February 28, 2005

M200 tip of the day: Don’t install intellipoint if you want to use the trackpad

If you have a Toshiba Portege M200 like I do (now), don’t install the Microsoft Intellipoint drivers if you want to use the nifty features of your trackpad like scrolling.

Click here to post a comment -- Posted by: dtc @ 3:54 pm

February 24, 2005

Getting rid of the buttons in MSN Desktop Search

Introducing MSN Toolbar Suite - Silicon Valley team (and demo!)

It took me a bit of playing around but here’s how to do it. Find this folder in your registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MSN Apps\DB

Next, add a DWORD value with the name of “Buttons” and change the value of “Buttons” to “1″. On your toolbar, uncheck the MSN Deskbar to clear it from your toolbar then re-check it to add it again without the buttons.

Good to know! Now it’s just a textbox!

Click here to post a comment -- Posted by: dtc @ 10:59 pm

February 21, 2005

Is inkjet printing really that expensive?

I was at BestBuy tonight, and I thought - gosh! Wouldn’t it be neat to have a multifunction printer like the HP Officejet 6210 so that I can Print, Fax, Scan and Copy at home?

Then I could have the freedom to print photos whenever I wanted!

So then I took at look at the consumables. Let’s assuming that I get the HP Paper and the HP Photo Ink that are recommended.

The HP Paper is ~$24 for 60 sheets. That’s 40 cents a sheet. Uh oh. Already we’re above the Ofoto/Smugmug price.

The HP Photo Ink cartridge is ~$22 for 450 pages assuming 15% coverage according to the specs. Well if you’re printing a photo, wouldn’t it be 100% coverage? At the same time, you would be printing on 4×6 paper instead of 8.5×11 paper which is what I’m assuming the 15% is based off of. So by my math, 100% coverage of 4×6 would give you ~263 pages. So that’s about 8.3 cents a photo in ink. (Or it is ~67 pages if the 15% refers to 4×6 paper - which would then be 32 cents a photo).

So let’s see… in the end the cost of printing a photo in consumables alone would be 48 cents (or 71 cents). This doesn’t even include the cost of the printer! Youch!

Is inkjet printing really that expensive? Or did I make a mistake here?

Comments (1) -- Posted by: dtc @ 11:24 pm

New banner photos - check out the site!!

Have you been to the website lately?

I’ve added some new random banners to the rotation.

http://www.decheung.com

Click here to post a comment -- Posted by: dtc @ 10:59 am

February 17, 2005

Iain McDonald has some interesting things to say about iPods

I must be a sinner…

The one thing that is missed in all this cross cultural sniping about the iPod vs. Microsoft is that it’s a pretty good windows app (it could be better - for example handle multiple sessions in fast user switching…) - it doesn’t leak if it has been running for a while (I didn’t do a trace, I should have before I said that), has some good extra functions (their use of extended properties, while a little funky for me is good ui for a novice) & is pretty easy to use.

[snip]

p.p.s. ok, I have to ask this ? why is apple seen as the politically correct company when they are farming out their production to China? Doesn?t anyone else think this is weird? I remember having a discussion with some people I know who were in the WTO protests here in Seattle a couple of years ago ? I asked them why they were wearing gap. Old navy & burton clothes ? obviously, some things are not correct to question because they have not talked to me soon. If you are protesting about globalization, support it with your own money (here is my plug for the best tshirts around ? American Apparel)

Iain McDonald is pretty darn important at Microsoft. I saw him speak once - he was pretty funny. So were his comments in this post.

Comments (1) -- Posted by: dtc @ 11:52 pm

February 14, 2005

Fantastic advice from Mark Cuban

Political Bloggers - the new paparazzi - Blog Maverick - www.blogmaverick.com

Fortunately , there is a way to deal with the paparazzi. There is also a way for the gatekeepers to deal with the bloggers. A simple way.
Recognize them. Give them respect. Celebrities cant keep photographers out of their bushes no matter how hard they try. The gatekeepers wont be able to keep the bloggers out either. Instead they should invite them in.
Not 1. Not 2. But several from both sides. Bring in the more popular blogs that like you, and the same number of those that dont. Give them as much access as you give the NY Times, Wash Post. Dont muzzle them, let them write
I will tellyou exactly what will happen next. The blogs you invite in will still try to trip you up, but they will quickly morph and act like traditional media. When you screw up , they will tell you when it happens and give you a chance to comment and respond. They will like being on the inside and adjust to try to stay there.
The bloggers left on the outside will continue to try to trip you up, but will spend more time and energy trying to tear down the bloggers who got inside the gates. Jealousy is a bitch.

Wow. Another excellent piece by Mark Cuban.

He’s right though - if you’re not going to blog to defend yourself, you’d better start working with a blogger to get your side of the story out.

Like Guy Kawasaki once said: Eat like a bird, poop like an elephant.

Click here to post a comment -- Posted by: dtc @ 10:32 pm

Buzz’s report from Demo

buzznovation: Live at Demo @ 15 ….

I have been blogless for about 10 days. Lots of meetings, lots of travel and lots to talk about about! This beautiful Valentine?s day I am in Scottsdale, AZ at Demo @15. Demo is about to kick off. The room is full, lights are down, music rocking and WiFi broken. I am sitting with the usual suspects all of whom wonderful friends. To my left is Amy Wohl, to my right Robert Scoble, Andy Ruff, Shel Israel and Cameron Reilly.

Buzz is at Demo. Check out his entry. Wow does it sounds exciting. I wish I could’ve attended… but even more so, I wish I could’ve presented.

Now that would be a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Click here to post a comment -- Posted by: dtc @ 8:48 pm

A great piece on using Categories in Entourage

43 Folders: Using Categories & Tasks in Entourage

All that said, here?s an overview of the Categories I use most when processing, filtering, and doing the items on my task list (currently ~150 items). Your mileage will absolutely vary.

Wow that’s a lot of categories. Working on Entourage, we know how important the Category feature is to so many of our users, and we continually try to make it more useful. FWIW, I’m not sure if there’s actually a limit to the number of categories you can have - I’m sure there’s one, but I think it might be disk bound or something.

I can’t wait to read the write up on using Custom Views. Custom Views in Entourage is an awesomely powerful feature - unfortunately, few get it, or even try it out. What is a Custom View? Hint: One of the original names for this feature was ‘Saved Searches’. Now do you get it?

Comments (2) -- Posted by: dtc @ 6:51 pm
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