Dexpot 1.5 – Virtual desktops just got better!


I wrote quite some time ago on Dexpot 1.4. It was such a useful utility. At about the same time, I was also on Ubuntu and I was loving the cube desktop. I tried various software and the most workable cube desktop for Windows at the time was DeskSpace by Otaku. But DeskSpace 5.4 was buggy back then and just plain destroyed my PC. Don’t know about the newer versions, though. I don’t dare.

Dexpot 1.4, on the other hand, was a very stable and well-built software. It was the best virtual desktop software I’ve ever used. Now Dexpot 1.5 is available and the features are just impressive! Not only we get the virtual desktops like in Dexpot 1.4, but also 3D cube desktop and Expose-like feature too.

And best of all, it’s free for personal use! Here, go and read about the features and download it.

Update:

On my notebook (Lenovo 3000 Y410, Windows 7 32bit), the 3D cube and Windows 7 taskbar thingy has a bug that you can’t turn it on using the Dexpot plug-in settings. The workaround is very simple. Browse to the folder Dexpot plug-ins are installed (typically, C:\Program Files\Dexpot\plugins). Then, double-click Dexcube.exe and SevenDex.exe.

When you open Dexpot plugin settings, you’ll see them now selected. Just don’t disturb that. You can click Configure for Dexcube though. Just don’t remove the check marks.

When you close and relaunch Dexpot, even after a reboot, the plug-ins remain selected and will be loaded by Dexpot anyway.

Resolving the Nokia 6710 Navigator Zooming Problem


If you use the Nokia 6710 Navigator, most probably you will be having the zooming problem unless you are one of the lucky few. The zoom bar registers keystrokes randomly even though you are not touching the zoom area at all. This causes key and phone lockup. When using applications that support the zoom bar, the application zooms in and out randomly and incessantly that it is impossible to use the application. Furthermore, if you’re using Garmin Mobile XT, the keystrokes caused by the zoom bar cause Garmin to initiate search with some useless characters. This makes it impossible to search in Garmin despite the fact that Garmin does not support the zoom bar. Follow the steps in this post to resolve the issues.

Among the symptoms of the zoom bar acting up are:

  • Constant and random zooming in and out while using Web browser, viewing pictures in Gallery, while using the Map, and while taking photos.
  • Keys randomly do not respond due to the keystroke buffer filling up because of random zooming keystrokes.
  • Phone randomly locks up for a while due to the zoom bar acting up.
  • Zooming happens randomly when you press the menu key, the call key, or the left and right shortcut keys.
  • Sometimes the call and menu keys do not respond.

Users have been making a lot of noise in the Nokia forum and elsewhere on the Internet but Nokia does not seem to be bothered. All they need to do is just enable an option in the firmware to disable the zoom bar. Problem solved. All the zoom bar sensitive applications can still perform zoom in and out using the volume keys or other keys on the keypad anyway.

So, how to solve this? Simple. Install MagicKey by Leftup and configure it to remap the keystrokes from the zoom bar to unsupported keys. Problem solved. Here are the steps to do it:

  1. Download the MagicKey application. Click here to search it in Google and download from a forum where you have access.
  2. If you do not have a developer certificate, apply one from OPDA. Register and apply for the certificate. Follow the instructions there.
  3. Once you have the certificate, login and upload MagicKey. It will be signed. Download it.
  4. Install MagicKey on your Nokia 6710. Better to install it on the Phone Memory instead of Memory Card so that it will always be there even if you remove the Memory Card.
  5. Once installed, open MagicKey. It is in the Apps > Installat. folder.
  6. In MagicKey, select Options. Then, select Start on Boot. If it is already Not Start On Boot, leave it.
  7. Shut down your phone and then restart it.
  8. Open MagicKey again and navigate to the KeyMap List tab.
  9. Click on Default KeyMap.
  10. Select Click to Add Key Pair.
  11. In the Original key field, type 192 and then in Maps to, type 6.
  12. Select OK.
  13. Select Click to Add Key Pair again.
  14. In the Original key field, type 193 this time. Then in Maps to, again, type 6.
  15. Select OK.
  16. Exit MagicKey and restart your phone.

That should do the trick. If you use Garmin Mobile XT, you may also want to create a specific keymap for it because in Garmin, the camera key also somehow registers keystrokes caused by the zoom bar. I do not know why but if you have that problem, do the following too:

  1. Open MagicKey and navigate to the KeyMap List tab.
  2. Click Options and select Add.
  3. Type a name for the keymap like Garmin Keymap.
  4. Click on the new keymap to open it.
  5. Select Click to Add Key Pair and add three new keypairs one by one namely 192, 193, and 226 all mapped to 6.
  6. Once done, navigate to the App List tab.
  7. Click Options and select Add.
  8. From the list, select GMobile XT. The new app will be added.
  9. In the App List tab, select GMobile XT and click it.
  10. Select the Garmin keymap you created just now.
  11. Exit MagicKey and restart your phone.

You can also do this for other applications if you find some weird keystrokes happening randomly.

The solution reduces the random zooming by a huge magnitude. However, once in a while, it acts up again because MagicKey lost focus or there are just too many random zoom bar keystrokes happening. If that is the case, open MagicKey, make sure that it starts on boot (the menu option will show Not Start on Boot). Then, restart your phone. If after restart there are still some key problems, just open MagicKey so that the daemon loads and then close MagicKey.

There. Your Nokia 6710 should be back to becoming your dream phone – without the zoom bar, though.

http://cer.opda.cn/en/index.php?module=index&action=login
Update: I’ve discovered that in Ovi Store and Web, mapping the zoom bar to 6 gives a problem that causes dropdown menus on web pages to dropdown – even when you don’t click it. In fact, it happens continuously that you keep on selecting the option and it drops down again and again — making the web page useless. If you use Web or Ovi Store, better to map the zoom bar to 0 (None). After making that adjustments, I can use Ovi Store properly.

Of Knowledge and Doubts


Tell me about knowledge and doubts.

An expert is the one who knows enough about a subject to be able to tell beyond doubt when he has reached the limit of his expertise. A knowledgeable person knows when he must seek expert advice to clear his doubts. A fool, on the other hand, will tell you without any doubt that he knows everything there is to know about the subjects at hand. The bigger fool, no doubt, would be the one who thinks he knows enough and believed the fool.

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Everything that happens, happens for at least one reason that every so often alludes us. When someone does an unreasonable thing, oftentimes it is because the person is unreasonable. This could be due to upbringing, society, education, or just unreasonable genetic codes. Pondering the reason will get us almost somewhere - specifically: nowhere.