August 2007 | The Old New Thing

The Great Muffin Heist of '07

Raymond ChenAugust 31, 2007Aug 31, 200708/31/07

Earlier this month, there were no muffins to be found anywhere on Microsoft campus. Somebody stole the Muffin Truck...

The Internet Explorer pop-up blocker follows guidelines, not rules

Raymond ChenAugust 31, 2007Aug 31, 200708/31/07

Here's a question that came in from a customer (paraphrased): Hello, we are developing an ASP.NET application and are running into problems with the pop-up blocker introduced in Windows XP Service Pack 2. Where can we get a full description of the rules that control whether a pop-up will be blocked so we can make sure our pop-ups ...

Somebody actually took the time to translate my book into Japanese, it appears

Raymond ChenAugust 30, 2007Aug 30, 200708/30/07

I have no idea who they are (since I can't read Japanese), but hatena appears to be some sort of Japanese social bookmarking site, and I'll often find hits from them in my referrer logs. One of the members found a newly-issued Japanese translation of my book, which opens up a whole new audience to my obnoxious personality. Stumbling across ...

Microspeak: FMLA

Raymond ChenAugust 30, 2007Aug 30, 200708/30/07

If you leave your computer unattended and logged in, especially if you work on the security team, you may come back to your office to find that somebody used your computer to sent email out to the entire team with the subject line FMLA. FMLA stands for "Fire my lame anterior" (except with another word for anterior). The implication is that ...

Follow-up: Mysterious Dietrich identified from that bizarre Ferarri crash

Raymond ChenAugust 29, 2007Aug 29, 200708/29/07

Last year, a spectacular crash of a $1 million Ferrari left a lot of questions unanswered. Who were those mysterious men who picked up Eriksson? How did a fully loaded automatic pistol get under the seat of a person who stopped to help? Why exactly does the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority have an anti-terrorism unit? And who is this ...

Kernel handles are not reference-counted

Raymond ChenAugust 29, 2007Aug 29, 200708/29/07

Here's a question that floated past some time ago: In my code, I have multiple objects that want to talk to the same handle (via DeviceIoControl). Each time I create an object, I use DuplicateHandle to increment the reference count on the handle. That way, when each object calls CloseHandle, only the last one actually closes the handle. ...

Airport travel tip: LAX Terminal 6 (United)

Raymond ChenAugust 28, 2007Aug 28, 200708/28/07

When you enter Terminal 6 and turn right to enter the security queue, there are two sets of security equipment. If you are directed to the far set of equipment, you will find three lines for screening. At the point at which you have to choose which line to take, you can't see how your decision is going to play out. The arrangement is ...

With a new Start menu come new keyboard shortcuts

Raymond ChenAugust 28, 2007Aug 28, 200708/28/07

With the new Windows Vista Start menu, the keyboard shortcuts have once again been reorganized. You used to be able to hit the Windows key and then type L to call up the Log off menu, and then L again to trigger the logoff. Or you can hit the Windows key and then type I to launch Internet Explorer if you've been so careful to ensure ...

Is this the normal way of comparing toilets?

Raymond ChenAugust 27, 2007Aug 27, 200708/27/07

My colleague Erin Dallin remarked, "I just installed a new toilet as part of my bathroom remodel. I was told that it is capable of flushing 20 golf balls using only 1.6 gallons of water. I'd love to know how this standard was developed." Visit the product Web site and click on Flushing system in action to watch the video. Or read Wired's ...

Yes indeed, all Microsoft files are (or should be) digitally signed