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As you can imagine, we have collected a ton of feedback over the last couple
months. Much more than we can stuff into one article without boring you to
death! We'll get through them all over the next couple months, but for
now, here's the first pile of comments we've received.
Also...note that we get a lot of personal
feedback on our articles, when people add comments when using the article
rating buttons (at the end of each article). I asked our authors to review
their individual feedback and feel free to comment on any they feel could
use a little rebuttal or further info. This month you'll notice a lot
of replies from Greg, as he was the first to reply to my request.
Finally, James
Byrd, the talented developer who created the web application,
Ezine
Power Publisher, which is what we use to bring you TechTrax, has
added a new feature that now allows the editor to see all the individual
hits each article gets. Granted, we currently have 5,700 monthly subscribers,
but our articles get several thousands of hits!
So we will be adding a new feature to our monthly Feedback
article—a depiction of the top 10 articles for the previous month period.
However, for this
month, to kick off this addition, we will only display the top 25 hits to
date. Now realize that we were only able to start tracking the hits since
May, 2004. That means we have two years of uncounted hits! When you see
the numbers for just the last few months, you'll understand why
that comment is significant.
Note! This is in no way a contest amongst our authors. This
feature will allow our readers to see what those important issues are. I,
personally, find this type of data quite interesting. I hope you will, too!
And remember...no
wagering!
Feedback
Peter from the UK writes...
Thank you, Dian. I still retain a subscription to the HTML newsletter and
my normal procedure now is to leave each month's in the Intray and dip in when
I have time. (I have learned so much from TechTrax!) I just felt I didn't need
two simultaneous reminders. Perhaps you could write a routine to send a message
only when all subscriptions are being cancelled.
Cheers. Peter
TechTrax Editor, Dian
Chapman, replies...
Thanks for that great suggestion, Peter. You're right, I suppose getting
multiple notices to confirm multiple subscription adjustments is
needless. I've added it to my list of future improvements.
Note! For those who might not understand, know that you
can adjust your subscriptions, anytime, from our home page at www.mousetrax.com/techtrax. However,
at the moment, you get confirmation emails everytime you do any changes.
That can be better organized to only send you one email should your subscription
be completely removed...just to confirm that this is something you did
want to do. We'll work on making that process slicker in the near future.
Feedback
"A" from Ireland writes...
I have used Frontpage 2002 to build my website. Recently I reloaded the
home page which contains a linked border with navigation buttons. I found
when I checked the result in the browser, that the linkbar is now no longer
operational. The problem when I checked the html code seems to be that the
website looks for a file on my hard disk i.e. desktop which of course it
can't find. All the pages with the shared border are affected - you can't
access them! I have tried repeatedly to change this. I am using ACE FTP
package which has never given me bother before. Is the problem Frontpage
-
how do I get the hyperlinks on the link bar to stop trying to refer to my
desktop c drive. Your help is much appreciated and it would restore my faith
in Frontpage
2002.
Linda
Johnson, Front Page expert writes...
Sorry, A, but
you can't FTP linkbars...you need to PUBLISH the entire site in order to have
the linkbars to update. Hope that helps.
Linda
Feedback
A reader writes...
Article titled, "Creating a Table of Contents Spanning Multiple Documents," by
Jonathan West, MVP, Update, March, 2003.
Have used the code to generate the TOC from about 10 documents and it runs
great. However, the resulting TOC is static - it contains no hyperlinks to
the other documents or topics that it references.
Am missing something--? Would appreciate your help.
Jonathan
West, author of Creating
a Table of Contents Spanning Multiple Documents, writes...
No, you're not missing anything. Word doesn't put hyperlinks into cross-document
TOCs created using RD fields.
Regards,
Jonathan
Feedback
A reader from the UK writes...
This page is interesting reading, but all the techniques do not prevent the
viewed image from being cached locally. I have tried without success using
various META tags to disable caching in IE6, despite being informed by the
web that this is possible. Can you advise on a fully 100% working method to
stop the image being cached, many thanks.
Vic
Ferri, author of Protecting
Your Images on the Web, writes...
Well since that article, I have come up with a way to disable print screen
but with IE only and a way to disable caching but your site has to support
php - if it does, let me know, and I'll email you a couple of code lines
you can try. Or you can try an image protecting program that breaks up the
images into small pieces so that the whole image is not cached. Just do a
search for such programs.
vic
Feedback
Kenneth Gundry from San Francisco, CA, writes...
Herb Tyson's article omitted a vital point, perhaps because it didn't
arise on his computer. For those who are worried about the inherent insecurity
of Windows XP (Microsoft's claim to a right to browse the contents of your
computer) and are therefore using NT or 2000 (or earlier versions of Windows),
be warned that the new Picture Manager that comes with Office 2003 explicitly
warns that it will not print pictures; indeed the file menu contains no print
items. So not only does installing Office 2003 remove Photo Editor which
has some features not present in Picture Manager, it takes away altogether
the ability to print. Clearly this is unacceptable but alas typical of Microsoft's
contempt for its customers.
Herb
Tyson, author of MS
Photo Editor, Wherefore Art Thou?, (which, by the way is our current
# 1 read article, receiving 19,257 hits alone!!...since
May, 2004, when
we started tracking all article hits), writes...
It didn't arise on my computer, because I usually, if not always, run the
latest version of Windows I can get my grubby little hands on. However, it
is decidedly NOT true that installing Office 2003 "takes away altogether
the ability to print." If you were able to print before installing Office
2003, you'll be able to print after installing Office 2003. If your only
method of printing pre-Office 2003 is MS Photo Editor, then just make sure
that you do a custom setup and tell the installation program to leave MS
Photo Editor alone. Any other means you have for printing pictures will be
untouched by Office 2003's installation. Hey, you can always print using
Microsoft Windows Paint!
Cheers, Herb Tyson
Feedback
Urak from Malaysia writes...
Regarding Making Google your Default Search Engine
It worked the first time....then i reset to default settings...to
msn.
I tried to change to google again...and it did not work..it always goes to
msn....why? i would like to know that.
Vic
Ferri, author of Making
Google your Default Search Engine, writes...
Regardless of your OS, you can use this registry file [download here:
GoogleDefault.zip 1k]
to make the change.
I tested it on 9x and XP and it always works to make Google your default
search engine.
Note! To use the above file...click and download it. Pay
attentin where you put it, so you can find it. Make sure your browser
is closed. Unzip the file and double click the resulting GoogleDefault.reg file.
A warning will ask you if you want to add this to your Registry, say
yes. The key will install into your Registry to make Google your default
search engine. If you need help understanding downloading, read this
article:Downloading
101
Feedback
Mat Sutton from London, England, writes...
Re: Article "Did You Forget Something?" by David Horowitz
Perfect - Just what I was lookng for without having to go to the expense of
purchasing something. A variation of this is now nicely tucked away in out
corporate COM Add-In. Nice, clearly written code. Well explained.
Thanks David and TechTrax
David
Horowitz, author of Did You Forget Something? (Or, How to Get Outlook
To Remind You to Insert a Forgotten Attachment), writes...
Always nice to get fanmail! Thanks for the thanks, Mat, glad it helped you
out.
- David
Author's Feedback
The following comments and replies were all sent to Greg
Chapman, so the replies
are all from him regarding comments he's received on the specific article
indicated.
Article:
Da
Game: Dueling Laptops at 31,000 Feet
Reader Comments:
Please don't do this. Airlines don't even allow wireless mice or keyboards
because of potential radio interference. 802.11b could cause the plane
to crash if a critical system was overridden.
Greg's Reply:
[Note: Greg Chapman is a licensed, active private pilot.]
That's an understandable response but it's founded on fear rather
than fact. The facts are:
- The FAA currently leaves restriction of the use of Personal Electronic
Devices (including 802.11 devices) to the air carrier. It reached this
conclusion after periodic studies in which the FAA noted no discernible
issue with cabin controls and flight instruments (Yep, you did say airlines
prohibit use…what you didn’t say was that they don’t
all nor are they required to).
- Restrictions against cell phone use in flight are not based on cell-phone
interference with flight instruments but are instead based on the behavior
of cell phones when they are above 'cell' emitters (the cell phone towers
by which your signal is relayed to the provider's network). In short,
your phone is designed to work below these towers, not above. When your
phone is above, your phone can 'carry' over more than one cell at a time.
That's a problem...but not for the aircraft.
- The UK conducted a study recently which led them to the same regulatory
conclusions as the FAA. They noted a few instances in which this equipment
appeared to be related to increased noise in crew headsets and were unable
to prove a relationship between use of these devices and an occasional
alert light in the crew consoles (which sounds important but, somehow,
they deemed it to be a low-value problem).
- A search of the NTSB's incident database (http://www2.ntsb.gov/ntsb/query.asp)
indicates there are no known instances in which signal interference has
led to a crash. In fact, the only incidents on record about radio (and
not all are fatal, thankfully) are those in which aircraft have flown
into radio towers or their guide wires. I guess you could consider that
radio intereference in one way or another.
- Boeing and other companies are quickly devising methods of monitoring
cabin smoke alarms and other devices on board aircraft using 802.11 and
to offer centralized wireless network access to link to ground stations
Internet services in flight. All those laptops on board the aircraft
will be using their standard 802.11 devices to connect to this airborne
network just like they would on the ground. In return they expect to
open new subscriber based revenue streams from in-flight services and
fear of liability doesn't appear to be driving them. I interpret that
as a group of engineers coming to the conclusion that there is no threat.
In short, there appears to be no problem, and this particular thread comes
up often, driven by fear and not supported by data or regulation but by
anecdotal evidence at best.
Now, I have personally witnessed some knee-jerk behavior in the air by
air crews concerning some of these devices. For instance, the handheld
GPS devices that you can buy on the market today are almost all receivers;
they emit no radiation at all. Handheld Survival GPS devices offer a transmitter
which is intended for use only as a homing signal when you're in a survival
situation and want the rescuers to come right to you. That doesn't change
how people behave, however. I once had a flight attendant become quite
upset that I was using a handheld navigation GPS because she was convinced
that it was also a transmitter. Uh, yeah!
Reader's Comment:
Very good article! It really saved me for a product demo I wanted to
do with out having to drag around a hub. Thanks!
Greg's Reply:
Glad it worked out! I'm also hoping they let you give that demo on
the ground. Airliners are crowded!
Article:
Hard
and Soft Asset Management with VBScript!
Reader's Comment:
A godsend for Domain Admins on a shoestring budget
Greg's Reply:
Thank you!! I too seem to have a shoestring budget. Glad I’m not
the only one having to invent coping mechanisms!
Article:
Keeping
the Home CPUs from Burning
Reader Comments:
lier, lier I HAVE A PENTALPHA ON(IT IS WORST THEN THE TT 7+).
Greg's Reply:
Hmmm, so many antagonists, so few who are literate. Whassa Pentalpha?
Where do you go to get a prescription like that? What was it supposed
to cure?
Article:
Synchronized
Event Logging...to a Database
Reader's Comments:
Interesting code, but now my system seems open a DOS box everytime I
run any script, how do I reset this back..?
Greg's Reply:
It probably wasn’t my first and I know it wasn’t my last big
error of the day. In the function which checks the script host in use,
I left in code which changes your default script processor to CScript (a
better processor when you’re going to send lots of data back to the
user interface).
To change this behavior, open a CMD prompt and issue the following command
then press Enter:
CScript //h:wscript //s
My apologies for blindly changing your default settings!
Reader's Comment:
This rocks. I can't believe something of this quality is available for
free!
Greg's Reply:
I’m glad you like it and I can explain why it’s free. I’m
interested in better administration by my peers. I’ve a long way
to go and so do some of them. So it’s my hope that tools like this
make their jobs easier and their quality rise. I also hope that they’ll
learn something and adapt the code to even better uses…and then
share it with the rest of us!
Article:
As
the Worm Turns...Your Computer into a Zombie
Reader's Comment:
Terrific article. Thanks for providing something I can show the idiots
at my company.
Greg's Reply:
Thank you and please do educate your co-workers. We only get one
Internet to play on, you know!
Article:
At
Last!! Fast, Easy and Reliable DVD Authoring for the PC
Reader's Comments:
- You really got it right, dvd authoring is more complicated than it needs
to be and TMPGEnc DVD Author is the solution!
- witty & informative - made me realise that I haven't gone mad, and
that I, too, have wasted too much money on crap DVD authoring s/w
- This article was great! Up to this point I had been struggling mightily
with dvd authoring software (such as MyDVD). After using your suggested
software from this article, I burned the DVD very quickly with NO errors.
Thanks so much!
Greg's Reply:
You’re all very welcome but we’ve got to make sure those
folks who are producing TMPGEnc DVD get their due. They really did
simplify the process of making a good DVD nicely. In fact, the hardest
thing about that product is spelling its name
Article:
Hard
and Soft Asset Management – Part 2
Reader's Comment:
My only wish is better doc's and better inline docs on the scripts. Other
than that I've only had very few issues.
Greg's Reply:
Excellent! I will apologize a little for the docs. Sometimes I find
the most portable systems aren’t the most expressive. Since everything
I do needs to live in text I rarely put process flow together in the
docs (I ought to) and then I commit the golden crime; poor inline documentation
when pounding out troublesome code segments. We’ll see if we can
manage to improve on that.
Reader's Comment:
Great stuff man
Greg's Reply:
Thanks! We’ll have to look for something else in the well of imagination,
eh?
Article:
The
OTHER Way to Find Out What Video Card Is in Your Computer
Reader's Comment:
Being a contractor in IRAQ with soldiers who do not bring thier disks
with them. It sure was great to be able to use this info to get the machine
is was working on back up and running with nice resolution. Even administrators
sometimes forget to write down what cards and drivers that go with them,
when they have to wipe and start over thier PC. This soldier had a virus,
wiped it but didn't record info about his cards. Thanks
Greg's Reply:
Hey! That’s cool! Glad it worked out. I’d also like to know
more about how soldiers are working with laptops in the field. Are these
their personal equipment or is it issued to them? Do they go into the field
with it or does it stay back at the base? If they’re traveling with
this equipment, are they having to do special things to protect the machines
from the environment? I’d love to know more about the system failures
you see out there!
Article:
Why
Does Explorer Think I Only Want to See My Documents
Reader's Comment:
Windows XP (Home Edition) has been kicking my a** for 3 years. I kick
it back by reformatting my hard drive -- this of course ages me by six
months everytime I do this--around 8-`2 times now. I think this article
will help to restore my lost youth.
Greg's Reply:
Well, I’m afraid we can’t yet restore lost youth with a computer.
But I am glad you’ve found a way to stop the aging process!
Article:
You
Know You’re a Real Admin When…
Reader's Comment:
I'd like to give my opinion about your articles in general. It's nice
to see you choosing your words carefully - this not only 'unvague'
but also contibutes to the joy of learning from your experience (although
it gets a bit hard for me to grasp sometimes, as i'm not a native
speaker.. hey, dont take this as a negative criticism!.. :) )..thank you
Greg's Reply:
Thank you very much! I can appreciate that digging through a second
or third language can be a monster challenge. I’ll try to remember
to be a little clearer in the future, though.
Reader's Comment:
Your site was not an easy find but this series of articles and the the
domainreport tool are work that I have been trying to accomplish for some
time. I call gui administrators paper mcse's. We have over 100 servers
and if it wasn't for things like patches our servers would not have any
downtime our unix guys have servers go down at least one a month. I have
been moving most of my scripts into asp pages lately to make them more
easily to get to when traveling to other sites. I am also modifing your
domainreport tool to dump to a SQL database with a Web front end for managers
to be able to veiw the data in something they can understand. Keep up the
great work. I look forward to seeing what else you have to offer. Thank
you!
Greg's Reply:
There should be more coming…I just haven’t had too many compelling
ideas of late. There was a time when putting a Windows box up meant living
with monthly reboots due to failures. Now if we could just get past this
patching issue for our servers. When do we get a Windows XP style code
update for Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, etc?
And I’d love to see how your ASP conversions turn out. It would
be good to know how you managed security issues for those functions which
require administrative privileges, too.
Article:
You
Know You're a Real Admin When, Part II...
Reader's Comment:
I am using an AD script to get mac addresses and populate them into a
SQL databse... WHY??? well I have a job that uploads that SQL db into the
switches everynight. Once the switch knows their MAC, they are dynamically
added to the trusted VLAN.. Wheeeww hoo.Now I know who is on my network
and who is not.
Greg's Reply:
That’s a really good idea! I’m curious on one point that I
didn’t understand. Now that you know ‘who’ they are,
how do you know they belong there? I’d love to hear more!
Article Popularity
From 05/15/2004 to 09/01/2004...the Top
Articles in TechTrax
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