Mike Industries

I use my Windows machine for one thing and one thing only these days: snapping one photo from my digital camera every 4 minutes and uploading it to this site for use as the live header. Unfortunately it seems that Windows XP can’t even handle this simple function correctly for more than a day or so without crashing Canon’s DLL.

I tried contacting the author of the remote capture software I’m using and he has no idea what the problem is, so the only solution I’ve come up with so far is the most ghetto solution imaginable: Using AutoMate, I watch for a particular application crash in the Windows error log and then manually relaunch the application using a series of automated mouse movements and clicks. It’s pretty silly watching it in progress. It’s almost liked I’ve hired an intern to just sit there all day and night and manually recover from crashes.

The solution works fine. However, the AutoMate 15-day trial is over now and I’m faced with the prospect of paying the outrageous $600 fee for the software, or finding another solution. Since the work AutoMate is performing is essentially that of an intern — and since I don’t pay my interns — I’ve decided to fire AutoMate and look for a suitable replacement. Preferably some young up-and-comer whose head isn’t so big that they think they are worth $600.

Anybody have any recommendations? I don’t need 99% of the functions AutoMate offers. Just the ability to monitor the system’s event log and then perform a series of recorded mouse movements and clicks.