The Old New Thing

June 2007 - Page 3 of 5 - The Old New Thing

What other programs are filtered from the Start menu's list of frequently-used programs?

June 15, 2007 Jun 15, 2007 06/15/07
Raymond Chen
We already saw that programs in the pin list are pruned from the most-frequently-used programs list because they would be redundant. Another fine-tuning rule was introduced after the initial explorations with the new Windows XP Start menu: Programs with specific "noise" names are removed from consideration. Many "noise" programs were ...

The Thing? Mystery of the desert

June 14, 2007 Jun 14, 2007 06/14/07
Raymond Chen
NPR reported on The Thing?, a surreal yet kitchy roadside attraction on Interstate 10 in Arizona which has cryptic (and therefore intriguing) advertising signs for hundreds of miles. Listen as Rene Gutel of member station KJZZ in Phoenix gets to the bottom of the enduring mystery: What is The Thing...

If you pin a program, it doesn't show up in the frequently-used programs list

June 14, 2007 Jun 14, 2007 06/14/07
Raymond Chen
After the initial explorations with the Windows XP Start menu, we had to add a rule that fine-tuned the results: If a program is pinned, then it is removed from consideration as a frequently-used program. For example, if you right-click Lotus Notes and select "Pin to Start menu", then it goes into the pin list and will never show up in ...

SIFF reviews: Falling, 2 Days in Paris, Hula Girls

June 13, 2007 Jun 13, 2007 06/13/07
Raymond Chen
Another week, another batch of SIFF movie reviews. Falling: High school friends reunite at a teacher's funeral. And then go on a road trip, except they give up on their destination and start wandering around. A bunch of stuff happens, none of which seems to make much sense. Like the twelve-year-old Daphne in the film, I felt dragged along ...

The program doesn't have to be run from the Start menu to earn Start menu points

June 13, 2007 Jun 13, 2007 06/13/07
Raymond Chen
There's a second subtlety to the basic principle that determines which programs show up in the Start menu: Each time you launch a program, it "earns a point", and the longer you don't launch a program, the more points it loses. Since programs earn points and not shortcuts, a program can earn points even if you don't use the Start menu to ...

Points are earned by programs, not by shortcuts

June 12, 2007 Jun 12, 2007 06/12/07
Raymond Chen
The first subtlety of the basic principle that determines which programs show up in the Start menu is something you may not have noticed when I stated it: Each time you launch a program, it "earns a point", and the longer you don't launch a program, the more points it loses. Notice that the rule talks about programs, not shortcuts. The "...

The New York City Profit Calculator

June 11, 2007 Jun 11, 2007 06/11/07
Raymond Chen
New York Magazine has a fascinating feature in today's issue: The Profit Calculator. It covers a cross-section of New York City businesses and studies how they make their money. Chock full of interesting little details, such as...

What determines which programs show up on the front page of the Windows XP Start menu?

June 11, 2007 Jun 11, 2007 06/11/07
Raymond Chen
The principle is that programs you've run most often recently are the ones that show up on the front page of the Start menu. At least, that's what we started with, but it turns out that some fine-tuning was needed in order to get the experience to be more "natural". The basic rule is that each time you launch a program, it "earns a point", ...

shopautodotca seocontest online contest tacitly encourages comment spam

June 8, 2007 Jun 8, 2007 06/8/07
Raymond Chen
There is a Canadian web site that is running a contest to see who can get their web site to rank highest for the terms "shopautodotca seocontest". There's $14,000 in prize money at stake (presumably in Canadian dollars), as well as a contract as the company's SEO manager. Since the contest rules do not rule out spam as a mechanism for ...