GeekTech

Windows 7: Disabling the annoying libraries

2009-12-09T18:34:00.002-05:00

Yes, it is I - GeekTech, back from non existence. I found a tip so good that I wanted it archived somewhere so someone can find it. It will help me and I hope it helps you too.

If you have Windows 7 and you have a secondary hard drive installed, then you know how annoying the libraries link in the taskbar can be. I never use the libraries and I was having a difficult way overriding it from poping up when I clicked it. What I really wanted was a handy shortcut to My Computer. But every time I placed one there, it defaulted to Libraries.

To change this, follow these steps:

On Windows 7 Taskbar, right click the library icon, then hold down Shift key, and then right click on the Windows Explorer icon, and then select Properties.
In the Target text box under Shortcut tab, change the value to one of the following to open either Documents or Computer by default.
To Make Documents as Default Folder to Open by Windows Explorer upon Launching

%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /n,::{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}

To Make Computer as Default Folder to Open by Windows Explorer upon Launching

%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Click OK when done.

Windows 7: The Dream, The Revolution, The Perfection

2009-07-03T12:20:00.003-04:00

You know something amazing has to be going on if it was enough to bring me out of my antiposting coma. Well it just so happens that I do have something THAT good. Even though there are only three people who read this blog, I firgured I would enlighten you all with the power of Windows 7.

I have been officially running it for about 10 minutes now and let's just say that I have more love for it than XP and maybe, just maybe, more love for it than my Mac. Now that's deep.

First off: the specs.
Processor: AMD Athlon LIVE! 2.5 GHz dual-core 64-bit (I love AMD's)
Memory: 2 GB DDR2
Storage: (for the OS only) 80 GB IDE with two partitions. The second partition is for the real release of 7
Graphics: PNY GeForce 7300 GT (nvidia) 256MB

I am running the 64-bit edition and let me tell you - I'm sure you won't ever be disappointed. The GUI just feels so clean. It is seriously like working on a pane of glass. The video effects no longer hurt operations and opening up a window is snappy quick. Behaviors are way less annoying and are actually enjoyable. Even the User Account Control has only prompted me twice (during two program installations). I was even digging around in system properties and control panel and no annoying warning (unlike Vista).

I can't say enough good about it. This literally has me hooked. I'm sure before the day is up, I'll have all the "necessities" installed on it. It's also very stable even though it is only an RC. I'm very much surprised. Perhaps Microsoft is actually getting good at this?

Screenshots: "What in the World?"

2009-04-12T22:52:00.014-04:00

Sometimes when you are using your computer, a marvelous piece of software will slip up and either not make any sense or just be plain wrong. Here is an extensive list of screenshots I've personally collected of these instances when Windows and other applications have reminded me that the machine is only as smart as its programmer.

It's a little blury but the window says, "Recording failure when writing disc 2/(0)
Click Next to retry." "Yes/No"

I hate those programs that make you shut down everything to continue the installation. But this installer is so greedy, it wants itself to be shutdown to continue.

When upgrading my firmware on my router, I was alerted that, "Upgrade are failed"
Obviously Linksys had hired some foreign programmers.

This one speaks for itself. I'd say either my network is freaking fast to get a negative ping time, or the average time of about 13 days for a response just suggests maybe the network is down.

Thousands of people use BitComet but their versions are all outdated because no one can find the "OK" button.

Here my task manager listed itself as being Non-responsive. So what do you do when CTRL + ALT + DEL doesn't work?

I don't have a clue what Zango is. I completely forget what I was even doing when I took this screenshot. However, something tells me they totally got confused when thinking about the definitions of OK and Cancel

When I discovered Ceedo for my Lexar jump drive, I was determined to install my own custom application on it. I suppose it is issuous if you cannot install InstallAnything.

This one is one of my favorites. Seriously. Go to google and begin typing the phrase, "I am extremely" and this is the result you'll get. This is not photoshopped.

I'm pretty sure the point of an resource controller is not to waste processing power taming itself.

After realizing this program was putting in more than 100% or effort, I was a little leary on seeing what it did to the converted video. I couldn't have made this one up. This really did happen. I especially like how the action progress was far past the total progress.

And to the idiots who feel bots are really getting smarter - all I can say is "WHAT IN THE WORLD?" I thought I saw this somewhere on sourceforge but I can't remember exactly where. I hate captchas. Apparently, the cat sits and the dog stands. I can't tell either. I was so mad about this I actually emailed the company complaining that their captch was literally impossible to read.

Thos are all the funny screenshots that I have collected so far. Thos are all real and they are ones I have personally experience and saved. None of them have been altered or photoshopped.

RUN Prompt: Launch any application FAST!

2009-04-06T22:02:00.002-04:00

If you are like me and are becoming more and more obsessed by doing every single task on your computer with your keyboard instead of your mouse, then I just thought up and tested the best thing for you.

Ever noticed those little underlines under certain letters in menus? If you didn't know, those are the keyboard commands to navigate an entire program with out using the mouse. In each program, no two menu options use the same letter, or at least they try not to. In case it does, the highlighter will flip back and forth between the options as you press that letter. If you've never experienced this awesome thing before, go ahead and hit ALT + F, or ALT and then F to open your browser's File menu. Don't hit X or else that will close down the program (that's usually standard).

Ok, enough of the basics. How do you get flying fast with launching applications. Well you know that in command prompt it's natural directory defaults to the system32 folder where some common programs are stored - like mspaint, sol, and notepad. When you go to Start --> Run, and you simply type "notepad" (even without the ".exe") it launches that program.

Well I prefer to quickly launch something via the keyboard rather than picking up my stylus (since I don't have a mouse) clicking to activate it's control, finding the mouse on one of my dual monitors, dragging it over the the secondary monitor to click start, etc, etc, etc, etc. So it is much faster to just type something real fast and go.

In windows, you can launch ANYTHING from the RUN prompt. But to formally do it, you have to type the complete path with colons, backslashes, and the .exe extension. So why can't you do it just like - "notepad" and have it launch? Well you can!

Go to the folder - C:\windows\system32 - and create a new text file from the file menu
Or if you're like me, press the following while doing the hokey pokey...
Windows Key + E;
TAB;
L; (if you have one hard drive)
L; (only if you have two hard drives)
Enter;
W;
Enter;
S (8 times);
Enter;
ALT + F;
ALT + W;
ALT + T;

...it really is faster to do it with key strokes.

Anywho, rename that new text file to the name of the program that you want to launch and end it with a [dot]bat extension. My example here would be Firefox.

firefox.bat

It will most likely warn you about changing the file extension and becoming unusable. It's ok, just say yes. If you want, shorten the name of that file to "ff.bat" so you can reduce the amount of keys you have to type to launch your program. It's your file, you do whatever you want.

Now right click that file (or hit the context menu key on the keyboard and then hit "E") which will open a blank notepad.

HERE'S THE IMPORTANT PART!!!!
Inside of notepad typ the following:
start "" [path]

That is "s-t-a-r-t SPACE doublequote-doublequote SPACE [path]
Now [path] should be replaced with the complete path to wherever your program is installed including the drive letter and file extension AND the whole path must be in double quotes! Obviously, the batch file should not contain the brackets.

Example: (still for firefox)
start "" "C:\program files\mozilla firefox 3 beta 2\firefox.exe"
(s-t-a-r-t SPACE doublequote-doublequote SPACE doublequote-c-COLON...........)

Save the file once you've added this one line and then close notepad. Type the following (in no program)...
Windows Key (the flag) + R (hit them at the same time);
type "firefox";
hit Enter;

Voila! A new instance of Firefox should open. I even have these set to Thunderbird, Audacity, Photoshop, Premiere, and VMware. It works!

Windows: Access Command Prompt Easily

2009-01-28T13:15:00.003-05:00

Sometimes when doing large batch conversions between file types, the old ones are left over. You want to delete them but they are interlaced with their counter parts and you don't want to individually select them all. What do you do?

I use command prompt to do this. Go to the directory containing the files that you want deleted and use the command DEL *.[old file extension]. So say I converted a bunch of WAV files to MP3. I would just type DEL *.wav and leave the MP3's alone.

Ok, that's not that hard to do right? Of course any geek knows how to delete files of a certain type in command prompt. But say your music folder is 5,000 folders deep on your harddrive and using the CD command to change to the directory is a huge pain in the butt. Well here's an easy way to make command prompt go straight to the directory you want.

How it works
Go to any folder (in explorer) that you would want to work with in command prompt. Right click on a subfolder and then you select "Command Prompt from Here". This will open Command prompt pointing to the directory you want.

OK, that's the desired effect and it is a feature that comes built into XP but it is rarely ever enabled. So if you want this ease of access to prompt, follow these steps

How to activate the feature
Again, in explorer, go to any folder (it really does not matter where) and click Tools menu>Folder Options.
Click the File Types tab
In the giant list, find "Folder" and select it (Make sure it isn't "File Folder")
Click the Advanced button on the bottom of the window
***FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING!! - do NOT set anything as default or else you will end up launching VLC media LAN every time you double click a folder. It just happened to me and I couldn't fix it (had to use system restore)
Click on New...
Under the Action box, type "Command Prompt from Here"
Under the "Application used to perform the action" type cmd.exe "%1" (with quotes and everything)
Click ok a few times and there you have it.

In case you screw anything up, visit the link below to get a free context menu editor.

http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/downloads/Fast_Explorer_47727_p/free.htm

Something...

2008-10-01T15:45:00.002-04:00

I realize it has been ages since my post but I think all my devout feeders know why that is. Any who, I stumbled across something while testing out AOL 10.1. No, I'm not an AOL user but I found their new software which actually looks really impressive. See with AOL 9.1, when ever you launch Firefox and you search for something in the URL address line without ending it in ".com", AOL will maximize itself out of your taskbar, steal focus, and annoy the crap out of you. I wanted to see if 10.1 still did this.

So to test it out, I randomly typed a few searches in the URL bar - one of my searches being "something". Turns out "something actually returns a website called 'something'.

http://www.something.com

OS: Killing the evil

2008-08-09T15:25:00.002-04:00

The time has come where I have decided to pull the plug on Vista. After noticing my hard drive deteriorate from 99 GB of free space to 71 GB of free space in less than a week and not being able to do disk cleanup, along with incompatible hardware and software, I decided it's not worth it. So this is the last post from inside Vista - probably forever.

I am going to install a smaller hard drive (80 GB) and install Windows XP SP2 on it. I'm going to keep all my files on my larger SATA drive (372 GB). Yes I am going to miss all the eye candy but I can no longer stand all the issues.

What finally pushed me over the edge was I just bought a webcam today from the Walmart Clearance Aisle. HEY! You can find a lot of good and cheap stuff down that aisle!

Anywho, it was like this $70 thing for $20. It also comes with a bluetooth head set and a bluetooth dongle for PC via USB. Well guess what. None of it worked with Vista.

So goodbye you evil operating system. Enjoy your death as Microsoft will destroy you in less than two years.

Wanted: Any old computers or parts.

2008-08-09T12:17:00.003-04:00

STOP! Don't throw that computer out!

I am currently seeking computers and parts or any electronic device that is going into your garbage pile. Anything you don't want anymore that runs on electricity, please tell me.

Screenshots: What's Wrong Here?

2008-08-03T21:52:00.006-04:00

For all those times when you stared at your computer and had a "What in the world?" moment or the less polite version of WTF - Here is my tribute via screenshots of a collection of errors and situations from Windows.

Hey, I found RND! (Get it, you know that "random" function in Visual Basic?)

Does anyone else see the irony here?

You have to believe me when I tell you that this is a real screenshot. I did not photoshop these buttons on here at all. If you don't believe me, just install an old version of bitcomet.

I don't think the point of a process tamer is to tame itself. I really couldn't believe this happened.

Now I really, really couldn't believe that this program did this. Again, I did not modify this picture what-so-ever. The ending percentage was something like 184% action progress with 173% overall progress after about 45 minutes actual time with 34 minutes estimated time.

Sometimes you wonder, "What on Earth is wrong with software these days?"

Laugh of the Day

2008-08-03T21:48:00.002-04:00

Concept: Sony Vaio "Zoom" (with Holographic Screen)

2008-08-03T21:39:00.003-04:00

Is that sexy or what? This is Sony's latest concept. I features a clear, glass screen and pure black surface when powered off. When you turn it on, the glass is filled with the image and the keyboard keys and track pad "light up". Man that would friggin awesome to have. I wouldn't care how much money I had to pay to get my hands on one of those. Unfortunately, it is just a concept and won't be developed until holograms become a reality.

Citation: http://www.geekologie.com/2007/09/holographic_vaio_zoom_notebook.php

Video: Tips to help you prevent Identity Theft

2008-08-02T12:08:00.001-04:00

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Thought of the day: Magnets

2008-07-24T15:12:00.001-04:00

"If you have a love of magnets and electromagnets, than you are a true geek or engineer."

/This is GT's 50th post. Here's to a milestone reached.

Thought of the day: Blog + Fark

2008-07-22T22:09:00.002-04:00

"Wouldn't it be weird if when reading Fark there is a news headline that links to a post on your blog?"

Tigerdirect.com: PC giveaways

2008-07-22T21:45:00.002-04:00

You're not going to believe this...

TigerDirect.com and their sister site, CompUSA.com are currently giving away 100 PC's in 100 days. So I enter in my name. Well there is kind of this catchy part: you have to see if you've won; they won't tell you. So I go on there yesterday and at the bottom of the list is my name. I couldn't believe it. Here's a list of what I get:

HP desktop computer - $700
AMD Athlon X2 2.3 GHz
3 GB RAM
250 GB SATA II hard drive
DVD+/-RW DL -RAM with lightscribe

22" Widescreen monitor - $320
With built in speakers and a freaking subwoofer
USB ports
Webcam
Media card reader

Some fraking awesome DeskJet printer from HP - $150-$200
Scanner, Copier, Fax (?), etc.

All this for typing in my name.

So what are you waiting for? Go over to TigerDirect and enter now. Here's the catch: You gotta be 18 years old. (No comments about this please)

Thought of the day: SciFacts

2008-07-22T21:43:00.002-04:00

"You know you are a true geek when you can find random scientific facts interesting and amusing."

http://technologybb.com/showthread.php?t=999

Vista: I finally cracked it to OS X

2008-07-19T13:14:00.003-04:00

Not to copy off of Mr. Mssuxandotherstuff here but I really wanted to show you all some cool things that I just discovered with theming. So here's my current desktop's screencap.

Now we've all seen themes before and just having Mac wallpaper isn't that impressive, but look closely at the title bar. Yes, that's it... lean in and look!

Wait... what's that?

YES! The buttons are really on the left side. IN WINDOWS!!! I found this awesome stand alone, non-install program called leftsider that is completely free. It only works in windows vista though. I've heard that it can work in xp but will only affect explorer windows. In vista, though, everything is switched. Combine it with a theme, some wallpaper, and RKLauncher and you have a suitable mac on pc.

MS-DOS: Getting back to the root of it all

2008-07-19T00:15:00.003-04:00

Lately I have taken a deep interest in command prompting and especially batch files. Since we use batch files at work to run scripts for installing files and installing network printers and other miscellaneous tasks, I wanted to learn more about the cool things that are possible with building batch files. After reading through an online ebook I found that you can script batch files a way that is even more fun than doing it in notepad. To get here, start a command prompt. I'll make the following instructions in command prompt style: ('REM' means that it is just a remark. Do not actually type these.)

REM (In command prompt)
edit test.bat
REM This will actually create a batch file in your current folder (wherever command prompt is pointing)
REM Guess what? You are now in a true MS-DOS window. This goes back before command prompt. WOW.
@echo off
echo Hello. This is a test batch file.
pause
echo This batch file will now terminate.
pause

Okay, did you follow all of that? Now use your mouse to click file, and then save. And then go File > Exit. This will bring you back to command prompt. Now type 'test'. This should run your batch file. There are alot of advance commands that you can do like deleting files, moving files, and even some light programming like using the choice command.

The best thing you can do to find out more about commands is to actually use command prompt. If you type a command followed by /? it will display all the parameters and usages of that command and will usually give you an example. Seriously. Go try it out. You're not going to hurt anything.

Calling all readers!

2008-07-15T20:55:00.002-04:00

If you haven't noticed, over here on the right side of the page down below the archives is a little counter that keeps track of how many view my website gets per week. Lately the traffic report has shown about 25 views. I thought that was a bit high because I didn't think that many people read my blog.

So I'm curious to find out how many people really do read it. So all of you do me a quick favor and leave a comment on this post. You can just leave your name, or your nickname, or none at all. I do also want to know how often you read my posts.

Thanks for filling in my curiosity.

GT

Cymatics: Sound waves can make pretty pictures

2008-07-13T14:15:00.002-04:00

Did you know that sound waves can align physical matter into pretty patterns based upon the pitch of a tone?

Me neither.

http://www.whatjamiefound.com/2007/09/04/cymatics-demonstration-using-salt/

Blue Waters: 4.0 GHz processor... with 300,000 cores

2008-07-12T14:37:00.003-04:00

I about had a heart attack when I read what IBM is now pouring out $290 million to build.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/11/ibm_power7_ncsa/

Vista: Sucks

2008-07-07T20:23:00.003-04:00

...and everyone says in unison, "No way!" with all the sarcasm included.

I know, I know. Everyone has been telling me, "don't use Vista. It's not worth all the trouble. Yadda yadda yadda..."

Here are a couple reasons why I have finally broke down and admitted that it is gay:

1. Sometimes, the DVD drive will become locked. Now matter how many times you push the eject button or make windows eject it, you'll never get that DVD out. The only solution is to restart your computer.

2. It NEVER stops writing crap to the hard drive. Seriously, the LED is CONSTANTLY strobing.

3. The audio mixer is nice since you can individually control sound from every application, but when switching to headphones, you must restart the application for it to switch audio devices. VERY ANNOYING.

4. If you try to delete a file after it has just been created, Vista has a little nag screen that says, "Sorry cannot delete. Try Again or Cancel?" You usually have to leave files on your computer for a couple hours before they become 'unlocked'.

5. User Account Control. This was the first thing to be deactivated on my computer... "Starting Solitaire, Allow or Deny?"

6. The highlighting of "newly installed applications" in the all programs menu. This does not work like you think it would. Sometimes - most of the time - it highlights newly installed apps. However, after launching them and using them, it does not always unhighlight them. And in some instances, it NEVER highlights newly installed apps.

7. Vista hangs on to way too much crap. Every time I run CCleaner (which is about once a week), it removes about 4 GB - yes, that's 4,000 Megabytes - of junk files.

8. "Run" is no longer easily accessible from the start menu. Good thing the keystroke sill works (Windows Key + R)

9. Defrag Vista once a week-seriously. Especially if you have more than 50 GB of files. I have used 3/4 of my 375 GB hard drive and I haven't defragged it in a couple months. IT WAS UGLY! That's not even the wors part.. This is true - it took it 3 continuous days and nights (never shut down the computer) to defrag it. I even used a good and trustworthy third party application to do it.

10. Sometimes, without any warning, the application your are working with will just magically...... disappear. I am seriuos as all get out. Today I tried burning a data DVD and the program just vanished while it started to burn. I ended up with a corrupted and one-quarter finished DVD.

Gmail: VIACOM is spying on you!

2008-07-07T20:12:00.002-04:00

A recent article revealed a very mysterious glitch in Gmail. They are now holding a contest to see who has the best and wackiest conspiracy theory or reasoning.

http://www.techcrunchit.com/2008/07/05/the-mysterious-grey-box-on-gmail/#comments

Video: The world's first (and sexiest) computer has finally been built

2008-07-07T12:27:00.002-04:00

I was a little confused by the title too but after you watch the video of this amazing machine, you'll understand the meaning.

http://www.livescience.com/php/video/player.php?aid=19205

LCD's: Ever wonder what those screen resolution acronyms really refer to?

2008-07-03T01:08:00.002-04:00

You know those freaking acronyms concerning screen resolution for LCD moniors on laptops and usually most common in projectors like XGA and SVGA? Have you ever thought, "What the crap are they talking about?" Well here's a list of what they really mean according to their screen resolution which is much easier to comprehend than just a jumble of letters.

128x96 - SQCIF
176x144 - QCIF
352x288 - CIF
704x576 - 4CIF
160x120 - QQVGA
320x240 - QVGA
640x480 - VGA (The most common resolution as far as standard video transmission is concerned)
800x600 - SVGA
1024x768 - XGA (This is the new 'normal' as far as quality goes with VGA cables and video signals. I believe, though I am unsure, that this is the resolution where DVI cables begin)
1600x1200 - UXGA (If I were to guess this acronym I think it would be "Uber Xtreme Graphics Acceleration". By the way, this resolution is so high that it is probably the max for DVI cables)
320x200 - CGA (Probably some sort of PAL format)
640x350 - EGA
852x480 - HD480 (I'm sorry here, but if you have an HD TV set to this resolution, you have one wimpy electronic device. That's not a monitor, that's a cereal box.)
1280x720 - HD720 (Probably the 'normal' resolution for most HD TV's/Monitors
1920x1080 - HD1080 (aka, 1080i/p - Currently the HIGHEST quality video signal possible.)

There are definitely more possibilites as far as resolutions go, but these acronyms have these distinct resolution sizes. For example, XGA can have 1024x768, 1152x960, or even 1280x1024. There are also multiple NTSC video sizes when it comes to editing AVI movies like 720x480, and 360x240 but those do not have a 'Standard' name.

Firefox: Mr. Fox, meet Mr. Guiness, Mr. Guiness, this is Mr. Fox

2008-07-02T23:27:00.002-04:00

Well if you haven't heard about it I'll help spread the word. Firefox 3.0 has officially been released. But that's not all. On it's official release, it made a new world record from Guiness. I'll let you read the article for the rest of the details.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7486668.stm

Firefox: Good to know keyboard shortcuts

2008-06-23T11:36:00.003-04:00

I guess today is the day for a Firefox special considering this is the third post in one day. I found some keyboard shortcuts that just may help your internet experience.

CTRL + T - opens a new tab
CTRL + W - Closes the current tab (or will close the window if only one tab is open)
CTRL + Tab - switches between tabs
ALT + Left arrow - goes back one page
ALT + Right arrow - goes forward one page
ALT + Home - Loads homepage
End - goes to bottom of page
Home - goes to top of page
Page down - scrolls down one screen at a time
Page up - scrolls up " " " " "

These are just the commonly used ones that I use.

Firefox 3: Kill AOL Search

2008-06-23T11:17:00.003-04:00

Do you all remember that lovely little thing that firefox 2 did whenever it couldn't find what you entered in the URL address line? It would always bring up the google search page with your query. Well Firefox 3 had to be dumb and make it search gay-o-l instead. The results were always horrible and you had to physically type google.com just to find what you were looking for. Well I finally cracked the secret on how to change firefox 3 to use google instead of AOL. :o)

Step 1: Start a new tab (or window) CRT + T

Step 2: type "about:config" in the URL line and accept the warning message. (don't worry, this is safe)

Step 3: In the search bar at the top of the page, type "search"

Step 4: Look for an entry titled "browser.search.selectedEngine" and change this value to "Google Search" (Right click on the line and select Modify)

Step 5: At the bottom of the listed entries, right click on the last entry titled "keyword.url". If you look at the right of the line, it will give a URL of the aol search. Right click the entry and select "Modify".

Step 6: Change the URL to the following: "http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="

***Note: It is important that you use the exact phrases above, especially the one for the google url. If you simply type google.com it will end up looking for "google.com+(Your+Search+Phrase)"

Changes take effect immediately and it works marvelously. In case you didn't know, you can enter anything you want in Firefox's URL address line. If it cannot find a website for it, it will bring back the google search results. This saves time because you do not have to go to google.com or firefox's homepage.

Firefox 3 Easteregg

2008-06-23T11:05:00.002-04:00

Here's a quick tip for those running firefox 3...

In the URL address line, type "about:robots"

Shell Commands

2008-06-09T11:05:00.002-04:00

I was reading this article about helpful commands in Vista, however, these commands also work with XP - well I know a couple do because I just tired them. I find these really helpful. Just type this in your "Run Prompt" and it will perform its action. Really cool.

Most useful Shell commands

shell:ChangeRemoveProgramsFolder - opens the Programs and Features (Add/Remove Programs) window.
shell:Sendto - opens the SendTo folder so that you can easily add more locations to the Send To list.
shell:Common Administrative Tools - opens the Administrative Tools menu as a folder
shell:Desktop - opens the Desktop as a folder.
shell:Downloads - opens your Downloads folder. (Vista Only)
shell:Quick Launch - opens the Quick Launch folder. (Vista Only)
shell:Searches - opens the Search folder showing all your saved searches. (Vista Only)

The other useful Shell commands

shell:AppUpdatesFolder - opens the Installed Windows Updates location in Program and Files. (Vista Only)
shell:Cache - opens Internet Explorer’s temporary Internet files folder.
shell:CD Burning - opens the folder where Windows Vista temporarily stores files to be burned to a CD.
shell:Common Desktop - opens the Public/Shared User’s Desktop folder.
shell:Common Documents - opens the Public/Shared User’s Documents folder.
shell:Common Programs - opens the Start menu shortcuts folder.
shell:Common Start Menu - opens the Start Menu as a folder.
shell:Common Startup - opens the Startup folder.
shell:Common Templates - opens the Templates folder.
shell:CommonDownloads - opens the Public User’s Downloads folder.
shell:CommonMusic - opens the Public User’s Music folder.
shell:CommonPictures - opens the Public User’s Pictures folder.
shell:CommonVideo - opens the Public User’s Video folder.
***you can also open up separate folders of the like above by removing the term "Common"
shell:ConflictFolder - opens the Sync Center Conflicts folder. (Vista Only)
shell:ConnectionsFolder - opens the Network Connections folder. Very handy to know if you do a lot of networking
shell:Contacts - opens your Contacts folder. (Vista Only)
shell:ControlPanelFolder - opens the Control Panel.
shell:Cookies - opens the cookies folder
shell:Favorites - opens your Favorites folder.
shell:Fonts - opens Vista’s/XP's Fonts folder.
shell:Gadgets - opens your Windows Sidebar Gadgets folder. (Vista Only)
shell:History - opens the Internet Explorer history folder.
shell:InternetFolder - opens Internet Explorer to the "Welcome back"/"Change Your Settings" page - not the home page
shell:Links - opens your Links folder location. (Vista Only)
shell:MyMusic - opens your Music folder. (Vista Only)
shell:MyPictures - opens your Pictures folder. (VistaOnly)
shell:MyVideo - opens your Video folder.(Vista Only)
shell:MyComputerFolder - opens Computer window.(Vista Only)
shell:NetHood - opens Network Shortcuts folder or all the shared folders found on your network.
shell:NetworkPlacesFolder - opens the Network Places location. (Vista Only)
shell:Original Images - opens Windows Photo Gallery Original Images folder. (Vista Only)
shell:Personal - opens your Documents folder. Works with XP
shell:PhotoAlbums - opens your Slide Show folder. (Vista Only)
shell:Playlists - opens your Playlists folder. (Vista Only)
shell:PrintersFolder - opens Printers in the Control Panel.
shell:Profile - opens your main folder, you know that place that stores all that crap like "my documents", "Favorites","start menu", "desktop","local settings".
shell:ProgramFiles - opens the Program Files folder. Hallelujah this one works with XP and is now my new best friend.
shell:Public - opens the Public User folder.(Vista Only)
shell:Recent - opens the Recent Items(Recent Documents for XP) folder.
shell:RecycleBinFolder - opens the Recycle Bin folder.
shell:Start Menu - opens the Start Menu folder.
shell:Startup - opens the Startup folder
shell:System - opens the System32 folder location.
shell:Templates - opens the Templates folder location.
shell:UserProfiles - opens the Users folder. (Vista Only)
shell:UsersFilesFolder - opens your main folder. (Vista Only)
shell:Windows - opens the Windows folder. Works with XP

These are awesome. I know I'm going to be using them a lot. Here's a tip on how to use these tips: Press Windows Key + R to open the Run Prompt. Then you can quickly type the shell command you want. It's so much faster than trying to browse through folders to get things done.

API Call: GetTickCount. If TickCount > 263520000 Then print BlogPost. On error, exit sub

2008-06-07T00:02:00.003-04:00

If you are not familiar with VB, the title basically says if the time since the last blog post has been more than 263520000 milliseconds which is 30.5 days (One month's time (averaged between 30 days for half the months and 31 days)) then it will update my blog with a new post.

Okay, I put way too much effort and processing power into that.

I was farking and I stumbled across this parent directory on some website when I followed a link and it is packed with hilarious geek comics. These are great, lemme tell you. Check them out here:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/

All for now

The ULTIMATE Geek Dream Machine

2008-04-26T10:47:00.003-04:00

It has been many a year that all the hardcore geeks have been wishing for a peaceful unity amongst the operating systems. Many have attempted this heavy burden with releases of emulators. But those just aren't good enough.

I pleased to help spread the word of the new OPEN systems by Psystar. These amazing machines were specifically designed with hardware that would please even the most finicky operating system. The most featured feature is its ability to run Mac OS X Leopard without any conflicts. It also has the ability to run Windows XP and Vista (32-bit and 64-bit) and (Here's the kicker) UBUNTU 8! The specs are amazing and OPEN systems start at about $400 (with no OS).

My Tattoo

2008-04-07T19:17:00.004-04:00

0101010001101000011010010111001100100000011100110110010101100011011100100110010101110100001000000110110101100101011100110111001101100001011001110110010100100000011010000110000101110011001000000110001001100101011001010110111000100000011001010110111001100011011011110110010001100101011001000010000001110101011100110110100101101110011001110010000001100010011010010110111001100001011100100111100100101110

Youtube video quality booster

2008-03-26T01:31:00.002-04:00

I found this on a website...

Supposedly, if you add "&fmt=18" (minus the "" marks) at the end of the URL for a youtube video, it will display the video at it's highest quality resolution. I'm not sure if that's true or not. I tried finding some crappy quality videos and then seeing the difference and it sort of helped. One thing that I noticed that did make a remarkable change was how fast the video loaded. The standard video was loading really slowly but after I added this little phrase, the buffered bar shot across the bottom. Try it out!

Stay tuned right here on GeekTech becuase coming up next I'm going to show you how you can turn your computer into a portable program for your jump drive with all the goodies and gadgets!

On the hunt...

2008-03-24T12:25:00.002-04:00

I'm searching for one stick of PC-133 SO-DIMM RAM for my laptop. If you know of a place where I can get it for cheap (if not free) please let me know. I know I can get it off ebay but I'm looking for something even cheaper if I can help it. I might even be willing to offer a trade of one of my items in my stock pile.

Also if you or someone you know is throwing out an old computer, whether laptop, PC, or MAC, please let me know and I would be happy to take it off your hands!

Show production and engineering

2008-03-20T22:10:00.001-04:00

This is the exact kind of stuff that I'm looking to go into as my profession. I'm planning on working towards a show production and touring degree from Full Sail in Orlando, Florida. I just got this newsletter from Full Sail telling me about a sound engineer who works at Disney World – the place of my dream job. Below is the article that I found very interesting…

Sound for EPCOT Concerts: Michael Weyand

Show Production graduate works as an audio technician in the park

When you're running audio at a 260-acre theme park, you need to be prepared to handle some pretty diverse setups. As an Audio Technician at Walt Disney World's EPCOT resort in Orlando, FL, Show Production graduate Michael Weyand has covered everything from park-wide audio for live events to helping put together their annual tree-lighting ceremony this past Christmas. "It's made me appreciate the park more because I know what it takes to make it that magic place for people," he shares. "People don't realize all the work that goes on behind the scenes!"

Mike is currently preparing for EPCOT's busy upcoming concert season, where he'll once again be stationed at the America Gardens Theater. This outdoor venue is one of the focal points of the park's World Showcase section, and is the only venue on Disney property that hosts a regular concert series with national acts. Some of the artists Mike has worked with in the past have included the Beach Boys, the Four Tops, and Little Richard.

"When we do the concert series we're changing over the stage for a new performer every three or four days," he explains. "Each band has their own specifications as to what they want, and it's a lot of fun when you're able to shape new sounds every night. When we hosted Little Richard, we had a total of 18 mixes on stage for all the members of his band, which included 2 bass players, 2 drummers, multiple guitarists and a full horn section. So it can be a lot of long nights but the end result is always pretty amazing."

Mike also sees a lot of variety offstage, as he and the rest of EPCOT's audio and lighting crew – in which there are around 80 full time techs, working in daily operations, special events, and planning and management – are often sent throughout the Walt Disney World property to help put together the hundreds of other events hosted onsite each year. These can range from professional baseball games to live music and theater productions held at a variety of locations throughout Disney's four theme parks, and countless other entertainment facilities.

"When we have special events, they pull crew from all parks, based on the labor requests of the event planner," Mike explains. "Tomorrow I might be at the Wide World of Sports complex for the Atlanta Braves spring training, and the next day I could be an additional technician at Downtown Disney or at the Magic Kingdom for Night of Joy. So I'm constantly getting to meet new people and do new things, and it's all such a great learning experience."

And as much fun as he's having working on these productions, Mike's biggest payoff comes from the opportunity to build this kind of entertainment for the millions of families that travel to the Walt Disney World resort from around the world each year.

"There is a lot of magic to the park – that never goes away," he shares. "And it's especially cool when you're working at something like the tree-lighting ceremony the park has at Christmas – when you could see these families creating memories. And when it makes me feel that good, I realize that I've made somebody's day really great. That's really what I love most about what I do working at a park that's all based around imagination."

GeekTech's Store

2008-02-22T20:04:00.002-05:00

I'm going to start listing some items on here of things that I want to sell. There won't be anything too incredibly expensive but they'll be worth their price I'm sure. Here's my current store open for business:

I have:
old white standard ATX cases
an old mini ATX Compaq case
a newer model ATX black Compaq case w/ motherboard and CPU (AS-IS)
a newer model Dell case (Hinge Type)
a DVD drive
a DVD burner (+/-RW DL)
RAM (SDRAM - no to be confused with DDR SDRAM) (256 MB sticks only)
I have ONE PC3200 stick of RAM it is 1 GB and it is x8 or HIGH density (this kind is not compatible with all motherboards)
Countless floppy disk drives
A couple 20 GB hard drives that work perfectly ( though a little noisy - They have a high pitched whine (which is healthy) but they're just an older model)
A complete HP Pavilion in need of a new Power Supply.

I think I may have even more stuff. If you're looking for something please ask. If you have any interest in possibly buying some of the stuff above (for cheap), please email me at Mayoman16@aim.com. Please don't hesitate to ask questions. I have so much stuff hat it is ridiculous.

Technology - Friend of Foe?

2008-02-22T19:20:00.003-05:00

I love computers and other electronics and I'm good at what I do with them. However, sometimes things don't go smoothly and it all just turns into a losing battle. I have many a tale to share and what place better to start than at the beginning?

My old eMachine computer just couldn't handle the stress that I was putting on it. So I decided that purchasing a new one would be a good idea. I had just recently joined ebay and after I had made two purchases on there (a DVD drive and a 4.1 speaker set) I decided that there are good deals on ebay and I should pursue them to find my new desktop PC.

My first encounter was with a whitebox custom gaming machine. The specs were outstanding and the bid was starting at 99 cents with no reserve. So I wanted it bad enough and I was willing to pay up to $250. Unfortunately, the system sold somewhere around $600. That's alright, I'll keep looking.

I noticed that eMachines and Acers were starting off at $.99 with no reserve. I watch a lot of them. When the time came down to it, there was a beautiful Acer there with 10 minutes to go priced at $175. I wanted it pretty bad. I ended up winning the computer for about $219. I payed 35 bucks in shipping and I even got charged $35 in TAXES. I was kind of ticked but it was still a kick BUTT deal. sweet.

---Later---

It arrives, I rip open the box and guess what the first thing is that I do? Of course, I take off the side panel and start exchanging hardware! I switched out DVD drives because the one I had just bought has light scribe, I added my old hard drive in to transfer files, and I just wanted to take a look at the guts.

Now I know that it didn't come with an operating system installed. And I was ok with that because I've installed about 5 copies of XP and 2 copies of Vista before. So now what OS to choose? Well I was pretty pleased with Vista when I used it so that is my OS of choice. Now to pop in the DVD and install.

Didn't work. I kept getting a 0x80070017 error while trying to install. Something about missing files and corruption. So I really needed to get this thing going so I just installed XP.

During the setup process, I thought it would be a good idea to format the hard drive after Vista had just tried to install. So I chose to format as NTFS. It took TWO AND A HALF HOURS to format. (I have a 400 gig HDD). So now I installed XP. Oh, let's try to install Vista as an upgrade. I get the same error again! Now there is no working OS AGAIN! XP again! Let's try upgrading from the ISO off my hard drive. I do this and what-do-you-know? It worked.

My PC came with a key but that just had to be invalid which I don't get because it is even the Certificate of Authenticity. So I installed it with that key anyway but when I tried to activate it, it said that it was invalid. GR. So I get an activator and it patches. That night I shut it down and the next morning when I boot, it says BOOTMGR is missing. AHHHHH!

So install from the ISO again (which was an extracted ISO) and the whole process is repeated.

So I run the DVD and chose Repair Vista. After that's through I try to boot again and this time I get NTLDR is missing. (NTLDR loads the kernel into memory and BOOTMGR loads/boots/starts up windows). I officially gave up at this point.

Thanks to the Big Nerd, I got a Vista Premium install CD which finally worked with no problems. Oh my goodness I think my computer hates me. Not to mention that the optical mouse that came with the PC doesn't work and sometimes my USB ports decide to turn themselves off and my media reader sometimes dies. Other than that it's a pretty good computer.

Acer Aspire E380
AMD Athlon LIVE! 64 X2 2.5 GHz
2 GB RAM
370 GB HDD SATA
160 GB HDD IDE
DVD +/-RW DL with Lightscribe
9-in-1 media reader
7.1 surround sound integrated audio card with HD audio with Digital coaxial and Optical out.
Gigabit LAN
Firewire

That's only half the story. The second half will be much shorter though.

I also bought a laptop on ebay. The seller listed the wrong price so they wouldn't sell it after I had purchased it. I reported them to ebay.

---Meanwhile---

I find a different laptop and decide to buy it. A Toshiba Tecra 9100. It's really nice and the only bad part is that the sound does not work. It does have WiFi though. I'm probably going to sell this one to my father.

---After purchasing the Toshiba---

I get an email from the seller of whom I reported and they decided to sell to me after all. Great!

So now I have two laptops and a new desktop PC and an old desktop PC. My room is turning into a BestBuy.

Logic games

2008-02-08T20:07:00.001-05:00

Don't you just love those games where you have to move logically through a situation and learn as you progress? I found one called Ice Escape. I got to the end on my seventh try and made it in 9 minutes and twenty-seven seconds. You have to think fast and look everywhere. Good luck.

http://www.freegamesnews.com/en/games/Icescape.html

Losing Your Own Game

2008-02-05T16:26:00.000-05:00

Sandman - You are correct. I forgot a few operating systems. I actually got the idea from MS's new project - Windows 7. They call it 7 because it is the 7th operating system (or so that's what ms claims). I didn't really think about it. So the winning list is something like this:

3.1
95
98
NT (?)
ME/2000 (Released about the same time - two different OS)
XP
Vista
codename : "Seven"/"Black Comb"/"Vienna"

So there are actually 8 released with 9 on the way.

Congratulations to Sandman for beating me at my own game.

***UPDATE***
The article I was reading was technically correct. They were talking about VERSION numbers and I was talking about completely different operating systems. My quiz is more or less just asking for the popular known and common OS. Remember that windows also released multiple versions of XP, Vista, 98, NT and so on. I believe that there is somewhere around 20+. So with version numbers, windows vista is version 6.

GT

POP QUIZ!

2008-02-04T08:29:00.000-05:00

Leave me a comment giving me the released windows operating systems in order from earliest to most recent. (There are 6)

Upgrades - Are they really necessary?

2008-02-04T08:07:00.000-05:00

Can you believe how quickly we forget about the present and begin focusing our attention to things that are still in the distant future? I found a little while ago that Microsoft has stated that Vista is now the forgotten operating system. With support near it's end, Microsoft is planning on a new release already. Next in line, due sometime in 2009 is the release of Windows "7".

So with Vista we know that there are so many upgrades that must come first. Like more RAM, a better video card, a faster processor, you must have a dvd drive for installation, a larger hard drive to install the OS on, and plus there's all that incompatible software.
Most companies are still with Windows XP for two reasons: 1) being that upgrades would be very costly and time consuming and 2) there is no advantage of Vista over XP except for Aero Experience.

Microsoft has heard this countless times from people all over and are finally planning on making a change. They know that Windows 7 needs to be worth the upgrade. But how can they make it better than Vista without the need of a Supercomputer? The answer is to cut down the need for large system resources. Windows 7 will be designed to utilize resources in a much better fashion and still be the best OS.

So any Vista PC should be able to handle 7 without any problems. XP machines will still most likely need a few upgrades, but the changes won't be as large a step or as aggressive which will save you a couple hundred dollars.

With the new release around the corner, I advise anyone thinking about upgrading to stand your ground and stick it out for a year (unless your upgrading from 98).

Linux

2008-02-02T00:13:00.000-05:00

Time to explore a new OS. This post is for Sandman and his exploration of alternatives to Microshaft's Winblows.

I know a few people who use Fedora. I have never personally experienced it before but I know that there are people who are happy with it. I have personally used Ubuntu for awhile and I liked it. The only reason why I don't use it anymore is that it didn't have support for my audio card (which was a professional studio card) and I couldn't figure out how to install packages. I'm not to that level of programming and understanding Konsol.

My top pick of a Linux distro would definitely have to be Dream Linux. This is as close to an open source Macintosh as you can get. It even has the dock with the cool effects and all that jazz. I liked it from the moment I booted from the live CD. I had issues installing it because I was doing it on ancient machines and there was hardware issues but I definitely recommend it to anyone who sort of like Mac.

In Sandman's particular situation with the fight for XP, I recommend PCLinuxOS. PCLinuxOS is Linux that is designed to look and feel just like XP, but much much less demanding with the resources. Linux Kernel + XP GUI = Your best friend.

You also said that you might go with Kubuntu. I'm not sure if you know this or not but there are three versions of "Ubuntu". There is standard "Ubuntu", there is the "Educational" version called "Edubuntu" and "Kubuntu" which is the KDE version of ubuntu instead of using GNOME. This just gives it a different GUI. From the screen shots, I recommened standard Ubuntu for a more mac feel. If you want more of a windows feel, then kubuntu is the one.

Recently, there have been two more distros added to the ubuntu project. The first is "Gobuntu" which is an operating system that has "no firmware, drivers, applications, or content included in [it] that does not include the full source or whose license does not provide the right to use, study, modify, and redistribute the body of work." So if you are an intense programmer, this is definitely the one for you.
The second is Xubuntu - an official derivative of Ubuntu using the Xfce desktop environment. It is intended for users with less-powerful computers, or those that require a highly efficient desktop environment on faster systems. Xubuntu features primarily GNOME applications. This distro is basically like a super 'lite' edition and doesn't give you all the cool stuff that you want. I don't recommend this.

I hope this gives you a more broad spectrum and helps shine some more light. These distros are only my favorites but I know that there are hundreds of them. Choosing the right one is like becoming engaged to the girl of your dreams -- it takes a lot of time and a wise decision.

Geekmas - The Geek at Christmas

2007-12-29T18:40:00.000-05:00

Now that I'm getting older, my parents can't buy me toys for Christmas any longer. And now that I'm into tech stuff, everything is now more expensive. I asked for a gig of RAM and a nice speaker set for xmas but my dad was afraid to get into all that so they didn't bother. I didn't really care. I did really want the gig of RAM though. My older brother did give me a KVM cable that is great for connection input/output stuff to a pc for quick disconnection. I also got his fiance's old LCD.

After Christmas, I was looking at TigerDirect when I found a gig stick (DDR PC3200) for $41. "This is a miracle," I said to myself as I clicked 'Add to Cart'. I also wanted some nice speakers because my audio is all poppy and junky so I thought I should get an upgrade. Well, I've been also contemplating the idea of getting a video card as well for dual monitors. I found a 256MB PCI-Ex card for $29. Without giving a second thought, I added it to my cart.

It all came yesterday and I installed it all as fast as I could. Everything works perfect and I love the dual monitors. And the gig of RAM helped out a lot. And plus there was something that I've been wanting to use that for as well. Which brings me to my next post............

Firefox 3.0 soon to be released

2007-12-11T22:46:00.000-05:00

Although version three is still beta, it will be released before 2007 is up. The full article can be found here:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140496-c,mozilla/article.html

Xpi

2007-12-09T21:42:00.000-05:00

Word of the Day...

I just learned from Mozilla learning about creating your own add-on that there is a word..

xpi

Pronunciation - "Zippy"

How many cores can your PC handle?

2007-12-08T22:39:00.000-05:00

Found a very interesting article and thought I would share.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140425-c,chips/article.html

Remote Support

2007-11-13T15:48:00.000-05:00

I started using something new on my computer. It's called Logmein.com. This is a website that provides free remote control to your PC from anywhere in the world. All you need is your PC on and another PC to connect via the internet. I've been looking for help solutions to provide remote support to anyone in need. I just had someone call me the other day with a problem that only I could fix in person or through remote support. Unfortunately, I cannot find a fully free program that will let me provide remote support. All I can find is this free TRIAL crap! I want this permanently, not for 30 days. Most people will just think about Remote Assistance from XP but it is so complicated that most people can't even mess with that. Currently, there are about 7 different remote applications installed on this PC that I am testing to see which one I like the best. The only problem is that the client computer must have the software installed for it to connect. I do not want this because that is more of a hassle.

I will probably post on "how to make a Remote Assistance Invitation and send it to someone".

Tear it up

2007-11-12T16:08:00.000-05:00

Have you ever just wanted to tear apart an executable file just to see how a piece of software works? Or are you trying to remove "limitations" from a program? If you are a programmer than you should find this interesting. I have found some free decompilers that use reverse engineering for your benefit. Here's the first one:

OllyDBG - this is a decompiler that is very complex. It is good for simple applications but has the ability to decompile any and all exe's. I tried cracking a program that was way to complex to find the stuff I needed. So good luck.

DeDe - this is a decompiler for programs written in Delphi. Good for certain apps. This can even open up system libraries (.dll) so that is a plus.

I personally cannot use any of these becuase they are so complex but I thought I would throw them out there just in case you could use them.

In case you were wondering...

2007-10-28T22:36:00.001-04:00

You are most like: Your cranial ability differential has a strong left bias
You're a real purist nerd. Not distracted by the 1337 wannabe's. Face it - you probably even got the joke in the title of this result. Keep up the nerd factor - it will likely land you a great job one day or at the very least help you take over the world in less time than you had originally predicted.
Take this quiz: How Nerdy Are You?
Visit Toys For Your Blog.com for more blog quizzes

You are most like:

Your cranial ability differential has a strong left bias

You're a real purist nerd. Not distracted by the 1337 wannabe's. Face it - you probably even got the joke in the title of this result.

Keep up the nerd factor - it will likely land you a great job one day or at the very least help you take over the world in less time than you had originally predicted.

Take this quiz: How Nerdy Are You?

Visit Toys For Your Blog.com for more blog quizzes

Repairs have been (and are going to be) made.

2007-08-27T17:25:00.000-04:00

I just now realized that the chatterbox at right is also linked to my other blog. So all my conversations were being totally mixed up. So I fixed that just a second ago. Now my blogs are completely independent. I can't talk too much right now because I am extremely busy but I am finding some awesome stuff for my next post. Stay close to your RSS and ATOM feeder to get the newest posts!!!

GT

Another Convert

2007-08-06T17:31:00.000-04:00

It is now official... I am a user of Ubuntu. For those of you who don't know, Ubuntu is a distro - or a distribution - of Linux. So yes, I am a Linux man now. I like it alot better than windows. It is more reliable and stable for the most part. You don't get those stupid errors when something goes wrong. The only problems I have/had include the following:
1. Some programs will stop responding after they start up. This is usually when you do something to aggravate it.
2. Installations are confusing as trying to do a Beijing Times crossword puzzle.
I still cannot figure out how to install anything. The problem is that Linux does not have executable installation files. Everything is done by commands in the terminal. So it is very confusing when trying to run a setup. (I'm going to make a point about this later).
3. Sometimes the system lags - it doesn't freeze, it just lags considerably. I don't know why this is. I just think that my old hard drive is being stupid.
4. I cannot write files to my other hard drive. To install Linux, I used a separate hard drive (slave 0) to keep from screwing up windows in case I really need it for something (like video editing and etc.). Linux says that I do not have the rights to save data on the windows hard drive. There is some sort of script that will give you the permissions but I'll have to ask my friend what it's called.
5. Linux does not support my audio card... I do have integrated that works perfectly but I also have a professional audio card from E-MU that will not work.

Things I do like about the new OS:
1. The UI. Here's what I was talking about back in number two. The common misconception is that Linux is only a command prompt. WRONG! There is a whole User Interface that comes with each distro. Ubuntu has one that is like windows but definitely different at the same time. It has two "task bars". The one on the bottom contains all the open panes (just like the windows task bar). The bar at the top (the panel) contains your Applications, Places, and System menus as well as you quick launch panel, running processes, and your date and time. Here's a screen shot: You should be able to click to enlarge.

2. Linux is so much faster than windows. It boots in no time at all
3. Linux is simpler. Simple as that
4. Linux can do just about everything windows can and it can even open all windows files and modify them plus even more file formats!
5.Linux leaves no hastle behind. You know in windows where it slows down and you can't figure out why, so you defrag and do a disk cleanup and sweep your registry and dump your temp files and check you cookies and all that junk? With Linux, you don't have to do any of that stuff. There's no headache whatsoever!!!
6. It has cooler applications than windows does. The add/remove programs assistant (not wizard) actually display hundreds of available applications. Select the ones you want and click apply. It then downloads them from the internet for you and installs.
7. Most things like configurations and the tough stuff is automatically done for you.
8. Everything is absolutely FREE!!!!! The copyright falls under GNU GPL meaning it is free for you to use, modify, tweak, copy, give away, redistribute, or sell. Some applications for Ubuntu are only free if you use it for personal use. These programs usually alert you if it is the case. All software is Open Source allowing you to download the code and modify as you please. Nice huh?

Windows XP is out to get it's users.

2007-07-15T14:14:00.000-04:00

You'd be surprised to know that Windows XP wants your machine to suffer. Really, I'm not lying. Just ask my computer. Of course I always have to use system restore atleast once a day for as much modifying as I do, but here's a couple tips that will REALLY help DEFEAT your evil operating system.

Step one - XP is stupid. So let's give it some brains - I mean memory.

(only perform these actions if you have 256 MB of RAM or more)
(be sure to create a system restore point and back up your registry before continuing - don't worry though, these tweaks are absolutely safe. You will not lose any files whatsoever.)

1. Go to Start > Run then type " regedit ". (you may need to be the computer's administrator in order to make changes to the Registry.

2. Find the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\ SessionManager\Memory Management

3. Find " DisablePagingExecutive " and double click on it. Change the value to 1.
- This instructs the OS to keep program data in RAM for as long as possible enabling faster program responses

4. Find " LargeSystemCache " and double click on it. Set the value to 1.
- This makes the OS "Shadow ROM" or load the OS into RAM for faster load times and system responses.

5. Now right click in the white space under the list of keys and follow Create new > DWORD called "IOPageLockLimit" (without quotes), and set it to a value of "40000" if you have 512 MB or more. In case if you have 256 MB, set it as "10000". Remember that these should be HEX numbers. This particular tweak will speed up your disk cache.

6. Under the Memory management folder on the left, you will find a folder called PrefetchParameters. Click on this folder. On the right pane, you will find a key called "EnablePrefetcher". Set this value to "3".

All these tweaks put together should extract a significant amount of performance from your installation of Windows XP. I didn't perform all of these but I did post them in case you wanted to. The first time I read this I thought that using more RAM would actually slow the system but it is really helping my speeds.

***All information found in this tweak was taken from www.santa-reviews.blogspot.com***

Step two: XP is ugly so let's give it a make over - or new themes rather
(Be sure to create another system restore point just in case - again, this is safe!)
(if you do not have System Restore, you can download GoBack for free which does the exact same thing. Take care of that now!)
1. Go to www.wincustomize.com and look through some pretty cool themes, wallpapers, and screen savers.

1. Also you may want to check out www.Deviantart.com for free themes (this is where I get all my really sweet ones).

2. In order to use them however, you must replace one system file.
Here is a download link for a free utility to do all the work for you. Just run once and reboot. You will see no difference whatsoever after boot but the file is still changed. This does not harm your OS nor cause system instability/crashing/hooking.

UXTheme_Multi_Patcher_4.0.zip

(Just download and unzip and run) To return the file back to normal just run this again. You will not be able to use your themes again after that.

3. Got a theme? Download it and unzip it if necessary. ***IMPORTANT*** When you apply this theme it becomes a system file. The theme file and containing folders should and cannot be modified at all. Save the theme somewhere on your computer (it actually does not matter where just don't forget because you need to know the path).

4. Double click on the .THEME file and your Window's Appearance Panel should open with the theme applied in the preview box. Some themes have multiple color profiles so be sure to check that drop down box. When the preview box is displaying a theme that you find satisfactory click Apply and then OK. XP will now display a message saying "Please Wait".
***You computer screen will then fade to black and white. This is NORMAL. This may also take sometime depending upon the speed of your processor and how good your specs are. This is also NORMAL. (mine usually takes a good thirty seconds or so.)

Your theme should now be applied. ***You may notice a slightly lower standard in system performance. Adding different visual effects causes delays in graphical rendering and thus uses more CPU processing.

Here's a screen shot of the theme that I am currently using. It is called Vistab2 and I download from deviantart.com:

***Click to enlarge***

5. Want different icons? You can find different shell32.dll files and installers to change your icons to new Vista, Mac, or any themed styles. Just search on google for icon installers. (wincustomize.com should have theme)

***That not working for you? Create your own! Simply open Paint and click on Image > Attributes. Set the Height and Width to 32 PIXELS (not inches) Then PAINT! When you are finished, click File > Save As. The file type must be a BMP (bitmap) but the filename can be whatever you want AS LONG AS it ends in " .ico " Again, this will be a system file if it is used, so save it in a place where it will not be modified, nor it's containing folders. To use that icon, click on the existing icon that you want to change. Go to Properties. Then click the Customize tab. Click "Change Icon" near the bottom and change the path to that of where your icon is saved. If you saved it correctly, it will be recognized and you may use it.

Step Three: XP is fat so lets get rid of some weight that's slowing it down - I mean the "Garbage"

There are two programs that I just adore: "Advanced Disk Cleaner" and "CCleaner"

1. Download Advanced Disk Cleaner. Simply install and run. In order to get your serial number, you must register. It is absolutely FREE. I mean it. I ordered my own serial number and I didn't pay one cent for it! You'd be surprised how much junk is on your computer. This will really help. Unfortunately, this will only scan for temporary files. ***NOT TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES*** The files it removes are from the temp directory. These are application files that are no longer necessary to have and are safe to remove. See #2...

2. Download CCleaner. Again, install and run. This requires no registration and of course it is still Freeware. I think I love this program better! The first time I used this, it removed so many useless files it wasn't even funny. The total scan time lasted only 106 seconds. It removed 1,716 MB of cookies, temp files, web browsing history, you name it!

Step Four: XP is a poor secretary - Let's fix the filing cabinet and it's list of operations.
The registry is probably the most important thing in your OS. Here, a list of instructions of every piece of code it kept. This instructs how the system should run and behave. When it gets jam packed with useless files, your computer slows down because it takes up room in the filing cabinet. Here's a piece of Freeware to help the system along.

***Products that require purchase do a better job than anything but this is the highest rated freeware registry cleaner according to CNET.***

1. Download Registry Defrag. Install and run. This will really speed your performance.

I don't recommend themeing XP but it can be done and is very cool to do so. The only reason why I don't recommend it is because it usually slows down your system just a little. But if you are only using a computer to check email and the news then it will not hurt your machine at all. I hope you find these tips helpful. Leave comments including your email address if you have any questions. I have comment moderation enabled so no one will see your comments or email addresses. I will not post them if they contain your contact info.

Firefox doesn't play well with others

2007-07-13T14:02:00.003-04:00

I FIXED IT!

2007-07-12T21:31:00.000-04:00

Now I see why everything was messed up...

There was a problem with Tweaking Toolbox XP. Whenever I would run it, it would still say that I had 30 days left. Well since I've been trying so many times to restore the system to an earlier point, it wasn't working. I tried one last restore point - one that TTXP and made. IT WORKED! So I was able to go back into TTXP and change all the settings back to "normal" - or as close as normal as I could get it. So now the floating windows don't activate themselves and I don't get annoyed as easily. My computer seems to be running better too!

I tried uninstalling TTXP as well as another program and it said that the uninstallation files could not be found. UHOH. So what do you do? You go into your program files folder and delete all the files TAHT'S WHAT YOU DO!. So I did. Well now there's still fragments everywhere in your registry. Registry Mechanic to the RESCUE!!! It found 156 errors. I love this piece of software. It fixed them all and now I hope that my computer will not blow up the next time I boot.

I still have no idea how my computer became a Beta tester. Which reminds me...

I found a free decompiler! This actually allows you to import any sort of system file and change the script to whatever you want and then recompile and save it! I originally downloaded it because I had insturctions of how to change the "start" button. It allowed you to make it say whatever you want by modifying the 1033 file string in folder 38 of explorer.exe. I ended up getting an error message when I tried to save. Poo...

I'd put the link on here but i'm busy with some other things. I will leave you with this however...

http://santa-reviews.blogspot.com/

Here's a blog with tons of stuff that I even used! Check out the "Labels" section at right in order to filter by subject. I modified my registry to help windows run better. So far it is really helping. And for all the computer trouble I've been having... don't worry, I created a system restore point and made a new copy of my registry. All should be good. Prepare for a crash landing.....

I'm back now...

2007-07-12T11:39:00.000-04:00

I realize it has been awhile but my life does not revolve around geeky things all the time. I got back from a trip not too long ago so that explains why I've been out for some time. I added something cool on the side ------->

This is kind of my message board/forum or shout out board. I would ask that you atleast put your blogger name, nick name, or other sort of ID instead of posting anonymous. Thanks.

Now anyway, I found this really cool thing on wincustomize.com. It is called Tweak Toolbox XP. This program lets you modify every aspect of your computer. One thing that I have set up is if I mouse over an inactive window, it will activate by itself and rise to focus. I also put a delay on it so it waits 350 milliseconds before activating. The bad part is it's kind of annoying after awhile. I was going to disable it when Tweak Toolbox would not start up. It's says that the trail is over (by the way it is shareware so you only get a 30 day trial) when I only installed it on Tuesday. I tried rolling back to a previous restore point and it my computer said it couldn't. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up reformatting my computer again.

At least if I do reformat, I thought ahead this time... When you reformat, it only touches the operating system drive which is C:. So I used Partition Magic to split C: into C: and Z:. All my documents are saved on Z: (sized at 118 GB) and all system files and programs files are on C: (sized at 25 GB). I also have a factory created drive called D:. This is my recovery drive so when I reformat I don't have to use the discs, it is automatic from this part of the hard drive. Good thinking eMachines! Downside to this is that when I do reformat all my programs are erased. Upside is all the installation executables are in a folder on Z: where I have them backed up.

I really should have left more space on C:, however, because 25 GB is still not enough. Currently, I only have 5.32 GB left. It is partly because some programs, like RCT3 and Microsoft Works 2003 take up a lot of room. I should be fine thought because I can also start installing programs onto Z: if necessary.

I don't really want to mess around with all of this right now so I think I'll just deal with it for awhile. My older brother keeps telling me not to mess around with my computer so much. He says it is all sucking my system resources which it is. But what fun is a computer if you can't modify it to your tastes? EXACTLY!

Engineering: Amusment park rides

2007-06-26T00:26:00.001-04:00

This thing of two blogs is like having two totally different identities. I just got done typing an "Angry post" and now I'm talking about some cool stuff. Weird...

Anywho

My older brother and I take part in a deep love for building things out of different materials like LEGOs, Constructs, and our favorite, KNEX. Since we love this so much we like to try and build and design new things with the three sets we already have. We have the Big Air Ball Tower, Screm'n Serpent rollercoaster and the Roller Rocket rollercoaster KNEX sets. Yesterday evening, we decided to build a ferris wheel. (We've always wanted that set but we never got it so we just decided to wing it.) You may think "oh, wow, a ferris wheel!" No, there is nothing ordinary about this. We made this a super KNEX ferris wheel. Let me perspectivize this... (yes I made that word up, it was necessary)

Here's some of the specs:
RPM: 1.714
Speed: .33 MPH
Radius of wheel: 30.5 inches
Full height: 5 foot, 10 inches (70 inches)
Circumference: ~=17 feet
Weight: ~=10 lbs.
Full Size Scale Height: Estimated to be about 300 - 350 Feet
Full Size Scale Weight (using steel and other real construction materials): 161 tons
Number of spokes: 24
Available cars: 24
Number of Hubs: 3 on each side
Drive system: Motorized
Hands free operation: Yes

This had NO instructions. All we had was our intellectual abilities and a tape measure to guide us through the building process. Overall project time took about 7 hours to complete. We started at about 9:30 PM and went until 1:30 AM and plus put in some time the next day. We still aren't fully finished... We have some bugs in the drive system, and we need to add a station platform and cars. Here is a couple pics of the project:

This pic is a little weird looking at first but this is a close look at the central axis. The cross members are not suppose to bend but that is how much tension is being placed on the center. This thing is structurally sound let me tell you...

This should help put it into perspective. I am 6'2", just four inches taller than this.

Unfortuanately, our goal was much bigger. We wanted to scrape the ceiling but that would not be possible because then we would have 28 spokes and that does not align with an 8 spoke hub. This will just have to do.

Now with the pictures in mind, I recommend going back and reading the specs again to see how the full scale sizes compare.

Anticipationals revisited

2007-06-22T14:34:00.000-04:00

Sandman has brought up a good point.

I'm liking the idea so far, just there is one problem that I can spot very clearly. Have you seen the movie "The Terminator?" Well these anticipationals sound a lot like taking steps towards a "Sky-Net" type computer.

Basically this is the goal for most technology geeks and programmers. We want computers to be able to make their own decisions and become self aware and actually learn how to cope in a spontaneous environment. HOWEVER, thanks to Hollywood, there is now the concept that robots will take over the world due to self-awarness and their desire for power. This is not true. The desire for power must be a programmed motive and is too complex to be learned.

Good point though and I can see where you're coming from.

First concept in programming

2007-06-19T23:43:00.000-04:00

Here it goes. In programming, and in real life, humans and situations are unpredictable. That's why programming is all conditionals (if- statements) Even a subroutine is a conditional because it says, if Command1 is clicked then perform the following procedure. So here's an idea to write some sort of new language based off of C++, or .NET or some form of popular programming language. Instead of using conditionals and "Ifs", use "When". I'm just going to call it anticipationals. (You can probably guess where I came up with that). By making a computer understand anticipationals, the cpu can anticipate when a sub routine is about to fire. This is handy when used in large programs like Microsoft Office or even in complex Operating Systems.

So think about having a computer logically anticipate what the user is about to do and fire a subroutine before it is actually called. Obviously the indicators would have to be programmed. Say for example, there is a simple form with one Command Button on it. Now the subroutine is set to make the cpu first find a random integer and then display a corresponding message that is programmed into the code. So the subroutine now does all of this when Command1 is clicked.

Now lets change the subroutine from If Command1_Click to When Command1_Click. For this example lets say that the computer anticipates it's click when the cursor comes within fifteen pixels of Command1. When this is true, the subroutine is fired. The computer finds a random integer and finds the corresponding message, but it does not display the message box. Now all of this is stored as variables, say I. I is still kept in RAM until another anticipational is fired then I is rewritten. But if the mouse does not move, I remains the same. WHEN the mouse clicks, not IF, but it is going to, when it does, the subroutine is complete and the message is displayed faster than what it use to take.

Now a subroutine that simple really does not take that long to process, especially with dual and quad core processors. But think about a very large application that takes forever to load. Say Microsoft Word. That can take some time, but if the operating system is sure based on proximity of the pointer to the icon and application size (meaning it won't pre-fire for small applications which wastes time and resources) then think about how much faster computing will be.

Anticipationals are similar to conditionals, yes, but they have many differences as well. This might just be one useful idea that could be used in the next language.

Grand Opening

2007-06-19T12:04:00.000-04:00

Welcome everyone to the grand opening of GeekTech. This actually isn't my first blog so I'm quite accustomed to how blogger works so don't worry. The reason why I created this blog is so my friends would not have to read my theories and geeky posts on my general blog. For anyone out there that appreciates new theories and outlooks on life, then this just may be the place where you want to be reading. I am also a current subscriber and poster to www.tech-recipes.com for ideas with computers and other technologies.

So far I do not have much to say so I will put some links on here for all the other posts that I have put on my other blog.

Vista Start Menu for Windows XP (Near the bottom to middle of the post)

Useless Randomness (A bunch of weird little tidbits that will kind of make you think)

Randomness gives no predictability (This was a really fun post for me. This talks about a theory that will let computers generate random information)

Life Self Corrects (If you've been watching Lost, then you'll know what I mean, otherwise it talks about how a disruption in a chain of events can cause different outcomes)

A new word I discovered (This is kind of funny - It's not very long so you'll just have to read it)

Even though many people probably won't read this blog, it is still a good way for me to be able to express the inner ideas of my mind and put them in a place where they will be kept. So enjoy and I will post soon.

Another thing is too is that I don't want to be the only one typing up things on this blog. I have discovered that you can invite people to post on here. If you would like to, please leave a comment with your email address and I will add you to the invited author's list.