Category Archives: Technology

Software, Technology, Tips & Tricks

SOLVED: how to bulk rename image files with date and time (VikingOSX’s script using ExifTool)

I’m documenting this for myself in the future, and also in case it helps someone else needing to do the same. I will link to not only where I found the script in an Apple Community forum post, but also where I discussed my tweaking and success in the ExifTool forum as well.

First, here is where in an Apple Community forum post, user-member VikingOSX posted their script that I then modified:

Script to rename pictures with date and time

And then here is where I posted my tweaked script along with some explanations on it:

SOLVED: How to modify Mac Automator Script to rename MOV with EXIF date/time?

 

Software, Technology, Tips & Tricks

Quick tech minute: resurrecting a dinosaur, SOLVED: Frontpage cannot open web; the folder isn’t accessible

You’re no doubt here because you googled something like:

frontpage xp cannot open web the folder isn’t accessible

…or perhaps

frontpage xp how to open existing website

…and you found an astounding paucity of help, because Microsoft not only stopped supporting Frontpage, they even deleted all the many support articles and hotfixes.

Sometimes you have to resurrect a dinosaur. I have one client that still uses Frontpage Server Extensions and still needs access via MS Frontpage.

I recently succeeded in getting “Office XP” with Microsoft Frontpage installed on Windows 11 (ARM 64 bit edition). The Windows install is running in a VM on MacOS Ventura 13.6 with the Apple M1 Max chipset.

I had made a disk image of the CD, so I could archive it on my network attached storage drive, and I had attached that image to the CD drive of my virtual machine. The install seemed to go off without a hitch. But, take note, the first time I installed it, it did not require a restart afterward, and it turns out it did not install correctly. It only seemed to.

The first time installed it, launched Frontpage, and then tried to open a web, I ran into the above issue. Instead of being asked for credentials, I was told the web could not be opened.

After careful sleuthing, including multiple searches on the Wayback Machine, I realized the key is the go to the installer file on the CD (SETUP.EXE), right-click on it, select the Compatibility tab, and tell it to “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and select “Windows XP (Server Pack 3).”

For extra measure (just in case), I went further by clicking on “Change setting for all users” and doing the same there.

I also previously did the very same for each program icon (Word, Frontpage, etc). But it was doing this with the installer file, and letting it re-run the installation, that made the difference.

After re-installing from the Office CD with the compatibility option set, I was prompted to restart the Windows PC. After doing that, I again launched Frontpage, and when I clicked to “open web” I was asked for credentials, and all works a treat. Screenshots below.

PS: If you’re attempting what I did, you will also no doubt be looking for an installer file for…

Microsoft Agent 2.0

…which I finally located here: https://forum.winworldpc.com/discussion/11699/request-microsoft-agent-2-0

…And that also worked a treat.

I hope this helps someone.

Screenshots:

 

Intelligent Design, Patriotism, Technology, Travel, US History, West Virginia

WV and 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing – July 20, 1969

Katherine Johnson

You may not know that a brilliant woman from the State of West Virginia, the genius Katherine Johnson, played a significant role in the NASA project that landed men on the moon (and brought them back home). Read more about her here.  Less than a month ago, a NASA facility in Fairmont, WV was renamed to honor her.

I was not yet two year’s old when the lunar landing occurred. So I was alive, but not yet old enough to have any “actual memories” of the  event myself. Just as with many of you, my memories were  cemented by video footage seen much later, along with articles, books, and movies. Today I wept as I watched this excellent, short documentary that Google is featuring as their current Google Doodle (click to watch):

Here’s the googledoodles description of it:

50 years ago, NASA’s Apollo 11 mission changed our world and ideas of what is possible by successfully landing humans on the surface of the moon⁠—and bringing them home safely⁠—for the first time in history. Today’s video Doodle celebrates this moment of human achievement by taking us through the journey to the moon and back, narrated by someone with firsthand knowledge of the epic event: former astronaut and Apollo 11 command module pilot Michael Collins.

For more info behind the Doodle, please visit: https://www.google.com/doodles/50th-anniversary-of-the-moon-landing

Bible, Culture, Israel, Miracles, Technology, Theology

Israel to land on moon on 110th anniversary of founding of City of Tel Aviv

I could not agree more with my friend, Kasim Hafeez, who just posted the following:

“What an interesting day today is! April 11 marks 110 years since the founding of Tel Aviv, when 66 Jewish families gathered on a desolate sand dune to parcel out the land by lottery using seashells. While we marvel at what Tel Aviv has become today, this is just a tiny part of a much bigger and greater story. If you look at the picture of the empty desert below and think of what Tel Aviv is today, it is truly astounding given the circumstances, but today 110 years on from the day Jewish families gathered on those desolate sand dunes that would become, Israel, the Jewish state, will touch down on the moon. From barren deserts to the moon in 110 years! Yes the reborn state of Israel is younger that 110 years, yet it didn’t just spring into being in 1948. It took a movement, the realization of a dream. It took pioneers, dreamers, men and women who wanted to fulfill that most basic need in human kind, to go home. So while the skyline of Tel Aviv is incredible, to see and witness where it has come from to where it is, in the skies above, something much more incredible is happening.

“Look, I know I’ve talked about the miracles of Jewish history for a while now, but this is just another example. It’s not just in the skylines and in buildings, it is the rebuilding. It’s bringing a dead language back (Hebrew). It’s in creating rich and vibrant culture, arts, theater, science, technology, and an endless desire to be a light to humanity.

“Let every nazi, antisemite, antizionist and islamist see, that while you peddle in hate, while you call for the murder of Jews, while you think you can destroy the Jewish state and people, the reality is this: Israel thrives, and in a few hours a space module with a flag with the Star of David will sit on the moon, marking an incredible, impossible achievement. And if witnessing the first 72 years of Israel’s rebirth is anything to go by, this is just the start.”

Update:

“#Beresheet crashed on the Moon. Connection was lost before the landing. Still this is an incredible achievement for #Israel ……next year on the moon?

“Israel has achieved something most of the world has not even come close to. It’s a testament to what Israel has achieved in 71 years that this is not being celebrated as the great achievement it is but as a mission partly accomplished. An Israeli moon landing will happen, and I see it happening in the near future.”

Software, Technology

Bryan Seely had a good reason for wiretapping the Secret Service. Wow.

“In 2014, Bryan Seely hacked the Secret Service and the FBI, and then turned himself in to alert authorities to the problem. He’ll tell you what you can do about it in his very entertaining talk.”

This is amazing.

Technology

FIX FOR: cannot set up text message forwarding (MacOS High Sierra)

Quite a few folks have been complaining on Apple fora and various websites that they cannot get (SMS) Text Message Forwarding to work again (after it was fine before some update). I was bitten with the same issue. None of the “fixes”  I found in googling worked for me, but after banging my “sign out/ sign in” fixes around the four walls of my brain, I finally stumbled on a series of actions that worked. I cannot promise my situation will match yours, or that this will work, but perhaps it will help. (I have an iPhone XR with up-to-date iOS 12.1.4, and a MacBook Pro (17″) with MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6.)

  1. On Mac, under Messages > Preferences, I signed out of iCloud account. (Didn’t sign back in until a step shown below.)
  2. I finally broke down and turned on Two-Factor Authentication at https://appleid.apple.com/account/manage
  3. While at appleid.apple.com, I “removed” my Mac from being logged in, so I could force a new login of it.
  4. All the above required some “verifications” (authentications) back and forth to get iPhone and Mac logged (/back) into Apple ID / iCloud.
  5. On iPhone, turned off iMessage. Waited a minute.
  6. On iPhone, turned on iMessage (switched it back on).
  7. On iPhone, went to Settings > “My Name” > iCloud. There, under “Apps Using iCloud,” I found that “iMessage” was ‘turned off,’ as in ‘not using iCloud.’ I switched iMessage ON for iCloud usage.
  8. On Mac, went back to Messages > Preferences, and signed in again. This time, there was a new option shown to “Enable Messages in iCloud.” So…
  9. On Mac, I marked the box to “Enable Messages in iCloud.”
  10. On iPhone, under “Messages > Text Message Forwarding” the Mac was properly showing as a (switched off) option. Switched Text Message Forwarding on for the Mac. No code was needed or called for this time, and it stayed on!

I hope this helps someone. I did a lot of fiddling before trying this “set” of steps that worked, and while I think I have not forgotten any steps I took, I may have. However, hopefully this general approach will spark someone in the right direction, even if some additional jiggling is required for your situation.

Design, Intelligent Design, Technology

That’s just cool! VIDEO: “Why Machines That Bend Are Better”

Music, Technology

This is what happens when Google AI mashes Beethoven + Bach together.

What happens when you let a Google AI mash Beethoven and Bach together? This.

Although some limitations (regarding composition) imposed by Google’s Doodle for 2019-03-22, in celebration of Bach, made it impossible for me to properly add the first few notes of Beethoven’s “Für Elise,” I got as close as I could, and then I unleashed Google’s AI—which was “formally” trained to try to mimic Bach’s style regarding adding harmonies. Listen to the not-half-bad result:

Think you can do better than my approximation of Beethoven’s “Für Elise”? Give it a try! Or to just create and share a composition of your own, either simply visit google.com any time during Friday, March 22, 2019 and then click on the doodle’s image at the top (see image below), or if you missed it on the debut date, just click here to visit the Doodle Archive.

After a brief intro (an initial tutorial), which looks like this,

…you’ll finally be able to give the composer tool a go. It  looks like this:

When you’re done, simply click the “Harmonize” button to “bach-i-fy” your work! Side buttons allow you to dump your work and replace it with “Mary Had a Little Lamb” or “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” I did not try the “ACDC style” battery option on the right. Did not see it until just now. The up and down arrows adjust the beats-per-minute rate of your composition. Have fun!

Church, Design, Ministry, Software, Technology

CAC’s 3D Visualization for New Construction – HD

Video

3D Visualization (modeling & animation) for new construction – prepared for Christian Apostolic Church, Clarksburg, West Virginia, by Pastor Doug Joseph at Design8Studio.net

Here are a couple of still shots made from the same model:

Portfolio - 3D visualization (modeling & animation) for new construction

Bible, Church, Culture War, Israel, Mentoring, Ministry, Politics, Technology, Terrorism, Theology, Travel

Join us in DC for the CUFI Summit! (Special Group Rate)

The annual Summit of Christians United For Israel is always amazing, and this year looks to be better than ever. Your voice is needed! Join us in DC for the CUFI Summit!

http://cac.wvupci.com/summit/