deciacco.com blog

3D Desktop Manager For Windows

deciacco — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:56:11 +0000

If you have seriously played with Ubuntu lately, you might have seen the real fancy 3D desktop effect you can do. Here is a piece of software that does the same thing on Windows: DeskSpace And here is a free alternative:YODM.

Quick Tip - Dell Wireless 3300 Print Server

deciacco — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:05:36 +0000

After a few hours of frustration trying to get the Dell Wireless 3300 Print Server to hop onto my wireless network, I finally figured out the problem. I was using WPA-PSK in AES mode on my wireless router. Apparently, this little gem (if you have a compatible printer) only likes TKIP. After I made this change it connected without a problem.

This print server works very well, but you have to have a compatible printer. In fact, if you have one of the printers this was intended for, I would recommend using this to anything else. I know for a fact it works great on a Dell 1710 and a 962 (Photo All-in-One).

WP-DBManager Backup DB Fix For Windows

deciacco — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:34:29 +0000

For this blog I like to use a plugin called WP-DBManager. It's a great tool for easily maintaining your blog's database right from the administration console. Unfortunately, being on a Windows host, sometimes plugins don't work as intended, so you have to make some adjustments.

For this plugin I kept getting this error whenever I tried to run the backup script:

Warning: filesize(): Stat failed for (blah, blah)
Warning: unlink(blah, blah) no such file or directory

To fix it I had to do a few things:

1. The actual command to create the backup needs to be fixed, so it can run properly on the command prompt. Find the file named database-backup.php in the plugin's directory. Place double quotes around the path part of the command and remove all others. Lines 47 and 51.

$backup['command'] = '"' . $backup['mysqldumppath'].'" --host='.DB_HOST.' --user='.DB_USER.' --password='.DB_PASSWORD.' --add-drop-table --skip-lock-tables '.DB_NAME.' | gzip > '.$backup['filepath'];

$backup['command'] = '"' . $backup['mysqldumppath'] . '" --host='.DB_HOST.' --user='.DB_USER.' --password='.DB_PASSWORD.' --add-drop-table --skip-lock-tables '.DB_NAME.' > '.$backup['filepath'];

2. The function that runs the command is called execute_packup(). This function is located in a file named wp-dbmanager.php in the plugin's directory. Find this function (line 205) and remove the if statement and leave only the passthru() command. Similar to this:

function execute_backup($command) {
$backup_options = get_option('dbmanager_options');
check_backup_files();
/*if(substr(PHP_OS, 0, 3) == 'WIN') {
$writable_dir = $backup_options['path'];
$tmpnam = $writable_dir.'/wp-dbmanager.bat';
$fp = fopen($tmpnam, 'w');
fwrite($fp, $command);
fclose($fp);
system($tmpnam.' > NUL', $error);
unlink($tmpnam);
} else {*/
passthru($command, $error);
//}
return $error;
}

3. If you want to have the gzip functionality you will need to download and place gzip.exe in the system32 folder of the server. You can download gzip from here.

NOTES:

Make sure the the Internet Guest Account has write permissions to the backup-db directory.
There is probably a better way to do this, perhaps using the exec() command in the if statement, but this one seems to work just fine.
Not necessary - On my server I had to put @ symbols in front of the filesize() and unlink() functions in the database-backup.php file, so that the they would not throw the php warning message and continue through to show the actual error message on the plugin page.

Windows Registry Tweaking Software

deciacco — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:38:54 +0000

RegToy is a free program for tweaking settings in Windows. It will pretty much let you change any setting there is to change. It works very well and the install is very straight forward and simple. I've only tested it on Windows XP, but it should also work with Vista and Windows Server 2003. It also comes with a bunch of other utilities like SecureDelete, MemoryCleaner, and FileEncryptor to name a few. (For a complete list click here.)

Download Link

Cloud Cover On Amelia Island

deciacco — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:52:52 +0000

Last week we went down to Florida for a little R&R. On the last day there, we got a good storm. This panoramic photo was taken a few hours before we left and was taken looking east over the Atlantic ocean. The clouds were moving over the beach from the west going east (top of image moving down) and the rain appeared to be coming from the south going north (right of image going left towards us).

Click on the image below to see a larger view.

Cloud Cover On Amelia Island

Canoeing On The Harpeth

deciacco — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:05:15 +0000

Took a day of vacation yesterday to spend some time outdoors, so my brother-in-law and I went canoeing. Since we've had quite a rainy seasons this spring the water level of the river was great. One of the coolest places to stop along this particular river trip is Pattison Forge, otherwise known as the Montgomery Bell Tunnel...

Click on the image below to see a larger view. The larger view may take some time to download as the files are about 2MB each.

Tunnel Panorama

Tunnel Top View Panorama

GI Cactus V2s Wireless (Ebay) Triggers Modification

deciacco — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:31:38 +0000

The "Holy Grail" of wireless flash triggers are the Pocket Wizards - they are fast, reliable, and have an amazing range. This of course comes a quite a heafty price and many new photographers simply can't afford them. For this reason many people use the Cactus V2's from Gadget Infinity, otherwise known as the "Ebay" triggers.

There are many features that the PW have that the V2's don't have, but as far as cheap wireless triggers go, the V2's are quite good. The main problem of the V2's is in their range, but with a small modification this can be remedied fairly easily. Basically, by adding an external antenna the signal is "louder and clearer" for the receivers to pick up.

(The original article where I found this modification can be found here: GI Cactus V2s Modification Tutoria)

Here is my experience with this mod:

Tools
The first thing you need is some tools. Here is a list of what I used and recommend you have before getting started:
1. Soldering Iron and Solder
  You can get these from Radio Shack. I used a 25W iron and Rosin Core Solder for PC work.
2. Helping Hands
  These are not required, but if you don't have someone helping you these are very useful, especially when you are trying to solder the wire to the connector and the board.
3. Drill and Drill Bits
  Cutting the holes without these would be very difficult. I used a 5/64 bit for the starter hole and a 1/4 bit for the final hole.
4. Screw driver
  I used a small philips head to remove the small screw on the bottom of the transmitter.
5. Wire Cutter
  Pretty obvious here. Also a wire stripper is nice to have to strip the ends of the wire, but not necessary.
6. Pliers and 5/16 Wrench
  I used these to tighten the antenna connector to the top cover.
Trigger/Receiver Combo
I bought the wireless trigger/reciever kit from Gadget Infinity. I use Canon equipment, so I bought these: Wireless Flash Trigger V2s for Canon 580EX II 420EX
I'm pretty sure they are all the same, but they have different titles to make it easier for people to find what they need. You can double check they will work with your equipment by looking at the list of compatible items in the description. Make sure they are the V2's and not the older models. ( I think the older models simply had "PT-04" on the front.)
Antenna & Connector
I bought the antenna and connector. You can buy both of these from Digi-Key (part numbers below), but you don't have to. Many people used antennas from other devices such as old cell phones, while others used simply a wire. I really like how clean it looks with the bought antenna. Also buying the antenna I knew it was for the 433Mhz wave length. Note: There are calculators out there for figuring the length of wire for a specific wavelength.

Digi-Key Part Numbers: Antenna: ANT-433-CW-RH Connector: CONREVSMA004

Antenna & Connector
Opening the Transmitter
I started by taking the transmitter apart and taking the battery out. To open the transmitter remove the screw on the bottom and lift the cover from the front.

Opening the Transmitter
Drill Starter Hole
After opening the transmitter I needed to drill the hole for the antenna connector. I found the best way to figure out where to make the whole is to use the washer as a guide. I placed the guide up against the screw hole and the plastic piece next to it as shown below. (I've built two of these, and both had "the plastic piece") I drilled a small hole in the center of the washer to get started and insure the larger hole is in the proper place. If you don't have the plastic piece, use the close up image below to figure out where you need to place the washer.

Drill Starter Hole

(Close up of the starter hole. I used a 5/64th drill bit here.)

Close up of the starter hole
Drill Actual Hole
Next I drilled the actual hole. I used a drill bit that fit inside the washer. I used a 1/4th drill bit for this, which was slightly smaller than the washer, but it worked perfectly.

Drill Actual Hole
Inserting the Connector
I attached the connector and used pliers and a 5/16th wrench to tighten it. I put the washer on the bottom because I liked the clean look on the outside.

Inserting the Connector Bottom

Inserting the Connector Top
Soldering the Wire
I soldered the wire to the two parts. I chose a wire of about 6 inches. In the first one I moded, I used a slightly shorter wire and my tests between the two show that the longer wire works better. I also chose to put the wire on the right hole on the board, next to the TR2 label. Some poeple soldered the wire to the small hole near the 616 label. I think that if you use the TR2 hole then the length of the wire should be the full 1/4 wavelength of 433Mhz (6.82 inches), but if you use the 616 hole then you need to subtract the length from the TR2 hole to the 616 hole. I use a length in between and seems to work very well.

Soldering the Wire
Reassemble
The last part was to put the battery back in, close the enclosure, and screw on the antenna.

Reassemble
Conclusion & Test Shots
The overall performance of the transmitter improved dramatically. Without the mod I was getting about 25 feet reliably with intermittent fires at 30 feet. After the mod I was getting much more...see images below.

Maximum distance with Test Button Only

Maximum distance with max sync speed 1/200th sec

Extended Your Desktop Onto Another Computer

deciacco — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:23:58 +0000

At my office I have three monitors on my desk. Two are for my pc and one is for my backup server. I was thinking about how convenient it would be to simply move the mouse over to the backup server like an extended desktop. I started searching around and found Maxivista.com. One can always use remote desktop, but this is good if you want to control multiple computers with one keyboard and mouse, and it also gives you more screen real estate since you are using the added monitor of the other computer.

The company's main thing is that you can use old notebooks as extended monitors, which is cool and a good marketing angle, but what I like is the ability to remote control as in a KVM setup. I can move the mouse over to the right of the screen on my desktop and it seamlessly moves into the other computer's desktop. The mouse on the remote screen isn’t as smooth as far as the refresh rate, probably because the mouse movement information is going through the network, but it is still very good.

Check out their page for more information!

Remove Experts-Exchange From Search Results

deciacco — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

When I search the internet I very often get results from the popular site www.experts-exchange.com. This is a forum type site where you have to be a paying member to participate. While there is nothing wrong with this, the site is setup to allow anyone to read member questions, so that their site comes up in your search results in the hopes that if you visit their site you will pay to see the answer. I, for one, am not willing to pay, therefor search results that take me to their site are completely useless.

I've created a search provider for your browser that omits results that would take you to their site.

Click the link to install:
Search Without Experts-Exchange

Natchez Trace Arch Bridge

deciacco — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:13:06 +0000

BojanM gave me a good idea for a photo I could use for my company's new website. In order to fit in the site's theme I needed the black and white image, so here is the original. Since the trees have not fully bloomed the color version is not very good, but the B&W version is more effective as it emphasizes the structure. I will have to go back and shoot this one again later this year.

Natchez Trace Arch Bridge in Color

Natchez Trace Arch Bridge

Always Show The Vertical Scrollbar In Firefox

deciacco — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:03:51 +0000

My good friend BojanM showed me this very cool hack for Firefox that makes the vertical scrollbar always visible in Firefox. I find it annoying when I'm surfing pages and the page shifts left to right when it goes from extending beyond the bottom of the screen to fitting in the screen or the other way around. This little hack makes the vertical scroll bar always present at the right of screen. If the page extends beyond the bottom, then the scrollbar is activated, otherwise it's not. Thanks BojanM!

A Better “Send to Mail Recipient” With Outlook

deciacco — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:29:58 +0000

Sometimes when sending files through email, you want to be able to simply right-click on the file and select "Send to mail recipient" form the context menu. If you are an Outlook 2003 or 2007 user, you might have noticed that when you do this Outlook generates a plain text email with your files conveniently attached. While a plain text email is nice, and probably the way
all email should be, most of us have been spoiled with html email that allows fancy formatting and we want to keep this functionality when we right-click to send attachments. Not only do we want this formatting ability, but we also want our signatures to be automatically appended to the end of the mail.Below are a few steps to create a new "Send To Mail Recipient" context menu shortcut that address these issues:

Right-Click the START button and select Explore
Make sure to select the Sent To folder from the folder list on the left.
Right-Click anywhere in the white space to the right and select New, then Shortcut
In the Type the location of the item: box type in the following lines based on the version of Outlook you are using:Outlook 2003:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\OUTLOOK.EXE" /c ipm.note

Outlook 2007:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12\OUTLOOK.EXE" /a
In the Type a name for this shortcut:
box type in:Outlook Mail Recipient
Now when you right click on items to send as attachments you will have a new option. By selecting Outlook Mail Recipient you will get your new email in the default email format you have selected in Outlook and, if you have configured your signature for a new email, you will have it as well.

Carter House Cannon

deciacco — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:57:11 +0000

This is a cannon that is on the Carter House grounds. I like the image because it appears the cannon is popping out of the screen. I wish I had put part of the left wheel in the frame to balance it out a little more.

Canon At The Carter House

Walters’s Old Railway Station

deciacco — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:25:40 +0000

The other day after much procrastination, I finally got myself to go out and take some photos. I started out wanting to get some shots of old barns, but I got an old, yellow railway station instead. The sign on the side door stated it was the private property of the Walters's.

Walter's Railway Station

An Apple a Day…

deciacco — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 19:18:11 +0000

I've been doing some indoor, still-life photography lately to try and learn some better lighting techniques. This was done with an off-camera, diffused flash at camera right. The back(left side) of the apple was lit by light bouncing off a white surface. I cannot remember the power of the flash, but I think it was set at 1/4 power.

Apple