Author Archives: Jeff Fitzsimons

About Jeff Fitzsimons

Jeff Fitzsimons is a software engineer in the California Bay Area. Technical specialties include C++, Win32, and multithreading. Personal interests include rock climbing, cycling, motorcycles, and photography.

How Do I Know What Ubuntu Version Number I Have?

lsb_release -a

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Console2 and Cygwin with Solarized Color Palette

If you want to use Ethan Schoonover’s Solarized color palette with Console2 and Cygwin, here’s how: Edit the console settings file at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Console2\console.xml or %APPDATA%\Console\console.xml. Replace the <colors> … </colors> section with the following: Restart Console2. Colors in vim look … Continue reading

Posted in Cygwin, Technology, Windows | 1 Comment

How to Build Microsoft Detours Express (32-bit) on 64-bit Windows

Microsoft Detours Express, which is 32-bit only, can still be built on 64-bit operating systems. Here’s how: Open a 32-bit Command Prompt (C:\Windows\SysWow64\cmd.exe). Run VCVARS32.BAT VS2010: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\VC\bin\vcvars32.bat” VS2008: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\bin\vcvars32.bat” Set … Continue reading

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What Exactly Are ATL’s BEGIN_COM_MAP, END_COM_MAP, and COM_INTERFACE_ENTRY Macros?

There are many places where ATL’s COM_MAP macros are documented, but I haven’t seen it plainly stated what they actually mean. Simply put, BEGIN_COM_MAP implements _InternalQueryInterface. COM_INTERFACE_ENTRY indicates that your class supports the specified interface. END_COM_MAP finishes the _InternalQueryInterface implementation. … Continue reading

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Skype 5.5 Cannot Display Asian Characters

After upgrading to Skype 5.5, I found that Japanese and Chinese characters showed as a series of boxes. I could type or paste them and they would be visible on the other end, but not on my end. Similarly, if … Continue reading

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Things That Suck: Ubuntu Unity

I just upgraded my virtual machine to Unity. All the negatives I’d read rang true. The interface really does seem like a poor copy of OS X, for tablets. Complaints are often dismissed with a curt suggestion to switch distributions. … Continue reading

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Virgin Mobile USA – No Data Connection (3G)

If you’ve been battling Virgin Mobile USA’s technical support drones and have been unable to get 3G data access, check that 3G data is enabled on your phone. From the main screen: Press the menu button Select Settings Select Wireless … Continue reading

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Activating a Virgin Mobile Phone in a Different Area Code – Vanilla Visa Payment Problems

As an experiment in semi-anonymity, I thought I would see if I could activate my Virgin Mobile Optimus V in a more desirable area code than my own. After a bit of research, I decided to buy a $50 Vanilla … Continue reading

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Source Control Use: Git, Mercurial, Bazaar, DARCS, Subversion, Team Foundation Server, CVS

What version control system is really most popular? Not in terms of getting mentioned on blogs, but in real-world terms of jobs? git, hg or mercurial, bzr or bazaar, darcs, svn or subversion, tfs or "team foundation server", cvs Job … Continue reading

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Getting Started with Android Deployment and Debugging

As usual with Android, getting started on a process usually involves a few hiccups. Here is a complete list of the steps it took for me to get started with deploying apps directly to my Android phone from my Windows … Continue reading

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