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Messages - TomD101 [ switch to compact view ]

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1
Living Room / Re: I'm getting married, wish me luck!
« on: December 03, 2018, 11:37 PM »
Dear Mousers - did Mrs Mouser adopt your name?
from far off Germany - only seconds away online - all the best wishes to a great decision.
Being married with children for 30 years now and going strong I might just know what you are in for.
It is simply the best thing you probably ever did.
And as long as donationcoder exists, I do not want to read from your marriage again. Because it means, everything is all right.
Best from Berlin
Thomas
TomD101

2
Hello all,
almost a year later I want to recommend a tool that might help.
http://www.handyfiletool.com/index.html
Handy File Tool (HFT) by Heatsoft Corp. is six years old, freeware and mainly a search tool.
Concerning this discussion, you can look for a filesize option like "larger than A and smaller than B".
I don't know, whether this helps, but the BIG advantage is the "basket". You can look for files all over your HDD space and collect the result in a basket.
Now you can do copying, deleting, renaming the results from the basket, thus changing all files in their original location.
If this works together with the search options you may have a ... well, a handy file tool at your hand.
Best from Berlin
TomD101

3
Hello all,
having tested only one or two of the myriad of file renamers on the web: I found Lupas Rename 2000 (last updated in 2005) around 2002 and have used it ever since. I haven't encountered a task it was not able to perform (well, apart from, maybe, impossible characters - did not test that).
http://rename.lupasfreeware.org/
Free, tiny, VERY capable and working with anything up to W8 - don't have W10 yet, but I am sure, it will work there, too.
Best
Thomas
Berlin, Germany

4
Hello all,
I contributed a short impression about Dashlane in the following thread under General Discussion:
https://www.donation...ndex.php?topic=41048
Won't repeat it here, but be aware, that it is NOT answering specific questions. But if works with Android quite well - as far as I put it to use.
Best
Thomas
Berlin, Germany

5
Hello all,
I contributed a short impression about Dashlane in the following thread under General Discussion:
https://www.donation...ndex.php?topic=41048
Won't repeat it here, but be aware, that it is NOT answering specific questions.
Best
Thomas
Berlin, Germany

6
Hello all,
I got to test Dashlane via bitsdujour (I think) a while back. I NEVER used a password manager before, so I have NO idea how to compare their service. I took advantage of their special offer for three years, paying 50 instead of 100 dollars. Yes, I know, there are services for free, cheaper or better, but I started - as I said - for the first time to use a tool that relieved me from looking up or memorize around 200 different passwords or login information for all the sites I visit regularly.
Method is simple: You login, while Dashlane is running. Dashlane "knows", you do a login, monitors it and asks, whether you want to store this special information. NEVER does it automatically, not even, if updating a known login with a new password.
The premium version can be installed on ANY device you own / use. It syncs automatically every new information to every (active / online) device. NO matter which device - including android cellphones (and probably apple as well) you use for creating or updating an entry, it will be synced with every other as soon as it is active.
Dashlane offers a multitude of features, like creating your home adress in a way it will automatically inserted in most masks using the typical fields like name, first name, street etc. You can of course create several of these.
The service: upon downloading the - then - current version, I run afoul on my Vista laptop. It simply would not install. We exchanged emails for a while and the guys at Dashlane did NOT give up until they found a working solution. Since then, no problem with updates or anything with my Vista machine. W7, android, W8, no problem anyway.

Impression: I am satisfied with the service, the product, the usablility and quite everything connected with the company and the product. But I DON'T KNOW better. First time. I like it. Yes, I took a look at KeepAss and some others, but did not even bother to install. Something just didn't feel ... right. No criticism, but just a .... feeling.

My recommendation: IF YOU are really prepared to use a service that charges money AND IF you have some experience to compare, give it a try. Test the free of charge version (not synching, only valid for ONE machine). Get a feeling for the GUI and the way it works and decide for yourself. You are about to offer your inner self to a company. Don't, if you don't feel good with it.

Best
Thomas
Berlin, Germany

7
General Software Discussion / Re: Text-To-Speech Freeware?
« on: April 21, 2015, 05:00 AM »
Hello all,

take a look at @Voice Aloud Reader. http://www.hyperioni...om/TtsPlus/index.asp
This app - available at Google Playstore - is a product of Hyperionics.com, the guy behind screen capture classic HyperSnap.

I did some translation for @Voice Aloud Reader, but do not use it myself. Others are quite impressed.
I won't go any further than throwing the name in the ring.

TomD101

8
Hello all,

thanks for your answers. I will have to live with the new situation.
There is no way to get THE MAN into helping me.  Our new IT crowd distributes a working environment with a fixed number of programs we need. Anything else is blocked. If we need additional programs, we have to pay. Ditto (the freeware) would cost some 20+ $ PER MONTH AND PER PC.

I will just do less work in the same time. Two of the greatest time savers are not available anymore. Ditto and Filebox Extender.

As I can't be fired (hired for life), THE MAN pays me my income even if my productivity goes down. I can live with that.

Thomas
Berlin, Germany

9
Hello all,
if something matching the following description exists already, please let me know. I would not even know how to formulate the fitting question.
My problem:
At my office we are switching from a quite open XP environment to a totally lockdown Windows 7. We can work with some allowed applications, but executing any other exe file is prohibited. Drive C with programs and OS is hidden, installing anything is not possible. User rights are restricted. Just imagine any no-fun, paranoid, as little administration as possible provider and you got our new IT crowd.
After using ditto for 10odd years I dread the moment having to do anything manually again.
My question:
Is it possible to program a clipboard extension whatsoever that runs from a whatever programming environment (java, ahk, you name it) and circumvents the barricades of the user settings?
Thanks for thinking
Thomas
Berlin, Germany

10
General Software Discussion / Re: What Android Apps Do You Use?
« on: March 05, 2013, 02:00 PM »
I just inherited a Galaxy Ace from my son - yes, really.
It's my first smartphone and I have to learn from scratch.
First (and only) app I installed is
@Voice Aloud Reader.
Created by the guy who makes HyperSnap, this app reads all text aloud, that you put into the @Voice window or into a reading list. It uses the installed TTS engine - or more than one and works with many different voices from several languages.
I like it, as I have trouble reading all the stuff on the screen. So I have my emails, news and anything read to me.
Now my son has to show me how to use dropbox to go beyond tiny snippets that clog my memory card.
Thomas
Berlin

And if everything goes to plan, I will even learn how to really use that phone. My Nokia 3650 was never that complicated.

11
Living Room / Re: Do You Freelance?
« on: November 01, 2011, 03:30 AM »
I translate software (GUI and Help) mainly for two software developers, translate tutorials and snippets to be put on websites, and occasionally ask a developer, if he wants help with his sometimes adventurous translations.
Additionally, I am the usual Mr. FixIt, when computers in my vicinity (friends, family) are broken or have to be replaced by new machines.
Via mouth to mouth  propaganda, friends of friends ask for my service, so that's where serious money (fixed sum per hour) comes from.
As I have a fulltime employment, all this freelancing is done after hours, but gives enough additional income to make it worth the time.
Employer and IRS are informed about my status, so I have a go from my boss and taxes are paid from the freelance income, too, but in a very complicated calculation.

Thomas
Berlin, Germany

12
General Software Discussion / Re: Software Hall of Fame
« on: September 15, 2011, 04:26 PM »
Oh, the olde days. It all comes back to me now.

Started around Dos 2.x and MS Word 3.x something.
First thing I needed was a zip tool - the first there was, as my dad's word files didn't fit on 360 kb disks.
And then I found all those gems
Desqview and Quemm - spent hours configuring my autoexec.bat and config.sys to fit everything in 640 + 384 KB
PCToos, of course, and Xtree (Gold)
Norton Utilities, when the consisted of two letters to start
Fastback and PCbackup. STill have the disks, but no pc in the world is slow enough to start the program. It dies from speed overload instantly.
MS Word over WordPerfect in ANY release
Lotus Manuscript for long texts. Lost gem.
Turbo Pascal occasionally. Never was a coder.
Getting online into mailbox systems with 300 bd, later with a lightspeed modem at 1200 bd and a software that somewhat sounds like Qemm, don't ask
Oh yes, Harvard Graphics, before there was Power Point. Vector Graphics in slideshow software.

Windows came and I tested v2.0 and 3.0. Not impressed. 3.1 / 3.11 impressed the hell out of me. Many things got easier.
Word for Windows - a dream come true for a guy who created and edited 100 - 500 page documents - PRINT READY.
Office - every incarnation. Never could get myself to the other Office lines.
HyperSnap since 1997. MY screenshot app. No other ever got close.
When the Internet became www for all, I just found everything I needed somewhere.
Download it, test it, delete it or keep it. Some things stay forever, most don't.

My favorites over the last years
MS Office
Vista's own Mah Jong - only game I really play.
IrfanView
IZarc
Teamviewer - makes support fun again, believe me
ditto - clipboard manager. Even blackmailed my company in installing it. Threatened to quit. Worked.
Webshots - for recreation and beautiful pictures
CompareIt
Handy File Tools from Heatsink
Lupas Rename

pretty much the tools that are installed first on ANY computer I get my hands on.

Thanks for sharing and bringing back fond memories with this thread.
Thomas
Berlin, Germany

13
Hell Curt,

you are referring to the OCR scan option of the PDF tools.

You are right, it doesn't work with Office 2010 anymore, as Microsoft removed something called MODI. This routine was used by SolidTools to create the OCR layer over PDF documents.

There is a workaround to install MODI from Office 2007 onto Office 2010. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982760
Solid confiremd that the tools would work with office 2010, too, if MODI was installed.

Don't take MY word for it, but installing MODI and then running a trial version should give you the needed confirmation.

The normal pdf tools work with Office 2010 without any problems.

Thomas

14
Hello all,

I just looked at pages 7 and 8 of the thread, no time to read everything, but here are my two bits:

Compare IT 4.0 for comparing two files side by side.

chmZoomer to zoom chm files. They are sometimes to small for my weakening eyes.

I usually google for programs that fit one or more special needs. If they work, I buy them. And if I need something really special, I will never trade a good program for almost as good freeware, just because it is free.

The most special programs, alas, are from two donationcoder members, who programmed them just for ME and after my specifications. You can't get more special than that.

Thomas
Berlin, Germany




15
Hello all,

When I was in need of a PDF->Office converter, I found after some testing the program SolidConverterPDF from www.soliddocuments.com.

 :-[(and yes, this is the text I posted to another thread in September 2010. But I still work with the program and I am very content with the output.)

I have no idea, how they do it, but the results are simply stunning. Of course, not everything is possible, but I converted manuals for devices like TV sets, DVD-recording machines, scientific books and whatnot. Just incredible.

The trial lets you convert 10 percent of the original document, max. 10 pages and adds a watermark.

I think, this is ok for testing. Prices start with $ 80 for a single user license.
The support is great, very personal and really able to solve problems.

Give it a try and no, I am not connected to them.

Thomas
Berlin, Germany

16
Boy, it sure takes a long time to re-visit DC.

skwire: To answer your question from March, 29th.

If I remember right, the file read out by TAR has to be named info.txt or similar (I had no time to sort out my music for several month now, *moan*). So I can't have 1.000.000.000.000 info.txt in my mp3 root dir. I have to move them to the dir where the corresponding mp3 files will be stored.

An inside every dir I call TAR with the info.txt, which then renames the songs according to my wishes.

I'll have to do it again in the next time. As this thread is still active, there might be better solutions, if I ever describe exactly what I do with - meanwhile - three DC apps.

Thomas

17
Hi all,

when I started out in 1985, I was in high school, had no income and spent my driver's license money on a C64 with floppy drive. We all copied ANYTHING then. It was the Hacking Crew against LENSLOCK and mostly VERY expensive games, few apps and the fun of sharing information and how to's.

Later with my first PC (8088, 8 Mhz, 20 MB HDD) I was dependend on people who had access to software. There was no online market and stores in Germany were ... well, existent, but knowledge about PCs were not really common. I took anything, I could get my hands on, tested it, uninstalled it, kept it, depending on its value (for me).

Over the years I did what most people around me (and with similar (non-)income structure do. Re-use licenses, download trials and hacks and more and more turn to freeware.

Since working for a programmer - translating his software -, I have more and more insight into the HIGH amount of work that is connected with creating and maintaining software. His program sells well, so pirating is of course an issue but nothing to keep him from sleeping.

So my current PC has either paid software or freeware. If I need a program, I find a freeware or I test several programs and decide which to buy.

I admit, I sometimes use a crack, if I need extended features before I decide to buy. I also used cracks, if I needed ONE special software for ONE task only. But after that, I usually deinstall OR decide to buy anyway.

But then again, it took me some 20 years to achieve an income that lets me act that way.

Thomas
Germany

18
Hello skwire,
looking for another special tool, I found your dropbox. Another great little app.
I am creating a mp3 folder structure to store all my mp3 I downloaded from a certain (yes, it's legal) portal. Renaming the files to my liking is done via an app by you (TAR) or Krishean. Maybe you remember this thread https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=24936.0.
Both your tools need to be present in the subdirectory with the mp3 files.
Example:
d:\MP3\Amy Whinehouse - Greatest Fits
d:\MP3\ACDSee - Greatest Hits
d:\MP3\Shakira - Greatest Hips
add another 35 to 60 directories per Month as a safe asumption

I have TAR and the other program stored in d:\MP3. I need it in every subdir. So I would like to have dropbox expanded to the "all level one subdirectories from here" option.
It would mean, I don't have to define special dropzones but it would copy / move / ask it to any next subdir of the maindir.
Aaaand it would skip any subdir, where the file(s) is/are already present. If you want to include version / date control, the better, but not really necessary.
Because: Drum Roll Please!! Every donationcoder tool that gets published, almost never has to be updated again.

Thomas
Berlin, Germany

19
General Software Discussion / Re: extracting info from pdf
« on: March 29, 2011, 12:06 PM »
Hi all,
let's see, if anyone is still looking at this thread. I stumbled upon this while checking on answered postings.
1st: Can't pdf be saved as html? I think having done this. But it may have been with Acrobat Full version. It's not for the faint of purse. Advantage: text is html, images are saved separately.

2nd: One of the very good screenshot programs with a scrolling option is - apart from the incomparable screenshot captor - HyperSnap from hyperionics.com. Region with scrolling, windows with scrolling, text with scrolling, almost everything.
Give it a try, if you never heard about it.

Thomas
Berlin, Germany

20
edited two hours later.
Hello Krishean,
this time I didn't wait until afternoon.

I copied 11 mp3 to a directory, created the list.txt and used the new rename.js.

I know what keeps the app from renaming all files. Special characters like brackets ( ) or hyphens '  are probably dependent on the country codepage, so the app ignores any files with these special characters. As soon as I delete any special character, it works like a charm.

Differences of capital letters between list.txt and filenames are successfully ignored now.

On a short notice: Is it possible to  have the leading zero added to the renaming process, even if it is not in the list.txt.
Example
Fuel - Hemorrhage (In My Hands).mp3 - file - (had to del the brackets) -> Fuel - Hemorrhage In My Hands.mp3
1 Hemorrhage (In My Hands) - within list.txt - (had to del the brackets) -> 1 Hemorrhage In My Hands

would be 01 - Hemorrhage In My Hands.mp3 - renamed file

Have fun.

Thomas


21
Hello Skwire,

slick app with a nice GUI. Makes it very easy to organize my files in the right order and then renames it. Especially helpful: the automatic adding of a leading zero.
Great

Hello Krishean,
phantastic. Just edit a textfile to fit my need and it finds the corresponding mp3 even if they are in another order. Just what I wanted.
But I am afraid there are some bugs left.
I tried three directories, checked every list.txt and found no spelling error. Nonetheless, the app omits files. In the first test the app ignored 3 of 12 files.
Next test 3 of 13 files
Last test 2 of 10 files.
They are out of order an I can see no rule in it.
Any idea. I could not find counters in the script, counters with a certain range of lines, that is.
And yes, is there any chance to add a leading zero to two-digit-numbers?

Thanks again for these two little helpers.

Thomas
0:45 a.m. on a Tuesday.



22
Hello Krishean and Skwire,

you both are just great. Due to time zone differences I just arrived at work and have to wait 8 hours until I can test your solutions.

I'll be back.

Thomas

23
Hello timns and Renegade,
I used mp3tag to check for track numbers. Almost every album has missing track info - even if it is only one or two - or double entries with the same track number for different titles. So the tag info is of no use for me.

Directory opus appears to have many fascinating options, but I could not find an option, scripting or not, where to assign filenames from a list which is in another order as the files listed in the directory. I even discovered the tools Series Renamer in the Opus-forum, but all elaborate renamers depend on any kind of numbering within the file in the directory. 

I need a tool to read the string from the file name, compare it to the string in the textfile and, if the same, rename the file in the directory with the filename from the textfile.

This is something I haven't found yet - or didn't use the right terms for my search.

Thomas

24
Hello Krishean,

this sounds phantastic. If you have time, create a rough script and I will test it with some samples.
I am not in a hurry, so take your time.

Best wishes

Thomas

25
Hello Coders,

I am fairly new to downloading mp3-files from a radio station. I usually ONLY download whole albums, not single tracks.

The downloaded files all have the following syntax:
Artist - Title with spaces.mp3

After downloading, they are sorted alphabetically (or in another way the filesystem from windows permits. This is, of course, not the original order on the album any more.

If I now rename the files listed in my directory I could omit the artist and add a number. But the files would be numbered according to the alphabet, not the intended order on the album.

Before you send me to look for any good mp3-tag-editor: Some of the mp3 HAVE complete tags including track number, others do not. So yes, I tried this already.

Example for tracks as saved on my hard disk:
Keith Urban - All for You.mp3
Keith Urban - Georgia Woods.mp3
Keith Urban - Long Hot Summer.mp3
Keith Urban - Put You in a Song.mp3
Keith Urban - Right on Back to You.mp3
Keith Urban - Shut Out the Lights.mp3
Keith Urban - Without You.mp3
Keith Urban - You Gonna Fly.mp3

The Original order on the album was
1   Put You in a Song
2   You Gonna Fly
3   All for You
4   Long Hot Summer
5   Without You
6   Georgia Woods
7   Right on Back to You
8   Shut Out the Lights

For MY needs - and there could be others like me - I would have to rename each file individually by omitting the artist and adding the right track number  (with two digits incl. leading zero) in front of the title before the  " - ".

So the first title in my directory would be:
Keith Urban - All for You.mp3    ---> 03 - All for you.mp3.

So what I want, seems impossible, as the program would have to be able to parse and compare words from a directory with a file list and rename the files due to these variables.

If you tell me this is simply not possible, I can accept that. I did not find a program to achieve this task.

If anything like this already exists, let me know. I learned that most things people want are already done by (donation)coders.

Have a great Christmas season - or any other festivity according your beliefs

Thomas from Berlin, Germany



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