Archive for January, 2010
My Desktop is Missing!
Jan 11th
Perhaps there has been a time when your whole entire desktop was missing and your start bar would cease to exist. Befuddled beyond belief, you began to panic and did a hard reset on your computer and thankfully everything came back to normal or maybe not…
In any version of windows (or at least the latest, 98SE, all XP editions, all Vista editions, and all Windows 7 editions, there is a process called explorer.exe and this controls – amongst other things – the desktop and start bar.
You can see the highlighted text that is explorer.exe
If you do not see this, don’t panic. As long as your desktop is still showing then all is good. If you cannot see your desktop then press control+shift+escape to bring up the task manager window and go to the processes tab. Click on file > new task and type in explorer.exe
This will bring back your desktop icons and your start bar.
You can also do this through run or through cmd or DOS
Advanced CSS Part -#7
Jan 10th
Today we’re going to create a top navigation menu and side menu in CSS. This is like any website menu that we would see on most websites.
Inline Menu
This is an example of a website menu:
We can see that the menu is entirely inline and is actually really just an unordered list. Consider the following code:
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#menu {
background-color:#4c4c4c;
height:30px;
font-size:30px;
font-weight:700;
padding:5px 0px;
}
#menu ul {list-style:none;}
#menu li {
display:inline;
padding:0px 10px;
}
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<div id="menu">
<ul>
<li><a href="url">Link</a></li>
<li><a href="url">Link</a></li>
<li><a href="url">Link</a></li>
<li><a href="url">Link</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
The CSS is setting the styles for the navigation menu… We have our ID selector #menu that is creating a background of #4c4c4c (grey), a height of 30px, a font size of 30px, a font weight of 700 (in other words, bold), and a padding of 5px that applies to the top and bottom ONLY.
#menu ul is basically saying that all <ul> elements inside of the ID #menu will have a list-style of none.
#menu li is saying that all <li> elements within the ID #menu will be displayed as inline elements (no breaks before or after the element, refer to the Display Property for more information) and will apply a 10px padding to the left and right sides ONLY.
Vertical Menu
A vertical menu is a menu that is, well, vertical.
Side Menus are easier to make than inline menus. Consider the following code:
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#side-nav {
background-color:#4c4c4c;
display:block;
width:150px;
}
#side-nav ul {
list-style-image:url("images/bullet.png");
margin:10px;
}
#side-nav li {
padding:5px 0px;
border-bottom:1px solid #3b3b3b;
}
#side-nav.no-border {border:none;}
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<div id="side-nav">
<ul>
<li><a href="url">Link</a></li>
<li><a href="url">Link</a></li>
<li><a href="url">Link</a></li>
<li class="no-border"><a href="url">Link</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
So we have our ID selector side-nav that is creating the background color of #4c4c4c (grey), displaying the selector as a block element and a width of 150px. Note: since only the width is defined, we can have an unlimited height.
Next, we have our selector that is saying that all <ul> elements within the side-nav selector will have a list style image of “bullet.png” and will have a 10px margin around all sides.
Finally, we have our selector that is saying all <li> elements within the side-nav selector will have a top and bottom padding of 5px ONLY and a bottom border that is 1px wide, solid, and the color #3b3b3b. There is something interesting, however; there is an additional selector defined that states a border is none which we used on the last <li> element of our vertical menu. This will make the menu look better, or at least more symmetrical.
menu.zip
Size: 4.46 KB
Firefox Speed Tweaks
Jan 9th
Note: If you’re unsure and don’t know what you’re doing then don’t follow these directions. These changes will be saved on your computer and could lead to a browser that is sluggish and way messed up. Be responsible for your own actions and proceed if you can BE responsible and follow these directions exactly.
First things, first…
Open a new tab, type about:config into the address bar and hit enter…
The field entitled “filter” is where you type the stuff you see below…
Appearance:
* browser.display.focus_ring_width
This option will remove that annoying ring of dots (aka an ant trail) from selected/active links/elements.
Default value = “1″.
“0″ = Hide the Focus Ring.
* browser.chrome.toolbar_tips
If you’ve ever tried dragging and dropping bookmarks around your Bookmarks Toolbar and the Tool Tips got in your way, you’ll find this helpful.
(Be careful, though. Some Add-Ons are dependent on Tool Tips).
Default value = “True”.
“False” = Disable Tool Tips.
* dom.disable_window_open_feature.* (I just love this one! When you type the entry on the left, you’ll narrow the about:config list to 11. Explanation below). Webpage authors can disable many features of a popup window that they open. Setting these preferences to “True” will override the author’s settings and ensure that that feature is enabled and present in any popup window.
close = Prevent the close button from being disabled.
directories = Prevent the bookmarks toolbar from being hidden.
location = Prevent the address bar from being hidden
menubar = Prevent the menubar from being hidden.
minimizable = Prevent popup window minimization from being disabled.
personalbar = Prevent the bookmarks toolbar from being hidden.
resizable = Prevent popup window resizing from being disabled.
scrollbars = Prevent the scrollbars on a popup from being disabled.
status = Prevent the status bar from being hidden.
titlebar = Prevent the title bar from being hidden.
toolbar = Prevent the navigation toolbar from being hidden.
* browser.tabs.closebuttons
Controls how Close Buttons will be displayed on tabs.
Default value = “1″
“0″ = Display a close button on the active tab only.
“1″ = Display close buttons on all tabs.
“2″ = Don’t display any close buttons.
“3″ = Display a single close button at the end of the tab bar (Firefox 1.x behavior).
* browser.blink_allowed
Mozilla supports both the
Default = “True”
“False” = Disable blinking text and display it as static text
Functionality:
* browser.helperApps.deleteTempFileOnExit (Does NOT exist by default. To create it, right-click an empty area of the about:config page and select New > Boolean).Wondering why files downloaded via Open With… in Fx3 are always set to “Read Only”?
Here’s what the developers had to say: “This is intentional so people do not modify the files and then save them. We had lots of bugs filed about people losing their work because they did open with and then worked on a file.”
For example:
If you’re using uTorrent and you try to Remove And > Delete .torrent + data, you’ll find that the .torrent file remains because it was set to “Read Only” by Fx3.
Default value = “False”
“True” = Downloaded files will be set to “Read Only”.
“False” = Downloaded files will be left alone as they were in Fx2.
* layout.spellcheckdefault
The spell check function, when active, is accessible via the context menu of the text area/form field.For spell checking to work, the user must have the appropriate dictionary files installed.
Default = “1″.
“0″ = Disable spellchecker.
“1″ = Enable spellchecker for multi-line controls (e.g., text areas).
“2″ = Enable spellchecker for multi-line controls and single-line controls (e.g., text areas and form/input fields).
* browser.urlbar.matchonlytyped
Determines behavior of autocomplete in Location Bar.
Default value = “False”.
“True” = Only matches typing against URLs specifically typed into Location Bar.
“False” = Match against browser history.
* accessibility.tabfocus
Pressing the Tab button on your keyboard when a web page is in focus will move the focus from element to element. This is helpful when moving to a link you’d like to visit or moving between form fields without using the mouse. This preference determines which elements can be focused by pressing Tab.
Note: In OS X (as of 2005), if this preference is not explicitly set, the “Full Keyboard Access” setting in System Preferences will be honored. All builds before that date (e.g., Firefox 1.0.x) will ignore that setting.
Default = “7″ (“1″ in OSX)
“1″ = Give focus to text fields only. (The default in OS X.)
“2″ = Give focus to all form elements except text fields.
“4″ = Give focus to links (and linked images) only.
You can add any of the above values together to combine their functionality.That is, setting this preference to “3″ (i.e., 1 + 2) will let you focus both text fields and other form elements.
* browser.preferences.instantApply
“True” (default in all platforms but Windows) = Changes to browser preferences are active immediately. The preferences window is not modal. Instead of “OK” and “Cancel” buttons, there is only a “Close” button.
“False” = Changes to preferences occur only after clicking the “OK” button. The preference window is modal.
* editor.singleline.pastenewlines
Single-line text fields do not allow users to input newlines. Pasting content, however, poses a problem: what happens if pasted content contains newlines?This is often handled differently on different platforms. This preference determines what happens to multi-line content when it is pasted into a single-line text field.
“0″ (default in Linux) = Paste content intact (include newlines).
“1″ (default everywhere else) = Paste the content only up to (but not including) the first newline.
“2″ = Replace each newline with a space.
“3″ = Remove all newlines from content.
“4″ = Substitute commas for newlines in text box.
“5″ = Remove all newlines and surrounding whitespace.
* layout.word_select.eat_space_to_next_word
This preference controls the selection behaviour when double-clicking text as it relates to the space following the text.
“True” = Select the space up to the following word. (Default on Windows and Mac).
“False” = Do not select any extra spaces. (Default on all platforms except Windows and Mac).
* browser.fixup.alternate.suffix
Firefox tries to automatically add a suffix to the domain name entered if none has.
So, entering www.mozilla would add .com to it because .com is the default suffix that will be added.You might prefer to add a country code like .fr or .de if you live in those countries. Simply change the setting to your country domain.
Default = “.com”
Please have a look here for various country codes.
Performance:
* content.interrupt.parsing (Does NOT exist by default. To create it, right-click an empty area of the about:config page and select New > Boolean).
This preference controls whether the application will interrupt parsing a page to respond to UI events. .
Default value = “True”
“True” = Parsing can be interrupted to process UI events.
“False” = Parsing cannot be interrupted. The application will be unresponsive until parsing is complete.
* network.prefetch-next
Link prefetching is when a webpage hints to the browser that certain pages are likely to be visited, so the browser downloads them immediately so they can be displayed immediately when the user requests it.
This preference controls whether link prefetching is enabled.
Default = “True”.
“False” = Disable Prefetching.
* config.trim_on_minimize (Windows ONLY and does NOT exist by default. To create it, right-click an empty area of the about:config page and select New > Boolean).Determines how Windows handles RAM usage for the browser while minimized. Setting to False will often prevent delays when restoring the window (see bug 76831).
Default value = “False”
“True” = Allow Windows to trim the working set when the browser is minimized.
“False” = Prevent Windows from trimming the working set.
All of the following are to be used in conjunction with each other to noticeably speed FireFox up…
I’m not going to go into much, (if any), detail on these.
Just trust me that they DO work and you WILL see results…
* network.http.pipelining
* network.http.proxy.pipelining
Default = “False”.
“True” = Pipelining enabled.
* network.http.pipelining.maxrequests
Default = “4″.
“1″ = Disable pipelining.
“2-7″ = Maximum number of requests.
“8″ = Maximum useful setting. (any higher value will be ignored in favor of the maximum).
* network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server (It is considered poor etiquette to make too many connections to a server and may lead to you being banned from that server).
Default = “6″. (2 in Fx2).
“1″ = Lowest possible setting.
“255″ = Maximum useful setting. (any higher value will be ignored in favor of the maximum).
* network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy (It is considered poor
etiquette to make too many connections to a server and may lead to you being banned from that server).
Default = “8″. (4 in Fx2).
“1″ = Lowest possible setting.
“255″ = Maximum useful setting. (any higher value will be ignored in favor of the maximum).
* network.http.max-connections-per-server (It is considered poor etiquette to make too many connections to a server and may lead to you being banned from that server).
Default = “15″. (8 in Fx2).
“1″ = Lowest possible setting.
“255″ = Maximum useful setting. (any higher value will be ignored in favor of the maximum).
* network.http.max-connections
Default = “30″. (24 in Fx2).
“1″ = Lowest possible setting.
“65535″ = Maximum useful setting. (any higher value will be ignored in favor of the maximum).
* nglayout.initialpaint.delay (Does NOT exist by default. To create it, right-click an empty area of the about:config page and select New > Integer).
The number of milliseconds to wait before first displaying the page.
Default = “250″
“0″ = Lowest possible setting.
* If you’re on a broadband connection (Cable/DSL, etc) you can use the following
settings as a starting point.
network.http.pipelining = “True”
network.http.proxy.pipelining = “True”
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests = “8″
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server = “16″
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy = “16″
network.http.max-connections-per-server = “16″
network.http.max-connections = “40″
nglayout.initialpaint.delay = “0″
Flash Tutorial 3: Event Detection
Jan 8th
This tutorial is for action-script 2.0
Commands to be covered: (all commands to be used in movie clips)
onClipEvent(load){ }
onClipEvent(unload){ }
onclipEvent(enterFrame){ }
onclipEvent(mouseMove) { }
onclipEvent(mouseDown) { }
onclipEvent(mouseUp) { }
onclipEvent(keyDown) { }
onclipEvent(keyUp) { }
onclipEvent(data) { }
on(rollOver){ }
on(rollOut){ }
on(press){ }
on(release){ }
Code placed in the { } is executed when the specified condition occurs. For example:
Code:
1 2 3 | on(press){ trace("this happens when the movie-clip is pressed by the mouse"); } |
* load
The action is initiated as soon as the movie clip is instantiated and appears in the Timeline.
* unload
The action is initiated in the first frame after the movie clip is removed from the Timeline. The actions associated with the Unload movie clip event are processed before any actions are attached to the affected frame.
* enterFrame
The action is triggered continually at the frame rate of the movie clip. The actions associated with the enterFrame clip event are processed before any frame actions that are attached to the affected frames.
* mouseMove
The action is initiated every time the mouse is moved.
* mouseDown
The action is initiated when the left mouse button is pressed.
* mouseUp
The action is initiated when the left mouse button is released.
* keyDown
The action is initiated when a key is pressed. Use Key.getCode() to retrieve information about the last key pressed.
* keyUp
The action is initiated when a ky is released. Use the Key.getCode() method to retrieve information about the last key pressed.
* data
The action is initiated when data is received in a loadVariables() or loadMovie() action. When specified with a loadVariables() action, the data event occurs only once, when the last variable is loaded. When specified with a loadMovie() action, the data event occurs repeatedly, as each section of data is retrieved.
* rollOver
The action is initiated when the move clip is rolled over by the mouse.
* rollOut
The action is initiated when the mouse rolls off of the movie clip.
* press
The action is initiated when the mouse presses the movie clip.
* release
The action is initiated when the mouse releases a press on the movie clip.
Customizing Windows XP Boot Screen
Jan 7th
Hello and welcome to another exciting issue of Tech Tips! In this issue, I’m going to show you how you can change that boring old Windows XP boot screen to something more exciting and enjoyable.
The image that is displayed during boot up has been pretty well hidden away by Microsoft. It is located in the WINDOWS directory inside the system32 embedded within a file called ntoskrnl.exe. Experienced users of windows often have hacked this file to display their own image during windows boot up. So then all you have to do is find somebody who posted their hacked version of ntoskrnl.exe on the internet and replace the file on your computer, right? WRONG! There are so many versions of Windows for different languages and Microsoft always is making new updates to windows, so just replacing your ntoskrnl.exe with somebody else’s is probably not going to work because chances are you have a slightly different version of windows. And when you start up your computer instead of displaying a nice lovely new boot screen you will probably get some nice text that says “C:\Windows\System32\ntoskrnl.exe is missing or corrupt.”
So how do you safely change the boot screen? A free program called Boot Skin makes it an easy and safe process. Start by visiting www.bootskin.com to download and install the program. Once you get it installed, open up Boot Skin. Look through the default boot screens or visit www.wincustomize.com/Skins.aspx?LibID=32 to download additional boot screens. Click the preview button to preview the skins and once you find one that you like just press apply and you will see it next time you boot up. It’s that easy!