Last call for the Sony Reader store

Posted on March 19, 2014 by admin (Royce)

It’s last call for the Sony Reader store. Tomorrow (March 20th) at 6 PM eastern time, they’re pulling the plug for good.

In their press releases and in their reader FAQ, Sony says they will be sending out instructions on how to link all book and periodical purchases made in the Sony Reader store to a Kobo account, but only after the Sony Reader Store has completely shut down.

Why wait until a few days after the store has shut down to send these directions? Because they’re SONY, DAMMIT. They made Walkmans these young’uns with their newfangled iKindlePad thingamajigs don’t appreciate none!

You can read the “we’re outta here” post here, the Sony Ereader Store closure FAQ here, and the directions on how to download your previous purchases here (but no directions on how to move everything you might have bought to Kobo yet).

STAX6 (AKA: Texas Sales Tax Filing App) missing file upload fix

Posted on December 17, 2012 by admin (Royce)

If your company is using the brand new state of Texas STAX6 application to upload monthly sales tax reports, the new default path for the pre-upload file is going to be in the C:\ProgramData\TexasCPA\Stax6 directory.

The problem is, C:\ProgramData\ is a hidden directory by system default.

Great location for a default save path, STAX!

Your accounting team isn’t going to find a C:\ProgramData\ directory when they fire up a browser and launch the state’s upload tool, and they’re not going to see it when they open the C: drive from Windows Explorer either. Panic isn’t a strong enough word for what will ensue.

To keep everyone’s blood pressure down, right click on the STAX6 uploader(s) desktop and create a NEW>SHORTCUT to C:\ProgramData\TexasCPA\Stax6 and save it right on their desktop. Instead of searching their C:\ drive for a hidden directory, have the STAX6 uploader(s) point the state’s upload directory tool to that Stax6 shortcut on their desktop, and from there the monthly tax files will appear in a list.

If they have already closed the STAX6 application, or don’t remember which .txt file to upload, you can search for the filename in the format ST(MONTH)(DAY)n(VERSION).txt (example: ST1217n1), or just search for .txt files modified in the last couple of hours (including protected and invisible files and folders).

One more thing – the new STAX6 is 64 bit only, so if you’re running on a old(er) operating system, you don’t have a choice on updating anymore.

Disney is closing down their Movies Online service on Dec. 31st

Posted on November 19, 2012 by admin (Royce)

Disney just announced in a press release they are closing their entire stream-and-watch digital service on December 31st.

If you made any purchases directly with the online streaming store you can get a refund (according to the FAQ) by sending an email “by February 28, 2013 to support@disneymoviesonline.com with “Refund Needed” in the subject line. Be sure to include your name, mailing address, and phone number … and we will mail you a check. No additional action is necessary on your part.”

This doesn’t have anything to do with the Disney Combo packs with a “Digital Copy” sticker that are still in stores. You can still download those from either iTunes or Windows Media Player on your computer (according to the FAQ) like this…

Transfer to Mac:
- Insert the Disney Digital Copy disc into your Mac’s DVD drive, launch the application, click on the “Activate” button from the main menu and follow the on-screen instructions.
- The iTunes application will open and guide you through the transfer.
- When prompted by iTunes, enter the unique code found on the insert located in your DVD or Blu-ray package to activate your Disney Digital Copy.
- After the transfer completes, the movie can be watched on your Mac and transferred to your iTunes compatible device.
Transfer to PC:
- Insert the Disney Digital Copy disc into your PC’s DVD drive, launch the application, click on the “Activate” button from the main menu and follow the on-screen instructions.
- Choose either iTunes or Windows Media for your Disney Digital Copy.
- If you choose iTunes, the iTunes window will automatically open and guide you through the transfer:
  - Input the unique code found on the insert located in your DVD or Blu-ray package to activate the Disney Digital Copy
  - After the transfer completes, the movie can be watched on your PC or transferred to your iTunes compatible device.
- If you choose Windows Media, follow the steps below:
  - When prompted, input the unique code found on the insert located in your DVD or Blu-ray package to activate the Disney Digital Copy and follow the on-screen instructions.
  - After the transfer completes, the movie can be watched on your PC and transferred to your PlaysForSure compatible portable device.

The Disney-streaming-movies was brilliant while it lasted. After logging in to the service and keying in a unique code for every Disney movie, you could watch that movie anytime from any web browser! That was a stroke of genius! Why not watch the movie when you want where you want if you own the original copy!? Unfortunately, some dopey-grumpy-greedy dwarf must have found out about this brilliant idea, and that was that. I bet there will probably be a “monetized” version of this service in mid-2013.

Dailybooth is shutting down. Download your photos before December 31st.

Posted on November 12, 2012 by admin (Royce)

If you haven’t heard by now, Dailybooth is shutting down.

If you are a Dailybooth user, you can still download your photos by going to http://dailybooth.com/export and signing up for an archived download of all your photos.

Here’s a copy of the email sent to all users…

“Dear *|USERNAME|*,

A picture a day, every day. DailyBooth was launched based on that simple idea. We never could have imagined what it would become more than three years later.

The community each one of you helped create is truly one of a kind. There have been many unforgettable memories created amongst us and none of this would have been possible without you. For that, we’re truly grateful for what you’ve helped DailyBooth become.

Regrettably, this email comes with unfortunate news. DailyBooth is shutting down. Keeping the website running is no longer feasible.

On Wednesday, November 14th, the website will no longer allow you to add new content. Shortly thereafter, the website will be changed allowing you to only be able to download your photos. You’ll be able to download your photos until December 31st, 2012. After this date all content will be permanently deleted.

We can’t thank you enough for everything.”

Syncing nightmare with Bento (AKA: Erasing a database in one step)

Posted on October 20, 2012 by admin (Royce)

Here’s something I found out the hard way.

If you use Bento for Mac and iPhone, deleting a database on the iPhone will also delete the master database on the Mac on the next sync.

Let me type that again, because I still can’t believe it.

If you delete a Bento database on the iPhone, on the next sync, the master database on the Mac, the one with all the critical information you’ve been building up, will be completely erased.

No warning. No confirmation. No temp file hiding in the library. Nothing in the trash to recover. The database is gone. Wiped out. Nuked from orbit. Buh-bye.

Deleting a master database from a field device should take confirmation, a second password confirmation, re-re-confirmation, and the last two addresses you’ve lived at. For a database program to allow an immediate nuke without any prompt? That’s beyond unacceptable.

Filemaker knows about this issue (here and here), but their response has always been “ah, just restore from weekly backup”.

Ah, no. Hell no. This is a crippling “should have never got out of beta” design flaw.

Zero-star rating for Bento. Don’t ever use this app.

Was $9,999.99. Now only $209.90! [PHOTO]

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Royce-iphone

I didn’t think the Archos series was that expensive.

How to import a .CSV address export file into Network Solutions webmail

Posted on September 25, 2012 by admin (Royce)

To import a .CSV file successfully into Network Solution’s webmail client, you need to key in some very particular field names on the top row of the .CSV file before importing.

The field names are…

Given name : First Name
Sur name : Last Name
Street home : Address
Email 1 : Email
Telephone home 1 : Phone

The words don’t have to be in bold or larger than the regular .CSV text, but they do have to be spelled and spaced in the exact same manner as the examples above. From there, you can go to the CONFIGURATION icon in Network Solutions webmail, and then choose the IMPORT .CSV option to pull your exported addresses into the Network Solutions webmail client.

Leave it to Network Solutions to mandate some archaic field names to import a .CSV file and not have a basic import-field-mapper in place to make life easier.

How software was registered “back in the day” [PHOTO]

Posted on September 11, 2012 by admin (Royce)

I was re-installing an old piece of software and ran across this gem after the install…

Old School Electronic Registration

Print for Mailing! Print for Faxing! Send Via MODEM! And most amazing of all, Send Via Internet!

But wait… Send Via Internet would only work if there was a modem connection! A modem connection that would first dial out to a service portal, and then “bridge” you to the internet!

A direct connection to the internet? Back in those days? Preposterous!

Why, back in the day, we had to use home-phone landlines, find a local access number for the service portal, disable call waiting on the landline, warn everyone in the home NOT TO PICK UP THE @#*$ PHONE, use a picky-and-screechy-as-hell 9,600 (or 28,800!) baud MODEM to connect, and we …. liked it? Well, no. In retrospect, it really sucked. But at the time, that was the thing!

I better quit before I pull out my e*World CDs.

NASA has a free photo-rich ebook : “Dressing for Altitude”

Posted on September 11, 2012 by admin (Royce)

It has been a busy few days for me, but I’m finally back. Hoo-ah!

While I was out, NASA announced they were giving away a free digital book that “details the development and use of the protective clothing worn by test pilots, astronauts and others as they soar high above Earth.”

It’s pretty hefty book at 526 pages, but it’s very well put together, and is filled with great photos like this one…

Dressing for Altitude 01

Is it me, or does that look a little like Big Daddy from the Bioshock games?

“Dressing for Altitude” has plenty of photos of pressure suits in various stages of development, and also gets into the science and technology of the suit designs themselves.

The book is available for free on NASA’s site in PDF, EPUB or MOBI format, but you can also order a “real” copy of the book from NASA’s information center if you like.

Here’s the official press release about “Dressing for Altitude”…
RELEASE: 12-308

NEW NASA BOOK REVEALS PRESSURE SUITS ARE HEIGHT OF FASHION

WASHINGTON — NASA has published a colorful, picture-filled book that details the development and use of the protective clothing worn by test pilots, astronauts and others as they soar high above Earth.

“Dressing for Altitude: U.S. Aviation Pressure Suits — Wiley Post to Space Shuttle” provides a 526-page survey of the partial- and full-pressure suits designed to keep humans alive at the edge of space since their first use during the years before World War II. Pressure suits are not the spacesuits worn by spacewalking astronauts.

The book explores the challenges the clothiers-turned-engineers faced in designing a garment that could be relatively lightweight, flexible, inflatable, and still keep an ejecting pilot safe at high altitude and in the water.

“This work is designed to provide the history of the technology and explore the lessons learned through the years of research in creating, testing, and utilizing today’s high-altitude suits,” said Tony Springer of NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.

Dennis R. Jenkins, a writer, engineer and manager with 30 years of experience working on NASA programs, including the space shuttle, wrote the book and assembled its photographs and illustrations.

Jenkins said he became interested in the topic especially after studying the work and dedication of Goodrich and David Clark Company, the two major companies responsible for most of the pressure suit’s development through the years.

“I knew little about pressure suits going into the book, so the entire process was a learning exercise to me,” Jenkins said.

To order printed copies of the coffee-table-style book from NASA’s Information Center, visit:

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/hqlibrary/ic/ic2.htm

To download an e-book version of the book in PDF format at no charge, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/

For more information about aeronautics research at NASA, visit:

http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov