Tag Archives: computers

Hardware/Software

Streets & Trips 2010 won’t load

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Update October 18, 2013: I just updated to Windows 8.1, and Streets & Trips 2010 continues to load and function.

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I’ve been using MS Streets & Trips forever. About a month ago, v2010 (I know, I’m cheap frugal. I can’t help it.) stopped working on my Windows 8.0 laptop installation. Something about registry errors kept popping up. This was after the September 2013 Patch Tuesday update. Go figure.

I did a search – well, duh – and discovered a bunch of solutions that don’t work. Imagine that.

Here’s my answer to the mfc100.dll file is missing error, and/or the registry error. I downloaded and reinstalled vcredist_x86.exe by selecting “Repair Microsoft Visual C++ x86 Redistributable to its original state”.

As it says on the page,

  1. Install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package. You do not need to uninstall/reinstall S&T for this.
  2. After it is installed – try launching S&T again.
Hardware/Software

First came Pearson’s Thesis DIY, now 8bit is down the toilet

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As they say on their web site,  it’s all been swell – unless you’re a paid customer. They even had the temerity to post their picture.

I warned about subscribing to a paid theme, particularly Chris Pearson’s DIY Thesis series of blunders and owner/manager stupidity and pigheadedness. Now 8bit, another fly-by-night paid WordPress theme builder, has closed its doors. You can read about 8bit’s disgruntled paid subscribers and their money-down-the-drain woes here. Don’t take too long, though. They’ll soon be disappearing with all the marbles. And the cash.

Scroll down their page to read some of the comments from disgruntled customers who paid for the theme and “lifetime” support, only to learn that the outfit would be going out of business only a few months later. The joke is on you, sucker.

Here are a few prime reasons for not subscribing to a paid WordPress theme:

this is the final goodbye and the Support Forums will continue to be open for another 30 days – after that we will no longer support our products, including our core product Standard Theme.

The losers can’t even afford to keep the support forums online for the fools that paid for a service. Obviously, the complete incompetence of the outfit extends to “better ideas” too. Adding insult to injury, the hapless losers recommend that their customers could move on to two other paid themes. Yeah, right. I’m sure they’ll be doing that real soon now.

Whatever you do, folks, do not, ever, subscribe to Chris Pearson’s Thesis DIY themes. Consider yourself warned.

If  8bit was capable of paying a few bucks out of the cash they fleeced from recent subscriptions, you’d think they could at least afford to lay out a little of their customers’ money to keep a web site open for a year. Yuk yuk yuk it up, customers. You lose too.

There will be a lot more of this, I’m sure, in the paid theme business. Fortunately, I had nothing invested in 8bit.

Thesis DIY is another matter entirely, and I’m happy that I now have moved away from the loser of a theme and owner/manager/tech support “guru” Chris Pearson who could care less about my investment in a promised product that was never, ever! delivered in a timely manner.

It’s all been swell if you’re pocketing the cash.

Hardware/Software, Stupidity plain and simple

Electronic Arts Sim City is slow and unplayable

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I want my money back.

Sim City is unplayable in its present form. Electronic Arts has no provision for a refund. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, PURCHASE THIS GAME.

Electronic Arts Sim City, in its present form, is unplayble from my location. Electronic Arts DOES NOT give refunds.

In my opinion, this is a giant ripoff to people who have purchased the game.

there are no refunds for products or services purchased on our Websites -Electronic Arts

Since you have to set up an account and log in, that is unforgivable and an obvious ripoff. I want my money back.

Hardware/Software

SanDisk Secure Access USB drive software sucks

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SanDisk Secure Access USB drives suck. Buy something else.

SanDisk Secure Access software sucks. It won’t run from the USB drive, even though it ran a few days ago on the same computer, in the same USB port.

Even with current updates to the SanDisk Secure Access USB software, it won’t run. Buy something else.

Not only that, but the SanDisk Secure Access forum HAS NO ANSWERS!

Don’t buy SanDisk trash. You’ll lose access to your data.

Hardware/Software, Stupidity plain and simple

Logitech Setpoint missing mouse and keyboard tabs fixed

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Be sure to check the comments. Your particular setup may be covered there.

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Thanks to feedback from Jonathan On December 10, 2016:

Your trick worked for me, but then I found a newer software called Logitech SetPoint Options (https://support.logitech.com/en_us/software/options) which worked as advertised for me. You might consider adding a mention to the top of the post to save lots of people lots of trouble.

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August 25, 2016: And, for those of you (myself included) wrestling with the Logitech double click problem, I solved mine with Scotch® Brand tape. View the simple fix video here. It seems that those stupid sons of bitches at Logitech engineering can’t even design a push-button that functions for a reasonable amount of time.

I added one layer of Scotch tape at a time, rather than use drywall tape. It’s such a simple fix that I decided to go that way. We’ll see how it goes.

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I must admit that I no longer use the Logitech mouse software that those stupid sons of bitches at Logitech distribute. My Logitech mouse works just as well and is just as functional without the software that those stupid sons of bitches at Logitech publish. So long, you Logitch useless sons of bitches that write your software. It’s been good to know ya as a punching bag.

The Windows 10 mouse controls in Settings / Devices / Mouse & touchpad / Additional mouse options (at the bottom of the screen) are more than adequate for the average user. A similar mouse control is contained in all earlier versions of Windows.

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UPDATED June 21 2015: I’m running a pre-release version of Windows 10. SetPoint appears to be working as it should. Ditto Windows 8.1 with the patch Tuesday updates earlier this month.

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UPDATED July 2014: Those stupid sons of bitches at Logitec™ have come out with an update to their SetPoint software (6.65.62). But don’t worry, folks. Those stupid sons of bitches at Logitec STILL DON’T HAVE A WORKING VERSION. They’re still in beta. Go figure.

Note to those stupid sons of bitches at Logitec: Why can’t you stupid sons of bitches at Logitec get a version of your SetPoint software that actually WORKS? Why can’t you, you stupid sons of bitches at Logitec, PRODUCE a version of your SetPoint software that works? Furthermore, why can’t you stupid sons of bitches at Logitec hire a Chinese or Japanese kid that could bring your SetPoint software into the 2000s? I mean, really, you stupid sons of bitches at Logitec have had since around 2007 to produce a product that actually works.

Finally, a query: What do the stupid sons of bitches at Logitec do all day in their little cubicles?

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Logitech has had a problem since at least 2007 with mouse and keyboard tabs disappearing/missing from their Setpoint software. The tabs will randomly disappear after an install. Trust me on this, and don’t bother with the google, because those stupid sons of bitches at Logitech don’t have a meaningful, clued-in response that doesn’t include removing and reinstalling the software. Even then, Logitech can’t get their Setpoint software to run with mouse and keyboard tabs.

Here’s how I solved the problem with Windows 8 (if you’re running Win7, give it a try and let me know if it works):

  1. Open Task Manager with CTRL-SHIFT-ESC and select Processes.
  2. Right click on Logitech KHAL Main Process and Logitech SetPoint Event Manager (UNICODE), select End task to close each of them in turn, and then close the Task Manager.
  3. Go to c:/Program Files/Logitech/SetPointP.
  4. Scroll down to SetPoint.exe.
  5. Right click on it.
  6. Select Run as administrator, and

Voila! Problem solved – for a while, at least, probably until one needs to complete the routine all over again.

Update:

  1. If you create a desktop shortcut to SetPoint.exe like I did, you won’t have to continually drill down into Program Files. All you have to do is right click and select Run as administrator after exiting the SetPoint icon in the Task Manager.
  2. I have discovered that if I select Show hidden icons on the Taskbar, right click on the Logitech icon and select close, then all I have to do is the first bullet point, above. There’s no need to go into the Task Manager at all.

Addendum: Really? Uninstall and re-install and restart the computert? Logitech can’t be serious about that, can they? Because IT DOESN’T WORK!

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ADDENDUM Mouse wheel stops scrolling – December 27, 2013: I turn my Logitech Anywhere MX mouse off to save juice. When I turned it back on, it wouldn’t scroll. To solve that problem, I turned it off again, removed the batteries, and put them back in. That appeared to fix the scrolling problem.

Hardware/Software

WizMouse: auto-activate a window without clicking

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Did you forget to click on your window and now you’re annoyed it doesn’t scroll right away? Fed up with your windows not scrolling? Forgetting to click on a window to activate scrolling? You didn’t know you had a problem, did you?

Well, if you recognize that you in fact do have a problem, then I have a little gem for you. It’s called WizMouse. Install this little beauty and you can scroll any window, whether it’s active or not. If you usually work with multiple open windows, you’ll really like it.

Yeah, okay, so maybe I’m a tad overenthusiastic. Try it. You’ll like it.

Get it from CNET’s download.com or from Antibody Software’s page.

WizMouse

Personal, Stupidity plain and simple

Polar Electro straps and wrist bands are cheap trash

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Update 2018: The watch strap turned to mush. Guess what? There is no way to change it out. There are no springs on the mounting pins that attach the strap to the sides of the watch. In other words, it’s just another piece of shit from Polar. Surpised? Not really.

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The T31 transmitter on my Polar Electro has broken at one end and is now unwearable. After dutifully trolling the internet for this cheap trash POS, it is apparently a common problem, not only for the heart transmitter, but also for their cheap trash POS watch bands.

Rather than pay prime replacement rate for a Polar Electro T31 cheap trash POS, I have decided to fix this cheap trash POS Polar Electro T31 myself.

Good luck getting me to ever purchase another cheap POS manufactured by Polar Electro.

Should you ever need to replace the battery in this thing, there are plenty of videos covering instructions on how to replace the transmitter battery. It’s a heck of a lot cheaper than paying for a new heart transmitter, considering the battery is only a couple of bucks.