Author Archives: Jeff Fitzsimons

About Jeff Fitzsimons

Jeff Fitzsimons is a software engineer in the California Bay Area. Technical specialties include C++, Win32, and multithreading. Personal interests include rock climbing, cycling, motorcycles, and photography.

Fixing Broken VMware Shared Folders in Kubuntu/Ubuntu (f_dentry and d_alias errors)

I recently installed Kubuntu 14.04 LTS (3.19.0-25) 64-bit in a VMware virtual machine. After doing an apt- get upgrade, Shared Folders stopped working. When attempting to build and install VMware Tools, I saw compilation errors relating to f_dentry and d_alias. … Continue reading

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Convert FLAC to MP3 on Linux

This is the script I use to convert FLAC files to MP3. After converting, it moves all the FLAC files into a subdirectory named .flac: #!/bin/bash #—————————————————————————— # Converts all FLAC files in the current folder to high-quality VBR MP3s. … Continue reading

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Windows 10 Bug: ‘System Sounds’ Volume Gets Loud on UAC and Notifications

Problem Running the retail/release version of Windows 10, every time I got a UAC prompt or ‘toast’ notification, the notification sound would be at full volume. I’d go into the Volume Mixer, run it down to around 5%, and sure … Continue reading

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How to Remap Windows Key on Kinesis Classic Keyboard

My Kinesis Classic doesn’t have a Windows key (well, technically it does, but it’s embedded in the ‘keypad’ map Print Screen). I like to remap the Insert key to the Windows key. Here’s how to do it: Press the Keypad … Continue reading

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Closing One-Off Tags in HTML5?

I wasn’t sure whether I needed to close my meta tags in HTML5. And br tags, for that matter. People call them one-off tags, unpaired tags, self-closing, monotags, bachelor tags, among others. They’re called void elements. According to W3C, the … Continue reading

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WTF is a “Desktop Device App”

Apparently you now have to run the Windows App Certification Kit (WACK) on the software executables you publish in order to avoid a moderately scary warning from Windows SmartScreen. Upon running WACK, you’re presented with four options: Validate Windows Store … Continue reading

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Minimal Steps to Fake Authenticode Signature (Self-Signing)

Here are the minimum steps required to self-sign an executable for development and testing: makecert -sv mykey.pvk -n “CN=MyCompany” -len 2048 mycert.cer -r pvk2pfx -pvk mykey.pvk -spc mycert.cer -pfx mycert.pfx -po mypassword Note: You’ll be prompted to create a certificate … Continue reading

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Enabling uiAccess in Visual Studio C++ Projects

After spending too much time fiddling with my project’s Manifest Tool settings, trying to import an “Additional Manifest File”, I realized the solution was actually really simple. Under Project Settings | Linker | Manifest File, there is a simple dropdown … Continue reading

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Windows Console and Double/Multi Byte Character Set

The Windows Console doesn’t support Unicode. It does, however, support Double Byte Character Sets using Code Pages. By changing the system locale, the Console can display Japanese, Korean, and Chinese text: Terminology UTF-8 and UTF-16 are types of Unicode. However, … Continue reading

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Add Day of Week To Taskbar

Do you want to see the day of week displayed on the Windows Taskbar clock? Go to the Start Menu and open “Change date, time, or number formats” In the Region dialog, on the Formats tab, click on “Additional settings…” … Continue reading

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