25 Random Things

If you're on Facebook, then you've probably been tagged by one or more of your friends with one of these... If you haven't, the concept is this: You write a "Note" about yourself, which has "25 random facts" about yourself. You then "tag" a bunch of your friends, and ask them to also write 25 random things about themselves, tag you (along with their own friends) in their notes, and so on.

It's kind of like chain-mail, except instead of trying to spread some false information for "good luck" or whatever, you get to know more about your friends.

So the song above is about that, as well as a parody of the Miley Cyrus song, "7 Things." They also do some things to mimic Miley's video, which you can watch below, if you haven't seen it.

X-Mouse in Windows Vista

This is really just for my own records, in case I need to do the same thing again at some point in the future, I probably won't remember all the details by then, and the resources I found with the information may no longer be around.

So I've been using Windows Vista for a while, and have gotten used to most of its functions. One of the things I missed the most from the previous version was the Power Toys/TweakUI. More specifically, an X-Mouse feature which made it possible for you to "switch" your "active window" from one to the other by simply moving your mouse cursor over to the window you want, without having to click on that other window.

Why is this useful, you ask?

Well, sometimes I might need to copy information from one window to another, and for whatever reason, copy & paste might not be an option. That means I need both windows visible to me, and I might not need to see the full window to which I'm copying the info...

Every once in a while, I would search for TweakUI and Vista, hoping that they've finally released a version for it. Today I realized that the only thing I really want from it was the X-Mouse function, so I searched for that specifically, and found my solution.

It turns out, Vista already has a version of it built-in. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't the exact version I wanted...

There are two different possible behaviors in X-Mouse:

1. Follow the mouse cursor to set the active window, and bring the active window to the front.
2. Follow the mouse cursor to set the active window, and leave the active window where it is (be it in the foreground, the background, or somewhere in between).

In Windows Vista, if you go to the Control Panel > Ease of Access Center > Make the mouse easier to use, you'll find a checkbox for "Activate a window by hovering over it with the mouse"; checking the box will get you the first behavior--Move your mouse over to a window in the background, and (500 milliseconds later) that background window will be in the foreground.

Me, I want the second kind of behavior. But there's no setting to get that behavior. No graphical setting, anyway. Nope, to get that behavior, we'll have to edit the Windows registry.


So, fire up regedit, and get yourself to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]; but first, make sure that checkbox mentioned above is not checked--it makes what we're about to do easier.

Look for the REG_BINARY key of "UserPreferencesMask," and make note of its data values (Mine was "9e 3e 07 80 12 00 00 00").

To make Windows follow your mouse cursor, but not bring the window to the front, add 1(hex) to the first hexadecimal number (which in my case makes it "9f 3e 07 80 12 00 00 00"); to bring the active window to the foreground, on the other hand, requires that you add 41(hex) to the first hex number--for the curious, you can confirm this by using the setting in your Control Panel, then refreshing the display in the registry editor, and making the calculations for yourself.

Next, see if the REG_DWORD key of "ActiveWndTrkTimeout" exists. The value here is for "how long should windows wait before changing focus, in milliseconds." If it exists, the default value is probably "1f4" in Hex, or "500" milliseconds in the decimal system. You can edit this to be whatever value you want. If it doesn't exist, create it, and set it to the value you want.

That's it! Log off your current Windows user, then log back in, and it will take effect.



Oh, and the reason I said not checking the box would make it easier? Well, if the box was checked, then you'd have to subtract 40(hex) from the first hex number, instead of just adding 1(hex). I can add 1(hex) in my head, but subtracting by 40(hex)? I'd either need a piece of paper to work out the math, or a scientific calculator.

Path to Destruction

So NBC is airing their two-part mini-series called Meteor: Path to Destruction, which is about a large meteor that's on a collision course towards the earth, which, if unstopped, could cause global destruction...

Didn't we already see this movie... twice?!

In the Year 3000

On his new role as host of The Tonight Show, Conan has brought back one of his old bits, with an updated name.

Harry Pothead

So the sixth Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, starts playing in theaters today. The latest title once again reminds me how easily some of the titles lend themselves to cannabis slang, to wit:

1. Harry Pothead and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stoned
2. Harry Pothead and the Cannabis of Secrets
3. Harry Pothead and the Prisoner of Azkabong
4. Harry Pothead and the Ganja of Fire
5. Harry Pothead and the Order of the Phillies Blunt
6. Harry Pothead and the Half-Baked Prince
7. Harry Pothead and the Doobie Hallows
   

Speaking of Super Mario...

Beginning in June, Conan took over for Jay Leno as the host of The Tonight Show on NBC. A few days later, the blog Serious Lunch posted about the resemblance between a backdrop of the set and the designs of Super Mario Bros., complete with edited background from the game (actually, it looks more like the design from Super Mario World). By the end of the week, the above clip aired.

Poor Mario

The Wounds of History

20 years ago, college students in Beijing held a protest, which ended in Tiananmen Square when the Chinese government sent troops and tanks to literally squash the protest, referred to at the time on the news at the Tiananmen Square massacre. The protests were broadcast in news reports all over the world.

Famous singers in Taiwan at the time got together, and produced this song, in memorandum to those who lost their lives.

Below is an interpretation of the lyrics to this song:

With something over your eyes, they think you won't be able to see
With your ears covered, they think you won't be able to hear
But the truth is your heart, the anguish is on your chest
How much longer must we abide? How much longer must we remain silent?

If warm tears can wash clean the dust
If hot blood can be traded for freedom
Let tomorrow remember the angry roars of today
Let all the world see the wounds of history

Always remember, always remember
The wounds of history

She don't got a lot to say, but there's something about her

Transforminators

"Why are you trashing my scene? You are trashing my scene!"

It's not lupus!

I've watched this four times already, and I can't stop laughing...

Bold claims... Bold, stupid claims

One of the recent Mac commercials (above) have a woman searching for a computer "that works without crashing, or viruses, or a ton of headaches." PC then leaves, leaving the woman to Mac. It's Apple's response to the recent "laptop hunters" commercials by Microsoft.

As if the Mac never crashes... Anyone rushing out to buy a Mac thinking that they'll never had to deal with crashes or headaches are in for a rude awakening. And even though they are rare, Macs also have viruses. So Apple marketing, you're 0 for 3. WTF were you thinking?

I guess for those who hail Apple as the second coming would simply ignore the fact that the Mac crashes just like every other OS, because in their eyes, the might Steve Jobs would never steer them wrong. And iPhones have absolutely no glitches or problems at all.

The sad fact is that... every computer crashes, 'cause every OS sucks.

The Book of Love

On the (possibly series) finale of Scrubs, this song was used near the end, as J.D. fantasizes about what may happen in the future. Both the song and the montage of possible future outcome of these characters are very sweet and touching. I bet most fans got teary-eyed. I know J.D. would have.

As it is, since Zach Braff is leaving the show, and most of the show was told through his character's perspective, there's no way it would remain the same. If the show does get renewed, it will certainly be interesting to see what direction the show takes.

...and here's the clip from the show itself.

Pepsi Throwback

You may have noticed the recent Pepsi commercials where they're now selling the "Throwback" version, made with "natural sugar," and with the older (original?) Pepsi formula.

So, what's the big deal? Well, for years now, Pepsi (along with many other major soft drink brands) have been sweetening their drinks with high fructose corn syrup, instead of regular sugar. It is the belief of many that drinks made with sugar, instead of high fructose corn syrup, taste better.

As you can see, the current version of Pepsi is made with:

• Carbonated water
• High fructose corn syrup
• Caramel Color
• Sugar
• Phosphoric acid
• Caffeine
• Citric acid
• Natural flavor

It actually does still have regular sugar in it, but obviously not as much as high fructose corn syrup.

Since it's been ages since I've had Pepsi that's not made with high fructose corn syrup, I don't remember what the "original" Pepsi tastes like, and I'm certainly curious to see if I'd like the "original" better.

Pepsi Throwback is made with:

• Carbonated water
• Sugar
• Caramel color
• Phosphoric acid
• Caffeine
• Natural flavor

Now, when they say "natural sugar" in the commercial, they mean beet and cane sugar. So aside from using all sugar instead of any high fructose corn syrup, Pepsi Throwback is also missing citric acid.


So, how is it? Well, it has a "cleaner" taste... there's no after taste. I sort of miss the subtle lemony flavor of the citric acid, but the other subtle taste that's there in its place is not bad, either. Overall, I like it, although it doesn't seem to be definitively better. I'll continue to buy Pepsi Throwback instead of regular Pepsi while it's available.

You're gonna love my nuts

Not that the original informercial wasn't funny enough already, with its ridiculous statements, such as:

• "You're gonna be slapping your troubles away."
  
• "Stop having a boring tuna. Stop having a boring life."
• "We're gonna make America skinny again, one slap at a time."
• "You're gonna love my nuts."
• "You're gonna be slapping away everyday."

But anyway, enjoy.