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I wonder how many people search http://msdn.microsoft.com/ when they have
a problem. Microsoft maintains this enormous database of issues, fixes, work-arounds, programming samples, white papers, help, etc. As far as I'm concerned its one of Microsoft's strengths. It's rare when you can't either fix the problem or at least get on the right track from this information. Bruce Partridge http://www.rebreather.ca > -----Original Message----- > From: Wouter van Ooijen [mailto:] > Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 10:48 AM > To: > Subject: RE: [piclist] Was really OS bashing... Re: Re: 16F88 bootloader > > and for > > >some totally mysterious reason the system has soundcard drivers > > >installed and working OK but I have no sound output device. > > > > I suspect that if you go into CONTROL PANEL / REGIONAL and LANGUAGE > > OPTIONS / LANGUAGES / DETAILS, and remove everything but the > > "keyboard" > > option, your nagging will end. > > 1. wowsers, that seems to work, thanks! > > 2. IMHO this does prove my point: I consider myself a power user in some > sense (I am the kind of guy that writes his own (PIC) compiler when he > does not like what is available), but I would not have guessed that > there was an easy way to switch this speech thing off, or where such a > way would be hidden. A sufficiently complex system will almost always be > either user-unfriendly, or unflexible. Linux and Windows use different > ways to harness their inherent complexity, but neither achieves real > user-friendliness. > > Wouter van Ooijen > > -- ------- > Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl > consultancy, development, PICmicro products > to unsubscribe, go to http://www.yahoogroups.com and follow the > instructions > Yahoo! Groups Links > --- > Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.745 / Virus Database: 497 - Release Date: 8/27/2004 > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.745 / Virus Database: 497 - Release Date: 8/27/2004 |
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16F88 bootloader
Started by ●August 8, 2004
Reply by ●September 2, 20042004-09-02
Reply by ●September 2, 20042004-09-02
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Yes, the MSDN is a very valuable resource. Unfortunately, there is SO much there, that finding a simple answer to a simple question can take up a lot of time. For example, try finding out how to convince a CD-ROM platter to Eject. Not too hard. Now try finding out how to make it 'Un-eject'. It can be done. Hint -- look in the MCI functions. --- In , Bruce Partridge <bgpartri@c...> wrote: > I wonder how many people search http://msdn.microsoft.com/ when they have a > problem. Microsoft maintains this enormous database of issues, fixes, > work-arounds, programming samples, white papers, help, etc. As far as I'm > concerned its one of Microsoft's strengths. > > It's rare when you can't either fix the problem or at least get on the right > track from this information. > > Bruce Partridge > http://www.rebreather.ca > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Wouter van Ooijen [mailto:wouter@v...] > > Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 10:48 AM > > To: > > Subject: RE: [piclist] Was really OS bashing... Re: Re: 16F88 bootloader > > > > > > > and for > > > >some totally mysterious reason the system has soundcard drivers > > > >installed and working OK but I have no sound output device. > > > > > > I suspect that if you go into CONTROL PANEL / REGIONAL and LANGUAGE > > > OPTIONS / LANGUAGES / DETAILS, and remove everything but the > > > "keyboard" > > > option, your nagging will end. > > > > 1. wowsers, that seems to work, thanks! > > > > 2. IMHO this does prove my point: I consider myself a power user in some > > sense (I am the kind of guy that writes his own (PIC) compiler when he > > does not like what is available), but I would not have guessed that > > there was an easy way to switch this speech thing off, or where such a > > way would be hidden. A sufficiently complex system will almost always be > > either user-unfriendly, or unflexible. Linux and Windows use different > > ways to harness their inherent complexity, but neither achieves real > > user-friendliness. > > > > Wouter van Ooijen > > > > -- ------- > > Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl > > consultancy, development, PICmicro products > > > > > > > > > > > > to unsubscribe, go to http://www.yahoogroups.com and follow the > > instructions > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > > --- > > Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. > > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > > Version: 6.0.745 / Virus Database: 497 - Release Date: 8/27/2004 > > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.745 / Virus Database: 497 - Release Date: 8/27/2004 |
Reply by ●September 2, 20042004-09-02
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> I wonder how many people search http://msdn.microsoft.com/ > when they have a problem. I use google when I have a problem. I occasionally find microcsoft documents that seem to be solutions to other problems, never to the problem I have. Wouter van Ooijen -- ------- Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl consultancy, development, PICmicro products |
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Reply by ●September 2, 20042004-09-02
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Whenever I have a problem I make the first conclusion: I am NOT the first person to have this problem. Therefore, the answer will be in Microsoft's Knowledge Base if I can just phrase the question properly. Same with just about everything else in life: I am not the first to see an issue and someone else has already solved it. --- In , "Wouter van Ooijen" <wouter@v...> wrote: > > I wonder how many people search http://msdn.microsoft.com/ > > when they have a problem. > > I use google when I have a problem. I occasionally find microcsoft > documents that seem to be solutions to other problems, never to the > problem I have. > > Wouter van Ooijen > > -- ------- > Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl > consultancy, development, PICmicro products |
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Reply by ●September 2, 20042004-09-02
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> 1. Whenever I have a problem I make the first conclusion: I am NOT the > first person to have this problem. > 2. Therefore, the answer will be in > Microsoft's Knowledge Base if I can just phrase the question > properly. agree with 1, disagree with 2, google has (or should have ...) a wider reach. Wouter van Ooijen -- ------- Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl consultancy, development, PICmicro products |
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Reply by ●September 2, 20042004-09-02
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> > 1. Whenever I have a problem I make the first conclusion: I am
NOT > the > > first person to have this problem. > > 2. Therefore, the answer will be in > > Microsoft's Knowledge Base if I can just phrase the question > > properly. > > agree with 1, disagree with 2, google has (or should have ...) a wider > reach. > I don't think so. Google has to index pages. It's more likely to find static pages. A lot of the pages that are available on a database based site like the knowledge base have never been served to anyone. Every search produces a slighly different page. It's kind of like expecting to find Google pages on Inktomi. Google pages are momentary images of a particular database search. Bruce Partridge http://www.rebreather.ca > -- ------- > Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl > consultancy, development, PICmicro products > to unsubscribe, go to http://www.yahoogroups.com and follow the > instructions > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > --- > Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.745 / Virus Database: 497 - Release Date: 8/27/2004 > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.745 / Virus Database: 497 - Release Date: 8/27/2004 |
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Reply by ●September 2, 20042004-09-02
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--- In , Bruce Partridge <bgpartri@c...> wrote: > > > 1. Whenever I have a problem I make the first conclusion: I am NOT > > the > > > first person to have this problem. > > > 2. Therefore, the answer will be in > > > Microsoft's Knowledge Base if I can just phrase the question > > > properly. > > > > agree with 1, disagree with 2, google has (or should have ...) a wider > > reach. > > > > I don't think so. Google has to index pages. It's more likely to find > static pages. A lot of the pages that are available on a database based > site like the knowledge base have never been served to anyone. Every search > produces a slighly different page. It's kind of like expecting to find > Google pages on Inktomi. Google pages are momentary images of a particular > database search. I agree with Wouter and I know many Windows developers who do too. Google actually seems to do a better job of indexing MSDN than Microsoft does. Thus when I want to find something in MSDN I frequently turn to google first and then look for MSDN hits. BTW, while google's algorythm is secret and is evolving, it has been shown imperically that google increases the frequency at which it reindexes pages for those that it finds change frequently. |
Reply by ●September 3, 20042004-09-03
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> I don't think so. Google has to index pages. It's more > likely to find static pages. A lot of the pages that are available on a > database based site like the knowledge base have never been served to > anyone. The 'should' in my post should be interpreted as a responsibility of Microsoft :) IHMO every information provider that provides info should do make sure that his info is indexed by google (and other search engines). This might be difficult, but not impossible. The current situation on the internet is that google (on itself or with some other major search engines) is *the* entry to the internet. If an information provider does not recognise this too bad for him, even if he is Microsoft. Recently I added a question to my internetshop's checkout sequence 'how did you find me?'. Over 70% of those who filled in this field answered 'google'. Mind you, not just 'searching', specifically 'google'! Wouter van Ooijen -- ------- Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl consultancy, development, PICmicro products |
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Reply by ●September 3, 20042004-09-03
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> > The 'should' in my post should be interpreted as a responsibility of > Microsoft :) > > IHMO every information provider that provides info should do make sure > that his info is indexed by google (and other search engines). This > might be difficult, but not impossible. The current situation on the > internet is that google (on itself or with some other major search > engines) is *the* entry to the internet. If an information provider does > not recognise this too bad for him, even if he is Microsoft. > > Recently I added a question to my internetshop's checkout sequence 'how > did you find me?'. Over 70% of those who filled in this field answered > 'google'. Mind you, not just 'searching', specifically 'google'! > > Wouter van Ooijen I did a database based site a few years ago, and that was certainly my goal. Mine was a relatively small site with only about 120,000 facilities listed. In order to get them indexed, we had to create a program that read every database record and formatted a static page with a link to the home page. So we had a directory of these pages. Maybe Microsoft could do that with their terabytes of data that changes daily, but I doubt it. My technique is to use Google or some other search engine to find a site with likely information, then use the search function on the site to look for the exact data in their internal database. For example, I don't look for my vacation flight to Cozumel on Google. I use Google to find airline booking sites. Bruce Partridge --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.745 / Virus Database: 497 - Release Date: 8/27/2004 |
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Reply by ●September 3, 20042004-09-03
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I don't see any reason for Microsoft to have their database indexed by Google - I'm surprised MSDN is indexed. Sure, Google is useful but it is indiscriminate (broadly used) returning thousands of entries to a simple query; I can find an item related specifically to Excel 97 or Windows XP when I search the Microsoft database. I don't find it difficult to realize that if I have a Microsoft issue, I should go to the Microsoft site to find the resolution. I pretty much do the same thing for all applications software - the manufacturer's site is the place to start for definitive answers. --- In , "Wouter van Ooijen" <wouter@v...> wrote: > > I don't think so. Google has to index pages. It's more > > likely to find static pages. A lot of the pages that are available on > a > > database based site like the knowledge base have never been served to > > anyone. > > The 'should' in my post should be interpreted as a responsibility of > Microsoft :) > > IHMO every information provider that provides info should do make sure > that his info is indexed by google (and other search engines). This > might be difficult, but not impossible. The current situation on the > internet is that google (on itself or with some other major search > engines) is *the* entry to the internet. If an information provider does > not recognise this too bad for him, even if he is Microsoft. > > Recently I added a question to my internetshop's checkout sequence 'how > did you find me?'. Over 70% of those who filled in this field answered > 'google'. Mind you, not just 'searching', specifically 'google'! > > Wouter van Ooijen > > -- ------- > Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl > consultancy, development, PICmicro products |
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