The Old New Thing

December 2003 - The Old New Thing

How to stop delivery of telephone books

December 31, 2003 Dec 31, 2003 12/31/03
Raymond Chen
Like many of you (I suspect), I don't use the paper telephone book. If I want to look something up, I go online. Yet every year I get a dozen different telephone books. I don't like them because a telephone book sitting on my front porch screams, "Rob this house! Nobody's home!" Besides, it's a waste of paper. So for the past few years I've ...

At least the Danes know how to count

December 30, 2003 Dec 30, 2003 12/30/03
Raymond Chen
Even though Danish is impossible for me to pronounce, I do appreciate their stubborn resistance to decimalization. The number 71 is (I hope I get this right) "en og halvfjerdsindstyve", literally, "one and half-four-times-twenty", or more commonly, just "en og halvfjerds". (Those familiar with other Germanic languages recognize "half-...

What's the difference between CreateMenu and CreatePopupMenu?

December 30, 2003 Dec 30, 2003 12/30/03
Raymond Chen
CreateMenu creates a horizontal menu bar, suitable for attaching to a top-level window. This is the sort of menu that says "File, Edit", and so on. CreatePopupMenu creates a vertical popup menu, suitable for use as a submenu of another menu (either a horizontal menu bar or another popup menu) or as the root of a context menu. If you get the ...
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What's with those blank taskbar buttons that go away when I click on them?

December 29, 2003 Dec 29, 2003 12/29/03
Raymond Chen
Sometimes you'll find a blank taskbar button that goes away when you click on it. What's the deal with that? There are some basic rules on which windows go into the taskbar. In short: (Though the ITaskbarList interface muddies this up a bit.) When a taskbar-eligible window becomes visible, the taskbar creates a button for it. When a taskbar...

"Beam me up" is not yet recognized

December 29, 2003 Dec 29, 2003 12/29/03
Raymond Chen
How soon before this becomes standard equipment at Star Trek conventions? Vocera Communications Unveils Wearable, Instant Voice Communications Application "Enterprise environments are looking for applications that leverage their investment in wireless communication technologies and increase employee efficiency," ... Some of the ...

Another privacy policy that isn't very private

December 28, 2003 Dec 28, 2003 12/28/03
Raymond Chen
Today I read the privacy policy for Nuveen Investment Advisors. I like this part: We do not disclose any nonpublic personal information about you to anyone, except as permitted by law. "Except as permitted by law". How reassuring. Is it really necessary to have an official policy promising that that you won't break the law? And actually ...

Danish so-called "pronunciation"

December 28, 2003 Dec 28, 2003 12/28/03
Raymond Chen
Of course my real goal in studying German and Swedish is eventually to have all of Denmark surrounded. (After Swedish, the next most likely nearby targets are Norwegian and Dutch.) All I know about Denmark I learned from Swedes. Well, if you don't count one Danish co-worker, who moved back to Denmark several years ago. The Swedes tell me...

How to hide privacy violations in a privacy disclosure statement

December 27, 2003 Dec 27, 2003 12/27/03
Raymond Chen
I'm looking over my Fidelity privacy disclosure statement, titled "Our commitment to privacy". Google is amazing: It found a copy online: Our Commitment to Privacy. Scroll down to How and Why We Obtain Personal Information, fourth bullet point: (Italics added.) The italicized phrase translates as "We will collect personal information in ...