This morning, I was reading an article about how to jump start a car (mentions the classic push start at the end). It brought back fond memories of the day I was stuck at the top of Pearl st (a bit of a hill at the end there) and for the first time ever push started a car. With the transmission in reverse, and my foot on the clutch, I just let it roll down the hill into oncoming traffic (there was a cop stopping said traffic a little ways out). As the car picked up speed, I let the clutch go.

The trick, it turns out, is to STOP the car once you’ve started it. Funny that, once you get the engine engaged and turning, it starts providing its own energy. After a brief moment of surprise, I brought the car to a stop, put it in first and was off to a mechanic.

Anyway. A random story.
Chris

If you don’t believe me, the interweb can confirm

In an effort to utilize the structure implemented by Windows, Program Files are in C:\Program Files, rather than E:\Program Files. Personal data are organized in My Documents and work data are organized in My Work, rather than a custom structure on the E: drive (ok, My Work is a slight deviation). With one exception, things are OK so far.

Here’s the problem. I write a lot of automation scripts for work (meaning I’m on a command line a lot). The command line prompt usually looks something like this beautiful thing:
'C:\Documents and Settings\[me]\My Work\Projects\[projectname]\[subfolder][\subfolder2][\...]‘
Oddly, the GUI world isn’t all that bad… Thanks to Executor there are aliases for my most accessed folders. Really, the only place this is an issue is on the command line.

[Li/U]nux, and by extension, OS X, allow one to create links between files using the ln command. Alas, a similar utility does not exist in Windows land. (truth be told, SysInternals has something similar, but it comes with a few complications.)

Enter SUBST:

Using SUBST, one can create a virtual drive that maps to a folder. Not as powerful as ln, but still very useful.

SUBST P: "C:\Documents and Settings\[me]\My Work\Projects\”

Now all my projects are readily accessible. Less than 10 keystrokes gets me from an empty desktop to any project, on the command line. Taking it a step further, a simple Perl/VBScript/AutoHotKey script will allow me quick access to map specific projects (and SharePoint Folders) to the letters of my choosing. (Two steps further and a startup script maps a couple drives automatically)

It turns out, if you work with it, not against it, Windows is only mostly bad. I’m constantly learning new tips and tricks built into the OS that allow almost as much flexibility as *nix.

Cheers,
Chris

For the GUI inclined, the folks at NT-Wind have a free utility called Visual Subst which does similar.

NET USE [drive]: “[URL]“

If you have a SharePoint server, MySharePointServer.com and it has a folder ‘/MyProject/SharedResources’, then you could go to ‘http://MySharePointServer.com/MyProject/SharedResources’ and deal with the less than zippy web interface … or you could map the folder to a drive letter and access the files natively:

NET USE S: "http://MySharePointServer.com/MyProject/SharedResources"

Last bit of wisdom: Apple OS X and Linux both have WebDav clients. I haven’t tried it, but in theory, you can similarly access SharePoint folders in either OS. For once, Microsoft has developed a solution that plays nice with others.

Cheers,
Chris

For the less textically inclined, you can also right click on ‘My Computer’ -> Map Network Drive and perform a similar action. Similar GUI methods exist in OS X and Linux.


DIM strMyName : strMyName = "Chris"
DIM i : For i = 0 to 10
WScript.Echo i
Loop


This is, to me, very cool. If you’re using ‘Option Explicit’ (which you better be using), you can declare and assign a value to a variable, all on the same line… not too exciting, but it makes code much cleaner when used apropriatly.

Assesing the ingredients at hand, you identify a potato, some small  bit of garlic and a steak. Together, they server as the means by which you’ll feed yourself this night. The potato (microwaved out of lazyness), a bit of butter, salt and most of the garlic make a side dish of mashed potatoes. The steak, covered in a salt/peper rub will cook nicly on your George Foreman grill (For it is summer and they heat of a stove is far from welcome).

At the last minute, you realize a bit of garlic, minced, with a few drops of olive oil would lend itself well to the steak. There is but one problem, dear reader. How do you keep from burning the garlic, roasting it to a bitternese beereft of its former savory goodness? The cunning chef would find many a suitable solution within a quick glance of his kitchen. I shall share with you but one.

Find a cork, not one of those plonking cheap rubber/plastic substitutes, but a real cork. Cut it in half, crosswise and place each half on a side of the grill. Place your steak in the center of the grill and pour over the top of it your garlic and oil. Lower the lod of the grill so it rests on the cork, thos pillars of strength, protecting the delicate balance of flavor.

To further augment, lay a second cork lengthwise above the upper lip of the grill’s cooking area. This will rais up the back end of the lid in it’s hinged track such that there is eaven heat across the top of your steak.

—===—

Google can suggest many uses for those leftover corks. My personal favorite would be the DIY Laptop Stand, combining multiple vices of which the author is guilty.