Friday, September 13, 2013

New from NirSoft, SoundVolumeView (think "Uber volume control with profiles, command line and more" utility)

NirBlog - New utility to control the sound volume on Windows Vista/7/8/2008

SoundVolumeView is a new tool for Windows Vista/7/8/2008 that displays general information and current volume level for all active sound components on your system, and allows you to mute and unmute them instantly.

SoundVolumeView also allows you to save a sound profile into a file, containing the current volume level and the mute/unmute state of all sound components, as well as the default sound devices, and then later, load the same file to restore exactly the same volume levels and settings.

There is also extensive command-line support, which allows you to save/load profiles, change current volume of every sound component, and mute/unmute every sound component, without displaying any user interface.

NirSoft - SoundVolumeView v1.00

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This utility works on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 2008. Both 32-bit and 64-bit systems are supported.
Windows XP and older systems are not supported

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Start Using SoundVolumeView

SoundVolumeView doesn't require any installation process or additional dll files. In order to start using it, simply run the executable file - SoundVolumeView.exe

After running SoundVolumeView, the main window is displays all sound items found in your systems. There are 3 types of items: devices, subunits, and application volume.
For every item, the current volume level is displayed in percent unit. For devices and subunits, the volume level is also displayed in Decibel. For subunits, the volume level is displayed for every channel separately.

Increase/Decrease/Mute Volume

In the main window of SoundVolumeView, you can select one or more items, and then mute, unmute, increase, or decrease the volume of selected items, using accelerator keys:

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Sound Profiles

SoundVolumeView allows you to save all your current sound settings into a sound profile filename, and then load it later when you want to restore these settings.
The sound profile file stores the following information:
  • Volume level of all active sound components on your system. (Devices, Subunits, and application volume) For Subunits, the volume level of every channel is stored separately.
  • Mute/Unmute state of all active sound components on your system. (Devices, Subunits, and application volume)
  • Default render/capture device.

You can save and load sound profiles by using the 'Save Sound Profile' and 'Load Sound Profile' options under the File menu, or by using the /SaveProfile and /LoadProfile command-line options. There is also a recent menu located under the File menu, which allows you to easily load the last 10 sound profiles you used, as well as you can also load the recent 5 sound profiles from the tray menu (If the tray icon is turned on)

Be aware that sound profiles are bound to specific computer and its devices. You cannot save a sound profile in one computer and then load it into another computer.

Command-Line Options

You can use the command-line options below to change the volume level and mute/unmute status of every sound component on your system.
In the [Name] parameter , you can specify one of the following fields:
  • The name of the item, as appeared under the 'Name' column. (If you have multiple items with identical name, you should use the ID field.)
  • The ID of the item, as appeared under the 'Item ID' column.
  • For sound devices (Type = 'Device'), you can also use the value specified under the 'Device Name' column.
  • For application items (type = 'Application), you can also specify the process filename, for example: firefox.exe

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NirSoft (the heir apparent Sysinternals?) continues to provide a series of awesome utilities for Windows. I mean check out some of the available tools and utilities;

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See what I mean?

No need to fake it 'till you make it when you have this book, "Zero to Maker"

Make: - New to This Whole “Maker” Thing? Great!

As much as the headlines like to focus on 3D printing, robots, and new manufacturing companies, there’s actually a more important trend happening in the maker movement: accessibility. Even (and especially) if you don’t consider yourself a maker or tinkerer.

The tools and services are evolving at a breakneck pace, becoming both cheaper and easier to use. It’s an arms race to see who can create the most accessible, affordable ways to help you build whatever you can imagine! The big winner in this fierce competition is you, the new maker.

Getting involved has never been easier. And a lot can happen in just a few years. For instance, here’s my first Zero to Maker post from two years ago. Fast forward to next week at World Maker Faire where we’ll be demoing the newest version of OpenROV, an underwater robot I helped build with hundreds of other citizen ocean explorers.

...

Zero to Maker

Are you possessed by the urge to invent, design, and make something that others enjoy, but don’t know how to plug into the maker movement?

In Zero to Maker, David Lang explains how he became a pro maker after losing his job, and how the experience helped him start OpenROV—a community and product line focused on open source undersea exploration. It all happened once he became an active member of the maker culture.

Ready to take the plunge into the next Industrial Revolution? This guide provides a clear and inspiring roadmap.

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I love that "Just enough" subtitle. I think that's one of the things that's going to be on my cryogenic case... :)

Available on Amazon, and other sources..

Pre-order the paper...

... or today start reading the Kindle today...

[I Miss My Amiga - Way Back Post] AmigaHASP

CodeProject - How the AmigaHASP was born

Introduction

During 1989, while developing Rashumon, I found myself looking for a copy protection solution for Amiga software but there wasn’t any. The Amiga had a very non standard Parallel port, which made it impossible to just adopt a copy protection dongle from other platforms, and there was a need to develop a completely new system

Background

Hardware based copy protection systems are based on a hardware device which interact with the computer using the port assigned to it. Back then (1989), the USB wasn't invented yet, and the Parallel port was used. The Parallel port was the port used for printers for many years, and therefore any dongle would need to have “pass through” connector allowing the printer to be connected to it, instead to the port directly.

The Amiga HASP is created

Hardware based copy protection requires interaction with the device through most of the connector pins, being able to read each pin’s value, and to change each pin’s value from 0 to 1 and vice versa. The Amiga didn't provide any API to do so, which made me look for undocumented features, and code directly to the hardware instead of using any existing SDK.

With the help of Shimon Groper, the founder of Eliashim, I have made many attempts to create a dongle compatible with the unique and undocumented hardware. I used to go from Tel-Aviv to Haifa, and after several hours, leave with a box, covered with many wires in all colors, which was supposed to be the prototype… Eventually I found the way to implement the first Amiga based copy protection dongle and instead of buying bulk dongles from Aladdin Knowledge Systems, I have accepted the kind offer of Yankee Margalit, their founder and CEO, to by the Amiga product from my small software house (HarmonySoft), and after a short period of negotiation, Aladdin paid me $12,000 and my product became the AmigaHASP.

...

Not a long or in-depth article, but it's Amiga!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Remember...

Remember

How we came together. How we put aside the little stuff and felt part something bigger. How the shared grief, broke down all boundaries for while

Remember

Remember and never forget, those then and those now. Those in Towers, in the Pentagon, a field in Pennsylvania, the planes.

Remember

Those on that have been on the front lines and still are, sacrificing their blood, sweat and tears. The ones left home.

Remember

Remember

And never forget

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Image Credit: Mike G - Tribute in Light

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

"Winging It" is a pretty rough Preparedness Plan (aka. "Fake it 'till you make it" doesn't work as an Emergency Plan)

USA.gov - Winging It Is Not an Emergency Plan

Emergencies can occur with no warning. Do you have a supplies kit and a plan of action?

September is National Preparedness Month. Visit Ready.gov for guidance on what to before, during, and after different kinds of natural disasters and other emergencies.

Another action you can take is to join the National Preparedness Community. It’s free and open to all. As a member, you’ll have access to special preparedness resources and can collaborate with others in your community.

FEMA - National Preparedness Community

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National Preparedness Month 2013 Toolkit

The National Preparedness Month (NPM) 2013 Toolkit includes suggestions for activities and events that state, local, tribal and territorial governments, business, non-governmental organizations, and community organizations could sponsor to promote NPM.

This toolkit also includes templates and drafts of newsletter articles, blogs, posters, and other collateral material that you are able to use in various outreach efforts. As you familiarize yourself with the toolkit, keep in mind the audiences that you work with, and select the tools that are best able to help your organization reach them most effectively.

The National Preparedness Month (NPM) 2013 Toolkit is available below in its entirety. Individual chapters and resources by audience from the NPM Toolkit are also listed below according to the Toolkit's Table of Contents

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You've heard me stand on the soapbox before, so I won't repeat it all. Just let me say preparedness is a process, not a destination...

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Prep'ing your Pets, National Animal Disaster Preparedness Day is May 8th
When the unthinkable happens, make sure you think about your pets... Caring for your animals in a disaster means preparing now.
CDC does Earthquakes, Preparedness that is...
"Homebuilders' Guide to Earthquake-Resistant Design and Construction" Free PDF from FEMA
While it can be too later to prepare, it's never too early... Being ready is not hard, just do it, bit by bit...
Be prepared and know what you've got - Free Home Inventory Spreadsheet
A 2012 Survival Guide from How Stuff Works (Nonsense, but being prepared isn’t)
Centers for Disease Control (US CDC) provides Zombie Apocalypse 101 Survival Tips (really...) - And Zombie badges too!
Live on Earth? Then you live in a earthquake zone (your local activity may vary). When should you think about preparing for one? Um… Now!
Your Evacuation Plan – Do you have one? The time to make one is now, BEFORE you really need it…
National Preparedness Month: Don’t be afraid.. Be Ready

Also out yesterday, 2012.4rc3 - TFS 2012 and Visual Studio 2012 Update 4 RC 3

Microsoft Downloads - Visual Studio 2012 Update 4 RC 3

This is a release candidate (RC) for Visual Studio 2012 Update 4

Version: 2012

Date Published: 9/9/2013

  • tfs_express.exe, 735 KB
  • tfs_server.exe, 735 KB
  • vcredist_arm.exe, 1.4 MB
  • vcredist_x64.exe, 6.9 MB
  • vcredist_x86.exe, 6.3 MB
  • VS2012.4 RC TFS Express enu.iso, 484.1 MB
  • VS2012.4 RC TFS Server ENU.iso, 1.1 GB
  • VS2012.4 RC.exe, 1.3 MB

year-round to features in the main product release. These releases will be aligned with the core software development trends in the market, ensuring developers and development teams always have access to the best solution for building modern applications.

This is a release candidate (RC) for Visual Studio 2012 Update 4. These cumulative updates to Visual Studio 2012 include a variety of bug fixes and capability improvements. More details can be found here.

Statement of Support:
Visual Studio 2012 Update 4 RC and Team Foundation Server 2012 with Update 4 RC are “go-live”. This means that customers can use these builds in production environments. These are still pre-releases, so there may be some bugs that will be fixed for the final release. Upgrade from Update 4 RC to Update 4 RTM is supported. In order to upgrade to future releases, the customer must first upgrade from Update 4 RC to Update 4 RTM.

...

Update Package per offering:

  • Visual Studio
    • VS2012.4 RC.exe
  • Team Foundation Server (Choose either Web Installer or ISO Image)
    • Web Installer: tfs_server.exe
    • ISO Image: VS2012.4 RC TFS Server ENU.iso
  • Team Foundation Server Express (Choose either Web Installer or ISO Image)
    • Web Installer: tfs_express.exe
    • ISO Image: VS2012.4 RC TFS Express enu.iso
  • Visual C++ Redistributable (Choose architecture: x86, x64, arm)
    • vcredist_x86.exe
    • vcredist_x64.exe
    • vcredist_arm.exe

With all the news yesterday, it's easy to see how this could get lost in the noise...

Just a few shell games... shellproperty.exe and Raymond's Audio file metadata setter

Matthew van Eerde's web log - shellproperty.exe - set/read string properties on a file from the command line

Yesterday Raymond Chen blogged a "Little Program" which could edit audio metadata. As it happens, I have a similar tool I threw together which accepts a property key and a string property value to update a property, or can read a string or string-vector property.

Usage:

>shellproperty
shellproperty read <key> from <filename>
shellproperty set <key> to <string> on <filename>

Here's an example _fixup.bat script I use to set audio metadata on my copy of Giuseppe Sinopoli's recording of Madama Butterfly, to help distinguish it from other recordings of the same opera that I have.

@echo off
dir /s /b "I *.mp3" | xargs /addquotes shellproperty set PKEY_Music_AlbumTitle to "Madama Butterfly - Sinopoli / Freni: 1 of 3" on
dir /s /b "II *.mp3" | xargs /addquotes shellproperty set PKEY_Music_AlbumTitle to "Madama Butterfly - Sinopoli / Freni: 2 of 3" on
dir /s /b "III *.mp3" | xargs /addquotes shellproperty set PKEY_Music_AlbumTitle to "Madama Butterfly - Sinopoli / Freni: 3 of 3" on

Source and amd64/x86 binaries attached, but in substance it's very similar to Raymond's "Little Program".

..." [GD: Click through for the source ;]

The Old New Thing - Programmatically editing the metadata of an audio file

Today's Little Program edits the metadata of an audio file, ostensibly to correct a spelling error, but really just to show how it's done.

Today's smart pointer class library is... (rolls dice)... CComPtr!

We open with two helper functions which encapsulate the patterns

  • Get property from property store
    1. Call IProperty­Store::Get­Value
    2. Convert PROPVARIANT into desired final type
    3. Destroy the PROPVARIANT
  • Set property in property store
    1. Create a PROPVARIANT
    2. Call IProperty­Store::Set­Value
    3. Destroy the PROPVARIANT

... [GD: Again, click through for the source]

Two little command line app's that not only teach, but look useful in their own rights. And who doesn't like hacking document metadata properties? :P

Monday, September 09, 2013

Remember 9-11, Los Angeles Events

LAFD News and Information - Public Invited to Remember 9-11 in Los Angeles

In many ways, it is hard to believe that twelve years have passed since our nation was savagely attacked on September 11, 2001. While time moves forward, it in no way lessens the resolve of firefighters who loudly pledge:

We Shall Never Forget!

The men and women of the Los Angeles Fire Department warmly welcome you to stand with them in fulfilling this pledge, as they gather for Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance events on Wednesday, September 11, 2013 at five separate locations.

All are welcome to these solemn yet uplifting public ceremonies:

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Never forget...

I miss you, MSICUU2 - "What happened to the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility (MSICUU2.EXE)?" (hint: Replaced by "Program Install and Uninstall troubleshooter")

What happened to the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility (MSICUU2.EXE)

The Windows Installer Cleanup Utility (MSICUU2.exe) is replaced by the Program Install and Uninstall troubleshooter

(http://support.microsoft.com/mats/Program_Install_and_Uninstall)

which works better. If you cannot install (setup) or uninstall a program, try this troubleshooter.

Start the Program Install and Uninstall troubleshooter

If you have problems when you try to uninstall Microsoft Office, we recommend that you first use the relevant Microsoft Fix It that is included the following articles:

If you have problems when you try to uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials, see the following articles:

I kind of miss the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility (MSICUU2.exe). It was simple, easy and just got the job done. Sure if used wrong, it could hose your install database, but still, every time I needed it, I really needed it (and it just got the job done). And while I like most of the "Troubleshooters", I still miss you MSICUU2.exe...

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Can’t uninstall, can’t repair, and just want to make that install disappear? MSIZap it…
TFS Administration Tool - Having a problem installing v1.3 after having upgraded to TFS2008? Here's your ticket to v1.2 freedom...

Get Blue! (No, not that Blue...) Get the free Office 2010 inspired Blue theme, free from Infragistics

Brian Lagunas - FREE Office 2010 Blue Theme for WPF and Silverlight Microsoft Controls

Shhhhh…. Do you hear that?????  That’s the sound of another great FREE theme!

Today’s theme is the highly requested Office 2010 Blue theme.  The Office 2010 Blue theme takes it’s visual cues from the Microsoft Office 2010 product suite.  This is probably the most popular theme among Windows developers.  Why?  Well ,let’s face it!  Most clients want all their apps to look like Outlook and Excel.  Don’t ask me why, they just do.  Maybe they just feel more comfortable with apps that have that Office feel to them.  Because of that, most LOB developers have to provide an “Office” type theme to make their end-users feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  Well, now you can!  I am giving you this awesome Office 2010 Blue theme for Free!

Now remember, there is a catch to this free theme.  I will NOT support every single Microsoft control.  Why?  Well, because I would prefer for you to use Infragistics controls instead.  For example, I will not be providing a style for the Microsoft DataGrid because Infragistics has a much better xamDataGrid control.  You get the idea.

Silverlight

First up is the Silverlight version of the Infragistics’ “Office 2010 Blue Theme”. ...

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WPF

Next up is the WPF version of the Infragistics’ “Office 2010 Blue Theme”.  Just like the Silverlight version, we are providing you with styles for the primitive WPF controls that appear in the Visual Studio toolbox, as well as some controls in the WPF Toolkit.  Just like for the Silverlight version, we organized the themes by their respective source so that if you don’t use the WPF toolkit, there will be no need for your code to take a dependency on it....

 

Here is the full list of support controls:

  • Accordion
  • AutoCompleteBox
  • Button
  • CheckBox
  • ComboBox
  • Expander
  • GridSplitter
  • GroupBox
  • Label
  • ListBox
  • PasswordBox
  • ProgressBar
  • RadioButton
  • Rating
  • RepeatButton
  • Slider
  • TextBox
  • ToggleButton
  • Tooltip

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Blue is coming back, as seems to be a theme that people like, so having a free version that supports many WPF controls, is nice...

 

Related Past Post XRef:
WPF/SilverLight IG Theme is now free from Infragistics
Brian (and Infragistics) is having a theme give-away... As in giving away some of their WPF and Silverlight themes