Topics

3676

Mirc Script Pack / TileMinimizer and SuperSlapper

« on: June 24, 2005, 11:29 PM »

I'll be adding some mirc scripts to my download page soon:

• TileMinimizer - userful for people who like to use the "tiled" view mode in mirc, but have too many windows to comfortably display on screen at the same time.  This script automatically minimizes and restores channel windows based on recent activity.
• SuperSlapper - fun and highly customizable and randomizable insult (or compliment) script.

ps1. mIrc is an irc (internet relay chat) client (www.mirc.com).
ps2. there is a donationcoder.com irc channel (#donationcoder on efnet).

3677

Living Room / make your own (legal) US postal stamps

« on: June 24, 2005, 08:57 AM »

http://photo.stamps.com/PhotoStamps

3678

Living Room / The DonationCoder Club - maybe silly idea

« on: June 24, 2005, 08:10 AM »

so, we've talked in past about putting up a little thank you page to list people or organizations who have donated to the site (and who do not ask to remain anonymous).

it has also been suggested that we might have like a DonationCoder.com tshirt or something to encourage donations.

i don't have any expectation that this would be a major draw for people, but it could be a fun thing.

so i was thinking of putting these two ideas and maybe like a fun postcard, under the heading of a "DonationCoder Club"

it would be in the model of public broadcasting fund raising.. all those who donate would automatically be part of the DonationCoder Club, and would be listed (if they want) on our thank you / member page with picture and website (again only if they want to be listed).

if you donate a certain amount you would get a little thank you gift, postcard, tshirt, bumper sticker, etc.  just something fun.
or a membership kit of some sort (secret magic decoder ring, secret handshack instructions, etc. hehe), maybe like membership card with charter membership id#. again just stuff that might be fun and very cheap to produce.  each membership card would be stamped for authenticity with a pawprint by my cat using animal-safe ink.

3679

Coding Snack Guidelines / Schedule for Next Coding Snacks Weekend

« on: June 24, 2005, 07:45 AM »

I think it looks like the next Coding Snacks Weekend will on July 15, so keep the requests coming.

3680

Best ScreenCaster / Open Source Alternative (CamStudio)

« on: June 23, 2005, 08:09 PM »

http://sourceforge.n.../projects/camstudio/

haven't tried it myself yet..

3681

General Software Discussion / control startup program times

« on: June 23, 2005, 02:24 PM »

someone asked a while ago about being able to control startup times of apps.
just saw this via (http://startupguru.l...beach.com/sug_ss.asp):

http://startupguru.l...beach.com/sug_ss.asp

3682

Living Room / http://boingboing.net/

« on: June 23, 2005, 02:08 PM »

not usually related to software, but a site i visit every day just for entertainment.
http://boingboing.net/

3683

Living Room / FreeCycle - a cool idea

« on: June 23, 2005, 04:32 AM »

http://www.freecycle.org/

"The Freecycle Network™ is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns."

3684

Living Room / Scott Hanselman's 2005 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List

« on: June 23, 2005, 04:30 AM »

nice list of utils with short descriptions
http://www.hanselman...erUsersToolList.aspx

3685

General Software Discussion / Free paint program for kids

« on: June 23, 2005, 04:29 AM »

Tux Paint
http://www.newbreeds...ftware.com/tuxpaint/

maybe not as good as Kid Pix (http://www.riverdeep...s/kid_pix/kpd4.jhtml)
but you can't beat the price

anyone interested in us doing a review on kid's painting programs?

3686

Living Room / This "keyboard" looks so cool for customization freaks

« on: June 23, 2005, 04:27 AM »

http://www.ergodex.com/mainpage.htm

$150

if anyone buys it, do a review for us!

3687

Best Weather Monitor Tool / help reqeusted from non-US members

« on: June 22, 2005, 09:48 PM »

i've listed on the weather tray review page the tools that support international weather-
i'd really appreciate some feedback on how well these tools support your countries.. do they have a good range of cities, do some report more information than others, etc?

3688

Living Room / What Programs Run In Your System Tray?

« on: June 22, 2005, 07:35 PM »

i'll start off.. i tend to fill my tray up these days..

Thebat - email client always left running.
Find&run robot - donationcoder.com software (launching apps by name)
Browsertrayswitch - donationcoder.com software (lets me keep default browser blocked when not needed)
Screenshot Captor - donationcoder.com software (taking screenshots)
Process Tamer - donationcoder.com software (tweaks process priorities)
UltraMon - for simulating multimon taskbars
Clipmate - clipboard history tool (overkill for me but haven't found one that works better)
WeatherWatcher/WeatherPulse - reports temperature (havent decided which to keep)
CallSoftPro - computer answer machine i've been evaluating
Agnitum Outpost - firewall
Nod32 - antivirus
NetTransport - records some daily radio shows for me
LogMonitor - auto timestamps and moves the radio show files
PGP Tools - encryption (don't use very much but reassuring to have)
Motherboard Monitor - tells me temperature of my cpu
Onboard Sound Tool - embaressingly i am using motherboard sound functions
VirtuaWin - virtual desktop
Filebox Extender - open/save dialog enhancer
Macro Express - macro tool
Remote Admin - remote desktop control app (for when im out of the house and need to control my computer)

[EDIT: Forgot to add:
TClockEx - freeware system tray clock replacement (has day, date calendar)
]

3689

Best ScreenCaster / blueberry consultants just donated 5 free copies of bb flashback

« on: June 22, 2005, 06:52 AM »

wow.. just fantastic.

blueberry has donated 5 free copies of bb flashback for us to award to members.

i think we will again be giving these over time primarily to guest reviewers.

thanks again to blueberry.

3690

Living Room / Discount for BB FlashBack Screencasting Tool now available - and commentary

« on: June 22, 2005, 03:56 AM »

I've posted the 50% discount codes for BB FlashBack and BB FlashBack Express screencasting tools in the members only section of the forum.

I just wanted to take a moment to mention it in this general section of the forum because I think it's important for us as a community to make a show of recognition and support for companies that take the time to work with our site..

it's been an interesting experience in contacting companies about discounts and reviews on our site.  companies seem to fall into two very distinct groups. half of them seem to have no interest in talking, about their program, about discounts, about the review.  the other half seem genuinely interested in the review, in talking about how to improve their program, and in maintaining an interaction with their customer base (whether directly or indirectly). as you would expect, it's often the bigger companies that can brush off such inquiries but this is certainly not always the case.

in talking with people here on this forum i think there is general agreement that part of the decision about buying a program should be based on the nature of the company, whether they care about their program, whether they are committed to fixing problems, etc. it's been a real pleasure talking with blueberry consultants about bb flashback, and their plans for it.. it's always nice to find a company that really cares about producing the best product possible, and cares about listening to its users.

I was thrilled that we were able to get discounts on both the high end and low end programs from blueberry consultants because it means a fantastic deal for both people who know they are serious about screencasting, and those that just want to dabble in it.

If you read the review you'll see that we really liked BB FlashBack Express a lot, and this discount makes the program $20, which is an incredibly amazing bargain - i highly recommend you take advantage of this even if you're not sure you really need to the program, just in case.  Let's show blueberry that offering discounts through us is a good way to reach people that might not otherwise be customers.

3691

General Software Discussion / AutoClose

« on: June 21, 2005, 03:09 PM »

tiny little freeware (mentioned on our site of the week, freeware world team), AutoClose:
http://www.frankisoft.com/

its for people who use internet explorer (or related browser) who have activex disabled for security resons and are sick of the popup activex blocked error messageboxes.

3692

Living Room / New Site of the Week

« on: June 21, 2005, 04:55 AM »

Freeware World Team

https://www.donation...com/Links/index.html

3693

Best ScreenCaster / TechSmith has donated 5 free copies of Camtasia Studio 3

« on: June 20, 2005, 08:26 PM »

I'm really pleased to announce that TechSmith has donated to us 5 free copies of Camtasia Studio 3 (their latest version to be released at the end of June).

Was a very nice gesture on the part of TechSmith, and we will be giving out these copies to members of the site.

My intention is to give most of them away to the next guest reviewers, partly as a sign of appreciation, and partly to help them with their reviews.

3694

Best ScreenCaster / Discount for BB FlashBack and BB FlashBack Express is now available

« on: June 20, 2005, 01:13 PM »

I've posted the 50% discount codes for BB FlashBack and BB FlashBack Express in the members only section of the forum.

I was thrilled that we were able to get discounts on both the high end and low end programs from blueberry consoltants because it means a fantastic deal for both people who know they are serious about screencasting, and those that just want to dabble in it.

If you read the review you'll see that we really liked BB FlashBack Express a lot, and this discount makes the program $20, which is an incredibly amazing bargain - i highly recommend you take advantage of this even if you're not sure you really need to the program, just in case.  Let's show blueberry that offering discounts through us is a good way to reach people that might not otherwise be customers.

3695

Living Room / Nice online virus-testing site

« on: June 18, 2005, 02:16 PM »

http://www.virustotal.com/

a friend passed this to me and speaks highly of it.  it's a free service that will let you upload (or email) files to it which it then checks for viruses using multiple well-known virus scanning engines.  great for a second opinion if your antivirus reports something suspicious.

3696

Mouser's Zone / how i work on programs

« on: June 17, 2005, 06:12 PM »

i just wanted to write a note to people who make suggestions or bug reports..
hopefully its clear over time from watching the forum, but basically i try to address serious bugs right away, and other features for my programs tend to get added in batches.  so just because i don't act on a suggestion right away doesn't mean that i'm ignoring it.  it's just with a large group of programs i'm usually only working on one or two at a atime, and suggestions for the others get recorded and will wait until i shift back into doing major work on that program.

3697

Living Room / Freeware World Team

« on: June 17, 2005, 04:35 AM »

Any freeware people not checking this site daily is really missing out.. they are seriously on fire and doing fantastic work discovering and telling people about freeware they find on the web.  some really nice unique stuff lately..

http://www.all4you.d....php?action=newlinks

3698

Image Manager Shootout / Pre-review Discussion for Graphics Viewers Review

« on: June 16, 2005, 05:14 PM »

i was thinking that for the next set of reviews we could do image viewers..
im not an expert on this so i could use a co-reviewer or full guest review.. any takers?

i'm thinking things like: acdsee, compupic, picasa, irfanview, etc.

3699

Living Room / Adding New Software Authors to the Site

« on: June 16, 2005, 05:12 PM »

I think it might be time to start serious movement to adding new authors to the site.
I'm going to post some detailed thoughts about this in the next day or so and i'd like the considered opinions of you guys/gals, in order to make this idea really work for everyone.  I think it's going to be an exciting time for this site.

3700

Cheat Sheeter / what's next

« on: June 15, 2005, 02:53 AM »

there's still tons of work to do, and the appearance of the app may change a bit - haven't figured out how much i like titlebar and other stuff, but what i'd really like to do next is
1) make a css stylesheet with a reasonable set of tags.
2) make some real sample hotkey pages and cheat sheets, etc. for some real apps. common ones.
maybe mozilla, internet explorer, thebat, ultraedit,
and some system system howto's.
3) maybe add some clipart that will help the construction of such things, ie key images for all the keys.
4) write instructions for how to make sets of sheets.