I’ve been hitting an odd problem on my Vista desktop machine for quite some time now where an error messaging stating that EXCEL.EXE "is not a valid Win32 application" when trying to launch Excel if I’ve been running for a while (e.g. several days or a week).  I looked on the net and in Microsoft’s forums (still in newsgroups - what a pain) and couldn’t find a solution.  Turns out Microsoft engineers have been working on a fix for a while and they’ve finally released it.  Check out InfoWorld’s article on this.

I can’t wait for this to be released.  I had to reboot just yesterday due to this problem.

I’ve been encountering problems in Vista on my multi-monitor equipped desktop computer where the resolution would get reset to 800×600 or 1024×768 on one or both monitors when unlocking in the morning.  Sometimes it would happen in the middle of the day.  Changing the resolution back would sometimes work but often wouldn’t let me set it higher than 1600×1200.  One common denominator seemed to be if a lot of memory was currently in use (e.g. by the database app I’m developing, Visual Studio, Internet Explorer 7, Outlook, etc.).  In those cases it was more likely to happen and more unlikely to be able to fix it.

After a brief search on the Internet, I found several references to the Transient Multi-Monitor Manager.  This is an application that is started by Task Scheduler to make it easier for mobile PCs to reconfigure their displays when plugging external monitors into them.  The workaround suggested in several places is to disable the task.  An especially good article was made by netsaber.

Here are the steps to disable the Transient Multi-Monitor Manager Task:

1. Open Task Scheduler
• Start
• All Programs
• Accessories
• System Tools
• Task Scheduler
2. Navigate to the MobilePC node in Task Scheduler
• Task Scheduler Library
• Microsoft
• Windows
• MobilePC
3. Highlight TMM in the center pane.
4. Click End in the lower-right pane.
5. Wait for the status of the TMM task to change to Ready.
6. Click Disable in the lower-right pane.

UPDATE 26-Jun-2008:

When I logged in to my machine this morning the resolution my second monitor was set to 800×600.  I guess disabling this task doesn’t completely fix the problem.  If you find a solution, please post it in the comments.

I was catching up on Joel Spolsky’s blog Joel on Software and ran across his discussion of podcasts on his new venture with Jeff Atwood called stackoverflow.com.  In the podcast I read (#8) Jeff made reference to his belief in strong opinions, weakly held.  It goes something like this (from Bob Sutton):

A couple years ago, I was talking the Institute’s Bob Johansen about wisdom, and he explained that – to deal with an uncertain future and still move forward – they advise people to have “strong opinions, which are weakly held.”  They’ve been giving this advice for years, and I understand that it was first developed by Instituite Director Paul Saffo.  Bob explained that weak opinions are problematic because people aren’t inspired to develop the best arguments possible for them, or to put forth the energy required to test them. Bob explained that it was just as important, however, to not be too attached to what you believe because, otherwise, it undermines your ability to “see” and “hear” evidence that clashes with your opinions. This is what psychologists sometimes call the problem of “confirmation bias.”

Jeff adds this:

[W]henever I post in a strong voice, it is also an implied invitation to a discussion, a discussion where I often change my opinion and invariably learn a great deal about the topic at hand.

I feel a kinship with Jeff as I have been known to express strong opinions but have also almost always been willing to change my opinion given new data.  Jeff’s statement about the implied invitation is true of me as well; I expect that people who have a don’t agree with what I am saying will stand up for what they believe in or for their position.

However, I worry - as does Jeff - that my practice of expressing strong opinions can get in the way of getting the message across; this is something I continue to work on, not always successfully.

I finally got email working again from this site.  You can now email posts and pages to yourself or to others you think might be interested.  My apologies to all those that attempted to send pages/posts by email unsuccessfully.  Please try again.

Thanks,
David

Windows Explorer (aka the Shell) in Vista (as in XP before it) provides folder templates which display the contents of folders in predefined ways.  The shell in Vista has been "improved" with a feature that "sniffs" the contents of a folder to determine which template to use if one has not been specified.

If you use Vista, you may have noticed that when you open or navigate to a folder that it thinks the folder contains photos.  Sometimes it gets it right but all too often it gets it wrong.

The folks over at HelpWithWindows.com have written an article describing this phenomenon and have a provided a solution along with more information on the "sniffing" feature".  The primary solution involves editing the registry to tell the shell not to sniff the contents.  Here are the instructions for doing that:

1. Start the Registry Editor
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Classes \ Local Settings \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Shell \ Bags
3. From the menu, click Edit > New > Key
4. Name the new key AllFolders (and keep this key selected)
5. From the menu, click Edit > New > Key
6. Name the new key Shell (and keep this key selected)
7. From the menu, click Edit > New > String Value
8. Name the new value FolderType, right-click it and choose Modify. Enter NotSpecified as the Value data
9. Close the registry editor.

I’ve provided this change in a .reg file that you can download from my site (see below).

Enjoy!

Resources

•   DisableAutoFolderTemplate.zip (359 bytes, 39 hits)

In addition to the various desktop and laptop computers in my household, I also manage a couple servers, one of which runs Windows Small Business Server 2003, which is located in my garage.  Typically I connect to it using Remote Desktop Connection using the /console switch so that I can manage it as if I was at the console.

For the past week or two (maybe longer, I’m not sure) I’ve been frustrated that when I try to connect to the console from my Windows Vista desktop I get a new Terminal Services session rather than connecting to the console.  Today I finally decided to figure this out.

It turns out that, due to some changes in Windows Server 2008 and to some ambiguity in the /console switch, Microsoft has made some changes to the mstsc command.  The change that relates to my problem is that they’ve renamed the /console switch to /admin.

Nick MacKechnie at Microsoft has written a good blog post describing why the change was made.  Here is the meat of that article:

Here are the following are the examples of /console’s significance in the past and why the scenario does not apply for Windows Server 2008:

1. In Windows Server 2003, the /console option was used to connect to the session on the physical console (session 0), because some applications could not install and/or run in any session other than session 0. In Windows Server 2008, the windows components are re-architected, so that only services run in session 0 and applications do not need to run in session 0. So, the administrator does not need the /console option for this purpose.
2. In Windows Server 2003, the /console option was also used for the purpose of reconnecting back and resuming work in the user session on the physical console. In Windows Server 2008, this option is not required to get reconnected to existing session on physical console. Please refer to the blog post on console behavior differences for details.
3. In Windows Server 2003, the /console option was used for administering the server remotely without consuming a CAL. In Windows Server 2008, /admin option serves this purpose.

So, the /console option is not needed while connecting to Windows Server 2008. The /admin switch can be used to connect to physical console of Windows Server 2003.

Note that this change affects the mstsc.exe command on Windows Server 2008 AND Windows Vista SP1 but not Windows XP.

Galleries can be organized into albums to present multiple groups of images to your visitors.

[album=id,mode]

id = the ID of the album (e.g. 1).

mode (extend or compact) = options for how tod display the gallery; extend displays each gallery in the album on its own row with its description; compact displays multiple galleries per row without descriptions.  This parameter is optional.

The album shortcode displays the galleries in an album on the page.  Galleries appear in the order in which they are placed on the album admin page.  There are two album views available.  In both views the image selected for the gallery on the gallery’s admin page is displayed.  If none is selected, no image is displayed.

Extended view

In the extended view (mode = extend), galleries are displayed on separate rows.  Each row consists of the title listed above, the gallery image selected on the admin page for the gallery, the description of the gallery specified on the admin page for the gallery, and the number of photos in the gallery.

[album=#,extend]

Salamanca, Spain

Photos taken by my daughter Bethany when she was in Salamanca, Spain on a study abroad program.

56 Photos

Compact view

In the compact view (mode = compact), multiple galleries are displayed on each row in the style of Flickr.  Each row consists of as many galleries as will fit.  Each gallery is displayed as a column with the gallery image on top, the gallery title in the middle, and the count of photos below that.

[album=#,compact]

Salamanca, Spain

56 Photos

Displaying Contents of a Gallery

To display the contents of a gallery, simply click on the gallery title or on the gallery image.  If the Deactivate gallery page link option on the Gallery options page is checked, the contents of the gallery will be displayed on the same page.

If the option is unchecked, make sure you have selected a page that displays the gallery (i.e. specifies the gallery shortcode with the ID of the gallery) or the page will simply refresh.

Wishlist / Caveats

• It would be nice to have a default image displayed if no image is specified on the gallery’s admin page.
• If the gallery is not associated with a page and the Deactivate gallery page link option on the Gallery options page is unchecked, the page refreshes and the contents of the gallery is not displayed.  It would be preferable to behave as if the checkbox is actually checked.
• It would be nice if gallery parameters could be specified to albums.  You’ll notice on this page that when you click on the gallery in one album that both are expanded.
• It would be nice if the number of galleries displayed horizontally could be specified when using compact mode rather than just relying on HTML formatting.

Resources

• Alex Rabe’s album shortcode page

All images © 2008 Bethany Potter.  All rights reserved.

The ImageBrowser viewer is a nice way to view one image at a time from a gallery and cycle through each one.

[imagebrowser=id]

id = the ID of the gallery (e.g. 1).

The imagebrowser shortcode displays images in a gallery one at a time in a large format.  You can move to another image in the gallery by clicking on the Back or Next links below the image.  Click on the image to view a larger version.  The Alt / Title text for each image is displayed above it and the picture number in the gallery is displayed between the Back and Next buttons.

Examples

[imagebrowser=#]

img_0617.jpg

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 from 56

Wishlist / Caveats

• It would be nice if the size of the images could optionally be specified rather than just filling up the space.

Resources

• Alex Rabe’s page on the imagebrowser shortcode

All images © 2008 Bethany Potter.  All rights reserved.

To display all images in a single gallery, specify the gallery shortcode on a post or page.

[gallery=id]

id = the ID of the gallery (e.g. 1).

The gallery shortcode displays the thumbnails for the images in a single gallery on the post or page.  The following options can be configured on the Gallery options page:

• Number of images per page.  The default is 20.  If 0 is specified all the images in the gallery will be displayed.
• Whether a slideshow link is included.
• Whether to show a description or the alternate title text with each image.
• Whether to display the gallery using the ImageBrowser viewer instead.
  • Note that the ImageBrowser viewer can be specified explicitly so it is unnecessary to set that option.
• How to sort images.

These options can also be specified as custom fields on the post or page.

• ngg_gal_ShowOrder
  • gallery - Show the gallery first
  • slide - Show the slideshow first
• ngg_gal_Images
  • 0-xxx - (integer) Number of images per page
• ngg_gal_Sort
  • pid - Sort thumbnails by image ID
  • filename - Sort thumbnails by file name
  • alttext - Sort thumbnails by Alt / Title text
• ngg_gal_SortDirection
  • ASC - Sort in ascending order
  • DESC - Sort in descending order
• ngg_gal_ShowDescription
  • none - Don’t show a description
  • desc - Show the description text
  • alttext - Show the Alt / Title text
• ngg_gal_ShowSlide
  • 0 - Don’t show a slideshow link
  • 1 - Show a slideshow link
• ngg_gal_ImageBrowser
  • 0 - Show images directly
  • 1 - Show images using the ImageBrowser viewer

Examples

[gallery=#]

[Show as slideshow]

Wishlist / Caveats

• It would be nice if the above options (e.g. number of images, whether to show a description, etc.) could be specified as parameters.
• It would be nice if thumbnail size could be specified.

Resources

• Alex Rabe’s page on the Gallery shortcode

All images © 2008 Bethany Potter.  All rights reserved.

To display a single image from any gallery, specify the singlepic shortcode on a post or page.

[singlepic=id,width,height,mode,float]

id = the ID of the image (e.g. 1).

width, height = width and height in pixels to scale the image to.  These are maximums; the aspect ratio will be maintained.

mode (web20 or watermark) = options for displaying the image; web20 displays the image with a mirror-like effect with a reflection; watermark to add a watermark to the image.  This parameter is optional.

float (right, center, or left) = type of float CSS style to add to the image. This parameter is optional.

The singlepic shortcode displays a single picture from any gallery.  Clicking on the image displays the image as you have specified on the Effects options page.  With the default Thickbox effect, the background goes gray and a larger version of the image (if available) is displayed.

Examples

[singlepic=#,400,300]

Mode = web20

The web20 mode displays the image with a mirror-like effect with a reflection.

[singlepic=#,400,300,web20]

Mode = watermark

The watermark mode adds a text or image overlay on the image based on what you have specified on the Watermark options page.

[singlepic=#,400,300,watermark]

Float

The float parameter indicates how to place the image with respect to the rest of the content around it.  It causes a float style to be added to the image HTML. Options include left, center, and right.

[singlepic=#,300,300,,right]

This text is displayed to the left of the image.

Wishlist / Caveats

• It would be nice if the width and height parameters were optional and the values were taken from the image in the gallery.  This wouldn’t be as useful for large images, but for smaller inline images this would be very useful.
• It would be nice if the image could be displayed with no link so that a custom link could be specified instead.  For example, I would like to be able to display an image and have it link to another web page or web site rather than bring up the “full size” image.
• It appears that the full-size image is downloaded to the visitor’s machine which is less than ideal.  I’d prefer to have the option to download the thumbnail and scale that instead.

Resources

• Alex Rabe’s page on the singlepic shortcode

All images © 2008 Bethany Potter.  All rights reserved.