I’m reposting this because it appears a lot of folks have been looking for it.
Download the WM6RDP.cab file here.
Edit 6/23/08: Some folks have (understandably) expressed concern over where this download comes from. More information on that is available here.
Tags: Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile 6, WM6RDP.cab
Want your Windows Mobile phone to look like this?
Then download and install this to your Windows Mobile Phone. I believe it only works with Windows Mobile 6. To get it onto the phone, you’ll need to use a USB cable and Active Sync (in XP) or Windows Mobile Device Center (in Vista).
Tags: Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile 6
Need an easy way to back up your files, but don’t feel like monkeying with expensive or complicated software? Using the xcopy command and a simple text file, you can accomplish this rather easily. Here’s what I do.
First, make sure that file extensions are not hidden by going to My Computer -> Tools -> Folder Options -> View. Uncheck Hide Extensions for Known File Types and click OK (if it’s already unchecked, don’t worry about it).
Now create a blank text document on your desktop. Rename it to backup.bat. Now right click on the newly created file and click Edit. Do not just double click, because that will actually run the batch file—we want to edit it for now.
The syntax for xcopy is pretty simple:
xcopy “[source location]” “[destination location]” /switch
And then there are a bunch of switches you can use. I’ll give you an entry from my batch file, and then I’ll explain what the switches all do. To copy my files from my hard disk to my USB drive, I use (follow the syntax exactly, including the quotes!):
xcopy “C:\Docs\*.*” “G:\ANDYB\Docs” /d /s /e /c /i /h /r /k /o /y /f
As you can see, wild card characters can be used to filter your backup. I just use *.* to get everything. Now, the switches:
There are other switches, like /exclude, which—surprise—allows you to exclude one or more files and/or directories. If you’d like the complete list of switches, check out this PDF. If you’d like to see a sample of my entire batch file, here it is (I have made it a text file so you don’t get nervous downloading a batch file).
Finally, to run your batch file, simply double click it. Again, remember if you want to edit it, you right-click and choose Edit.
<Nerd Alert>
If you want to be really nerdy, you can have xcopy output everything to a log. I guess if you want an inventory of everything that has been backed up, this might be useful to you. Just add > [drive]:\log_file_name.txt to the end of each xcopy entry. For example:
xcopy “C:\Docs\*.*” “G:\ANDYB\Docs” /d /s /e /c > c:\backuplog.log
To append an existing log, use >> [drive]:\log_file_name.txt, like this:
xcopy “C:\Docs\*.*” “G:\ANDYB\Docs” /d /s /e /c >> c:\backuplog.log
</Nerd Alert>
Now if you want to get really lazy, you can set your batch file to run as a scheduled task. Most people know how to use the task scheduler in Windows, so I won’t go into that for now…unless someone demands it! 
P.S. If you want, you can download xcopy here, but Win 2K and XP users should have it by default. I’m not sure if it runs under Vista or not. Try at your own risk!
Tags: backup, batch file, windows, Windows XP, xcopy
Do you ever read the U.S. Constitution? After reading it, do you ever ask yourself, “What document is our government following?” Surely not this one.
For example,
Amendment 10—Powers of the States and People. Ratified 12/15/1791:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Or this one:
Amendment 2 - Right to Bear Arms. Ratified 12/15/1791:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Read the Constitution from time to time, and you’ll realize how far we’ve strayed from it. That’s why I’m voting for this guy.
Tags: government, politics
I don’t think men like hugging other skinny men very much.
A bold claim, I know, so let me explain. I’m talking to the guys here.
As a male, if and when I hug another guy, I personally don’t enjoy hugging skinny guys. In fact, the last thing I want to feel in the midst of a friendly embrace is some dude’s rib cage. Or, if you can wrap your arms around a man, and then touch your own back…now come on, this is just plain wrong. No one likes this: it’s like hugging a telephone pole (minus the splinters, of course).
I’d much rather put my arms around some big, rotund, warm bear of a guy than a spindly, bony whisp of a man. Wouldn’t you? Come on, be honest: if you really think about it (guys), when you hug other guys, you discriminate on the basis of weight. You go for the substantial ones. It’s OK, you can admit it…I know I do. Yessir, I like ‘em large.
I think this is why no one likes hugging me. People always prefer to hug my overweight friends over me; but since I perpetuate this issue via my own hugging choices, I can’t really get too upset. Plus I’m Swedish, and we prefer not to hug anyway. Nope, only the plumpest of Swedes engage in such girly displays of affection.
But, there are certain social situations where a hug is unavoidable, like when a lot of Peruvian men are around. If you really must hug a skinny man but are revolted by the very idea of it, try having him stuff pillows or blankets in his shirt. This creates an illusion of girth that may help you get through the hug. Or, if no bedding is available, try getting two skinny guys to stand right next to each other, and then hug them both at the same time. While two skinny guys does not equal one portly guy, it helps.
If the aforementioned methods are just too big of steps to start with, try hugging an obese man while maintaining eye contact with a skinny man. You will find that—if you do this enough—you may eventually be able to associate the warm fuzziness of the fat man with the skinny man.
So you see, there are options available to you when hugging a skinny man is inevitable. You don’t need to make the poor guy feel bad by declining to hug him on the basis of his scrawniness. But, if you simply cannot bring yourself to hug your skeletal friends, try to make up an excuse, like you have to pee, or there’s a good buffet you have to get to. At least try not to make him think you won’t hug him because he doesn’t even weigh triple digits.
But most importantly, don’t beat yourself up because you’d rather hug a fat guy…millions of men every day suffer from this same complex—you’re not alone!
Tags: humor
All right, despite the inherent unpopularity of saying this, someone has to: everywhere I turn on the ‘Net, it seems there’s some Apple/Linux fanboy bashing Vista. I know the cool thing to do these days is to hate MS and love Apple and/or Linux, but come on: it seems more like a case of being socially acceptable (hating MS) than Vista actually being that bad.
Before I get into this, two disclaimers: 1. I am not an MS Fanboy by any means…I use their products, yes: Windows XP, Windows Vista, an XBOX 360, and a Windows Mobile Phone. I generally like their stuff…it has served me well over the years; 2. I love Linux and open source software in general. I have an Ubuntu box and a ClarkConnect (CentOS-based firewall) box. I don’t use Apple stuff much, but I am aware they make some very nice products…and I’m not shy about admitting they often create hipper, cooler products than MS. And yes, FireFox is better than IE.
Anyway, I have been using Vista Ultimate x64 for four+ months now, and I can sincerely report I haven’t had any issues with it. Honestly. Hasn’t BSOD’d, hasn’t crashed, hasn’t erased my hard drive and sent all my sensitive data to Redmond. I have used all of the following applications with no issues:
Of course the ‘Net is rife with forums about how Vista won’t run Netscape Navigator 4.04 or 7th Guest or something absurd like that, but come on people! Let’s get with the times (these are the same people who are mad they can’t watch reruns of Full House).
And, let’s not forget about my games that have run without a hitch:
So as you can see, I have had zero application issues thus far, with one exception: FireFox was crashing, but it turned out to be an AVG 8.0 plugin causing that. I disabled the plugin and all was well (hardly Vista’s fault).
But what about driver issues? No problems here, and I honestly expected a few issues using the x64 version of Vista. But after installing Vista, every single device on my computer was recognized and the appropriate drivers were installed (I have pretty modern hardware, though).
But what about slow performance? Well, my Vista box is running pretty nice hardware (Core 2 Duo Q6600, 4GB Ram, 8800 GTX, Sata II, SB X-Fi, etc.), so it’s hard to say. I have used XP x64 on this same box, and honestly, Vista feels faster. I can’t quantify this for you…just a feeling I get using both OS’s. I have also used Vista on my older P4 system, and it didn’t seem slow to me. I haven’t run Vista on really old hardware though. On a P3 and/or low memory box, I imagine XP would be faster.
Oh, and speaking of memory, people complain about Vista’s RAM requirements, but honestly, I put 4GB of nice Corsair XMS memory in my gaming box for less than $200. Cheaper RAM is even less…you can get 2GB these days for $40 online. So who really cares if Vista runs smoothest with 1GB or more? I wouldn’t recommend using it with 512, but I’ve used Ubuntu on a 512MB box, and that was a little pokey too.
But Vista doesn’t have any useful or new features! I don’t agree. The new Network & Sharing Center is slick, and the ability to generate a map of my network is cool (if not a little gimmicky). Wireless works well. The new Media Center UI is very well-designed, and seems light years ahead of anything Apple or open source. The search seems to work as well as Apple’s Spotlight, although I admit it’s not super-intuitive to configure it to index additional locations.
The overall UI seems to be nearly as pleasing as Mac OS. SuperFetch does its job well, and ReadyBoost can speed up older systems. Yes, User Account Control is irritating. I disabled it; not a real biggie. Previous Versions is nice, although it has been done before. IPv6 support will be useful soon. The ability to adjust the volume for individual apps is handy. DX10 may be a little overhyped at this point, but I think it has potential down the road.
And one other thing. The new fonts they put in Vista are very pretty—at least equal to MacOS, and a night and day difference from Ubuntu (which has ugly fonts, imho).
So to sum this up, is there a real and compelling reason to get Vista if you have XP and are happy with it? Maybe not. But then again, is each new version of Ubuntu or Mac OS absolutely critical? No. The bottom line is, Vista has new features, seems rock-solid stable, does everything I need it to do, and doesn’t suck as bad as people say. Is it perfect? Hardly. But I don’t hate it. Nay…dare I say…I like it?
Tags: windows, Windows Vista
It doesn’t. Or if it does, it’s purely a coincidence. If anything, I’d say my site looks like Windows Vista.
Edit 5/3/08: I was being facetious when I claimed my site looked like Vista.
Tags: humor, Mac OS, Windows Vista
More Windows Mobile 6 goodies! I’ve been annoyed that videos on the YouTube site for Windows Mobile (m.youtube.com) haven’t been working with my T-Mobile Wing. That’s because Windows Media Player for WM6 can’t seem to play streaming media (at least, it can’t play YouTube’s mobile format).
The answer is to download and install HTC’s streaming media player.
Unzip the file, and then simply copy the newly extracted .CAB file to your phone and install it. The installer will want you to reboot your phone…allow it to do so. Now, if you click on a video on YouTube, the HTC streaming media player will automatically play the video.
Note: In order to get mine to work properly, I had to go into Start -> Programs -> Streaming Media, tap Menu -> Options, and change ‘Connect Via’ to ‘T-Mobile Data.’ When it was set to ‘The Internet,’ it wouldn’t work—I kept getting ‘Unable to find network’ errors. Obviously this will vary depending on your provider and your setup. If it works with the default settings, great! If not, try my aforementioned steps.
Oh, and finally, if you don’t have a data plan, this is probably a bad idea; use a Wi-Fi hotspot instead.
Tags: T-Mobile Wing, Windows Mobile 6, YouTube
After some googling, it appears that Windows Mobile 6 does indeed include a Remote Desktop client. However, some manufaturers choose not to install this software onto their phones by default. Worse, there’s (seemingly) no way for the end user to install it. For example, I have a T-Mobile Wing with WM6, and I couldn’t find the remote desktop software on the phone. It appears that T-Mobile opted not to install it. Not cool.
So, after yet more googling, I found a .CAB file of the Remote Desktop client for WM6. I’ve tested it out and it seems to work great…I remote-controlled both a Vista & XP machine on my home network using my Wing.
To install, download the Windows Mobile 6 Remote Desktop client, then copy the .CAB file to your phone (using ActiveSync in XP, or WM Device Center in Vista). Next, on your phone, simply click the ‘WM6RDP.cab’ file to install it. It will then appear in the ‘Start -> Programs’ menu as ‘WM6 Remote Desktop.’
Correction 4/15/08: It appears this is not the official Microsoft Remote Desktop client…but it works well nonetheless.
Edit 6/23/08: Some folks have (understandably) expressed concern over where this download comes from. More information on that is available here.
Tags: Cell Phones, Remote Desktop, T-Mobile Wing, Windows Mobile 6, WM6RDP.cab
My McDonald’s bag this morning contained a slogan that I will henceforth consider to be the worst slogan of all time:
Our burgers are 100% beef, and there’s no percent better than that.
Wow, I didn’t know Mickey D’s had math majors working in their marketing department! This is of course part of the uber lame “I’m lovin’ it” campaign.
Blech. I hate McDonald’s advertising. So does this guy (warning: abrasive/crude language alert—you have been warned!).
Tags: advertising/marketing
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