David Vielmetter

Adventures in stupid technology

  • Outlook 2011 for Mac

    So I got Outlook 2011 the other day, thinking that it might be a better solution than Thunderbird + DavMail. It works well enough with exchange 2007 and 2010, but if you’re connecting to exchange/sbs 2003…forget about it – it’s not supported. That got me thinking…if an iPhone can connect exchange 2003, why can’t the…

  • Missing spell suggestions on right-click in Outlook 2010

    Where the heck did the spell checking suggestions on the right click context menu go in Outlook 2010? I found myself asking this often enough to do some research into what the heck caused my spell suggestions dialog to be replaced with a single option called “Signatures…”. Turns out the problem is kind of a…

  • IE9 Script Error when Printing

    Here’s an annoying error in Windows 7 I found recently. Certain printer drivers cause the following script error in IE9 on Windows 7 x64. Some forums mention Canon printers, but my experience involves an HP Color Laserjet 3500. Here’s how I fixed it finally: [problem] When printing any webpage from IE9 the following error is…

  • Windows Update: 403 – Forbidden: Access is denied.

    While cleaning up an older Windows XP system got a 403 – Forbidden error after visiting Windows Update in IE7. Of course I checked the proxy settings and the hosts file to see if anything fishy was going on, but alas everything seemed fine except windows update. Even upgrading to IE8 didn’t help. Here’s how…

  • A weekend with jQTouch

    vCalc: A free mobile App to determine how much vacation time you have left.

  • Fix Netflix DRM Error N8156-6013

    Fix Netflix Digital Rights Management (DRM) Error Error Code: N8156-6013 We’re sorry, but there is a problem playing protected (DRM) content on your computer.

  • Dell Latitude with Unknown Device in XP

    The other day someone gave me their Dell Latitude to find a driver for an unknown piece piece of hardware in the device manager. After a bit of searching around I found the tricky bugger. The device was actually the built-in free fall sensor attached to the hard disk (you know to arrest the hard…

  • IOGEAR 2 Port KVM

    I have a couple of computers I use at my desk. Space is limited at my desk and I certainly don’t want to dick around with two sets of keyboards/mice, so I got a KVM. I bought the IOGEAR GCS632 because it works with USB peripherals (my USB wireless Microsoft Mouse and wired USB keyboard)…

  • Get your Exchange email in Thunderbird

    I found a small java application called DavMail. This tool is essentially an OWA -> IMAP translator. It runs locally on your system and will connect on demand to your OWA account, download messages and deliver them via IMAP to any mail client of your choice. It also proports to translate calendar to CalDav and…

  • Banish Live Messenger back to the Notification Area

    Yes I still use Windows Messenger…well now known as “Windows Live Messenger” and I’m not afraid to admit it. There are several benefits I find to using a tangible instant messaging program over browser based apps like Gtalk, Facebook IM, etc. They accurately indicate whether you are busy/away/available, they work with keyboard shortcuts and you…