Windows IIS Server, and Office file mime types (ugh)

Had some troubles with Office 2007 files not being downloadable on our windows servers … did a bit of Googling and found this nice list of Office 2007 mime-types:

.docm,application/vnd.ms-word.document.macroEnabled.12 .docx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document .dotm,application/vnd.ms-word.template.macroEnabled.12 .dotx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.template .potm,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.template.macroEnabled.12 .potx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.template .ppam,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.addin.macroEnabled.12 .ppsm,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.slideshow.macroEnabled.12 .ppsx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.slideshow .pptm,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.presentation.macroEnabled.12 .pptx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation .xlam,application/vnd.ms-excel.addin.macroEnabled.12 .xlsb,application/vnd.ms-excel.sheet.binary.macroEnabled.12 .xlsm,application/vnd.ms-excel.sheet.macroEnabled.12 .xlsx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet .xltm,application/vnd.ms-excel.template.macroEnabled.12 .xltx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.template

Adding all mime-types to IIS in one step is very simple:

The easiest way to do this is stopping IIS and editing the metabase XML file (C:\WINDOWS\system32\inetsrv\MetaBase.xml) using a text editor. Search for the <IIsMimeMap Location="/LM/MimeMap" …> element and append the lines above to the MimeMap attribute

 

(from Bram Van Damme, http://www.bram.us/2007/05/25/office-2007-mime-types-for-iis/)

I see all this, but quite candidly, after futzing with Windows IIS for about 40 minutes earlier today I'm having better cross-platform (on the client) success with application/octet-stream instead. This just sends the file to the client, which works out what kind of file it is by itself and then treats it appropriately. So...

.docx,application/octet-stream 
.xlsx,application/octet-stream 
.pptx,application/octet-stream  

that's all I added to this IIS Server's metabase config. Just in case that helps you somewhere.

Safari 5 just launched. Guess my favourite extension.

I won't keep you in suspense if you bothered to click: it's AdBlock for Safari. It's right alongside Click to Flash, for my money. And the Extensions Gallery just launched with Safari 5 made it so much easier to obtain and install. Given that I'm a big proponent of the web, why? 
 

 
I only have a few moments so I'll state it clearly and concisely: from my perspective the web is rapidly turning into a cesspool of banner, poster, inlay, popover, popunder, moving, talking, and interstitial advertising. I don't even care if the product might be slightly relevant at this point. This interruptive experience is the stuff that sent AltaVista and others down the tubes and opened the door for Google, who are still highly sensitive to how they display adverts today. And well they should be; the 2010 web experience is as glaring and jarring as a drug-fueled Vegas nightmare. To concentrate an example (and in fact, pick on Google where they do not yet have a revenue engine at all like search), just look at the experience of YouTube videos on Boxee. By and large, an overlay advert appears when you're watching a video, most videos it seems, and it CANNOT be removed. That does not encourage my 'leanback' experience in the slightest, and I've found myself seeking out documentaries from places like VBS.tv instead. Interstitials or 'welcome screens' are no better, as evidenced by a plethora of "old media" (this is not my term) sites struggling with monetizing content during the transition from print to web.
 
Let me be clear. I have no beef with producers being paid for their content. Nor providers being paid for their service, especially if it's good. Nor with good products costing an appropriate amount of money. But if you place my screen in a setting that looks as attractive as a NASCAR, I'm not going to like it and I'm going to do away with it. Either I'll just stop using your site or I'll figure out how to elide the ugly distracting interruptive stuff. 
 
Learn how to build great, attractive products that people will pay for, or find other models to monetize beyond selling a million pixels to brand names. In many other countries branding works without my eyeballs being assaulted every 3 minutes, so we can do it too. And then, I believe you'll go a long way.

MacBook Pro keyboard / trackpad fix

Lewis Barclay saved my @rse today. The keyboard and trackpad on my Macbook Pro recently just quit, and I'm flying to India- Pune in fact in a few hours, for the week. Problems seem to have a sense of timing, don't they? The Power button still worked and is part of the same assembly, so I was confused and messed around with software updates and 'hacks' to no avail. The 'fix'? Press down on this little flimsy cable (it's usually a little bit bubbled up and outwards) that I've circled in the shot below (which is an iPhone app - goSnap creation.)

You can access this little bubbled out cable just by removing your battery. As it happens I'd already disassembled the Macbook Pro by the time I found Lewis' short and handy little article (which is here). Here's my summary;

  1. flip the battery out (after shutdown)
  2. make a little ball of sticky tape, or something similar (not too big!)
  3. attach it to the little bubbled cable you see here
  4. gently reinsert your battery - don't force it. if it won't go, downsize the ball
  5. Enjoy your now working keyboard assembly, until you can get it replaced

Thanks Lewis! Hope this helps others too.

Sent from my iPhone