Fascinating article - that is, if you find software development and operating systems interesting....

REDMOND, Wash. -- Jim Allchin, a senior Microsoft Corp. executive, walked into Bill Gates's office here one day in July last year to deliver a bombshell about the next generation of Microsoft Windows.

"It's not going to work," Mr. Allchin says he told the Microsoft chairman. The new version, code-named Longhorn, was so complex its writers would never be able to make it run properly.

The news got even worse: Longhorn was irredeemable because Microsoft engineers were building it just as they had always built software. Throughout its history, Microsoft had let thousands of programmers each produce their own piece of computer code, then stitched it together into one sprawling program. Now, Mr. Allchin argued, the jig was up. Microsoft needed to start over.

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Dan,

I googled. I got this site: [link]

I went to follow the directions and I got the part about opening C:\Windows\Installer and I'm having problems because I can't find it. I was about to try putting it in the Address bar when I realized there was no address bar. So I went to View - Toolbars - Address Bar and enabled it. BUT! The address bar is grayed out and I've tried everything to try and get it to become active and I can't.

I did a Search for it, and what I need doesn't come up. I did a search for Installer (including in hidden folders) and what I need doesn't seem to come up.

What the FUCK?

So earlier, I try to synch my iPod. It tells me some of the songs can't be synched because my iPod software is too old. OK, I think, whatever. I'll update later, I think. I run off to the movies, and on the way, realize that what happened was that all of my purchased music has mysteriously disappeared from my iPod. I'm pissed. But I think, ok, when I get home, I'll fix it.

I get home, finish downloading shit, it still says the same thing. I go to apple. I download "iPod updater". I try to install it. It wont' freakin' let me install it. What the HELL?????????

I had the same problem back in Feb. There are a number of steps you can take.

1st, reset your iPod. If that doesn't help, you can make the iPod scan and repair its own disk (it's called 'verify disk' (I think) and required booting your iPod a special way). If that doesn't help, you can wipe your iPod clean and do a fresh install. If you have a Windows iPod, you can actually run chkdsk on it.

I had to go through all those steps and mine still didn't work. Eventually I figured an update to my Cube must have failed, because when I attached my iPod to my Mini, it suddenly worked fine.

Anyway, look on the Apple discussion board. Here is the search results for 'update failed': [link] (That link might not work, so you can go to apple.com, then Support, Disussions, iPod or somesuch).

Anyway, there's a shitload of dicussion on these problems - I guess they're pretty common. I'm still poking around trying to find instructions to get an iPod to run diagnostics on itself.

eta: how to reset an iPod: [link]

To get to an iPod's utility menu, reset it, then hold down the FF, RW and Select buttons as it boots up, until you hear a chirp. At least that's how you do it on a 3rd gen iPod.

Ugh. I just went ahead and reset the thing entirely, and re-downloaded all my songs. Pain in the ass. Luckily, I didn't have anything on there that I didn't have in iTunes anyway. But jeeeeeeeez.

Hi.

I have really, really fucked up a database that someone else built.

It is an order database, made from the templete.

I was trying to make a query so that I could find all the money deposited on one day.

It told me some of the tables I used weren't related, so I created some relationships and then I got nervous, so i deleted what I thought were the relationships I made.

Anyone, I think I deleted something important, because now the order form won't add up the total of the items ordered.

I went back and create the file from a template again, and I checked all the relationships and they seem to be the in my database as in the template, but still no adding!

I have a suspicion that somehow an order ID number is not being created (because there is a relationship between orders and order details and I am sometimes now getting the error message that there is no order to match my order detail number.

Help!

Actually, I fixed the order number issue, but the not adding up thing is still happening.

The tables involved are:

Customers Orders Order Details and the field that is not adding is:

=[Order Details Subform].Form![Order Subtotal]

Nevermind.

I just asked IT to restore the backup copy from yesterday.

If one was to, say, take an .mpg file and burn it to a cd, would it automatically play on a DVD player? I'm new to all this stuff.

vw-

I could on my old DVD player, but not on my new one. I think you can search your player here:

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