17 August 2001
Random Ramblings: Letter to Post Database
Although I haven't written anything in a while, I did pen this facetious little letter to the Post Database today.27 July 2001
Post Database: Using Thai With Eudora
There was a letter in Post Database this past Wednesday from Tassanee Suriyapee who was perplexed by Eudora Pro v4.3 displaying text backwards when entering text in a message. By coincidence, I experienced this same problem a week or so ago - once with Eudora Pro v4.2 + Windows 98/Thai and once with Eudora Pro v5.1 + Windows ME/Thai. If your guess is that the problem is due to Thai Windows, you're probably partially correct. In any case, the problem doesn't occur when I use Eudora Pro v4.2 under Windows 2000.A quick-and-dirty solution is to use a non-proprotional font (in Eudora, go to "Tools", "Options", "Fonts" and de-select "Use proportional font by default"). This was a no-brainer for me, since I've always used fixed width fonts with my email program. However, if you prefer proportional fonts or need Thai fonts, this isn't an option. Khun Tassanee mentioned that Loxinfo suggested turning off automatic spell checking and that it DIDN'T work. But, it DID work in my case, especially after I exited and reloaded Eudora.
P.S. The problem exists with Eudora v5.1 as well, so upgrading ISN'T a solution per se as per PDB's suggestion.
16 July 2001
Updates: Internet Sharing Solutions (Part 3)
A short update note was added to my Internet Sharing Solutions (Part 3) piece, which dealt with WinRoute Pro.11 July 2001
Post Database: Getting Rid of Pop-Up Windows
There was a letter in Post Database from Phillip Ahrens today asking how to dispense with pop-up advertising windows. Lately on Yahoo!, there's this recurring ad for an X10 mini camera which is incredibly annoying. Under Windows at least, you can get rid of this with with the help of a program called "Pow!" from Analogx (https://www.analogx.com/contents/download/network/pow.htm). Pow! works by scanning the window title and automatically closes any window that matches your "kill" list. Another useful freebie from the good folks at AnalogX.Actually, there are several other techniques to accomplish this as well. First, you can disable Active and/or Java scripting. Unfortunately, there are probably times when you DO want this to work, so odds are, you'll be toggling this on and off ad infinitum. With Internet Explorer, this is adjusted under "Internet Options", "Security", "Custom Level".
Second, if you know the address of the offending ad, you can always add a line to your HOSTS file (most Windows installations don't have this file, but there IS a HOST.SAM sample file you can use as a template) to point this site to 127.0.0.1, which happens to be the dummy or "loopback" IP address of your own computer. For more information on this technique, read this.