DonationCoder.com Forum
Main Area and Open Discussion => General Software Discussion => Topic started by: Renegade on February 11, 2008, 08:30 AM
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I just saw this SQL Server Comparison Tool (http://sql-server-tool.com/) when checking in at my .NET Preacher (http://www.dotnetpreacher.com/) site, when I saw an ad there for it... 80% off! $20! WTF? Ok. I'm in. Bought sight unseen. (No time to test it as there are only a few hours left, and for $20?)
I suppose that I can't resist a really good deal. (If you work with MS SQL Server, you'd know that something like that is very useful to have in your toolbox when you need it.)
Anyways, anyone a sucker for a deal? :)
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I'm half cheap and only go for the discounted stuff...
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Yes - My name is Mike and I am a software addict.
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My name is Mike and I am a software addict.
-Darwin
;D
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If it is discounted enough I might kind of skip the 4 steps I normally do
* "do i need it?"
* "dont i already have something that does it?"
* "arent other tools that might do it better/cheaper?"
* "should I test it to make sure first?"
and just buy it. Then use it 3 times and park it, more often than not.
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After two decades of buying the latest and newest, I finally began to wean myself from the (software purchase) impulse. Now it's moved to chess books, chessboards, and pieces. On top of that, since the USDollar is less than half the value it was just a few years ago, all my favorite software has in turn double or tripled in price, to the point that I can no longer justify the cost.
This came at a good time for me, since several open source apps have matured to the point where I only want to use them. Now instead of impulse spending, I can donate on impulse when I finally have some extra money.
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Arrrgggghhh!! The US dollar! I'm not happy about it's position right now. You got that one bang on there Zane!
I'm looking at buying a software license that's around 10,000 Euro. Ouch. I've got all my "software" money in USD. That hurts! Heck. The Canadian $ is worth more! (Depending on the day...) But still! The CAN vs. the USD? Huh?
For a lot of personal stuff I just go for free or cheap. I don't need anything else quite often. (For many things I can program it myself! And have fun doing it! :) ) When it comes to the business side though... I'd rather just shell out a few bucks and be done with it. But that US dollar thing does make things much different.
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This just in from the registration email I got from that software...
You can be sure that you get free technical support lifetime.
That just makes me feel that it was definitely worth the purchase no matter what (even if I only use it once or twice). Some developers have a great attitude like that, others don't. I like supporting the ones with the good attitude.
However, I have had impulse purchases go bad... Thankfully this one is looking very good! :)
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Do You Purchase Software on Impulse?
Every program I have (except for Office 2003 and security programs) was bought on impulse
- discounted or not.
A bigger problem may be that I don't actually need all these programs...
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I've gotten better about it, but I still have the occasional "Drink too much, crave a new app to play with, buy the first thing I find" occurrence. It's how I ended up with a Core FTP license fairly recently. I was struggling with a bad ftp connection and it became obvious I needed to use other means of uploading files than I was presently using, as neither my text editor nor rcftp handle their connection being dropped mid-transfer well at all. I decided it was time to shop around for a new ftp client, and wanted to use one I'd never used before. Discover a little known, great ftp application. Enter CoreFTP. It's not the *worst* ftp client I've ever used . . . but certainly the most disappointing one I'd ever paid for. After purchasing I came to find it offered almost no keyboard shortcuts, and really in general just isn't a contendor for "Best" or even "Good" ftp client, all things considered. To make matters worse, feature requests, bug reports and general inquiries go unanswered -- support is allegedly offered via e-mail for paying users, but I'm not having any luck with it.
Long story short, impulse buy that turned out to be money thrown in the wind. The upside is, my horrible experience with Core inspired me to bring my CuteFTP license up to date. Much better.
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[curt]: A bigger problem may be that I don't actually need all these programs...
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Yea, there's the rub. Until recently, I kept about 180 apps on my systems, including several text editors, a wide variety of archivers, and image editing apps. Because of the reinstall restrictions for Vista, I don't feel like I can freely install programs. After so many reinstalls, you have to buy the darn OS again!
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Heck. The Canadian $ is worth more! (Depending on the day...) But still! The CAN vs. the USD? Huh?-Renegade
The last 30 years were a blip - the Canadian dollar has tended to trade in the 90 cent to parity range over the past 140 years. In 1865 it was worth something like $2.30! US Civil War was the reason... I think the Canadian dollar has been undervalued for the last 30 years and the US dollar overvalued over the same period. But what do I know... :o
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I was forced to vote yes, as HELL YEAH!!! was not an option. I am sure somebody could add it as a choice but don't count on my to come back to change my vote as I will be drive-by shopping for impulse purchases.
Oo oo oo oo shineeeeeeyyyyy
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We need a SAA (Software Addicts Anonymous) for some of you ;D
I don't even buy a bottle of water on impulse, so...
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Semi-impulse
If I see something recommended here, by someone whose views I respect,
I might just pick it up 'sight unseen' especially if it's discounted.
Gives me something with which to play when insomnia strikes.
;D
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I just reinstalled Windows on Friday and am still reinstalling software. Sad part is---> I have programs I just purchased within the last four or five months that I have no desire to install, which means I didn't need the darn things at all!! Sad; truly sad...
Hi. My name is Jim, and I am a software addict... (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/esmileys/gen3/1Small/20.gif) (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/esmileys/gen3/1Small/20.gif) (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/esmileys/gen3/1Small/20.gif)
Jim
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The Never Ending Cycle (aka the Eight steps to SW Addiction)
1. Find new software on random blog
2. Check it out and realize although I don't need it, I want it
3. Search for freeware/oss equivalent
4. Spend a week researching, forum posting, trialing - to get the best solution to a problem that didn't exist before step 1
5. Be full of joy and happiness, bask in the glorious light from latest Start menu entry
6. "New beta version, would you like to update" ?
7. Hmm, I wonder what else is out there....
8. back to step 1
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What I'm more interested in are the 12 steps from SW addiction!
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What I'm more interested in are the 12 steps from SW addiction!
-Darwin
Let's try this. Every time you purchase a piece of software, you also have to buy me a copy and ship it to me. This way, at least I get something out of the deal. :P
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What I'm more interested in are the 12 steps from SW addiction!
-Darwin
Let's try this. Every time you purchase a piece of software, you also have to buy me a copy and ship it to me. This way, at least I get something out of the deal. :P
-tinjaw
That would be more like one step to penury... :o
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Let's try this. Every time you purchase a piece of software, you also have to buy me a copy and ship it to me. This way, at least I get something out of the deal. :P
-tinjaw
Fair enough, stand by to receive my second copy of The Breakbeat-Techno Anihilator... :eusa_boohoo:
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Because of the reinstall restrictions for Vista, I don't feel like I can freely install programs. After so many reinstalls, you have to buy the darn OS again! -zridling
I have never heard of this before. Quite frankly: You are scaring me! :o
Will you (any of "you") please tell what this is about? :tellme:
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Nah, I think that's one of the effects of Zaine experiments with Linux. He heads to the package manager, ticks a lot of programs and starts downloading. When he comes back to Vista, having to download apps one by one makes him lost all desires to try new software ;D
What I'm more interested in are the 12 steps from SW addiction!
-Darwin
You can write a lengthy suite of songs afterwards :D
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Sadly, Lashiec, I believe that such a song would wind up being C&W. C&W is an acquired taste. I haven't (really) acquired it yet.
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See shiny new software...
step 1. find out if they take paypal
step 2. find out my paypal balance
step 3. find out price of software
step 4. if price < paypal balance, download & try software
step 5. wait till 30 days after trial expires to decide if I can live without it, find something cheaper/free, make it myself, etc.
step 6. if nothing found and I can't live without it and I don't want to try making it, go back and buy software.
step 7. Every few months, uninstall all the stuff I forgot about long before it made it to step 5 (which is most things)
I am very frugal by nature and there is no room for impulse shopping in my personality or my wallet.
I am not much of an impulse shopper for anything...not even food. My husband loves sending me to do the shopping, because I stick to the carefully planned list. It saves him a lot of money.
On the other side of the coin, I'll never ask him to pick up milk on the way home from work because it will be the most expensive milk in the world and come with 10 bags of free groceries. :-[
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[Curt]: I have never heard of this before. Quite frankly: You are scaring me! Will you (any of "you") please tell what this is about?
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After five reinstalls, Vista kills itself and you have to purchase another license and activation key. Worse, if you flash your bios, change something like a videocard or processor, you either have to call Redmond and obtain another activation key, or, you have to buy another copy of Vista when you change too much on your system that Vista is licensed to — it's all in that crazy EULA that drove me to GNU/Linux last year. I torch my system at least once every few weeks, not to mention I build and upgrade my own computers. Vista really put a damper on the enthusiast market. At least they're getting rid of the remote kill switch in SP1!
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[off-topic]
After five reinstalls, Vista kills itself and you have to purchase another license and activation key.
-zridling
How about system images ? Can't you image your system drive after a basic installation and just reuse the image instead of reinstalling ?[/off-topic]
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That was on topic, Armando. Particularly if the imaging software was purchased on impulse! Better yet, the Vista machine that you image was purchased capriciously. Now you're talkin' :Thmbsup:
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At one point I did buy on impulse... now I code on impulse (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/esmileys/gen3/1Small/SLEEP.GIF)
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I suspect Vista would be classed as an impulse buy...
My own needs are meager, so I can always get away with freeware - last check I think I had about 2G hoarded away, of which I've probably only ever looked at about 5% (maybe...)
can't imagine how i'd feel if I'd done that with $ware :o
Target
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I am not much of an impulse shopper for anything...not even food. My husband loves sending me to do the shopping, because I stick to the carefully planned list. It saves him a lot of money.
On the other side of the coin, I'll never ask him to pick up milk on the way home from work because it will be the most expensive milk in the world and come with 10 bags of free groceries. :-[
-app103
Your husband and I would get along very well! I am incapable of spending less than $200 at the grocery store. Doesn't matter if I only need to buy 1 case of something or not -- too many other things in there that I ***NEEEEEEDDDDD*** badly! Ooooo! Shiny new fluffy soft body pillow! Need one of those for sure! Ooooo! Looks like a case of rootbeer! Must buy! (Find out that it's actually cream soda when I get back home...) Oh! Cases of Snapple! Got to grab one of those! Ah - a 6-pack of that super soft kleenex! (Nevermind that I still have 2 boxes left at home...)
It's a disaster.
I nearly bought a 6-bottle case of Rum along with the cream soda that I thought was root beer. What would I do with that? (It was about $25 --- very cheap. Some new import from the Philippines.)
Shiny software... Shiny groceries... Sigh!
Grocery shopping is one of my favorite things to do! I love it! Especially when I get out of the country. There's nothing like foreign grocery stores for a good time! SE Asia just ROCKS for grocery stores! There's always a ton of amazing fresh fruit and it's dirt cheap. :D
Ok --- I'm so very far off topic...
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[Curt]: I have never heard of this before. Quite frankly: You are scaring me! Will you (any of "you") please tell what this is about?
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After five reinstalls, Vista kills itself and you have to purchase another license and activation key. Worse, if you flash your bios, change something like a videocard or processor, you either have to call Redmond and obtain another activation key, or, you have to buy another copy of Vista when you change too much on your system that Vista is licensed to — it's all in that crazy EULA that drove me to GNU/Linux last year. I torch my system at least once every few weeks, not to mention I build and upgrade my own computers. Vista really put a damper on the enthusiast market. At least they're getting rid of the remote kill switch in SP1!
-zridling
Incorrect. Actually, what it does is limit your ability to transfer the OS to another machine. The OS can only be transferred once. If you change things, then yes, since it seems to be another machine, you have to call for reactivation. Annoying, but not so much so as 5 reinstalls would make it.
a. Software Other than Windows Anytime Upgrade. The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time. If you reassign the license, that other device becomes the "licensed device."
b. Windows Anytime Upgrade Software. The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time, but only if the license terms of the software you upgraded from allows reassignment.
Ref:
http://www.techweb.com/wire/software/193300234
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/12/2240214&from=rss
To read for yourself, go to: http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/useterms/default.aspx
See sections 15 and 16.
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And on this topic, I used to be bad about impulse purchases, but now I'm terrible!. Bits Du Jour and Software Deal of the Day are mostly to blame, though DC shoulders some of the responsibility. :)
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Wow!!! I'm not the only one! And I thought there was something wrong with me.
I prefer to download free software, but I'll buy it if I really want it (which I usually do), especially if there's a discount. DC and Iconico's Daily Deals have been very dangerous for me, but I've got some cool software out of it.
And, yes, I usually buy too much at the grocery store too. I try not to go near eBay more than once every few months.
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^ OMG! It must be a general condition. Whenever I start eBaying again, I overdo it and have to lay off visiting the site... and I have to go to the grocery store with a list and stick to it, or I buy *way* too much!
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I've gotten better about it, but I still have the occasional "Drink too much, crave a new app to play with, buy the first thing I find" occurrence.-allen
That's me in a nutshell. (Well, OK, this (http://exold.com/images/98.gif) is me in a nutshell, but I fall right into the category of "getting better, but still occasionally drunk-buying." :o
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I buy plenty of software, well, actually, more than plenty. However, I rarely buy it on impulse because the few times that I have done so I have fully regretted the purchase. Either the software is buggy, unstable, useless or less than useless and doesn't even come close to fulfilling its promises.
Even with a cursory trial you can weed out the junk so I make it a point now to try out every package before I buy. Of course, that doesn't guarantee they won't turn out to be disappointing but it helps a lot!