Software Reference

Not for the first time I've been caught out when trying to do simple XSLT to pick information out of XML files. Hopefully this is the last. I'm blogging this so I can refer to it again later. Hopefully it will be useful to you too.

Sometimes, when I'm working on a project, I need to keep stopping and starting. Although I've used various stopwatch programs in the past, these days I often just write down the start and end times of each batch of work and then work out the total later.

Read on for details of how I use Microsoft Excel to work out the total, even if I work over midnight.

I tend to work with lots of browser windows open, particularly when I am researching something. I don't see that as a problem in itself. What it a problem, however, is not being able to find a particular window that I know is open amid the noise of all the other browser windows.

Read on to find out my solution to this.

I've been using Author-It v5.3.207.6063 to generate help in Japanese. This seemed to work fine, but the resultant chm file's Search tab wouldn't work with Japanese glyphs (only with English characters).

Further experimentation has revealed a way of getting the Search tab to work. I had to do the following:

1. Update the regional settings (XP) to enable Japanese and set it as the default for non-Unicode applications
1. On the Languages tab, tick “Install files for East Asian languages”

Have you ever thought, "I wonder what will happen if I set my phone to Japanese"? Or had to use a PC set to a different region? Here are some useful terms in a variety of languages to help you to find your way about.

I've finally bitten the bullet and upgraded the OS that come with my eeePC 701 netbook. Things were starting to run slowly, and in particular firefox kept freezing when running ajaxy websites (such as gmail). Asus doesn't seem to push out the updates, so I've defected to eeeBuntu – a distro which has taken Ubuntu and tailored it to the eeePC.

So far, it feels like a breath of fresh air.

Suppose you're doing a crossword and you're a bit stuck. You know the answer starts with an M, and you're fairly sure it ends ING. But you can't figure out what word it is.

Luckily, you have Linux (or some other unix) on your machine, so you can run a simple command to find the answer.

Read on to find out more.

The last couple of times I've been asked for help with a Microsoft Word problem, it's been about how to set up or fix multi-level lists in Word 2007. I had a bit of a head-scratcher myself this week with Word 2003. Read on to find out what the problem was and how to fix it.

I've made a few tweaks to the design of the Software Reference site. I think it looks a bit more friendly and approachable now.

Read on to find out about the changes I made, and the resources I used to get there.

Facebook does have a limited number of RSS feeds. My new mobile phone allows me to subscribe to up to two web feeds for each of my contacts. Here are the steps I had to go through to get an RSS feed for one friend's status update. (Genuine first-hand research/trial and error.)