I added a couple of features to the commenting system.

The first is a “preview comment” feature. Type in your comment and hit preview and you’ll be shown what the server will very likely spit out for your comment. I say very likely because the server may interpret JavaScript slightly differently to your browser and so things may not quite work. However, I’ve used simple code so it should all be fine. Crossed fingers…

Thisoldnewthing has an insight into the Add/Remove Programs dialog. This dialog has entries on program sizes and usage patterns. It turns out that this information is based on guesswork half the time, with a simple “who has the most words that match what I think the program is called” algorithm used to determine which programs to use when calculating the numbers.

Yes, this is all lame, but when you are forced to operate with inadequate information, lame is the best you can do.

Simplebits has posted a really nice greyscale icon set. I wondered if they would look good on this site, given that dx13 is greyscale too? On the other hand, they could just make the entire site look washed out, which I think I manage to avoid quite well right now. So I decided against them for the time being.

Nice icons, anyway, and I thought I’d point them out in case anyone is in the market for minimalist icons.

Just a great idea from Mr Veen. Genius. No I am not going to tell you, go and look for yourself.

Update

I suddenly thought that I wouldn’t bother to visit a link when given so little information about the link. Therefore I decided to relent and write a little more. I was tired when I posted it, there’s your excuse!

Veen has come up with a nifty use of wget, a command line tool for downloading files. He has worked out a really nice combination of options that allow you to scrape a page for links to mp3s and download them. You can set it up to look at so-called mp3 blogs — which post new music each day — and pull the linked mp3s. The options ensure that files are not downloaded more than once, so you don’t waste bandwidth.

There’s a software house called Sourcenext selling StarOffice in Japan. One of their talents seems to be creating strange and, it has to be said, rather memerable adverts. If the memory of this advert doesn’t bring you out in minor fits of mirth when someone mentions StarOffice, I don’t know what will.

To further tempt you, here’s a translation of the advert:

“Sourcenext products are just 1980 Yen?! Oh, my Goodness….!” She faints suddenly. A guy rushs to her and says, “She is having a baby!” Everyone looks at her anxiously. The guy says, “Now, the baby was born!” And for no special reason, she had a colt. It tries to rise unsteadily to its feet. “Oh! It stands up!” Everybody is moved.