Archive for 2009
Stop Exact Audio Copy Crashing on Windows 7
When I tried to rip a disc using Exact Audio Copy on Windows 7 x64, I found it kept crashing as soon as the rip tried to start. Bummer.
Remembering the previous times I’ve used EAC, when you click a button to start a rip, it asks you where you want to save the ripped files.
Turns out if …
Delete Songs From Smart Playlists in iTunes
Update 2009-11-23: Corrected Mac keyboard keys. I don’t own a Mac myself, but a friend of mine tells me that iTunes defies the normal behaviour of many other Apple applications. Probably because it’s ancient and desperately needs an update.
Made a smart playlist to find songs you want to delete, then found that the delete function no longer works?
Just …
Pinch to Zoom? Nah, I’m Fine, Thanks
What is this generation’s obsession with pinch to zoom? It’s so often touted as “natural”, “intuitive”, and “cool” that it’s beginning to make me go insane! Yes, it might be cool, but have the people who say these things even thought implications of both what they say and the use of such an interface?
I am Your God; BOW DOWN TO ME
Another of my friends chilling down at the river.
Where there’s food, there’s fighting.
Where there’s bread, there’s dread.…
The Windows 7 Taskbar — Keyboard Goodness
If you’re fortunate enough to be using Windows 7, then no doubt you’ve noticed the new taskbar. Well, here’s a couple of golden nuggets of info for you:
Did you know that all the icons you line up on the taskbar automatically get keyboard shortcuts? If you want to launch one of them, just press the Windows key and …
A Word of Warning: Check Your Windows 7 Backup Settings
Backups in Windows 7 have been greatly improved, what with the fact you can restore from them (without needing to take a separate backup) and that they backup to networks better.
However, there has been one change which caught me out, thanks to a subtle and ambiguous rewording of the backups dialog.
When backups are taken, as default only user …
Adding your most recent Twitter tweet to your Pidgin status
This guide is intended to be a more up-to-date mirror of the guide you can find at Tech Jawa. All credit to them for the original instructions!
Basically nothing changes, but I just like to be comprehensive.
- Download the TwitterStatus plugin. It’ll be a file ending in .pl.
- Move this file to your Pidgin plugins folder. If
…
Ogg Vorbis Encoder for Windows
I not so long ago made a post about using Ogg Vorbis for Ringtones on Android, as it considerably reduces the lag between getting a phone call and the phone actually playing the ringtone. The same goes for music on the device–it just starts playing quicker.
Anyway, just now I realised that I didn’t link to any encoders for …
Use Ogg Vorbis for Lag-free Ringtones on Android
Update 2010-06-21: If you want to use custom ringtones in the first place, install Rings Extended from the Android Market, then go to Home > Settings > Sound & display > Phone ringtone. When it asks which application you want to use, select Rings Extended, and check the checkbox so that it doesn’t ask you again.
This will work anywhere …
Strip ID3v1 Tags from MP3s in Linux
For kicks I decided to remove all the ID3v1 tags from my music files today. They were just getting in the way and served no useful purpose — since I had perfectly fine ID3v2 tags — so they just had to go.
I cooked up a little command to help out here! But first, we need to make sure you …
Forgotten the Installation Code for your Sagem Digital Set-Top Box?
It’s annoying when that or something similar happens — in my case, someone else had changed the code meaning I couldn’t retune the box to accept more channels.
But all is not lost! Simply follow this quick guide. This is from a Sagem ITC 62 — it may or may not be the same process for other models:
- Press Menu
…
Hey there, Handsome.
Are those wings sticking out of your body or are you just happy to see me?
Here’s a picture of a beast Dragonfly waving to all the passers-by in my Nan’s back garden. You can tell it isn’t a Damselfly because this one can’t fold it wings back along its body – they have to stick out sideways. It’s also …
Angel of Ocean
Alright, the title is a bit of a misnomer; this seagull was captured just above the waters of the River Thames.
Now I know what I said before about not liking taking nature photos so much, but these are the kinds of photos I like.
They’re dynamic; they capture scenes that we are unable to see with the naked eye. …
Quickly Open an Elevated Command Prompt in Vista
Just a quick little thing I noticed, although everyone else probably knows it by now.
To launch an elevated command prompt (i.e. a prompt with admin privileges, required to do various things if UAC is enabled on Vista), simply open the Start Menu (Windows key), type “cmd” without quotes, and press Control+Shift+Return.
This will bring up a UAC…
I’ll Modify You in to Next Week.
A couple of days ago I came across this interesting quirk, and I had to do a double-take before I realised what had happened.
Basically, I recently got a NAS and decided that I wanted my router to save its bandwidth usage statistics on it. That way whenever I perform an upgrade to the firmware on the router I won’t …
Eternal Serenata
Like the first photo I uploaded to this site, Boldly Growing, this was taken at Mottisfont Abbey National Trust garden. However instead of out in the gorgeous gardens, I was inside a rather ‘cosy’ (read: cramped) used-book shop located on the site.
I happened to spy this rather odd looking insect having a rest from its fatigue (read: injury), …
Fixing Slugs in WordPress
Having trouble selecting the slug you want in WordPress? If you’re like I was just a moment ago, you’ll try changing the slug on one of your categories to something different that you prefer, only to have WordPress change it back to whatever it was previously. What gives?
Turns out the solution might be simpler than you think — check …
Lazy Days
Here’s a picture I took a little while back of my aunt’s dog, George. He’s a lively bugger (my aunt’s finger getting broken is proof), but this photo captures the moment where I actually managed to get up close to him without him trying to take my head off.
And I was lying down.
Good one.…
Dirty Sexy Photography
Did you know I’m really not into this “nature” stuff very much? It’s just that there’s so much of it around I can’t really avoid it…
Take this for example. Captured near the coast in North Devon, this rather saucy number demonstrates that creatures really will do it anywhere, even on camera.
What impressed me most is that they could …
Changing GPRS, MMS and Access Point Settings on Android
I feel kind of silly for falling foul of this, but I guess it’s just a case of going against what you’re used to.
I was looking for a way to check on my MMS settings on Android. On just about every other phone I’ve used it’s been a submenu of the messaging application, so that’s where I went — …
Buzz Lightyear, Away!
I have a weird attraction to this photo… It’s probably because instead of the bee bee-ing posed on the plant as you would normally see in a photo such as this, it’s heading straight past me!
If that bee were better bee-haved I might have gotten a picture of it on the plant. Wait, I have taken pictures …
Reset iTunes Dimensions to Fit Resolution
Here’s a handy little feature that I find useful. If you ever play around with the size or location of the iTunes window and want to make it fit the screen better, simply follow the instructions:
- If you’re on Windows:
- hold Shift and either double-click the title bar or single-click the maximise button (The title bar is the small bar
…
Phoenix Wright — Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations Soundtrack Download
That was a mouthful of a title.
Over time I’ve played and thoroughly enjoyed the Ace Attorney series of games, from Phoenix Wright to Apollo Justice. But for those of you familiar to the series, you’ll notice that this is the soundtrack for the third game in the series. So why have I posted this one?
You see, this soundtrack …
Boldly Growing
Here’s a rather funky photo I took at Mottisfont Abbey National Trust garden. I love the shape of this flower — I don’t think I’d seen anything quite like it until that day. Doesn’t it look like some kind of space-faring organism? I’ve probably seen something that looks like it in Star Trek…
It also seems to remind me of …
Fix Windows Sidebar Gadget File Association in Vista
Have you ever somehow managed to break the Gadget file association in Windows Vista? I have somehow, and that means that you can no longer install gadgets. Double-clicking a .gadget file does nothing, and the Sidebar offers no option to install gadgets itself!
If you try to re-associate the files with Windows Sidebar by telling to Open With… and …
Fix Superuser Permissions Hanging on Android
Superuser Permissions hanging? Force closing? It’s cool (to fix).
Advance Wars 2 Soundtrack Download
You owe it to yourself to listen to the Advance Wars 2 soundtrack.
