Vista Disables Help and SendKeys

I have been having fun with my new laptop and Windows Vista. Actually it doesn't suck too badly, except that the HP LaserJet 1020 support in Vista is badly broken, but I have written about it before. HP lost out on a laptop sale because of this problem, and will probably lose out on our next printer purchase as well.
Today's WOW revelation (remember "The WOW Starts Now" slogan?) is that the trusted VB "Sendkeys" function has been disabled in Vista, breaking a gazillion VB6 programs, as well as some key (ahem) parts of Miami/Mustang. Fortunately I found a library written by Karl E Peterson that required only minor tweaking to get it to work in Access 97.
In the process I discovered that the Access97 help function doesn't work in Vista until you install a help file program. That in turn required me to validate my copy of Windows again, which doesn't work properly in Firefox, so I had to go to the URL using IE7. What a mission!
The dreaded UAC (User Annoyance Control) is a little more manageable if you use the Norton UAC program from Norton Labs.
Update: Any Access97 developer who needs SendKeys and who does not have the time and/or energy to modify Karl Peterson's code, can email me for a modified copy: vmusic at spamcop dot net.

"Open Command Window Here" in Vista

The Microsoft PowerToy "Open Command Window Here" for WinXP doesn't work with Vista, and I couldn't find one I understood, so I wrote a simple registry file to do it instead. Copy and paste the text below into notepad:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\cmd]
@="Open Command Window Here"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\cmd\command]
@="cmd.exe /F:ON /K \"cd %L\""

Now save this as CmdHere.reg (or any other file name with a .reg extension), and then double-click to run it, observing the usual UAC and permissions rituals. Now you should see the familiar "Open Command Window Here" entry when you right-click a folder name. This code will also work on Windows XP and Windows 2000.

Lighten Up a Little!

This applies to me too. Lighten up! Thanks to my brother Andrew for this link.
And thanks to the Onion for a great news item:

Economists Warn Anti-Bush Merchandise Market Close To Collapse

Attack Ads Fuel American Racism

A simple report by Aljazeera about racism in the American heartland (like we didn't know it already exists) has caused a storm of outrage, not at the views expressed, but that a TV reporter would include them in his story.
Any outside observer would include these remarks, so what's the fuss? Apparently the US media ignores these comments, and expresses outrage if someone else doesn't ignore them. Sounds a bit like our old Apartheid SABC.

Surviving Internet Explorer

I normally use Firefox for browsing, but for the past week I've been forced to use Internet Explorer 7 on a different machine. What's more, this machine only has an 800x600 display, so some of the web sites have been a bit weird.
I don't have permission to install Firefox, so I did the next best thing: IE7Pro. It's an add-in to IE6, IE7 and IE8 that allows you to do a number of really useful things that IE doesn't normally do. The most important of these is to block ads, but the other is to do tabbed browsing properly.
Many of the sites I visit have been opening multiple IE windows, which gets incredibly confusing after a while. IE7Pro has a useful option under "IE Settings" called "Always open popups in a new tab" which effectively stops multiple independent IE Windows, and keeps everything more organized so you don't have to go searching for windows using Alt-Tab. This has saved me considerable time and frustration.
Another useful goodie is the weather plug-in, which gives a 5 day forecast when you hover over the icon on the status bar. There are also some useful user scripts and safety features, and a download manager. It's amazing how a few small things like this can make a huge difference to my productivity. If you use IE a lot, check it out!

Soweto Beach Party

I was aghast at this video, which I saw last night on Aljazeera English TV. The traffic cops didn't show up, so there was traffic gridlock and a near riot. The newspapers I read didn't even mention the event! Is this how the city plans to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup?
I'm glad that a concert of this size has been a regular event, and just wish I'd heard about it locally. See you there next year!

John "Hamster" McCain

Am I the only one who thinks that John McCain looks like a hamster? Those puffy cheeks were on full display during his nomination speech, which no one remembers because we still have the shrill voice of the yapping pitbull ringing in our ears.
American politics is a mystery to me, and I don't have the vote in the USA. But the choices made at the polls in America affect the rest of the world, so we watch and hope.

I hate stereotypes, but if the DNC could be summed up as slightly insincere but sophisticated and charming, then the RNC would be summed up as nostalgic and snide. Sarcasm is all very well, but when it becomes the main point of a speech, then it is really boring.

Surplus Department. Huh?

The sign on the door reads "Surplus Department", and I'm sure that in the organisational structure of the company it has a specific meaning, but it seems strange at first glance.
Is this just an example of nepotism and everyone employed by the department has been given a meaningless job because of "connections" or influence? I hope not.
Are the employees in this department just waiting to be "downsized" and are being kept out of the way until then? The mind boggles. Perhaps its a charity that distributes a surplus? Any other suggestions?

P.S. I will try to get a less shaky picture. Too much coffee, I think.