David Vielmetter

Adventures in stupid technology

  • Das DOS to the rescue

    Lets say you’ve got a folder with a bunch of files and subfolders…each subfolder in turn contains a bunch more files of which you are only interested in one with a specific name. You could perform a search in the root folder and quickly find all the files with that name. Copying them from that…

  • Add a social bar to wordpress

    Last week I spent some time evaluating at social social media plugins for my WordPress blog. While there are lots of options, I found most of them pretty tacky looking…with limited options and none really suited my site design. I really wanted a floating social media bar on the left hand side of the browser with specific…

  • Chicken roulades with spinach and mushrooms

    I made this last night and really enjoyed it. When I’ve had one of those days where nothing really worked right, I take solace in the fact that I can still throw good ingredients together and make a scrumptious dinner. What’s nice about this recipe is that it doesn’t require as much effort as you’d…

  • Get a Directory up button in Vista/7

    I like a lot of features in Windows 7. Enough in fact, to make 7 the operating system I use in around the house…but there’s always been one thing that’s bothered me. Where did my folder/directory “up” button go on the explorer toolbar? I’d gotten used to it from years of working with Windows 95,98,NT,2000,XP…

  • Swedish Pancakes

    This is a recipe that brings me back to weeks of cold gloomy winter days in Germany. My mom would make pancakes to cheer everyone up when it was cold dark and wet outside. The sweet smell would lure depressed family members from the far corners of the house to sit, talk and smile at…

  • Transfer Xbox game saves/profiles without a transfer cable

    This Christmas I splurged on a new Xbox 360. My existing one red ringed a while back and now needs a very loud intercooler to keep it from overheating. Soon after setting it up though, I found myself needing a way to transfer all of my game saves from the old to the new Xbox.…

  • Access the DCIM folder on your iPhone

    I am updating this article for the first time since 2011 because I get a lot of requests for help on this particular topic. The original article (now crossed out below) is 6 years old and likely doesn’t apply to newer model iPhones. Now then, with that bit out of the way, here’s some updated…

  • German style potato pancakes

    I like me some fried greasies from time to time, and when I do potato pancakes often the bill. This is a pretty standard recipe not much different from a glut of them on the internet, but I feel that the magic happens in the cooking more than the prepping, so I took some pictures…

  • Improve Finder with Default Folder X

    For those of us Microsoft Windows guys who really want to like OS X, Finder is the biggest hurdle standing in the way. I’m not saying Windows explorer is perfect, but it IS a superior file management interface – period. So when I am using my MacBook I supplement Finder with a great little tool…

  • Use Picasa to add photos to iPhone contacts

    The facial recognition feature in Picasa is addictive, but it’s also useful for adding portrait thumbnails to all of your existing Gmail contacts. Since Picasa already integrates with your Google account, adding faces to your contacts is as simple as right-clicking a picture. Here’s how: What you’ll need: Picasa iPhone/iPod Touch Gmail [step 1] Get…