Dec

3

Additional memory and Windows XP

Filed Under Hardware, Software | Leave a Comment

I was startled to learn just how low RAM prices are these days. RM73 (USD20) for 2GB of Mushkin Enhanced Basic DDR2/800? Sweet mother of mercy. I think I paid more than that for 1GB a little over a year ago.

Though my system runs reasonably well with 1GB, I was curious about the performance benefits of additional RAM in a Windows XP Home system.

Now, according to Microsoft:

In general, adding memory is the easiest and most effective way to improve a computer’s performance.

Of course the same article goes on to claim:

Although it is recommended, Windows XP does not require 128 MB of RAM. The operating system can run with 64 MB of RAM.

…

A computer with 64 MB of RAM will have sufficient resources to run Windows® XP and a few applications with moderate memory requirements. Office productivity applications and Web browsers fall into this category of applications.

According to Windows Task Manager, Opera’s peak memory usage on my system is 86MB as I write this. Have fun running Microsoft Office 2007 on a Windows XP box with 64MB of RAM, smart guy.

The real question users have to deal with in 2008 is not what the minimum should be but what Windows XP’s maximum addressable memory is. With RAM prices being as cheap as they are, users will naturally be tempted to shove as much memory into their systems as possible. It turns out, however, there’s a limit to how much memory a system with a 32-bit OS like Windows XP Home can handle.
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Oct

12

WordPress: Home alone

Filed Under WordPress | Leave a Comment

I was looking for a piece of code that would allow me to perform a certain action on a WordPress blog’s home page (and only the home page) and thanks to this site, I have it.


< ?php if ( (is_home())&&!(is_paged()) ){ ?>


blah blah blah


< ?php } ?>

For example, if I wanted my Flickr thumbnails to be displayed (via the FlickrRSS plugin) only on the home page, I’d use the following code in my theme’s home.php file:


< ?php if ( (is_home())&&!(is_paged()) ){ ?>


< ?php get_flickrRSS(); ?>


< ?php } ?>

You can see the above example in action here.

Jun

22

Opera 9.5: Find in page

Filed Under Opera, Software | 4 Comments

Opera 9.5
(Image source: Opera.)

Opera has been my primary browser for a while now. I still use Firefox to update my WordPress sites and IE7 for Windows Updates but Opera — hardened by disabling Javascript and cookie support and further fortified by the mighty Proxomitron — is my choice for the bulk of my surfing.

There are features in Opera I find indispensable now. Mouse gestures, Speed Dial, context menu options for dictionary and Wikipedia lookups as well as translation, the ability to reload closed tabs, searching eBay and Google from the address bar … the list goes on.

Those aren’t necessarily unique features — if they aren’t in Firefox’s default configuration, they’re available via extensions or will be reproduced in a future version soon enough — but taken in toto, they’ve made surfing the web a more pleasant experience for me.

Never content to sit on its heels, Opera the company is constantly adding and tweaking features to Opera the browser yet remarkably, the newest version of the browser, version 9.5, is faster than previous versions. Whatever they’re doing in Norway, they’re doing it right.

That’s not to say the changes are always for the better. They might be better for the Opera userbase in general but not necessarily better for me specifically.
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Jun

14

Black and white

Filed Under Opera, Software | Leave a Comment

The increase in fuel costs has meant lifestyle changes for many — drastic in some cases. Yet the one area I had never expected to see changes were colours. Reds, blues and yellows — those simple primary colours we take for granted — must be insanely expensive now.

At least, that’s the assumption I’m operating under after seeing Opera 9.5’s new interface. Everywhere you look it’s monochrome. Blacks and soul-sucking grays abound.
Opera 9.5
Opera 9.5
Opera 9.5
Bright colours are so few they’re generally shocking when they make an appearance in Opera’s new default skin.
Opera 9.5
Oh my god, green for the reload page button. Green! I remember that colour! The colour of the leaves on trees! Remember trees, kids? No? Damn global wanging.

What happened, Opera? Why is the default scheme so depressing? Was the entire Norwegian team experiencing SAD when the interface was being worked on?

Regardless of the reasons, changing the skin is a simple matter in Opera. Hit Shift+F12 (or select the “Appearance…” option under the Tools menu):
Opera 9.5
Now select the “Find more skins” radio button. This should load the Editor’s picks for alternate Opera skins.
Opera 9.5
Select one and you’re good to go.

Apr

29

Double trouble

Filed Under Software, WordPress | Leave a Comment

I recently updated both Fanmode and this blog to WordPress 2.5 and to my exasperation had to update them again shortly afterwards, this time to version 2.5.1.

(An important security fix! Must upgrade! Or else the internet will explode!)

I then discovered a little quirk with both blogs. Listing categories with subcategories results in some posts being listed twice. Here’s a screencap of what I’m talking about.
WordPress Sideblog 5.1: double post
It’s the exact same post with an identical permalink listed twice.

I checked both blogs and both have the same issue. The exasperating thing is there’s no real consistency; some categories display this quirk while others are fine, some posts are repeated and others are not.

The problem isn’t due to WordPress 2.5 or 2.5.1. The culprit is actually Sideblog, the WordPress plugin I’m using for my sideblog. I had upgraded the plugin on both my sites to the latest version, 5.1, when I updated to WordPress 2.5.1 and after testing things out, I’m convinced Sideblog 5.1 is causing the problem. It’s apparently a returning problem.

Anyway, I reverted to Sideblog 4.5 and things seem to be working fine now. I should probably pass a note to the plugin’s author.

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