Recent Posts

5776

General Software Discussion / Re: Win7: Anyone else getting excited?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 13, 2009, 05:59 AM »

It's a shame things can't be kept simple.  I like HP machines just for the fact that after buying 6 I think I had one that was bad OOTB.  The others have all been plug and play, working until obsolete.

-MilesAhead (October 12, 2009, 06:33 PM)

True, simple is best in the long run. ...And yes my view is a bit dimmed by seeing mostly (end user) client machines.

I am amazed at times at the power of the written word though.  I had one customer when I was doing auto repair, that got a "winterize" special done. We flushed the radiator, yadda yadda.. then when it came time to put the anti-freeze mix in, he would not allow us to put it in the radiator because it was a Chrysler motors product, and on the radiator it said "use only Mopar anti-freeze."  That's like saying "use only snowballs made with General Motors water."  I'm serious.  The guy actually went down to a parts store and came back with a couple of gallons of Mopar anti-freeze and made us put that in!!!

I wish I had an option on some swamp land for that dude!!!   

Mechanic Huh? I spent many years as a mechanic in motorcycle shops, If it wasn't for the arthritis I'd probably still be doing that. I still do all my own work (and some specialty work for others) but I pay for it at the end of the (and next) day. I believe I actually liked engines better than computers; engines are visceral, tactile, & soulful... while computers are sterile & in-tangent.

5777

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows vs. Mac: I'm starting to change.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 12, 2009, 10:29 PM »

Here's another Snow Leopard bug (though not as bad as the delete your data bug):

http://discussions.a...2184529&tstart=0

How many other OSes get so confused you have to type your login password backwards to log in?

OS X...it just (half-ass) works.

-Innuendo (October 12, 2009, 08:25 PM)

Remember Think Different ... This is merely another demonstration of just how aw inspiring intelligent Mac users are. Just look at the OPs testimony:

What I quickly discovered is the password must be typed in reverse order

...As we all know the first thing anyone with any sense tries when any authentication method fails is to enter the password back-wards. Just in case the computer happens to be trapped in a mirror (or your password is noon...)

In reality his trouble serves him right for bothering to put a password on a Mac as they're far to secure to ever need one ... it says so right on TV!!!

5778

General Software Discussion / Re: Win7: Anyone else getting excited?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 12, 2009, 05:06 PM »

Actually HP would make a great poster child for why that sort of behavior is a bad idea. They cronically garbage up their computers with every multi-media widget and budding tecno gadget known to mankind regardless of wheather or not it actually works.

As an example a machine that some nice folks brought to us from two counties over was an HP with Vista x64 and two FireWire 800 ports. Seems the sales drone at BestBuy upsold them the "best" machine they had... *Sigh* ...Which was about 3 times the ($$$) machine they actually needed, which still didn't work. Why? Because Vista x64 & FireWire 800 is a disfunctional, crash prone match made in hell.

Strangely after an hour of searching I could not find a Dell/Vista machine that featured FireWire 800 ports.

On a brighter note if someone wants to try the Vista/FireWire 800 combo an expects it to work the ubCore drivers do work perfectly. As HP still does not have a proper driver for this.

I've wasted more time fighting with HP comps because of their insistance on loading them to the gills with every baubble, bangle, widget & thing-a-ma-jig that I cringe every time I see one.

5779

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows vs. Mac: I'm starting to change.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 12, 2009, 02:18 PM »

Just 2 cents to spice things up  :
http://www.itwire.co...ntent/view/28388/53/

-fenixproductions (October 12, 2009, 12:54 PM)

now that's scary . . losing all your data

(Now now) Think Different ... Losing all your files is just a golden opportunity to start with fresh ideas.

5780

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Security Essentials

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 11, 2009, 07:02 PM »

The scan time thing is by design. The intent being that the computer is still usable during the scan (which does take awhile...), instead of being completely crippled for a few hours like most of the main stream AV suites out there.

-Stoic Joker (October 11, 2009, 07:40 AM)

If that's by design then it should state that fact plainly before the operation starts. It's only polite behavior for a program to inform me of how long something is going to take if it is going to take over two and a half days (that's 60 hours) to complete.

-Innuendo (October 11, 2009, 10:31 AM)

We really need more detail about how much of what was being scanned before deciding if 60hrs is too long. Granted MSE's behavior/performance on XP isn't stellar from what I've seen, but it's certainly not the worst either. It's behavior has been fine on my x64 Win7 box (E6600 CPU).

I too have some files that tend to make AV software panic ... all of which is stored in an area that in on the extremely easy to configure don't scan list.

5781

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Security Essentials

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 11, 2009, 07:40 AM »

The scan time thing is by design. The intent being that the computer is still usable during the scan (which does take awhile...), instead of being completely crippled for a few hours like most of the main stream AV suites out there.

My testing was done with a 600GB RAID 5 array that's divided into 3 partitions and has less then 200GB free space between them. File types are a mixture of all sizes from tons of plain text (code) files to multi GB DVD images.

The scan took close to 24 hours as I recall, but... the machine was at all points usable. If it wasn't for my having task manager running I'd have probably never know it was running. This is what MS was after with MSE; get people to run it, and then leave it running. Most people under normal circumstances will turn off the AV antics so they can get on with their lives. This is why AV companies started making their product harder & harder (if not impossible (NIS)) to disable.

5782

Living Room / Re: Best Laptop Input Device?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 09, 2009, 05:40 AM »

Is there a specific reason you are sticking with the desk-easel rig and choosing not to just get the laptop it sounds like you need? I ask because there are usually many more requirements for the type of setup that you are describing that are important but not readily appearent.

Kinda of like why not use a wheeled cart of some kind so there is a flat surface available to use a normal mouse on? Not to mention better ergonomics if you can just stand normally in front of the computer instead of squatting in front of it for extended periods.

Obviously this won't work if you do site work and have a small car ... but without more information about what's actually happenning the crew is probably going to keep chanting trackball.

5783

General Software Discussion / Re: Wndows Home Server as a SOHO business server. Your thoughts?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 08, 2009, 10:19 PM »

Not bad. About $1200-1500 worth of stuff, just for making three trips out to his car with a handtruck.

-40hz (October 08, 2009, 07:03 PM)

Where the hell am I when this kind of thing happens  lol

Oh I forgot to mention if you decide to try STI call them as their website is a bit of a work-in-progress and generally not up-to-date inventory wise. They'll happily customize anything you want.

@Shades - 196MB RAM for Exchange? Zoiks! ...You're a brave man.

5784

General Software Discussion / Re: Wndows Home Server as a SOHO business server. Your thoughts?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 08, 2009, 06:36 PM »

Ah! I see where you're going and I also like have your cake & eat it too solutions. When you install SBS stop after disk1 and you have what you're after. Outlook comes with SBS also as I recall.

The key with SBS is to skip the corny wizards & just do everything the normal server way. I manage 3 of them for clients (2 with Exchange and 1 without) & they're completely painless.

You can get a decent generation old server (with a 1 year warranty) from the company I mentioned earlier and most (not all) come with a valid SBS COA (no media, but that's not too hard to find) for $600-$800.

5785

General Software Discussion / Re: Wndows Home Server as a SOHO business server. Your thoughts?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 08, 2009, 02:10 PM »

"$400K annual revenue" and they're tight for cash?!?

While 3 people probable could be just fine on a WHS, I'd still go for a low buck SBS server. www.stikc.com is a great source for referb'ed (off lease) Dell servers. I've bought 3 from them so far & they have all been gems.

While I do like WHS, it just doesn't strike me as a good idea in a business environment...too many gotcha type restrictions that won't be readily appearent until it's too late.

5786

General Software Discussion / Re: Google steals the Web

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 08, 2009, 06:12 AM »

ToDo ASAP: Add Kill SideWiki script to all personal & company websites.

I'm really starting to hate Google for crap like this.

5787

Developer's Corner / Re: ListView Control Hangs during Sort

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 08, 2009, 05:59 AM »

real credit goes to Eoin for guessing the core problem, which was that the delay was the result of the callback returning inconsistent comparison results.  after that it was just a matter of figuring out why that was happening.

-mouser (October 07, 2009, 10:40 PM)

Actually both i2-i1; and i1+i2; worked after the external array item you spotlighted was fixed. Something about that had always bothered me...just not enough to poke it with a stick. At least not until you tipped the scale by drawing attention to something that was obvious, but was also hiding another not-so-obvious boo-boo on my part. (Hint: the local definition of the array that the external reference was pointing to, was neither 7 nor 14 ...  )

Eóin's tip resolved an entirely different global issue, which was a tendency for the numerically sorted columns to be periodically sorted incorrectly. Which is why there is a comment to that effect in the source code I posted above. That comment will remain there in the official project file to remind me to never do that again.

5788

Developer's Corner / Re: ListView Control Hangs during Sort

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 07, 2009, 10:31 PM »

Okay it looks like the win goes to mouser for his Captain Obvious tip. it seems that the correct (or at least currently working) version is:
extern int nSortDir[]; with no size specified. Which allows the other locally declared reference (int nSirtDir[14]) to define the actual size.

Well... that and if the size is specified in both places...it apparently helps if they both :)ing match...

Thanks to all

5789

Developer's Corner / Re: ListView Control Hangs during Sort

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 07, 2009, 06:37 PM »

It's an old code sample, the actual project is nSortDir[14];

Strangely (Since I'd been missing that seemingly key point) Id left the original nSortDir[7] in the project while User Requests caused columns to be added and it never caused a problem until adding the last 14th column. I've still got a 13 column version of the program using nSortDir[7] that works just fine (Damn strange in retrospect). That was the first thing I tried when the bugg was discovered.

Just for clarity (Now that I'm logged into the office), here is the most current version of the broken code :

Code: C++ [Select]

1. #include "stdafx.h"
2.  
3. extern HWND g_hListBox;
4.  
5. int CALLBACK ListViewCompareProc(LPARAM lParam1, LPARAM lParam2, LPARAM lParamSort) {
6.         static char szBuf1[100], szBuf2[100];
7.         extern int nSortDir[14];//[7];
8.         int i1, i2;
9.  
10.    //=================================== Retrieve the item text so we can compare it.
11.   ListView_GetItemText(g_hListBox, lParam1, (int)lParamSort, szBuf1, sizeof(szBuf1));
12.   ListView_GetItemText(g_hListBox, lParam2, (int)lParamSort, szBuf2, sizeof(szBuf2));
13.   //============================================= Then Return the Comparison Results.
14.   if((lParamSort == 5)||(lParamSort >= 7)) { // Sort Only PageCount Columns 5 and 7
15.      i1 = strtol(szBuf1, 0, 10);  //-+++--> & up as a Number. Columns 4 & below and
16.          i2 = strtol(szBuf2, 0, 10); //--+++--> 6 are Sorted as Words (alphabetically).
17.      if(nSortDir[lParamSort]) //========= Toggle Between ASCENDING & DESCENDING ORDER
18.             return i1-i2; //====================================== Sort Order ASCENDING
19.          else                     // Thanks Eóin - From DonationCoder.com
20.             return i2-i1;// <--Good/Bad--> i1+i2; //============= Sort Order DESCENDING
21.    }else{ //========================= Sort ALL the Rest (Alphabetically) as a String.
22.          if(nSortDir[lParamSort]) //========= Toggle Between ASCENDING & DESCENDING ORDER
23.                 return(_stricmp(szBuf1, szBuf2) * -1); //=============== Sort Order ASCENDING
24.          else
25.                 return(_stricmp(szBuf1, szBuf2)); //=================== Sort Order DESCENDING
26.   }
27. }
28.  
29. // Check to see if Alpha or Num Sort Locks up more/less/same
30. /* Note: This resolved a tendence to periodically sort things incorrectly
31. Eóin Re: ListView Control Hangs during Sort
32. « Reply #4 on: 10/7/2009 at 04:49:47 PM »
33. -------------------------------------------
34.  
35. A ListView will hang if the CompareProc returns
36. inconsistent results, eg a < b < c but c < a.
37.  
38. In the code posted there seems to be a logic error
39. in line 20, really seems like it should be return i2-i1;
40. */

5790

Developer's Corner / Re: ListView Control Hangs during Sort

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 07, 2009, 06:11 PM »

i think Eoin may have nailed it.

-mouser (October 07, 2009, 05:37 PM)

Sorry No Joy.

I decided to remote into the office & try it (the suspense was killing me...). ...I'll give you this much, the sort is a bit smoother. But it still locks up on column 14.

Just to make sure nothing was being missed, I commented out all of the numeric sort code so everything had to be sorted alphabetically. 1-13 = perfect ... 14 = ListView Control hang/frozen solid.

5791

Developer's Corner / Re: ListView Control Hangs during Sort

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 07, 2009, 05:32 PM »

A ListView will hang if the CompareProc returns inconsistent results, eg a < b < c but c < a.

In the code posted there seems to be a logic error in line 20, really seems like it should be return i2-i1;

-Eóin (October 07, 2009, 04:49 PM)

Hm... wouldn't that then have to fail consistently for all (numerically sorted) columns? In the program (with the issue) half the columns are sorted numerically and half are sorted alphabetically. Out of the numerically sorted columns there are IP Addresses, (alpha-numeric) serial numbers, and some actual real live plain old numbers ranging from (roughly) -185,456 - 1,456,789 all of which sort just fine ... unless they are in column 14 (13 if you count from 0 - the control does). It just doesn't track that a logic bugg would be that forgiving.

*Shrug*

I'll put that on my todo list and try it in the morning when I get to the office (I'd certainly love a simple answer), but it just doesn't feel right...Perhaps because I'm mentally stuck (or just mental) on the column count bugg.

5792

Developer's Corner / Re: ListView Control Hangs during Sort

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 07, 2009, 04:20 PM »

how many rows of data?

-mouser (October 07, 2009, 03:33 PM)

Doesn't matter be it 3 or 300 (Most I ever tried was 2000) behavior is the same.

Never heard of such a bug (but not saying it can't exist ).

How do you manage the items? virtual mode, or letting the control manage strings internally?

-f0dder (October 07, 2009, 03:43 PM)

If I'm understanding the question correctly, the control is managing internally. I'm not doing anything OwnerDrawn/Clever it's just a fairly straight forward ListView_InsertColumn(...) ListView_InsertItem(...) sort of affair.

This is basically the sort code I'm using (from an older 7 column version of the app):

Code: C++ [Select]

1. #include "stdafx.h"
2.  
3. extern HWND g_hListBox;
4. extern int nSortDir[7];
5.  
6. int CALLBACK ListViewCompareProc(LPARAM lParam1, LPARAM lParam2, LPARAM lParamSort) {
7.         static char szBuf1[100], szBuf2[100];
8.         int i1, i2;
9.  
10.    //=================================== Retrieve the item text so we can compare it.
11.   ListView_GetItemText(g_hListBox, lParam1, (int)lParamSort, szBuf1, sizeof(szBuf1));
12.   ListView_GetItemText(g_hListBox, lParam2, (int)lParamSort, szBuf2, sizeof(szBuf2));
13.   //============================================= Then Return the Comparison Results.
14.   if(lParamSort >= 5) { //================= Sort PageCount Columns 5 & 6 as a Number.
15.      i1 = strtol(szBuf1, 0, 10);
16.          i2 = strtol(szBuf2, 0, 10);
17.      if(nSortDir[lParamSort]) //========= Toggle Between ASCENDING & DESCENDING ORDER
18.             return i1-i2; //====================================== Sort Order ASCENDING
19.          else
20.             return i1+i2; //===================================== Sort Order DESCENDING
21.    }else{ //========================= Sort ALL the Rest (Alphabetically) as a String.
22.          if(nSortDir[lParamSort]) //========= Toggle Between ASCENDING & DESCENDING ORDER
23.                 return(_stricmp(szBuf1, szBuf2) * -1); //=============== Sort Order ASCENDING
24.          else
25.                 return(_stricmp(szBuf1, szBuf2)); //=================== Sort Order DESCENDING
26.   }
27. }

It was probably 2 years ago when I saw the bugg discussion ... thinking that I'd never need to use that many columns I ignored it and moved on to other more (at the time) relevant issues. Now I'm racking my brain trying to remember where I'd seen it because (several columns later) the bugg is now gnawing my ass off

5793

Developer's Corner / ListView Control Hangs during Sort

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 07, 2009, 03:14 PM »

Greetings
   I seem to recall seeing the answer for this once before, I just can't remember where... *Sigh*

   Anyhow, I have an app I'm working on (suite of them actually) that display's data which is queried from a MySQL db. It's written (as usual for me) in straight Win32 API C++ (No .Net/MFC/etc.). The issue I'm having is that when the list box control is sorted by the (14th) Cost column the ListView control locks up untill the app is restarted.

   Now in the various columns I do switch between alphabetical & numeric sorting, which works just fine for the first 11 columns, but... 12 & 13 only sort one direction instead of toggling between asc & desc, and 14 just hangs the LV thread completely. I've been using the same ListView Sort code in several different apps that all work just fine, but have 10 colums or less.

   Which brings me to (the point?) my question. Does anybody recall seeing an issue with (and solution for) ListView controls having more than X number of columns hanging during sort? I swear I've seen this before reguarding a bugg in the LV control ... I just can't remember where or what the solution was.

I'm using MSVS 2005 SP1

Thank You

5794

General Software Discussion / Re: The Best Of: text editors

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 06, 2009, 10:11 PM »

There were other factors like removing some extra comas and converting it from .csv to .tsv

If you've ever done anything with an older copy of Navision ... It was one of those type messes.

5795

General Software Discussion / Re: Can't copy actual email addresses from Outlook.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 06, 2009, 06:20 PM »

*Shrug* maybe it's just broken ... but if there was an Exchange server on the other end you should have an x400: address entry that uses an LDAP DN (like) syntax. i.e. X400:c=US;a= ;p=DomainName;o=Exchanges;s=LName;g=FName;i=Mi;

...Or that's the best I could do for a detail-less version of what my office Email address entry looks like.

5796

General Software Discussion / Re: The Best Of: text editors

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 06, 2009, 05:01 PM »

I do wonder why people have to edit text files that large. Viewing and searching is understandable wrt. logs, but editing? O_o

-f0dder (May 28, 2009, 09:19 AM)

Well, the last time I did it was for a plumbing company that aws transitioning frome one inventory db app to another. The "Export Module" didn't include the field names/column headers ... so I had to add them manually for the other softwares rep.

4gb .txt file ... thank you to emeditor.

5797

General Software Discussion / Re: Can't copy actual email addresses from Outlook.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 06, 2009, 04:49 PM »

Try creating an email to the person (you don't need to send it) and then in the To line right click and look at the properties. It should have the email addess listed but you can never tell with Outhouse.

Update: I am using Outlook 2007 and the email addresses are clearly shown on the Contact forms and are selectable.

-Carol Haynes (October 06, 2009, 01:41 PM)

Yeah, but are you using the global address list from Exchange?  That is where the root of all evil is.

-superboyac (October 06, 2009, 03:34 PM)

All the addresses listed are SMTP, no MAPI/X400 or LDAP addresses listed ... hence no Exchange server

5798

General Software Discussion / Re: Can't copy actual email addresses from Outlook.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 06, 2009, 02:02 PM »

You forgot to blur the caption bar in your screen shots.

5799

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows vs. Mac: I'm starting to change.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 06, 2009, 01:49 PM »

Um... Speaking of Steve Wozniak ... If I recall my snApple history correctly Wozniak was the brains of the operation and Jobs was the show pony?  I can't find the article now but I recall reading that Wozniak was rather dissapointed with what Macs had become.

Honestly in a choice between a Mac & a staph infection, I'd have to flip a coin.

5800

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows vs. Mac: I'm starting to change.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 03, 2009, 02:37 PM »

The thing that's always killed me about the ODF quest is that while "they" are trying to find a common method of rendering formatted/rich text on any platform ... (which is a great idea...) ... nobody has even managed to even pull that off with a plain ASKII text document. Basically because there appears to be about 5 different methods of defining a line break. 

I do agree with Adobe's .PDF as the best yet attempt at a cross platform document (considering it really does actually just work), but damn that thing is turning into a cagey pita with all the other (Swiss-Army-Knife style) crap they keep trying to squeeze into it.