Showing results for December 2005 - The Old New Thing

Dec 23, 2005
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On the “Days without a pony” web page

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

Reader Mark Eichin was curious about the "Days with a pony" web page. Here's what it would look (suitably redacted) if it were still operating: December 23, 2005: Still no pony From: Raymond Chen To: Xxxx Xxxxxx Subject: Laptop order Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 09:47:19 -0800 I want a pony and a train set and an NEC Versa SX laptop (NECVS4E0E7A...

Other
Dec 22, 2005
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Why do up-down controls have the arrows backwards?

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

When you create an up-down control (some people call a "spinner" control) in its default configuration, the up-arrow decrements the value and the down-arrow increments it. Most people expect the up-arrow to increment and the down-arrow to decrement. Why is it backwards? The up-down control is a victim of Windows' reversed y-axis. ...

History
Dec 21, 2005
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The office disco party

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

One of the long-standing traditions at Microsoft is to play a prank on someone's office while they're away on vacation. You can imagine what most of these pranks are like, filling someone's office with packing peanuts or other materials, or relocating their office to an unlikely part of the building (the bathroom, the cafeteria), or something more ...

History
Dec 20, 2005
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“Pro forma” was so 1990’s

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

"Non-GAAP" is the new "pro forma". Remember the exciting dot-com boom days? Everybody was reporting "pro forma" results. Pro forma in the 1990's turned into a euphemism for "We just made this stuff up". But after the dot-com bust and a series of accounting scandals, the phrase pro forma turned into a bad word on Wall Street. People swore off that...

Non-Computer
Dec 20, 2005
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Why does Windows setup lay down a new boot sector?

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

Why does Windows setup lay down a new boot sector? Because the alternative is worse. You would expect that after installing an operating system, the operating system should boot. If your boot sector is damaged, say because this is a brand new hard drive with no boot sector, or because it was infected with a boot sector virus, you expect the ...

Other
Dec 19, 2005
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Music to slip into a playlist to see if anybody is listening

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

When I was visiting my brother earlier this year, I found this CD in my sister-in-law's collection. Oy vey's mir! There's just something fundamentally wacked out about the whole idea. (Maybe that's why I liked it. Here's what other people think...

Non-Computer
Dec 19, 2005
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Beware the Image File Execution Options key

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

Beware the Image File Execution Options key (more). Its power can be used for evil as well as for good. Its intended use is to force a program to run under a debugger regardless of how it is launched (and secondarily to alter how the system treats the program). It's handy if you need to debug a program "in the wild" rather than under the ...

Other
Dec 16, 2005
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When hyperthreading is enabled, all the processors are virtual

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

A common problem when answering technical questions is that people sometimes ask a question that can't or shouldn't be answered because it is based upon a misunderstanding. What's particularly frustrating is when they insist that you answer their question as posed, even when you try to explain to them that their question is itself flawed. It's as...

Other
Dec 16, 2005
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The Dead Sea Scrolls are coming to Seattle

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

Coming to the Pacific Science Center in September 2006 the Dead Sea Scrolls, "considered by many experts to be the most significant archaeological find of the twentieth century". Tickets went on sale yesterday. Volunteer opportunities also available...

Non-Computer
Dec 15, 2005
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A note to headhunters: Check your links

Raymond Chen
Raymond Chen

If you're going to try to recruit me, you might want to check that the links in your email actually work. Just sayin'. I'm going to mock you regardless, but you should at least make me have to work for it...

Other