Omea Reader under Vista

Omea Reader 2.1.1 (free version) installs and runs well under Vista Beta 2. I've discovered one quirk (design flaw?) though. I've set up a separate Data partition to make things easier dual-booting between XP and Vista. So after installing Omea under Vista, I hunted around for the settings on the XP install, found them under C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Local Settings\Application Data\JetBrains\Omea and copied them over to the Data partition (e.g. F:\Omea). When I launch Omea under Vista and go to Tools|Options|Omea|Paths and set the database and log files path to F:\Omea it only accepts the new value for the Log Files. The database setting reverts to the standard Vista location E:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\JetBrains\Omea. Seems like a bug or perhaps a design flaw?

For the record, after exiting Omea and copying over the settings to E:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\JetBrains\Omea, replacing what's there, then restarting you'll find all your feeds, subscriptions, clippings, etc. are there which was a nice thing. Now the problem is remembering which OS I can run Omea in so I don't lose any data!

I wonder if there's a registry or file hack where the value is stored for the database path? Hmmm...

UPDATE: I copied over the contents from the \User location in Vista to my data partition (F:\Omea ), updated the registry (HKCU\Software\JetBrains\Omea) values to F:\Omea , moved the folders in the \User location to the Recycle Bin then restarted Omea. Success!

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Great non-destructive partitioning utility - and it's free!

After testing Vista Beta 2 running inside Virtual PC and then on an older machine, I decided the next step was to take the plunge and setup my main laptop for dual boot. At this point, it “hovered” on my mental to-do list until I saw this article on Lifehacker. What really caught my eye was Gina's mention of a comment posted regarding GParted - an open source partition manager. After reading the article here I headed over to the project workspace and downloaded it. Bottom line - it works as advertised and is a great addition to the toolchest. The ISO is only about 30 Mb and contains a bootable version of Linux. After paying for Partition Magic v3, v4, v5, v6, and v7...I'm done shelling out money for upgrades!

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Virtual PC running on Vista host

I looked for an answer but few people seem to have posted about this one so I figured I would in case others asked. After trying Vista *inside* a virtual machine, I next wondered if I could install Virtual PC onto a Vista host. After all, running Vista “right on the metal” of a real machine is much sexier than inside an emulated VM :). After a false start of trying to launch the MSI I found a suggestion somewhere that you had to run the Setup.exe stub which worked great. So...when trying older installers, use the Setup and it seems to work well. BTW, Virtual PC 2004 SP1 works well under Vista so migrating over is much easier. You *ARE* using VMs for development, testing, etc. right??? Doing so makes the physical machine irrelevant and recovery from hardware failures much faster.

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Windows Vista Beta 2 and missing msvcr71.dll

While trying out various things on the Beta 2 (Build 5384) I ran into a missing msvcr71.dll while trying to use Password Safe. Since I was dual booting with XP on another partition, I copied over the file from \Windows\System32 on the XP partition. My super scientific methodology was to try launching again. Next it was msvcp70.dll and then finally msvcp71.dll. After that the application came up fine. Soooo...if you're missing any of these three, grab a copy of them from an XP installation and just simply drop them into \Windows\system32 on the Vista partition. Seems to work okay ;)

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Dynamic DNS

As I previously mentioned, I've got fiber running into our home now. One of the issues I discovered was that, unlike Comcast, the IP address changes frequently and the DNS name is built dynamically from the IP address. If you have a need to get to your machine then a "dynamic DNS" service is one way to go. There are several out there which offer free services - I choose DynDNS. Here's a few things I discovered...

After signing up for an account, you can create a dynamic DNS using one of their 25+ domain names such as .blogdns.org, dyndns.org, homeip.net, or even kicks-ass.net. With this DNS entry you can supply the IP address it points to so "mycoolname.homeip.net" will route to the IP address of your home computer.

There are free utilities which can automatically update your DynDNS account with a new address. DynDNS Updater is one I found which works well. You install this on your home computer and leave it running (either in the system tray or install it as a Windows service). It will periodically check your external IP address and, if it's changed it'll update DynDNS. I later stumbled on a casual mention in a forum that D-Link has the ability to update a dynamic DNS built right in. After logging into my router, sure enough I found it under Tools / DDNS. I figured it was the best way to go as it would be running on my router, know when the IP had changed, and save from installing running one more thing at home.

However, DynDNS has a pretty good FAQ which brought a couple of things to light. First, the only "recommended" router is a Linksys model. Second, they feel that the software method is better because you can configure various settings and the logging capabilities are much better. I've experienced it first hand. One of the times my IP changed the D-Link DDNS didn't work and, as DynDNS said, I had no idea why. After that, I turned it off on the D-Link and re-enabled the software which has been running fine since. I keep a little server going at home so it wasn't a big deal.

To avoid problems with having to run a web server on ports other than 80 you can use another free DynDNS service called "WebHop". With that, you specify a name such as web.mycoolname.homeip.net and redirect it to a URL such as http://mycoolname.homeip.net:8080. That way you can bookmark and give out a "standard name" without having to remember the port and it'll get redirected to the correct port at your dynamic domain name. This also makes it easier if you embed links as you can use this aliased name and only maintain the actual URL in one place.

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FTTP, baby! (Verizon FIOS)

We're finally on fiber at my house, na-na! Dan Bricklin has a long article with lots of photos on his blog so here's some random points I've discovered since the install.

• Earlier in the week the fiber line was brought down from the pole to the outside of the building in preparation.
• The install really does take 4+ hours.
• The final connection into the "ONT" was made from the feed left earlier using a portable splicer that melts/fuses the glass fibers together
• The glass really is about the size of a human hair
• The meter reported 18 Mbs download at the ONT
• Verizon offers 5 Mbs down / 2 Mbs up for $34.95 and 15 Mbs down / 2 Mbs up for $44.95 (both with a one year agreement, phone call to upgrade)
• They also offer a 30 Mbs down / 5 Mbs up
• Unlike high-speed cable, Verizon installs a battery backup in case of power outage that's rated for 4 hours (tech said he's heard of customers getting 8 hrs of life from them)
• They pull the old copper wires from the house during the install
• I read in a forum somewhere that all the old regulations regarding access and required sharing of lines with other providers only pertains to the copper lines, not the new fiber ;)
• They give you a D-Link DI-624 wireless G router which also has four ethernet ports
• Vonage's Linksys router is now "hanging off" (behind) the D-Link and it only required a power off/on to pick up new address from the D-Link
• D-Link's default internal IP is 192.168.0.x whereas Linksys (w/ Vonage) was 192.168.15.x
• D-Link's router really is true port forwarding - you can, for example, map port 8080 outside to 80 inside (Linksys forwards a port to an IP only - same port)
• Verizon blocks port 80 (port forwarding works around this)
• Fiber uses PPPoE like DSL does
• In the span of 4 days I've had 4 different external IP addresses assigned
• External DNS names are dynamic, containing the IP address (e.g. pool-x-x-x-x.subdomain.fios.verizon.net)
• Discovered free dynamic DNS service (dyndns.org) to overcome name/ip changes

A big SORRY to Dave Burke - I'm sure it'll be a while before fiber finds its way up into Vermont.

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MS Access - kill the competition, win the space, then move on

Okay, I know up front I'm not going to get brownie points for this but I'm going to do it any way. First point here is the apparent demise of Access. I know I'm late to this game but between MSDE and now SQLExpress it seems that ol' Access is headed for the scrap heap. Second point here is rooted in my love of Paradox. It was the first relational database I learned in 1985 back when ANSA came out with 1.1.

My father had a copy which was bundled with his true blue IBM AT and I began playing around with it. First I learned the basic table stuff then it was forms and eventually QBE. It also took very little scripting with PAL to get a complete solution working. I went so far as to build a rudimentary RPG II source editor using separately designed forms for each specification type (much snazzier than SEU - see Tony Green's screenshots) and earned my first consulting check using it. Having Paradox meant I poo-poo'd dBase and Clipper for I had the better tool. Fast forward to early 90's and the (Borland) world waited in anticipation for the new Paradox for Windows due out soon - like kids trying to sleep on Christmas eve. Microsoft beat them out the door by 6 months with what was arguably an inferior product. By the time Access 2.0, VB 3.0, and Excel 4.0 were out I had quietly put away my favorite tools - Paradox, Borland Pascal, and Quattro. Most magazine and bookshelf space was going to Microsoft products and the job listings for my tools were rare - the writing was on the wall.

20+ years later, I can still stand by my decision intellectually but my heart was always a bit torn and sad for the better Borland community. Access never really grew beyond its initial feature set - just beat the competition to death and now it's heading off the playing field a tired, worn player that never really moved beyond its hype.

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