Loss of image quality in Word 2007

Finally, a mystery is solved. When saving a document using Word 2007, image quality would decrease. There is an option to fix this issue and it took a long time to find it.

Compression can be disabled on a per-file basis using the following steps:
Click the Office Button, and then click Save As.
Click Tools, and then click Compress Pictures.
Click Options.
Click to clear the Automatically perform basic compression on save check box.
Click OK.
In the Compress Pictures dialog box, click Cancel.

Note: Clicking OK on this dialog will not prevent the issue from occurring.

You can also modify a registry setting to prevent basic compression from occurring by default.

For further details see:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/troubleshoot/office/office-docuemnt-image-quality-loss

Update: Another option is to double the size of the document. For example, if targeting a size of 8.5x11, then set the document size to 17x22 and adjust margins and font size to compensate. When saving to PDF, the images will still be down-sampled to 220dpi, however, this translates to 440dpi at double the size. If printing, scale the document to 50% in the printer settings. Images will be crisp. Or...move on to libreoffice.org

SimCity 2000 running on Windows 7

SimCity 2000 runs on Windows 7 x64, but crashes when attempting to access the dialog box to save or load a city. After searching for and trying all of the suggested fixes and patches to avoid this crash, we still had no success. Crash, crash, crash!

Alas, there is a solution! Use the command line to invoke the app with a path to a city file to open. For example: "c:> simcity Saved\city.sc2" This will not only open a city, but allow saving it on exit. If a new terrain is desired, use the urban renewal kit.

BlackScript

Valuable technique in JavaScript class coding: link

The following benchmarks indicate a performance improvement for bulk object creation.
Try this in your own browser here

Update 2025.0106: Ex Nihilo wins in jsbench.me tests on Chrome 131 [left] and Firefox 133 [right]:

Update 2023.0119: Ex Nihilo wins in jsbench.me tests on Chrome 109 and Firefox 109:

Older benchmarks follow for archival reference:

A benchmark.js test running on node.js:

________________________________________________________
Research>node --version
v10.16.3

Research>node bench.js
OldStyleClass x 165,772 ops/sec ±0.38% (106 runs sampled)
Ex Nihilo x 180,305 ops/sec ±0.50% (104 runs sampled)
Fastest is Ex Nihilo

Research>node bench.js
NewStyleClass x 163,242 ops/sec ±0.28% (111 runs sampled)
Ex Nihilo x 180,219 ops/sec ±0.46% (100 runs sampled)
Fastest is Ex Nihilo

Research>node bench.js
OldStyleClass x 160,930 ops/sec ±0.58% (103 runs sampled)
NewStyleClass x 161,634 ops/sec ±0.79% (105 runs sampled)
Ex Nihilo x 176,387 ops/sec ±0.44% (107 runs sampled)
Fastest is Ex Nihilo

Older runs on jsperf.com:

Update 20200627: None of the newer versions of the browsers run Ex Nihilo faster. Optimization wins!

Update 20201006: Additional server-side tests:

________________________________________________________
Research>node --version
v12.19.0

Research>node bench.js
OldStyleClass x 153,207 ops/sec ±0.95% (84 runs sampled)
NewStyleClass x 150,535 ops/sec ±0.32% (93 runs sampled)
Ex Nihilo x 166,850 ops/sec ±1.84% (91 runs sampled)
Fastest is Ex Nihilo

________________________________________________________
Research>node --version
v13.14.0

Research>node bench.js
OldStyleClass x 151,339 ops/sec ±0.76% (86 runs sampled)
NewStyleClass x 147,369 ops/sec ±0.27% (95 runs sampled)
Ex Nihilo x 164,624 ops/sec ±0.26% (93 runs sampled)
Fastest is Ex Nihilo

________________________________________________________
Research>node --version
v14.13.0

Research>node bench.js
OldStyleClass x 147,954 ops/sec ±1.03% (87 runs sampled)
NewStyleClass x 144,716 ops/sec ±0.37% (93 runs sampled)
Ex Nihilo x 160,388 ops/sec ±0.47% (89 runs sampled)
Fastest is Ex Nihilo

BlueStacks memory allocation

Unfortunately, BlueStacks tends to use a lot of memory and then forgets to cover its tracks resulting in memory bloat and starvation of other tasks. To free up memory, after closing BlueStacks, go into Windows Task Manager and on the Services tab, shut down the following:

BstHdAndroidSvc
BstHdLogRotatorSvc
BstHdUpdaterSvc

Then, on the Processes tab, right-click on the entry HD-Agent.exe and select "End Process".

On my system, this frees up 1.8GB of memory.

Edgeworld Strategy Guide

Strategic tips:
1) When attacking a player who is online, do not end the attack prematurely; keep the clock running for the full 5 minutes. This can help frustrate the opponent.
2) When using a 15 minute XP boost, attack Factions (PvE) about half the current level. When the experience bar reaches maximum, end the battle and re-attack. This can help accelerate level gains to a rate of about 100 levels in one 15 minute boost.
3) When given the opportunity to spend a Cerulean core, choose offensive structure upgrades such as warp gates, tech lab, fleet academy, generals quarters, etc.
4) Be cautious with Battle Cruisers on higher level bases. They can get wiped out easily.
5) Always keep queues full: buildings upgrading and troops training.

Pocket Trains Strategy Guide

Below are some tips for Pocket Trains (iOS version 1.0.6), serving as guidance from level 4 through level 20 with expansion to the North American continent. An enjoyable and engaging interactive experience with some geography lessons for good measure.

Getting started:

Aim to build and operate five railroads between 11 cities in Europe. This is sufficient to fund the start up phase.

The Jobs button leads to a list of available cargo to haul, grouped by city, mixed with items parked in the yard. Upgrade the station to increase the yard size. Each prospective shipment has a coin-number assignment (1 through 4) to indicate relative value of the job. Maximize profit by prioritizing selections in the following order: bux, crates, event cargo, 4-coin, yard cars. Choose 3-coin and 2-coin only if the higher priority shipments are not available. This strategy might involve hauling a few pieces in the opposite direction temporarily. Choose to haul as many cars as possible. Don't bother with 1-coin offers unless there's no better option and it is delivered at the next destination - storing single coin cars clutters valuable yard space.

Let's take a closer look...

Tiny Tower Tips

To maximize sales, don't bother stocking the 1- or 2-coin items in stores. Sales occur at a rate of about 10 per minute per store multiplied by the sector demand rate. 3-coin sales yield approximately 30 coins per minute at 100% demand. FYI: The stats page displays "coins per minute" even though it states "sales per min." Bitizens with a rating of 9 will help maximize profit and dream jobs maximize inventory.

Designing for Scalability

Here's a white paper I authored and published while at Microsoft in 2000 titled "Architectural Design: A Scalable, Highly Available Business Object Architecture." The paper has since been dropped from TechNet, but it embodies the essential guidance for availability and scalability derived from integration testing with the Barnes & Noble order processing system. This paper is referenced by nine technical articles and two patents (6542902 and 7114158). It is here as archival information. The paper can also be found in archive.org



2019 update: The scalable workflow architecture described in the white paper predates what we now call a microservices architecture.
Further reading on scalability can be found here