The Old New Thing

Suggestion box

Post suggestions for future topics here instead of posting off-topic comments. Note that the suggestion box is emptied and read periodically so don't be surprised if your suggestion vanishes. (Note also that I am under no obligation to accept any suggestion.)Topics I are more inclined to cover: Topics I am not inclined to cover...

Hong Kong crocodile caught at last.

After over half a year of eluding experts, the Hong Kong crocodile was caught at last. What amused me was that the article said that the creature had eluded an expert crocodile hunter from Australia named... John Lever? (Curiously, in this article, he is given credit for capturing the croc.) Not the self-proclaimed Crocodile ...

Monitor giving you a headache? Check the refresh rate.

Some people are more sensitive to lower monitor refresh rates than others. Go to the display control panel and click to the Settings tab. From there, click the Advanced button and go to the Monitor tab. From there, you can adjust your screen refresh rate. As a rule of thumb, higher refresh rates are less likely to cause eyestrain. If ...

At least it's easier than learning Finnish

Finnish Radio station YLE offers weekly news summaries in classical Latin. Because practically nobody outside Finland would understand the news in Finnish... In my random travels around the Internet, I stumbled across this article on the subject of teaching Finnish to foreigners: Finnish's status as an official EU language has ...

The evolution of dialog templates – Summary

As promised, here's the tabular version of the evolution of dialog templates. It doesn't contain any new information, but it may give you a little glimpse into how things evolved to see the small changes highlighted against each other...

The only way you're going to wake up next to Claudia Schiffer

Dominic O'Brien, world speed-memorization champion, on his technique for memorizing over 18 decks of shuffled cards in an hour: "I remember things by personalising them," explains O'Brien, 43. "With playing cards, for instance, I memorise each one as a face. The queen of hearts I think of as Claudia Schiffer, the ace of clubs as Nick ...

The evolution of dialog templates – 32-bit Extended Templates

At last we reach our goal, the 32-bit extended dialog template, known in resource files as DIALOGEX. I will celebrate this with a gratuitous commutative diagram: Isn't that special. Okay, so let's get going. The 32-bit extended dialog template is the 32-bit version of the 16-bit extended dialog template, so you won't see any real ...

When cafeteria pricing meets mathematics

Prices in the Microsoft cafeteria are often illogical. For example, a "special sandwich" costs $4.25. A piece of whole fruit costs $0.50. But a "special sandwich with a piece of whole fruit" costs $4.95. If you're not careful, the cashier will ring it up as a "special sandwich with a piece of whole fruit" instead of as a "special ...

The evolution of dialog templates – 16-bit Extended Templates

The next step in the evolution of dialog templates is the Extended Dialog or DIALOGEX. First, let's look at the 16-bit version. The 16-bit extended dialog template is purely historical. The only operating systems to support it were the Windows 95/98/Me series. It is interesting only as a missing link in the evolution towards the 32-bit ...

Drug dealers have to pay taxes too.

In the state of Kansas, "The fact that dealing marijuana and controlled substances is illegal does not exempt it from taxation. Therefore drug dealers are required by law to purchase drug tax stamps...