Topics

126

Living Room / Weather revisited

« on: August 24, 2012, 05:45 AM »

I've been struggling with Yahoo weather latey, it has a major problem with my local weather -and no place to report the problem- and no info about their weather sources.

Otherwise, I use www.wunderground.com which is great:

• Let's me know the weather station used
• Allows me to change the weather station used
• Remembers that I changed the temperature to celsius (what a §#%&$ relief)

but, occasionally, (like any station) it gets it wrong.

Coverage (for my uses - mainly central/western Europe) has gotten a lot better in the last couple of years.

So, just wondering are there other good sites out there that you can recommend?

127

General Software Discussion / [sorted] 32bit app with 16bit installer - installing on Win7 64bit

« on: August 22, 2012, 10:57 AM »

I wanted to install an app from 1997 on my Win 7 (64bit). The app is Adobe Streamline, discontinued since.

I got this message:

[Window Title]
D:\ENGLISH\STRMLINE\SETUP.EXE

[Content]
The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you're running. Check your computer's system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the program, and then contact the software publisher.

[OK]

I also noticed that the same CD had 16 and 32bit versions of Acrobat Reader, so I presumed that the app I was trying to install was 32bit.

But it turns out that the installer was 16bit.
This 32/16bit situation has been mentioned a couple of times on dc but no direct solution given (that I found).

Source here (Stackoverflow answer).

Solution (via the above link) given here (ReactOS Forum: Installing 32-bit programs with 16-bit setup launcher stubs)

The Solution was simply to replace the installer setup.exe file with a 32bit version (setup32.exe). You may have to extract the files from the installer exe first. In my case they were all simply in a folder so it was a simple -and successful- job

My solution was probably the easiest of the lot - installer was 3.xx.xxx InstallShield installer. Solutions are also given for other versions and other installers.


__________________________
I'm posting this here partially because it's such a pia to post a comment in stackoverflow. All I wanted to do was say this answer works, but I'm not allowed to comment on another answer

Also the Stackoverflow doesnt have the text of the error message (just a screenshot) so it took me a while to find it. Hopefully this post will help others track down the problem.

128

General Software Discussion / Help me understand Virtual Machine [VMWare]

« on: August 17, 2012, 09:11 AM »

OK

• I've installed VMWare Player
• I have my winXP iso ready to roll

I've been reading the documentation, it's confusing, because there seems to be many versions/aspects to VMWare. But mainly confusing cause they dont cater to users who dont already understand (there's got to be a name for that - insider-manual-syndrome maybe).

I understand it's going to be a completely separate virtual install, but I'm not sure if this completely seperate (virtual) machine can see the real machine, and vice versa.

What I dont know (so far) is:

1) I suspect ideally an empty partition would be good for the virtual machine(s) - but dont know.
2) I presume it will create a virtual drive anyway?
3) if yes to #2: can it create virtual partitions on the virtual drive?
4) if yes to #3: can files on virtual partitions be accessed from outside the virtual OS?
5) within the virtual OS, will I be able to access and modify files from the "real" machine i.e. outside of the virtual machine

Any help much appreciated

129

General Software Discussion / Looking for a (dc?) app that generates words/ names

« on: August 04, 2012, 11:23 AM »

I'm trying to find a particular app - I'm pretty sure this was a dc app:

it generated names/words randomly. By "words" I mean ones not in the dictionary!
AFAICR the user sets how many syllables, then it would generate a list of random words.

Anyone have any idea what that was?
TIA

130

Living Room / LastPass users: do you backup?

« on: July 31, 2012, 03:42 AM »

I got a nice fright this morning when I couldnt log on to my email via lastpass.
I opened the lastpass "Vault" and it was empty, not a single site or password... you can imagine the feelings of dread -and the thought- oh-my-god-I've-got-no-backup.
Luckily it all reappeared on restarting Firefox, but it got me writing this.

The default backup is to a csv file - it makes me nervous to have all that info in one text file.
So, I'm wondering what you all do -

• how do you backup?
• how do you secure the backup?

According to this LastPass help page (#3 there), I can export to a 'LastPass Encrypted File' which "You can then import ... into LastPass Pocket".
I cant find any info on their website about LastPass Pocket. I know it's the portable version which I dont want to use anyway so I presume the "LastPass Encrypted File" is useless to me ?

I guess I could copy it all into fsekrit and give it the same password as LastPass itself. Even copying it could be dodgy if you use a clipboard manager (can be disabled of course).

Still curious though how you experts deal with it

131

Mini-Reviews by Members / MoveIt - windows management app - Mini-Review

« on: July 26, 2012, 05:07 PM »

Updated March 2015

App Name	MoveIt
App URL	http://milesaheadsoftware.org/ (scroll down a bit) - dc thread is here
App Version Reviewed	MoveIt 1.2.3.0 updated for version 1.3.3.0
Test System Specs	QuadCore, 8GB RAM, Win7 x64 / also tested with Win.8.1 x64
Supported OSes	XP, Win.7, Win.8.1
Support Methods	dc forum thread above / forum PM, etc.
Upgrade Policy	N/A see below
Trial Version Available?	N/A see below
Pricing Scheme	donationware
Author (of the app) Donation Link	Donate to MilesAhead, the app Author (here on dc); or via directly via paypal: https://www.paypal.c...LG%2egif%3aNonHosted
Screencast Video URL	--
Relationship btwn. Reviewer and Product	We're both longtime dc forum members. I've used this app daily for years now, I've asked for features - and gotten them. I'm a fan :p

NOTE: according to download page, MoveIt is only for use with a single monitor. For a multi-monitor setup, check out GridMove.


Intro:

MoveIt is a windows manager designed to flexibly resize windows, and also to move the active window in various ways. It is not unlike GridMove but it takes a different approach.

It uses a limited number of preset, but customisable, window sizes.
There are three varying methods to resize a window:

• Hold Middle Mouse Button on Caption Bar and press one of the keys listed below
• Press Winkey and click a window, then press one of the keys listed below
• Use custom hotkey combination (needs to be set by user; no mouse-click needed with this one), then press one of the keys listed below

[to resize]
L = Left
R = Right
T = Top
B = Bottom
C = Center
S = Square

[to move]
h = horiz center
v = vert center
keys 1 to 9 will move the active window from bottom left of screen through to top right - without resizing it

[other]
u = undo
z = Custom Save (more info below)


Screenshots of some window layouts I use






Custom Save

The beauty of the app is that you can modify all these window sizes very easily on the fly:
resize your window to whatever size you want for e.g. "top", press your default hotkey, then
press "z", you get the dialogue below - press "t" for top -
you can change the current window size to default for any of the above options (Left / Right / etc.)




Working with Explorer

Press Control Shift e to Stagger open Explorer Windows
Press Control Shift x to Close all Explorer Windows


Other very nice features:

# Ctrl+Winkey+ArrowKeys, and Alt+Winkey+ArrowKeys, will move active window in increments in the direction of the arrow key (again without resizing it).
# An easy way of making four equal sized windows:
Move a window by dragging the title bar - press alt before releasing the mouse and the window will snap to the quadrant in which the mouse was released.


Who is this app designed for:

It's a relatively simple window resizer/mover. What with having to hit a hotkey and/or mouse click and then another key - initially I thought this would be too much key pressing but I'm finding it no problem at all to implement, and easy remember all the keys. So dont be scared away by that aspect of things.


Customisable hotkey:

Ctrl+Winkey+ArrowKeys and Alt+Winkey+ArrowKeys as used to move windows in increments, and the Explorer related hotkeys - these are not customisable.
To setup a hotkey for changing window size -
right-click on the tray icon:


or,
for advanced users:




Why I think you should use this product & How does it compare to similar apps

If you want to arrange your windows, I'd recommend both this and GridMove.
MoveIt is more focused on using keyboard shortcuts - I know GridMove is also mouse friendly, but I've only ever used it via the keyboard so cannot really comment on it's mouse capability.

I have MoveIt and GridMove both running in the tray - I havent had any problems with that.

Initially I liked MoveIt mainly for the ability to move windows without resizing, but now I rarely use GridMove as I find MoveIt (also) intuitive to use, and it has more than enough options for most of my needs.
GridMove has the advantage of catering to multi-monitor setups and also to more complex window arrangements.


Conclusions

I love it


Links to other reviews of this application

[none I know of]

132

General Software Discussion / New cross-platform Vector app [looking for your support]

« on: July 21, 2012, 05:31 PM »

This looks pretty serious

http://www.stagestack.com/ (http://www.goexpressive.com/)




First a small bit of history:

Apparently, for professionals that had to deal with pre-press, the choice was always between Illustrator & FreeHand.
FreeHand was developed originally by Aldus, and then Macromedia. Macromedia was taken over by Adobe a few years back. They were happy to let Illustrator's main competitor die a slow death. At the time nothing was done about this anti-competitive behaviour. The Free Freehand group recently had a go at taking them to court, but in spite of a lot of support from individuals, it was always a David vs. Goliath thing.
After concluding the attempt to make Adobe change their ways (or at the very least improve Illustrator to the standards they were used to), they have decided to support the development of Quasado's Stagestack/Expressive.

As you can see from the above screenshot, Stagestack/Expressive have raised over 37,000 euros (almost $50,000).
They've been on the go for 2.5 years.
First nightly builds will be available to donaters of 25 euros or more as of mid-August. A 25 euro donation will get you 15% off the price of a license.

I'll probably give it a go myself, having used FreeHand since the year 2000. I tried Illustrator once or twice, but it was so slow I always went back to FreeHand (this may have improved with recent hardware improvements). I have to have (another) go at installing CS5 in the next while (support for opening/importing FreeHand documents has been removed from the latest Illustrator, CS6). Like me, there are lots of people out there with years worth of FreeHand files. Hopefully Expressive will make an app with a good workflow, as well as being able to open FreeHand files.

edit 2013-01-09
Quasado are looking for support for this project. Simply following or liking will be of benefit - impress the investors :-)
Donations are also welcome though ;-)

Follow on twitter http://twitter.com/quasado
Like on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/quasado
or donate http://www.stagestack.com/

other links
FreeHand forum / Expressive board
FreeHand Forum / Vector app alternatives

133

Living Room / [Security] issues with Vista & Win7 gadgets

« on: July 19, 2012, 02:44 AM »

Via Windows Secrets -
Kill those Vista and Win7 gadgets now!

Apparently there are large security issues with the sidebar, and gadgets in general.

Although the vulnerability in gadgets has existed for years, two security researchers are shedding some new light on the threat. At next week’s annual hacker gathering in Las Vegas — Black Hat USA 2012 (more info) — Mickey Shkatov and Toby Kohlenberg will deliver their presentation, “We have you by the gadgets.” As is common for Black Hat presentation pre-announcements, there are as yet few details. But Shkatov and Kohlenberg promise, “We will be talking about the Windows gadget platform and what nastiness can be done with it, how are gadgets made, how are they distributed, and, more importantly, their weaknesses. … As a result, there [are] a number of interesting attack vectors that are interesting to explore and take advantage of. We will be talking about our research into creating malicious gadgets, misappropriating legitimate gadgets, and the sorts of flaws we have found in published gadgets.”

Microsoft have a fix if you want to disable them all:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2719662

134

Living Room / Soccer, Football, Fussball, etc.

« on: June 09, 2012, 04:49 PM »

European Football Championship / Euro 2012

Day two, had to post this goal from yesterday, could well be the goal of the championship.

[edit] turns out UEFA is blocking all content on youtube - dont know how long this one will last - the goal I was talking about is at 4:08. It's the fourth (and last) Russian goal. (Formatting is unfortunately a bit wonky - compressed widthwise & top/bottom cropped.)

and here's another option if that one doesnt work http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=J3RcOIVceeg

[/edit]

Quality isnt that great in spite of 1080 HD - watch it full screen anyway

[youtube]removed[/youtube]

worth watching till 0:51 for the arial view

135

Screenshot Captor / Cant "Grab selected area" when Screenshot Captor main window open

« on: May 23, 2012, 07:38 AM »

If I open Screenshot Captor's main window, change focus to another window, and then attempt to make a screenshot of a selected area, the focus goes back to the SC window.
i.e. I can only sucessfully take screenshots of selected area when SC main window is closed.


I'm using the full screen crosshairs & preview box but I've experienced this bug since well before they were introduced (but not sure exactly how long).

______________
Win7 64bit

136

Screenshot Captor / Ability to take screenshot of Admin windows? (Win7+UAC)

« on: May 23, 2012, 07:28 AM »

I thought this was mentioned before but could not find it:

I'm wondering if it's possible to take a screenshot of Admin windows when using Win7 (64bit) and UAC at the highest level. I mean apps that require UAC approval to start.
AFAIK SC would have to be running "as admin" as well - would it be possible to temporarily elevate it's priviliges? or is that possible (I know DOpus can do it, but that doesnt mean SC can - or that it's worth the effort...)

TIA

137

Found Deals and Discounts / PearlMountain Image Converter Giveaway (=chance to win a copy)

« on: May 09, 2012, 05:01 AM »

I've come across some nice software via dc member RGdot's site/reviews -
www.rgdot.com

Has an offer today - post a comment for a chance to win a copy.
PearlMountain Image Converter Giveaway

interesting looking resizer/converter:

138

Living Room / Google looking good today

« on: April 24, 2012, 06:15 AM »

Google looking good today

139

Screenshot Captor / Screenshot Captor running 2 instances on Windows startup

« on: April 23, 2012, 09:40 AM »

After the last update (via dcupdater)
I was offered the option to start with windows for all users.
I clicked yes without particularly thinking about it (it was already set to start with windows, whether with all users or not, I cant say)

Next reboot I got this



the only app I currently have installed for checking on startup programmes is Winpatrol(Pro). It says:



I tried disabling one of them, seemed to work (but I didnt check too closely to be honest). Today though I notice there were two instances of SC showing in the tray.
I closed both and used FARR to open it to take screenshot for this post. It was an older version (2.xx.xx).
I closed it and used the same entry in FARR to open it again, and it was the most recent version.

so things are getting weird around here

Not sure even if this is SC's fault, but maybe you have an idea or a recommendation?
__________________
Win7 64bit

PS I notice CH&S also has the same two entries in Winpatrol & that works fine here...

140

DC Website Help and Extras / Ability to *up*vote a post

« on: March 17, 2012, 06:10 PM »

I was going to post in another thread, but seeing as this would have been veering even more off-topic than the thread already was, and the thread is about threads veering off-topic, I thought  I'd better start a new one ;-)


I do like the idea of being able to give a post an "up" vote.
A down vote option only encourages colliseum type behaviour (you know, looking for blood etc.), as people have said already. But I often miss the option to give a very casual +1 to a post - good reccomendation, nice retort, whatever.

I wont lose any sleep about this one, and am not even sure it's a good idea, but I still miss it - often enough too.

141

Living Room / New Time management system from Mark Forster

« on: March 14, 2012, 09:10 AM »

Like the title says, there's a "New Time management system from Mark Forster"
called FV (the "Final Version")

Currently he's only giving information about it per newsletter - so you'll have to sign up if you're interested. For some reason, even if you are already receiving his newsletter, you still have to sign up again.

I haven't looked at it that closely, so cant say much about it - does seem very simple though, even simpler than it's previous incarnations as AF (AutoFocus).

Some info here
http://www.markforst...version-is-here.html
(Signup on the same page.)

FV Forum here
http://www.markforster.net/fv-forum/

142

Screenshot Captor / GUI improvement for changing between edit & create objects? (SC)

« on: December 13, 2011, 11:32 AM »

How to change from edit mode to create object mode: click on the white arrow icon with the red "O"- if it says "select mode" I can select an object - if that object is an arrow, the arrow 'pane' will open, I can then edit it. If I click the arrow icon again, nothing shows, if I then click on e.g. Arrow icon, I can create new arrows.

~
If you look in the spoiler below you can read my struggle to figure this out (I know - I could well have read more of the manual)

Could this be made more intuitive somehow?

As said in spoiler:
there is no visual indication (that I can see) that tells me which mode I'm in.

• Maybe that the arrow icon would change depending on which mode is active?
• and/or -
• Maybe the arrow icon ("Object select mode") could be part of a frame that frames all the object icons? (I like this idea a lot cause then I'd see it's importance. But dont know if it's possible.)

the struggle

I do this about once a year or less (and struggle each time with it):

Help says:
By default, after you add one object or text box, you will switch into object editing mode. If you want to draw many arrows at once you can find options for this in the preferences dialog.

In Preferences, I found the option
Switch to object selection mode after a new object is inserted
I deselected that - I made a new screenshot & it works. I can create loads of arrows.
But now I cant get into edit mode... aha, found it - if I close the arrow panel and reopen it I'm in edit mode again and but now I cant get back into create mode again.

So how do I (easily) move between creating an object and editing it and back to creating an object?

With apologies - I'm figuring this out as I go along -
[Sort-of Solution]
I have to click on the White cursor with the red Opera style "O" icon to toggle edit and create modes - I still find this incredibly confusing as there is no visual indication (that I can see) that tells me which mode I'm in.
I just keep clicking that and the arrow icon and eventually I get one mode or the other...

I click on arrow icon, and check which mode it's in by trying it out.

Okay, the best I can find is to click on the white arrow - if it says "select mode" I can select an object - if it's an arrow, the arrow 'pane' will open.
If I click it again, nothing shows, if I then click on e.g. Arrow icon, I can create new arrows.

If I'm missing something please let me know

143

General Software Discussion / Make a music mix for burning on audio disc - software?

« on: December 11, 2011, 01:45 PM »

I think something along these line was discussed not so long ago but I couldnt find it.

I want to make a few mixes from mp3 files, and burn to CD (audio disc) - all on Windows 7.
On XP I used use Media Jukebox from JRiver (http://www.jriver.com/mj/) but i heard some dodgy reports here lately about it messing up tags (and even though it had a very easy GUI, I found it usable but buggy - that was about a year ago, I cant remember the version number but older than current).
Also on XP I briefly tried Media Monkey - I couldnt (figure out how to) do anything on it, but if you really recommend it I'll try again
Skwire's Trout is my player - but I even use that very little.

So what I need is a player where:

• I can select the files
• sort them manually
• create my mix
• then (if possible) I could burn from within the player - if not:
• I could use nero express to burn (or you're welcome to recommend something there too!)

144

Living Room / google queries re new "2-step verification" / new style, etc

« on: December 07, 2011, 10:58 PM »

1] Anyone tried out the new "2-step verification" ?
How was it for you? ;-)

2] anyone know when they are going to force the new style [edit ~ I mean the new UI] on us? (I'll need to do support for some older-beginner-relatives when that happens - probably better to just make the change before it's forced on me, but having a time-frame would help). Edit - I see they've already forced it on one of my accounts, it's possible that it's being phased in as opposed to all at once...

145

Living Room / Paypal confusion - it not using my credit balance.

« on: December 06, 2011, 06:04 AM »

A payment was made to my paypal account recently (i.e. it's in credit). I made a purchase, expecting the credit to be used - but it wasnt. When making the payment I was just given my usual payment options (direct from bank account / cc).

I use my Paypal ac very little and only once before had it in credit - that time it was used up immediately on my next purchase.

Now I wanted to make a donation here, I'm directed to my paypal account, I login and this is what I'm presented with -



i.e. I dont even get the usual payment-method choices. Only relevant link is [Pay Now] - so I dont know from where the payment will be taken...

Anyone know what the story is? I'm in Germany, dont know if that makes a difference to the paypal "structure"

146

General Software Discussion / Easy Remote access to another PC?

« on: November 27, 2011, 06:51 AM »

this has been discussed before, but with XP (and my search), so I thought I'd start a new thread.

I help an older couple with "learning computer". There are times they need help, so I was wondering is there some way that I can access their account, in particular when they are already logged in, and having a problem. (It would also be helpful at times to have a seperate session, for updating stuff etc.)

Both computers are Windows 7

TIA :-)

147

General Software Discussion / Adobe Acrobat zoom/navigation frustrations

« on: September 20, 2011, 10:05 AM »

I possibly should find a graphics forum but I lazy and hope someone here will know this:

There is a method of navigating/zooming which is used in some graphics programmes, also in Adobe Acrobat.
Some people say it's difficult to learn (it's mostly useful for graphics) but it is highly efficient, and a PIA when it doesnt work.

Here's a quick image of keys / combinations.



[edit] mouse-click needed for zoom to work (incremental). Alternatively Click n Drag to select area to zoom into/out-of [/edit]

the beauty of it is that you can fluidly move between all these options by pressing or de-pressing one or more of the keys.

Ctrl = pointer
add Spacebar = Zoom in
add Alt = Zoom out
keep Spacebar pressed and release others = Pan/Hand

Long intro
this was broken in Acrobat 9 AFAIK (edit: I'm not sure now - it's possible I upgraded from 8 to 10)
They decided to spruce it up in version 10, which I hate, but could live with if it worked properly - but it doesnt (going from Ctrl+Space to just Space leaves you with Zoom in instead of Pan)

[1] Does anyone know if it works in Acrobat 8 (I cant remember)
[2] Wondering is it dangerous these days to use older versions of Actobat as default PDF opener (if so, I think can have two versions installed).

148

Post New Requests Here / IDEA ~ Show List of Shortcuts overlaid on Desktop

« on: September 15, 2011, 05:44 AM »

So far a vague idea -
I'm working with a couple of programmes where I'm not fully familiar with the shortcuts.
Had the idea to show a list of shortcuts overlaid on the desktop (to one side) related to the current focused app.

• Shown transparently on the desktop could be problematic because of different coloured backgrounds (text not showing clearly)
• Might be easier (but less elegant) to have a list open in Notepad or whatever
• Lists would have to be made manually
• Lists would probably have to be changed manually

I'm not sure if it's worth the effort for many programmes - but for one programme (for me) I think it would be.
I guess I could make the list for that, make a transparent gif/(?) and overlay it on the desktop somehow - was there an app here lately that did that? (couldnt find, but I have a distinct memory of some way of showing an image on top of desktop image...)

149

General Software Discussion / GIMPshop looking for coders and input

« on: September 12, 2011, 08:21 AM »

from email / newsletter

We are also assembling, for the first time, a group of coders willing to contribute to the first upgrade of Gimpshop in years.   This group will be the base for an ongoing team that will evaluate and monitor further submissions for Gimpshop upgrades.   If you feel like you might want to be part of that group please contact us.

http://www.gimpshop.com/

It would certainly be nice to see it being brought uptodate....

We are contacting you today to get your thoughts and opinions
on Gimpshop and to ask a favor.
 
We are about to revamp the website to make it more useful to
our users and we would like your opinions on how to do that.
 
What would you find useful? A good forum? A social network
to show off your designs? Tutorials? Which ones first?
[...]
What else can we provide for you?
 
Tell us what this great little piece of software can become and
how we can all help it get there.
 
Your thoughts and opinions will help us mold the next version
of Gimpshop.com and of the software moving forward.
 
Simply reply to this email ( headgimp {at} gimpshop.com )
[...]
PS: Just hit reply and give us your thoughts.
       We are open to anything that will make
       this program better for you.

150

Find And Run Robot / FARR noshow when focused window is admin (UAC @ top level win7)

« on: September 12, 2011, 06:18 AM »

Windows 7 Pro, 64bit

Admin account with UAC at highest level

If I have an admin window focused (i.e. an app that requires confirmation from UAC) FARR will not show with the Pause shortcut - maybe it shows behind? but I couldnt find it anyways :-)