1000! And jovialities.

Just randomly staying up, and thought I'd check out my blog, to see if there was anything new. Found out I had passed 1000 views! I feel cool and famous.

Joviality: http://www.sitemeter.com/?a=stats&s=s27potentatematt&v=26&r=9&vlr=11&pg=61&d=129

This has got to be the most random thing ever... Who on earth searches for "Matthew Hayward and Zippy" ?!?

Post over.

Junction Link Magic

Junction Link Magic. What the heck does that mean?!

I didn't get it at first either. But now that I've used the program, it really is like magic, and has links/junctions to boot!

What this basically does is link one folder to another. What's the big deal with that? Well! It allows you to do some pretty nifty stuff like easily reroute your documents to another drive for example, whilst fooling the computer and programs into thinking it's still buried in C:\Documents and User Settings\[YOUR_NAME]\My Documents.

Or, if you're a partitioning kind of guy, or girl, and have run out of space on your system drive, the solution is easy! Just move everything to a fresh hard drive, then create a new junction/linking folder where the original Program Files was and point it at the fresh drive! All the old programs work fine and you don't have to keep selecting another drive when you install something new!

This program is well deserving of a Gold Star Award!

Just don't do crazy things like linking the System32 folder into the Recycle Bin...

I'm sure you can probably find many more uses for it, I'm just alerting you to its existence. Sorry for the unusually unhumorous post, I am quite tired

The Great Facebook Plague of '07

Anyone who's anyone uses Facebook. And anyone who uses Facebook knows of the creeping, unrelenting plague that is slowly grinding down Facebook into a MySpace-like mush.

You all know what I talk about! What I fear! What I dread!

It's the epitome of evil, the example by which Satan is measured, the darkest of.. you get the picture. I'm talking Facebook Apps.

Well after spending a fair amount of time scrolling thru endless "Harry Potter Sorting Hat", "iLike" and "What Friends Character Am I?" apps, I eventually got a bit peeved. So off I went on a merry Google adventure and found myself some gems.

Gold Star Award!
Without further extraneous lexical intercommunication I give you:
Greasemonkey - install this before attempting to install the next ones

Facebook Profile Cleaner,
Minimize Display Facebook Requests
Remove Facebook Application Icons and last but not least
No Facebook Ads

Greasemonkey is a Firefox addon that allows custom code to be applied to webpages and needs to be installed before the user scripts.

Of course you'll need a proper browser like Firefox if you want to have a hope in hell of using this frankly Facebook-saving bit of code.

Bit of a short post I know, but it's quality and not quantity this time.

Update and a little Haiku

I haven't updated this for a while, and for good reason! I haven't really been bothered ever since the hectic Haloscan activity. It was quite nice getting more than 1 hit a month. Anyway, an update on my current technological situation. Ahem...

The desktop which I was (and still am) quite proud of is still here! [shock horror, it hasn't been upgraded]. It's specs are as follows, in case you didn't get it from my previous Ode:

Asus P5B Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo e6600 2.4GHz OC to 2.7GHz
OCZ Platinum 2GB 667MHz Memory
BFG 8800GTX 768MB Nvidia GFX
300GB 7200rpm Internal HDD
Windows Vista Home Premium

Which is just about adequate for my needs. I've also recently bought a laptop to fulfil my dualscreen and mobile computing fetishes. It's an old HP Compaq n620c. The nice people I bought it from gave me a free upgrade, it was supposed to be a 933MHz Pentium, but they gave me a 1.3GHz one instead. Much happiness!

Gold Star Award! To go back to my dualscreen point, I found a very nifty program called Synergy2. It allows you to use a secondary computer as if it was another monitor of the primary computer. What this means is that I can play Bioshock on my desktop (Bioshock is teh orsm) and chat to random friends on MSN using the same keyboard and mouse! Pretty awesome stuff imho although it's not totally like dualscreen, in that you can't drag a window across to the other screen. That would require a massive amount of coding and would be a waste of resources, like having two browser windows open on the same page.

I found out a very annoying thing about Vista Home Premium, it won't let me Remote Desktop Connect to it. Very annoyed... Oh well! I'll get around it somehow.

Oh Windows Vista
You cost me the world and more
And yet you still crash

Ode to a desktop

Farewell to my MacBook Pro
And a fond and joyful Hello
To my new Intel Core 2 Duo
With an 8800GTX
With 2GB Platinum OCZ
My computer is now teh sex

:)

Oh and it has Vista

Another most annoying thing about Windows

One screenshot should do the trick

NO DAMN YOU!!! NO for the NTH TIME!!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Damned inherrent, unfixable flawed focus stealing... I HATE IT WITH SEVERAL PASSIONS.

I apologise for the uselessness of this post, but I needed to vent.

Getting Haloscan to work in Blogger Beta

NOTE: These instructions appear to have been broken when Blogger Beta un-Beta-rized. I have had 2 or 3 reports of people failing to successfully implement them, of course it may only be for one or two template layouts, but I'm not to know

So try the following but try and understand what you're doing at each stage rather than blindly following orders.

ORIGINAL POST:

http://logicalphilosopher.blogspot.com/2006/09/getting-haloscan-to-work-in-beta.html

Deserves most of the credit for my working solution. The solution above is a bit buggy in that it doesn't handle single and multipost comments very well.

Which is where I come in.

Here is what you need to do to get Haloscan happily accepting 3000 character comments from your adoring blog-readers. WITH TRACKBACK. w00t.

NOTE: Due to HTML constraints and the Planck Constant, the HTML code isn't provided with indentation, so feel free to indent as much as you feel necessary. I would also advise you to use an external tool such as Notepad2, GEdit or Smultron (depending on your OS) when editing and finding stuff

1. Sign in to Blogger Beta
2. Goto Dashboard > Your Blog > Template > Edit HTML
3. Select the Expand Widget Templates marker
4. Find:
   

   <b:includable id='comments' var='post'>

   and delete everything after that tag and up to the next
   

   </b:includable>

   but keep those two mentioned tags. This will have the effect of stopping Blogger comments appearing. Make sure you don't overshoot otherwise you'll wreck your Template
5. Delete:
   

   <b:include data='post' name='comments'/>
   

6. Delete:
   

   <dl class='comments-block' id='comments-block'>
   <b:loop values='data:post.backlinks' var='backlink'>
   <div class='collapsed-backlink backlink-control'>
   <dt class='comment-title'>
   <span class='backlink-toggle-zippy'> </span>
   <a expr:href='data:backlink.url' rel='nofollow'><data:backlink.title/></a>
   <b:include data='backlink' name='backlinkDeleteIcon'/>
   </dt>
   <dd class='comment-body collapseable'>
   <data:backlink.snippet/>
   </dd>
   <dd class='comment-footer collapseable'>
   <span class='comment-author'><data:post.authorLabel/> <data:backlink.author/></span>
   <span class='comment-timestamp'><data:post.timestampLabel/> <data:backlink.timestamp/></span>
   </dd>
   </div>
   </b:loop>
   </dl>

7. Delete:
   

   <span class='post-comment-link'>
   <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'>
   <b:if cond='data:post.allowComments'>
   <a class='comment-link' expr:href='data:post.addCommentUrl' expr:onclick='data:post.addCommentOnclick'><b:if cond='data:post.numComments == 1'>1 <data:top.commentLabel/>
   <b:else/><data:post.numComments/> <data:top.commentLabelPlural/>
   </b:if>
   </a>
   </b:if>
   </b:if>
   </span>

8. Find:
   

   <div id='main-wrapper'>
   <b:section class='main' id='main' showaddelement='no'>
   <b:widget id='Blog1' locked='true' title='Blog Posts' type='Blog'>
   <b:includable id='postQuickEdit' var='post'>
   <b:if cond='data:post.editUrl'>
   <span expr:class='item-control " + data:post.adminClass'>
   <a expr:href='data:post.editUrl' title='Edit Post'>
   <span class='quick-edit-icon'>
   </span>
   </a>
   </span>
   </b:if>
   </b:includable>
   

   And paste
   

   <a name='comments'/>
   <b:if cond='data:post.allowComments'>
   <script src='http://www.haloscan.com/load/XXXX' type='text/javascript'>
   </script>
   <a expr:href='javascript:HaloScan(" + "\"" + data:post.id + "\"" + ");' target='_self'>
   <script type='text/javascript'>postCount('<data:post.id/>');
   </script>
   </a>
   <a expr:href='"javascript:HaloScanTB(" + "\"" + data:post.id + "\"" + ");"' target='_self'>
   <script type='text/javascript'>postCountTB('<data:post.id/>');
   </script>
   </a>
   </b:if>

   before the </b:includable> but after the </b:if>.
   Replace XXXX with your Haloscan username
9. !!!OPTIONAL!!! Only if you have previously tried hacking it with the top link, delete:
   

   <span class='post-comment-link' >
   <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item" '>
   <b:if cond='data:post.allowComments'>
   <script src='http://www.haloscan.com/load/XXXX' type='text/javascript'>
   </script>
   <a expr:href='"javascript:HaloScan(" + "\"" + data:post.id + "\"" + ");"' target='_self'>
   <script type='text/javascript'>postCount('<data:post.id/>');</script></a>
   </a>
   </b:if>
   </b:if>
   </span>

10. !!!OPTIONAL!!! Have fun with your Haloscan comments
    

Linux, OS X and Windows Woes

This is another dig at OS X, I don't set out to rubbish OS X, but it just needs doing; like washing dirty clothes or cleaning your teeth.

Windows occupies approximately 1.8GB of harddrive space after patching, which is a fair big amount. Just think, 1.8x10^9. 1 800 000 000 Bytes.

This is still 10 times smaller in magnitude than OS X which occupies more than 18GB with alot of program patches not installed. I say this because it ran out of room when I tried to patch it up from the Apple Software Update.

18 000 000 000 Bytes

This is even after deleting the iWork '06 Trial (I spend £1600 to get a half decent laptop, and they give me TRIAL SOFTWARE) which weighs in at 2.6GB from memory; and then they tell me that Windows is bloated.

Where on MIDGARD does all this space get gobbled up?! It can't be all the pretty graphics, though I'm sure they have a part to play, it can't be the applications since they're all a bit small and crap anyway. Which leads me to believe that it's just bucketloads of device drivers, ready to accept the most obscure bit of hardware imaginable. I don't like the fact that space is being taken up by drivers for hardware I don't and never will own. They should make it Linux where it gets stuff as and when it's needed or chosen to install.

This is the main reason why I don't have a dual boot MacBook Pro anymore, since it renders the Windows partition almost useless for installing any amount of games on.

So I thought, "I know! I'll be a right smart-arse and install Ubuntu besides Windows!". How I wish it was as easy as it's supposed to be. I had a working Windows installation with free partitions ready to put Ubuntu Linux and the swap drive partition onto, so I then booted into the Ubuntu Linux CD. After it had loaded it came up that the partition was just 93GB of free space with the 200MB EFI Boot Drive. Obviously this wasn't right so I quit without making any changes (or so I thought) and found that Ubuntu had wiped my MBR so that Windows was now unbootable.

I was pretty annoyed. To say the least.

So then I thought, "I know! I'll be a right know-it-all and partition it with Linux and leave it unformatted but still partitioned so that Windows can read it!". So after partitioning I quit the installer and then booted into the Windows install Predictably for me, Windows didn't recognize the partitions. Overall I've had to reinstall Windows for the 3th time that night. T'was a terrible night, especially waiting for OS X to read and copy its two DVDs (!?!?!?!?) worth of junk so that I could program in something vaguely Linux-like. 20 or so gigabytes is much too high a price to pay just to program in a poofy GUI.

So to summarize, here is the nightmare I went thru:

• Install attempt 1
  
  • Had a working Windows install, repartitioned using Partition Magic (which usually works for me) to get some free partitions
  • Rebooted into the Ubuntu installation, it didn't recognize the partitions so I quit
  • Came back to a blinking DOS cursor. FUN
  
  
• Install attempt 2
  
  • Reinstalled Windows with some free partitions ready for Linux and got it all nice and shiny, (ie drivers installed and Media Center Skin put into place)
    
  • Rebooted into the Ubuntu installation, it didn't recognize the partitions so I quit
  • Came back to a blinking DOS cursor. FUN AGAIN
  
  
• Install attempt 3
  
  • Reinstalled OSX with a big partition ready for Windows
  • Read half a book (CS Lewis' Mere Christianity for the curious)
  • Tried to patch OS X, it ran out of harddrive space even though it had a generous 18GB for it
  • Got thoroughly disgusted and just quit OS X, this actually was fun
    
  
  
• Install attempt 4
  
  • Reinstalled Windows and took up the entire partition
  • So now basically I'm back to pre Install attempt 1. What an amazing use of a whole evening. I had a lot of fun
    

Oh, and BootCamp will expire when OS X Tabby comes out. >_<. Apple really knows how to screw the public.

Auf Wiedersehen OS X

Good riddance more like

I'm sure you will have noticed the numerous recent posts about my irritations with Apple's OS X, and it's come to a crashing crescendo of doom and destruction.

I am typing at 04:46 somewhere in Staffordshire, at the prestigious CentraLAN 14 Lan Gaming event. It would be a tonne (imperial not metric) of fun if it wasn't for the VAST amount of space that OS X took up. Despite accounting for 30GB of music, 5GB of applications and 15GB of system, there was still a missing 10-20GB of space that was taken up by forces as yet still unknown.

So, I attempted to repartition the drive to give a new install of Windows (this hurts me alot, because I had got Windows just right; it's never been just right before and so I was reluctant to start again) the maximum that FAT32 could make good use of (32GB). I ran into trouble right away. I tried using the BootCamp wizard, no dice. I tried using the diskutil resizeVolume command in the Terminal, no ball. I almost tried using the Install Disks to repartition them, but then I noticed it would only do it destructively. These methods complained that there wasn't enough free space to allocate another 32GB partition, which there wasn't. It's just that I couldn't figure out where it had all gone...

At this point I thought, why not just start afresh. I now almost hate OS X, why not try and dump it now. I had really nothing to lose since my Windows installation was up in smoke (along with CSS and numerous other games (like Transport Tycoon)) since I had used the BootCamp wizard to restore the partition back to one big HFS+ partition.

So off I went on my merry way, unknowing whether I'd be able to install ONLY Windows on the beast (my laptop, not Satan). Windows installed fine onto the big partition (of course after a quick NTFS format) and is now running. Sorry I didn't graciously build up to the climax then BOOM unleash it all at once in all of it's magnificent awe-inspiring jaw-dropping mediocrity. But that's just life.

I now have buckets of space available to Windows and don't need to worry about some bloatware taking up all my valuable gaming space. Of course this means I won't be able to program in a Linux/Unix environment, but I'm sure I'll be able to figure something out.

So. In a nutshell. It IS possible to only install Windows on a Mac (a MacBook Pro anyway) answering my previous wondering from a post lost in the dark clutches of lore.

Eddie will be either sad, or apathetic. Damn fanboy... =P

Apologies if this post is slightly disjointed, I had 4 hours sleep last night, and it is now 20 hours since I fell out of bed. Wish me all the luck in the world that I actually manage to stay awake past the 24h mark. I've never been able to accomplish it before.

W00t!!! GAME-AGE!!!

MWAHAHAHAHAHA. Ha. Ahem.

OS X Annoyances

Hello happy campers!

I've not posted for a fair bit, mostly because I have actually done stuff worthwhile! I jest I have no meaningful life outside of my computer...

Anyway I just felt the need to tell you of my battles with the evil that is the Apple OS X "operating system". Pfeh. I have managed to fix some of the stupid GUI "features" of OS X but alas not all of it is salvagable, due to OS X's high degree of uncustomizability and unintuitiveness (are those even words?)...

I will label this list with four headings: FIXED, HALF FIXED, WORKAROUND and :'(.

• iTunes looks as ugly as sin - FIXED
  • Using a program called Aqua4iTunes I have reskinned iTunes back to its former Aqua glory, rather than looking like some ugly thing from Linux
  
  
• I couldn't control iTunes from keystrokes - FIXED
  • Using a preference pane called SizzlingKeys
  
  
• Enter doesn't run or open selected file/program/folder in the Finder - FIXED
  • By typing:
    

    defaults write com.apple.finder NSUserKeyEquivalents '{ "Open" = "\U000a"; }'
    killall Finder

    Into the Terminal
  
  
• I cannot disable mouse acceleration without shelling out for a $20 program - HALF FIXED
  • Installed Microsoft's Intellimouse software to give me a more responsive mouse. It still has acceleration but at least it's not a direct transition from snail to cheetah acceleration, more like a tugboat with a turbo
  
  
• I cannot get Terminal commands to edit source files - HALF FIXED
  • Made a file called .bash_login in my home directory which binds the following aliases upon each login:
    

    alias tedit='/Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit'
    alias sedit='/Applications/Smultron.app/Contents/MacOS/Smultron'

    I also installed the mentioned program Smultron which is better than TextEdit since it has line numbers and syntax highlighting
  • It's half fixed because it opens up a new instance of Smultron or TextEdit instead of loading it into a previously open one
  • I also changed the icon of Smultron, because the strawberry looks cack, to an icon by Joerie Mortalmansheimlichfurhrerstadt.
  
  
• Due to the Open "fix" I can no longer rename files with a keystroke - WORKAROUND
  • I can rename files the boring click and wait method or "mv" from in the Terminal
  
  
• Installing GEdit on OS X was a dead loss - WORKAROUND
  • I now use Smultron and TextEdit for all my programming needs, no idea how to get rid of the reams of Linux crap now installed into my OS X installation. I guess that's the price you pay for trying to make OS X vaguely usable
  
  
• I cannot completely uninstall OS X and replace it with Windows and Linux - :'(
  • I would love to. OS X seriously sucks and needs several kicks up the rear end to be anywhere near as professional as XP or as customizable as Linux
  
  
• Closing the laptop lid still sleeps the computer despite using SleepLess - :'(
  • I hate this, especially when I have wireless internet and it stops an unresumable download because Apple can't take their self-righteous fingers out of each others' assorted orifices
    

Oh, and also I have moved my Dock to the top left, since it looks better there and is a more efficient use of screen real estate, since it's widescreen and most programs tend to look more comfortable in a 4:3 setting rather than the luxurious 16:9 or even 16:10 settings.

I hope some of you come away from this post feeling rejuvenated and enlightened. Because I certainly have.