I recently needed to size an image, using Adobe Photoshop CS, to a 1:1 scale.  This was needed because I wanted the image to print out in its 'actual size'.  Photoshop probably has this capability built in somewhere as a tool, but I haven't seen it.  For sure, there are some third party tools out there, but I stumbled through a no-frills, simple approach using just Photoshop's built-in toolkit.

Since I had a scale (a ruler) in the actual photograph, I was able to use this method to modify the scale of the image to make it 1:1.

• Open the image file
• Click Image>Image Size
• Change the 'Width' dimensions to 'mm' if it isn't already set that way
• Make a note of the width (in my example, the width was 1,587.5mm)
• Close the Image Size Dialog
• Switch to the 'Measure Tool' (it shares a button with the 'eyedropper tool'
• Using the Measure Tool, measure the scale (the ruler) in your image as exactly as possible.  In my example, I was able to measure 23mm on the scale.
• Make a note of that measurement, and of the distance Photoshop says you've measured (in the top bar, there is a 'D1' measurement; in my example, it was 1,035.2)

Now it's down to simple math.  You can figure out the ratio by which the whole image's size needs to be scaled by dividing the distance Photoshop says you measured by the measurement you took.  In my example, 1,035.2/23 = 45.001.  So the reduction factor I need is 45.001.

• Take the width of the image (mine was 1,587.5) and divide that by your reduction factor (mine was 45.001).  That result will be the proper width of your image (mine was 35.271)
• Click Image>Image Size again.
• Make sure the 'resample image' checkbox at the bottom of this dialog is 'unchecked' (otherwise, the quality of the image will get hosed)
• Enter your new, proper, value for the width of the document
• The document's height should change too...keeping the image's scale intact
• Click OK, and your image is now sized 1:1!

As I said, this worked for me because I had an actual scale in the digital image to use for measuring.  As long as the photo is taken at a right angle to the face of the subject, you should be able to use anything in the photo that is of a known distance.  For example, you could follow this method using the diameter of a penny if one was visible. 

Apparently, Senator John Edwards' campaign called me at about 3:45am today.  We heard the phone, didn't get up to answer, and found a recorded message on our machine (later) in the morning. 

The message was an invitation to join Edwards' campaign for president, and apparently they expected us to be so excited about that idea that we should call and record an audioblog entry documenting our support for him...at 4 in the morning? 

The recording specifically mentioned Edwards' web site, and gave these instructions (almost word for word) on how to record our message.  Can a presidential candidate really be so stupid as to call people at 4am?  Does it make more sense for someone who _doesn't_ want Edwards' to win to make those calls at horrific times of day? 

I'm not impressed.  I did visit Senator Edwards' web site, but probably not for the reasons they'd hoped. 

In Windows XP Pro, I recently ran into a problem where Windows Update wouldn't install any updates.  It would load and show that it wanted to install 'Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1' and 'Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool (KB892130)', but would always fail when it tried to do the update. 

A Google search found this post, where the writer recommends re-registering the DLL's needed by Windows Update.  It worked perfectly for me! 

Here are the instructions, shamelessly copy/pasted from the original post:

To repair this problem the dll files associated with the windows update program have to be registered.  To do this you'll need to run regsvr32.  Go start then run:

• regsvr32 wuapi.dll
• regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
• regsvr32 wuaueng1.dll
• regsvr32 wucltui.dll
• regsvr32 wups.dll
• regsvr32 wups2.dll
• regsvr32 wuweb.dll

My UT Startcom PPC6700 Windows-based smartphone recently died (OK, it's just having trouble holding a charge, frequently locking up, won't sync with Windows XP, generally being a pain, etc.).  Anyway, I've ended up buying and returning a couple potential replacement devices for various reasons, so I thought I'd list them here.  Most of these 'issues' are just differences in the portable Operating Systems, with a few of my own specific experiences thrown in.  Your mileage may vary. 

UT Starcom PPC6700 - (Windows Mobile 5.0 device)

Pros:

• Syncs flawlessly with Outlook
• Syncs OK with Thunderbird (with BirdieSync add-on)
• is able to access all the IMAP4 folders in a mail account
• comes with Office Portable - able to open/edit Word, Excel, Powerpoint docs
• uses a mini-SD card for external storage (which I already have)
• Integrated WiFi
  

Cons:

• Can't 'delete' messages from IMAP4 mail account - Can, however, 'move' them to the 'trash' folder, accomplishing the same thing with an extra couple strokes
• poor value - my device went belly-up after less than a year; wouldn't take a charge, wouldn't sync to any PC at all
  

Palm 755p

Pros:

• true sync with IMAP4 server account
• able to delete IMAP4 mail messages naturally (just 'delete' them from the device, and they're gone from the server)
• great interface - having only had Windows mobile in the past, it was easy and intuitive to get used to navigating around
• uses a mini-SD card for external storage (which I already have)
  

Cons:

• unable to view any of the IMAP4 folders on my account with the included mail software - may be possible with add-ons like:
• Chattermail ($40)
• Snappermail ($25-60)
• No WiFi antenna - can't connect to higher speed hotspots
  

Blackberry 8830

Pros:

• very natural, clean UI - I like it best of the three compared here
• integrated GPS service/device - works great with Google Maps Mobile
• Sweet (bundled) Yahoo! messenger app. I don't normally use IM much, but I used this within three hours of starting testing (I needed to communicate with a vendor who only would chat via IM). Looks like this is available for other OS's too - at least Palm
• The BlackBerry can tell when it's in its holster, which is cool, because when you pull it out, it turns on, and when you put it away, it turns off on its own. You can even set different ring/notifications, depending on whether the device is holstered or not.
  

Cons:

• Can't connect to (and view) IMAP4 folders - and I can't find an add-on that will do it, either.
• uses a micro SD card for external storage - I'd have to buy one to replace my mini-SD version
• No WiFi antenna - can't connect to higher speed hotspots
• No ability to open/edit Word/Excel/OOo documents - $99 add-on looks like it should work
• can't find a way to sync contacts with Thunderbird at all - had to sync with Outlook to get addresses on the device
• I hate the desktop software that comes with it - specifically, the separate 'media manager' was a pain for me - wouldn't close/restore/minimize; it just didn't respond like a good application should
  

A while ago, I set up a small Microsoft Access database that would track Church committee membership.  It manages basic information about committees and the people who belong to them.  It also includes a couple very basic reports. 

It's far from a 'complete' solution, but it's probably a pretty good starting point for a bigger project.  I thought I'd post it here in case anyone wants to give it a look. 

Church Committees.mdb (1.01 MB)

When you are entering dates in an Excel spreadsheet, you might want to enter just the numeric part (i.e. without any dashes or slashes), hoping Excel would figure out what you were doing and turn it into a 'real' date automatically.  You might think Excel has a built-in cell format you can apply that would handle this for you...it apparently does not. 

You can, however, build your own 'custom formatting' rule for a cell to accomplish this.  So, for example, if you want to type in '112507' but have Excel transform that into '11/25/07', you would set up your custom format (using Excel 2003) like this:

1. Right click the cell, choose 'Format Cells...'
2. In the 'Category' list (on the left side), scroll down and click on 'Custom'
3. In the 'Type' textbox, type in your new rule (in this case '0#"/"##"/"##', with out the single quotes)

Now, when you type in that cell, your date will be reformatted according to your new rule. 

To apply this custom format to an entire column of cells: 

1. Right-click your custom-formatted cell, then click Copy.
2. Highlight the cells you want to apply the format to, then right-click one of them
3. Choose 'Paste Special' from the context menu
4. Click 'Formats' from the 'Paste' group

I'm excited about the new dasBlog (2.0), if only because it promises to give me better control over comment-spammers.  It was pretty satisfying to watch the (dasBlog 2.0) updater tool wipe out all the 'bad words' that had accumulated in this blog's entries, and hopefully now I'll be able to keep a better handle on it. 

If you're reading this, I was able to upload the new blog engine and get things going on the live site!

My Confluence installation requires a JAVA_HOME envronment variable, but ever since I installed Confluence, I've been manually setting JAVA_HOME after every system restart**.  I just ran across this blog entry which suggests setting JAVA_HOME in Ubuntu's /etc/environment settings file. 

I haven't rebooted yet, but this looks like a good solution to my problem.


** ok, there really have only been a handful of system restarts in several months, and always due to my own negligence.  Kubuntu has been solid as a rock. 

Early this summer, I had a customer who bought a notebook PC (an HP) which happened to come pre-installed with Windows Vista on it.  Business requirements demanded that it should have Windows XP Professional instead, so I offered to 'downgrade' (ha ha) to XP Pro for him. 

As I learned (after hours scouring the Internet and chatting with HP technical support), this particular notebook _can't_ have XP Professional installed, because you can't disable 'Native Mode' for SATA in the system BIOS, and you can't install XP while the SATA drive is in native mode. 

That was the third strike for me.  I've had two other bad experiences with Vista 'upgrades', and have lost a good deal of time and money trying to work through it.  I've been a Microsoft Partner for several years, but I just can't support (pun intended) a system that is _so_ broken.  I refuse to recommend Windows Vista to any customers who rely on their computers for more than very casual use. 

Maybe Vista Service Pack 1 will be more useable. 

Whew, what a summer...we've been working (and playing) pretty hard for months...no time for blogging at all! 

I'll try to do better.  Maybe having this post here will force me to try...?

I'm not quite ready to let go of Windows...there are still a lot of unanswered questions, but I'm learning...

I ordered a laptop (for someone else) from Dell on July 3rd...decent deal, including 3-5 day shipping.  When he emailed on the 9th to ask if he could pick it up on the 13th, I had a half-written reponse telling him 'no problem' when I thought I'd better check first.  After all, I had a mediocre experience with Dell delivery once before. 

Sure enough, Dell's web site said the "preconfigured" laptop was in production, and wouldn't ship until 8/1 (29 days after ordering), and wouldn't arrive until 8/5 or 8/6.  Whatever...cancel that order.  Office Depot has HP's with larger displays sitting on the shelf waiting for you. 

The AutoCorrect feature in Microsoft Office 2003 is a handy feature, replacing common spelling errors for you as you happily peck away at the keyboard.  It can also be used to speed up the typing of common, complicated, or lengthy terms.  Essentially, you can use it to create macros that will be replaced with longer, more cumbersome phrases automatically (and without errors). 

For example, you could create an autocorrect for the letters 'hspb', setting it to correct to 'heat sealed plastic bag'.  If you have to type this several times a day, it's easy to see the speed benefit. 

That same set of autocorrect macros is shared by the whole Office suite.  So, if you create autocorrect entries for yourself in Word, they'll be available in Excel, Access, Infopath, etc. 

A coworker of mine recently wondered why her just-added autocorrect entries weren't working in Infopath forms.  They worked great in Word, but Infopath just ignored them. 

The solution I found is that any autocorrect entries stored (in Word) as 'formatted text' will not work in Infopath.  Entries stored as 'plain text' work great.  So, even though Word will turn two-hyphens-and-a-greater-than (-->) into a pretty arrow, if you store that in an autocorrect, Infopath will ignore the whole entry.  Here are a couple screenshots of what I mean:

Formatted text entry

Plain text entry

For this example, I stored an autocorrect entry (shop) that will replace with 'shopping bag'.  I stored 'shopping bag' as formatted text and tested it in Infopath...only to find out it won't work.  Changing the entry (in Word's autocorrect list) to plain text ('shop1' for this example) makes the entry work in Infopath as well. 

Notes:

• It looks like you can tell the 'formatted text' entries in the autocorrect list by the asterisk (*) at the end of their text (aside from selecting each one and noting the 'Formatted text' radio button is selected). 
• Access the autocorrect feature by clicking Tools>Autocorrect Options in Microsoft Word.

In the process of cleaning up a Windows XP (Home) PC, I ended up with a situation where it would get to the 'Windows is starting up...' screen, and just stay there for 20+ minutes.  Doing a hard reset didn't help; it would boot back to that same spot and just hang there. 

I found this forum post, where they've suggested to plug the PC's power cord directly into the wall instead of a power strip.  Since I had just purchased a new power strip, and then plugged that PC (and another one) into it, I thought I'd give it a try. 

Yeah, it worked.  The PC booted up as fast as XP ever could.  I'm assuming the two PC's together must be drawing too much current for the power strip/surge protector, and so the troubled computer wasn't getting enough juice to boot properly...? 

I have a UT Starcom PPC-6700 SmartPhone, through Alltel, that I use essentially for running my small business.  Alltel's data service add-on (~$40/month) gives me unlimited Internet access with the device, so I can Google search, watch the weather radar from the boat, check email, and get notifications of messages left on the company voice mail system. 

On the email side of things, I have the device synchronized with an Exchange server running in my office.  I can 'force' the device to sync with the server whenever I feel like reading email, just by clicking send/receive in the phone.  With Exchange Server 2003, I can also enable Microsoft's 'Direct Push', which keeps the phone synchronized with Exchange in real-time.  There are plenty of articles out there on how Direct Push works, so I won't regurgitate that here, but essentially as messages come in, they're 'pushed' directly to the phone, so I always have the most recent message list in my hand. 

One significant problem I've noticed is that with Direct Push enabled, the battery life on the PPC-6700 is slashed severely.  I can expect that if I take the phone off charger at 7am, it will be dead (powered off dead) before 5pm.  By contrast, with Direct Push turned off and me synchronizing manually 3 or 4 times during the day, the battery will last 3 days pretty easily. 

It's weird, because Direct Push is touted as a technology that should save battery life.  Instead of the device connecting on a schedule – say, every half hour – and downloading '0' messages while wasting battery juice, it's supposed to be 'smarter' and only connect when there are messages to download. 

I can't find the article now, but one writer suggested that if you don't want your device connecting a hundred times a day and downloading messages, don't receive so many emails!  I would agree, but I think the problem is bigger than that.  I think the problem is with spam, and here's why:

Most of the time, when I 'force' a download with the phone, it will say something like “Email: 0/8” in the phone's Messaging status bar.  When it completes the download, though, I might actually only see 1 or 2 of those messages in my inbox.  I'm left to assume that the other 6 or 7 were spam...and that the Exchange spam filtering rules don't get applied until the download is requested.   

If that's true, then something similar is probably happening with Direct Push enabled.  The difference, though, is that Direct Push is causing as many as 8 connections to (downloads from) Exchange to accomplish the same thing.  Essentially, it's connecting 8 times, and each time it's just running the rules and putting messages in the spam folder...it's a wasted connection. 

[EDIT 2007-05-23]

I almost forgot.  One other problem with enabling Direct Push is that people who call me often get sent directly to voice mail.  The phone never even rings, because the line is tied up with the data connection.  Since the phone spends so much of it's day connected to Exchange, this becomes a problem - think 'teenager tying up the phone all day'.  

Some people never learn, I guess.  After my first horrible experience trying to upgrade from Windows XP to Vista Business, I said I wouldn't do it again.  A few weeks later, here I am trying to upgrade my main computer - the desktop machine on which I do most of the 'important' things. 

After a solid half hour, the upgrade let me know it wouldn't continue, because it doesn't like 'Nero Burning ROM'.  Then it exited.  I removed Nero (even though it's my favorite CD/DVD burning tool), and started the upgrade process again.  You don't get to fast-forward to the point you left...you have to re-do that half hour. 

This time, it keeps going.  It was taking forever (3 hours and we were still 'Expanding' files), but it did warn that it would take 'several hours' to complete, so whatever.  I check back after three hours, and all I see is a mouse arrow on an all-blue screen...nothing else.  The mouse moves the cursor, but after 20 minutes, it's still just stuck there.

I hard-reset the machine (reset button), and watch anxiously.  The BIOS screen just stays up for 4-5 minutes...hard reset again.  This time, it gets past the BIOS post and continues setup.  Whew. 

As I write this, the Windows Vista Business Upgrade has been stuck at 'Expanding Files... 21%' for over an hour.  When I click the little red 'X' to close the setup window, it tells me the setup process cannot be canceled at this point, because it could leave my system in a potentially unstable state.  That would be funny if it weren't so pathetic...the system is already unusable...since it's stuck in this stupid upgrade. 

I'll update this entry when I have some kind of resolution...

I recently tried to upgrade a Toshiba Satellite laptop (Model A35-S159, running Windows XP Pro SP2, fully patched, with BIOS flashed to the latest - September 2004) to Windows Vista Business Edition.  Apparently, I'm one of the many people lucky enough to have a computer that, while being ACPI compliant, isn't quite ACPI compliant enough for Windows Vista.  I'm not even sure what that means. 

I ran Microsoft's Vista Upgrade Advisor, and the machine passed with no problems.  I ran the upgrade, and that seemed to go great too (though it took a long time).  On the first boot (which should have been into Vista), I got the popular Blue Screen of Death telling me my system's 'BIOS isn't fully ACPI compliant'.  Great. 

The only bright spot (if you can call it that) is that, if I'm quick, I can catch the boot screen as the laptop powers up and choose 'Earlier Version of Windows', which will take me back to Windows XP.

But that just gets me back to where I was before I ever tried Vista.  I can't find any hope on the web, except Microsoft saying the vendors will have to update the BIOS...that's apparently not likely in Toshiba's case, as they say right on their web site they won't support Vista except on PC's with the Vista Capable logo.  From their support web site:

Q: If my Toshiba computer does not have a Windows Vista Capable sticker, does Toshiba offer drivers and BIOS upgrades for Windows Vista?

A: No. Toshiba offers Windows Vista drivers and Windows Vista-compatible BIOS upgrades for computer models that have a valid Windows Vista Capable sticker. It may be possible to upgrade to Windows Vista on some Toshiba computer models that do not have a Windows Vista Capable sticker, but Toshiba cannot guarantee that all features of the computer will function correctly after the upgrade. Microsoft’s Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor may be able to indicate whether or not your computer has the minimum hardware requirements for Windows Vista, but a positive report from the Upgrade Advisor is not a clear indication that the specific features of the computer will function correctly after an upgrade to Windows Vista.

I'm not much for conspiracies, but this stinks of 'plot to make people buy new hardware'...

I really enjoyed MSN Radio for a while, and even paid for the subscription to MSN Radio Plus.  I gave up on it, though, after Windows Media Player updated to version 11, because the interface changed pretty dramatically, and it was brutally difficult to even find MSN Radio with WMP 11! 

Coincidentally, I ran across Pandora Internet Radio around the same time.  Pandora works by letting you choose the individual artists (and even songs) you like.  Then it plays music from that artist and similar music from other artists.  You set up radio stations, with different kinds of music, and it remembers what you like and dislike (you can give each song/artist a thumbs up or down).  Best of all, it's ad supported...meaning it's essentially free for the end user/listener. 

I got a troubling email from Pandora last week, though (don't get the wrong idea, this was a pretty unusual circumstance...there is no SPAM from Pandora).  Apparently, the music industry is trying to get fees raised for Internet radio stations, and Pandora was asking for its listeners to help out by calling their congressperson.  Hopefully, Pandora can survive the new legislation, however it comes out.