Software: VNC Viewer Handy Shortcuts

Handy keyboard shortcuts for Java VNCViewer:

• F8 to show the menu.
• Shift-Ctrl-Alt-Del to send Ctrl-Alt-Del signal to remote Windows desktop.

JScript To Launch Applications

Here's a quickie JScript program to launch a set of applications in Windows. I wrote it because I didn't want to always start these applications when I logged in to my workstation (which is what happens to programs in the Windows Startup folder). Save the text in a *.js file in your desktop, edit the list of applications, then click on the icon to run it.

var apps = new Array()
apps[0] = '"C:\\Program Files\\Bozinis\\2xExplorer\\2xExplorer.exe"'
apps[1] = '"C:\\Program Files\\Mozilla Firefox\\firefox.exe"'
apps[2] = '"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office\\EXCEL.EXE"'
apps[3] = '"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office\\OUTLOOK.EXE"'

function runApps() {
  var wshell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.shell")
  for (var i = 0; i < apps.length; ++i) {
    var appPath = apps[i]
    wshell.Run(appPath, 1, false) // Don't wait for command to finish
  }
  wshell = null
}

runApps()

JScript and Windows notes

If your application file paths have white spaces, you need to delimit them by double quotes so that the Windows shell can find them. The outer-most single quotes tell JScript the start and end of a string. Backslashes in Windows paths need to be escaped by another backslash.

Software: Skype quirks and gotchas

Some Skype quirks and gotchas.

• There is no way to view the history of a group chat in Skype (my version 1.1.0.79). The chat history files are stored in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Skype\username but they are encoded in some proprietary format.
• If you call someone and then close the call window before they answer, the call attempt continues. If the recepient answers the call, the caller does not see a call window but the line is established, so the receipient can eavesdrop.

Software: Dumbed Down Tutorial - Weblogic Workshop

Weblogic Workshop has one of the most dumbed down tutorial instructions I've had the misfortune to read recently. If you follow the Windows steps, you end up with a Quickstart window and a Workshop window, when all that was required is for the developer to enter the path to the executable in a console. The Quickstart window is not used in the rest of the tutorial and consumes 25 Mbytes of RAM. Does BEA (the publisher of Weblogic) really believe that developers are sooo stupid that they can't launch an application from a command console? 2007-06-12: Removed URL to BEA workshop tutorial. Link is gone?