Indiscriminate Transgressions

I’m cleaning up the some craptastic code and I come across this gem.

    if (isRegistered)
    {
        //not registered
        message.MessageDefinition = MessageDefinitions.Confirmation;
    }
    else
    {
        //registered before (email exists in the database)
        message.MessageDefinition = MessageDefinitions.ConfirmationExistingUser;
    }

Fun times! I wonder why this code is buggy and constantly breaks.

I have Vista x64 Ultimate, and I have an iPod Classic 160GB. When I downloaded iTunes 7.6 a while back, it had a handy-dandy 64-bit version available, so I downloaded that and installed it. So that was running fine for two months or whatever, no problems, etc, etc.

So a few days after the horrific iPhone 3G + iPhone 2.0 + iTunes 7.7 + MobileMe launch day (note to Apple, maybe spread this stuff out a little bit), I get that great pop-up from the Apple Updater, you know the one that downloads iTunes+Quicktime and also comes with the Safari checkbox pre-checked. Sounds like tying, but whatever. So I say sure, update the iTunes.

Afterward, I notice that all of the iTunes related tasks look like this:

So yeah, that’s not really looking very 64 bit, I mean the little *32 means a 32 bit process, so wtf. So I figure that well, perhaps the updater is broken, and it downloaded a 32-bit version and installed it over my 64 bit version from before. So I uninstall, reboot as requested and of course the freaking Bonjour service is still there AND the Apple Mobile Device Support is still running AND the Apple Software Update is still installed. So I uninstall each of those, reboot again, and hey Bonjour is still running. I think Bonjour should be considered a virus, seriously.

So then I heads on over to apple.com and I see:

So I download the 64-bit version, install it, and I get the same exact thing, 6 32-bit processes, not a single 64-bit process. What gives, Apple? Is this 64-bit software? The copy on the download page is confusing, maybe Vista (64-bit) means that it’s a 32-bit version of the software that WORKS on Vista x64? The filename is itunes64setup.exe - that also isn’t totally specific about what is 64-bit.

The whole thing is at least marginally confusing.

I’m not sure why this is a completely under-the-radar release, but it improves Vista’s search in myriad ways.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=940157

I know I am late to the party with these, but I just discovered them.

Nifflas’ Games

There are a few great platformer-exploration games here.

“I’m not going to put in my lot with economists,” [Hillary Clinton] said on the ABC program “This Week.” A few moments later, she added, “Elite opinion is always on the side of doing things that really disadvantages the vast majority of Americans.”

Someone check her sense of irony.

Fun one, the option to turn off hibernation via the GUI has been eliminated. I have a laptop with 4GB RAM and a 64GB SSD, so space is at somewhat of a premium. I never use hibernate (sleep works great) so I figure let’s disable it. You have to do this from the command line. Open a command line with administrator privs, and type:

powercfg -H off

Your hibernation file will immediately be freed and all hibernate options will disappear from power plans. Pretty obvious should be the way to turn that back on:

powercfg -H on

Here’s how to open a command line with administrator privs:

1. Click Start followed by All Programs and then Accessories
2. Oon the Accessories menu Right Click on the Command Prompt
3. From the drop down menu, Click on the Run Administrator option