May 2004

Why is the default 8-bit codepage called "ANSI"?

Raymond Chen May 31, 2004 May 31, 2004 05/31/04

Reader Ben Hutchings wanted to know why the 8-bit codepage is called "ANSI" when it isn't actually ANSI. But instead of saying, "Oh well, some things mortals were never meant to know," he went and dug up the answer himself. A quick Google for Windows ANSI misnomer found me exactly what I was looking for [pdf]: "The term...

Chewing gum legalized in Singapore

Raymond Chen May 31, 2004 May 31, 2004 05/31/04

After twelve years, Singapore has relaxed its ban on chewing gum. But not so fast. Before Singaporeans think about unwrapping a pack of Wrigley's Orbit gum that's just started selling here -- and only in pharmacies -- they must submit their names and ID card numbers. If they don't, pharmacists who sell them gum could be jailed up ...

Kipping

Raymond Chen May 28, 2004 May 28, 2004 05/28/04

Apparently that's the term for knitting in public. The New York Times covered the online knitting community. I wasn't aware of the Yahoo knitlist group; I may have to go check it out. (The NYT article also mentions the yarn Fizz, which I have used, but I much prefer Splash, a totally knock-your-socks-off novelty yarn. ...

High-performance multithreading is very hard

Raymond Chen May 28, 2004 May 28, 2004 05/28/04

Among other things, you need to understand weak memory models. Hereby incorporating by reference Brad Abrams' discussion of volatile and MemoryBarrier(). In particular, Vance Morrison's discussion of memory models is important reading. (Though I think Brad is being too pessimistic about volatile. Ensuring release semantics at the...

How do you undo Minimize All and Show Desktop?

Raymond Chen May 28, 2004 May 28, 2004 05/28/04

It seems it's not well-known how to undo a Minimize All or a Show Desktop, two operations which I discussed briefly yesterday. To undo a Minimize All, you can right-click the taskbar and select "Undo Minimize All", or at least you used to be able to do that. Minimize All is no longer on the menus, presumably because it ended up ...

Meet Anton Chekhov

Raymond Chen May 27, 2004 May 27, 2004 05/27/04

(Not to be confused with Star Trek's Pavel Chekov, who spells his name with a plain "k" instead of a "kh". Of course, since this is all transliteration from Cyrillic, of which there are multiple systems, arguing about spelling is rather dubious anyway.) The guerilla performance group Improv Everywhere stages events in public ...

What is the difference between Minimize All and Show Desktop?

Raymond Chen May 27, 2004 May 27, 2004 05/27/04

The keyboard shortcut for "Minimize All" is Win+M and The keyboard shortcut for "Show Desktop" is Win+D. How are they different? "Minimize All" is easier to describe. It minimizes all the windows that support the "Minimize" command. You can minimize a window by selecting "Minimize" from its System menu, or by clicking the 🗕 button ...

Art too bad to be ignored

Raymond Chen May 26, 2004 May 26, 2004 05/26/04

The Museum of Bad Art: Art Too Bad To Be Ignored. The Athlete Crayon and pencil on canvas by Unknown 30"x40" Acquired from trash in Boston by Scott Wilson A startling work, and one of the largest crayon on canvas pieces that most people can ever hope to see. The bulging leg muscles, the black shoes, the white socks, the pink...

How does the desktop choose the icon label color?

Raymond Chen May 26, 2004 May 26, 2004 05/26/04

Many system colors come in pairs, one for background and one for foreground. For example, COLOR_MENU and COLOR_MENUTEXT; COLOR_WINDOW and COLOR_WINDOWTEXT; COLOR_HIGHLIGHT and COLOR_HIGHLIGHTTEXT. More on these colors in a future blog entry. But there is COLOR_DESKTOP and no COLOR_DESKTOPTEXT. How does the desktop choose the icon ...

The Fderal Burau of Inv*stigations

Raymond Chen May 25, 2004 May 25, 2004 05/25/04

According to the Chicago Division, Use of the NAME, INITIALS, or SEAL of the F*I is restricted by law and may be used only with written permission of the F*I. Asterisks inserted to avoid being arrested by the F*I for using their name and initials without written permission. (I hope they don't go after me for using their ...

The Old New Thing

May 2004 - The Old New Thing

Why is the default 8-bit codepage called "ANSI"?

Chewing gum legalized in Singapore

Kipping

High-performance multithreading is very hard

How do you undo Minimize All and Show Desktop?

Meet Anton Chekhov

What is the difference between Minimize All and Show Desktop?

Art too bad to be ignored

How does the desktop choose the icon label color?

The Fderal Burau of Inv*stigations

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