AnimeJB Dot Net » computers

Editing New, Send To, and Other Windows Vista Context Menus

Calophi — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:46:04 +0000

It took me a bit to scour the internet and find all the information I needed to get rid of annoying extra items in my Windows Vista context menus. Of ultimate annoyance were the “Send To” and “New” menus.

Many sites weren’t of any help at all, and some replies to this question on forums were met with, “Uninstall the program”, which is perhaps the stupidest answer of all.

So here’s the resources I finally used, so you don’t need to look anymore.

Removing “Send To” Entries:
Customize the Windows Vista Send To Menu – Simple, easy, and won’t break your computer.

Removing “New” Entries:
Clear Unwanted Entries from Explorer’s New Menu – For the more advanced only! You’ll have to edit your registry for this, but it’s relatively straightforward.

General Menu Customization
Fast Explorer – For the more advanced only! It was useful for getting rid of one of my general context menus that popped up on any file or folder I clicked for an archive program I used.

Short Rant: The Problem With Linux

Calophi — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:21:20 +0000

Here’s the problem with Linux.

Within the past two years or so, there have been GIANT LEAPS in usability on Linux platforms. The latest version of Ubuntu is an awesome testament to that fact. The last time I tried to configure a Linux machine – I think it was an installation of Suse – I managed to break it within a few hours after it was installed. I’ve also managed to kill Kubuntu before. I haven’t broken Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty) yet. This is a sign from the Gods.

So what’s the problem?

The problem is when a new user, like me, needs to get something done, obviously they turn to “experienced” Linux users, and the first thing those users say is, “open a terminal and type…”

This is very discouraging for those of us using the new installations and wondering why there isn’t a way to do it through the normal interface. The thing is – there ARE ways to do it through the normal interface now, but the people who have been using Linux forever only know how to do it through the terminal and find it easier that way – even though it isn’t easier for the rest of us who are graphics-oriented.

I’m not saying those of you who are using the terminal are wrong or bad people. And I know that a lot of people coming to you guys with questions have not “RTFM’ed”. But just be aware that help documents have improved, and that they and other system configurations no longer need to be accessed from the terminal.

And to new Linux users out there – pick up a modern installation and try to RTFM. And stop asking experienced users “how” to do things. It’s one thing to ask, “Is it possible to do this?” or, “What’s it called when you do this?” so you know how where to look in your manuals, but if you ask an experienced Linux user “how” to actually do it, you’re going to be in for a world of hurt. Just so you know.

How to See Pretty Subtitles for MKVs and SoftSubs

Calophi — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 18:28:23 +0000

There’s been a lot of debate going around about subbing groups encoding things with SoftSubs or in MKV format. I used to hate those things too, but now I find that they’re pretty awesome, especially for taking screenshots! So I did a little research and put together a little guide to get things looking pretty on Windows and Mac, displaying subtitles the way the group intended for them to look.

To see what I mean, check out these screenshots:

VS.

Realize VLC Sucks

Don’t get me wrong. I use VLC all the time – it plays EVERYTHING and it’s easy to screencap from. HOWEVER. For MKVs and SoftSubs, it really, really, really sucks. A few issues I’ve encountered:

Displays programming it can’t understand in curly braces {}.
Displays in an ugly default font.
Sometimes, ugly default font is jaggedy and unreadable depending on the programming.
It renders multiple simultaneous subtitle lines on top of each other, making both unreadable.

There’s more, but these are the ones that irritated me.

Also be aware that VLC has a lot of older codecs and libraries that, besides making ugly subtitles, cause other issues, such as the h264 videos loading slower. Also, their settings are maybe a bit TOO complex and not very user friendly.

Pretty Subtitles In Windows

If you’re watching these types of files in windows, you really ought to be using The Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP). Wipe out any other codecs and players on your system and install CCCP, and you will never need anything else. There’s nothing more to it!

The site provides you with a utility to help track down your stray codecs, and the pack itself contains two very awesome players – Media Player Classic and Zoom Player. Don’t download them separately – use the ones that come with CCCP. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

Pretty Subtitles On The Mac

This is a smidgen more complicated than Windows, but not much more, I promise!

Step 1

Download and install MPlayer. You want MPlayer OS X 1.0rc1.

Step 2

Open up the preferences menu. On my machine, it’s on the top bar under MPlayer OSX:

Step 3

Under the “General” tab, set your font mirroring the settings below. You don’t have to use Gulim – any true type font (.ttf) will do. Also feel free to set the font size to “normal” instead of “small” -I just prefer mine smaller by default.

Step 4: Final Step!

Click the “Miscellaneous” tab. Check off the “Additional Settings” checkbox and paste in this line:

-ass -embeddedfonts -correct-pts -sid 0

If this doesn’t work, try adding -fontconfig at the end.

MPlayer Extras

If you still aren’t seeing subtitles, be aware of these two shortcut keys:

v: toggles subtitles on and off
j: shuffles through subtitles if there is more than one option

REJOICE!

You should have pretty subtitles now. These are the best options available as far as I know, though of course there is always a user choice in these things. Hopefully this has helped you out a little!

References

Here are the references and links I’ve used for this post.

Multiple IE Versions on Windows XP

Calophi — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:34:46 +0000

There are a lot of different tips, techniques, and cheats for installing multiple versions of Internet Explorer on a Windows XP machine. Most of them are a huge pain in the butt for the functionality, and even then, when you’re doing it without using a virtual machine, some things still are broken, like cookies and conditional comments.

Well there’s a new program out on the block – Multiple IE by TredoSoft.

The installer allows you to run other versions of IE (versions 3-6) next to your IE 7 installation. The cookies and conditional comments work right, too! There are still a few issues, but it’s clearly better than any other solution out there.

Essentially, you just upgrade your IE6 to IE7 normally so that everything works properly, and then run the Multiple IE installer.