MagiWOL and \"Program Too Large\"

It seems that there was error in uploading MagiWOL installation. Result of that was corrupted file and installation gave “Program too large” error on command line.

I re-uploaded file now and everything should be fine once again. I am truly sorry for any inconvenience.

Why Shouldn't I Sign My Code

While ago I talked about reasons for signing your executables. Now I will tell something about reasons against it.

Speed issues

In certain situations loading of .NET assemblies may be delayed. While usually this is not visible that much, it is something to keep in mind.

Not having trusted root certificate

If you don’t have one of trusted root certificates (e.g. VeriSign’s) you cannot count on Windows recognizing your signature. You will get same prompt as unsigned applications (on Windows Vista and 7). While your application may be signed, your users will not see that.

What do I do?

I do not sign my assemblies. I did try it for a while, but without proper certificate (expensive one), there is just no reason to do it.

However, I do strong-name my assemblies. This is not exactly same as signing them but it does provide you with integrity check which is only thing that I really need.

Last Access Time Under Windows 7

For a long time the easiest thing you could do in order to speed up your system was to disable recording of last access time on NTFS. Since time was updated on every directory listing, performance gains (especially on laptops) were great.

It seems that someone at Microsoft also saw how useless last access time information is and decided to disable it by default. Let just hope that it stays that way.

Hohm Beta

Illustration

While ago I applied for beta of Hohm. Site looked like nice utility. You would (I assume) put list of your home appliances and site would calculate how much electricity you are using.

However, it seems that people from Croatia are not worthy of those calculations since to sign up you need valid postal code. Although it is not written clearly anywhere it became clear to me that Croatian postal code is no-no.

Maybe there is valid reason why only U.S.A. is supported by this web site. Maybe it is political decision - I am fine with this also. What I am not fine with is Microsoft sending me “sign up today” message while it has Croatia in my profile. Is it so hard to filter your non-U.S.A. customers and not send them an invitation?