In most programs, when you goof up, you get some kind of a sterile, impersonal, message that sometimes makes you wonder exactly what you've done (or not done) wrong. 

Sorry, I'm too lazy to go looking for a good example right now.  But, next time your computer bonks at you and a little window pops up complaining about something you only vaguely understand, remember these words. 

By contrast, some programs are designed with a little more of a personal touch.  Take for example this dialog, from DVD Decrypter:



To get this warning, I clicked on the 'Cancel' button, then when I didn't think it was responding quickly enough, I clicked it again.  Apparently, it just wanted a little more time to handle the first click, and didn't appreciate my lack of patience!

Windows Basics

• the differences among files, folders, programs, shortcuts, and documents
• the 'My Documents' folder, what it is and what it does for you
• using the mouse - click, double-click, right-click, and scroll - what do they all do? 
  
• CD's, DVD's, floppy disks, and flash drives - what they can do and what they can hold (probably NOT how to burn CD's/DVD's)
  
• power cycling - 'Turn Off', shut down, restart, suspend, hibernate
  
• special keys on the keyboard - Windows key, context menu key, Esc, Ctrl, Alt, Enter, and the Fx keys
  
• understanding the Windows file system - how are files stored and how can I find them when I need them?
  
• navigating Windows - maximizing, minimizing, restoring, and resizing windows
• the Windows desktop - including the start menu, the task bar, the Recycle Bin, and all those desktop icons!
• managing/running more than one program at a time, and switching between them
• keyboard shortcuts for common tasks (cut, copy, paste, print, open, close, exit, etc.)
• printing - and the printers collection
  

• web browsing
• search engines
• email access
• advanced networking topics - dial-up networking, cable, or DSL Internet connectivity

Basic Internet and Email

The Internet

• Connection types - dial up, broadband, and wireless
• How the 'web' works - Servers, clients, requests, and responses
• What is a web page – understanding HTML
• What's out there, and how to find what you're looking for
• Internet security - Spyware, Adware, viruses, firewalls, certificates, and more

Email

• Email fundamentals - anatomy of a message
• Email addresses - what are they and how do they work?
• Different types of email accounts that are available
• Mail servers and DNS - why they matter
• How to send and receive email messages
• Developing a contact list
• Filing email into folders
• Email viruses

Purpose

To configure a printer driver so it will automatically print in 'duplex' - on both sides of the same sheet of paper

Assumptions

• You already have a printer capable of printing in duplex
• You have that printer configured for printing on your computer (it's in your Windows Printers Collection)

Process

Basically, you are going to set up an exact copy of your current printer, but with different default settings.

1. Open your printers collection, right click your printer, and make a note of the port it is using (click the 'Port' tab to see the port information).
2. Close that printer's settings windows, then click 'Add Printer'
3. Click 'Next', then 'Next' again (with local printer selected).
4. On the ports list, choose the port to which your printer is already connected; click 'Next'
5. Find the manufacturer and printer name on the following list, click 'Next'
6. Choose 'Keep Existing Driver', click 'Next'
7. For 'Printer Name', enter any name you want - I recommend putting the word 'Duplex' in there somewhere so you know it's the duplexer
8. Select 'Do not share this printer'; click 'Next'
9. Print a test page if you like; click 'Next'
10. Click 'Finish'

You'll now have 2 printers in your Printers Collection that (except for their name) are exactly the same. Now you have to edit the properties of your new 'duplexing' printer:

1. locate the duplex settings in 'Printer Preferences..." (often on the 'Finishing' tab)
2. modify the settings so the printer prints in duplex, click 'OK'
3. Close the printer settings dialog

Now, any time you want to print in duplex, just select your new 'duplexing' printer, and it will happen automatically.

I recently needed to size an image, using Adobe Photoshop CS, to a 1:1 scale.  This was needed because I wanted the image to print out in its 'actual size'.  Photoshop probably has this capability built in somewhere as a tool, but I haven't seen it.  For sure, there are some third party tools out there, but I stumbled through a no-frills, simple approach using just Photoshop's built-in toolkit.

Since I had a scale (a ruler) in the actual photograph, I was able to use this method to modify the scale of the image to make it 1:1.

• Open the image file
• Click Image>Image Size
• Change the 'Width' dimensions to 'mm' if it isn't already set that way
• Make a note of the width (in my example, the width was 1,587.5mm)
• Close the Image Size Dialog
• Switch to the 'Measure Tool' (it shares a button with the 'eyedropper tool'
• Using the Measure Tool, measure the scale (the ruler) in your image as exactly as possible.  In my example, I was able to measure 23mm on the scale.
• Make a note of that measurement, and of the distance Photoshop says you've measured (in the top bar, there is a 'D1' measurement; in my example, it was 1,035.2)

Now it's down to simple math.  You can figure out the ratio by which the whole image's size needs to be scaled by dividing the distance Photoshop says you measured by the measurement you took.  In my example, 1,035.2/23 = 45.001.  So the reduction factor I need is 45.001.

• Take the width of the image (mine was 1,587.5) and divide that by your reduction factor (mine was 45.001).  That result will be the proper width of your image (mine was 35.271)
• Click Image>Image Size again.
• Make sure the 'resample image' checkbox at the bottom of this dialog is 'unchecked' (otherwise, the quality of the image will get hosed)
• Enter your new, proper, value for the width of the document
• The document's height should change too...keeping the image's scale intact
• Click OK, and your image is now sized 1:1!

As I said, this worked for me because I had an actual scale in the digital image to use for measuring.  As long as the photo is taken at a right angle to the face of the subject, you should be able to use anything in the photo that is of a known distance.  For example, you could follow this method using the diameter of a penny if one was visible. 

In Windows XP Pro, I recently ran into a problem where Windows Update wouldn't install any updates.  It would load and show that it wanted to install 'Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1' and 'Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool (KB892130)', but would always fail when it tried to do the update. 

A Google search found this post, where the writer recommends re-registering the DLL's needed by Windows Update.  It worked perfectly for me! 

Here are the instructions, shamelessly copy/pasted from the original post:

To repair this problem the dll files associated with the windows update program have to be registered.  To do this you'll need to run regsvr32.  Go start then run:

• regsvr32 wuapi.dll
• regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
• regsvr32 wuaueng1.dll
• regsvr32 wucltui.dll
• regsvr32 wups.dll
• regsvr32 wups2.dll
• regsvr32 wuweb.dll

• Syncs flawlessly with Outlook
• Syncs OK with Thunderbird (with BirdieSync add-on)
• is able to access all the IMAP4 folders in a mail account
• comes with Office Portable - able to open/edit Word, Excel, Powerpoint docs
• uses a mini-SD card for external storage (which I already have)
• Integrated WiFi
  

• Can't 'delete' messages from IMAP4 mail account - Can, however, 'move' them to the 'trash' folder, accomplishing the same thing with an extra couple strokes
• poor value - my device went belly-up after less than a year; wouldn't take a charge, wouldn't sync to any PC at all
  

• true sync with IMAP4 server account
• able to delete IMAP4 mail messages naturally (just 'delete' them from the device, and they're gone from the server)
• great interface - having only had Windows mobile in the past, it was easy and intuitive to get used to navigating around
• uses a mini-SD card for external storage (which I already have)
  

• unable to view any of the IMAP4 folders on my account with the included mail software - may be possible with add-ons like:
• Chattermail ($40)
• Snappermail ($25-60)
• No WiFi antenna - can't connect to higher speed hotspots
  

• very natural, clean UI - I like it best of the three compared here
• integrated GPS service/device - works great with Google Maps Mobile
• Sweet (bundled) Yahoo! messenger app. I don't normally use IM much, but I used this within three hours of starting testing (I needed to communicate with a vendor who only would chat via IM). Looks like this is available for other OS's too - at least Palm
• The BlackBerry can tell when it's in its holster, which is cool, because when you pull it out, it turns on, and when you put it away, it turns off on its own. You can even set different ring/notifications, depending on whether the device is holstered or not.
  

• Can't connect to (and view) IMAP4 folders - and I can't find an add-on that will do it, either.
• uses a micro SD card for external storage - I'd have to buy one to replace my mini-SD version
• No WiFi antenna - can't connect to higher speed hotspots
• No ability to open/edit Word/Excel/OOo documents - $99 add-on looks like it should work
• can't find a way to sync contacts with Thunderbird at all - had to sync with Outlook to get addresses on the device
• I hate the desktop software that comes with it - specifically, the separate 'media manager' was a pain for me - wouldn't close/restore/minimize; it just didn't respond like a good application should
  

1. Right click the cell, choose 'Format Cells...'
2. In the 'Category' list (on the left side), scroll down and click on 'Custom'
3. In the 'Type' textbox, type in your new rule (in this case '0#"/"##"/"##', with out the single quotes)

1. Right-click your custom-formatted cell, then click Copy.
2. Highlight the cells you want to apply the format to, then right-click one of them
3. Choose 'Paste Special' from the context menu
4. Click 'Formats' from the 'Paste' group

I'm excited about the new dasBlog (2.0), if only because it promises to give me better control over comment-spammers. It was pretty satisfying to watch the (dasBlog 2.0) updater tool wipe out all the 'bad words' that had accumulated in this blog's entries, and hopefully now I'll be able to keep a better handle on it.

If you're reading this, I was able to upload the new blog engine and get things going on the live site!