Jul 23

CryptoCard 2.2.0

I have found a replacement to SecureIT that I used with my Palm. There are some things that I missed about my Handspring and this was one of them. Since I have switched to a ViewSonic V37 I have been looking for a replacement. CryptoCard has been my closes match, and 2.2.0 has just been released. I was looking for something free and had the ability to create new templates. CryptoCard has the added benefit of having a windows version also. Now I can read my secure information from anywhere at any time. I like the interface and it is very consistant between the two platforms. The only improvement I would like to see the ability to tap on a file and it to open on the PDA.   I have created a couple of new/enhanced templates for CryptoCard that are very easy to create: Vehicle – Main Vehicle – Vehicle For more information: Google Groups – Pmmax-CryptoCard
Jun 02

The Camera Cable

I have been having some camera problems ever since I bought my Canon PowerShot A85. I have re-installed Windows XP Professional a couple of times but still the computer would only reconize the camera when it wanted to. Some people purchased card readers, so I found a good deal at newegg.com. The card reader cable and the Canon camera used the same USB mini cable. To keep the story short the cable was/is the problem! So we are back to sending pictures.
Mar 31

Sutdown.exe XP

A co-worker showed me a quick way to shut down and restart a computer. I was really interested because I use Microsoft Remote Desktop feature to connect to a Domino server. The Domino server is on an older computer with a very loud fan so the less it runs the better. My problem was I did not have the option to shut down the machine from the start menu.. I now have two shortcuts on the desktop, one to turn off the machine and a second to cancel the shut down. Common shortcuts ShutDown.exe -l (Logoff) ShutDown.exe -s -t 30 (Shut Down) ShutDown.exe -r -t 1 (Restart Now) ShutDown.exe -r -t 30 (Restart) ShutDown.exe -a (Cancel) Shutdown Help Usage: shutdown [-i | -l | -s | -r | -a] [-f] [-m \\computername] [-t xx] [-c "comment"] [-d up:xx:yy] No args Display this message (same as -?) -i Display GUI interface, must be the first option -l Log off (cannot be used with -m option) -s Shutdown the computer -r Shutdown and restart the computer -a Abort a system shutdown -m \\computername Remote computer to shutdown/restart/abort -t xx Set timeout for shutdown to xx seconds -c "comment Shutdown comment (maximum of 127 characters) -f Forces running applications to close without warning -d [u][p]:xx:yy The reason code for the shutdown u is the user code p is a planned shutdown code xx is the major reason code (positive integer less than 256) yy is the minor reason code (positive integer less than 65536) If you are interested in selecting the same icon as the “Turn off computer” icons check out the c:\windows\system32\SHELL32.dll. I even assign shortcut keys to launch them easier, which works from anywhere!!! The shutdown command might work on other versions of Windows, but I have not done any testing. Thanks Tim for the idea.
Mar 24

Camera Problems

Update: The Canon cable was bad.

I have been having problems with Windows XP recognizing my Canon PowerShot A85. I just purchased it 20 days ago. Everything was working fine at first. Then my computer would not recognize the camera a couple of days later. I would get an “Unknown Device”. I downloaded the latest and greatest software and still no luck. After uninstalling, rebooting, installing, and then rebooting again my computer would see the camera the first time I plugged it in. Then it would no longer see it after that. At least I thought. I discovered that I was the problem. I switched the camera (while it was turned on) to picture mode while it was plugged into the computer. Once that happens your computer will never recognize the Canon A85 again until it is re-installed.

The Solution
  1. Unistall the “Unknown Device” using Device Manager from the Hardware tab of System Properties
  2. Unistall the 8 applications that Canon installs
  3. Reinstall the Canon applications
  4. Reboot machine
  5. Turn off camera
  6. Connect to computer
  7. Make sure the camera is in play (not picture) mode
  8. Turn on camera

I now can start taking some pictures again.
Jan 18

Learn something new every day!!!!

It never fails. I always learn something new everyday. This is a nice trick Alan Lepofsky’s – Data entry rapid style. CONTROL-SHIFT-ENTER, CONTROL-SHIFT-ENTER, CONTROL-SHIFT-ENTER. Say that about ten times and it will start to sink in.

One thing that I have learned about short cut keys is that you have to train yourself to use them. I have been teaching myself to use the Windows-L key combination to lock my workstation, instead on having to do CONTROL-ALT-DELETE and then pressing the space bar or ‘L’ to lock my workstation. I have been using it now for about 2 weeks and I allmost have myself converted.