Topics

76

Find And Run Robot / FARR V2 core alias tables

« on: July 25, 2007, 02:42 PM »

Here's a table with a bunch of useful commands in farr!

In these tables, bold items are farr keywords or phrases. Try them!

Menus:

command	description
helpfarr	opens a menu with several help items: <open help file> (gohelp), <open options> (gooptions), <configure toolbar> (gotoolbar), <visit website> (gowebsite) and <update farr> (goupdate)
listfarr	shows a menu with all the built in listings: <list available aliases> (agroups), <list launch story> (historyl), <list past search history> (historys) and <list installed plugins> (aplugins)

Dictionaries, Thesauruses, and Encyclopedias aliases:

command	description	example
define	Find definitions/synonyms for words through various dictionaries and thesaurus	define pachydermatous
lookup	Find information about a query, through encyclopedias, A9, reference.com, answers.com, etc.	lookup pachydermatous

News:

command	description	example
news	search for news about something in google, yahoo or bbc	news global warming

Search for specific contents:

command	description	example
search	make a general web search using your favourite search engine: google, yahoo, ask.com, etc...	search donation coder
blog	search for blog posts about something, in Google Blog Search and Technorati Blog Search	blog software
news	search for news about something in several news sites	news global warming
imdb	search for movies on internet movie database	imdb the godfather
img	search for images several image sites, like google image search, yahoo image search, flickr, NASA, ask.com, etc	img landscape
maps	search for locations in google maps	maps lisbon,Portugal
music	search for artists, albums or songs at AMG, discogs, etc...	music norah jones
software	search for software (you found on donationcoder ) on tucows,snapfiles or betanews	software find and run robot
tor or torrent	search several torrent sites, like torrentz.com, mininova, torrentSpy or pirateBay	tor ubuntu or torrent suze linux
videos	search for videos on youtube or imdb	videos football
wiki	search for wikipedia information on wikipedia search, wikiseek, Clusty Wikipedia seach or futef wikipedia search	wiki donationcoder

Want to go online shopping?
Check out these aliases:

command	description	example
amazon	search for items to shop at amazon.com, amazon.de, amazon.co.uk, or amazon.fr	amazon monty python and the holy grail
ebay	search for items to shop at ebay.com, ebay.de, ebay.co.uk, or ebay.fr	ebay flying carpet
bn	search for items to shop at barnes and noble	bn harry potter
newegg	search for items to shop at newegg	newegg samsung monitor
tigerdirect	search for items to shop at tiger direct	tigerdirect maxtor

Here's 2 useful internet aliases:

command	description	example
dc	make a search at DonationCoder forums or check out the latest unread posts	dc find and run or dc
yn	use the powerful yubnub to make any websearch that FARR might miss	yn simpsons or yn random 100 or yn man random

And here's 2 miscelaneous aliases:

command	description	example
fileinfo	Get information about a specific file extention	fileinfo XML
paste	paste the date, the time, or both to the active window	paste

Also, there's a very simple note manager:

command	description	example
addnote	create a new note	addnote hello, this is a note!!
viewnotes	open the notes file	viewnotes

These are very useful aliases, that'll allow you to browse the web or send e-mails:

command	description	example
email	Send a simple e-mail with a specific subject	email [email protected] i love farr!!!
email	Send a simple e-mail with a specific subject, just by typing the e-mail	[email protected] i love farr!!!
email3	check the temporary spam email at bugmenot or at mailinator	email3 newyortimes.com or email3 [email protected]
www, http://, ftp:// or https://	open websites only by typing in the address!	http://donationcoder.com, https://paypal.com, ftp://darkstar.ist.utl.pt or www.google.com

If you'd like to add or correct something, please make a post below!!

For non-default aliases, see:
File management
Window Management
Finance aliases
NirCMD alias (shutdown,standby,lockpc,mute sound,etc)

77

General Software Discussion / Google Image labeler: google's way of indexing images' content

« on: July 23, 2007, 07:08 AM »

Google Image Labeler is a new feature of Google Image Search that allows you to label random images and help improve the quality of Google's image search results.

Each user who wants to participate will be paired randomly with a partner who's currently online and also using Google Image Labeler. Over a 90-second period, both participants will be shown the same set of images and asked to label each image based on what they see. They'll also be shown words that can't be used as labels. Both participants can add as many labels as they want until one of them matches a partner's label. After there's a match, they'll see a new image and continue the cycle, until time runs out. Contributors will also see points they've earned throughout the session.

-http://images.google.com/imagelabeler/help.html

Now isn't that smart?
Google has transformed a tedious (and payed) job into a game for the masses. Although there are points involved, there's no prize or anything:

What are these points for? Can I redeem them for anything?

They're intended to help identify contributions from participants. But they're not redeemable.

http://images.google.com/imagelabeler/

78

Find And Run Robot / Farr configuration decision: what's your opinion?

« on: July 20, 2007, 06:07 PM »

Mouser has made a small but important change on the latest version of farr.
I'm in disagreement with it, but mouser presented a good explanation for this change.
He opted by adding an option for this, but we're wondering which one should be the default setting.

So here's the change. On previous versions, when you had something selected on the following option:


When you started farr, you'd get something like:


Now, you get something like:


The difference is in the editbox, before, the text was pre-selected, now it isn't.
My rationale for having it selected, is that when you bring up farr, you can just type and search for anything.
Mouser's rationaly for not having it selected, is that if you have an alias like the pre-included "search" alias, you might want to call farr and just complete the command line.

So, the question is: which one do you prefer? the old method or the new method?

79

General Software Discussion / Encrypt single file?

« on: July 18, 2007, 04:18 PM »

Hello there... Here i seek the immense knowledge of the people of DC

I'm looking for a program that is command line, small, and can encrypt files safelly.
There are inumerous options in google, but i'm looking for an already-tested/safe alternative.

Thanks!

80

General Software Discussion / PawSense: catproof your computer

« on: July 16, 2007, 07:30 AM »

Now here's an original piece of software!

When cats walk or climb on your keyboard, they can enter random commands and data, damage your files, and even crash your computer. This can happen whether you are near the computer or have suddenly been called away from it.

PawSense is a software utility that helps protect your computer from cats. It quickly detects and blocks cat typing, and also helps train your cat to stay off the computer keyboard.

-http://bitboost.com/pawsense/index.html

http://bitboost.com/pawsense/index.html



Notice that this actually is payware software. I thought it was a prank, but it really is a very developed program.

81

Find And Run Robot / [bug report]? Farr v 2.00.126

« on: July 11, 2007, 07:04 AM »

Well.. I haven't ever used this feature, so i don't know the last version it was working.

You can now set optional hotkeys for each alias. Pressing the hotkey will bring up FARR (if hidden) with the alias results shown (i.e. as a menu).

-farr's help file

If i understand this correctly, this feature isn't working right now.

I set a hotkey for a test alias, and when i pressed that hotkey, farr didn't come up. The hotkey wasn't even recognized by farr, as it was passed to the window below.


I was thinking this'd be a solution for this post, since we could add an alias with a low rating, named "+\", which would only be used to bring up farr in folder search mode.

82

Post New Requests Here / Folders with "expiration date"

« on: July 03, 2007, 11:26 AM »

Well... A friend of mine asked me for one interesting piece of software.
Something that would create folders with "expiration date".
These folders would have the interesting feature that would be time limited, and after that time was expired, they'd be deleted.

The idea is that sometimes you have stuff that you know you won't need after some time, thus, you could just dump those in one of these temporary folders, and it'd be deleted for you.
The objective is to avoid clutter with unnecessary files, if you already know for how much time you'll need those.

So... 2 questions:
Any Sugestions on how to implement this? (I was thinking about having a program that would monitor a folder tree, and when the user created some kind of file with info about the "expiration date" of a folder, it'd be monitored and deleted when necessary).
And..
Would you use this?

Thank you!

83

General Software Discussion / Ditto: yet another free clipboard manager

« on: June 28, 2007, 06:36 AM »

Through this post by ak_, i've found a fantastic piece of software.

Meed Ditto.


It's quite simplistic, only one options window and a quick paste window.
Though, it's quite powerful!! It can handle several types of files in the clipboard and it works VERY well.
I'm definitelly surprised, it's worth a try.

Also, while reading through Ditto's forums, i found an interesting idea: Stack Copy. It's something i had never thought, but it'd be extremelly useful, since i've used CHS several times to reproduce this behaviour.

84

General Software Discussion / MOVED: Just tested Ghoster. Looks nice. 2 feature requests!

« on: June 16, 2007, 01:45 PM »

This topic has been moved to Skrommel's Software.

https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=8906.0

85

Post New Requests Here / MOVED: Triple screen grid

« on: June 13, 2007, 05:33 AM »

This topic has been moved to JGPaiva's Ahk Tools.

https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=8850.0

86

Coding Snack Guidelines / MOVED: Install/startup problem wit GridMove

« on: May 08, 2007, 06:06 AM »

This topic has been moved to JGPaiva's Ahk Tools.

https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=8423.0

87

General Software Discussion / Windows "safely remove device" thingie

« on: April 13, 2007, 07:13 AM »

Anyone know this: ?
Do you actually use it?

I have a few doubts about this. There has been a time where i'd be very cautious about it, but eventually gave up when i found out that using it would frequently restart the connection on all USB ports and, as my modem was USB at the time, it'd make my internet connection drop everytime i "safelly removed" something.

Although i do understand that it is meant to avoid having processes writing or reading from the usb disk when it is unpluggled, i don't think that not using it does that much damage. I own an external USB hdd, and although i'm very cautious not to unplug it when i'm working in it, i never "safely remove" it, also because, for some reason, that thing only works when i "safely remove" that disk twice, since the first time it always fails for some stupid reason.

So.. What's your opinion on this?

88

General Software Discussion / Good VNC viewer / alternative?

« on: March 13, 2007, 11:07 AM »

I'm looking for a way to connect to my new linux box from my windows laptop.
Currently i'm doing it through VNC and it works quite well but has a huge problem. I cannot send any character that is formed with altgr ( {[]}@€ for example). This is a giant issue, as i intend to use that box for programming.
I'm wondering if this is related to the client i'm using (urltra vnc).

This means i need a new client or a new protocol.

I've already tried RealVNC and it also has the same problem.
Any suggestions?

 

89

Find And Run Robot / [request] Drag and Drop

« on: February 26, 2007, 04:35 AM »

I'm not sure about this, as i think i recall you (mouser) saying something about D&D not working with this form, but i'll just request it anyways.

I've just found about windows' D&D behaviour (ctrl-drag = copy, Shift+drag = move and ctrl+Shift+drag = make shortcut) and i'd like to use this with farr.
Being able to move/copy/shortcut files around by finding the folder with farr and then dropping the files on to it would be just perfect

Is this feasable?

90

General Software Discussion / Holly Bananas, i need help! USBs not working

« on: February 21, 2007, 02:06 PM »

For some reason, my usbs have just gone to hell!
They just won't work, i connect the mouse to it and it gets no power!
On system -> device manager, i get 5 usb devices that just won't install. I unninstall them, they are installed automatically and they get the "could not be installed error".

Please help... 

91

General Software Discussion / Minesweeper cheats!

« on: February 04, 2007, 07:05 PM »

Ok.. Everybody has already played Minesweeper, right?
It's been in Windows since 3.1 and i bet everybody has had a go at it.
It's a very basic game, and sometimes is based in luck. Well... Not anymore!

-After starting the game, type xyzzy and press Shift and Enter at the same time.
-Move the mouse over the playing area and keep your eye on the upper left corner of the Windows desktop.
-A white pixel will appear when the mouse pointer is over a safe square, and turn dark when the mouse is over a mine.

I think that's the weirdest cheats i've ever seen, still, it does work, and i'd love to talk to the man who had the idea of including this on the program! 

Taken from: http://www.helpero.com/top/Helpero This site actually looks pretty good too.

92

General Software Discussion / A new kind of search: guided search

« on: February 01, 2007, 05:23 PM »

Well.. Here's www.ChaCha.com. They explore a new kind of search, based on chating with someone and that someone finding you search results?
I think it's just dumb, isn't useful at all but... It's fun!! 
Just type your search and press "search with guide".

chacha.com

93

Living Room / How Much Data Is That?

« on: January 29, 2007, 09:49 AM »

Here's an interesting page which gives you some idea of how much data the values in multiples of Bytes mean:

Whenever we discuss quantities of data, we tend to do it in the abstract. We speak of a kilobyte, or a megabyte or a gigabyte without really knowing what it represents.

The following table shows various quantities of bytes, in each power of ten. Usually, they are shown with multiples of 2 and 5 also. For example, 1 Kilobyte, 2 Kilobytes, 5 Kilobytes.

-http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/tek1/how_big.htm

http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/tek1/how_big.htm

here's the one i personally find most interesting:

5 Exabytes: All words ever spoken by human beings.

For more info on how MB,TB,EB, etc relate, check This wikipedia page

Found through StumbleUpon

94

General Software Discussion / Dexpot: Probably the best virtual desktop manager around

« on: January 20, 2007, 06:36 AM »

What can you ask of a desktop manager?
First.. That it works! This excludes most of windows virtual desktop managers. The windows vdm powertoy sucks, it has trouble with almost every window i can think of. Others can't completelly hide windows, others don't have custumizable hotkeys, well.. Most of them lack important features.
But that's not the case with Dexpot.
There's no feature you can't find, nothing you can't custumize and... It simply works! It even has that exposee thing that mac's OSX has, minimize to tray, rollup, always on top, change window transparency, etc,etc,etc!


Here are some screenshots:

PS: those lines in the desktop are not dexpot's fault, those are ms's virtual desk manager's fault 
Found through snapfiles

95

General Software Discussion / EarthWatcher: to know where the sun is shining now, look at your desktop!

« on: January 20, 2007, 05:32 AM »

Through snapfiles, i just found EarthWatcher.

This is a program that allows you to have real time images of the earth, as your wallpaper.

EarthWatcher uses two satellite images to create a map of the Earth on your desktop, that displays the areas of the globe where the sun is shining. You can set the interval to update the image, have it display the sun at zenith, save the image to a file and more. Makes a nice, dynamic wallpaper.

EarthWatcher

96

General Software Discussion / help: weird "Performance Options" behaviour

« on: January 02, 2007, 12:52 PM »

As some of you already know, i like windows xp fisherprice theme. And i like to keep the performance options in the "best appearence" selection.

But since not much time ago (i can't tell exactly when), some of the options don't work anymore. I can't turn on the "Show translucent selection rectangle" nor "use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop" although apparently all other options are working.
Does anyone know a possible cause for this problem?
Could it be related to the video drivers?

Thanks!

97

N.A.N.Y. Challenge 2007 / VDesktops

« on: December 31, 2006, 09:37 PM »

This is a program i had already done some work on, and found it was worth making it a bit more complete.

It's a simple virtual desktop manager. Almost as simple as it gets!
It is limited to 4 virtual desktops: 3 "normal" virtual desktops and one (named as 0) where all the windows appear.

It is mostly hotkey based, although it has a minimalist gui too.
The hotkeys are defined as follows:
  windows + 0: show desktop 0
  windows + 1 / 2 / 3: show corresponding desktop
  windows + left / right: show next desktop
  windows + shift + 1 / 2 / 3: add window to that desktop
  windows + c: show the "changer", which allows you to change desktops using only the mouse.

Windows cannot be removed from desktops (that's still a problem to be solved), but each window can appear in more than one desktop.

Now... Why did i make it?
2 reasons:

• low memory usage (about 3mb)
• It's a script!

This program being a script means i (and anyone else) can change it to suit my own needs!
Of course, source code in AHK is in the zip package. I only ask for recognition if you decide to change it and distribute it.

VDesktops - v1.003 - January 2, 2007

    * Fixed bug mentioned on reply #2 (window wouldn't disappear right away when added to a different group)

VDesktops - v1.002 - January 2, 2007

    * Fixed bug where Win+Left / Win+Right would crash the script
    * Fixed misplacement of "changer"
    (thanks deozaan!)

VDesktops - v1.0 - December 31, 2006

    * First public release.


WHAT IT DOES:
This is a simple virtual desktop manager.

SCREENSHOT:


note: if when using the program, something disappears, don't be scared, that's the point. To bring everything back, press Win+0

98

General Software Discussion / Laptop cooling system

« on: December 17, 2006, 01:35 PM »

In the recent years, i've been around many many laptops and recently i've come to some conclusions about the way manufacturers design them. While talking with kenR on irc, he encouraged me to post them, so here they are.

Notice that all these conclusions were taken from use of those laptops and from opinions from its owners, nothing is factual or based in numbers.

These comments refer to laptops of the following brands: toshiba, acer, asus, lg, compaq and hp. From various models, bought since 2003 in portugal.

The problem is: non of them is perfect.
I've found 2 classes of laptops:
The affordable and the expensive. Mostly, lg and toshiba go in the expensive class and the other ones on the affordable.

The affordable ones, are the ones that claim excelent price-specs relation, while the expensive ones are those that one thinks "why would i buy this? they are over-pricing it!".

Well... I've come to the conclusion that the biggest difference between these 2 classes are mostly in terms of the cooling system.

The acers, hps and compaqs i know, all have the same problem: overheat. After some time, you can't just use them on your lap, it'll burn you. This derives from processors which are too powerful for the cooling system. They work just as well as the others, but the heat is anoying.
As for the asus, it shows a different problem: when you turn it on, the fan starts and simply doesn't stop! That's the way asus solved the overheat problem.
Now, the interesting part, is that by using speedfan you can tune the fan to turn on at a higher temperature, but then it has the same problem that acers have: overheat. (the same thing happens the other way with acers).

Now... The expensive ones. Both LG and Toshiba's computers have one of 2 problems: either they are less powerful than the "cheap" counterparts, or they are more expensive then those. On the other hand, they are almost assured against the problems the other computers have. Since if they are less powerful, they don't need such a good cooling system, or if they are as powerful, they become more expensive due to the better cooling system.

That means that buying a laptop is all a matter of balance. Mine were always in the cheap and overheating computers. Simply because i like to have top of the line without spending an enourmous amount of money. Also, the noise of the fans drives me crazy.

Still, i think that my next one will be an LG. From what i know, those are the best build laptops (notice that i've never used a dell). Top of the line, with all the important worries (in terms of weight, size and such), and even if they are a bit less powerful than the rest, those definitelly deserve the extra money.

99

Official Announcements / DonationCoder.com has just reached 50 000 members!

« on: December 16, 2006, 08:56 AM »

Nobody seems to have noticed, but DC is growing really huge!

 

50 000 members is something worth noticing, and we (specially mouser) should be very happy about it!
Well... See you on 100 000!

100

General Software Discussion / A full multiplayer fps ut-like game in shockwave? Nah, it can't be :P

« on: December 15, 2006, 12:22 PM »

Oh yes it can!
Check out http://www.rasterwer...e/phosphor/beta1.asp

Here are some screenshots: