Recently I realized that one of the main reasons I like Windows is that I build my own boxes. Most of the PCs sold are lame, including those by Dell, HP, and Acer. You can build your own computer using similar specs to anything from these manufacturers and generally (1) save money, (2) get better performance, and (3) avoid all the low-quality, resource-hogging software that comes pre-installed on retail PCs.
One other significant reason that I like Windows is that I haven’t been running Windows XP for a long time. I was one of the brave few who decided to give Vista a try and I have to tell you, XP is absolutely archaic in comparison. Even more so when you compare XP to Windows 7. Windows 7 is very, very good.
A simple example of what you get when you upgrade from Windows XP is the ability to mute annoying system sounds, like those “online/offline” dings that I can’t seem to turn off in Trillian. I know this feature may seem trivial, but all these little goodies add up to a great experience.
Don’t get me wrong, I also like Mac OS X and Linux. If only PC manufacturers would raise their standards, more people would like Windows as well. Fortunately, looking at the announcements coming out of CES last week, things are trending in the right direction.
Posted in Random Stuff | 6 Comments »
December 31, 2009 by Kurt
I’m getting ready to launch my new indie game services project, Cupcake, but I need a good domain name. The general idea of Cupcake is to provide tools and services that take the pain out of making high-quality indie games.
What do you think is a good domain name? Vote for one of the ones I’ve already come up with, or enter your own.
Note: I would LOVE to use cupcake.com but someone is squatting on that name.
Posted in Indie Games | 4 Comments »
December 18, 2009 by Kurt
How do you recursively remove the hidden attribute on files in Windows? If you are coming from a Linux background, you may be surprised to find out that you can do this from the crusty old Windows command line. Usually such power is reserved for, ahem, real shells and command-line tools which, until PowerShell came along, were sorely lacking on Windows. I mean, the Linux command line is so powerful, it must be possessed by a daemon or something.
In any case, there are a few good reasons (and probably some not-so good reasons) why you might need to recursively add or remove the hidden attribute on a bunch of files. If you ever find yourself in need of this, never fear! attrib is here!
First, open up a command prompt. Then “cd” into the directory where you want to start applying the attribute changes. Finally, enter the following command:
attrib -H /S
That will remove the hidden attribute from all files in the current directory, then it will recurse down to do the same thing in all the subdirectories. If you also want to remove the system attribute (which you cannot do in the file properties dialog), type this:
attrib -H -S /S
Easy! No extra app required. You can also add attributes and modify directories as well as files (I know, this much fun should be outlawed.) To get a list of options, enter:
attrib /?
Posted in How To | Leave a Comment »
November 30, 2009 by Kurt
The Shrew’s got some love for the corporate crowd. Chances are, your company-recommended VPN client is seriously behind the times. Fortunately, this little guy’s got your back. 32-bit. 64-bit. No problem. Windows 7, Linux, and BSD. Righteous.
And it even works with that keychain random-number-generator thingy they make you carry around. Too bad they can’t just let you use your iPhone. Or maybe they can.
Get the Shrew Soft IPsec VPN Client
Posted in Software Picks | Leave a Comment »
November 12, 2009 by Kurt
Go, shmo. I still prefer
Walter Bright’s D as a neo systems programming language.
For starters, it actually has real classes. From the overview:
D is not a scripting language, nor an interpreted language. It doesn’t come with a VM, a religion, or an overriding philosophy. It’s a practical language for practical programmers who need to get the job done quickly, reliably, and leave behind maintainable, easy to understand code.
But I admit it. I’m biased. My views are tainted by fond memories of writing ML algorithms in D at BYU. For which I got an A. Go figure.
Posted in Random Stuff | 1 Comment »
