Install Kinect for Windows SDK v1.8

Here are the steps I completed to install the Kinect for Windows SDK version 1.8 on a Windows 8.1 x64 box with Visual Studio 2010 already installed.  These steps were adapted from the Kinect for Windows SDK 1.8 System Requirements page at MSDN.

1. Uninstall Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 x86 & x64 Redistributable.  KB2728613 provides the following:

MsiExec.exe /passive /X{F0C3E5D1-1ADE-321E-8167-68EF0DE699A5}

MsiExec.exe /passive /X{1D8E6291-B0D5-35EC-8441-6616F567A0F7}

2. Install the DirectX Software Development Kit. At the moment this seems to be the June 2010 version.

3. Update Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 x86 & x64 Redistributable.  I used Windows Update.

4. Install Microsoft Speech Platform Software Development Kit (Version 11).

5. Install Games for Windows Marketplace Client.  See Stack Overflow "How to install the XNA Game Studio 4.0 in Windows 8?" for the reason why. Install Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0.  (It might be worth checking one of the versions at XNA Game Studio project on Codeplex.

6. Finally, Install KinectSDK v1.8 and Kinect for Windows Developer Toolkit v1.8.

Silent Uninstall of All Java on a Windows Box

Finally figured out a command line method to do a silent uninstall of all Java on a Windows box.  Open a command window as Administrator, then run the following wmic:

wmic product where "name like 'Java %% %%'" call uninstall /nointeractive

That is so much easier than manually uninstalling.

Fix Windows 8.1 mouse pointer stutter in Ace of Spades

I started having mouse problems after upgrading to Windows 8.1 when playing Ace of Spades.  I was almost convinced that it was a hardware problem.

Turns out that Microsoft changed the mouse polling for 8.1.  Microsoft has a patch for this at KB2908279.  I downloaded and ran the "Microsoft Fix it" on Ace of Spaces.  After running, I had to reboot.  After rebooting I ran the game with no change...still lots of mouse stutter.

The KB2908279 fix it recommended checking KB2907018 and KB2907016. KB2907016 is the "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings" and it did the trick for my hardware/software setup.

Windows Search iFilter for PDF files.

I'm working on some papers for an online class and found out that Windows search doesn't have a built in iFilter for PDF files.  Since I'm using a 64-bit Windows 7 box I downloaded the Adobe PDF iFilter 64 11.0.01; installed; and Windows is now indexing.

US Government Open Source projects

Below are links to a few list of US Government funded Open Source projects:

• DARPA Open Catalog
• Government Open Source Released Software
• Government Opens Source Projects on GitHub
• code.NASA

Empire Earth 2 window mode

I picked up Empire Earth 2 from gog.com but was having some issues with multiple-monitors.  After a bit of googling I came across a solution from someone going by galatei at neoseeker.  Add the following lines to the config.cfg (or config_EE2X.cfg for EE2:TAS):

g_bFullscreen = 0 
g_allowWindowedMode = 1 
g_ConstrainCursor = 0 
s_windowXOffset = 10 
s_windowYOffset = 10 
s_adapterIndex = 0

Worked for me in single player mode.

Hack is the new Magic

It's pretty likely that you will be a subject of scorn and ridicule if you explain things you don't understand as "magical", "mystical", or acts of God. So in the technology realm it seems that popular media uses "hack" in place of "magic". I've started using the following word replacements when reading online "news':

• hack = magic
• nerd = witch
• geek = wizard
• cyber = medieval
• code = incantation
• jailbreak = dark magic
• DRM = white magic
• enhance = magnify

It really makes reading the online "news" more magical!