Messages

1

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for a sound effects generator

« on: November 11, 2009, 02:32 AM »

Would definitely test these last two.
I don't mind paying if it does what I need - assuming the price is reasonable.

Thanks for sharing - and I guess I owe thanks to dsettl123 for posting the link to the sound search site - even though it was not a particularly relevant reply, it revived the thread...

EDIT:
These are both excellent!!!

I am going to play with them and probably purchase the Sean O'connors version - it is great!

2

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for a sound effects generator

« on: September 30, 2009, 06:54 AM »

Haven't found anything else, and all the ones mentioned here are either ambient generators, wav-based or just too technical.

Sounds to me like a needed tool, wonder why there aren't any.

Maybe there is a better chance finding a VST instrument that does that, and use it inside some host (I am using Renoise).

3

General Software Discussion / Looking for Markdown windows executable

« on: September 30, 2009, 02:54 AM »

Hey everybody,

Does anyone happen to know if there is a markdown windows executable already compiled?

I would like to be able to run something like:
markdown.exe infile.txt outfile.html

The source (perl) is open, and I thought I would use Perl2Exe to create such executable of my own, but figured maybe somebody had already done it (or ported it using another method).

Thanks in advance.

EDIT:
Scratch that, it looks like an easy task to compile a windows EXE

4

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for a sound effects generator

« on: September 28, 2009, 10:29 AM »

Hey that was quick!

Thanks joiwind, going to check them right away.

5

General Software Discussion / Looking for a sound effects generator

« on: September 28, 2009, 08:39 AM »

Hey everybody,

I am on a quest to find a (preferably free-) software that can generate electronic sound effects.
Specifically, I am interested in generating one-shot sounds that may be suitable for buttons and such.

I am a little tired of sifting through all sorts of sound libraries, so I thought there must be some software out there that has a few knobs and sliders that will let me generate my own.

So far, the only software I found worth mentioning in this category, is Coagula Imagesynth - but I am unsuccessful at generating good sounds with it (probably because I am a little lazy, not because it is not good...).

So if anyone can recommend such a tool, it would be appreciated.

6

General Software Discussion / Re: Rant: Firefox 3.5.x

« on: September 26, 2009, 11:27 AM »

Minefield.... how sarcastically appropriate...

7

General Software Discussion / Re: Rant: Firefox 3.5.x

« on: September 26, 2009, 04:58 AM »

Is that just in Firefox or generally on your system?

-Carol Haynes (September 26, 2009, 04:45 AM)

Most definitely only FF, and only the 3.5.x FF and I know other people had it.
I was just now searching google to see if I can find some references, but couldnt find the page I was looking for.

But, there are many pages on Google, when you search for Firefox 3.5 crash / problem / halt and the such that complain about these problems.

I do realize it may be a small thing that is different between a working and non working configuration (like for example, a different anti virus software) - maybe it is BitDefender messing with me again...

One more thing to note here (I dont know why they are doing it): Mozilla seems to consider the 3.0 and 3.5 as two separate lines.
I was using 3.0.12 and a yesterday I got a message asking if I want to upgrade to 3.0.14 (not to 3.5).

8

General Software Discussion / Re: Rant: Firefox 3.5.x

« on: September 26, 2009, 04:36 AM »

@Carol - yes, when I was using 3.5.x pages loaded considerably faster, that I can confirm.
The thing is that in the 3.5 line there seem to be some responsiveness issue, like when you click a link, it sometimes takes some seconds to "think" before it processes the request.

Or in earlier 3.5 releases, FF was halting for half a second every few seconds - it was noticeable when you were typing a long text in a textarea, or scrolling down the page (or doing other long, supposed-to-be-smooth motion).

At least until version 3.5.2, I know I was not the only one experiencing these issues, judging mostly by some long long threads on the Firefox message boards, which were followed by a fix version.

So yes, I am aware that some (maybe most) users do not see these issues - but still it is quite frustrating, as I have a relatively common configuration.

9

General Software Discussion / Re: Rant: Firefox 3.5.x

« on: September 25, 2009, 03:30 PM »

So far the stable, public builds were not too stable with me - personally, I will definitely avoid testing pre releases...

10

General Software Discussion / Re: Rant: Firefox 3.5.x

« on: September 25, 2009, 11:51 AM »

I can't wait for it to get better.

-Innuendo (September 25, 2009, 11:11 AM)

I envy you, only I can't wait for it to get good again...

11

General Software Discussion / Rant: Firefox 3.5.x

« on: September 25, 2009, 08:57 AM »

Not really a company criticism, but I need to blow some steam off...

What is the deal with Firefox 3.5.x?

I have been trying to run with each and every Firefox release of the 3.5.x line, and each one has its own severe issues that are obvious immediately after using it for several hours.

Slowness, responsiveness and halts are the most common problems for me.

I have read that it has something to do with Flash. I hate Adobe as much as the next guy - but I don't really care - why release one version after another with what seems to be an unsatisfactory level of testing?

Luckily enough, it is quite easy to roll back to the 3.0.x line - which may be a little less friendly in terms of memory footprint, but at least I can rely on it not halting in the middle of me writing a long email.

I am on updated XP and Firefox is running with only a handful of common extensions.

If I have to guess, I would say that there was a serious change in dev team personnel over there and the new guys are still trying to gain control of everything...

I am waiting for 3.6

12

General Software Discussion / Re: Complaint: BitDefender Internet Security

« on: September 22, 2009, 03:54 PM »

Hey 40hz - also sounds like Avira is not doing the job you hired it to do..... false positives... annoying.... low detection rate...
I admire you patience - I would have uninstalled it and write a complaint somewhere if I were you...

13

General Software Discussion / Re: Complaint: BitDefender Internet Security

« on: September 22, 2009, 03:10 PM »

The ThreatFire article is nice indeed - although my preferred option would be to get one strong layer instead of several partial layers.

Although this thread started (and still is) as a complaint about BitDefender - I never felt I needed an extra layer - it provided a bullet proof protection for me in the years I have used it.

Whenever I wanted to check an extremely suspicious app, I sent it to VirusTotal - this was my external additional layer.

14

General Software Discussion / Re: Complaint: BitDefender Internet Security

« on: September 22, 2009, 12:15 PM »

@40hz - I am also in favor of letting each tool do what it does best, but then you triple your cost.
Why both ThreatFire and Avira?
I am not very familiar with ThreatFire (not at all familiar would be more accurate) - isnt it another antivirus?

15

General Software Discussion / Re: VirtualBox - An Open Source Virtual Machine

« on: September 22, 2009, 08:56 AM »

Thanks guys.
Looks like it is getting good feedback across the board.

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General Software Discussion / Re: Complaint: BitDefender Internet Security

« on: September 22, 2009, 08:49 AM »

@Joker - funny (and informative) post
Thanks for sharing.

17

General Software Discussion / Re: VirtualBox - An Open Source Virtual Machine

« on: September 21, 2009, 12:55 PM »

Hey guys,

I know this is a relatively old thread, but I was searching here to get some insight in regards to virtual machine software, and this looks like a good thread.

I just looked at some videos of the VirtualBox, and it looks great.
I was wondering, from your experience, is VirtualBox the better choice among the competing products?

Personally, I am looking for a lightweight way to test other operating systems.

Another question that bothers me a little - is this completely isolated from my host PC?
I mean, I dont want to mess things on my host - I want to be able to easily remove the virtual machine without having to clean my host after it.

TIA.

18

General Software Discussion / Re: Complaint: BitDefender Internet Security

« on: September 21, 2009, 10:27 AM »

Heh
Thanks, downloading.

19

General Software Discussion / Re: Complaint: BitDefender Internet Security

« on: September 20, 2009, 02:18 PM »

So they finally moved to take some AV companies out of business?
Guess this was expected when they started their attempts with the malicious software removal.

I will definitely keep an eye on that one. Right now they are "not accepting new participants"

20

General Software Discussion / Re: Complaint: BitDefender Internet Security

« on: September 20, 2009, 10:02 AM »

Thank you.
Yes, AVG and Eset are at my top list.
I know that AVG has quite a few false positives, but I will probably try it.

21

General Software Discussion / Re: Complaint: BitDefender Internet Security

« on: September 20, 2009, 09:50 AM »

Yeah, you know I wanted to give them also credit for their past performance.
I used and tested many antivirus software, and even those that are considered excellent by many people, gave me issues - some were small issues, like Kaspersky in some version caused videos to halt for a fraction of a second every now and then.

Or another antivirus (maybe also Kaspersky) that used the files Archive flag for something - which caused quite a mess with my backup software.

So many people just dont notice what these tools are doing to them, or they are not making the connection that it is the antivirus.

BitDefender was excellent in this regard, but has gone downhill in the past year or two.

I will probably try one of the free ones before I commit once again.
At least with a free one, if I don't get support, I cannot complain...

22

General Software Discussion / Compliment: 2BrightSparks (file sync software)

« on: September 20, 2009, 07:47 AM »

Hello everybody,

I just wrote one complaint in this forum, and I feel dirty - so here is a compliment to balance it...

I am a heavy user of file synchronization software.
I am using it to synchronize my data between drives (home / work / portable), for backup and for mirroring my files to my websites.

I have tested many different free and commercial applications, and am finally happy with what I have.

The company that provides these synchronization tools is 2BrightSparks - http://www.2brightsparks.com/

They have three versions:
SyncBack Freeware - probably good enough for many lightweight synchronizers and to test it before you decide you need to upgrade.
SyncBackSE - good for most heavy-duty users.
SyncBack PRO - the full blown synchronization solution.

A comparison chart for these three is available here:
http://www.2brightsp...yncback/compare.html


The support system they have in place is very useful.
In a couple of cases I did not find the help I needed in the help files, and their technical support team was able to answer me to the point, without using canned replies.

Personally, SyncBackSE is what I am using and I recommend it to anyone whos is looking for a mirroring, backup or FTP automation job handling.

--

23

General Software Discussion / Complaint: BitDefender Internet Security

« on: September 20, 2009, 07:36 AM »

Hi everybody,

I am a long time user of BitDefender security packages - AntiVirus and Firewall.
During the first few years, this product was my favorite among the competition.
It was fast, not hogging the computer, had a low number of false positives, not causing any problems, and the technical support was easily available and mostly helpful.

This last year, I believe will be the last year I am paying my yearly fee to BitDefender.
These are the main reasons:

1. It has become quite bloated with many different modules

2. Some modules cause Windows to crash when some applications are running (firewall + file sharing).

3. Technical support is now almost impossible to reach

4. When you finally get to tech support, you get a reply about 50% of the time, with a long delay.

5. The replies you receive from tech support, either tell you to download a new version (which was unaccessible at the time of trying) or to run a long sequence of debugging and "memory dump" to send to their technicians - as if I am paid to do QA on their products.

6. Searching their own forums for the same problem as I encountered, revealed many other people have it - they all get a personal "check your email" reply as an answer.

I am not sure yet which security package I will use next, and if it will be a free one or a paid one, but in my book, a paying customer needs to get access to customer service.

I hate to see BitDefender go down like this, but unless I can access a helpful tech support hand, and/or a stable product, I am out.

--

24

General Software Discussion / Re: ControlPad: interesting new launcher app

« on: September 13, 2009, 01:03 PM »

You guys are so nice around here..... that's awesome.
*Group hug*

25

General Software Discussion / Re: ControlPad: interesting new launcher app

« on: September 13, 2009, 01:45 AM »

Thanks CleverCat, made it since I got annoyed with the other tools out there providing a huge interface to do a small task.
Personally, I am using File Blender (also available there) more - it supports a lot of conversions (including what FaxTool does) including audio conversion, image conversion and even JS / CSS minification.

And is fully extensible with more actions, if you have the command line tool.