Messages

1

Screenshot Captor / Odd error in capturing, erroneous dialog text

« on: March 10, 2022, 01:19 PM »

Running Screenshot Captor v4.36.2 on Windows 10 Pro 21H1, I was just sent down a rabbit hole. When I took a screenshot the main window properly appeared, overlaid by a dialog telling me the shot could not be saved as the file could not be found. I was able to save the shot to my Desktop folder.

There had been a recent Windows update, so I chased around verifying that the Screenshot folder existed, that it had the proper access permissions, that SC was running under the right account, looked at the event logs, etc. No joy, all looked OK.

So, I restarted the computer. When SC auto-started, it popped up a dialog whose text is shown in the attached image. After closing the dialog I went to look at the preferences, also shown in the image and found the Screenshot folder unchanged. Then I took a capture, which worked as expected.

Don't know if this is somehow reproduceable, but SC got it's knickers in a twist somehow.

2

Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS

« on: April 11, 2020, 12:57 PM »

I need some real paper book gift suggestions for my wife, if anybody is game. I keep thinking along the lines of maybe an Almanac, but wouldn't know which edition; or maybe some kind of 'facts' consultation book. In real paper and ink. Any ideas?

-holt (April 02, 2020, 01:01 PM)

If your wife enjoys facts, it's hard to beat The Engineer's Manual. Tables of everything: need the melting point of telluruim, the thermal conductivity of gutta percha, the weight of bee's wax, 25 pages of conversion factors from almost anything to almost anything else (gilberts/centimeter to ampere-turns/inch anyone?)

And the front half of the book will give you the math(algebra to vectors to hyperbolics) and formulae (mechanical, thermal, hydraulic, electrical, etc.) for which you can use all those data and conversions. Weir flow calculations? We got 'em.

Fun book, not lessened by often being useful. The link above will take you to an Amazon page where it's available.

3

N.A.N.Y. 2019 / Re: N.A.N.Y. 2019 Cryptogram

« on: April 10, 2020, 01:39 PM »

The new version 3.12 of Cryptogram has been uploaded to http://www.jackroman...loads/Cryptogram.zip and can be played online at http://www.jackromanowicz.com/Cryptogram

For local play, simply unzip the archive and open the index.html file in the browser of your choice.

This version has a more-compact selection dialog (which works better with mobile devices) with the already-used letters in a separate section at the bottom. Those letters can be re-used by simply clicking on them. There are also minor changes to the help verbiage and fixes for some bugs I hope no one encountered.

The MD5 checksum for the zip archive is c415d37ffe4cfed2f4712506079c793e

4

N.A.N.Y. 2019 / Re: N.A.N.Y. 2019 Cryptogram

« on: January 25, 2019, 04:48 PM »

Note that I have corrected a problem which occurs when you enter incorrect ciphertext and hit "Play", then correct the text and hit "Play" again. Version 2.00 appended the corrected text to the existing text in the lower part of the window. Version 2.01 removes the old text before showing the corrected text. If you are using the app, you should download the zip archive from the same place.

As before, just unzip the archive to anywhere and point a browser to index.html in the Cryptogram folder.

5

N.A.N.Y. 2019 / Re: N.A.N.Y. 2019 Cryptogram

« on: January 06, 2019, 06:08 PM »

Can I request you attach a screenshot to this post so folks can see what it looks like or in case website goes down?

-mouser (January 05, 2019, 08:32 PM)

Done.

6

Developer's Corner / Re: Interesting article discussing how C on modern architectures is convoluted

« on: December 31, 2018, 07:21 PM »

In some architectures, assembler is not a low-level language.

Around 1980 I was working for Sperry Univac. Their model 1100/60 had recently been introduced, and I was tasked with doing the software installation for a new system at Williams College in northwest Massachusetts.

We couldn't get the system booted up. The code in the status lights on the CPU cabinet indicated an "Instruction set error"!?! It took a while to determine this was caused by a failure of the SSP (System Support Processor) to load the microcode that told the CPU how to perform the instruction that were represented by the value in the instruction register. The microcode was loaded by the SSP from an 8" floppy.

We'd heard about the microcode as a feature that allowed loading a sub-instruction set that was optimized for running COBOL programs. This episode rubbed my nose in the realization that the assembler code I wrote was not what the hardware was running -- it was running an emulation of 1100 Assembler.

Out-of-order execution is enabled by the execution of microcode that tells the assembler-level accumulators, registers and instruction pointer what to do. I'm not aware of any contemporary architectures that have a loadable microcode, though.

7

N.A.N.Y. 2019 / Re: N.A.N.Y. 2019 Announcement

« on: December 31, 2018, 04:19 PM »

I worked out (messily) a way to get my N.A.N.Y. entry into a (I hope correct) template.

That was after spending a bit of time trying to find out where to source the official template from.

For future reference, where do you keep such things?

-jroman (December 31, 2018, 04:05 PM)

[ Invalid Attachment ]

-Stephen66515 (December 31, 2018, 04:10 PM)

Thanks, Stephen! 

8

N.A.N.Y. 2019 / Re: N.A.N.Y. 2019 Announcement

« on: December 31, 2018, 04:05 PM »

But I'll wait for the NANY template to be updated for 2019 before I start posting.

Done.

-mouser (June 16, 2018, 06:11 PM)

I worked out (messily) a way to get my N.A.N.Y. entry into a (I hope correct) template.

That was after spending a bit of time trying to find out where to source the official template from.

For future reference, where do you keep such things?

9

N.A.N.Y. 2019 / N.A.N.Y. 2019 Cryptogram

« on: December 30, 2018, 09:08 PM »

Application Name	Cryptogram
Version	2.000
Short Description	A browser app to make solving the daily Cryptoquote puzzles more convenient.
Supported OSes	N/A. You just need a graphical web browser.
Web Page	http://www.jackromanowicz.com/Cryptogram
Download Link	http://www.jackroman...loads/Cryptogram.zip
System Requirements	A graphical web browser.
Author	Jack Romanowicz
Donations	Talk to me if you want to use it for commercial purposes.

Description
Cryptogram provides execution of the mechanical tasks of solving a substitution-cypher puzzle as is published in many newspapers daily. All it needs is a web browser. You can run it from a local directory -- there's no server-side processing. Just unzip the archive and point your browser to Cryptogram/index.html  I think it should be usable in your mobile device browser as well, but I only have two phones to test on.
Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Features
Auto character substitution. Undo (without having to erase!). Used character elimination. (If you've done the puzzles, you'll know what these mean. ;^)

Planned Features
Waiting for feedback.

Screenshots


Usage & Installation
Unzip the archive and point your browser to the Cryptogram/index.html file

Using the Application
See the Help menu item.

Download Link   
http://www.jackroman...loads/Cryptogram.zip

10

N.A.N.Y. 2017 / Re: Amortization Calculator

« on: May 22, 2017, 08:12 PM »

I finally did a facepalm and added the mwindows parameter to the build.  So, the version at the download site above now closes all the amortization windows when you close the parameter window. (In case anyone cares (besides me! ;^) ))

11

N.A.N.Y. 2017 / Re: NANY 2017 post your mug photos here

« on: January 30, 2017, 08:53 PM »

It's most useful in front of the keyboard (though I usually face toward the monitors) 

12

N.A.N.Y. 2017 / Re: Amortization Version 2

« on: January 09, 2017, 01:36 PM »

hi jroman
thanks, any chance you'd update the original thread? (There's so many new apps, I initially didnt have a clue which one you were referring to)

-tomos (January 09, 2017, 11:57 AM)

Done.  It's the Amortization Calculator thread.

13

N.A.N.Y. 2017 / Re: Amortization Calculator Version 2.0

« on: January 09, 2017, 01:33 PM »

I know, it's so simple what's the point of a version 2, right?

Well, when I had to re-open the project to link some libraries statically, I was offended by the non-OO design of the program.  OK for me, but not for release (even if you never see the code). So I re-factored it, leaving just a couple of rough edges that weren't worth the effort to sand down.  Of course, testing the updated code pointed out some ways the UX could be improved, so I implemented them

Voila! Version 2. You'll find it linked on the same downloads page as version 1 on my website.

New features:
1. Better keyboard support, including putting the focus on the first input field when the program opens (duh!)
2. Displaying the amortization results in separate windows so you can do side-by-side comparisons if desired.
3. Better editing of input parameters -- hope you didn't run into any of my gaffes!
4. Highlight the "Save to CSV" button.
5. More of the loan parameters included in the CSV download, so you don't have to remember them.

Sorry that you have to close each of the result windows and the parameter input window separately.  I wanted to have them all close when the parameter window is closed, but I can't seem to find the incantation to make that happen.  Is anyone familiar enough with FLTK to give me a pointer in the direction of accomplishing that?  Thanks.

14

N.A.N.Y. 2017 / Amortization Version 2

« on: January 09, 2017, 01:54 AM »

I know, it's so simple what's the point of a version 2, right?

Well, when I had to re-open the project to link some libraries statically, I was offended by the non-OO design of the program.  OK for me, but not for release (even if you never see the code). So I re-factored it, leaving just a couple of rough edges that weren't worth the effort to sand down.  Of course, testing the updated code pointed out some ways the UX could be improved, so I implemented them

Voila! Version 2. You'll find it linked on the same downloads page as version 1 on my website.

New features:
1. Better keyboard support, including putting the focus on the first input field when the program opens (duh!)
2. Displaying the amortization results in separate windows so you can do side-by-side comparisons if desired.
3. Better editing of input parameters -- hope you didn't run into any of my gaffes!
4. Highlight the "Save to CSV" button.
5. More of the loan parameters included in the CSV download, so you don't have to remember them.

Sorry that you have to close each of the result windows and the parameter input window separately.  I wanted to have them all close when the parameter window is closed, but I can't seem to find the incantation to make that happen.  Is anyone familiar enough with FLTK to give me a pointer in the direction of accomplishing that?  Thanks.

15

N.A.N.Y. 2017 / Re: Amortization Calculator

« on: January 01, 2017, 07:11 PM »

Oops! Forgot to static the gcc & stdc++ libs for release. Thanks for the heads-up.

I've uploaded one that will work for you, and everyone else  , at the same location.

16

N.A.N.Y. 2017 / Amortization Calculator

« on: December 22, 2016, 02:19 PM »

NANY 2017 Entry Information

Application Name	Amortize
Version	1.0
Short Description	Freeware calculator for payment amounts, number of payments, total interest paid for various types of loans
Supported OSes	Windows
Web Page	N/A
Download Link	http://jackromanowicz.com/downloads
System Requirements	nada zip zero
Version History	v1.0 -- initial public release
Author	Jack Romanowicz

Description
While researching a re-financing of our house, I got annoyed with the loan calculators I found on the web, so I wrote one I liked better.

Now you can easily find out how much you can save by re-financing and how long it will take to pay off all those Xmas purchases on the Visa card.

Features
Given an initial balance and an annual interest rate:

For an installment loan:

Calculate payment amount.

For a revolving loan:

Given the amount of a constant periodic payment, calculate the number of payments to payoff.
Allow payment specification as a percentage of the balance or a fixed amount.

For all:

Create a table showing the interest, principal and remaining balance amount for each payment.
Download the payment table in CSV format.
Display total interest and total paid.

Planned Features
Any requested features that make sense to me.

Screenshots


Usage
Installation
Zero installation. Simply double click the file or place it in a folder in your path and type "Amortize" (assuming you haven't re-named the file) at a command prompt.

Using the Application
If it's not self-explanatory, I've failed and you should let me know how.

Uninstallation
Delete the Amortize.exe (again, assuming you haven't re-named it) file.

Tips
If you are refinancing, try 15 and 20 year mortgage terms as well. You may be surprised, as the interest rates for those loans are lower. You may also be surprised how much you save by paying an extra $10/month on a loan of any size.

Known Issues
It's not very pretty, but you can choose your own payment table colors. (It doesn't remember them, though)

17

Living Room / Re: Animated Map of Girl's Names Throughout the Years

« on: March 01, 2014, 08:20 PM »

I am now going to try attaching a 2.14MB animated GIF. If that doesn't work out, you will have to get it using the link.
 (see attachment in previous post)
Pipes - Imgflip

-Arizona Hot (October 29, 2013, 06:03 PM)

This is a track ripped from a DVD entitled "Animusic", by Wayne Lytle in 2001.  It's a copyrighted piece.

See www.animusic.com

18

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 7 -- ribbons for everyone!

« on: October 16, 2008, 04:47 PM »

2Paul Keith
Haven't you seen i.e. documents with overkilling Enter usage for placing the content on new page (instead of Insert -> Page break)? I did.

-fenixproductions (September 19, 2008, 01:56 PM)

The whole discussion can become moot if you ignore the menus, menubars, ribbons, etc. and just Ctrl-Enter for your page breaks. 

edit by jgpaiva: fixed quote tag