I use the ? an : operators when writing PHP. Are there similar operators available in VBScript? - Bill S.

Let me first give a basic introduction for those readers who don’t know PHP and may not understand what we’re talking about here. PHP allows you to make quick decisions using the ? and : operators. These logical operators are known as Ternary Operators and allow you to take a shortcut approach to a simple conditional block. A ternary operation returns the result of an expression. Therefore, it is most commonly used for a variable assignment. In php, the syntax looks like this: Read more… »

How do I strip windows down to be faster on my laptop? - James M.

This is really kind of a loaded question. It’s highly dependent upon what you mean when you say “strip down”. My basic response to this would be to disable unnecessary services and removed unneeded components. Read more… »

Can you call a WSH script from within an existing VBS WSH logon script?- Cheryl J.

Hello, Cheryl. Quite simply, yes you can. There are a couple of methods for doing this. I’ll show you the easiest two first and then I’ll document a third, more robust way, in a future article.

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I was talking with a friend earlier tonight about monitors and resolutions and got to wondering why, out of all standard (non widescreen) native resolutions, 1280×1024 is the only resolution that does not have a 4:3 aspect ratio. Why is it not 1280×960 to keep in theme with the beloved 4:3 ratio?- Nick H.

Nick, the 1280×1024 resolution is known as Super eXtended Graphics Array (or SXGA) and is designed not to have a 4:3 aspect ratio.

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I had a registry tweak for Windows XP that made it shut down faster. Is there a shutdown tweak for Vista?- Chilion F.

The popular Fast Shutdown tweak for Windows XP was used to change the default timeout for programs and services that would not end. This allowed hanging programs to be closed sooner making for a faster shutdown experience.

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It was brought to my attention that confirmation emails were not being sent out for new user registrations. This has been resolved. Users should be able to successfully register again so keep those comments and suggestions coming! Thanks for choosing Nilpo.com!

As 2007 comes to a close, the Scripting Guys over at Microsoft are earnestly preparing laurel wreathes and scripting challenges in preparation for their upcoming Scripting Games. As a participant this year, I will again be competing in next year’s challenge and I urge all of you to do the same. So let’s take a moment to see exactly what the Scripting Games are and how you can prepare for them. Read more… »

Is there any way to open the new Office 2007 file formats in older versions?- Tony S.

Microsoft Office 2007 introduced a new set of file specifications known as Office Open XML format. These XML based file formats greatly improve document interoperability between Microsoft Office documents and other applications.

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On any shortcut, if you right-click, you can set the properties for a shortcut key. Type Shift+Alt+anyletter and assign that shortcut. But when you type Shift+Alt+thatkey it does nothing. What am I missing?- Greg N.

Greg, it sounds like you created your shortcut in the wrong place. Shortcut keys can only be assigned to shortcuts that exist on your desktop.

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One major caveat for most web developers is the font limitations you encounter on the web. Browsers can only display specific registered fonts because of the differences between browsers and platforms. There’s no way to bridge this gap and forcing visitors to download and install specialized fonts before viewing your site is not an acceptable solution. Now there’s a better way. Read more… »