Create a tag cloud

I was just thinking that I would like to add a tag cloud to my blogger blog. This guy posts a really good script for doing that. Take a look: http://phy3blog.googlepages.com/Beta-Blogger-Label-Cloud.html

Also, I used this Hexadecimal to RGB color converter to get the colors to match my sites theme: http://www.javascripter.net/faq/hextorgb.htm

...

Windows Vista: vista clean install using upgrade CD

Source: http://forums.cnet.com

Step 1. Boot the PC from the Vista DVD.

Step 2. Select "Install Now," but do not enter the Product Key from the Vista packaging. Leave the input box blank. Also, turn off the option Automatically activate Windows when I'm online. In the next dialog box that appears, confirm that you really do want to install Vista without entering a Product Key.

Step 3. Correctly indicate the version of Vista that you're installing: Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate.

Step 4. Select the "Custom (Advanced)" install, not the "Upgrade" install.

Step 5. Vista copies files at length and reboots itself one or more times. Wait for the install to complete. At this point, you might think that you could "activate" Vista, but you can't. That's because you haven't installed the Vista upgrade yet. To do that, run the DVD's setup.exe program again, but this time from the Vista desktop. The easiest way to start setup again is to eject and then reinsert the DVD.


Step 6. Click "Install Now." Select Do not get the latest updates for installation. (You can check for these updates later.)

Step 7. This time, do enter the Product Key from the Vista packaging. Once again, turn off the option Automatically activate Windows when I'm online.

Step 8. On this second install, make sure to select "Upgrade," not "Custom (Advanced)." You're not doing a clean install now, you're upgrading to Vista.

Step 9. Wait while Vista copies files and reboots itself. No user interaction is required. Do not boot from the DVD when asked if you'd like to do so. Instead, wait a few seconds and the setup process will continue on its way. Some DOS-like, character-mode menus will appear, but don't interact with them. After a few seconds, the correct choice will run for you automatically.

Step 10. After you click a button labeled Start in the Thank You dialog box, Vista's login screen will eventually appear. Enter the username and password that you selected during the first install. You're done upgrading to Vista.

Step 11. Within 30 days, you must "activate" your copy of Vista or it'll lose functionality. To activate Vista, click Show more details in the Welcome Center that automatically displays upon each boot-up, then click Activate Windows now. If you've dismissed the Welcome Center, access the correct dialog box by clicking Start, Control Panel, System & Maintenance, System. If you purchased a legitimate copy of Vista, it should quickly activate over the Internet. (You can instead activate by calling Microsoft on the phone, which avoids your PC exchanging information with Microsoft's server.

It ain't about how hard you hit

"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place It will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" - Rocky Balboa, 2006
Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479143/
...

Prepare this blank disk error in Vista

The other day I had an issue where I went to read a DVD on my new Vista laptop. It gave me a message implying that it was a blank disk. I knew it wasn't. I created the disk (along with many others) using XP Pro and Nero 6. These DVD's have been fine in all the time I've been using them. All of a sudden it doesn't work on the new laptop. Turns out it's a bug in Vista. Do this: add a file to "c:\Users\%username%\AppData\local\Microsoft\Windows\Burn\Temporary Burn Folder\". It can be any file. Somehow it just works. Amazing!

I originally found the fix here: http://www.ashbaughonline.com/2007/06/01/burn-a-disc-prepare-this-blank-disk/

Good luck!

EDIT:
Turns out that during install of VMWare, it asks you to disable CDROM autorun. This disabling of autorun causes the "Prepare this Blank Disc" problem. Simply reenable autorun.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CDRom

change "Autorun" value from "0" to "1"

I found the solution here: link: http://signpark.proboards81.com/inde...play&thread=34


Type rest of the post here

How to create an ISO image of a CD in Nero 6.6.0.16

How to create an ISO image of a CD in Nero 6.6.0.16. Seems like very few people on the Internets know how to do this so I am officially documenting it here. This way I don't have to spend hours and hours Googling everytime I need to remember how to do this.

• Insert the original CD into the cdrom drive.
  
  
• Launch Nero 6.6.0.16
  
  
• In the "Applications" section, choose Nero Burning ROM. Cancel the wizard that comes up after that.
  
  
• File > Preferences... | Expert Features | check box the part that says "Enable all supported recorder formats for the Image Recorder"
  
  
• Click OK, then close Nero Burning ROM
  
  
• In the top portion of the main Window, be sure "CD" is selected. Then from "favorites" choose "Copy CD"
  
  
• In the next "Nero Express" window, be sure to change Destination Drive to "Image Recorder"
  
  
• Then click the "More..." button below.
  
  
• Then click the "Save Tracks" button.
  
  
• At the next window, if you are lucky, the "Output File Format:" option will be available for you to select "ISO" from.
  

...