Messages

26

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Teaser: Speed Monitor

« on: December 23, 2010, 11:49 PM »

I've added charts; I hope the addition doesn't clutter the interface too much.  Let me know what you think!

27

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Pledge: SpeedTracker

« on: December 23, 2010, 08:35 PM »

Looks nice, I like the per-website enabling/disabling.

28

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Teaser: Speed Monitor

« on: December 23, 2010, 06:01 PM »

Great, thanks!  Let me know if there is anything that does need improvement, though.

29

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Beta Release: Speed Monitor

« on: December 23, 2010, 01:35 PM »

I've added a link so anyone who wants to give it a test can download it.  I'd appreciate any feedback.

30

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Pledge: Speed Monitor

« on: December 20, 2010, 09:30 PM »

I'm thrilled someone decided to code this! 
I stand ready to do beta testing, just ask.

-mouser (December 20, 2010, 08:48 PM)

Don't stand ready to be impressed; it's still more a jumble of parts than a smooth-running machine.  I'll send a version over soon.

31

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 :: Entry Ideas & Requests

« on: December 20, 2010, 08:32 PM »

Here's a new NANY idea/request:

URL Speed Tracker:

Idea: A utility meant to continuously track the speeds of opening certain web pages/downloading files.

Motivation: It can be important, especially when setting up a new server, to be able to watch the speed and watch for any failures of pages to load.  This program will continuously grab pages and track speeds over time to let you know the health of a server.

• The main interface should be a grid where you can add new urls (of pages or files).
• Then a set of columns for running speed averages, averaged over longer windows (i can elaborate later).
• A button to toggle on/off fetching.

Options:

• 1. how often it should recheck urls
• 2. it should save/load the last set of urls.

With regard to tracking over longer averages:

• A really deluxe version would be able to plot the speeds over time of a given url.
• But short of that, what one wants is some indication of avg speed over different time windows.  So for example it would be nice to know last speed (avg over 1 try), and then over maybe the last 10 tries, then over last 100, over last 1000, etc (the last value would give you a true baseline).
• Rather than keeping track of every download speed (needed if you want to graph), a simple heuristic solution to these would be to keep track of, for each url, a decaying average with a different decay rate.  ie DisplayValue = DisplayValue*Decay + NewValue  where Decay is from 0 to 1, and the lower the value the shorter the time window for averaging.

I could really use such a thing.. any takers?  if not i may code it.

Bonus:
I can see how this would be useful for cross-platform environment, and specifically if it could be run continuously in commandline mode on a linux server.  But for me right now a windows-only version would be fine.

-mouser (December 18, 2010, 06:55 AM)

I've been kludging something together for this, and since I've spent a little time on it I figured I'd pledge.

32

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / NANY 2011 Release: Speed Monitor

« on: December 20, 2010, 08:31 PM »

NANY 2011 Entry Information

Application Name	Speed Monitor
Version	1.0
Short Description	Continuously tracks the loading speed of websites with an adjustable check interval and averages from the last 10, 100, and 1000 tries.  Graphs the last 100 tries.  Idea from mouser's post.
Supported OSes	Windows with .NET
Web Page	Soon...
Download Link	v1.0 - 86K EXE OR Download from Softpedia OR Download from Softoxi
System Requirements	.NET 4.0 Internet Access
Version History	v1.0 - Added drag-and-drop, clear data button, slower default interval, and quick hint v0.9 - Charts added v0.8 - First-time lag removed, URLs no longer require "http://", small other tweaks v0.7 - Save/Load of URLs added v0.6 - Basic functions running (with averaging) v0.4 - Single data point acquisition added v0.2 - Timers added v0.1 - Basic UI
Author	NinJA999 (Nick Aldwin)

Description
Continuously tracks the loading speed of websites with an adjustable check interval and averages from the last 10, 100, and 1000 tries.  Graphs the last 100 tries.
Idea from mouser's post:

Here's a new NANY idea/request:

URL Speed Tracker:

Idea: A utility meant to continuously track the speeds of opening certain web pages/downloading files.

Motivation: It can be important, especially when setting up a new server, to be able to watch the speed and watch for any failures of pages to load.  This program will continuously grab pages and track speeds over time to let you know the health of a server.

• The main interface should be a grid where you can add new urls (of pages or files).
• Then a set of columns for running speed averages, averaged over longer windows (i can elaborate later).
• A button to toggle on/off fetching.

Options:

• 1. how often it should recheck urls
• 2. it should save/load the last set of urls.

With regard to tracking over longer averages:

• A really deluxe version would be able to plot the speeds over time of a given url.
• But short of that, what one wants is some indication of avg speed over different time windows.  So for example it would be nice to know last speed (avg over 1 try), and then over maybe the last 10 tries, then over last 100, over last 1000, etc (the last value would give you a true baseline).
• Rather than keeping track of every download speed (needed if you want to graph), a simple heuristic solution to these would be to keep track of, for each url, a decaying average with a different decay rate.  ie DisplayValue = DisplayValue*Decay + NewValue  where Decay is from 0 to 1, and the lower the value the shorter the time window for averaging.

I could really use such a thing.. any takers?  if not i may code it.

Bonus:
I can see how this would be useful for cross-platform environment, and specifically if it could be run continuously in commandline mode on a linux server.  But for me right now a windows-only version would be fine.

-mouser (December 18, 2010, 06:55 AM)

Features
Multiple websites
Minimizes to tray
Editable frequency
Last 1/10/100/1000 averages
Enable/disable switch
If a website is unreachable, time turns red (and reads -1)
Automatic saving/loading of URLs
Charts of the last 100 measured times
Drag-and-drop for URLs
Easy data reset

Planned Features
Timeline on charts
Better operation (less memory-intensive, etc.)

Screenshots



Usage
Installation
Run the EXE

Using the Application
From Help->Explain This!

Use this tool to monitor the average length of time it takes to load a webpage or file.

Enter a URL into a row, then click "Enable Fetching" to start gathering data.

The last duration (in milliseconds) will appear in the "Last (ms)" column, the average duration over the last 10 tries will appear in the "Last 10" column, and so on.

Click the "Chart" button to see a line graph of the last 100 measured times.

You can change the frequency of tries (in seconds) by editing the value in the "Frequency" text box and clicking "Set".

Each time you add a new URL, a new blank row will appear.

To delete a row, select it and press the [DELETE] button on your keyboard.

You can also add a URL to the list by dragging it and dropping it onto the list.

To clear all time data for the URLs, click "Clear Data".

If you minimize the program, it will disappear to the small icon in the system tray.  Double click the icon to restore the window.

URLs are persisted between program runs.

Uninstallation
Delete the EXE and the smu file.

Known Issues
Initial time always seems to be too high.  Fixed!  It was a silly .NET bug.

NOTE to those experiencing warnings from their security software:
There is no malicious code in this program.  It may be flagged due to its high amount of network traffic; this high level of traffic is due to the nature of the program.

This program has been rated 100% clean by Softpedia.

It has also been verified as clean from any malware by Softoxi.

33

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 :: Entry Ideas & Requests

« on: December 04, 2010, 12:48 PM »

I have an idea: a personal spending habit report tool.
Now that Wesabe is gone, I'm looking for an app where you can tag, catagorize and report on your spending and income using exported bank statements from online banking sites. So you import a series of bank statements, catagorize them and report so you see via graphs where your money goes and how spending habits have changed. It would be an app that would have a big market.

what was great about wesabe for me was that it recognised similar lines in bank statements so the second time you shop at shop x it would already catagorize that line for you.

-justice (August 05, 2010, 04:11 AM)

Sorry to reply so much later (just saw this via the newsletter) but have you tried Mint.com?  I use it for *exactly* what you describe.  And it can automatically frob the information from the bank accounts as transactions post -- so before you even get a statement!  You should really check it out.

And no, I don't work for Mint.  I've just been using it for a couple of years and it's super cool to be able to track my spending habits over those months.

34

General Software Discussion / Re: Which Linux For Non-Techie Windows Users?

« on: March 08, 2010, 08:32 PM »

I heartily vote for Linux Mint.  It's the first Linux install I did which ran like a Windows install--quickly and painlessly, with a pretty end result.  The vista-like searchable "start menu" and by-default-installed compiz are great, and it's built on Ubuntu, so it's compatible with anything which can run on Ubuntu.  It also looks a lot like a Windows system, so it's not confusing.  I've recommended it many times and the recommendations usually result in people changing their favorite distro.  Linux Mint FTW.

35

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Final Release: Reimbursement Tracker

« on: January 06, 2010, 01:52 PM »

Thanks!  Yeah, those are great ideas, and they're now on the to-do list.  Be sure to check back for updates!  Glad to hear you were able to use the pdf printer in conjunction with my printing capability.

A question to anyone who's tried it out: how important is the invoice-style printing (e.g. in a grid styled more like an invoice -- the current one is just an adaptation of the receipt print mode and is a bit weird)?  Should I work on the other features first?

36

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Final Release: Reimbursement Tracker

« on: January 06, 2010, 09:14 AM »

I'd love to hear about it if anyone uses this or plans on using it.

-NinJA999 (January 01, 2010, 06:44 PM)

I'm using it in reverse, in order to track various amounts that I owe to someone else.

-cranioscopical (January 06, 2010, 07:27 AM)

Unless I phrased it confusingly, I believe that's the intended use?  Either way, great, glad you're using it!  Make sure to check back soon for some important updates!!

37

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Final Release: Reimbursement Tracker

« on: January 01, 2010, 06:44 PM »

I'd love to hear about it if anyone uses this or plans on using it.  Any feedback would be great as well!  (I'm already working on PDF support and, of course, undo/redo ; it'll probably be a little longer, as neither is as important as printing was)

[EDIT] Just found out that a change I had made to my thermal printer library (the dll shipped with the tracker) has broken some of the formatting capability of the thermal printing portion of the program.  I'll fix that soon.

38

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 - The Event Concludes

« on: January 01, 2010, 06:15 PM »

Yeah, thanks Perry!  Great job as always!!   

39

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Final Release: Reimbursement Tracker

« on: January 01, 2010, 04:58 PM »

Printing support added!  (How's that for within a week  )  Along with a number of tweaks.  Take a look.

40

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Final Release: Reimbursement Tracker

« on: January 01, 2010, 01:29 AM »

Yeah, I was working on printing, but didn't have it in a good enough form for release by new year's, so I commented it out.  Look for it to appear within the next week or less.

41

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Release: Reimbursement Tracker

« on: December 31, 2009, 05:41 PM »

Released!  See note at the end of the first post.

42

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: Topic: NANY 2010 Teaser: Reimbursement Tracker

« on: December 22, 2009, 08:39 PM »

Hmm, great idea for the name -- except at first glance I'd have no idea what it would do!  Only once I knew would I figure it out   .  But thanks for the suggestion!

Well, when I originally designed this, it was just to tabulate the entire list, then hand in the receipt at the end to get one large check back.  Additional items could go on a new list (new .reb).  But that's a good idea, I'll see if I can work that in.

As for the PDF saving, well you *could* print to a pdf using one of those pdf printers, but I'll see if I can find a way to directly generate a pdf.  Great idea!

Thanks for your feedback!

43

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / NANY 2010 Final Release: Reimbursement Tracker

« on: December 22, 2009, 07:00 PM »

NANY 2010 Entry Information

Application Name	Reimbursement Tracker
Version	0.4.6
Short Description	Tool to help manage a list of reimbursements, with support for printing to a thermal printer.
Supported OSes	Anything with .NET (only tested on Windows)
Web Page	This thread, for now.
Download Link	ZIP 329KB
System Requirements	.NET (optional) Thermal Printer
Version History	0.0.1 - Started 0.1.0 - Basic list functionality 0.2.0 - Printing to thermal printer added (specifically Custom Neo's), saving and loading added. 0.2.5 - List redone with DataGridView. 0.3.0 - Added icons from famfamfam.  Fixed "new" bug. 0.3.5 - Misc. tweaks, release to NANY (note: this is still really beta.) 0.4.0 - Printing support added (note: it does receipt-style printing.  invoice-style printing, if desired, will come later.) 0.4.5 - Receipt Printer code upgraded - serial port option and checking now implemented 0.4.6 - Fixed receipt printing bug
Author	NinJA999
Screencast	https://www.donation...ursementtracker.html YouTube: http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=DvWny1I3uMQ

Description
Keep track of the money others owe you! This is a tool created to help a user manage his/her reimbursable expenses and designed to create an attractive, easy to read, and easy for the boss to understand list.  It has the ability to print, or to print a professional-looking receipt to a thermal printer (receipt printer).

I created the application to help me keep track of my expenses for my robotics team (I spent over $600 of my own money last year, I believe) and drama club (I spent $100.01 on one play, as can be seen in the screenshot below!).  I happened to have a thermal printer and thought it would be awesome to have a "receipt" of my own to give to people so I could get that money back.  (That's why the receipt printing was one of the first things done!)  I know not many people have thermal printers, but hopefully this will be useful to others regardless!

Features

• Keep track of date, location, description, and price of each expense.
• Negative prices (e.g. returns or rebates) supported.
• Print to thermal printer!  (Serial Port selectable)  (Note:  only the Custom Neo's is officially supported right now -- as it's the only printer I own to test on!  However, I am working on a plugin-like system to allow other printers with different commands to be easily added.  Most printers share similar serial commands, so this should not be a big problem.)
• Printing to actual printer (currently receipt-style; invoice-style coming soon!)

Planned Features

• Plugin-like system for other thermal printers (see above!)
• Management system for thermal printers (to allow user to change the current printer from the plugins, to change the serial port to use, and to do a test print) -- this one is drawn out, and will be implemented very soon.
• Undo/redo (again, the buttons are there but don't do anything yet)

Screencast

Screenshots

Receipt generated from above list:


Usage
Installation
Currently, just unzip the zip and run the exe.  Once I implement the plugin system, it'll probably become slightly more complicated (but only slightly; I want it to be as easy-to-use as possible!).

Using the Application
Well, most of the actions are pretty self-explanatory.  Enter reimbursements into the table in the main part of the application.  Lists are saved as .reb files.
There'll be more instructions once I complete the more complicated features.

Uninstallation
Currently, delete the exe and dll (and the settings xml).  Again, it may become more complicated later.

Known Issues

• No actual invoice-style regular-printer printing yet.
• Your thermal printer may not work with it yet.
• Undo and redo do not work yet.

Can anyone think of a better name?  Any input is appreciated!

I am releasing this as-is.  However, it is still  a beta program.  The thermal printing will only work if your printer is compatible with the Custom Neo's.  I didn't have as much time to work on this as I thought (College Applications can be a pain), but the basic functionality is there!  "Final Release" means final for NANY, not final forever.  Feedback appreciated!

I've updated it to be much better (including printing!).  Sorry the updated version wasn't released till after NANY was over.  But still check it out if you get the chance!

44

Screenshot Captor / Re: 64-bit Windows 7 - quick install; fast startup/shutdown; smart snappy GUI

« on: December 22, 2009, 06:29 PM »

I haven't had any issues running it under Win7 x64 -- except for the aforementioned loss of Aero.  Any chance there'll be an option to show/hide Aero in the future?

45

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / NANY 2010 Withdrawn: Countdown

« on: December 14, 2009, 07:18 PM »

NANY 2010 Entry Information

Application Name	Countdown
Version	0.0.25
Short Description	Simple, unobtrusive, movable, resizable countdown clock.
Supported OSes	Anything with .NET (Not yet tested with Mono)
Web Page	Not yet...
Download Link	Eventually...
System Requirements	.NET
Version History	0.0.1 - Started 0.0.10 - Basic graphics + countdown created, movability & resizability added.  Added teaser. 0.0.25 - Menu added, basic commands created.  Fixed colon bug.  Added screenshot.
Author	NinJA999

Description
Simple, unobtrusive countdown app which counts down to a user-selectable date.  Resizable and movable, so it can sit anywhere on your desktop.  Countdown options range from DD:HH:MM:SS to just DD, and everything in-between.
Created because I love counting down to dates and times, and I'd like to have a small app sitting on my desktop doing exactly that.
Plus, it has cool red led graphics!

Features

• Counts down to a date, is resizable and movable.

Planned Features

• Add user menu: date switching, always on top, countdown format, etc.
• Save date
• Do something after countdown switches

Screenshots

(Ugh, that border looks terrible.  The screenshot removed the pretty aero, I guess.  It doesn't look that bad on Vista, 7, or XP, I swear!)

Usage
Installation
Run the exe!

Using the Application
Application starts by default with a countdown to 5 days in the future.  Change all settings by right clicking.  Left click to drag.

Uninstallation
Delete the exe!  (But why would you ever want to? =P)

Known Issues
See planned features

This is hopefully the first of at least two NANY apps - stay tuned!


NOTE I'm looking around the web for a cool, shiny, free clock icon.  Any links?  Or anyone want to make one?  That would be pretty cool!

I have withdrawn this application -- there was not enough time for me to complete it to an acceptable standard.  My other application, Reimbursement Tracker, is being released.

46

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 - Prize Graphics

« on: December 05, 2009, 10:53 PM »

wow, exciting!  even more motivation.

47

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Program Idea Suggestion Thread

« on: December 04, 2009, 11:42 PM »

Here's a small one:

What about a program that sits in the system tray and lets you configure 2 colors and a numeric range.  Essentially you are setting two ends of a range, a min and max value, and a color associated with each end of the range.

At any time you could double click to type in a new current numeric value, and it would adjust the desktop background color to a blend between the min and max of the range and between the two colors.

The idea: You could set one color like blue that you really like on your desktop, and one, say Red, that you really dislike.  Then you set the range to indicate for example your weight if you are on a diet, or a min and max # of pages you have to read a book each day.  So when you deviate from your goal, the background will be something you really dislike.. might serve as a nice motivation.

-mouser (December 04, 2009, 04:14 PM)

This doesn't fit the bill but maybe you guys can contact the people who did this program for help: F.lux

-Paul Keith (December 04, 2009, 08:26 PM)

Hmm, that seems a bit overkill?  They went into the video system to change the color temperature of the screen.  I think mouser was suggesting just changing the desktop background?  (Might be easier for a more novice programmer than trying to interface with low level stuff)

(as an aside, I've been using that program daily for over a year and I love it; I've nothing against it!)

48

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 - Prize Graphics

« on: December 04, 2009, 11:38 PM »

I use my NANY 2009 mug every day.  (I got the one with the island; I loved the choices last year, any chance of that this year?)  I'd call that a suitable reward for doing what I love to do 

49

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Pledge to Participate Here

« on: December 02, 2009, 12:37 PM »

I pledge to release one or more somethings this year. (that's allowed, right?)  Last year was awesome, working on my app and then seeing all of the cool apps created by others.  I cannot wait!

50

Living Room / Re: Literal Videos - Hilarious!

« on: June 27, 2009, 06:25 PM »

I've seen the a-ha before.  Here's a link to the full-length:
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/e062d7b4d5/take-on-me-literal-video-version-from-dustfilms
That and the literal version of Never Gonna Give You Up (the rickroll song) are my favorites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr2jlCyCJBI
("In my creepy trenchcoat, blue denim shirt, and hipster shades; enough of me, let's cut to my shadow.  And then I'll dance under this non-descript tunnel") haha