Snippage User Manual

Windows 7 Active Desktop

Snippage is written and offered at no cost by Gabo Mendoza. It's a cool little program that can display a web page, or (better yet) a portion of a web page on the desktop. That web page can be active, such as a web cam which refreshes, and you can select just the camera image. You can watch weather radar, the stock market, twitter, anything you'd like to keep an eye on. Other applications will run right on top of it, when you need the desktop space, but the Snippage window will keep up to date in the background.

It's a replacement for the Active Desktop of Windows XP, and it runs on XP, Vista, and Windows 7. I was unable to find a help file or a manual, and I did learn a few lessons the hard way, so here is my little "manual" with apologies to Gabo Mendoza.

First: Install Adobe AIR from get.adobe.air. The current version (Oct 8, 2010) is 2.04. Snippage was written for AIR 1.0, though, and it still works with AIR 2.04, so the version may not matter much.
Second: Visit snippage.gabocorp.com to download the file snippage.air. As of Oct 8, 2010, the current version is 1.0 R 12.
Third: Run snippage.air. Click past the dire warnings. Snippage is used by lots of people so I doubt it's a spy. Allow the installer to put a shortcut icon on the desktop for now because you may need to restart Snippage a few times. You can delete that later.

Snippage will open with a little window showing a pointer "click me," see below. Move the mouse pointer up past that and click "Expand to browser view."

Enter the URL of the web page that you want to snip (or cut and paste from another browser) and click the red "go."

You can re-size the browser view of your page, if necessary, by dragging the bottom right corner. Then move the snip window over the part of the web page that you want to snip with the upper left corner, re-size it with the lower right.

Snip it by clicking the upper right corner. Now all you have left is the part of the page that you want, called the snip. Drag on the top and put it wherever you want on the desktop.

Once you have let go of the snip, your ability to control it may disappear. It does for me. To regain control:

• Right-click on the AIR icon in the system notification area (tray), click "Exit." Then,
• Restart Snippage by clicking on the desktop icon, then quickly move the mouse to the top of the Snippage window.

Do what you need to do:

• To move the snip, drag the top as before.
• To delete the snip, click "Expand to browser view" and then click the "X" in the upper right corner of that larger window.
• There are other options too.

To make Snippage start every time the computer boots up, place a shortcut to the executable (copy the one on the desktop) in your startup folder.

Here's nice page that I have used in Snippage tests: lsmma.com/webcam/webcam_lg.html. It is the Duluth, Minnesota ship canal camera at the Lake Superior Marine Museum. The image updates every 30 seconds and will occasionally display an iron-ore carrier or a "salty" ocean-going vessel. For boat watchers, the web site even has a schedule of expected arrivals and departures.



I've tried Snippage on Windows XP SP3, Vista, and Windows 7 - they all work about the same. On competent dual-CPU Vista and Win 7 machines, Snippage needs less than 1% of the CPU time. On an old single-CPU XP system it may be over 1% but not 2%. I suspect this would depend on the number of snips displayed and the rates of update.

I'm grateful to Gabo Mendoza for giving us this cute tool. One of my users is upgrading from XP to Win 7 and wants to keep the active desktop.

Saturday, Oct 9, 2010:

Oops - I just noticed an issue. When I have two snips running, and delete one, it doesn't really go away. The next time I run Snippage it comes back. You can work around that problem by editing a text file, not pretty but it it works:

• Stop Snippage.
• Locate the "snipset" file.
  • On my Vista and Win 7 systems it is C:\Users\Don\AppData\Roaming\Snippage.B28F...B29B.1\Local Store\current.snipset.
  • On an XP system it's C:\Documents and Settings\Don\Application Data\Snippage.B28F...B29B.1\Local Store\current.snipset.
• You may wish to make a backup copy of that file somewhere just in case.
• Open the file with a plain text editor such as Notepad.
• Snips are defined between <snip...> and </snip> tags. Within each snip you will find the URL of the web page that the snip displays, along with positioning and "snipping" information.
• Find the snip that contains the web page you want to delete, and remove it completely, including the <snip...> at the front and the </snip> at the end. Save the changes.
• Run Snippage. If it doesn't work correctly, try again - something is wrong in the edit.

Send Blog Posts to Twitter

I recently started using Twitter, to follow the Boston Marathon. It's great for events like that. But then I also found out how to make my new blog posts appear on Twitter as if I had "tweeted" them, in the Twitter "timeline" as if they were part of the conversation. It's not hard - here's how:

• Go to Feedburner and create an account. If you are already on Blogger, you can use that account - you will notice that Feedburner.com actually resolves to a Google address.
• Under "Burn a feed right this instant," enter your blog address. Next >>
• Then select a feed source. The default is Atom - I have used that.
• On the WELCOME! page, click NEXT >>
• On the CONGRATS! page, click "Skip directly to ..."
• On the Publicize tab, select Socialize.
• On the Socialize page:
  • Add your Twitter account. Then,
  • Change Post content to "Title and Body." This just means that the "tweeted" content will be the title and the first line or two of the body, instead of just the title. Or don't change it.
  • Be sure to ACTIVATE at the bottom of the page.

I do notice a time lapse between the blog post and the tweet appearing on Twitter. Maybe 20 - 30 minutes? I haven't timed it. Perhaps that's an intentional delay in Blogger, to allow time for the inevitable blog-post corrections before the RSS feed is generated. Just a guess.

Incompetent HP Laptop Support

Not the people, the whole system.  I think they would prefer to have a dissatisfied customer return a laptop rather than giving access to people who can actually solve the problem.

The built-in TV tuner in my brand-new HP dv7t-2200 laptop is not working, and I have now spent over 12 hours of my time (and HP's time) on the phone with HP's response center agents.  As far as I know, we are no closer to a solution.

The Good:  (1) I have had no trouble reaching an agent on the telephone (now seven different agents); and (2) Every one of the HP agents, except the last one, has been polite and has tried hard to fix the problem.

The Bad:  Except for one, every agent has been clueless.  I'm very certain that none have ever seen a TV tuner like mine - one guy asked if I had plugged in the tuner card.  It's built in, and they should know it!

The Ugly:  HP's system simply does not allow for any continuity.  You cannot call anyone back - you always start all over.  They do have a record of what has been done before, but they only half believe it, so they want to repeat everything.  I had a good thing going once with Jason in the USA, who was on a good track and promised a callback and an email.  No email, ever.  There was a call, which I unfortunately missed, and they said they would call again, but they never did.  Most of the agents who say they will call back do not do so.  It's impossible to get anywhere, gain any traction.  As far as I know, there is no way to escalate a problem.  HP just doesn't care about one laptop - they deal in hundreds and thousands of them.

I managed to reach "Second Level" support today, but was informed by Adrian (in India) that I was only on warranty support and had not paid enough money to talk to him!  This despite the fact that I have purchased a 2-year support contract.

The system is totally incompetent.

I have about 12 days yet to send the damn thing back to HP for a full refund.  I don't want to do it, but it's looming larger every day.

Windows 7 Does Not Save Window Size or Position Settings

This is as good a reason as any to AVOID buying a computer with Windows 7.  Buy a Mac instead.

In Windows XP and earlier we could set the size, position, and other details of an explorer window, then close the window, and from then on a window with that path would have that same size, position, and details.  Windows Vista retained that function, but occasionally "forgot" everything, so we had to reset every window again.

Windows 7 remembers NOTHING!  Actually, it seems to know only the size and position of the last-used explorer window, even if it isn't closed yet, so all new windows will have that size and will fall of top of that window.  As a result, almost every newly-opened explorer window must be resized and repositioned, resulting in many more mouse-clicks and moves than ever before.

According to remarks on two different forums, by people who may know, this is a deliberate change by Microsoft, not an accident.  It's a feature, not a bug.  If so, then Microsoft solves their little problems by simply eliminating the feature that has the problem!

But it sure doesn't work for me.  I often work with multiple windows open, copying files from here to there or whatever.  I HATE HAVING TO FIX WINDOWS ALL THE TIME.

I've never used a Mac, but people keep saying that it's better in some way.  Maybe I'm starting to catch on.

FOR GOD'S SAKE BUY A MAC!

I haven't returned my brand-new HP laptop to HP yet, but I'm sure leaning that way.

Still No TV Tuner

I missed a phone call yesterday, so I don't know the current status of the TV Tuner problem on my brand-new HP dv7t-2200 laptop. My fault for missing it.

Of course I tried to call back, twice actually, but was both times connected to an agent in India, neither of them able to bring up any record of my service ticket. Both wanted to start all over. After wasting 9 hours on Tuesday, I declined.

The voice message from the missed call said they would try again today. We'll see.  They said that they would send an email and would call.  No email, but they did call.

HP dv7t Still Doesn't Work

To be slightly more fair, brand-new laptop, the TV tuner doesn't work. At all. Over nine hours on the phone with HP, no resolution. The last HP agent, Jason, said that apparently this is a problem on most or all of the newest HP dv7t laptops.

So don't buy one now, or don't get the TV tuner with it!

The only good news is that I have been able to get through to HP agents fairly quickly. The bad news is that they were pretty much clueless until I reached Jason. And of course it ISN'T FIXED!

HP has a money-back guarantee. Perhaps I'll wind up sending this back and buying a Dell or a Toshiba.

I'm supposed to get an email tonight or tomorrow with a resolution, and a phone call as well. We'll see.

Frustrating HP Support

I don't think I can build a laptop, so I bought one.

At this moment I have been on the phone with HP for over seven hours, trying to resolve a problem with the built-in TV tuner in a brand new HP dv7t laptop computer. Imagine, seven hours, and there is no end in sight. I've had my sweeties bring up both breakfast and lunch, looks like dinner might be next.

I started at 7:41 am with the general support number and got a woman who quickly gave me a service ticket number and turned me over to Vivek, in India. He's a nice guy, but we spent over four hours together, way more than either of us wanted. At 12 noon, 00:30 am his time, he gave up and asked me to wait five minutes for him to document the problem and then call a "Level 2" support number.

I did, but then got transferred (intentionally I think) to another department, where the nice lady transferred me back. Or so I thought, but after spending a couple more hours with Lloyd, also in India, I discovered that he was also Level 1 and was communicating with HIS support person by text message.

I am almost ready to give up on the tuner and just say that HP couldn't fix it. It has never worked, it's dead as a doornail, and HP just won't put me in touch with people who can figure it out. Right now I'm off the phone, but the laptop is doing a scan for channels, which will come up with zero channels as it always has. Then I have a number to call again. I'll let you know how that comes out.

I can't say anything positive about the HP dv7t laptop until this is resolved. I'm pissed.