Kenny Kerr

Dark Day in Computer Land

Today I spilled some tea on my beloved Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 and now it no longer works. Sigh.

This is when I realized for the first time that my absolutely awesome Dell Dimension 9200 does not include any PS/2 ports and offers only USB ports for peripherals. Of course the 4000 is the only USB keyboard I’ve ever owned so my stash of retired keyboards was of no use. It took me a while to remember that I had never even looked at the keyboard that Dell shipped and thankfully it is a USB keyboard. Of course now I’m condemned to this miserable excuse for a keyboard.

My non-geek friends must think I’m odd but I guess only a geek/programmer would understand the attachment one forms with a keyboard.  :)

© 2007 Kenny Kerr

Window Clippings is now DPI Aware

Windows Vista changed the way that windows are rendered in large scale or custom DPI configurations. Since this is an opt-in change, applications need to specifically request the new behavior akin to the way applications need to explicitly request themed common controls. Those applications that are not DPI aware will effectively be stretched by the desktop window manager.

Anyway, Window Clippings is now DPI aware on Windows Vista. This means that it will correctly capture images of windows that are also DPI aware. It’s not quite perfect in that some apps that aren’t DPI aware aren’t yet captured correctly and I’m hoping to fix this in future but at least for those apps that have paid their software taxes so to speak Window Clippings will work just fine. Window Clippings continues to support custom DPI configurations on Windows XP as well as on Windows Vista when using the XP-style DPI scaling.

To get the latest build simply select “Check for Updates” from the Window Clippings context menu. If you are a new user simply download the latest version of Window Clippings 1.5.

If you happen to be using one of these applications that are not DPI aware and the application is being noticeably stretched, you can tell Windows to disable display scaling for the application. Here’s how: Find the application executable and open its property pages. Open the Compatibility tab and check the “Disable display scaling…” option. A good example of an app that is *not* DPI aware is Windows Live Messenger.

© 2007 Kenny Kerr 

Window Clippings and Multiple Monitors

A few users reported problems with Window Clippings in a multiple-monitor configuration on Windows XP. It worked fine on Windows Vista (my only multi-monitor computer) but I had no way of testing Windows XP outside of a virtual machine and unfortunately I haven’t found multi-monitor video drivers for any of the main virtualization platforms.

Anyway, last night I reinstalled my main computer, dual-booting Windows XP x86 and Windows Vista x64 and was able to verify the problem on Windows XP - and it is now fixed.

To get the latest build simply select “Check for Updates” from the Window Clippings context menu. If you are a new user simply download the latest version of Window Clippings 1.5.

© 2007 Kenny Kerr