Hotsolder - Electronics & Other Geeky Pursuits

Don't want to spend a lot of money on a rack? Neither did these guys!

Pretty cool. A little black spray paint....

Submit to:   Del.icio.us  |   Digg  |   Slashdot  |  Diigo

posted by Al @ 11:33 AM   0 comments links to this post

If you are doing Windows development, there's no reason not to use Microsoft's excellent Visual Studio tools now that the "Express" versions are free. These products are the usual Microsoft Visual Studio that aren't lacking many features at all. You can download Visual Basic, C++, C#, and a Web Development tool -- all free.

http://www.microsoft.com/express/

Submit to:   Del.icio.us  |   Digg  |   Slashdot  |  Diigo

posted by Al @ 11:36 AM   0 comments links to this post

I used to use the full blown Microsoft developers tools, but lately I've been using the express versions along with some open source development tools. In general, I don't miss much about the Microsoft compiler. But I have to admit that I miss some of the tools.

A few weeks ago, I started getting a mysterious error message on my computer. It was a dialog box complaining about the flash installation. There was no hint of which program was complaining though. I thought about running Spy++ -- the Microsoft utility for looking at on screen Windows -- and realized this computer doesn't have a full load of Visual C++!

What I did find is Winspector. This is like a souped up version of Spy++ and its free. Winspector can show hidden windows or not. It can filter and buffer messages. It can watch messages to a window class from the Window's creation. In short, it does everything Spy++ does plus more.

So, what was the offending program? System47, my Star Trek screen saver. Reinstalling it did the trick. I guess a recent flash upgrade broke it. Should have realized my screen saver wasn't running. If you are a Star Trek fan (or even a science fiction fan) you really ought to download this free screen saver. It is quite the conversation piece.

Labels: cool, programming, software, windows

Submit to:   Del.icio.us  |   Digg  |   Slashdot  |  Diigo

posted by Al @ 8:10 AM   0 comments links to this post

I miss my days writing books and magazine articles. Of course, one outlet I have for my writing is this Blog (and the Articles link over on the right side of the page -- have you ever read any of those?).

However, I occasionally write something that doesn't really fit well on the blog and I've been looking for someplace to put those things.

One popular option is Associated Content. You can find my page there at http://www.associatedcontent.com/al. I only have a few articles there so far -- and some of those are reprints of things you'll find on this blog anyway. But there's some new things to and I plan to add more as time permits.

There are a few other similar services around and I may try them too. If you have any experience with sites like this, drop me a line!

Submit to:   Del.icio.us  |   Digg  |   Slashdot  |  Diigo

posted by Al @ 2:16 AM   0 comments links to this post

Apparently, my server did have some sort of infection. I tried everything to remove it, but never got it to work. So I've now reinstalled a new OS and I'm in the process of bringing everything back on line. Sigh. A lot of work.

Submit to:   Del.icio.us  |   Digg  |   Slashdot  |  Diigo

posted by Al @ 11:40 PM   2 comments links to this post