Messages

176

General Software Discussion / Re: I need a simple CAPTCHA program/script

« on: February 21, 2007, 07:34 AM »

For those like me wondering what "CAPTCHA" is.. Check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAPTCHA

Also, i like the one used by DC member Allen in his wiki... Check here

-jgpaiva (February 20, 2007, 05:23 PM)

Last month I found that some spambots could crack the standard phpBB captcha. I was getting five or six spurious registrations a day with linksto all sorts of undesirable sites. I didn't want to make the images any more distorted, so I installed a similar textual confirmation mod.

http://bbantispam.com/

All clear so far! 

177

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR v2.00.45 ALPHA PREVIEW Release - February 6, 2007

« on: February 09, 2007, 03:36 PM »

Being able to scroll through all files/folders is handy sometimes.  But that would mean having an option to enable Explicit Directory Searching to use a scrolling listbox for output instead a static display of the N item, ordered search results window you currently use.  The scrolling list would be alpha sorted, preferably (or make options available to change sort order).

Another useful option related to this would be separate max limits for normal searches vs. explicit directory searches?  For normal searches, 9 items has always been plenty - I don't think I've ever gone past the 3rd result item. But for file/directory browsing, I could see needing as many as 50 results visible - if scrolling all results is not an option.

-perlguy (February 09, 2007, 01:24 PM)

That sounds like what I've been suggesting. When you do a tab completion FARR doesn't know yet which file you are looking for (maybe you don't either!) so the most helpful thing it can do is throw up a scrolling list of the folder contents, with the focus on the list. Right arrow drills down further if on a folder, left arrow backs out. Any character key echoes to the input box, shifts the focus there and narrows the results.

178

Living Room / Re: Bubbl.us: Free Diagramming Tool

« on: February 08, 2007, 01:08 PM »

Something like this for offline usage would be great! Superb interface!

-Crush (February 08, 2007, 05:14 AM)

Freemind is a Java-bsed freeware mind-mapper - and a lot more, but doing what bubbl.us does is simply handled.

Altenatively, if you just want a fast and simple line-and-boxes diagrammer try Diagram Designer

179

Find And Run Robot / Re: What New Major Feature is Most Important for you in Find and Run Robot?

« on: February 06, 2007, 04:39 PM »

I've downloaded GoogleDesktop,and it took all night to index my files.  It doesn't play too well with Opera: the sidebar is unsable. 

It does have a nice FARR type serch box though, which is faster than FARR, but not by as much as you might think. FARR's incremental search is a bonus. 

Perhaps it would be best to develop FARR in the directions that GD is not taking, which is why I am voting for plugins rather than indexing.

180

Find And Run Robot / Re: Alt+P Always crashes FARR

« on: February 06, 2007, 03:51 PM »

Minor bug: 
Left Arrow on a folder name with spaces
[attach=#1][/attach]
[attach=#2][/attach]

181

General Software Discussion / Humanised Reader

« on: February 02, 2007, 12:23 PM »

Humanised.com's Enso has been discussed on this thread and opinion has been mixed. I'd call it an interesting experiment that needs more work.

Their Humanised Reader is more convincing.
 

An aggregator is just a program that grabs syndication feeds from the websites you read and shows you what's new on them. It sounds like a simple concept, but for some reason all the ones I found were way too complicated for me. Most of them were desktop programs I had to download and install, and the interfaces they gave me were inevitably filled with panes, heirarchical trees, scroll bars, and what have you. They had lots of modes. They made me stop and think about navigation every time I looked at the title of a post and every time I finished reading one.

But I just wanted to know what was new on my blogs, and those were easy to read. It just involved scrolling down a page and looking at entries; I didn't have to navigate through heirarchical trees or switch between panes or any of the other things that these aggregators were making me do.

Why couldn't reading an aggregator be as simple as reading a blog?

So as a little side project, we decided to try making our own aggregator based on that idea. It's a work in progress, certainly, but we like what we've come up with so far. In fact, we're inclined to think it's even easier than reading a blog, because of a nifty feature we implemented. We call it Humanized History, and we're hoping that you don't even notice what it is, because that's sort of its point: to let you spend more time reading, and less time thinking about navigation.

All in some rather clever Javascript. I definitely want one of my own, but until then this is a permanent bookmark, because it has a great set of feeds beside their own weblog:

• Creating Passionate Users
  
• Daring Fireball
  
• Information Aesthetics
  
• Signal vs. Noise
  
• Slashdot: Developers
  
• Subtraction
  
• The Escapist Blog
  
• Typographica
  
• Usability News
  
• graphpaper
  
• silverorange stuff

182

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR v2.00.39 ALPHA PREVIEW Release - January 29, 2007

« on: February 01, 2007, 08:23 AM »

I was playing around and discovered the following:  When using the arrow  keys to navigate folder structures in the results pane, the focus switches back  the search box after pressing one arrow key. For navigation purposes, I think it would be better for the results pane to maintain focus, so that the user can keep stepping through the directory hierarchy, rather than having to hit the down arrow to get focus back to the results pane. This fits in the realm of being a minor annoyance, but I think maintaining focus (if not hard to do) is the way to go.

-kingcrimson (January 31, 2007, 05:36 PM)

Actually, that made me find something too. When navigating through folders, if you select a folder and press TAB, the name of the folder is copied to the inputbox, and the focus stays on the results and the only result is that same folder. I think that doesn't make sense. Either the focus is returned to the inputbox, or the other folders and results for that folder should come up.

-jgpaiva (January 31, 2007, 05:49 PM)

So "Select,Tab" should do what "Select, Right Arrow" does now, and "Select, Right Arrow" should have the same result, but leave the focus on the first entry in the results. "Select, Left Arrow" is the same, but the first entry is the parent of the previously-selected item?

Makes sense to me! 

I'm thinking, too, that plugins and aliases should appear to the user as if they were folders, probably stored and organised in something like LBC's .mcf  files.

183

General Software Discussion / Re: Top 150 Popular Firefox Extensions and Opera: a comparsion table

« on: January 29, 2007, 04:08 AM »

Opera lovers might also like to investigate some of Rijk's interface customisations. I'm using his Twelve mod that emulates the new MS Office ribbon interface by using context-related toolbars instead of menus.

That gets rid of the menu bar, but adds an extra toolbar, so I'm using it with NonTroppo's Breeze Simplified MICRO skin for more screen space. There's a link on the same pageto create a matching theme for the rest of your apps. 

Thanks, Nontroppo!

184

Find And Run Robot / Re: Humanized Enzo

« on: January 27, 2007, 01:43 PM »

I've been interested in this ever since Jef created the Canon Cat back in the 1980's. That was an amazing machine for its time. Ever since then it's been downhill all the way - more and more resources to less and less effect.

For a look at what Asa Raskin inherited, check out Archy

185

Living Room / Re: Poll: How do you read topics?

« on: January 26, 2007, 11:22 AM »

Newest first is like top-posting to me, but I do use the "Unread Posts" link a lot. 

186

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: DropButton

« on: January 23, 2007, 08:54 AM »

Same problem. Reads the firstfilepath, ignores the second.

187

General Software Discussion / Re: Sudo for Windows?

« on: January 23, 2007, 08:38 AM »

Running as non-admin has many benefits - you're far less likely to be hit by a virus or other malware - but many normal operations in Windows can become frustratingly difficult.

A pretty good starting point for information on how to effectively run as non-admin (and unfortunately there a ton of  stuff you need to know) is:

    http://nonadmin.editme.com/

-mwb1100 (January 22, 2007, 11:37 AM)

Thanks, that sorted out my main problem -why sometimes when I installed a new alpha version of FARR, it wouldn't open pages in the browser. Turns out ZoneAlarm was popping up a confirmation request because the program had changed, but I couldn't see it because I was in a limited account!

For my situation (single user, XP Home) I think the simplest way to go is as described here:
http://blogs.msdn.co...7/158806.aspx#763277

Separate accounts, run as restricted by default, use Fast User Switching.

Any ideas on the best antivirus/firewall setup for this scenario?

188

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: DropButton

« on: January 22, 2007, 04:26 PM »

Here's DrOpen, an AHK script I think does what you ask!
To run, save as DrOpen.ahk and install AutoHotkey.

-skrommel (January 22, 2007, 11:21 AM)

How exactly are you invoking this?  I tested in a FARR alias "filepath1/DroPen.ahk filepath2/command" and it seems to read its own filepath1 and ignore filepath2. I get a window with the title "DroPen.ahk" when it should be the name of the command.

edited by jgpaiva: adding ]/quote[ tag

189

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: pop-up genogram maker

« on: January 22, 2007, 10:54 AM »

"do i take it that you mean that you need to be able to quickly bring it up, draw a diagram, and then paste it into another program as an image?  you dont ever need to edit it after you paste it into another program?"

Yup -that's about the size of it.  Something simple and accessible.  Once it's pasted it's fine as an image as more sophisticated stuff might lose editable relationships.  Smartdraw has a polished genogram module -but the nifty 'add-on' I remember in one old version of Word was 'org chart' that did a similar job, but again, not flexible enough to just join up shapes you choose, how you want.

Sorry if it's too ambitious a rquest!  Just one of those things you just wished you had -and to be honest, wished I had for years.

-whitstabubble (January 06, 2007, 04:14 PM)

      Diagram Designer could be just what you need. Fast and simple, exports as a GIF. 

190

General Software Discussion / Sudo for Windows?

« on: January 22, 2007, 10:41 AM »

I got into a bit of a tangle lately converting my default Win XP account to Restricted.

This is a machine where I am the sole user and like most people here, I download a lot of programs. The trouble was, some assumed that I wanted to instal for only one user, so if I installed them on the admin account, I couldn't use them properly on the restricted account. So I had to log in as admin, change the type of the user account, log in as user, install the program, login as admin again to change the account back...

Am I right in thinking I can avoid all that by right-clicking the installer and selecting "Run As"? It seems I can't do that on "Add/Remove programs, or am I missing something?

191

Post New Requests Here / IDEA: DropButton

« on: January 22, 2007, 09:24 AM »

This is Drag and Drop Robot for non-power users.
It gets invoked by in association with a batch file.

Shows a stay-on-top icon with the file name as title.
Executes the file whenever a suitable item is dropped on it.
Goes away when you click it.

That's all.

192

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR v2.00.25 ALPHA PREVIEW Release - January 13, 2007

« on: January 19, 2007, 11:04 AM »

i think we are thinking very much alike - it's just in my implementation, the first time you hit escape it brings you to the edit box (assuming you arent there already).  If you hit escape from within the edit box, it does exactly as you say and highlights the existing search so that you can type a new one.  And if you hit escape while the existing text is highlighted then it closes the window.  I find this pretty natural but i'm willing to make escape highlight the complete text right away (the extra step makes it a little easier to hit escape to interrupt a search and ADD terms).  So basically escape operates in stages, always canceling current operation and putting you back a step.

-mouser (January 19, 2007, 01:12 AM)

Yes, I'd forgotten about the "escape to edit box" stage. Turns out I was using it without thinking about it, a sure sign that it's a GOOD IDEA.

My suggestion is to change the "escape in edit box" because:

• It's not an intuitive thing for escape to do. It feels like a hack.
  
• The next move is going to delete the search string and remove the search results anyway, so why not delete it now?
  
• If you do that (i.e. press delete after escape as currently set) you get a sensible escape action - you are in the same state as if you had started FARR afresh.

193

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: First Draft Maker

« on: January 18, 2007, 03:36 PM »

I'm having a look at doing this myself in VB6, and I hit on the idea of using an auto-sizing label for the 'typewriter paper' and holding its bottom edge constant on each carriage return, at the same time saving the previous line to file.

Backspace deletes the last word and decreases the word count, space following a non-space increases the word count... and that's about it.

The main plroblem still to solve is how to save and restore the correct values for the times, count, and label capion each time it is closed and opened.   

194

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR v2.00.25 ALPHA PREVIEW Release - January 13, 2007

« on: January 18, 2007, 04:54 AM »

The "Jump to directory" menu choice let's you view, but I often need to copy/paste from one dir to another.  My computer is also a repository of data files and setup.exe files that I have to copy to a USB drive for various users.

If someone knows this is already included, please advise how it works.

Thanks!

-Farmsteader (January 17, 2007, 10:46 PM)

Other way to do this now - "launching" a folder copies its path to the search box, so that it appears as the first entry in the results.

Find and launch your destination folder.
Hit Enter to open it in your file manager.
Find your source files in FARR and Control-drop them to the file manager.

This works very well - thanks Mouser!

Two small points:

• Drop and Control-drop work as expected, but the drag icon is the same for each.
  
• Left-arrow in the results window doesn't do anything now in a launched unless it's on the directory entry, which makes sense. But when you have a set of results from varying directories, could it "launch" the parent directory of the selected directory\file?

Another idea: couldn't ESC now clear the search window and show the history list?

195

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR v2.02.01 ALPHA PREVIEW Release - January 7, 2007

« on: January 09, 2007, 12:16 PM »

> Size, Delete

BUT... there already are some superb 3rd party file explorers (Total Comander for me), and mouser still has on his plate, almost untouched, a whole pile of strategic questions to address for FARR 3 that directly relate to FARR's central job of being a launcher on steroids.

-jdmarch (January 09, 2007, 09:17 AM)

Agreed. My original idea of showing the entire directory listing was based on the idea that this might be faster than running the search again. If it isn't, forget it.

For now, I find myself using FARR2 a lot to open directories in DOpus. Once you've opened the first one, it goes very fast, and I don't see any amount of extensions to FaRR being able to compete.  In fact, maybe the default action for directories should be to launch the file manager. After all, that is the program "associated" with directories, isn't it?

I think too, that in real use, when you want to look for something under a particular directory, you'll do \dirna... TAB filena.. 

In other words, when you want to do a path completion you nearly always want to do it on the first entry. Otherwise "Select, Right-Arrow" is fast enough.

196

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: First Draft Maker

« on: January 08, 2007, 03:07 PM »

23 Mb download for a 24k app! 

Well, I'm going to need .Net sooner or later. 

Re. save: I'm thinking of a modal form, so you can't do anything but type until you close it, when it saves automatically. When I need it again, I'll launch it from FaRR, and it should show just the last few lines of what typed the last time.

197

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: First Draft Maker

« on: January 08, 2007, 09:29 AM »

Blockwriter looks pretty close to what I have in mind.

Even an input box for the line currently being typed would be acceptable, with a read-only box for previous lines.  The most important requirement is that the input accepts only what I actually type (no paste) and keeps account of the number of words written and the time taken, both for that session and for the day.

198

Post New Requests Here / IDEA: First Draft Maker

« on: December 30, 2006, 04:16 PM »

Like many people, I tend to waste an awful lot of time re-editing what I've just written rather than just putting more words down and polishing it later.

I'm looking for a little program that only lets me type and nothing  else. No opening and closing files, no cut and paste, no fancy formatting and above all no going back, except to delete the last word, rather like an electric typewriter.  Like that, too the text scrolls up from the status line, which shows the time elapsed since I opened it and the number of words complete, together with the totals for that day.  Naturally, it gets saved in a text file that I can open with a normal editor for revision, and the time spent and number of words output is saved to a log file, but I never see past work in the draft maker - all I see are the words I typed in since I last opened it and how long it took me to write them.

199

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR v2.00.07 ALPHA PREVIEW Release - December 23, 2006

« on: December 26, 2006, 12:14 PM »

1. Directory searching is great. Very handy to use Right arrow (easier than Alt+Right) to browse into a folder. The Left arrow doesn't work as well because you have to go down into the search results to use it, and if there are no search results then you can't do that, so it's easier just to get in the habit of using Alt+Left.

-jdmarch (December 25, 2006, 10:23 PM)

I'm beginning to think that directory browsing should be handled slightly differently. Sometimes I want a file and I can't remember its name, but I sort of know the name of either the directory or another file in it. So I look for that select it and...

Left or right arrow should now bring up a list of *all* the file names in that directory.  That should be faster than the search FaRR does at present, which in practice brings up just ten from the same list.  Now you can browse around using the just the arrow keys. Left arrow selects the first item in the parent folder.  Right arrow does nothing on a file or an empty folder, otherwise it opens the folder selects the first item in it. From the context menu you can do all the usual things, and if you need more details you can open the selected file or folder in a file manager.

Focus doesn't go to the search window until you type a printable character, which begins a new FaRR search rooted in that directory.

200

Find And Run Robot / Re: FARR v2.00.01 ALPHA PREVIEW Release

« on: December 22, 2006, 05:59 AM »

ok, i get it now.. btw, the ability to configure the copy path action is very good..

-lanux128 (December 21, 2006, 10:33 PM)

ok, i get it now.. btw, the ability to configure the copy path action is very good..

-lanux128 (December 21, 2006, 10:33 PM)

Were you using "Copy Path" to paste it into the search window? I did a lot of that until I discovered the RIGHT arrow. 



@Mouser I've just worked out what "Search for All Matches" does 

Shouldn't this be a global thing like a Maximise button?

Maybe it should be the Maximise button: when it's on F&RR displays all the search results, when it's off it stops looking when the window's full. The setting could be preserved as you go in and out of directories with the arrow keys, so you could use the results window for many jobs where you'd otherwise want to open a file manager.