Kim Gentes

If you have had to regress to installing Visual Basic 6 studio on your modern Windows OS (Windows 7, 8 or such) to support or maintain some older software, you will quickly remember the ease of the integrated MSDN library that came as part of the embedded help you could install with VB6.  Today, if you do not have the original discs that the MSDN library came on, it can be next to impossible to figure out where to get the right version MSDN help that works with VB6, and once you have it, how to install it best for your VB6 use.

This is just a quick guide to help you locate where to download it, get it installed and up and running with your VB6 studio.  The guide has 4 main sections:

1. Downloading the MSDN Library
2. Extracting the MSDN Library
3. Installing the MSDN Library
4. Test the MSDN Library with VB6

Facebook is tiring sometimes. And having the videos autoplay can be annoying when you are trying to find something in the feed.  How do you turn off the autoplay? This one is relatively quick and painless.

Step 1

Click on the Privacy Shortcuts (lock icon) link on the top right of most browsers using Facebook. From the options that appear, select the "See More Settings" link at the bottom of the shortcuts listed. This should lead you here: https://www.facebook.com/settings/ . It should appear as below.

Step 2

Click on the "Videos" link at the bottom left portion of the screen among the catagories of settings. This will make the "Video Settings" tab appear. It should be located https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=videos . It should appear as below.

Step 3

On the "Auto-Play Videos" setting select the "Off" option. You should be good now.

Mobile Facebook Video settings are done differently.  Here is the official Facebook help on adjusting those:

https://www.facebook.com/help/633446180035470

This tech blog post will be for the programmer geeks out there.

Recently, I have had to go back to reinstalling Visual Basic 6 on a Windows 7 workstation and trying to do some development/bug fixes. Specifically, I have been trying to get my dev environment working to debug some old VB6 OCX projects. After working through some initial lameness with installing VB6 (for example, it will always try to install an old version of Java on a new Windows machine- you can trick it out of doing that), I final got VB6/studio installed and could open my old VB6 project. A few more obvious issues after that, I was down to one error that I couldn't seem to solve.

The Problem

When I opened any of the VB6 projects, I got the same series or errors trying to load the project.  I have included the screen shots in detail here so you know exactly what I am seeing. I went through various Google and MSDN recommendations but nothing was working and I did not find a solution. Here were the errors I was getting:

...continue loading project?

Errors during load. Refer to '<path>.log' for details.

Errors occurred during load.

Errors during load. Refer to '<path>.log' for details.

The project finally appeared, but without some of the MS Controls that I had used in the project.

 The error log file referred to in the screen shots contained this kind of error in my project (yours will vary):

Line 12: Class MSComctlLib.Slider of control sldInterval was not a loaded control class.

Line 37: Class MSComctlLib.Slider of control sldCallTimeout was not a loaded control class.

Line 54: Class MSComctlLib.Slider of control sldConnectTimeout was not a loaded control class.

Line 71: Class MSComctlLib.Slider of control sldTimeoutPeriod was not a loaded control class.

Line 88: Class MSComctlLib.Slider of control sldRetryPeriod was not a loaded control class.

The real problem? The Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Common Controls ( MSCOMCTL.OCX ) was not properly registered. OK. No problem, I thought. So, I quickly went to my Windows/SysWow64 directory and I registered it by running:

> regsvr32 mscomctl.ocx

from the command line (as Administrator). Command shell responded that .ocx was registered successfully. Woohoo!

Only, once I re-loaded the VB6 project, I got the same error as before: "Object library not registered"

So, I thought I might have to force VB6 studio to re-associate with the OCX so I attempted to add the mscomctl.ocx file to the project via the Components menu in the IDE. No tamales. Response: "Object not registered".  I even tried reinstalling VB6. No dice either. Bummer.

The Resolution

As I said, re-registering the OCX or reinstalling VB6 didn't help.

Back to Google and MSDN. I found a couple articles online that said to re-register the typelib as follows for Windows 7--

> cd C:\Windows\SysWOW64\

> regtlib msdatsrc.tlb 

This apparently works on some computers, but on my machine as the "regtlib.exe" executable was not present in the SysWow64. In fact, that file as an exe does not exist on my machine. After a bit more searching, I found that the type library registration is now part of .NET framework. I had to use that equivalent binary inside of one of my installations of .NET to do the task. On my machine, the solution was as follows:

> cd C:\Windows\SysWOW64\

Once there, I ran the regtlib command from the .net version that is installed (latest) on my machine.

> C:\Windows\SysWOW64]C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\regtlibv12.exe msdatsrc.tlb

Registration of msdatsrc.tlb successful.

This command ran successfully and now I can open my VB project.  Zippidee doooda! Now my VB 6 project loads successfully.

Since this took me a while, I assumed others may have run into this gauntlet, so I wanted to be sure to document the fix in case anyone else runs into this.

Keep on coding people...

Kim Gentes

For twenty years I have been involved in worship ministry in local churches. It has been from both a sense of joy and calling that someone does that. In that time, I have had the opportunity to be involved in churches from 20-500 people, including two church plants and 3 established churches. Along the way, I've been invited to lead at various places with groups ranging from 10 to 1000 and more. Every context is unique and leading worship through music for each context means that you need the right tools and resources. 

In many situations, having a compliment of skilled musicians for a full band is not possible. Church plants, special events, youth nights and other situations sometimes leave you standing there with your guitar, playing away, worshiping your heart out. I believe that God is honored when we give Him everything we have each time we worship- our surrendered hearts are what He looks for (Psalm 51:17). That being said, as your community is gathering you can sometimes find yourself with parts of a band (such as a drummer and keyboardist, but no bassist). These people are ready to serve, but it would be helpful to be able to "sub" in that missing player until a person arrives at your church who can serve in that role.

Enter "Worship Backing Band" (WBB for short). A couple years ago, I noticed that a number of these software tools were releasing to supplement musical tracks for musicians in local church settings. I had known the folks at Musicademy because of the great training resources they released over the years (which I had tried and reviewed favorably). So I knew I wanted to check out there new "Worship Backing Band" software at some point.

The version I was able to download is the latest (1.5) and it comes available for the Mac or PC. I choose to do my testing and using it on both a PC and a Macbook Pro so I could get the feel for both environments interactions. Downloading and installing it was simple enough. Once installed, I went and acquired a few songs to do my testing (I chose "Bless The Lord/10000 Reasons", "How Can I Keep from Singing", "Let God Arise" and "You Alone Can Rescue"). The model for this is that you purchase the player for $25 (it always comes with one free song of the month), and then you purchase individual songs that you need (priced from $8.99 down to $6.91, depending on how many songs you buy).  Compared to the hundreds of dollars you might spend on Ableton Live (which I have and use, as well) on just the software, this is very, very affordable.

Once you download and install all the songs, you are ready to use the software. The nice thing about the software is that using it on PC or Mac is identical. The interface and functionality is replicated perfectly. Using the system is, above all, simple! The right pane of the application contains a playlist for the songs you want to use in your worship set. You load songs into it by clicking on the "library" button and exposing the songs available to you in the middle pane from your library. Drag and drop the songs from the middle library pane into your playlist on the right. 

On the left side pane is a mix control panel for each of the instrument tracks in the song. Everything from lead voice, background vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitars (2 tracks), keyboards (2 tracks), bass, drums and couple of click tracks (regular and shaker) are available. There is even a vocal cue track.

Here is how you use it: 

1. First, select the "mute" button for any instruments that you have in your band. (leaving un-muted any tracks you wish to play out loud with your band). Make sure to save your song "mix" by using the "Save Song Mix". 
2. In the middle pane, adjust the pitch and tempo to your desired settings for your band.
3. Click Play.

Basically, 90% of what you will want to do with WBB is covered by those instructions. However, you can adjust the volume for any track if you want more/less of any instrument. As the song plays, you can also jump to or repeat sections using keyboard keys "<>" and "g". The beauty of this tool is that it is clear, simple, and easy to use. If you use a PC or Mac laptop, and want an easy-to-use software package for adding virtual instruments to your regular band members, you should really look at Worship Backing Band.

Once it was installed, I grabbed my guitar and was ready to go within just 30 seconds using this software and my Macbook Pro. While there are no advanced features for saving the segment flow of a song (only the mix), or for adding your own custom tracks, this program allows you to do what you minimally want to do.  Musicademy has over 125 popular worship songs in their purchasable song library for your church, which would be 90% of the common songs used by many churches. That along with the the minimalist approach on the interface of this tool makes Worship Backing Band simple, clear and easy-to-use. The nice thing is, you don't have to spend any money to try WBB out. Musicademy has a functional demo version of the software that you can download for Mac or PC. Below is a summary video that is all the instruction I needed to get going and use WBB. 

If you want to try out Worship Backing Band, go here and check out the details, download the demo and see the song library: Worship Backing Band

NEW WBB 2.0 Update: After I had completed the initial review of version 1.5, I was able to get a sneak peek at the latest update to WBB version 2.0.  This new version comes with a number of significant updates for those who want more power and control. It is important to note that the new Worship Backing Band software (v2.0) will be called "MultiTrack Pro Wav Player". The current version will still be available for those wanting the current functionality and not needing anything else.  The main updates I found bring the player up to another level of helpfulness for the local church worship leader. Here are the highlights:

• Seamless Loop & Navigate - Now you can seamlessly loop and jump through song sections. Want to do the chorus again? Now it is easy in "MultiTrack Pro Wav Player". The player automatically queues up the exact right spot to jump back to the start of any section, so it feels musically seamless. You could navigate sections in v1.5 but you had to perfectly time the keystroke required to do so, which is almost impossible if you are also playing an instrument (even with a pedal) and leading a congregation. Now, looping, section navigation and such all keep the song together and flowing like a real band would.
• Save Section Structure - like the above navigation, you can also save the song flow instead of having to remember your customizations.
• USB foot pedal support - you can now navigate through a song by controling the player from a USB foot pedal. Great update.
• Audio WAV Hi-quality- the tracks are now full WAV files and as such have more control and clarify of audio.
• Customize your own instrument tracks - you can now load your own WAV files into a song by importing them. Got your drum loop or track you want to use? Just hit CTRL-m on a song and you can now load your instrument as part of the song mix. Great for more advanced users.

All in all this "MultiTrack Pro Wav Player" update is great. Be sure to check out Worship Backing Band.

Review by Kim Gentes

If you are in the world of web or app development, the proliferation of devices and platforms in the last few years has been the bane of your existance.  Just when we thought there was 2 browsers taking the hill, 3 more stand up. Now, the field is mashed into 4 very competitive browsers - IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari (and smaller but still strong in mobile, Opera). Alongside the browser flattening (from just IE/FF), OS platforms have exploded, again especially on the mobile side.  The main proliferations are iOS, Android and Symbian, with some revs of Windows and Blackberry chewing up the remainder of users.

So here is the deal. All those browsers and platforms have changed so significantly, that the underlying technologies have become a mashup of mobile centric functionality (such as touch-screen operation, screen resolution/orientation), HTML5 A/V capabilities and desktop CSS sensibilities (along with web font assets etc). A modern mobile phone has a unique dialect for browsing websites and using its hardware and accessing the datastreams it connects to- notably digital cell phone calls and internet surfing.  Dumbing down the desktop versions of HTML and browsers into a mobile version is no longer an option. iOS and Android (both webkit-based) browsers have forced us to see the world of mobile as unique. In fact, it has pushed back much of the simplicity and elegance demanded of mobile devices back onto the design of desktop via what I call the "iPhonification of websites".  We are seeing web 2.0 (and 3.0) largely with the flavor pushed back onto the desktop world from the success of Apple's mobile i-world.

OK, so that is the set up.  Once we see the mobile world has its separate needs and reasons for requiring a different technology subset, we recognize that perhaps we need a different way of architecting these mobile browser experiences.  For the last 3 years, much of the desktop AJAX experience has been fueled by support from a toolsuit called jQuery. Free, but brilliant and solid software modules that provide a framework for AJAX/Javascript development and function.  And, up until now, people developing for mobile have been cramming jQuery solutions into mobile devices to stay consistent with their server side support.

Life just got a bit clearer. About 10 days ago, the version 1.0 of jQuery Mobile finally released. Initially, this will actually make more work for those software developers who want to support all the platforms that are continuing to proliferate onto the marketplace.  But with the creation of this unique mobile version of jQuery, hope rises for the huge range of sites/apps that rely on jQuery as their mobile solution for an AJAX foundation.

The new jQuery Mobile stands on top of (not in place of) the jQuery core, and reaches into various areas, most notably the touch functionality. Everything from attribute references to PhoneGap update tips are included on jQuery Mobile's flourishing documentation.  Everyone in the app/site space is rushing to support mobile, but none of that is possible (in a good long term way) without platform tools like this being brought to bear in the mobile space.

All you geeks out there can check out jQuery Mobile for yourselves right here.

http://jquerymobile.com/

A big shout out to all the folks in the jQuery cloud that make it all happen.

Kim Gentes

Editor's Note: This tech blog entry is made by Jordan Gentes, a cell phone expert who is also a web support technician for WorshipTeam.com.  Jordan has spent years studying phones, from various companies, carriers and plans and the depth of cell networks and technologies.  When he says something about cell phones, I listen, because he is speaking from more experience and knowledge than anyone I know on the topic. ---Kim Gentes, Editor

Windows Phone 7.5 Review
HTC Trophy

by Jordan Gentes

Microsoft’s new phone platform Windows Phone7.5 is intuitive, simple, and brilliant.  Wait, did you just use those three words in the same sentence as Microsoft and Windows?  Yes, I did.  This new development by Microsoft brings an important piece to the mobile environment.

Intuitive: The OS its-self is very intuitive.  When you power on the display you are welcomed to live tiles that are beautiful and easy to understand.  Gone are the days of cluttered notification bars and crowded clusters of apps.  Windows Phone ushers in a day of relevant information that updates seamlessly.

• People:  The ability to sync your contacts with external email accounts and Facebook are standard in the “smartphone world”.  Some phones settle for simply syncing photos and other contact information.  Windows Phone goes to the next level with a deep Facebook integration.  Now I can locate my contact in my People section and I am presented with the contacts’ Information, What’s New (On their FB wall, statuses, posts etc.), Pictures (feed from FB), and the History I have with that contact, from Texts, to missed calls, all of my interaction with that contact is stored in an easy and convenient location.

Simple: With the introduction of live tiles the Windows Phone OS is super simple to navigate.  The OS is attractive to all ages, something that neither iOS nor Android can say.  This OS provides an enjoyable user interface that is simple, but powerful. 

• Messaging: Windows Phone has done a great job consolidating text and Facebook messaging into a convenient and seamless process.  You can start a conversation with someone via text and continue the messaging on Facebook if they were to login while you were in conversation or vice versa. 

Brilliant: Windows Phone is brilliant; so many functions that users count on daily are built into the framework of the user experience.

• Windows Key: Probably one of my favorite features of the OS, hold the Windows Key, for two seconds and you are greeted with options to speak commands to the phone.  Texting, Searching, and launching apps are just a few of the options that are made possible by this feature.  And what do you know, it works!  If you speak clearly, it will understand the overwhelming majority of what you are saying, I have yet to say something clearly and have it misunderstand my instructions.  Try that Android.. 
• E-mail: I love the email client on the Windows Phone OS.  You can add most popular email services to sync with your phone.  This is a great thing for the user; I can’t tell you how frustrating it is that you can only sync Gmail (other than Exchange) with Android.  Microsoft’s decision to allow their users to sync Yahoo, Windows Live, or Gmail is very pleasing. 
• Search:  When you click the search button, you are greeted with more than just a traditional search.  Built into the “Search” is 4 icons at the bottom of the screen, one that finds local attractions near to your location, a music note that within seconds of touching finds your song (bye, bye Shazam),  an eye ball that scans barcodes, QR Codes, Microsoft tags, Books, CD’s and DVD’s.  I love that they have taken the time to add those recourses to the Search, no more need for 10 different apps to perform the various functions.  It’s clean, and it just works! 
• Apps: While the Marketplace for Windows Phone continues to grow, it is certainly newer to the market then iOS or Android.  With that “new comer” status there are less apps available.  However, due to the deep integration of features already provided in the OS I found my need for additional apps to be much lower.  Nonetheless, I found most popular apps available on the other platforms were available one Windows Phone.  To be frank, I found all the apps I wanted to use were available, however, to be fair I did want to mention the reality that the app selection is not as populous at this moment on Windows Phone. 

Synopsis:

This particular review was conducted on an HTC Trophy, however, yet another thing I love about Windows Phone is every phone gets updates, meaning everyone has a congruent user experience.  The battery life on this particular device is incredible (for a smartphone) I easily go the entire day with no problems.  On one day of very heavy usage I got a low battery warning at 15 hours, however, on a normal usage day (that would involve several emails, 100-150 text messages, 30 minutes on the phone, and some casual internet browsing) the phone still had 40-50% battery remaining at 15 hours.  Battery usage will vary by device somewhat, however, the OS manages power quite efficiently.  Windows Phone is a true representation of a modern mobile experience.  Windows Phone is clean and it’s such an inviting user interface that I am confident anyone would enjoy the experience. 

Amazon Product Link: HTC Trophy Windows Phone