Don’t post screen shots as low quality JPEG.
Use PNG, which results in smaller files and better looking images.
Not like ING did: no screen reader can help visually impaired, and it gives a very bad user experience to the rest of the world.
–jeroen
Archive for 2012
Please web-people, post screen shots as PNG, not JPEG!
Posted by jpluimers on 2012/04/16
Posted in LifeHacker, Power User, Usability, User Experience (ux) | 1 Comment »
MigrationWiz – Complete cloud-based mailbox migration solution for Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Exchange Online , Office 365, Novell GroupWise, Lotus, Notes, Google Apps/Gmail, VMWare Zimbra, IMAP and POP systems
Posted by jpluimers on 2012/04/16
Something I might want to try soon:
Migrate mailboxes between Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Novell GroupWise, Google Apps/Gmail, VMWare Zimbra, IMAP or POP systems.
Thanks Scott for mentioning this.
–jeroen
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Posted in Power User | Leave a Comment »
Which “Posting categories” overview do you like most?
Posted by jpluimers on 2012/04/14
I’m experimenting with the Posting categories overview page as a prequel to a proper tag cloud (and a series of posts on how to get there).
Please let me know in the comments which of the below ones you like most:
- Left:
HTML tree with post count per category - Middle:
HTML tree with font size indicating post count - Right:
HTML tree with post count per category and font size indicating post count
(For comparison, you need a big screen; the most popular choice will survive on the Posting categories page).
–jeroen
via: Posting categories « The Wiert Corner – irregular stream of Wiert stuff. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in CSS, Development, HTML, Power User, SocialMedia, Software Development, Usability, User Experience (ux), Web Development, WordPress, WordPress | Leave a Comment »
Who has a Workaround for Windows XP “KB2509553 Setup Error: Setup cannot update your Windows XP files because the language installed on your system is different from the update language.”?
Posted by jpluimers on 2012/04/13
Recently I was at a site where the KB2509553 security update on Windows XP would not install because of this error, even after retrying a couple of times:
---------------------------
KB2509553 Setup Error
---------------------------
Setup cannot update your Windows XP files because the languageinstalled on your system is different from the update language.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------
The error came from the Dutch version of Microsoft Update and the (also Dutch) Autoupdate inside Windows XP.
The solution that seemed easy didn’t work:
Manually download the Dutch version at the KB2509553 download page, and install that one.
Thanks Halima S for mentioning this on the Microsoft Answers site.
So: where should I start looking to get this security update installed?
–jeroen
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Posted in Power User, Windows, Windows XP | Leave a Comment »
StdAux and StdPrn standard handles (was: The importance of error code backwards compatibility – The Old New Thing – Site Home – MSDN Blogs)
Posted by jpluimers on 2012/04/12
Coo, I never knew that MS-DOS had STDAUX and STDPRN, I only knew about PRN (I think it mapped to LPT1).
Don’t you love the old new thing :)
The standard MS-DOS file handles are as follows:
handle name meaning 0 stdin standard input 1 stdout standard output 2 stderr standard error 3 stdaux standard auxiliary (serial port) 4 stdprn standard printer
–jeroen
via: The importance of error code backwards compatibility – The Old New Thing – Site Home – MSDN Blogs.
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Posted in Development, Power User, Software Development | Leave a Comment »
a BNF grammer for C# v2 and ANTLR grammers for C# v2 and C# v4 (via: c# 4.0 – C# grammar in BNF or EBNF Parser generator for F# – Stack Overflow)
Posted by jpluimers on 2012/04/11
a BNF grammer for C# v2 has moved from www.devincook.com/GOLDParser/grammars/index.htm to goldparser.org/grammars.
It is mostly complete, and a good learning experience to both BNF and the C# syntax.
ANTLR grammers are available for C# 2, and a partially for C# 4.
–jeroen
via: c# 4.0 – C# grammar in BNF or EBNF Parser generator for F# – Stack Overflow.
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Posted in .NET, C#, C# 2.0, Development, Software Development | Leave a Comment »
Installing Delphi XE2: disable/uninstall WorkPace 3.0 and Data Guardian 5.2 first
Posted by jpluimers on 2012/04/10
Lot’s of corporate environments keep killing the productivity of their software developers by running WorkPace. They claim to prevent RSI, but the main thing they do is getting you out of your mental flow.
Workpace (yes, it is written in Delphi) hooks itself into processes by injecting REC300.DLL into it.
That particular DLL prevents Delphi XE2 from installing in several of the systems colleagues tried, and gives you error messages like these:
'' is not a valid integer value
Followed by a bunch of access violations, and Process Monitor indicating issues reading the key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\REC300.DLL which is part of WorkPace 3.0 (an old 2007 version).
The next problem was Digital Guardian (an old 2010 version) hooking itself into all processes. Uninstalling that is a pain, as it requires a special uninstall key, but luckily the automated update script on the SCCM server’s distribution share contained that in an encrypted form. Uninstalling this solved the problem.
Maybe newer versions of WorkPace and Digital Guardian wouldn’t have interfered with the Delphi XE2 install. If so, that would be another example of technical debt.
WorkPace and Digitual Guardian are most likely there because of government induced regulations in the corporate environment.
I’m feeling a bit like Dilbert now: the corporate environment is interesting, but often they make “getting work done” so much harder than it could be.
–jeroen
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Posted in Delphi, Delphi XE2, Development, Opinions, Software Development, Technical Debt | Leave a Comment »
Do posts coincide with real world events? (via: How does Raymond decide what to post on any particular day? – The Old New Thing – Site Home – MSDN Blogs)
Posted by jpluimers on 2012/04/09
When starting the blog, there was not very particular pattern on writing posts. I just wrote them up as something happened.
I started about a week before my 40th birthday, and sometimes tended to publish multiple posts a day. Most of them having to do with software development.
The frequency was irregular, mostly because it took a bit of time to get the hang of writing, getting in a writing flow is not always easy, and while in flow, posts could come into bursts.
I decided to become more structured, and looked at how other people were doing it.
A good example is Raymond Chen who writes The Old New Thing. I have an article queue just like him:
His queue horizin of a year is way longer than mine. I try to keep a queue of around 2 months (which gives me some slack when in “crunch mode” – which I try to avoid – or holidays/marching band events) occasionally going to 3 months.
The pattern went from almost exclusively software development related to a scheme like this:
- Software development on tuesday, wednesday and thursday
- Power User/Lifehacker on monday and friday
- Personal stuff at semi-random intervals
- Only posts in weekends that are related to specific dates
A fun fact: post popularity is not in the order of the scheme (see the 2011 report). Actually I don’t write to get high page views. My main motivation is that this blog is indeed a blog: a web log where I can find back things I have done, or that interest me. I hope it benefits others too, and I do appreciate the views (thanks for reading <g>).
Most posts are posted at 0600 WordPress.com UTC+1 time (which somehow tends to vary depending on daylight savings). Occasional extra posts (usually with recent news) gets posted around noon or around 1800.
An average post takes me about 30 minutes of writing, but some takes several hours or even a day.
So: no, posts usually don’t coincide with real world events :)
–jeroen
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Posted in About, Personal | 1 Comment »
Powershell links (via: Scott Hanselmans 2011 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Windows)
Posted by jpluimers on 2012/04/06
If you like .NET and scripting, then PowerShell and the PowerShell Community Extensions is what you should try:
PowerShell – The full power of .NET, WMI and COM all from a command line. PowerShell has a steep learning curve, much like the tango, but oh, my, when you really start dancing…woof. I also use PowerShell Prompt Here. Its built into Windows 7, by the way.
- I also recommend after installing PowerShell that you immediately go get PowerTab to enable amazing “ANSI-art” style command-line tab completion.
- Next, go get the PowerShell Community Extensions to add dozens of useful commands to PowerShell.
- Want a more advanced GUI for PowerShell? Get the free PowerGUI.
Thanks Scott for summarizing :)
–jeroen
via: Scott Hanselmans 2011 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Windows – Scott Hanselman.
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Posted in .NET, Development, Power User, PowerShell, Scripting, Software Development | 1 Comment »
Finally Google allows searching for “C#” via: Search quality highlights: 50 changes for March – Inside Search
Posted by jpluimers on 2012/04/05
Finally, Google allows searching for C# and returns meaningful results (previously they returned the same results as searching for C).
They improved a bunch of other special characters as well.
–jeroen
via:
Search quality highlights: 50 changes for March – Inside Search.
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Posted in .NET, C#, Development, Google, GoogleSearch, Power User, Software Development | Leave a Comment »
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 