Auxiliary Memory

Here’s what to do if your Folder Pane disappears. The Folder Pane is the left one that shows the tree of mail folders: Inbox, Sent, Drafts, etc. If there is no space there (the other panes extend to the left side of the window) it is probably just not displayed, and you can drag its resize bar from the left, or display it with the View menu.

But if the Folder Pane just comes up as a blank space, it could be due to a previous crash of Thunderbird, or corruption of some auxiliary files that need to be rebuilt. Here’s how to fix it:

• Exit Thunderbird
• Find your profile folder.  In Windows, you can navigate directly to your profile folder at the following path:
     C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<profile>\
• In Linux, look for it here:
     ~/.thunderbird/<profile>/
• or here:
     ~/.mozilla_thunderbird/<profile>/
• The AppData folder might be hidden: to show hidden folders, open a Windows Explorer window and choose
  “Organize → Folder and Search Options → Folder Options → View (tab) → Show hidden files and folders”
• You can (should) make a backup copy of your profile folder now, in case something goes wrong
• In the profile folder, rename the session.json and foldertree.json
  files (to session.json.bad and foldertree.json.bad)
• Restart Thunderbird

If something goes wrong, you can restore your old session.json and foldertree.json files, then go searching for a different solution.

3DS is an aging binary interchange format for 3D models. OBJ is another aging, but ASCII-based format for 3D models.

Here is a simple Python script that converts one or more files from 3DS format to OBJ format using Blender:

Save the script code in a file named blender_3ds2obj.py.  You will also need a Blender file to use as a placeholder in the command line.  You can save an empty file from Blender, or use an existing one.  Assume it is called dummy.blend.

To convert 3DS files, use the following command:

Tack on as many 3DS files to the end of the command as you want.

Note:  This assumes that dummy.blend and bl_3ds2obj.py are in the same folder as your 3DS files.  If not, you will need to specify the proper path to each.

Firefox has lots of add-ons that make web browsing more pleasurable. There are many I have not explored, but these are my current favorites:

Tree Style Tab

Lets me have the tabs down the left side in a collapsable tree view. Saves screen real estate and makes more tabs readily accessible.

FireGestures

I find myself trying to use the same mouse gestures in other tools. I wish I could get this as a desktop add-on.

AdBlockPlus

Hides ads: rose-colored glasses for web browsing!

Firemacs

Old habits die hard: muscle memory lasting longer than other types.

DownThemAll!

Nice if you are trying to grab several large files at once.

FireBug

Great for figuring out why web pages don’t work.

Locationbar²

Adds some capability to the address field.

Searchbar Autosizer

Makes the search field big when you use it.

Xmarks

Keeps bookmarks synced between machines. I appreciate it when I move into a new computer.

KeeFox

Integrates the KeePass password manager with Firefox. Now I feel at least a little bit more secure.

Disconnect

Makes me feel like I’m not being tracked quite so much, but it breaks some Google things, so I have to turn off the Google blocking for Google Maps or logging in to a Google account.

Linkification

Currently disabled. Hasn’t kept up with the Firefox release cycle.

You can get add-ons for Firefox by typing about:addons in your Firefox browser’s address field.

The official game rules are here.

I’m listing the hard-to-get pieces here, so I can check easily with my greasy fry hands.

Disclaimer:  This is based on my personal interpretation of the rules.  It could be wrong.  I cannot be held responsible for any bad decisions you make based on this information.

• Mediterranean
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Tennessee
• Kentucky
• Short Line Railroad
• Ventnor
• Pennsylvania
• Boardwalk

I finally went looking for one of my pet peeves with the Thunderbird email tool, and the Internet did not disappoint.

I like seeing my message list with the newest items at the top of the list, yet I normally read them oldest to newest.  When I finish reading a message and delete it, Thunderbird’s default behavior is to select and display the message below the previous selection in the list.  My newest-at-the-top sort order causes the next older message to be displayed, which is probably the one I looked at just prior to the one I deleted.  I want it to select the next newer message.

Turns out there is an option for this in Thunderbird’s config options.

Go to Tools->Options…, Advanced tab, Config Editor….
Change the option mail.delete_matches_sort_order to true.

Now if only someone would add the Reply/Reply All toggle that I’ve been pining for….

I am eagerly awaiting a fix for the Windows 7 bug that causes the Windows Explorer tree view to jump after you expand a node in the tree. Very irritating. The bug has been there since the first release of Win 7.

I had hoped the fix would be in SP1, but no. Let’s annoy Microsoft right back by voting to get this bug fixed.

I still prefer the command line for many tasks. Sometimes it’s just faster. It can be a deterrent if you want to run some commands in a deeply nested folder, however. So I like the “Open Command Prompt Here” feature, which can be made available in Windows Explorer’s folder context menus.

In Windows 7 it is there, but hidden. Hold the Shift key and right mouse on a folder to see the context menu entry. In Windows Vista it is half there. Holding Shift while displaying the context menu only shows the hidden entry in the righthand pane of the Explorer Window. Prior to Vista, you need to use PowerToys or edit the registry to add the context menu item.

There is more information here.

In a Windows CMD window you can type the following command:

TASKLIST /SVC /FI "IMAGENAME EQ SVCHOST.EXE"

to see what is being run by the various svchost.exe processes.

I was trying to track down what was using half my CPU when the machine should be idle. I was very thankful to find this blog entry. Turns out the culprit is the Pml Driver HPZ12 for my networked HP printer, which seems to put my machine into this state, maybe after someone has scanned documents and saved them onto a PC on the network.

Recently I needed a Python fix, Monty Python that is. I tried to watch the Spanish Inquisition on Netflix. Firefox (3.6) kept saying the Silverlight plug-in has crashed. Reinstalling Silverlight did not help. Luckily, someone else had already solved this one.  Silverlight would not run because the Windows Tablet PC Input Service was disabled.  I figured I did not have a tablet PC and was not using pen input.  Silly me.

I re-enabled the service and started it.  Silverlight ran fine after that.

Segway, iPad, Heinz Ketchup? No, its…