“God Mode” in Windows 7
Posted by Sai Panyam in Technology on January 6, 2010
If you haven’t heard about “GodMode” in Windows 7, then read on. Windows 7 has a “GodMode” feature, which isn’t as grandiose as it sounds. Actually GodMode is not even the name that Microsoft has given it. In fact Microsoft doesn’t have an official name for it, as the feature itself is undocumented. GodMode is the name given by bloggers who found it accidentally. I cannot imagine how they could have found it aside from getting some inside information from Microsoft developers themselves. I will attempt to give it a definition.
GodMode: A feature that transforms a folder to a shortcut pointing to some windows tasks, just by appending a folder name with a period (‘.’), followed by a special string (‘{GUID}’).
It includes direct access to all kinds of settings, from choosing a location to managing power settings to identifying biometric sensors, to name a few.
To keep them all grouped together and ‘know’ what they do with a glance, I followed this pattern-
[folder name].{GUID}
In my case, I chose ‘GodMode’ as the folder name. Once the shortcut is made, I change the name to the following format before moving on to the next God Mode- [folder name].[feature name] For e.g. with the Control Panel God Mode, I would call it something like ‘GodMode.ControlPanel’.
This is how it looks on my computer:
God Mode Folders
Here is a list of God Modes that I have found so far with a short description:
Control Panel : {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
Description: A shortcut to all Control Panel functions
Location Info : {00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}
Description: A shortcut to set up default location for programs to use when a location sensor, such as GPS receiver, is unavailable. On can also enter Geographic location (latitude and longitude) too.
Biometric Info : {0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}
Description: A shortcut showing the information of any biometric device like fingerprint reader etc, if installed.
Power Plan : {025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}
Description: A shortcut to select the power consumption settings for your computer.
System Tray : {05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}
Description: A shortcut which opens the icon and notifications settings, where you can set whether you want to show/hide icons in system tray and whether to show only notifications etc.
Windows Vault : {1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}
Description: A shortcut which points to Windows Vault. We can store credentials for automatic logon here.
Program Install: {15eae92e-f17a-4431-9f28-805e482dafd4}
Description: A shortcut to install a program from the network.
Default Programs: {17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966}
Description: A shortcut to choose programs that Windows uses by default.
Manage Wireless: {1FA9085F-25A2-489B-85D4-86326EEDCD87}
Description: A shortcut to manage wireless networks.
Manage Network: {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
Description: A shortcut to network computers, websites, FTP sites etc.
Remarks: This God Mode doesn’t allow us to rename the folder to anything else. It keeps changing back to ‘Network (MS)’
Manage Network: {1D2680C9-0E2A-469d-B787-065558BC7D43}
Description: A shortcut to GAC (Global Assembly Cache).
Remarks: This God Mode doesn’t change its folder icon or hide its GUID string like others. But it correctly points to the GAC on the computer.
Computer Drives: {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Description: A shortcut which shows the current drives on the computer.
Printers: {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Description: A shortcut to the printers added to the computer.
Remote Connections: {241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}
Description: A shortcut to manage your RemoteApp and Desktop Connections.
Windows Firewall: {4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}
Description: A shortcut to setup Windows Firewall settings to prevent malicious hackers from getting access to your computer.
Computer Performance: {78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}
Description: A shortcut to get your computer’s speed and performance information.
Dr Richard Feynman-The Messenger Lectures
Posted by Sai Panyam in Science on July 16, 2009
I became aware of the great physicist Dr Richard Feynman in 1988-1989 through his 1985 memoirs, ”Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman” . I was immediately taken by his wit, humor and his easy way of explaining concepts. I knew about his work on the Presidential commission investigating the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. His famous experiment of throwing an O-ring seal in ice water to demonstrate why the shuttle blew up caught the attention of the world. Dr Richard P. Feynman is arguably the most brilliant, iconoclastic and influential of the postwar generation of theoretical physicists.
I sort of forgot about him for many years. Then out of the blue I see this today. Bill Gates has bought and released to the world a series of video lectures given by Feynman at Cornell University. Called Project Tuva, it shows Feynam at his best: caustic, humorous and at the same time very insightful.
It was a delight to finally put a face to the man, who made quite a impression on the young me through his book. I am grateful to Bill Gates for bringing to the masses this gem.
Here is the link to the video series.
http://research.microsoft.com/apps/tools/tuva/index.html
[You will need Silverlight installed to view this lectures]
Star Trek – The Geriatric Years
Posted by Sai Panyam in Entertainment on June 25, 2009
In the year that Start Trek the early years has been released (2009), it is fitting that we need to look at how they would be now. Here is a funny video on the geriatric years.
This would really be worth it, for die hard Star Trek fans like me. In a future post I would like to explore why Star Trek was such an iconic and successful series
Why WordPress instead of DNN?
Posted by Sai Panyam in Frameworks on May 29, 2009
The irony of a site which evangelizes .NET using WordPress is not lost on me. I was on DNN (DotNetNuke) till recently. Also I wasn’t just a simple user. I wrote and hosted a few modules for DNN myself. People who visited my site in my previous avatar, would know that I also open sourced my modules (Random quotes, Review, Simple Download etc).
Then why did I move to WordPress? After following DNN till version 3.1, I couldn’t keep up with the changes and modifications that were required for upgrading my DNN installation. I was spending more time in upgrading and troubleshooting than on my main mission of evangelizing .NET. Also the cost of hosting DNN was high. I had to pay for SQL Server usage on top of hosting. I wouldn’t mind paying for SQL Server hosting if it brought me more value than just running DNN. But it didn’t.
Also the time it took to setup and run DNN was immense in comparison to WordPress. I could get my new revamped site up and running in exactly 15-30 mins!!!!! Yes minutes not hours….
Most of my time was spent selecting the theme than anything else. I also realized that most of my previous DNN modules were available and in better shape in WordPress plug ins. Another plus was the ease of setup, upgrade and site management. Hosting was also really cheap… No SQL Server etc.
Here is a breakdown of my tasks and the amount of time taken vis-a-vis DNN
| Task | DNN | WordPress |
| Learning Framework | 5 Days | 2 Hours |
| Setup | 2 Days | 30 Minutes |
| Modules/Plugins Installation | 1 Day | 30 Minutes |
| Data for Modules/Plugins | 2 Days | 3 Hours |
| Troubleshooting | 3 Days | None |
| Upgrade for Modules/Plugins and framework | 5 Days | Automatic/Almost Instantaneous |
| Adding new features | 1-2 Weeks | 30-60 Minutes |
| Ongoing Maintenance | 1 Day | 30 Minutes |
As you can see from the table above. I saved a lot of sweat, toil and tears. Maybe there are other web frameworks in .NET which are just as easy as WordPress, but I am ignorant of them.
All in all this post is not about bashing DNN. It is about why WordPress is such a superior CMS. Though people use it for setting up their blogs, in my experience its CMS functionality is even better and underutilized.
I am seriously considering becoming a PHP developer just to be in sync with WordPress. Though it isn’t necessary, I could follow along the PHP code just fine. A combination of Google and my own knowledge of coding constructs helped me customise my site and relaunch it. You will see more blogging from me, since I have more time now….
Reading List
- Design Patterns in C# (Software Patterns Series) by Steven John Metsker
