Disable Zip Folders in Windows 7, Vista, XP

Posted Jul.27, 2009 under Guides and Tips

Zip Folders (or Compressed Folders) is a feature in Windows Explorer that makes ZIP archives act like folders for easy retrieval of contents. However, this behavior is rather annoying for many, including me, so one of the first things I do upon a fresh install of Windows is to disable the zip folders functionality.

Let’s take a look at how to disable and also re-enable zip folders in Windows 7, Vista, and XP. In XP, all it takes is a quick command line statement. Vista and 7 require editing the registry, although additional protections make it more of a hassle in Windows 7.

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Fix Mac OS X Mouse Acceleration Curve

Posted Jul.26, 2009 under Guides and Tips

OS X has many great design wins, but the mouse acceleration curve is not one of them. Using a mouse under OS X feels very unnatural if you’ve ever used another operating system. The pointer moves too slowly when you move the mouse a little and too quickly when you try to speed it up. This is because the default acceleration curve is S-shaped and far too steep.

Unfortunately, OS X (as of 10.5 Leopard anyway) provides no built-in mechanism to allow users to easily change the acceleration amount or even to turn it off. Luckily, there are some 3rd-party solutions that can correct the problem, though not all of them are free. Let’s take a look at 4 of them below.

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5 Reasons Why Chrome Can’t Replace Firefox (Yet)

Posted Jul.23, 2009 under Analyses

Mozilla’s Firefox web browser has gained amazing traction to become the browser of choice for the more technically inclined. More recently, Google, everyone’s favorite search company, released Chrome, their own take on the web browser that emphasizes speed and simplicity.

I’ve been switching between the two for a long time and would really like to adopt Chrome as my main browser. Chrome is faster, more responsive, and looks better (in my opinion). However, it is missing several features that are needed before it can serve as a replacement for Firefox. Let’s take a closer look at them below.

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Enable High Quality Video in Skype Regardless of Webcam

Posted Jul.23, 2009 under Guides and Tips

If you use the video chat feature on Skype, you may have realized the resolution and picture quality leave something to be desired. That is, unless you own one of the exclusive and expensive webcams like the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000, which allows you to enable High Quality Video (HQV) within Skype. HQV has a resolution of 640×480 at 30 fps (frames per second) compared to the default of 320×240 at 15 fps that most webcams have to deal with.

This guide will show you how to enable HQV (and even higher quality!) in Skype regardless of which webcam you have, as long as it is capable of capturing at the resolution and speed you specify, and as long as your computer is powerful enough (most dual-core and higher machines should suffice).

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Firefox 3.5 Preview Released, Breaks WordPress Admin Interface

Posted Jun.10, 2009 under News

Mozilla released Firefox 3.5 Preview, also known as Firefox 3.5b99, a couple days ago as a sneak peak at the upcoming release candidate. If you are running Beta 4, you can get it by checking for updates.

While most things seem to work just fine, the WordPress admin interface has somehow been broken by this new release, at least for version 2.7.x. It is still somewhat usable, but AJAX and other JavaScript related features seem to not work. Of course, the admin interface is heavy with such features, rendering many tasks very difficult.

If you are a Firefox user, you may want to hold off on upgrading to 3.5 Preview if you run WordPress sites. Or, this might be a great time to try out other browsers like Chrome or Opera for a while.

UPDATE 2009/06/11: WordPress 2.8 was released yesterday and this new version works well with Firefox 3.5 Preview. It also provides a lot of snazzy cool new features. Check it out if you can upgrade.

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Farewell FileFront

Posted Mar.25, 2009 under News

UPDATE: FileFront was bought from Ziff Davis Media by the original owners and has announced that it will continue operating! See the full story here.

Despite the big closings like Circuit City and the demise of financial institutions due to the economic recession, I haven’t seen too many web sites go down. Thus, I was a bit surprised to read the news that FileFront, the popular gaming-related file host will be closing its doors on March 30th.

I’ve used them for many (mostly video) downloads in the past. Anytime something familiar announces a departure, it really hits you that maybe the current situation is not just in your mind after all. I wonder what other staple web sites will fall in the near future.

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Code Society Relaunch!

Posted Mar.25, 2009 under Administrative

Welcome to Code Society, the heart and soul of technology. You’ll find musings about everything from the hardest of software to the softest of hardware and back again. If you find something useful or want to ask a question, feel free to leave a comment. Where heart and soul are concerned, just about anything goes.

To start off, Code Society has inherited the (more useful) posts that were previously available on Optimal Mac (now defunct). Also, I’ve included some very old reviews from 2005. Stay tuned for more!

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