Messages

51

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« on: October 14, 2016, 06:49 AM »

food for thought...

You could therefore consider Home and Pro users of Windows 10 beta testers as well to a degree. All those systems report back to Microsoft, and the company may use the information to make sure to fix them before they hit the bulk of the company's valuable Enterprise customers.

Are all non-Enterprise Windows 10 users beta testers? - gHacks Tech News

52

General Software Discussion / Re: mystery icon

« on: October 14, 2016, 04:57 AM »

You could maybe do a Google reverse image search on it.

53

PBOL / Re: Android version of Progress Bars of Life

« on: October 04, 2016, 03:54 PM »

unlikely.

-mouser (October 04, 2016, 10:18 AM)

depending on the format of the data, you could do it using dropbox.

-wraith808 (October 04, 2016, 12:14 PM)

Good idea!

54

PBOL / Re: Android version of Progress Bars of Life

« on: October 04, 2016, 10:33 AM »

How about an easy import/export then from Win to Android and back?

55

PBOL / Re: Android version of Progress Bars of Life

« on: October 04, 2016, 09:54 AM »

Would it be possible for it to sync with (or pull the data from) the Windows version?

56

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: CLIPBOARD HELP+SPELL LATEST VERSION INFO THREAD - v2.34.0 - Jan 4, 2016

« on: October 03, 2016, 08:45 AM »

@Tom - thanks for the suggestion. Though it's now too late for my 400MB file (it would be just too painful to try to restructure it now), going forward I'll try to use folders by year or month.

57

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: CLIPBOARD HELP+SPELL LATEST VERSION INFO THREAD - v2.34.0 - Jan 4, 2016

« on: October 03, 2016, 05:24 AM »

Hi mouser - thanks for your reply.

There doesn't seem to be an export function in ClipCache (and it can only import its own older version files).

Yes, the problem is that I have now one mega folder with 46,375 clips accumulated over 4 years, ranging in size from a couple of bytes to 16MB. No matter how I sort it or what I try to do with it, it now takes minutes to complete every operation (such as sort by size or date or search).

This was not by design. I just never had the patience to figure out the app and develop a workflow. Instead, it just runs in the background and saves every clip. This might not be an optimal workflow but it has the advantage that I can find things that I never knew I had (such when I find that I lost a bit of text somewhere ages ago and then I find a copy of it in ClipCache, which is a godsend).

So for me this is a backup solution, as none of my other backups protect me from some apps truncating text while I'm working on it or from me accidentally deleting text. The clipboard memory can be a last resort in finding lost stuff.

I guess I just have to start a new database, so that the current one stops growing.

Don't trouble yourself with the import script. I'll just need to take CHS for a test drive, as I'm curious about those rules you mentioned. Though I wouldn't want to defeat the unconscious backup function.

58

General Software Discussion / Re: The Outlook is disappointing

« on: October 03, 2016, 04:15 AM »

Mouse hover is more like mouse hibernation now.  You have to wait until the Winter is over for it to hot track the items. 

-MilesAhead (September 30, 2016, 07:53 AM)

This might have to do with your machine specs and internet connection. Mouse hover is instant for me (I'm on a 13MB/sec broadband connection with a core i5 8GB RAM chromebook).

-dr_andus (September 30, 2016, 08:30 AM)

Mostly it seems to be Firefox newer than 42.0.

-MilesAhead (September 30, 2016, 09:35 AM)

I see what you meant now. I have just experienced the same problem in Chrome and IE on a powerful Win7 machine. It seems like Outlook is waiting for some stuff to download before it can display the mouse hover.

I think it's a Windows (OS) problem rather than a Firefox or machine specs problem, as on a lighter OS such as Chrome OS (Chromebook) all this is instant. Maybe Outlook.com is just too resource-intensive for older OS's.

This is a bit ironic though as Outlook is an MS product and so it should have the best performance on its own OS. I don't have time to test it now but I presume maybe it's faster in Edge on Win10?

59

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: CLIPBOARD HELP+SPELL LATEST VERSION INFO THREAD - v2.34.0 - Jan 4, 2016

« on: October 01, 2016, 07:10 PM »

I have never tried CHS but I'm just wondering, how is CHS's performance once the database gets large such as 400MB+?

The reason I'm asking is because I have a ClipCache Pro database of that size, and ClipCache is painfully slow now with any operation involving that database.

My laptop is reasonably powerful (core i7 5500U, 16GB RAM).

Basically I'm wondering if CHS could handle working with databases of this size better. E.g. I wanted to delete the larger clippings there, or put them into folders by year, but everything is so slow (freezes) that it's just not feasible with ClipCache.

The other thing I'm wondering if it's at all possible to import a ClipCache database into CHS.

60

General Software Discussion / Re: The Outlook is disappointing

« on: September 30, 2016, 08:30 AM »

Mouse hover is more like mouse hibernation now.  You have to wait until the Winter is over for it to hot track the items. 

-MilesAhead (September 30, 2016, 07:53 AM)

This might have to do with your machine specs and internet connection. Mouse hover is instant for me (I'm on a 13MB/sec broadband connection with a core i5 8GB RAM chromebook).

61

General Software Discussion / Re: The Outlook is disappointing

« on: September 30, 2016, 07:27 AM »

Otherwise I quite like the new Outlook Email interface. Much better thought out than the previous version, e.g. a lot more one-click operations possible (delete etc.).

Now I just have to wait for someone to create a new "dark" Stylish theme for it (as the update broke the old ones).

62

General Software Discussion / Re: The Outlook is disappointing

« on: September 29, 2016, 03:04 PM »

The last time I tried Stylish weird things must have happened because I took it off before long.  I don't remember exactly what the issue was.  But it must have been some instability or something.

-MilesAhead (September 28, 2016, 06:47 AM)

Since Stylish styles are just CSS overlays, I don't think they can do too much harm. You can turn them on and off (or uninstall) with one click in the extension icon of the browser (Chrome or Firefox). The one I linked to above is definitely a keeper, it's nice to get rid of the ad pane in Outlook.

Incidentally, Frank Degenaar, author of the WorkFlowy book, has just made available his chapter on how to use Stylish, if anyone is interested:

If you’re a complete newbie, here’s a complimentary download of the entire chapter from my book.

Stylish can be used with any website of course, not just WorkFlowy or Outlook Email, though more popular sites and services are more likely to have CSS styles on there.

63

General Software Discussion / Re: The Outlook is disappointing

« on: September 28, 2016, 04:29 AM »

So, I've just been upgraded to the new "Outlook Email" server and got an annoying "It looks like you're using an adblocker" message in a pane on the right, using up valuable space especially on small screens, trying to sell me Ad-free Outlook for $19.95 USD a year. Fortunately I came across this fabulous Stylish CSS that removes the whole pane! 

Better Outlook Mail (Remove ad and other details) - Themes and Skins for Live - userstyles.org

64

DesktopCoral / Re: Usefullness

« on: September 23, 2016, 09:43 AM »

Thanks for the tip. I don't play games, but I'll keep my eyes peeled to see if it interferes with anything and then disable it. So far everything works fine (Win 7 Pro 64-bit).

I can't believe it's only 399 KB and can do all this!

If you like Desktop Coral, you might also like Progress Bars of Life, there are some similarities.

65

DesktopCoral / Re: Usefullness

« on: September 23, 2016, 08:21 AM »

I am using the great VirtualDimension tool for multiple desktops in Windows (as a UNIX user, you'll want this badly), because it runs on Windows XP and all the others up to Win10, and its super fast and low on RAM usage.

-GrandAdmiralThrawn (September 23, 2016, 05:13 AM)

Thanks for the Virtual Dimension tip!  I've tried a number of virtual desktop software for Win7, none of them clicked with me, but this is looking good so far!

66

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« on: September 22, 2016, 01:07 PM »

I simply don’t have the time now to spend working around Microsoft’s debugging process for Win 10. When Microsoft gets their act together and things stabilize, I will consider upgrading the OS, but not before.

-xtabber (September 22, 2016, 09:20 AM)

Yup. Well put. Same here.

-dr_andus (September 22, 2016, 11:26 AM)

Isn't that the same as for any organization?  I don't ever remember one of my organizations being on the cutting edge of OS upgrades, ever.

-wraith808 (September 22, 2016, 12:32 PM)

You're right, there are good business reasons not to be early adopters of OS (i.e. not absorbing the cost of being guinea pigs).

But here I was thinking of my personal desktops and laptops, and Which? is also about consumers, rather than businesses.

And ultimately I think MS wanted to pursue a consumer-targeted strategy of spreading Win10 to compete with Apple and Google, among others.

67

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« on: September 22, 2016, 11:26 AM »

I simply don’t have the time now to spend working around Microsoft’s debugging process for Win 10. When Microsoft gets their act together and things stabilize, I will consider upgrading the OS, but not before.

-xtabber (September 22, 2016, 09:20 AM)

Yup. Well put. Same here.

According to this article,

Microsoft has been criticised over its Windows 10 software by consumer rights group Which?.

The body said it had received hundreds of complaints about the upgrade, including lost files, emails no longer syncing and broken wi-fi and printing.

In some cases, it said, users had had to pay for their computer to be repaired. (...)

Which? surveyed more than 5,500 of its members in June, and said that 12% of the 2,500 who had upgraded to Windows 10 had later reverted to an earlier version.

It could be that there is something wrong with members of Which?, but still, this was supposed to bring Windows closer to consumers, not to piss them off...

68

Living Room / Re: better battery life out of a laptop

« on: September 20, 2016, 07:01 AM »

Something worth considering is buying a laptop specifically designed for long battery life.  If you aren't very particular about other features you may be able to get a used one cheap on ebay..
Being able to move to an ssd would be a side benefit.

-mouser (July 10, 2016, 03:17 AM)

Uhh... I'm quite peculiar with my hardware preferences. A huge screen, a large keyboard, win7, and a price cap of $400 (really) were the musts dictating the choice. I'm lucky that newegg gave me this one. And I'd rather stick with it, rather than migrate to a win8+ thingie.

-eleman (July 10, 2016, 03:40 AM)

An alternative approach could be an affordable refurb Chromebook with top specs (such as Dell Chromebook 13 core i5 with 8GB RAM), and then use Chrome Remote Desktop to access your existing Windows laptop, if you really have to.

I've just got one of these Dell deals recently, and the battery life is incredible. It's past lunch time over here, I've already been using it today for a couple of hours, and it says I got 13 hours of battery life left.

Yesterday I used it for a full work day, and it had 3 hours left when I got back home. I also use it to access my workplace Windows systems using VMware Horizon Client, when I must use MS Word and such.

And then of course Chrome OS with i5 and 8GB RAM just flies, the fastest browsing I've ever experienced.

69

General Software Discussion / Re: Here is how I transfer (+Sync ) already uploaded data between cloud providers

« on: September 17, 2016, 06:42 PM »

Thanks for the update.

70

General Software Discussion / Re: calendar that is happy in Windows and on tablet

« on: September 16, 2016, 03:45 PM »

I've never understood why I seem unable to get into Workflowy despite several attempts.

-Dormouse (September 16, 2016, 02:19 PM)

Same here.

-wraith808 (September 16, 2016, 02:58 PM)

WorkFlowy is kind of like a blank canvas, so you have to invent your own system, which can take time, as it's a trial and error process.

One thing that seems to cause difficulty to people is that there is no visual difference between an item, a category or a folder (as there is in Scrivener for instance, where you can turn a "document" into a "folder" and vice versa).

Everything is just a bullet point, and it's up to the user whether that becomes (and remains) a category, a folder, or just an item.

The user needs to mentally come up with a way of making a distinction between them, and then sometimes those roles need to shift and the system needs to be restructured periodically.

I personally love it, I couldn't live without WorkFlowy now. It's my external brain...

But there is also Dynalist, which is a WorkFlowy clone, but they added some bells and whistles and some more visual cues (such as folders) to address some of the aforementioned issues.

71

General Software Discussion / Re: calendar that is happy in Windows and on tablet

« on: September 16, 2016, 12:08 PM »

@Doormouse

There is Moo.do that now has some Google integration (haven't tried it, I'm happy using WorkFlowy with HandyFlowy on iOS).

Moo.do turns Gmail into a task management system | TechCrunch

72

General Software Discussion / Re: calendar that is happy in Windows and on tablet

« on: September 14, 2016, 07:55 AM »

eM Client is what I use these days to show my Google Calendar and  Contacts on my Windows PC.

-xtabber (September 12, 2016, 02:00 PM)

Have tried now eM Client and it is indeed quite nice. It's a keeper. I particularly like that the Agenda view displays all items from the beginning of time (2007 for me) in an easily scrollable format. It complements Pimlical well (which is capable of telling me that I have 7909 items).

I have also tried ViewMinder some time ago but got frustrated with it as it kept crashing and stalling my system.

73

General Software Discussion / Re: calendar that is happy in Windows and on tablet

« on: September 12, 2016, 03:06 PM »

@wraith808

I see your point. I suspect that C.E.S. Dewar is really not all that much into attracting new customers and is mainly serving his loyal ex-Palm customer base that moved onto Android and miss the legendary Datebk app (of which I was a massive fan and which I sorely miss). He doesn't need to be 'selling' anymore, as his customers know why they are coming to him.

@Dormouse

I'd say that the "flexibility in views" is the key strength of Pimlical. It's got a variety of views that I've never seen in any other Calendar software.

@xtabber

I agree, Pimlical has way too many functions and options for everyday mortals. I don't use it daily either. I use it for backing up my Google Calendar a few times a week, and for conducting granular searches when I struggle to find an old event in Google Calendar.

74

General Software Discussion / Re: calendar that is happy in Windows and on tablet

« on: September 12, 2016, 02:54 AM »

@wraith808 & @Shades

Judging a book by its cover, are we? I'd rather take an awsome software with a crap website than the other way round (which seem to abound...).

Pimlical beats Google at its own game many times over when it comes to searching 10+ yrs worth of Google Calendar events. That's not bad for a one-man band....

Another software of interest in this category is eM Client (which I haven't tried yet).

75

General Software Discussion / Re: calendar that is happy in Windows and on tablet

« on: September 11, 2016, 06:56 AM »

What's the problem with going through Google Calendar, or similar?

-Dormouse (September 10, 2016, 06:50 PM)

Or just using Google Calendar (in the browser on a PC and using the default iOS and Android calendar apps on mobile devices)?

If added sophistication is needed, there is always Pimlical (to sit on top of the Google Cal feed).