Glide,” and I’d recommend Zechensack’s because it is less of a standalone program and has more options.
5. Get racing! Once that’s done, you’re golden. The game will launch without issue and you can hop right into the campaign or a hot pursuit.

Got the “AMF=5″ error?

I ran into this one, and I had to reinstall the game. I believe this is caused by changing the in-game resolution. To change the resolution, you need to set it in the Glide wrapper program (Start > NFS HS Stock Pack > Glide Wrapper > Configurator), NOT from the in-game options. To fix it, you need to uninstall, and start from the top.

Need to reinstall the game?

Ok so, since I bailed out of installation at the last minute, the normal uninstaller errored out when I tried to reinstall. So, it’s a messy manual uninstall. What I did was do a search on my OS drive for “Stakes” and deleted all of the pieces. There weren’t that many, just the program files entry and the start menu entry. Then, I searched for the same thing in the registry, and deleted anything related.

Want to ISO your NFSHS disk before it gets scratched?

I first tried to image it using ImgBurn, and it failed at sector 818 or something like that. I then tried MagicISO, and it worked, although the progress bar was way off. It indicated it was going extremely slowly, then ended up taking less than an hour. To image the disk, use MagicISO.

I am working on a Landscape Design website for a family member which is going to be powered by WordPress. Jeez, WordPress is sure valuable these days. There’s nothing it can’t do. Anyway, I’m excited about this one because it also involves generating a lot of vector art and even a new logo.

Finally, I am planning a tool called Carpooler that aims to provide a way to organize carpoolers for any group of people going on a trip. The theme will definitely be simple & easy.

As I make progress on these projects, I’ll probably post little snippets of how it’s going. That’s all for now, adios.

Let’s start with Winamp. Yeah, if you’re a seasoned Android user, chances are you already know about/use it. But I’m a guy coming from TuneWiki, and previously I just couldn’t imagine music without TuneWiki. But then, a horrible thing happened. They released a new version, and unfortunately the newer-isn’t-always-better thing really applies. See, they overdeveloped it. The reason I loved Tunewiki was because its interface was dead simple, looked good enough, and resembled an iPod. So why switch, when that seems so good?

Truth be told, it was perfect, but when the new version came out, a nag message decided to start popping up every time I launched the app, telling me there was a new version, and that I really, really should download it. There wasn’t an option to disable it, much to my dismay, ESPECIALLY after paying for the ad-free version. My patience lasted about a month, then I looked elsewhere.

Enter Winamp. It feels similar enough to TuneWiki, with notable differences. First, I really like the sliding pane that goes between the currently-playing song and the music browser. It has the good ‘ole Artist/Song/Album buttons that are a little better laid out than TuneWiki. I miss the easy “Shuffle All” button that TuneWiki had, but it’s only in the context menu now. All in all, a very capable player that just works.

Now, the fun stuff. The second transition was going from Zeam to Launch 7. Let me first say that I’ve always been a humongous fan of the Windows Phone launcher, because instead of gawky icons like most Android launchers use, Windows Phone opts for big, easy-to-touch tiles that can display useful information like unread text messages and such. I’ve tried to replicate that look in Zeam with Desktop Visualizer, but the widgets it produces are hard to set-up and customize.

Launcher 7 not only knocks the ball out of the park, but it fires that bad boy right over the perimeter fence, and straight out to Kyrgyzstan. I’ve always been a fan of simple and functional, but the more customization the better, in all cases. Launcher 7 replicates the Windows Phone look perfectly. It looks and feels great, with subtle animations and beautiful, simple contrast. And, it’s got plenty of options for customizing tiles in terms of color and function. Awe-SOME!

The third and final transition was from Pure Grid Calender Widget (By Francois DESLANDES!!) to aCalendar. There wasn’t anything specifically wrong with Pure Grid. I still think it’s a well-developed and great-looking calendar widget…for a standard Android homescreen app. Now that I’m running Launcher 7, widgets just don’t quite fit in anymore. Surprised? I don’t blame you. I guess I just never quite felt too attached to any one widget, except this calendar.

The main gripe with Pure Grid is that the functionality is limited purely by widget-hood. I live by my Google calendar, and while Pure Grid replicated it pretty damn well, I though there were a lot of things that could be improved. After some research, I tried aCalendar and I found it to offer a handful of features that put it above Pure Grid. First off, it’s a full app, not a widget. Which superfine by me. Calendars need space. I love how swiping any direction takes you to the next view. This switches between Day, Month, and a closer up view of 6-7 days. The actual event layout looks like a compressed version of a full Google calendar, with the actual event bars rather than the lame striped vertical bars offered by the stock calendar. Way, way way better.

So there ya have it. Get out on the Market and grab yourself some of this Android deliciousness! It’s the modern age of smartphones, and these days apps are getting better than ever. Fun stuff.

Here’s a funny program: The Agency Manager. It’s a record-keeper used by insurance agencies that does all kinds of very useful things. The only problem is that its backend structure feels like it was something created pre-2000. Applied Systems, the company behind it, just released a new version last Friday, so when we upgraded to it, I was getting ready to see a nice shiny new modern interface. This is the modern age of programming; surely they updated the visuals, right?

Try this one: Ever wanted to configure the taskbar and startmenu in a certain way for users on a domain? Bet you’re familiar with the insanely long file path to the Quick Launch folder buried in AppData. But, computers are computers, so anything within sane limits is possible. To do this, I had to configure the start menu and taskbar the way we wanted it. Then, I copied the shortcuts out of that buried directory, as well as registry entries that dictated the order of the items.

I gotta say, I found it funny that I had to look in a folder underneath Internet Explorer and Quick Launch to find pinned taskbar shortcuts. I guess Microsoft engineers were too lazy to move off of their old nomenclature of Quick Launch, and separating the functionality from Internet Explorer. I mean, I wasn’t too into computers in the Windows 98 days, but I believe Quick Launch and Internet Explorer were pretty tight back then. Now it’s 2011 and we still have these funny little ties left over from the early Windows days.

Another Microsoft-ism. Some shortcuts you cannot pin to the Start Menu and Taskbar. According to a Microsoft help article, not linked here because the author (me) can’t find it on Google again, you can’t pin a network location to either. I don’t care what their thinking was — a security issue, perhaps? There’s no good reason that you shouldn’t be able to pin a shortcut to a network location on your taskbar or startmenu if you can do so perfectly well as an icon on the desktop.

If you’re a writer, you may be wondering what my point is. By telling you these things I want you to see Windows 7 in a new light — an operating system that is clearly Microsoft’s best (after the Vista disaster), yet struggling to also be backward-compatible and maintain the status quo, to some extent at least. It introduces flashy new interface quirks and rearranges functions and buttons, but it’s also clearly the same as the last two under the hood. Don’t jump down my throat — there are breakthrough leaps and bounds in 7, most notably networking that actually works (and makes sense to non-IT administrators). The thing is, you can’t tell me more than half of Windows 7 was re-engineered when not three levels down into the belly of the beast you see dialogs and functionality that hasn’t change since XP.

But hey, it all still works. And will work for many, many years before we see something new and exciting. Gee, what’s going to be my operating system when I’m 65?