Matt Morgan's Mutterings

When a power supply dies

Matt Morgan — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 19:24:00 +0000

I have heard stories about dying power supplies in PCs, and the weirdness that comes when one is ready to go. This morning the power supply in the PC on my desk died, and it tried to give me some indication, but only when it finally quit did I understand.

I powered on the system and waited for it to come up. It turned itself off again. I tried to power it on again and it did it again. Thinking perhaps the power cord was loose, I adjusted it and turned it back on. This time it came on and stayed up when I logged in. However, about 15 minutes after I logged in, there was an enormous POP like a gunshot, and the screen went black. There was the smell of burning chemicals as well, and I immediately unplugged the PC.

I removed the old power supply and dropped in a spare. It came up immediately. I decided to take apart the old power supply, and what I found was that a capacitor inside had exploded.

This was a new one on me.

iPod Weirdness

Matt Morgan — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 16:21:00 +0000

When I plug my iPod into the computer, sometimes it shows up as an external hard drive to which I can write and retrieve files. At other times, it is on there as a device that interats with iTunes only and does not appear as a storage device.

This does not bother me, but it puzzles me. Why is it sometimes appearing in the drive list, and other times not?

Putting movies on an iPod

Matt Morgan — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 14:27:00 +0000

Last Christmas I managed to find a 60GB Video iPod in time for the Christmas rush, and I have been enjoying it ever since.

One of the things I decided to do was to put some movies on there and see how it does with playing movies. After all, it is a VIDEO iPod, so it should handle a music video or two. This was not as simple as I had hoped, but it did not take too much effort once I knew what to do.

First off, the iPod does not recognize mpg, mov, wmv, or avi files. So, putting in a stock video does not work. What is needed is software that can make the conversion. I picked Xilisoft's iPod DVD Converter and Video Converter applications (there are several applications to do this stuff, and they all are roughly equivalent so it comes down to what application is most intuitive). These do the deed for almost everything, although I managed to find a music video that would not convert, using ANY application, so that one didn't go.

Ripping from DVD was more or less a mindless task. Set the tracks I want, tell application to rip, and come back later. To pull one DVD of episodes of 24, it takes approximately an hour. There is no hurrying the process.

When done, add the directory containing the episodes to the iTunes library, then tell iTunes to update the iPod. That's all there is to it.

How does it work? Nice. With the earbuds in, it is very much like watching TV on a 2"x1.5" screen, which is not nearly as bad as it sounds - no commercials, and you can watch in bed without waking the spouse. The catch is that watching video on the iPod drains the battery very quickly.

Ad Blockers Revisited

Matt Morgan — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 19:50:00 +0000

A while back (probably before I scrubbed this blog and started over, I'm too lazy to go look right now), I wrote an entry about ad blockers. I settled on the Proxomitron as my ad blocker of choice, and it has served me well. I have since discovered that the Proxomitron (and its evil kid sister, Proximodo) almost work, but they have a minor flaw that is difficult to identify.

I noticed that in FireFox and Opera, Yahoo! Mail is broken. The buttons do not work. This is not so in MSIE, so I assumed that FireFox and Opera have issues. However, I eventually came to the realization that I have all but MSIE pointed to the Proxomitron. When I quit using Proxomitron as a proxy server for FireFox, suddenly Yahoo! Mail started to work as expected. Opera did the same.

So, when using an ad blocker, even one that seemingly works well, expect some things to get broken. Ad blockers rewrite the page for you, and sometimes there are obscure consequences.

Tools for Creative Writing

Matt Morgan — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 13:01:00 +0000

I am always looking for useful tooks to do various stuff on the computer, and one area for which I've been seeking tools is writing. Good tools can make a project a lot easier, and this is true for writing. I found a few really good tools for writing, tools that are highly useful and will not break the bank.

Writer's Cafe

Writer's Cafe is an especially interesting writing tool, primarily for it's StoryLines component. StoryLines is set up much like a virtual cork board, where you create index cards and arrange them on the board by story thread. It is easy to work with, intuitive, and actually fun. The idea is to plot out a story visually before writing out the final version so that everything is organized and clear, without sacrificing actual index cards. The paradigm works well.

Writer's Cafe itself includes a rudimentary journal and notebook as well as a timer, "cookie" prompt, a card game and a few other goodies. Good stuff!

As of this writing, Writer's Cafe goes for $45 US for the download version. All updates are free.

The Journal

I needed to find a system by which I could store bread recipes and pictures, and I also wanted something that would serve as a catch-all for basic personal writing. Translation - I wanted an electronic scrapbook with a little more versatility that Writer's Cafe offers for that purpose. I decided to look for a journaling program, and The Journal was the best of the best. It is small, fast, very powerful, and easy to use. I have set up a series of volumes within, one of which has roughly 30 bread recipes I make on a regular basis.

The Journal also has some good security features, that make it attractive for people who need privacy. I elected to go with the Enhanced Security version even though I really do not need it, and so far it has served me well. No one gets in without my being there to tap in the password, and no one knows the password but me.

As of this writing, The Journal goes for $39.95 US for the base download version. Updates are free within major version, after which there is upgrade pricing.

Liquid Story Binder

I found Liquid Story Binder when I was trying to find a tool to help me organize a large body of work I have done already. StoryLines in Writer's Cafe is a great tool for NEW projects, but to backfit an old project that is over 2,400 pages is extremely tough. LSB is a much better fit - it divides everything up by volume and chapter, and each chapter can have notes associated with it, outlines, pictures and more. It has an awesome storyboard editor, and it saves most of it's stuff in RTF format so you can get to it with other writing tools. Finally, I can get my stuff organized.

On average it seems the author updates this package about every two weeks. What is interesting is that it seems most updates contain a major new feature of some kind.

As of this writing, Liquid Story Binder goes for $45.95 US. All updates are free.

Not All Bayesian Filters Are Created Equally

Matt Morgan — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 15:30:00 +0000

I have been using Bayesian filters for my email for a while now. I have tried several different ones, and I have had varied experiences with them. Due to a change in client usage, I had to abandon some in favor of others, but in the end I have benefitted from more knowledge and, ultimately, better solutions.

I used to use The Bat! for my email here in the office. It does a wonderful job of sorting mail and even has a Bayesian filter plugin included, called BayesIT! that supposedly does a good job of chopping down spam. That was not my experience at all. In fact, BayesIT! never once successfully filtered anything, even after training. I switched to Winkler's Bayes Filter Plugin and got significantly better results, with a success ratio around 95%. That's not so bad, but it still means about 50 spams in the inbox per thousand messages.

I have since been converted over to Outlook here in the office (required, due to the calendar and coordination tools) and again I found myself looking for a good filter. I have SpamEaterPro which is a heuristic filter, but it's accuracy has a lot to do with the diligence of maintaining the whitelists and blacklists and it has gotten squirrely in its stability. Outlook's built-in spam filter is ok, but it still is not as effective as what I had before. So, I turned it off and looked for a better way. After trying several filters, I found a freebie on SourceForge called SpamBayes, which is an actual Outlook plugin (it can be set up as a proxy-style of filter too, although I have not tried this yet) and set about training it.

SpamBayes record is 2 spams in the inbox in 750+ messages, or about 99.7%. I like it.

I know there are more filters out there, and I am sure there are some that are even more effective. However, it comes down to whether my time is better spent worrying about 0.3% of messages or just dealing with it. I think I'm done looking for now.

Irony

Matt Morgan — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 16:26:00 +0000

I have held a subscription to Dr. Dobb's Journal since the summer of 1994. When I first took out the subscription, it was a very technical magazine with lots and lots of good articles relating to very specific programming topics. I have seen a steady decline in the content quality, to the point that I just don't bother reading that magazine anymore. I decided that I would terminate my subscription when the renewal notices came, and so I did.

Another magazine I get is C/C++ User's Journal. It is more along the lines of what I appreciate in a technical magazine for coding. This weekend I got my issue of CUJ with a letter attached. It said that CUJ is being discontinued and that my subscription will be converted over to....Dr. Dobb's Journal.

Merry Christmas

Matt Morgan — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 13:49:00 +0000

It is December 25, and I am in Indiana for the break. My family and I are gearing up to go to church shortly, and today we will celebrate The birth of Christ with the exchange of gifts. For a lot of people, the mere mention of "Christmas" is highly offensive and is cause for getting all upset.

I look at it this way. Here in the United States, you and I have rights. I have the right to express my faith and to share it with others. In turn, you have the right to find it offensive and get ruffled. And in response to that, I have the right to simply shrug and say "Gee, that's too bad. Merry Christmas anyway!"

So to you and yours, I would like to wish a very Merry Christmas. May today be filled with the hope that came to this world through Christ Jesus, who paved the way for us to approach the throne of grace.

Shopping for an iPod

Matt Morgan — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 13:23:00 +0000

I spent part of yesterday looking for a 30GB iPod. I decided that such would be a good investment for myself and allow me to carry my full music collection with me without toting a bunch of large accessories (headset, external HDD, etc).

I checked Circuit City, Best Buy, Target, Radio Shack, Tweeter, and even CostCo - none of them have anything other than the 60GB model, which is a little bit more than I wanted to spend for a music player. In talking with the Radio Shack reps, I was told that even Apple itself is out of stock, which means I am more of less stuck if I want such an iPod before Christmas.

EULAs

Matt Morgan — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 14:33:00 +0000

Ok, this is a bit of a semi-complaint, but it's something that needs to be said.

I have no problem buying shareware products. In fact, I would rather buy a shareware product instead of a commercial one because it allows me to test-drive the product without violating the license agreements or upsetting the piracy police. In other words, I can check out the product and decide on it before I lay my money down. Also, shareware products tend to be less expensive than their commercial counterparts, although there are notable exceptions.

One product I purchased a while back offered up "lifetime upgrades" which seems to be the norm for the type of application I purchased. It was only $25 when I bought it, the price going up to $29.95 shortly after I made my purchase so I considered myself very fortunate. Anyway, for over a year I enjoyed my free updates, which were not frequent but were often enough to bring appreciated changes to the table.

One afternoon I got an email from the company that sold the product to me. They had decided to change their upgrade policy and subsequently their EULA. Now, that product comes with one year of free upgrades instead of lifetime, and after that I will have to purchase a license renewal if I want to get more upgrades beyond the one year mark.

I thought long and hard about this. I could create a ruckus for the company and demand that they grandfather their customers prior to the policy change, but I realized that two things would likely happen: I would spend a lot more on legal fees than the application cost me (c'mon, it was only $25), and the company could very easily discontinue the application and create a brand new one in a very short period of time, under a new name, that would be sufficiently different to say that it's not the same application. In short, they shafted their customers on this one.

The end result is that I will never purchase from them again, and I will replace their application with something else that has a better upgrade policy (free lifetime upgrades). It is too bad, as they have some other products that I seriously considered plunking money down to purchase a license - that will not happen now.

I am guessing that this will end up killing them. I sincerely hope so.

Power surge!

Matt Morgan — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 23:30:00 +0000

Last night my family and I were awakened when lightning hit the corner of my roof. It blew out a light fixture, tripped a breaker, tore up my heat pump...but my computer is (obviously) safe. Thank you, APC UPS.

Trend Micro vs. ZoneLabs antivirus

Matt Morgan — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 11:00:00 +0000

I have been running Trend Micro PC-Cillin at home for over a year now, and I have been running ZoneLabs security suite in the office. Both recently came due for renewal, and because Trend is smaller, faster and less expensive, I bought two copies, one for home and one for the office.

As soon as I loaded it, the first order of business was to run an antivirus scan on the office machine's hard drive. Since ZoneLabs keeps their antivirus up to date, one would expect the results to be the same - that is, no viruses. Well, Trend found two instances of JAVA_BYTEVER.R, in files that ZoneLabs had scanned multiple times over.

The more I use Trend's package, the more I appreciate it.

When Firewall/AV Software Misbehaves

Matt Morgan — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 00:35:00 +0000

I have a good friend who called me to his house to look at his computer. He had been having consistent problems with it, running slowly and not hitting the internet as it should. The internet issue was especially noteworthy - on a DSL connection he was seeing connection speeds around 3.7 KB/s, which is slower than my lowly dial-up connection at home.

One thing that was happening very consistently is that a program called ccApp was dying every single time he rebooted the computer. A little research showed that this was the Norton Internet Security Control Center. This is not an application that you want to have blowing up when you have a DSL connection.

So, to solve that much of the problem, I stripped it from the system and installed ZoneAlarm and AVG antivirus. There are free versions of both, and the licensing allows for home use. As soon as I stripped Norton from the system and loaded the other applications, his DSL connection suddenly began to work like a DSL connection - 180+ KB/s download rate, and everything seemed much more stable.

I would have expected a slight slowdown with Norton, but nothing appreciable. That his DSL connection was reduced to the status of a bad dial-up is something that merits more investigation.

A Smart MP3 Player for the PC

Matt Morgan — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 13:05:00 +0000

One of the things I enjoy is playing music in the office while I work. I have a nice selection of MP3s that I have ripped from my CDs and I have them on my local hard drive here. I have been using a small and lightweight MP3 player but it has some problems - it only lets me load up one song at a time, and I have to hit play every time I want to play the song again. There is no facility for queueing more than one title and there is no repeat. In a nutshell, it is a very labor-intensive application if I want to listen to 8 hours worth of music.

I do not use Windows Media Player because it is very large, it does not repeat tracks without a significant delay, and it constantly wants to go to the internet. I have messed with WinAmp and I have played a little with LiquidAudio, and neither of these suit me. In frustration I went out to find a good MP3 player that would simply play more than one file in succession and would allow for repeats.

What I found has to be one of the most amazing MP3 players I have ever seen - Synapse, an artificially intelligent player that has exceeded my expectations.

The first time I ran Synapse, it took an outrageous amount of time to load as it indexed my MP3s and looked for any place that might have music files that it can play. I have my stuff spread out on the hard drive, so it ground away for a while until it was satisfied that it had found everything it needed. The whole process, searching a 40G hard drive, took 2-3 minutes.

Once it finished that, it had a complete library of all my goodies in a sorted list, having figured out the artist and title of each track I have on my system. Playing one of them is easy, I just double-click the track in the list and it fires up. There is a repeat function if I want to play the same track repeatedly.

Where it gets interesting, though, is in what is called "The Brain" which is somewhat like a favorites list - but not quite. I have spent a few days playing assorted tracks. So far, I have picked the tracks by hand, and I have been very happy with that. Today, I decided to do something different and I told "the brain" to select stuff for me. What Synapse has done is it has gone back through my listening history and has selected tracks from those I have listening to, and it has assembled a playlist for me in near perfect sequence, but in a different order than I have ever chosen. It is all over the map but it's not messing up.

This is a SMART player. It has clumped together songs from the same genre, it has not exceeded the number of songs in a genre that it plays beyond what I have played myself, and it fades in and out beautifully.

I tried something yesterday with it that just worked amazingly well. I went into the "console" screen and decided I wanted a playlist of nothing but a particular artist. So, I typed "play artist-name" and that's the list it gave me - all the tracks by that artist, played by default in alphabetical order (I could have asked it to shuffle and it would have done that).

Best of all? It's free!

There are some negatives to this application, though. For one, it has not been updated in almost 2 years. For another, I made an effort to contact the authors about the application and my email was returned due to a full mailbox. So, there is no support with this thing.

But that doesn't matter. It's smart enough that you likely will not need any support. Synapse is the MP3 by which all others should be judged, and I heartily recommend it.

Digital Mars C++

Matt Morgan — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 12:48:00 +0000

I am not shy about my advocacy of the Digital Mars C++ compiler. I have been using it since it was Symantec C++ version 6.0 (and by the way, that version was not exactly wonderful). Symantec held on to it until ending the product line at version 7.5, having given more attention to Visual Cafe (which is also now a dead product - if you trace the history, it went from Symantec to WebGain and then on to Borland who killed ti in favor of JBuiler). When Symantec ended their relationship with C++, they allowed Walter Bright to have owndership of his compiler again and he has continually updated it.

So what compelling reason is there to use this compiler, as opposed to something like Microsoft Visual C++ or Borland C++Builder, or even MetroWerks CodeWarrior? For one, there is the matter of cost. Walter does not charge for the command line version of the compiler, and this makes a compelling case for at least trying it. You can do quite a lot with the command line compiler, although you will not have the full complement of tools and libraries.

For a small investment, you can buy the CD and add in the IDDE and all of the nifty stuff that you might want to do more robust development. One thing that comes with the CD is an older version of the MFC, which is a good option for doing OO-based Win32 development. Some would argue that MFC is dead, but I would say that it is not quite gone yet. If it is dead, why does Microsoft still update it for Visual Studio .NET?

So what about OpenWatcom? It has a full IDE and all the tools and toys, including the libraries and the debuger and and and.... And it's very behind on supporting the C++ standard. And it seems to be unstable, from the times I have tried to use it - I have a simple application that, when I try to compile using OpenWatcom, the compiler generates a protection fault and I get a pretty register dump. And the IDE is, frankly, clumsy.

Walter has expended a good deal of time and energy on supporting the C++ standard. It is quite probable that DMC++ is the most compliant compiler on the market running under Windows right now. If language compliance is important to you, then this compiler is likely your very best choice.

The generated binaries are varied when it comes to smallest vs. largest and fastest vs. slowest. As is expected, this compiler does some things exceptionally well, in particularly memory allocation and management, while it slows down on other areas such as floating point math operations. It is a mixed bag. In general, I have found my code generated with DMC++ to be slightly better than average.

The compiler does NOT support .NET. I personally do not care to code to .NET's standard, so this does not bother me.

There is a good support community for DMC++ as well. There has been grassroots support as far back as the Symantec days, including efforts that have brought BOOST, the STL, wxWidgets, and the latest Win32 SDK to the table. If you get stuck, there is a well-tended support forum on the Digital Mars website (you could just use a news reader too and access the forums that way).

Digital Mars C++ is an excellent compiler, and has been around for a very long time, dating back prior to the Symantec days. It is fast, stable, compliant, and an absolute bargain. Visit the Digital Mars website to score a copy for yourself. If you like the command line version, consider grabbing a CD too.