Author: admin

Nothing exciting, but planning…

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No, today I have no exciting news of any kind. These things happen. However, I am excited to start laying the plans of my E3 coverage. This year is interesting in that Sony and Microsoft have both already made plans to stream their announcements. Microsoft even says they will have a way to stream it over Xbox Live. This is very exciting, but considering I will be away from home I will look to stream through the web. Worst case scenario, I’ll be on a friend’s couch using his Xbox 360 to stream the show as it happens.

Where will you be?

WhoIsServer – domain registration info on the go!

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If you’re a web-geek like me, you spend an abnormal amount of time trying to figure out who owns certain domain names, if they’re going to expire any time soon, or (only if you’re very lucky) if they’re not taken at all! I stumbled on to WhoIsServer on my Windows Phone by complete chance (I don’t even rmember what I was searching the marketplace for!) and when I did, I couldn’t believe it was free. Then I downloaded it and didn’t expect it to work (and I thought I knew why it was free)… but it functions flawlessly.

It queries a whois database (likely WhoIs.net, but I’m not positive on this) and sends back the results. Now it’s true that sometimes you get a result with a URL you have to visit (networksolutions is notorious for doing this in their public WhoIs records) but that’s not the developer’s fault. It would be nice if you could click those links when they come up and load the page in Internet Explorer. But feature requets aside, this app is a freebie, and it does exactly what I need it to do!

Would I pay for this app? I’ll be honest, probably not. But if they put ads at the bottom I certainly wouldn’t complain, it’s quite useful. I’m telling you, if you’re a geek, go download WhoIsServer from Windows Phone Marketplace, you’ll be glad you did.

Archive by date RECEIVED instead of date MODIFIED in Outlook 2007

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Some people have a lot of email. A lot of email. Sometimes, to boost performance and ease the strain on your servers, it can be a good idea to archive that email. But what happens when you want to archive a batch of messages, only to find out that, supposedly, several of your messages don’t qualify as “old enough” to meet the archival requirements you’ve set up? “They should,” you think to yourself, “they’re several years old!” The problem becomes – what if you just migrated that user’s email account to a new PC, and now the modified date is more recent than the received date. A buddy of mine ran in to this recently and shared the solution with me for all of you Outlook 2007 users.

People have many stances on holding off on updates, but I’m pretty sure this one’s been around long enough to qualify for the “it oughtta be there by now” standard. But if you’re working on an old computer for someone and you haven’t been in control of the Windows Update cycles, you may want to check for KB2412171. Although it’s not expressly described in the KB article, my friend originally found some helpful details on the website MSOutlook.info and I want to give credit where credit is due. But, rather than just linking off to any other website that could disappear some day (nothing more frustrating than clicking dead links in forums) I figured I would at least link you to the KB article and help you out. The more places that share the details of the fix, the better.

This update adds the option to archive by date received, rather than simply by date modified, which (as I explained) can leave you stuck sometimes. Getting all of your Office updates – or at least downloading and installing KB2412171 for Office 2007 should fix you right up! Mail will be archived based on when it was received, and calendar appointments based on their scheduled dates – no more of this “date modified” junk!

1999 – Angry Salad – self titled

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Boston boys Angry Salad had a few albums and received some national recognition. Their major label debut was also their last album together, but the self titled Angry Salad is one of my most favorite albums of all time. I, like many, was introduced to the band through The Milkshake Song, featuring the lyrics “she gave me / a milkshake and a kiss… / I don’t need / a whole lot more than this.” Angry Salad features a not-very-edgy 1990’s alternative rock kind of sound (remember bands like Tonic and The Flys?), and the album even features a cover of the famous song 99 Red Balloons.

The song was simple, sweet, and catchy. I heard it on local radio stations growing up, the band came to town (Erie, PA) a few times and I regret never making the time to see them now that I look back. But when I got a little older and found the album, I was thrilled to own it. I bought the CD on eBay when when I was older and still have it to this day. There are several more songs that will cut right to your core and it is clear that whichever band member wrote the lyrics was recalling specific moments and images from his life. The lyrics contain detailed images, and even references to those images… “in dreams I see his face / I recognize the place right next to / Dashboard Jesus” says the refrain in the song Rico.

Saturday Girl is another melancholy song which clearly deals with the pain and suffering of depression, from the point of someone who has either been hospitalized or institutionalized fighting the disease. Expecting her parents to come free her, but instead it seems they only visit on Saturdays. One verse has been so beautifully described it his played over and over in my mind for over a decade, now: “the ceiling reflects / headlights coming over the hill / she’s lying on her back / and she’s perfectly still / she knew they’d come back for her / but they fade out of sight.”

You’re not going to find this one easily, and it’s not being produced any more, so I would have to advise picking up a used copy and introducing yourself to Angry Salad.