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Tuesday, October 14, 2008 10:41 AM

Windows 7 officially has a name

So, what’s the scoop? It’s going to be called “ Windows 7 ”, according to Mike Nash posting at the Windows Vista Blog . [Is it just me, or does Mike Nash look a little like the chef who got into trouble for inflating his resume in the opening credits...
Posted by Alun Jones | with no comments
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Sunday, October 12, 2008 9:36 PM

HTML Help in MFC

I recently got around to converting an old MFC project from WinHelp format to HTML Help. Mostly this was to satisfy customers who are using Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, but who don’t want to install WinHlp32 from Microsoft. (If you do want to...
Posted by Alun Jones | 1 comment(s)
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Saturday, October 11, 2008 5:49 PM

Weak point against Vista

First rule of demonstrative writing – lead off with an undeniable example of the point you’re trying to make. Case in point – Dan Lyons’ article in NewsWeek on “ A Gloomy Vista for Microsoft ”, meant to be a piece defining how bad Vista is. “Last year...
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Saturday, May 03, 2008 4:57 PM

Can You Write Good Code for an OS you Despise?

No, this isn't another of my anti-Mac frothing rants. This is one of my "here's what I hate about many of the open-source projects I deal with" rants. I'm trying to find an SFTP client for Windows that works the way I want it to...
Posted by Alun Jones | 3 comment(s)
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Friday, March 21, 2008 9:15 PM

Retro-bundling - another suck of the Apple

I thought I was done blogging about Apple Software Update, having removed QuickTime from my system completely, and sworn never to install it again or watch another QT or MOV file. But nooo, someone had to spoil it by telling me what Apple Software Update...
Posted by Alun Jones | 8 comment(s)
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Friday, February 29, 2008 6:47 PM

Random leap-day events.

A semi-hobby of mine is that of date- and time-related issues with computers. Something that we all take for granted, and assume to be easy, is actually incredibly complex, with rules that depend on where you are, when you are, which laws you follow,...
Posted by Alun Jones | with no comments
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Monday, February 04, 2008 12:21 PM

Google on Microsoft / Yahoo! Deal: "Wah!"

In case you've been under a rock, Microsoft appears to be trying to take advantage of Yahoo! Inc's recent poor performance to make an unsolicited offer (as far as I can tell, it's not a hostile bid until and unless Yahoo! officers declare...
Posted by Alun Jones | with no comments
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Thursday, January 31, 2008 10:46 PM

Get Well Scotty McLeod

I could have titled this "adversity shows how small our world truly is". I had no idea that so many of my friends, acquaintances, MVPs and Microsoft staff are also friends with Scotty McLeod - until he got hit by a train last week. He is recovering...
Posted by Alun Jones | 2 comment(s)
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008 8:44 AM

Steve Jobs' head in a box

Apple's latest product announcement - you can now buy Steve Jobs' head in a box. Here's a picture of an unnamed Apple salesman demonstrating the lightness of Steve Jobs' head in a box: Perhaps if any of you have heard about features of...
Posted by Alun Jones | 1 comment(s)
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Saturday, January 19, 2008 6:09 PM

MacBook Air debuts; iTunes Pesters Me Again

The big news from Apple this week was that they have a flatter laptop than anyone else (except Intel, who have a "Lorado" concept model that is much cooler, is demonstrated with Vista, and comes with an optional sleeve that has a Sideshow display...
Posted by Alun Jones | 3 comment(s)
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Thursday, January 17, 2008 9:24 PM

Waiting for Vista SP1?

In a previous article, I wrote about how to sound stupid by saying " let's wait for Service Pack 1 before we deploy Windows Vista ". Now here are a few ways to sound clever, by pointing to specific issues that will be fixed by Windows Vista...
Posted by Alun Jones | 5 comment(s)
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Sunday, January 06, 2008 11:33 AM

New Scientist chat-up lines

We used to joke that a friend of mine used New Scientist magazine as a dating tool. Quiet and shy, he'd be sitting alone in a group of people, but as soon as he pulled out his New Scientist magazine, he'd find himself surrounded, inexplicably...
Posted by Alun Jones | with no comments
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Monday, December 17, 2007 5:38 PM

Removing Apple Mobile Device Support

As mentioned before, I'm not a fan of Appple 's, particularly because they tend to impose crap on me that I'm not interested in having. I've been trying to figure out how to remove iTunes , iPod and Aple Mobile Device Support on and off...
Posted by Alun Jones | 54 comment(s)
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Saturday, December 15, 2007 12:25 PM

Microsoft Support Switches to Live Search

In the spirit of the famous review of Spinal Tap's album "Shark Sandwich", I was tempted to post a two-word review,the first word of which is "Advanced". My three-word review, then - "Worst. Search. Ever". But, just in...
Posted by Alun Jones | 5 comment(s)
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Monday, November 26, 2007 8:29 PM

What I need for Christmas

At one point, I mentioned to my wife that I could do with a leaf blower. Then I figured out how I could take the shop vac and turn it into a leaf blower. Now I could do with a leaf blower and a shop vac.
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Thursday, November 22, 2007 10:44 PM

How many people do you represent?

In my earlier discussion on why 100% utilisation is not maximum efficiency , I alluded to the fact that a rejected customer, or a customer with a bad experience, will tell other potential customers that you never get to see. This reminded me that there...
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Thursday, November 22, 2007 12:32 AM

Autism Screening at 18 months and 2 years

I'm excited by the news that the American Academy of Pediatricians is recommending that all children be screened at their regular 18 month and 24 month checkups for autism . As regular readers will know, my son was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome...
Posted by Alun Jones | 2 comment(s)
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Tuesday, November 20, 2007 2:22 PM

100% utilisation is not (generally) a sign of efficiency.

[You can take this as a literal rant about bus service, or as a parable on effective assignment of computing or business resources, as you wish.] Once again this morning, the bus to work was full to capacity. Standing room only, everyone stuffed uncomfortably...
Posted by Alun Jones | 2 comment(s)
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Sunday, November 18, 2007 10:47 PM

Thanksgiving - five years

Regular readers of my blog will know that Thanksgiving is a special time for me. Five years ago, I was giving thanks that a relatively routine surgery discovered and removed a cancerous growth - a tumor. Last week, I visited the doctor to find out the...
Posted by Alun Jones | 1 comment(s)
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Tuesday, October 02, 2007 9:35 PM

DRM should always be a choice

Jesper's recent frustration with a bug in the DRM support on his Windows Media Center Edition (MCE) system demonstrates a couple of basic truths in system reliability: Complexity negatively impacts reliability. DRM contributes to complexity. Clearly...
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