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Bringing you
Reality Programming long before your television, here's - NOISES
FROM THE BASEMENT
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May 29, 2002 |
Vol. 3, Issue 5 |
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1) Timely Tips - "Subtract
May from October, Please"
2) File Find! - "copyToXP"
3) Sites-Seeing - "Spyware
in Your Wallet\When Good Toilets Do Bad Things"
4) Email Funny - "Parking Pro"
5) They Said It - quotes to give one pause
6) Hodgepodge - that what fits no where else
Here it is, two weeks gone by and
time for another issue of NFTB to grace your screen.
Welcome once again to my little offering to the best folk on the
'Net! A special welcome to all new readers who join us this week, I
sincerely hope you find something in this exotic blend that tickles
your fancy! Enjoy! and
feel free to
drop
me a comment on what you liked, disliked, or would like to
see in the future! - Dave
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1) Timely Tips - "Subtract May
from October, Please" Last
week we looked at Excel's
Custom Date Formats. When working with
dates in Excel, it's helpful to understand exactly how Excel treats
a date.
Many Excel workbooks will contain
dates, and frequently "date math" will be performed on those
dates--most commonly, simple calculations determining the time
between two dates. While it's difficult for the average person to
subtract March 18, 1982 from December 5, 1984 for example, if you
enter those dates into Excel, you could determine that the
difference is 993 days.
So, how does Excel do it? Each
day is represented by a sequential number, known as a serial
value. The natural next question is - What day was Day Number One?
Well, that's where it gets a bit complicated. There are two "Day
Ones" that are possible in Excel.
The first, default "Day One" is
January 1, 1900. This is the standard used for virtually all files
created on the PC. If you're going to exchange files with those
that inhabit the Macintosh world, you'll want to switch over to
the 1904 "Day One" (Tools > Options > Calculation
> turn on 1904 date system option) to stay compatible.
And what's the farthest into the
future Excel can handle? The current XP version is good until
9999!
A final question - What happens
when you need to work with dates before 1900/1904? The
answer - Next Week!
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2) File Find! - "copyToXP"
This week's file is for Windows
XP users only, I'm afraid. I haven't been able to find anything similar for
Windows versions prior to XP, so if any readers know of something
similar-freeware-they'd like to share, please do!
copyToXP is a quick Registry file tweak that adds two
menu items that Microsoft neglected to the XP context
(right-click) menus: "Move To..." and "Copy To..."
No more opening folders and
dragging files from one to another: just select the Move To
or Copy To option and you can select a folder--or make a new one
if your needs dictate!
Best of all is the author's
dedication: "Thanks to mom and dad for all the support and
millions of dollars investments on my studies so I could make
complex pieces of software such as this and maybe help
mankind..."
Click to download
copyToXP!
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| 3) Sites-Seeing -
"Spyware in Your Wallet\When Good Toilets Do Bad Things"
If you're concerned about
privacy issues, then you are most likely as disheartened as I at
the rapidly spreading use of supermarket "Customer Loyalty
Cards" ...spyware in your wallet, I call it. When I
discovered the average price of meat rose 35% per pound at my
local Kroger's - except of course, for "loyal" tracker-card
using customers, I decided to take my business elsewhere.
C.A.S.P.I.A.N.,
Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering, is
fighting the good fight against loyalty cards. You'll find
well-reasoned arguments against cards (and AGAINST supplying
false information on card apps!); a comprehensive index of
stores that both do and do not require cards; current
news on consumer protests against cards, and action items.
If they're not in your
neighborhood, they will be soon. Take a look at C.A.S.P.I.A.N.
if you find this latest consumer "trend" particularly
distasteful.
≥≤ ≥≤ ≥≤ ≥≤
≥≤ ≥≤ ≥≤ ≥≤ ≥≤ ≥≤ ≥≤
≥≤ ≥≤ ≥≤ ≥≤ ≥≤ ≥≤ ≥≤
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And now, if you would step over
to the Throne Room of The Basement... Ladies, here's a way to win the
Great Toilet Seat debate! The
Toilet Seat
Museum has just the thing to make sure your guy
always closes the lid!
Barney Smith has been creating his works of art for over 30
years and has pictures from his extensive collection of over 600
seats to share with you. Sit right down and mull over the dog
tags seat, the Easter Bunny tile seat, or the wooden nickel
seat.
Ok... not strange enough for
you? Then take a look at
When
Good Toilets Do Bad Things,
The Toilet
Museum, and of course,
Welcome to
Our Toilet Collection - all selections at the
Toilet Webring.
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Looking for the
hottest IT newsletters? At
FreeTechMail.org,
you'll find an extensive collection of ezines on topics such as:
IT Careers, Training/Certification, System Administration, and
more. Subscribe to any number of newsletters that fit your
individual interests, and the price is right - IT'S FREE! |
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| 4)
Email Funny - "Parking Pro"
This one came to me recently
under a slightly different title; in the interests of diplomacy
I'll describe this short video as simply an exercise in parking
in a very tight space.
Click to download
Parking
Pro! [1 Mb/MPEG]
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| 5)
They Said It
'"If I took them really seriously
I'd be underground someplace," said one woman riding the New York
subway.' -
CNN.com quote re: Memorial Day terror alerts.
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| 6)
Hodgepodge
< * > Japanese
cryptographer uses
Photoshop, superglue, and gummy bear raw material to fool
fingerprint biometric equipment--80% of the time! < * > Hotmail
users should see more spam with this nice little turn of events as
Microsoft takes aim once again at its corporate foot and
adds new
settings for current users that reveal their e-mail
address, date of birth, occupation, and other details to third
parties!< * > "Can I break into your computer? Let's try
now..." Noises readers might find the
Qualys Browser Checkup
for Internet Explorer under Windows particularly revealing--it
checks for known security vulnerabilities and offers suggestions
to fix problems it finds. < * > From The "Love It or
Hate It" Department: "We
are the Space Robots. We are Here to Protect You" is the
strange, disturbed refrain in this successor to "All Your Base
Are Belong to Us".
G'nite, and thanks for reading!
Dave Gretz
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Dave Gretz,
Editor
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Noises From
The Basement
is a BTB Management
Services publication e-published every other Wednesday and
delivered directly to your e-porch, rain or shine!
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Recommend
Noises
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Sources & Resources
places to go,
people to read
FREETECHMAILORG
Dave
Pell's
NEXT DRAFT
Steve Gibson's
GRC
Fred Langa's
LANGALIST
Tara Calishaine's
RESEARCHBUZZ
Declan McCullagh's
POLITECH
Roger D. Hodge's
HARPER'S WEEKLY
Barbara Mikkelson's
URBAN LEGENDS
Jerry Lerman's
Bonehead of the Day Award
Chris Pirillo's
LOCKERGNOME |
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So, How'd I
Do?
Let me know what
you liked or disliked in this issue of
Noises From The Basement!
E-Mail Dave |
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Thanks!
Dave Gretz
"BTB Management Services" |
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