Auxiliary Memory

Restore Thunderbird’s missing folder pane

ellery — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:14:10 +0000

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\\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\\
In Linux, look for it here:
~/.thunderbird//
or here:
~/.mozilla_thunderbird//
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.

Convert 3ds files to obj with Blender

ellery — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:38:33 +0000

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:

# Convert 3ds to obj using Blender
#
# Run as follows:
#   blender -b dummy.blend -P bl_3ds2obj.py — file.3ds …
#
# dummy.blend is just an empty Blender file needed as an argument.
# Put one or more .3ds files on the end of the command.
# The .obj files will be created with the same name (and path) as
# the .3ds file, but with the .obj extension.
# The export creates a .mtl file for each .obj file also.
import bpy

import sys

import os.path
for i in range(1, len(sys.argv)):

    if sys.argv[i] == "–":

        break
for file in sys.argv[i+1:]:

    # Start with an empty scene

    bpy.ops.object.select_all(action="SELECT")

    bpy.ops.object.delete()
    # Read a .3ds file

    bpy.ops.import_scene.autodesk_3ds(filepath=file)
    # Write a .obj file

    outfile = os.path.splitext(file)[0]+".obj"

    bpy.ops.export_scene.obj(filepath=outfile)

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:

blender -b dummy.blend -P bl_3ds2obj.py — file1.3ds file2.3ds file3.3ds

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.

List: My Favorite Firefox Add-ons

ellery — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:58:29 +0000

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.

McDonald’s 2011 Monopoly Rare Game Pieces

ellery — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:03:41 +0000

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

Thunderbird Message Reading Order

ellery — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:16:55 +0000

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….

Win 7 Explorer Folder Display Bug

ellery — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 03:44:05 +0000

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.

Open Command Prompt Here

ellery — Tue, 10 May 2011 04:06:30 +0000

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.

What’s SVCHOST doing?

ellery — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 19:38:13 +0000

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.

Unexpected Relationship

ellery — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 03:18:03 +0000

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.

Anticipation

ellery — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 02:44:20 +0000

Segway, iPad, Heinz Ketchup? No, its…