I ended up buying Windows 7 Ultimate because it’s the only one that allows me to change the display language. To change the display language simply open up Windows Update (it has the same name in Spanish) and let it search for updates.

As soon as it’s done it will show a list of available language packs under Optional Updates. In this case, I chose English because it’s the one I needed.

After it’s done downloading, head on over to the Control Panel and click on Region and Language. If you’re having trouble locating it, it’s the one that has an icon of a globe and a clock. Once there, you can change the display language by selecting the language pack you just downloaded.

Here’s the tricky part: when you log off or your computer decides to finish an update before being shutdown you will notice the progress prompts are in whatever language the operating system was originally installed with.

To change the display language of the Welcome Screen, go back to the Region and Language options and click on the Administrative tab. Click on the Copy settings button and make sure you check Welcome screen and system accounts and New user accounts under Copy your current settings to.

That’s it! Now almost the entire system is in English. I say almost because there’s still some drivers and device names here and there that are named in Spanish, such as my network interface card.

I still need to get my 5.1 sound speakers working, so I’ll post about that another time.

Unfortunately, I turned to a scripting language such as AutoHotKey to accomplish this. I say “unfortunately” because it went against my original plan to learn a proper language. It was something I needed to get done quickly without too much hassle, so I figured it’d be fine. I had never even seen an AutoHotKey script before let alone write one, so you could say this was my first time.

It didn’t take long. The documentation is easy enough to understand. I browsed the forums to see what types of things people were doing (I believe there was a 911 dispatcher that used it for calls) and I got an idea of things I could and could not do.

Anyway, I fired up AutoHotKey, typed away for a combined total of 9 hours, used Paint.NET to make some basic graphics, and compiled the script into a .exe using the included compiler. Here’s a detail of a screenshot I took of the finished program:

I just realized the alignment of the input fields is a bit off.

Obviously, I took out all styling and logos that could reference my employer. It’s nothing too fancy. I’m really proud of what I could make if I had a purpose. I’ve always found it difficult to make something from scratch so it was nice to know exactly what I wanted to accomplish before I even started.

A quick note: I would love to release the source but unfortunately I made this during work hours specifically for the job I do. I believe that makes it property of my employer.

I sent this out to my coworkers to use in their tickets. They loved it and of course immediately sent tons of feature requests and bug reports. Actually, I wouldn’t really call them bugs… most of them were because of sloppy code or typos I’d made. This experience also served as great practice for developing for a specific audience. For instance, I can’t believe I forgot to add a “clear all fields” button in the first version. They immediately let me know it was needed so I added one.

This is the only AutoHotKey script I plan on developing and maintaining. Once I decide what language I want to get into, I’ll post about it and make my first program available to download.

The cigar guy on an island

The cigar guy on the moon

The cigar guy on a Bob Dylan album

I honestly don’t know what it is about this guy, but it had me laughing all day at work. Here’s the original photo.

Not to say I haven’t been trying. I’m almost done with the first game. Since I have internet now, I’ve been trying to catch up on lost time with all my Steam games. I even purched Garry’s Mod yesterday since it was their last day of the $4.99USD deal. I tried hopping on some Counter-Strike servers but it doesn’t seem to be working. It might have something to do with my download speed. Let us compare…

Where I was before...

Where I am now

I was surprised by the packaging of the modem once I got home. The box itself was sturdy and the inside was padded well. The modem is an ADSL2+ Thomson TG585V7. It came with an Ethernet cable, phone cable, power adapter, user’s guide, installation disc (?), and a quick start guide. There was also a small card where I’m supposed to write down my Telmex email user name and password. How cute.

The Thomson TG585V7 ADSL2+ modem from Telmex

I didn’t bother with the installation disc and didn’t bother to check what it is for. It’s supposed to set up the internet connection for you and install some sort of anti virus software with parental controls, I think. I don’t really need any of that stuff so I just plugged in the modem and waited for the DSL light to be solid green. Everything worked right out of the box – no additional configuration needed.

The Windows installation disc I have is slightly out of date. Like, from 2002 out of date. Believe me, installing Service Pack 3 and all the security updates on a 1MB connection is not enjoyable. I did get a kick out of Windows nagging me every two seconds that my computer was out of date. It made me wonder how there are still people out there that run out of date software.

I found myself staring at this update screen almost all night

It might sound weird that I’m installing Windows XP on a brand new computer, but there’s really no other option. I didn’t actually pay for my Windows disc (someone gave it to me) and if I want to buy Windows 7 I’d have to shell out $199.99USD, which is money I don’t have right now. Sure, I could install any Linux distribution but I’m not too keen on the dual-booting configuration. I’ll slap Arch Linux on that old machine I have lying around as soon as I get a monitor and keyboard for it. I’ll update when I get around to that.

A while back I briefly mentioned that I finally got around to buying a desktop PC. Sure, everyone’s buying netbooks and those pad things but I know I’m not the only one that thinks the notebook is dead. Nothing beats a good ol’ desktop PC with a keyboard and mouse. I’m still planning on posting a brief overview of the computer specs and what it’s been like so far, don’t think I forgot.

Getting the computer was the first step. Living in an “emerging and developing” country makes it rather difficult to come by a reliable Internet Service Provider, so my choices were limited. I could’ve easily gone the easy way and signed up for Carlos Slim’s telephone/internet monopoly, Telmex. But where’s the fun in that? Instead, I hopped online and looked for some alternatives. The one I already had in mind was Cablevision, a newcomer to online services in the area. They offer a 2MB download speed through cable (6MB in some areas). Unfortunately, when I called them they informed me their services were not available in my area because the infrastructure wasn’t fully developed. I did a bit more research and the only other ISP in my area was Axtel. They were quite friendly. I called them and the sales representative curteously gave me a rundown of all their bundles. I signed up for their 2MB DSL service with a landline that includes 200 local calls. Yes, there’s no such thing as unlimited of anything here. Yes, I did ask. I thought it was pretty good considering Telmex was giving me the same thing for $16.44USD more. They said there was a $15.66USD “contract fee” and if I payed it by 4:00pm that day, the installation people would be at my house in two days. These guys really want my business, don’t they? I took a quick break from work and walked over to the nearest bank to make the deposit. Sure enough, within two days there was Axtel at my front door ready to do all the cabling that was needed.

Here’s where it gets kind of disappointing. They fooled around a bit on the roof of my house and proceeded to inform me that they could not get a signal because the house is located near the bottom of a hill. I know the technicians are just outsourced contractors that don’t really work for Axtel, but they were nice about it. They said I should call and ask for my deposit back, which I did. The original sales representative was also thoughtful enough to give me his direct extension so I didn’t have to wait in the call queue for someone to pick up the phone. The guy informed me that I would have to wait 5 business days for the refund to go through and that I would have to go to one of their offices and pick it up myself. That part was not pleasant considering the fact that the next three days were holidays, plus the weekend. I’d have to wait 11 regular days for my refund.

The next day I gave in and called Telmex. I gave them my address and they said they could not find my interior number in their system, which meant I would have to go to a Telmex office and order it in person. They were not open to suggestions, either. I asked if I could just put down my neighbor’s interior number, they said no. I asked if they could send the technicians to the house and I’d show them which was the correct one, and they said no. After all, they’ve got 80% of the country in their back pocket. It’s not like they need my business. I had to ignore all this and just show up in person. The lady at the counter hardly even looked at me and spoke so fast I couldn’t understand what she was saying. I must have done something right, though, because she informed me a technician would be at my home within 8 business days.

I’m (reluctantly) happy to say that today in the morning a Telmex technician showed up and took no more than 20 minutes to set up the phone line. I don’t own a house phone so I couldn’t verify if there was dial tone, but he said it should work just fine. I’ve also been told I can go pick up my modem from the Telmex office I ordered the service from. How fun.

I really wish I could have gone with Axtel. Minus the refund thing, they were pretty attentive whenever I spoke with them. I worked as a Technical Support Specialist for a major American ISP a few months ago and these people’s service is a thousand times better as far as I’m concerned. I’m really excited to get home today and set everything up. I’ll be posting soon about how that goes, hopefully from the comfort of my bedroom

It made me think back at all the stuff that was cool amongst the internet in 2003 how much things have changed. It’s enough to mention that the first time I saw that video it took about a half hour to load, I had an old eMachines with 256mb RAM and dial-up service with AOL software bundled. In the comics before that, the artist made references to installing iTunes for the first time and wanting a Power Mac G5. I remember getting my first and only iPod around that time. Looking at it now, it weighs a ton, doesn’t have color, and I can’t believe I thought 20GB was a lot. How could they not make an MP3 player with a color screen in 2003?!

Anyway, another thing the comic mentions a lot are indie girls! According to Urban Dictionary:

They listen to music that you’ve probably never heard of, wear what they want and are usually in touch with subjects that allow them to express themselves such as textiles,art,media,music and photography.

That made me laugh out loud. I’ve never really thought about the term a lot but if an indie girl is anything like Faye (or Zooey Deschanel), then I’m all for it. Incidentally, a picture of Zooey is one of the first things that popped up when I Googled “indie girl” and is the subject on a blog post on Indie Girls Deconstructed.

Is this what an indie girl looks like?

I loved her in Eulogy and it remains one of my favorite movies. It was also released in 2004, so it totally goes with the theme of this post.

I should also mention that I finally bought a computer. Upcoming post about that, so stay tuned.

me: Hey
614929371: hi?
me: You said hi first.
614929371: haha who are you?
me: You said hi first.. who are YOU?
614929371: hmm i think youre project upstream?

A quick Google search took me to the Project Upstream website. Upon reading their website description, I remembered what this was all about. It turns out Project Upstream is the new name for a project that used Salmon-themed screen names (FlavoredSalmon, SenileSalmon, CannedSalmon, etc ) to get two strangers to talk to each other. Both users would receive a message and would be connected if they responded. The screen names have also been known to end in -Coho or -Trout. This project also used to be called “The Great Hatsby”. This is the description from an archived Wikipedia page, since the current one has been deleted:

The Great Hatsby is the name of an AIM Bot that instigates conversation between two totally unrelated people. Its name is a play on words from the book The Great Gatsby. It is a relay bot that retrieves the most recently updated LiveJournal posts and obtains the AIM screenname of the posting user. It then sends the user the message “I say, old bean, have you seen my hat?” Responses from users are then forwarded by the bot to another one of the users similarly contacted. From this both users are typically confused insisting the other messaged them first and try to figure out what is going on

If you find it annoying, there’s a way to opt out from these messages. When you get a message from a screen name ending in Trout, Coho, or Salmon simply type $optout and it will respond with OPERATOR: Are you sure you want to opt-out? If you do, you will *never* be contacted again on the account “”. There is *no way* to opt back in and undo this. If you are sure, type “$optout DADD”. Remember, this is permanent and irreversible!

Once you type $optout DADD to verify you are sure, you will see OPERATOR: You have opted out. The account “” will *never* be contacted again. Good bye! and you will never be contacted again – in theory.

Personally, I think it’s a neat social experiment to connect strangers online. I remember posting a some conversations on the themissinghat LiveJournal community a few years back when I first received one of these messages. Based on the most recent posts, it seems the bot screen names have now shifted to variants with numbers. If you want to opt-in and receive these messages, head over to the Project Upstream website, type in your screen name, and wait!

If you try this, remember that it’s not a supported piece of software, bugs aren’t likely to be fixed (unless you fix them of course) the code is available and it should work on Lucid. It won’t be ported to any other versions (at least by me) but it should be easy to recompile everything for other versions anyway

Keep in mind that you are required to type in your username and password every time you use it.

The new results page puts more focus on the images

Here’s a rundown of the new features:

• Dense tiled layout designed to make it easy to look at lots of images at once. We want to get the app out of the way so you can find what you’re really looking for.
• Instant scrolling between pages, without letting you get lost in the images. You can now get up to 1,000 images, all in one scrolling page. And we’ll show small, unobtrusive page numbers so you don’t lose track of where you are.
• Larger thumbnail previews on the results page, designed for modern browsers and high-res screens.
• A hover pane that appears when you mouse over a given thumbnail image, giving you a larger preview, more info about the image and other image-specific features such as “Similar images.”
• Once you click on an image, you’re taken to a new landing page that displays a large image in context, with the website it’s hosted on visible right behind it. Click anywhere outside the image, and you’re right in the original page where you can learn more about the source and context.
• Optimized keyboard navigation for faster scrolling through many pages, taking advantage of standard web keyboard shortcuts such as Page Up / Page Down. It’s all about getting you to the info you need quickly, so you can get on with actually building that treehouse or buying those flowers.

I particularly like the web keyboard shortcuts part. They should really adopt this for their search results, too. It’s a pain having to keep clicking and navigating page after page to find the result I want. Hitting the spacebar or just tapping the Page Down button would be far quicker. Some people say the new results page looks a lot like Bing’s image search. This wouldn’t be the first time Google is accused of copying Bing. When they gave users the ability to change the Google homepage background image last month, many felt frustrated at how much it resembled Bing’s homepage. I hope they don’t keep releasing similar features to Bing. I come to Google for their minimalism and accurate search results. If I wanted to be distracted by as many things as possible I’d use Yahoo or Bing.