Welcome to Rants and Raves!
I kept hearing that I needed to write, so here is the blog that I ended up starting.
It is mostly an accounting of my progression through creating a web site, nuances with code, and tips about what I did to make things work.
In there you will find sprinkled about some gems of life, and letting loose fun.
Enjoy!
Azure CLI
2022-10-07
Well, Azure CLI was easy enough to install. Went to:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/install-azure-cli-windows?tabs=azure-cli
Downloaded and installed. Running the commands gave me a "running scripts is disabled on this system" error. I was able to start using the Azure commands by running:
Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope LocalMachine -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
MachinePolicy and UserPolicy need gpedit.msc which Windows Home does not have.
Time For Some Changes... Or Prepping For Them
2022-10-06
If anyone is paying attention at this point, they know that this site needs some adjustments. Unfortunately I do have a new computer so I need to set it for making changes to the site. I'm going to start with Azure CLI install. This should allow me to push website changes up to Azure. However, I won't be able to test the changes before the push. Nothing like live experimentation.
Also, McKendra says "HI!"
Final Fantasy 11 Shenanigans - FFXI_Shortcut_Create_Original.vbs
2022-10-05
Contents:
Set sh = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set shortcut = sh.CreateShortcut("_Path_FFXI.lnk")
shortcut.TargetPath = "_Path_SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\pol.exe"
shortcut.Save
Set sh = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set shortcut = sh.CreateShortcut("C:\Users\Public\Desktop\FFXI.lnk")
shortcut.TargetPath = "_Path_SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\pol.exe"
shortcut.Save
Tada! Full FFXI made portable!
Final Fantasy 11 Shenanigans - FFXI_Reg_Original.reg
2022-10-04
Important contents:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\PlayOnlineUS\InstallFolder]
"1000"="_Path_SquareEnix\\PlayOnlineViewer"
"0002"="_Path_SquareEnix\\TetraMaster"
"0001"="_Path_SquareEnix\\FINAL FANTASY XI\\"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\PlayOnlineUS\SquareEnix\TetraMaster]
"LOADDIR"="_Path_SquareEnix/TetraMaster/"
Open regedit.exe, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node
Export PlayOnlineUS as FFXI_Reg_Original.reg, edit above keys.
To be continued...
Final Fantasy 11 Shenanigans - FFXI_Move.bat
2022-10-03
Contents:
SET Path=%~dp0
SET PathReg=%Path:\=\\%
CD /d %Path%
PowerShell -Command "(Get-Content FFXI_Reg_Original.reg) -Replace '_Path_', '%PathReg%' | Out-File -Encoding ASCII FFXI_Reg_Temp.reg"
FFXI_Reg_Temp.reg
PowerShell -Command "(Get-Content FFXI_Shortcut_Create_Original.vbs) -Replace '_Path_', '%Path%' | Out-File -encoding ASCII FFXI_Shortcut_Create_Temp.vbs"
cscript FFXI_Shortcut_Create_Temp.vbs
CD SquareEnix
FOR /R %%G IN (*.dll) DO regsvr32 /s "%%G"
To be continued...
Final Fantasy 11 Shenanigans - Start
2022-10-02
My script uses 3 files:
FFXI_Move.bat - The brains of the scripts, this is what gets run.
FFXI_Reg_Original.reg - Registry keys template for FFXI.
FFXI_Shortcut_Create_Original.vbs - Shortcut creation template to pol.exe.
With those in the same location as the SquareEnix folder, the game and updates can be transferred to another PC. Run FFXI_Move.bat (as an administrator for a public desktop shortcut) and play, even off of an external drive if you want to.
To be continued...
Final Fantasy 11 Shenanigans
2022-10-01
I made FFXI portable. Why? Because not everyone has access to good, high speed, unlimited internet; right now mine is my phone. And because of that I am not interested in needing to redownload install files or updates when moving to a new device. Making it portable isn't too hard, but there was a little bit of digging. The basic necessities are to register the DLLs and set the Registry Keys. The script I made will do this even if the game is installed outside of the C: Drive.
To be continued...
Travelling
2022-09-25
A lot has happened recently. We quit our jobs, jumped ship on the apartment, and are now long haul trucking. We've already gone from PA to TX and up to UT. Right now I'm just a passenger playing house husband, but I'll be working on web stuff again. Shortly I do need to start making some money too. Hopefully I can do something with this site, otherwise I'm going to start looking for something I can do 100% remotely.
Writing Exercise
2022-09-05
Something I am glad exists: honey.
Something that made me happy: smoothies.
Self esteem boost: I am a capable person that can handle any situation I find myself in
Rippin' DVDs
2022-09-02
I've been working on digitizing our DVD collection and am using 2 programs to do so.
MakeMKV - https://www.makemkv.com/
HandBrake - https://handbrake.fr/
To start with, using MKV files because they can contain multiple languages and subtitles. They are also usable by many players, including PLEX.
MakeMKV allows you to choose which parts of a DVD you actually want to rip. Good if you're just interested in the feature.
HandBrake is good for compressing the file down to save space.