Sort by Magic in Google Reader

I just found out this sort feature in Google Reader. It says "Sort by Magic"

I haven't yet figured out what it does other than sort by newest. Please leave a comment if you know the answer.

How to get over Office Install Error 2203

So you buy this new copy of MS office with your hard earned money and find that it simply doesn't install on your new Windows Vista or Windows 7 machine due to an Error 2203. You search the net and find this microsoft knowledge base article 2000547 and it still doesn't seem to help. To add to your frustration, you can get help from Microsoft only after paying $49 for the support which frustrates you even further! Here is what you should do.

Step 1) First provide Everyone full control to the Temp folder. Search for %Temp% in the search bar right under the start menu and click on the link to your temp folder (It would be usually the only link or the first link). The %Temp% is usually in C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Temp. Right click on the Temp folder in the folder list on the left and click on properties as shown below.

In the security Tab, click on edit and add Everyone with Full Control. After you are done, your security tab should look like below:

Try installing MS Office with this settings. If it works, then great, you are done. If it doesn't, then follow the next set of instructions.

Step 2) Disable UAC
    Windows Vista and 7 will prompt you to confirm every little and big thing that you (or any one else!) might try to do with your system. While this is a good feature to prevent malicious codes/users from doing stuff on your system that you don't like, it can also be annoying at times and this could be one reason why your software isn't installing. Just disable User Account Control for the time being. Click on Start and on your account image. It will take you to User Account controls. Alternatively, the User Accounts page can be accessed using the control panel.

The User Account Control is last in the list. Turn Off User Account Control by unchecking the check box that comes up when you click on "Turn User Control On or Off".
Try installing Office and if it fails again, go to Step 3.

Step 3) Perform a Clean Boot
    You need to boot your machine without loading anything "extra". For this, go to start and type MSConfig in the search bar. The first option should point you to MSConfig.

MSConfig holds the some of the boot options for your machine.

In the General Tab in MSConfig, click on the Selective Startup tab and uncheck "Load Startup Items".

The startup tab should look like this. There is nothing to modify here if it looks the way it is on the left. If it doesn't, just click on Disable all and you are done.

In the services tab, First click on "Hide all Microsoft Services" at the Bottom left side. Then, click on "Disable all".








Click on Apply. At this time, Windows is frustrated with you and asks you to reboot. Click on reboot and after your machine restarts, try installing office before you do anything else! Office should install. If it still doesn't, I'm sorry!
Once you finish installing office, do not forget to roll back the changes that you have done, especially the MSConfig ones (requires you to reboot again!).

This post is a collection of my searches on the internet for resolving the issues I have faced. I have essentially simplified and made recommendations at the Knowledge Base and forums such as this one at Tech Arena easier to understand. I hope this post helps you in resolving your issue.

PS: Please do drop me a comment if this post helped you, this would help me know if my efforts have borne fruit!