How do I view the contents of an .EML file?

.EML files are emails, usually created by Outlook Express or older versions of Outlook.

If you don’t have one of them installed on your PC simply rename the .EML file into an .MHT file and drag it into an Internet Explorer window to view its contents.

Browser Size shows what people see from a web page

Browser Size from GoogleLabs is a visualization of browser window sizes for people who visit Google. For example, the “90%” contour means that 90% of people visiting Google have their browser window open to at least this size or larger.

Testing Webpage User Experience on Blackberry Browsers using Emulators

In order to test websites on the built-in browser of Blackberry devices you must download

• the actual emulator (or simulator) images and
• the MDS simulator (which emulates the mobile network for the emulated handheld)

Here are download urls:

• BlackBerry Smartphone Simulators
• BlackBerry® Email and MDS Services Simulator Package v4.1.4 (only available after registration) and it requires Java (JDK)

Now three steps are necessary:

• Install everything
• Run “run.bat” from the folder: \Research In Motion\BlackBerry Email and MDS Services Simulators 4.1.4\MDS
• Run the batch file for your specific phone (e.g. 8520.bat) from the Smartphone simulator folder

Trouble with Opening CSV Files with Excel? The Comma and Semicolon Issue in Excel due to Regional Settings for Europe

When opening standard CSV files in Excel you may find that Excel did not recognize the fields and simply displays all data in the first column.

The problem is:

• The standard field delimiters for CSV files are commas:    ,
• And on American Windows version the comma is set as default for the “List Separator”
• But on European Windows versions this character is reserved as the Decimal Symbol and the “List Separator” is set by default to the semicolon:   ;

So you have three solutions:

• Change the CSV file extension to TXT (when you open a TXT file with Excel it will start the text file import wizard where you can choose the delimiter)
• Replace all “,” with “;” in your CSV file(s)
• Change your regional and language settings

The last solution is my preferred one. To change regional settings go to Start>Control Panel>Regional and Language Options. Click “Additional Settings”. Enter “.” for Decimal Symbol and “,” for “List Separator”.

Now when you open a CSV file in Excel it will automatically find the data fields and open it appropriately.

How Does a Website Look on Mobile IE? Introduction to Using Windows Mobile Emulator

We use the Windows Mobile Emulator to test our web interfaces on mobile devices running “Mobile IE”.

Here is what you need:

The Emulator itself

There are several packages available, we use versions 6.1.4 and 6.5 (the most recent one). The following packages include Windows Mobile 6.1.4 and 6.5 emulator images that can be used as standalone emulators:

• Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Tool Kit
• Windows Mobile 6.1.4 Emulator Images

Download and install.

OK, now you can run an emulated mobile phone from the start menu. But there are no connections to the outside world or the Internet.

Internet Connectivity Option 1: Use a direct Internet Connection

Believe it or not, you need Virtual PC 2007 to do this: The installer contains the “virtual network adapter” used by the emulator:

• Download and run the installer from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=04d26402-3199-48a3-afa2-2dc0b40a73b6&DisplayLang=en
• Start the desired emulator image from the command line
• Select File|Configure, select the “Network Tab”
• Enable the NE2000 network card in the emulator’s settings
• Important: If you run the emulator inside a virtual machine on VMware
  • I found that the primary network card’s connection was disabled when I enabled the ne2000 (I lost the RDP connection to the VM)
  • I added a second network card (which uses NAT) and then I connect the emulator to the second card and that works fine.
• Restart the mobile phone using the emulator menu item File|Reset|Soft
• In the emulated screen you will see a small icon on top of the screen, click it and allow the internet connection
• Start Internet Explorer and surf.

Internet Connectivity Option 2: Cellular Emulator

Use the “Cellular Emulator” (this emulates a cellular connection for the emulated mobile phone) which comes with both of the above packages

• Start “Cellular Emulator”
• note the “COMx” port in the lower left (see http://www.devx.com/wireless/Article/40981/0 for screenshots and more info)
• Start the desired emulator image
• goto File|Configure, select the “Peripherals Tab”
• enter the COMx port in the “Serial Port 0″ Field (I had to enter COM3 manually as it only offered COM1 and COM2)
• Restart the mobile phone using the emulator menu item File|Reset|Soft
• Wait until reboot has finished
• Set up a new “GRPS connection” inside the emulated device as described here: http://www.devx.com/wireless/Article/40981/0/page/2
• Start Internet Exporer, go online and surf.

Some related links

Using the Cellular Emulator in the Windows Mobile 6 SDK: http://www.devx.com/wireless/Article/40981/1954

MSDN: Cellular Emulator Data Connections: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb158505.aspx

Changing Windows 7 Logon Screen Background – With an Innosetup Installer

If you want to replace the Windows 7 logon screen for a few (or even many) computers it is a good idea to create an installer program and then run the installer on all machines.

Here is my solution which works in 32 bit and 64bit versions of Windows 7.

1. You need the Innosetup setup compiler (Open Source). Download and install.
2. Then create a file “mylogonscreeninstaller.iss”, open it in a text editor and paste the code below.
3. Create a file “backgroundDefault.jpg” with your logon screen (must smaller than 250 kb!) and place it into the same folder. If you want you can also create images for the other screen sizes, too (otherwise Windows will scale the image as needed).
4. Right click the mylogonscreeninstaller.iss file and choose “compile” (or start Innosetup from the start menu, open the .iss file and click compile).
5. Run the installer on all stations.

Here is some Background Information about replacing the logon screen for Windows 7.

[Setup]
AppName=Startscreen for Windows 7
AppVerName=Startscreen for Windows 7 (V1.0)
CreateAppDir=false
OutputBaseFilename=Startscreen for Windows 7 - Setup
Compression=lzma
SolidCompression=true
OutputDir=.
DisableFinishedPage=true
AlwaysShowComponentsList=false
ShowComponentSizes=false
FlatComponentsList=false
DisableReadyPage=true
AppID={{your-unique-code-here}
[Registry]
Root: HKLM; Subkey: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background; ValueType: dword; ValueName: OEMBackground; ValueData: 1
Root: HKLM64; Subkey: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background; ValueType: dword; ValueName: OEMBackground; ValueData: 1;Check: IsWin64
[Dirs]
Name: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\
[Files]
; FILES MUST BE SMALLER THAN 250 KB!
; First: The standard image (will be resized)
Source: backgroundDefault.jpg; DestDir: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\
; for 64bit system we must do this twice
Source: backgroundDefault.jpg; DestDir: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\; Flags: 64bit;Check: IsWin64
; You can also provide an image for each of the following screen sizes using the following filenames
; uncomment the command below as desired
; source: background768x1280.jpg; DestDir: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\
; Source: background900x1440.jpg; DestDir: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\
; Source: background960x1280.jpg; DestDir: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\
; Source: background1024x1280.jpg; DestDir: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\
; Source: background1280x1024.jpg; DestDir: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\
; Source: background1024x768.jpg; DestDir: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\
; Source: background1280x960.jpg; DestDir: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\
; Source: background1600x1200.jpg; DestDir: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\
; Source: background1440x900.jpg; DestDir: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\
; Source: background1920x1200.jpg; DestDir: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\
; Source: background1280x768.jpg; DestDir: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\
; Source: background1360x768.jpg; DestDir: {win}\System32\oobe\info\backgrounds\

CDBurnerXP: Everything you need to burn CDs and DVDs

CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free. It does not include adware or similar malicious components.

via CDBurnerXP: Introduction and News.

DVD Flick

DVD Flick aims to be a simple but at the same time powerful DVD Authoring tool. It can take a number of video files stored on your computer and turn them into a DVD that will play back on your DVD player, Media Center or Home Cinema Set. You can add additional custom audio tracks, subtitles as well as a menu for easier navigation.

via DVD Flick.