UPDATE: I recently installed ActivePerl 5.6.1.638 on a new Windows XP system, and I did not need to take any special actions to make perl scripts into drop targets. YMMV. If you use perl on Windows, you’ve probably got at least one script that you’d like to be able to put on your Desktop and… Continue reading HOWTO: Create a Perl Shortcut That Acts Like a Drop Target In Windows
Category: post
Translating XBEL to OPML with XSL
I’ve been playing with Dave Winer’s OPML Editor, and it’s starting to grow on me. (Here’s a link to my OPML blog.) One of the coolest things about the OPML Editor is the Map A Domain feature, through which the community server that Dave set up (running on the Frontier kernel) can translate an OPML… Continue reading Translating XBEL to OPML with XSL
Fax Spam
Unsolicited fax spam is illegal under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA), as amended by the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 1995. Unfortunately, that hasn’t saved me from getting in some fax spammers’ databases — even though my phone number is in the National Do Not Call Registry! Luckily (?), I have a… Continue reading Fax Spam
Disable Balloon Tips
HOWTO: Disable Notification Area Balloon Tips in Windows XP Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. Click Start, click… Continue reading Disable Balloon Tips
Scheduled Tasks – Running Tasks Without A Password
For XP Pro: Go to Start/Administrative Tools/Local Security Policy/Security Settings/Local Policies/Security Options Accounts: Limit local account use of blank passwords to console logon only. This is enabled by default, disable it. For XP Home: (Keith Miller) Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa Value name: limitblankpassworduse, Type: REG_DWORD, Data: 0 (disabled) 1 (enabled)… Continue reading Scheduled Tasks – Running Tasks Without A Password
More Trackback Spam
This is a follow-up to a previous post about trackback spam. I’ve noticed in my server logs that many spammers are still trying furiously to leave trackback spam at the default address. Since that address doesn’t exist, they simply get 404 errors and try again. I already was using a custom error page, and now… Continue reading More Trackback Spam
Trackback Spam
As of its most recent version, b2evolution has a problem with trackback spam. Several b2e users (including Whoo and Graham) have suggested renaming the directory that contains (among other things) the trackback script. In theory, this should eliminate spam from bots but should not effect legitimate commenters and pingers. Here’s a perl script I wrote… Continue reading Trackback Spam
MySQLicious-based del.icio.us Sidebar Item
Walter Cruz told me about MySQLicious, which mirrors your del.icio.us bookmarks in a MySQL database. I think it works much better than my previous del.icio.us sidebar solution, which used Magpie to snarf the del.icio.us RSS feed and built the sidebar item from the RSS feed. Here’s the setup as I’m using it: Setup MySQLicious according… Continue reading MySQLicious-based del.icio.us Sidebar Item
Turn Off Internet File Association Service
In Windows XP, when you try to open a file of unknown type, Windows offers to search the Web for the appropriate program to handle the unknown file before offering to let the user choose which program should be used. To bypass this annoying step, use the Group Policy Editor, which should be located at… Continue reading Turn Off Internet File Association Service
Category list modification (b2e)
Similar to the change I made to the blosxom categorylist plugin, I modified b2evolution’s category list module to only list a category if there are posts in that category. I also inserted a space between the checkbox and the category item. This change goes in the file: {YOUR_BLOG_ROOT_DIRECTORY}/skins/_categories.php Here’s a running tally of the diffs.… Continue reading Category list modification (b2e)