Unto the pure, all things are pure

I appreciate all the programming and troubleshooting tips posted by the many enthusiastic contributors from all over the world. Many of them include lots (and lots) of screenshots to illustrate what they are trying so hard to help us. One problem, however, is the clarity (and size) of those screenshot images. I always love screenshot images that are in native resolution: one pixel in the bitmap corresponding to one pixel on the original screen and corresponding to one pixel on my screen. No one should have any problems capturing the screenshot - the [Alt]-[prt sc] key does it all to the active window. I think the problem is in saving it. The original MS Paint was a disaster. You have to manually set the size your image. And it can't save to the png format. I find that Paint Dot NET is the most convenient tool. Pasting from the clipboard automatically creates a new image of the dimensions of the image in the clipboard. So it's the perfect size, no chances of error....

[It is not fiction that a fully-laden airliner can complete its whole trip from take-off to landing, at most modern airports, with the pilot's hands totally off the controls throughout the journey.  Nevertheless,] An airline captain, say of a Boeing 777, must land a Boeing 777 manually at least once every 35 days to maintain his currency as a captain.  If he does not achieve that, then he must land the same aircraft in a simulator.  If he has extended his currency through the simulator, then within the next 35 days he must land the real plane from the right hand seat, that is, with another captain in command and supervising. In contrast, anyone can claim to be a qualified and experienced software architect or developer!  Is it because no one gets killed when software is poorly written?  I am convinced that this is the real answer. An airline pilot is certified not only on his flying skills but by aircraft type.  A Boeing 777-200 pilot is not permitted...

Well, now we know that the Communists do not understand that entering someone's computer is the same as entering someone's house.  Or maybe I am giving them too much credit.  Do they also enter people's homes if no one is watching? Using zero-day attacks or upatched vulnerabilities is a contorted process that requires lots of hardwork trying to predict and then handle all possible outcomes.  Such attacks are not always successful even if the target computer is vulnerable. If they could spent their talent and energies on such hacks, just imagine what they could have put into all those Huawei routers! According to Wikipedia , Huawei is founded and still led by an ex-PLA man, a card-carrying member of the Communist Party of China and a congressman! Could they be that far-sighted?  The router is the mother of all Trojans.  It's the interface point between your internal network and the Internet.  All other network equipment are similarly vulner...

I don't know how well-known it is that the Windows Update client, even when run from IE, does not run using your logged-in credentials.  This is according to KB 900935 . So, if your computer requires a proxy server to connect to the Internet and you have configured the proxy server through your IE settings, the Windows Update client will still try to connect directly.  This is because the IE settings are specific for each user. I have a newly installed Windows Server 2003 that is on a LAN that requires a proxy.  The first update went through ok.  But subsequent updates keep failing to download. By running proxycfg -u to copy my IE proxy settings for everyone, Windows Update breezed through. The puzzling thing is that I have two other Windows Server 2003 sitting next to this one on the same network.  They were installed 1.5 years ago, with the proxy server configured in IE.  I checked and proxycfg on these two says "Direct access"....

I installed 64-bit Windows Server 2003 (R2 with SP2) for the first time this week. Surprisingly, there is no option to enable ASP.NET on IIS even though I have all the .NET frameworks installed and updated. The Add/Remove Windows Component Wizard does not have ASP.NET as an option under Application Server. Neither does the Managing Your Server application.  In 32-bit Windows Server, it says Application Server (IIS, ASP.Net) but in 64-bit it is as follows: As it cannot be done through the GUI, I checked up the Help documentation. The documentation says my next task is to enable ASP.NET but I couldn't find any clues on how to do that. Finally I found the instructions hidden in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894435 , an article which really does not apply to my situation as I want a pure 64-bit server. The steps are: a.  Install and enable IIS first.  Do this through Manage Your Server or Add/Remove Windows Components. b.  Run: cscript %SYSTEMDRIVE%\inetp...

I guess you already know that ZhongGuanCun (中关村) in Peking (北京) is the largest collection of shoppping centers selling computers and electronics stuff. If you need something for your computer, I think you will find at least 1,000 shops/counters selling what you want. The hard part is getting what you want at the price you don't regret later. The trick is to buy only things you have researched thoroughly. Use a place like eBay to find out the lowest market price. Buying something on impulse will always end up with regrets, unless you are a trained negotiator. ZhongGuanCun is not one mall. It is a whole city of malls. I don't know how many there are. I went to only a couple of buildings. Basically they are all the same. I guess in lieu of marketing to differentiate, each just bank on fleecing one unsuspecting customer a day. I went to look for a notebook battery. Surprisingly this was one item that was not really that popular. If you need a battery and want to ...

It's very easy to plan a do-it-yourself tour of the Great Wall of China at BaDaLing (八达岭). And it costs only RMB12x2 (total USD4) for the journey there and back. The Internet is full of postings on how people signed up to tours only to be held at ransom to cough up more money after the bus has moved off. Do not be another victim. By the way, most of the victims are Chinese nationals from out of town or people who speak some Chinese. The swindlers, or enterprising businessmen depending on how you view them, tend to leave the non-Chinese speakers alone as sign language is harder, I guess. Follow these steps carefully for a low-cost and enjoyable tour. We just did it last week. 1. Make your way to DeShengMen (德胜门) . This is once a city gate of which only the archer's tower is now left standing. The archer's tower is a huge structure that cannot be missed once you are in the vicinity. There are a few bus terminals there. The one you must go to is north of the tower. Fro...