Control Startup Program Order with PowerShell

 Windows  3 Responses »
Apr 142009
 

If you’re like me and need multiple programs to start upon login, your hard drive is likely inundated with requests, causing a major slowdown as the OS seeks to fill each and every request simultaneously. Furthermore, I have some programs that are dependent upon others, so when they load out of order, I have to shutdown and restart the applications or perform some extra steps to reconfigure the program. An example of this is synchronizing DropBox and ZumoDrive. If DropBox starts before ZumoDrive, it never syncs and hangs in an “Indexing…” state. This matter is complicated by storing my KeePass database on my ZumoDrive. Because KeePass loads before ZumoDrive, it can’t find the Z: location and I have to re-locate the KDB file for it to load.

One solution to this problem is to start the programs manually, which is monotonous. A much better solution is to control the exact startup sequence, giving each program a small delay to fully load before starting the next program. A solution I used in the past for Windows was a batch file. This suffers from a couple of problems:

  1. By default, there is no “sleep” command. You can install the Windows 2003 Administrator Toolkit for the functionality, or resort to a ping delay trick. Both of these are less-than-ideal.
  2. This is 2009. Batch files aren’t exactly cool.

To overcome these issues, I took a gander at my latest favorite scripting language, PowerShell; it handily solves both issues. This is a very easy hack and to accomplish it, there are only a few steps. The only considerations for this project is to ensure that PowerShell v1 or v2 is installed and configured to run scripts locally. With those assumptions, let’s get started:
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 Posted by at 8:27 am  Tagged with: ,

Overview: VirtualBox 2.2.0

 VirtualBox  7 Responses »
Apr 092009
 

Sun released an update to their cross-platform virtualization software, VirtualBox. 2.2.0 introduces some evolutionary changes that, while worthwhile, are not quite as exciting as the 2.1.0 release.
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 Posted by at 11:36 am  Tagged with:

Review: Chicago Rapid Transit for iPhone/iPod Touch

 iPhone  1 Response »
Mar 312009
 

At the behest of @redeyechicago, I tested Chicago Rapid Transit by Presselite from the App Store. It boasts an impressive list of features for a scant half-megabyte, several of which are not available in other CTA rail applications. However, not everything is peaches and cream, as it lacks fit and finish in many respects.

In general, the application is small and quick, loading in a reasonable 3 seconds and the map displaying only a single second later. I paid an “introductory” price of only $0.99, which – based on application notes – will increase to $4.99. iTrans CTA also started out at 5 bucks, but has since dropped to only a single greenback. Is CRT worthy of a higher price?
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 Posted by at 1:00 pm  Tagged with: ,

An introduction to Usenet binaries

 Internet  No Responses »
Mar 232009
 

What is Usenet?

Usenet is a distributed message service that allows users to post and read items by other users. Typically, an end-user subscribes to a single Usenet server – either provided by their ISP, or subscribed through a premium service such as NewsDemon. That server provides a single point of entry for the user, but receives and distributes messages with other Usenet servers in a mesh network. A mesh network is similar to the infamous P2P networking, with the added ability of data being able to flow through multiple hops to reach a destination. Thinking about air travel, P2P is like taking only a direct flight whereas mesh is similar to using layovers to reach your destination.

Usenet has evolved since its introduction in 1980, now serving a purpose far more vast than it’s original intended purpose of ASCII communication. With the popularization of binary-to-ASCII conversion (such as uuencoding), it became practical to post files on the text-only messaging system. However, there are size limits on Usenet messages, so large files may be split among thousands of messages or more.
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 Posted by at 2:39 pm  Tagged with: , ,

What iPhone needs: Core Location Daemon

 iPhone  3 Responses »
Mar 112009
 

By now, most people are aware of many limitations for developing on the iPhone, the most prominent being lack of ability for third-party applications to run in the background. To assuage this situation, Apple proposed a system of “push” messages that could be sent through the cellular network to the phone to notify them of an event.

A common example of this would be IM services: A user logs into the application, whose state is stored on the provider’s server. If the user closes the application, they can remain logged in through the server. If a message is received, the provider server notifies Apple, which notifies the mobile service company, and a notification is sent to the user indicating that a message from the instant messaging application is waiting.

It sounds simple enough, but Apple has yet to deliver on this promise and is far beyond their self-imposed deadline. Something I would like to see as a compliment to this service, actually works in exact reverse order and relies on the fact that  first-party applications already run in the background (such as Mail, Phone, SMS, and iPod). Continue reading »

 Posted by at 2:43 pm  Tagged with: , ,
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