About a month and a half ago, I noticed that my Windows XP box seemed to be slowing down.  The most noticeable problem was an increasing delay when I right-clicked on a file in Windows Explorer, before the list of possible actions appeared.  Initially the delay was just a few seconds, but over time it increased to a couple of minutes.

( (Details of the solution are left as an exercise for the interested student...) )

Should I be concerned that the 15-digit "secure access code" in the 2011 census envelope can easily be read without opening the envelope, by shining a bright light through it from behind?  Thus enabling someone to complete the census on-line for the specified address without leaving any traces other than, say, the IP address from some public-access ( Read more... )

The receptionist at my workplace has one of those big red "easy" buttons from Staples at her desk. You press the button, and a synthesized voice says, "THAT WAS EASY." Feh.

A couple of weeks ago, it started saying "THAT... WAS ANNOYING."

Then it started saying other things.

Here's how I did it: http://www.geocities.com/jpolowin/easybttn/ ( Read more... )