Bill Gates portrait photo in landscape rotate

I'm astounded that Microsoft has not figured out that people take photographs with their camera rotated 90 degrees. Not every photograph is in landscape mode. However, Windows Vista thinks that they are. All modern cameras contain a sensor that detects whether a photo is taken in portrait or landscape mode and the picture is tagged accordingly. Most software auto-rotates the photo accordingly. But not Windows Vista and not Windows Movie Maker. You have to manually edit/rotate the photo yourself. It's time for Microsoft to become more customer-focused and start including these features in Windows.

I've read many glowing summaries of the new iPhone 3G. And I agree with all of them. I can't wait to get one myself on July 11. However, despite Steve Jobs claiming that Apple listened to customers to incorporate everything missing from the first generation iPhone, there are still a few misses.

Here's my list of what I wish would have also been included in the Apple iPhone 3G.

1. MMS - It's still not possible to send pictures to other cell phones. Sure, you can e-mail pictures, but the iPhone is a cell phone and should include the ability to send picture messages to other cell phones.
2. Copy and Paste - Even my 10-year old Palm could do this. Enough said.
3. Video Recording - Pretty much every camera phone can also record video. I'm sure there will be 3rd party software to do this, but this should be included by default.
4. Notes Syncing - Why include a notes function when it doesn't sync through iTunes or Mobile Me?
5. Bluetooth Stereo Headphone (A2DP) support - Isn't the iPhone also an iPod? Why can't it connect to stereo bluetooth headphones? Doesn't it already have the required Bluetooth chipset inside?
6. Landscape mode keyboard - Why isn't it possible to rotate the e-mail and SMS application into landscape mode and give a bigger on-screen keyboard? Hopefully a 3rd party app will offer this.
7. Voice Recognition - It would be nice to say a persons name and have them dialed. Especially when in the car. Third-party software opportunity.
8. 32GB option - More space is always better. I'm not sure I'd need 32GB, but many people were speculating that it would be offered.
9. Physical Keyboard Option - Apple recently filed a patent showing an iPhone with a physical keyboard. Many speculated there would be a second model focused on businesses that use Blackberry.
10. Front-mount Video Camera - There were many rumors that the 3G iPhone would have a front-mounted video camera, allowing 2-way video conferencing.
11. Haptic Vibration Feedback - Many reviews call this feature "gimmicky", but it would be nice to have as an option to give tactile feedback when an on-screen button is pressed.
12. $10/month increase from AT&T - This was not at all surprising, since the data connection is exponentially faster. At least the price of the phone is substantially lower, completely offsetting this increased data charge.

Despite these misses, the iPhone still destroys the competition. Check-out Walt Mossberg's lackluster review of the Instinct, the latest iPhone competitor from Samsung. "iPhone" is mentioned more times than "Instinct" is mentioned. Samsung has had a year to respond to the original iPhone and this is the best they could do?

I firmly believe in paying for the movies you own. In doing so, I believe you should be able to move them to your media server and play them back however you please. BD+ protection (DRM) prevented this with recent Blu-Ray titles, but latest version of Slysoft's AnyDVD HD overcomes this limitation.

Here is the update notification:

6.4.0.0 2008-03-19

• New (Blu-ray): Removes the BD+ protection from Blu-ray discs! (for increased compatibility with titles released by Twentieth Century Fox )
• New (Blu-ray): Added option to enable / disable BD+ removal
• New (DVD): AnyDVD ripper no longer uses the Windows filesystem, it has now its own UDF parser / reader. Discs which cannot be read by Windows can now be copied with the AnyDVD ripper.
• Fix (Blu-ray): Black display with some BD discs, e.g., "Layer Cake", second release, "The Fugitive", "Wild Things" (all Region B)
• Fix (DVD): Small bugfix in "repairing defective disc structure" function of AnyDVD ripper
• Fix (DVD): Problems with some Arccos protected titles, e.g. "The Grudge", R1, US
• Some minor fixes and improvements
• Updated languages

The update is free for all registered customers, of course. Just install the new version on top of your current version, regardless which version you have installed: http://www.slysoft.com/download.html

Update 8-Apr-2008: Chris Lanier just posted about the program MC Menu Customizer, which automates editing of the start menu. A great alternative to what is posted below!

I recently posted about automatically launching plugins within Vista Media Center. I just came across another improvement that allows editing the order and contents of the Vista Media Center start menu. This, combined with automatic plug-in launching, goes a long way toward giving whatever startup experience you desire.

Quoting bluebucket on The Green Button forums:

I've found a way to edit the standard start menu items in Vista Media Center, but its a hack.

Using this hack I've successfully removed items and even entire strips from the start menu. I suspect that its also possible to change the position of menu items, but I haven't tried yet.

You'll need a resource editor like ResourceTuner from HeavenTools.com.

1. Make a backup of the %SYSTEMROOT%\ehome\ehres.dll
2. Change the security settings of the %SYSTEMROOT%\ehome\ehres.dll to give yourself ownership of the dll. Afterwards change the file rights to full control. If you're running with UAC, then you might need to do some more steps here.
3. Open the ehres.dll in the ResourceTuner.
4. Expand the HTML node

Now the files we're interested in are among others:

STARTMENU.XML - defines the main start menu stripes
SM.ACTIVITIES.XML - defines the menu items under the Task menu
SM.MUSIC.XML - defines the menu items under the Music menu
SM.PICTURES.XML - defines the menu items under the Pictures & Video menu
SM.TV.XML - defines the menu under the Tv menu

5. Choose SM.MUSIC.XML for example, rightclick the node and select Edit Resource. The XML file opens.
6. Now remove the XML tags defining the menu items you do not want. Alternatively make the element into a comment by changing the tag to <!– old tag content –>. It might take a while to get an overview of the structure and maybe some trial and error before the logic of the xml file sinks in. Do not remove the <home:App /> elements though.
7. When you're happy with the changes, click Ok and accept the changes.
8. Select Save As and select the original file (overwriting the existing).
9. Open Vista Media Center and check that the changes work.

Now, since this is a hack, I take no responsibility of how you might break Vista Media Center, destroy your computer or otherwise corrupt the world using this hack.
Also note, that a software update might overwrite your hacked ehres.dll file effectively removing your changes.

For me, Brian Binnerup's My Movies plugin is the most important function of Vista Media Center. It's so useful that I want it to be the default start page every time I turn-on my Vista Media Center PC.

I couldn't figure out how to do that, and this I came across this post on TheGreenButton forums. Here are the details on launching a Media Center plug-in from via the startup folder or from a key on your remote control.

Associate Media Center Plug ins with the Media Center Application:

• Open My Computer or Explorer and navigate to: C:Program FilesMCEMy Movies
• Right click on the file MyMovies.mcl
• From the menu choose Open With and choose Media Center.
  • Make sure the checkbox for "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file" is checked.

Option 1: Set the Plugin to Automatically Launch when the computer boots:

• Right click on the file C:Program FilesMCEMy MoviesMyMovies.mcl and create a shortcut
• Copy that shortcut to the Startup folder in the Windows Start menu

Option 2: Have the asterisk key on the remote launch the plug-in:

• Down load a program called HotkeyP (free / open source)
• In the program add a new Hotkey:
  • Check the box for the Shift button
  • In the input box type: 8
  • In the Command input type or navigate to: C:Program FilesMCEMy MoviesMyMovies.mcl
  • Click OK to save

HotkeyP will need to be running in the System tray, and Now when you press the Asterisks key it will open My Movies.

If you are using the Harmony 880 remote, you can add a button to the LCD display window and name it My Movies. This is necessary because these remotes do not have an Asterisk Key.

Option 3: Have the Media Center Button or some other dedicated button lauch the plugin
The key combination of Windows logo key+ALT+ENTER launches Windows Media Center. Assign this hotkey to launch the Media Center plugin file instead. For a list of all available keyboard shortcuts in Media Center, see the Microsoft article.

I received a class action law suit notice a couple of weeks ago for my Palm Treo 650. Long story short: the settlement is worthless to the cosnumer and benefits only Palm and the Lawyers. Here's a link to the official settlement site, here is my summary:

• You must provide proof that you sent your Treo 600 or 650 to Palm for repair and fill-out the claim forms.
• You wait for the settlement to be finalized.
• You then purchase a new Palm phone.
• You return your old Treo to Palm along with proof of purchase.
• You receive a $75 rebate.

Here are the reason I think the settlement is terrible:

• The rebate amount is market value for the old phone. Looking a prices of used Treos 650s on Ebay, $75 is somewhere near market value ($50 for a Treo 600). So basically, the settlement gives you market value for a used phone only if you purchase a new Palm phone. Where is the benefit to the consumer? Anyone can sell their used phone for market value, and you don't even have to purchase a new Palm Treo.

• Most repairs were a very long time ago; receipts aren't kept that long.  I had a terrible experience getting my Treo repaired: post 1, post 2. They fixed my screen but flashed an old version of firmware that locked-up the phone and then blamed me for water damage. That was 32 months ago; I don't still have a receipt.  Palm should be providing proof of repair, not the consumer.

• Most people get new phones every two years and won't have 4-year-old Treos to send back to Palm. Treo 600s came out much, much longer than 2 years ago. How many people are going to still have their old Treo 600s to send back to Palm? I replaced my first Treo 650 about 29 months ago and would have already gotten rid of my second one since my contract is up.

• Who wants to buy a new Palm phone anyway? I know I don't. Compensate me for the problems with the old phone; don't force a new one on me. Especially after the bad experiences people are apparently having. Most people want either a Blackberry or an iPhone to replace their Treo. Not a new Treo that looks and acts the same as their old Treo — it's not as if they have some new, compelling products.

Here's what we as consumers can do: Complain. We need a representative in court to complain about the fairness of this settlement. Here are the details from the official claim site:

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Final Fairness Hearing, previously scheduled for May
2, 2008, has been continued to May 23, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. at the United States District Court for
the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, 280 South First Street, Courtroom Number
6, San Jose, California 95113.

At this hearing the Court will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable, and
adequate. If there are objections, the Court will consider them. Judge Whyte will listen to people
who have asked to speak at the hearing. The Court may also consider how much to pay Co-Lead
Class Counsel. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the settlement.

I recently needed to removed the drive from a Western Digital My Book External USB/eSATA drive enclosure. Unfortunately, this wasn't an obvious process and this excellent article by Scott Cramer didn't apply to the newer version (1 TB drive) enclosure I have. So here you go, the steps required to disassemble a new-style Western Digital My Book drive enclosure.

1. Locate the two rubber pads on the bottom of the enclosure near the front, curved surface. Remove these two pads. Depress the two tabs below using a small flat-head screwdriver.

1a. With a couple of credit cards, pry the back edge of the casing apart and hold them open with the credit cards. There are some locking mechanisms there that need to be held apart. You can now slide the plastic casings apart.

2. Slide the clear plastic LED front panel conduit forward and remove.

3. Rotate the hard drive/carrier assembly sideways and then lift away from the case

4. Remove the two screws holding the metal connector casing. Slide it upwards and remove it

5. Slide the circuit board upwards (away from the drive), just like you did for the metal casing.

6. Remove the 4 screws holding the hard drive to the metal carrier. You'll see that it is a standard 3.5" desktop SATA drive.

You're done!

Repeat the steps in reverse order to re-assemble the enclosure.

I was very excited to get my new TiVo HD DVRs due to the fact that I didn't have to hack them, add a network adapter, and install MFS_FTP to pull shows (which was a ton of work for my DirecTV TiVos.)  Unfortunately, TiVoToGo show downloads fail on almost all of the programs I've tried to pull.  For example, for a 1 hour show, I can only download the first 1 minute (68 MB).

At first I tried using TiVo Desktop (free download from TiVo.com) to download the programs and experienced the problem.  I figured it was an issue with that software, so I searched for a different method of downloading.  It turns out you can download shows directly from with your browser (details here.)  I tried downloading multiple shows from different browsers on 2 different computers and came up with the same result each time: a very short, partial, incomplete download.

I think this is a bug with the TiVo HD sofware not being able to properly generate the *.tivo file that is re-packaged as it is downloaded to your computer. Each shows bugged-out at the exact same spot regardless which download method was used.  In fact, the only show that downloaded fully was one that pulled from TiVo HD 1 -> TiVo HD 2 -> computer (using multi-room viewing, then downloading to PC.)

At this point, I don't know what the solution is.  It's probably going to require a new version of TiVo software.  I'm hoping they fixed it sooner rather than later.  I know it's not just me; I've seen a few other posts on TiVo Community Forum.  I'm guessing as more people play around with the feature, it will become more of an issue.

I'll post an update when I have one.  In the meantime, if you have any suggestions, please let me know.

I've been unimpressed with Windows Vista on my new Thinkpad T61 so I decided to give Ubuntu Linux a try, despite the fact that there are a few programs I would be missing (Slysoft AnyDVD HD for DVD decryption, TiVo Desktop for extracting files from TiVo HDs, Philips Pronto Edit for updating my Pronto, etc.)

I pre-read this excellent wiki article atThinkWiki.com. As the article mentioned, I did have problems with a blank screen when the CD booted, but the optional Safe Graphics boot option solved that. The installation was very easy. For the first time in the 20 or so times I've installed Linux, I wasn't worried about accidentally partition my hard drive incorrectly and deleting my existing Windows installation. The wizard took care of resizing existing and creating new partitions automatically.

Unfortunately, I ran into to way too many problems to use Ubuntu 7.10 on a daily basis. Some of these may be resolvable, but not without a lot of work. Truthfully, I don't care to devote that much time to it. Here are the issues that are making me stick to Windows Vista:

• The wireless will not connect. I'm using a Linksys WRT54G router with the Linux-based DD-WRT firmware the the plain old WEP encryption. I can see the wireless network, but I can't connect to it. There is no error message and indication how to resolve it. I connected via a wired network and downloaded all the updates, but it still wouldn't connect.
• If I reboot without powering off, the sound card "sticks" and repeats the first 2 seconds of any sound, over and over and over, until I shutdown.
• The sound card continually "chatters" in the background. It sounds like muted Morse Code, perhaps caused by some type of driver interference. Muting the speakers makes no difference. It doesn't do this in Windows.
• The display brightness can't be adjusted once the nVidia drivers were loaded. I can't use the advanced Compiz desktop without these drivers, so I'm missing out on a feature either way. There is a work-around to adjust brightness from a terminal window, but I'd really just rather use the hot keys.
• Tapping the upper right corner of the touchpad caused Ubuntu to switch to a different desktop. But I couldn't consistently pick the right or left desktop; it was random selection. Worst of all, it happened accidentally far too often. I'm guessing this would be a very easy setting to find, but there were too many other issues at this point for me to look into it.
• The Ubuntu boot menu gave me two identically-named options for Windows Vista. The first turned out to be the automated recovery partition and didn't really have anything to do with booting Windows. I know it's easy to edit the config file, but it would have been nice if this were correct from the beginning.

In the end, I'm beginning to feel like this is the best laptop hardware I've ever owned but I'm still is in search of a great operating system. The default Windows Vista Home Basic is OK, but I still have a couple of programs that need XP. And there is still the temporary freeze and "chuck-chuck" sound from the hard drive every 30 or so minutes. But still, it's much better than the Ubuntu install.

To be honest, I'm starting to regret not going for a MacBook Pro. It could dual-boot to Windows when necessary, and I'd be able to run OS X the rest of the time. The purchase would have cost about $800 more, and that is a large price difference to justify, but I think I'd be more pleased with the overall experience.

Update (26-Feb-2008): I've spent more time messing with Ubuntu and am much more pleased with it than I was initially.

• Wireless Works: I was able to get the wireless working flawlessly, no script or configuration required. My problem was due to confusion with the Ubuntu network protocol naming (WEP Passkey vs. WEP HEX, etc.) Too bad it doesn't auto-detect the network type and then try the password you enter to figure out phasskey vs. hex vs. decimal. But at least I finally figured out what was needed and got it working.
• Screen Brightness works: Following the thinkwiki article, I installed ENVY (after multiple unavailable package problems were resolved) and got the latest nVidia drivers, which allows screen brightness to be adjusted.
• Sound Problems Disappeared: The sound problems went away after a few reboots / updates. I don't know what the deal was. I had to switch the default volume control (in the upper nav bar) to control the speaker volume instead of the microphone volume, per the think wiki article.
• System Dock: I installed the AWN (Avant Window Navigator) dock and highly recommend it.
• Touchpad Config & App Launcher: The advanced touchpad configuration tool QSynaptics and keyboard application launcher Gnome Do are two other must-haves.
• Unresolved: I installed Skype (after adding the skype repository) but it will not detect sound from the internal or an external microphone. I can make calls and hear people, but they can't hear me. I worked on this for an hour and gave up.
• Unresolved: Going into sleep mode or hibernate mode causes bad things to happen. It might resume the first time, but never the second time. I have to hold the power button down and reboot. Power management is terrible.
• Unresolved: There is no native AccurateRip compatible CD ripping software; dbPowerAmp Music Converter for Windows has no equal. There is no DVD ripping software that nears the reliability (every DVD protection scheme) and functionality (re-authoring) of AnyDVD and CloneDVD.
• Conclusion: If you have the time, you can get a pretty OS install from Ubuntu. But it's going to take time and I'd rather spend it other ways. Vista Basic is horrible. I'm going to switch to either Vista Ultimate or XP as both do more of what I need with less effort. In the end, I think a Mac hardware and OS is still the best option: great hardware, great software, less time messing with stuff, but at a higher monetary cost.

I needed a new server case due to Antec P180 case becoming much to cramped. After reading many positive forums posts about the Cooler Master Stacker cases, I made my purchase. Here are my thoughts.

To be clear, this is the older Stacker 810 case, not the newer Stacker 830 Evolution. I think the 810 offers many for features for a much lower price; I'm not sure why the 830 is even around.

Th Stacker 810 is a great case if you have a bunch of drives and need a large, well cooled case. If you purchase 2 additional 4-in-3 modules, this case has 14 5.25" drive bays, so it can handle 12 hard drives plus a DVD and a floppy drive. It is extremely large inside and can easily handle pretty much any motherbaord, plus there is a removable motherboard tray. There is a 120mm fan on the top as well as one on the front of each drive bay and the case has provision for two power supplies (one above and one below the motherboard tray.)

My DVD drive was very easy to install in the case, just place a plastic guide rail on the side and slide it into the locking drive bay.

The 4-in-3 drive bay (which fits four 3.5" hard drives in three 5.25" bays and includes a 120mm cooling fan) was not so easy. The drives are secured using screws, but there are 2 panels and 4 rails that must be held in place before sliding it into the front of the case. And if you take it out, it completely fall apart. I would prefer these snap together somehow, but I guess I won't be removing the drives all that often.

If you really want to stretch the capacity of the case, you can use three SuperMicro CSE-M35T-1B 5-in-3 hot-swap SATA enclosures and fit 15 hard drives plus two more 5.25" drives. Personally, I think spending more on drive enclosures than you do on a case is a waste of money. I seen no need to hot-swap drives in a home server, but it is an option if you need the space and can tolerate the loud, high-pitched fan of these SuperMicro enclosures.

This case is designed for a bunch of airflow. The downside of this is that it creates more noise as compared to my almost-completely-sealed-and-silent Antec P180 case. The perforated covers on front of each of the Stacker 810 drive bays are great for airflow, not so great for sound blocking. Luckily, due to the large 120mm fans and super-quiet Samsung drives, the noise is a soft, background noise rather than a higher-pitched, shrill, annoying noise. But hey, this is a server case, and servers should be hidden away in a back room, and not in your living room or home theater. Cooling trumps noise for a server case, and this one has great cooling. I monitored my hard drive temps, and all were at or below 26-degrees C.

Conclusion

Pros:  This is a great case because it is very simple to work with, supports multiple motherboard sizes, has great cooling, and has a large number of drive bays. For the price, it is a very well-made server case.

Cons:  The disadvantages are that it is not super-quiet and it takes up quite a bit of space (more than it really needs to due to so much unused space inside.) Unfortunately, it does not come with a power supply and it only includes one 4-in-3 hard drive module.

Extra Info: Part Number Detail

Unfortunately, there are a bunch of different Stacker 810 cases and the differences are not clear. After some research, I figured out which is which. Here are the details and the part numbers:

• STC-T01-UW - Silver; Dual Power Supply Locations (top & bottom); ATX, mATX, BTX, mBTX motherboards
• STC-T01-UWK - Black; Dual Power Supply Locations (top & bottom; ATX, mATX, BTX, mBTX motherboards
• RC-810-SSN1 - Silver; Single Power Supply Location (bottom); ATX, mATX motherboards
• RC-810-SKN1 - Black; Single Power Supply Location (bottom); ATX, mATX motherboards

If you are looking for accessories, here are some part numbers:

• STB-3T4-E1-GP - 4-in-3 drive bay adapter with fan (case comes with 1 of these)
• RC-880-FKR1 - 3.5" drive bay cover (case comes with 1 of these)
• SPB-S01-E1 - PlexiGlass side window - Silver
• STF-B01-E1-GP - Cross-flow fan