The DreamLand Express - Charles Oppermann's Software Blog

The Windows registry keeps track of all hardware devices that have been installed on the machine.  The Device Manager only displays the hardware devices that are currently connected to the machine.  Hardware that is not currently connected, such as a USB device, or a Firewire hard disk is not shown.  Over time, a lot of devices can be registered, particularly if you connect the same device to different USB ports.

Noted designer Philippe Starck who works under the name of S+ARCK has designed a new mouse for Microsoft.  Inspired by the two hemispheres of the brain, the mouse is divided down the center by a glowing strip.  In the pictures on Microsoft's web site, the glow is a soft blue surrounded by a white shell.

I was fairly outraged when I read USA Today's fawning article on Chicago Mayor Daley and his efforts in creating park space in the city.  Normally park space is a good thing, but his midnight, quasi-illegal destruction of the historic Meigs Field airport last year was an outrage.  Here's a letter to the editor I sent to USA Today:

Ever need to put some text into a document quickly?  Maybe you need to demonstrate a feature or want some filler.  I used to type qwerty or asdf over and over again.  Microsoft Word has a quick and easy way to do it.  Just type =rand() on a blank line and press Enter.  Word will replace that line with:

Each vendor of hardware that is designed for the PCI bus is assigned a identification number for their products.

Former President Jimmy Carter wrote an excellent editorial about how current US policies are affecting human rights in Iraq and elsewhere.

Here are keyboard shortcuts for use with Internet Explorer.  Most work on all versions since 4.01.  Not an exhustive list, just those that I use often.

If you're in Silicon Valley and looking for a place to buy and smoke cigars, check out Castro's Fine Cigars in downtown Mountain View.  Located on the main drag, next to a Starbucks, this shop has good prices, an excellent selection and a cozy sitting room - a rarity in the State of California.