Messages

51

General Software Discussion / Re: What's the best program for cooking and recipe management?

« on: January 17, 2008, 07:07 AM »

A software of this kind is Yiola ( http://www.koma-code...p;id=13&Itemid=6 ) , which is free. Does not have included recipes, but they can be easily added and managed.

52

General Software Discussion / Re: FeedDemon going free

« on: January 16, 2008, 08:27 AM »

On my system FeedDemon uses 97% CPU and 45 MB RAM when it updates the feeds. GreatNews uses 10% CPU and 20 MB RAM. However GN finishes the update faster than FD. I did the test with the same 130 feeds. But as it has been said FeedDemon is that hungry on CPU cycles only when it updates the feeds. But FD has the upper hand in some instances, for example the cleanup wizard is faster and more stable than on GN.

FeedDemon going free means also that it will be updated and not abandoned, in a world where Google Reader is actually an RSS Reader Killer. Newzie hasn't been updated in almost a year and the pace of development on GreatNews has been reduced considerably in the last year (due to work + kids, says the author of the software on his forum). But all the 4 RSS readers mentioned by me are mature products, there are not many essential features that could be added and the major bugs have already been fixed.

The only feature that would be really useful is the addition of an Ad-blocker, to use with the built-in browser based on IE that is included in all the RSS readers.

53

General Software Discussion / Re: Editor Needed

« on: January 16, 2008, 06:19 AM »

As an RTF editor there is also Angel Writer, which is free.
http://www.angelicso...en/angel-writer.html

=================

Michael J. Hardy is the cause of the recent license change (more restrictive) of Paint.NET, because he "did it again" at the end of 2007. It is also the inspiration for the term "backspaceware". Also, on the page http://youfailit.net/?p=49 the last comment posted says : "Well… here I am.. another author ripped by Mr. Hardy. My iQ WordProcessor source code and interface was ripped off from Planet Source Code and is being distributed as Ultra-Pad on his web site."

54

General Software Discussion / Re: FeedDemon going free

« on: January 14, 2008, 07:26 AM »

Nosh, I tried what you recommended, but it didn't work. Anyway, the updating of the feeds takes little time so >90% CPU consumption for a few minutes every 3 hours (in my case) is not a big problem.

GreatNews and Newzie allow synchronizing the feeds with a free Bloglines account and this can be used instead of NewsGator premium. Moreover, GreatNews is portable and can be run from a USB stick so there is no need for synchronizing feeds between home and work.

55

General Software Discussion / Re: FeedDemon going free

« on: January 14, 2008, 04:30 AM »

Only one of them can monitor webpages, Newzie.

56

General Software Discussion / Re: FeedDemon going free

« on: January 14, 2008, 04:20 AM »

GreatNews is the best choice for a desktop RSS reader at this time, from my point of view, of course. It is very fast (actually the fastest RSS reader when it comes to checking feeds), is compatible with all the feed formats, is fully Unicode compatible, consumes the less amount of resources, is very stable.

FeedDemon is good-looking and full of features, but it eats a lot of resources (CPU and RAM) especially when it checks feeds (CPU can climb to 100%).

Newzie is also good-looking and has the "killer" feature of auto-arranging the feeds based on the date of the last update. It can also monitor webpages for changes and this feature works really well.

FeedReader had in the past a lot of bugs and problems related to the database (notably extreme slowness). But the new 3.12 alpha works well and is very fast compared to the previous versions (it is the first version that I could use without complaining about slowness). FR does not have tabs however, and this is a big problem for those that want to use the integrated browser. Other than that it is a decent reader.

The real test for the RSS readers would be an endurance one. Someone that has 1000 feeds and uses extensively tagging (labeling), filtering and archiving could do that test for a month and see which reader performs best with a big database.

My top of RSS readers would be:

1. GreatNews
2. FeedDemon
3. Newzie
4. FeedReader

57

General Software Discussion / Re: FeedDemon going free

« on: January 11, 2008, 04:46 AM »

I don't think that RSS is web content. RSS carries information, that may include or not web content (images, music or videos). I prefer to use a non-web application for RSS, although I understand the appeal of Google Reader for many users.

But all the programs like FeedDemon, GreatNews, Newzie, etc. do have an integrated browser (based on IE's engine) that has tabs. They do not offer at this time all the functionality of web browsers (you cannot lock the tabs or move them, for example). But saving images or other files from the pages displayed inside the integrated browser is available in all the RSS clients. Of course the pages can be opened also in an external browser.

The move by NewsGator is a "blow" to GR, but I doubt that the present users will switch to FD. Maybe some users of the other RSS clients will switch, because FD looks very nice, has a lot of functions and also downloads podcasts. I will probably stay with the combination of GreatNews (RSS) +Ziepod (Podcasts). I don't like the fact that FD does not have a special tab for the feed, like GN or Newzie. Other than that I recognize the fact that Nick Bradbury is a very good programmer that has also a special gift for user interfaces, like Tranglos already said.

Google Reader will share only the items that are explicitly shared by the user. FeedDemon will collect by default anonymous usage statistics of the feeds (this can be disabled by unchecking "collect attention data" in the properties of every feed).

Nick Bradbury published a blog entry yesterday on the "battle" between desktop and web-based RSS readers:

http://nick.typepad....why-use-a-deskt.html

58

General Software Discussion / Re: FeedDemon going free

« on: January 10, 2008, 07:37 AM »

Another "victim" of Google Reader. They say that by making FD free they can sell more licenses of their enterprise product. It's probably true, but I think they were worried about the growing marketshare of GR, that could open the way for future products from Google targeted at the enterprise market. It's a good tactical move by NewsGator and the users will benefit from that. However, some developers of RSS clients will probably abandon developing their software. I hope that will not be the case for GreatNews (free), Newzie (free) or NewzCrawler (shareware).

59

General Software Discussion / Re: Appaholic - Another nice freeware review page

« on: January 06, 2008, 09:14 AM »

It's your site, it's your work, you do what you want with it. But from the fact that you have Google Ads on the site and encourage the visitors to "Just click on a few "sponsor links" below. Spend someone else money for a change! Thanks!" I have come to the conclusion that you actually want as many visitors as possible, otherwise why bother with ads? So you will learn in time that although content "is king", readability is "queen". Moreover, when the content is not extremely original, like software mini-reviews (which are more or less the same regardless of the site), readability is extremely important in keeping the visitors so they don't go to other similar sites.

The problem is not with the experienced users that can "annihilate" the blog theme with 3-4 mouse clicks, by using the accesibility options from IE, FF, Opera, etc. But the beginners don't know that they can use their own colors to view any site, so if the theme hurts their eyes (like a black background theme in an ocean of white and pastelated site backgrounds), they won't come back. As I said, it's your choice, but my advice would be to keep the "personality" mainly for the reviews, not for the theme.

60

General Software Discussion / Re: Appaholic - Another nice freeware review page

« on: January 06, 2008, 01:55 AM »

Well, hobby or not, a site must not strain the eyes, otherwise it will lose the visitors. You use Wordpress, maybe you can find a theme that has colors more relaxing for the eyes. Check this blog ( http://www.andreeam.net/ ), it uses also Wordpress and in my opinion it has very nice and relaxing colors.

61

General Software Discussion / Re: Appaholic - Another nice freeware review page

« on: January 05, 2008, 12:04 AM »

Your site is an eye killer. Black background and white/grey fonts is not a good choice. Maybe if you will use a single color for the fonts of the articles (not two as it is right now) that would work. But if you will choose a white or grey or beige background you could use more colors for the fonts.

62

General Software Discussion / Re: post your 5 most used applications in 2007 here!

« on: January 01, 2008, 01:07 AM »

EditPad Pro
Maxthon 2
Koma-Mail
GreatNews
Free Download Manager

63

General Software Discussion / Re: Do you use RSS feeds?

« on: December 12, 2007, 12:37 AM »

I really think that right now GreatNews is the best free RSS reader. It is stable and has all the needed functions, but more important it has the best compatibility with any type of news feed. There are feeds that Newzie refuses to display, but GN has no problems with them. Newzie also has a problem with the date of the news items, sometimes after adding a new feed the items are not arranged correctly by date and appear as having been written at the same time. Abilon is a good program, but it is not Unicode compatible, so some non-english feeds are not displayed correctly (both GreatNews and Newzie are Unicode compatible).

64

General Software Discussion / Re: Do you use RSS feeds?

« on: December 11, 2007, 04:05 AM »

I have used Newzie for a year but now I use mainly GreatNews (one of the reasons is the fact that GN can be translated, whereas Newzie cannot be at this time). Newzie is good-looking and has some very useful features (for example the List View, that orders the feeds after the date of the last update), but it does have its share of usability problems. One is the impossibility to use an external browser. The developer responds to the e-mails usually quite rapidly, but does not always implement the requested features, although it will offer explanations for that (I wanted the tabs to be closed on double-click and I wanted also the tabs to have shorter titles, so I could open more of them).

There is room for improvement regarding the management of tabs, for example the tabs could be locked in order to not close them accidentally. Or they could be moved, etc. They could also be opened (optionally) in the background. I think I have made at least 10 suggestion like that, but they were not implemented, for various reasons. But all the bugs reported by me were fixed.

The problem seems to be that there is only one developer and it also works on Ziepod (the best podcast catcher in my opinion) and lately on a discussion platform (like a forum, but with audio posts) that was not greeted with enthusiasm.

I always recommend Newzie to the people that do not want to use GreatNews. But I also recommend Abilon ( http://www.softpedia...g-Tools/Abilon.shtml ) , a software that is not developed anymore, but also supports folders. I had lenghty e-mail exchanges with the author of Abilon and some features were suggested by me. Unfortunately he decided to abandon the software because he lacked the time to develop it further. But the program is very stable and can be used without problems even now, even on Vista.

The sad fact is that Google Reader killed many of the RSS aggregators. I dont like GR at all, but many people use it, especially those that are not so habituated with RSS. I think GR became in just a year the most used RSS aggregator software. Some developers could not sell their programs anymore and consequently abandoned them (Abilon had also a paid version, named Active Refresh) or put them on hold for a long time (Newzcrawler).

65

General Software Discussion / Re: Do you use RSS feeds?

« on: December 04, 2007, 11:17 PM »

Newzie ( http://newzie.com/ ) supports folders. Click on the button "Switch to TreeView" (the icon is suggestive) to manage the feeds and folders. Newzie is free.

I have tested Newzcrawler and it is very good. Read the Newzcrawler forums to see if there are problems that could annoy you.

66

General Software Discussion / Re: Sync/mirror program that monitors but waits for go-ahead before backing up?

« on: November 21, 2007, 04:07 AM »

GoodSync ( http://www.goodsync.com/ ) is the software that you need. It is free, but does not allow you to synchronize more than 100 files. The Pro (paid) version allows an unlimited number of files to be synchronized.

67

General Software Discussion / Re: compare text files

« on: November 20, 2007, 11:50 PM »

ExamDiff doesn't support Unicode ( http://www.prestosof...com/edp_features.asp ), for that you must buy ExamDiff Pro. So it's not a viable option for many people. PSPad ( http://www.pspad.com/ ), the free program recommended by me, supports Unicode.

68

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for a special RSS reader

« on: November 18, 2007, 10:27 PM »

Newzie ( http://newzie.com/ ) does all what you want. It is free and handles lots of feeds without any problem.

To display the NewsBar use :
Preferences>Display>Visual Modes>NewsBar

Then go to the NewsBar tab in the Preferences panel and customize the NewsBar to display the news that you want.

To move the NewsBar click somewhere between the displayed news and drag it. It doesn't dock, but it can be resized at will.

69

General Software Discussion / Re: The best RSS reader?

« on: November 14, 2007, 07:58 AM »

They all use Internet Explorer's engine to render webpages internally, so if you visit a page from inside the program it is cached in IE (you must set IE so as it will have a large enough cache).

All of the readers allow you to read the articles offline. There is also SendMeRSS ( http://www.sendmerss.com/ ) that sends the articles as e-mail messages so they are stored as long as you like it.

GreatNews has a function to "track comments", but I didn't use it extensively so I cannot tell you how good it is.

Newzie ( http://newzie.com/ ) is a great RSS client and is free. Try it, maybe you will find it useful. It has a module that allows you to track changes in webpages and download them (you can subscribe to webpages).

Try also Newzcrawler (shareware), it has an integrated function to "subscribe" to webpages (they are downloaded regularly to your harddisk), aside from the RSS functions.

70

General Software Discussion / Re: Searching for the best read-aloud software

« on: November 13, 2007, 01:20 AM »

No transliteration is necessary. But you can check this for yourself by inputting text in the languages you are interested in. Try the following links :

http://www.nuance.com/realspeak/demo/ (free registration required)

http://demo.acapela-group.com/

On a side note, Balabolka also has spellchecking capabilities in no less than 23 languages (the free dictionaries must be downloaded separately from the site).

71

General Software Discussion / Re: Searching for the best read-aloud software

« on: November 11, 2007, 06:33 AM »

I have used the trial version of TextAloud and it is the best from the low-cost text-to-speech readers.

But lately I have used Balabolka ( http://www.cross-plu...-a.com/balabolka.htm ), which is free and is as good as TextAloud. My preference is the voice Mike from Microsoft with the speed set to a value between [95-105] and the pitch set to a value between [135-145].

I agree that some commercial voices are much better than the free ones.

Also check Expressivo ( http://www.expressivo.com/ ), it is shareware and has english, polish and romanian voices. I have tested it only for romanian and it is very good.

72

General Software Discussion / Re: compare text files

« on: November 10, 2007, 06:54 AM »

The built-in compare module from PSPad (open source text editor) is in my opinion the best comparing tool for text files. It beats WinMerge from a usability point of view.

You open File 1 in PSPad, then go to Tools>Text Differences>text Diff with this file>Browse and choose File 2. The lines that are different in the two files will be colored.

Address : http://www.pspad.com/

73

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR Release v2.107.04 beta - Sep 23, 2012

« on: October 22, 2007, 01:31 PM »

Mouser, the software is good, but I must tell you that I never saw in a software interface fonts as little as those used by you in the options for FARR. Really, you should make the fonts bigger, the options panel is resizable so it shouldn't be a problem. Many users will thank you for that.

And of course FARR doesn't support Unicode, so typing Ș and Ț results in the display of ? and ?

74

General Software Discussion / Re: What are your top 10 Tech/Software Blogs?

« on: October 13, 2007, 03:12 AM »

There are also :

Digital Inspiration : http://labnol.blogspot.com/

Lifehacker : http://www.lifehacker.com/

Both are similar to CybernetNews.

75

General Software Discussion / Re: What are Your Top Tech/Software Podcasts?

« on: October 13, 2007, 02:58 AM »

Just the RSS links, without descriptions:

http://www.pcradiosh.../pcradioshow.rss.xml

http://rssnewsapps.z...kygeeks/cg.audio.xml

http://feeds.feedbur...m/TheLinuxActionShow

http://www.techbroad...ing.com/nightowl.xml

http://archives.warp...odcast.asp?showID=37

http://podtech.net/?feed=rss2

http://channel9.msdn...der=1&format=mp3

The best software for netcasts (podcasts) is Ziepod, that is free and has also a built-in directory of the best shows sorted by categories, for easy one-click subscription.

 Address : http://ziepod.com/