Serious Technology

How to minimize Skype to the tray in Windows 7 by Chris April 5, 2010

Skype version 4.2 will only minimize to the taskbar in Windows 7, to fix this, simply change the executable properties to be compatible with Windows Vista (Service Pack 2).

Steps
1. terminate Skype, if open.
2. open the folder "C:\Program Files\Skype\" or "C:\Program Files (x86)\Skype\Phone"
3. open the Phone folder and find the Skype or Skype.exe file
4. right-click the file, select properties
5. click the Compatibility tab
6. checkmark "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
7. select Windows Vista (Service Pack 2)
8. click Apply, Okay
9. enjoy

Buying New Hardware? Read all of the Reviews First! by Chris April 9, 2009

Recently, I had a wireless network card bite the dust. I replaced it with a Netgear WG311T from Tigerdirect.ca - they marked it down from $69.99 to $25.99 - no refunds.

After reading the reviews, one discovers that the Netgear WG311T is incompatible with VIA chipsets, many AMD systems contain VIA chipsets. Naturally, my system-of-the-down is an AMD.

The card works at first but when a large amount of traffic is introduced (ie transfer a movie) the system begins to crawl and then completely locks up requiring power recycling to restore. Reproducible every time.

The drivers are not certified by Microsoft. Netgear provides a note with the WNIC informing you that the drivers aren't WHQL (Windows Hardware Quality Labs) certified but then mention to go ahead and install them anyway because they work just fine. Work just fine, that is, for those who do not have a VIA chipset. Half the freaking country has VIA chipsets! WTF Netgear! Cut corners much?

It is highly recommended to avoid this card at all costs. Netgear should not be selling this type of hardware without WHQL certification.

For more information about the Netgear WG11T POS, the reviews at Amazon are extremely helpful. I wish I took my own advice before wasting the money on this piece of junk.

Chris 4.9

Which Ares do I download? by Chris March 19, 2009

Ares is a simple, clean, and robust P2P solution.

It has a huge following and is one of the best peer-to-peer clients available today. The problem with it is the fact that there are so many retail versions available and trying to figure out which one to install can be an exercise in futility. The first result returned by the google is the one you want, however, there are flashier results available which may cause confusion.

Ares is open source and the best place to download it is Source Forge. This is the bare bones Ares that you need - one that won't install a pile of malware crap on your system and one that won't ask you shell out your hard earned cash for the 'full' version.

You can find anything you want on it, however, to be one with the universe, please consider purchasing retail content from iTunes, BestBuy, Amazon, or wherever you want, should you 'preview' it first on the amazing Ares.

Ares can be downloaded here

iPhone OS 3 beta on the iPod touch by Chris March 17, 2009

Being one of the 50 thousand registered Apple iPhone developers has its perks - we are able to legally download and install the brand new operating system, for our favourite handhelds, which was announced by Apple, today.

Installing the beta comes with a few warnings from Apple - first and foremost, you will not be able to return to OS 2.2.1 nor will you be able to submit apps to the App Store that are developed with the 3.0 beta SDK. Now those warnings can be taken with a grain of salt because you can always return to OS 2.2.1 or any OS you want with some special maneuvers similar to the jailbreaking process.

Upgrading your iPod touch to OS 3 Beta is done in iTunes, of course. Simply acquire the version 3 beta ipsw file, make sure your device is connected, then alt-click "Check for Updates" under the summary tab, browse to the ipsw file and have at it. It's a good idea to backup your device before doing this, naturally.

New in iPhone OS Beta 3 for the iPod touch
Right away, you'll notice a tiny question mark on the homescreen - this is the iPhone spotlight search which finds your keywords in all relevant objects on your device - in emails, bookmarks, notes, applications, contacts, and more. You can also execute applications with this search; it is very much the same as OS X spotlight and is a very welcome addition.

Cut and Paste? By now, you know that cut and paste is available. What a godsend. And it works just fine - it's easy to capture a single word or a whole block. Double-tapping on a word highlights it with indicators on the left and right. The indicators can be stretched out - horizontally or vertically - extending the capture area. Pasting is just a matter of double-tapping at a new area, and then selecting paste on the pop-up. In other situations, as in Safari, simple holding a touch will display the cut & paste tools.

The Stocks application has some nice updates - three scrollable pages on the bottom which deliver the usual charts (the only option in the previous version), plus news, and stats. Clicking on a news item launches Safari. Stocks also has landscape mode (available in 2.2.1 too?)

The email app has been updated with landscape mode - hard to believe that Apple released the original version with a portrait-only keyboard. Who the heck wants to type on that?! Finally we have a wide keyboard with cut and paste in iPhone email. I'll probably stop using Gmail's mobile client now.

Naturally, there is a lot more functionality for the iPhone with the new OS (MMS, voice recording, etc), however, the updates to the iPod touch are most welcome, especially cut & paste and landscaped email. The real advances of this OS are under the cover - augmentations to the App Store (ie you can purchase items in an app in an app-store fashion), Application Push features, and all kinds of other great and amazing things for developers.

After updating to the beta, my iPod touch seemed to have a problem holding onto the wifi network - in 2.2.1, it never dropped the network, after the update, it dropped it about 3 times - usually when waking up. All apps, bookmarks, history, and settings were preserved after the update but my music was gone. No problem, it reappeared after synchronization to iTunes 8.1.

OS 3 beta is a very nice step forward for the device, with most advances for the developers, but with landscaped email, cut and paste, this is one OS you will be happy to get. It should be available to everyone in July.

VoIP Part III: Highly Recommended by Chris March 14, 2009

It has been a couple of weeks since I made the switch from Bell to Primus. I could be a little bit happier.

The telephone number transition from companies was seamless; there was no noticeable drop in service. I love using long distance all day long without having to watch the clock, my internet is faster than ever (but not as fast as expected), and saving $20-40 a month is just fantastic.

Audio Quality
Back in January, when I called Bell to make the switch, they tried to convince me that changing companies is a big mistake "VoIP audio quality is poor, has echoes, calls are dropped" - then they put me on hold for about 2 minutes with choppy audio! Now, I'm not saying that Bell is that evil to try to psychologically prove their point with choppy on-hold audio but I wouldn't put it past them, seeing how hard they fought to maintain my account.

VoIP audio quality is great. I cannot discern any difference from Bell. For all I know, Bell had me on a VoIP line, too. I have heard VoIP echos in the past with other lines, but so far with my line, I have yet to hear any echos. There have been no dropped calls.

Setup/Configuration
It was just a matter of making the call and waiting for the two companies to do their thing. Bell did mess up and terminate my telephone line for 48 hours at the beginning of the month - it was their fault as Bell/Sympatico makes their customers wait 30 days before terminating the account, so I had to arrange it with Bell to terminate the line 30 days into the future; they promptly terminated it the following Monday. It took seven calls to Bell to get reconnected.

Primus VoIP configuration at my place is exactly the same as Bell, nothing has changed. The intercom buzzer to let people in works without any special updates (Bell warned me about possible problems). Essentially, my intercom calls my telephone number when someone types in the code in the lobby; makes no difference if my line is VoIP or not.

DSL
Primus advertises their service as "up to 7MBps", well, I'm getting a solid 5.8MBps which is .75MBps more than I got with Bell. I could be happier if I was getting 6.5 or 7MBps. Primus' technical support was very helpful when I had to set up my router (and put the modem into bridged mode).

Extras
I get voicemail, caller id, call screening, and a web based front-end to access all of my VoIP activity. I couldn't be more happier with that wicked functionality.

I am extremely pleased with the switch to Primus over Bell: saving $20 - 40 dollars a month, can use Long Distance in North America at any time, get faster unlimited (yes unlimited) DSL, have extra services (voicemail, caller id, call screening, web front end), and enjoy excellent audio quality. Could be happier with a full 7MBps.

Primus VoIP is highly recommended.

Chris 3.9