Messages

26

General Software Discussion / Re: Do we need a Linux and/or Mac child board?

« on: June 01, 2009, 01:20 PM »

Fixing a double post and pointing to a new post related to this thread in aother thread:
Please see:

[ please click above link...
or maybe here: https://www.donation....msg166243#msg166243

can anyone tell me the "proper" way to refer to a specific link in another thread (without including the entire other post here??

-brotman (June 01, 2009, 12:54 PM)

I hope I (finally) got it right, this time

Chuck

27

General Software Discussion / Re: A linux adventure: A Blog for linux newbees by a Linux Newbee...

« on: June 01, 2009, 12:54 PM »

as for linux section.. we keep almost making one..  can't find the thread where we discussed it.. anyone know the thread i'm talking about?

-mouser (May 31, 2009, 06:39 PM)

After reading the thread contents I come to the conclusion that there were three main trains of thought:

• one: don't fragment the boards with separate areas for every little topic. It's nice to find stuff you didn't even know you were looking for..  
• two: If we make a child board for linux, we'd also need one for BSD, MAC-OS, etc.  
  
• three: The child boards are more for the writing than the reading because people simply read from the new posts list rather than going through the boards by hand  -and-
  
• four: We don't need no stinkin' Linux
  

to summarize, here are some representative posts:

I vote against, for the selfish reason that I'm interested to see how others use their machines and OS's, what issues arise, and what solutions are found. To me this seems more meaningful in an integrated environment, such as we now enjoy-- it provides a better perspective.

-cranioscopical (June 12, 2008, 04:55 PM)

I think it is better as it is. Simply because people like me who only use windows read these mixed forums and enjoy reading "this is easier in Linux/Mac" or "this is why I haven't switched to linux yet"
it lets us see the other side of the world.

I mean, where would you put a "linux vs Win" thread? in the general area where only Gatesians would read it, or where only followers of the cute penguin would see it?

I don't really believe in multiculturalism, but I still like to see OSs discussed together.

-Fred Nerd (June 15, 2008, 05:17 AM)

I like keeping the big happy family all in one place . Anyway if there is a Mac-specific forum, I'll just end up feeling *very* lonely  
It seems to me that these comments say:  

• "I'm interested to read about it so keep it integrated". . .
  If, in fact people keep-up by reading from the new posts list, wouldn't having  child boad still allow this?

Donationcoder is a windows-specific place, with a few users who also/exclusively use other environments. As I still use Windows along with OS X, I still like to read DC for windows stuff, and because DCers are such a fantastic bunch of folks and DC is such a nice place!!!. My interest in Windows has dropped dramatically since running OS X so I don't come here as much. If DC had a vibrant OS X community then I'd definately come here more, but I doubt we could grow such a community. And thus mixing perspectives from other operating systems in the mix is really the best thing to do...

-nontroppo (June 15, 2008, 01:00 AM)

I think it would help for things such as OS-specific computer problems, programs, tweaks or strategies, etc...but I do agree that it would most likely fragment the flow of discussion from the various people and how they use their computers, their view on things, and whatnot. How about a "trial" of it for a month to see how it goes, and if it capsizes, just toss the topics into the Living Room (or wherever they are applicable) and delete the Mac/Linux/UNIX/YourOSHere boards. Then its all back to normal, and back to the drawing board.

But I have to disagree with longrun, I love the large content overview the newsletter offers

-wreckedcarzz (June 15, 2008, 12:01 AM)

In favor of a child boards:

When I switched to Linux last fall, I cut down my visits here quite a bit because there didn't seem to be much interest in Linux around these parts. I still use XP (running in VirtualBox) for a lot of programs, but most of the little utilities I use are now Linux, not Windows and I did not think there would be much interest here in those. (To be honest, the only Windows utilities I really miss are AutoHotKey and FARR.)

-rssapphire (June 14, 2008, 07:46 PM)

I like the idea of a dedicated Linux (or Other OS) Discussion area.    Child board?  Probably not.

-Rover (June 14, 2008, 11:50 AM)

 
My confusion comes from the fact that what seems like arguments against or for the status quo are not arguments but actually agreements (if looked at in the right light.  The reason I asked for a child board is because I felt uneasy putting an off-topic thread in a predominantly Windoze arena.  I decided to go ahead since I was only making a pinter to my Blog (which by the way I would have been inclined to put on DC directly had there been a place where it seemed to fit. In any case there was apparently some interst here. Someone a litlle less extroverted might have not posted at all...


returning to my original list of apparent concern (My replies in color=red]red[/color]) :

• 
  one:don't fragment the boards with separate areas for every little topic. It's nice to find stuff you didn't even know you were looking for..  Doesn't the read new post function serve to re-integrate it all?
• two: If we make a child board for linux, we'd also need one for BSD, MAC-OS, etc.  I'd say no. not unless there was a specific and reasonable demand for it
  
• three: The child boards are more for the writing than the reading because people simply read from the new posts list rather than going through the boards by hand   -and-
  
  
  • four: We don't need no stinkin' Linux
    
  
  I think the last two  just make my point.  The child board encourages posting "outside the box and the read new post function gives everyone easy access Those who want NO STINKIN'  LINUX have a way to avoid it
  
  
  What is the Stigma about a child board??  Does it change  things  operationally?  If we're worried about being take over by alien OS'es, why not narrow the topics?  Like info/questons for/from Window users interested in linux, etc. I know I would have appreciated seeing something like that here and a child-board might have (?) made it easier for me to find.
  
  Can't we have our cake and eat it, too?
  
  Chuck

28

General Software Discussion / Re: A linux adventure: A Blog for linux newbees by a Linux Newbee...

« on: June 01, 2009, 11:44 AM »

I'm gratified to learn that there is some interest in my blog  -- I was starting to feel a little lonely   
Again, I can offer only my experiences, no (initial) expertise. 

I had the same thought about Windows 7 as Innuendo. If it's as good as it sounds, I may have no need to switch to Linux. But at least this way I'll have some idea of what I'm not switching to.  On the other hand I'm not likely to shell out big bucks to move to Win7, esp if a free Linux meets my needs. 

I will make a separate post regarding the child board question...

29

General Software Discussion / Re: A linux adventure: A Blog for linux newbees by a Linux Newbee...

« on: May 31, 2009, 05:02 PM »

And OBTW, how about a sub-forum just for Linux, or even just for Linux Newbies?????

30

General Software Discussion / A Linux adventure: A Blog for linux newbees by a Linux Newbee...

« on: May 31, 2009, 04:58 PM »

Hey Y'all,

I've Just made the Leap to Linux [Ubunto 9.04]. I did this mostly to learn something new, to check out the Linux hype and to see whether Linux might be a suitable alternative to windows, for me. To further complicate Matters.  I decided to keep track of my progress by way of a Blog [my first].  I think this can serve as a journal for myself, and as a warning system, for others who may try to follow this path. I.e.  let others learn from my mistakes, so maybe they can avoid making them themselves.   I did this as a Dual boot with XP on my laptop (NOT my main machine!)  If anyone is interested in checking out and/or commenting on my blog and/or following my progress (or lack of progress) please,Come on over to http://chuckstartslinux.blogspot.com

31

Post New Requests Here / Re: idea: find files not in both folders

« on: September 09, 2008, 09:38 PM »

Thanks. I'll give it a try!

 

Best Regards,

Chuck

32

Post New Requests Here / idea: find files not in both folders

« on: September 08, 2008, 02:23 PM »

Duplicate file finders are a dime-a-dozen: how about a "non duplicate" file finder?

The gist is:  Given two (or more???) folders. Scan the folders and identify those files that are in one folder or the other, but not both.  Generate a list.  Ideally some mechanism would then allow the selective transfer/copy of those files from the folder which contains them to the folder that doesn't or optionally to another specified folder. A file pattern mask might also be useful.  subdirectory recursion, too.

This is one of those program ideas for which the requiremets are obvious when I need to have it, but, I'm not reallly sure I can identify, at this moment,all the uses for this (beyond standard synchonization of folders that is) I'll post more when it comes to me...


Chuck

33

General Software Discussion / What Linux is xclosest to whats used in apples OSX?

« on: July 27, 2008, 09:36 PM »

Hey y'all,

My last experience with Miocrosquish (and Vista - which has since be "upgraded" back to XP on my PC) was bad. This  led me to the decision that my next "PC should be a Mac.  I'd like to do a little preperation for the change and get accustomed (as much as is possible) with OSX (if not that then at least the Linux underpinings for that system.  Does anyone know upon what Linux OSX was based???  Or which Linux is closest to Apples OS????

Thanks,

Chuck

34

Coding Snacks / idea: give easier access to photos in email attachments

« on: July 14, 2008, 05:13 PM »

I often receive emails in Outlook with multiple photos attached.  Viewing them requires multiple (seperate, Double-click) invocations and exits of my graphics program.  This is certainly not arduous, it is a bit clumsy.

I would like a program/helper/context menu add-on that would automagically downoad all the photo's to a (?temp?) folder and invoke my chosen (or default, for that matter) graphics browser on the first of them.  This would allow one to use the next function of the browser to scroll through all the pictures without having to exit the browser, return to the E-mail and double click on the next photo -- which kind of breaks "the flow".  if using a temp folder the downloaded pics would be deleted on exit.  Another (better, I think) alternative would be to have a master "saved attached pictures" folder with a subfolder saving the attachments for each processed email (use email title or a timestamp to name each subfolder.  Yeah, that's the ticket....

35

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Insert date and time into internet explorer - or other text field

« on: June 18, 2008, 04:02 PM »

Verry cool, Thanks!

36

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Insert date and time into internet explorer - or other text field

« on: June 18, 2008, 01:24 PM »

Hi,

I'm back. theset date pgm works very well thank you! Now, I'd like to distribute it to a computer which does not have the AHK
Program.  I've compiled the .ahk file to an exe. My questions are:
  1) Do I need any permissions from you (skrommel) to redistribute?
  2) Do I need to bring the ini file to  the new PC or does the exe file already contain it?
  3) Any other hints or hints about installing the exe file???


Thanks again,
Chuck
14:24:57 -wednesday18.06.2008 - d170 w25

37

Older Newsletters / Re: --> Newsletter for June 13th, 2008 - Codename "Programmapalooza"

« on: June 16, 2008, 09:27 PM »

Man, I hate this newsletter!  It comes in and I spend all this time reading it and then I have to go and download a couple of terabytes of excelent freeware.  If it wasn't  so good, I could just scan it and ignore all the downloads...

[irony off]

38

Living Room / Re: Where else do you go except DonationCoder

« on: June 16, 2008, 11:36 AM »

You mean thre are OTHER sites  besides Donation Coder???? 





Chuck

39

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Insert date and time into internet explorer - or other text field

« on: June 14, 2008, 05:26 PM »

Oooh,

That does seem to work a whole lot better!!!!   

see?:  18:29:41 -saturday14.06.2008 - d166 w24

that is exactly what i need even the day and week numbers (which weren't in my original request)

I stand amazed!   (well actually I sit amazed) But, I must say how impressed  I am with the rapid turn around from idea to working code I know you call it one-hour-coding, but I didn't realize you meant it literally.... 

Thanks again! 

Chuck

40

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Insert date and time into internet explorer - or other text field

« on: June 14, 2008, 02:08 PM »

Skrommel.

Thanks for the code. I' imported it into notepad and saved it as  .AHK, but I can't seem to make it work!  The tray Icon appears but Selecting a date or double clicking, or selecting timestamp on the context menu seems to provide no result (nothing in open window (notepad e.g.) and nothing in the clipboard.  What am I missing???????  

41

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Insert date and time into internet explorer - or other text field

« on: June 13, 2008, 04:13 PM »

cranioscopical,

Clipboard Help+Spell?? Clipboard Help+Spell!!  Now, how cool is that!?  I already have it and it's running and siitting in my notification area!  I didn't know/remember that it had date functions. I'll have to go check it out (again! doh!)


Thanks for your reply and information!!!


Chuck

42

Post New Requests Here / IDEA: Insert date and time into internet explorer - or other text field

« on: June 13, 2008, 01:44 PM »

Hi From a first time requester...  ,

I need an easy-to-use function to insert the current date and time into a text field, specifically into IE7.  The format I'd like is
   [#- day-of-week  month date, year time - *] where the * and # represent  bits of arbitrary text, like my initials for example.

Control over the formatting would be nice but is not strictly necessary. Invocation should come from a  hot key or as right click context menu or a browser add-in or menu tool or the like. 

Kind of like Skrommel's  "now" script for AHK, but with classier formatting   

Anyone know of an existing tool like this???

Thanks,
Chuck

43

General Software Discussion / Re: The quiet disappearance of the top two mp3 cataloging software.

« on: March 26, 2008, 05:49 PM »

Slowly and quietly, off of most people's radars, the top two programs for cataloging mp3 files are soon to disappear off the web completely.  I'm talking about MP3Rat (from Kaylon Technologies, makers of the fabulous PowerMarks; also dying and the best in it's class by far) and Mp3 Collector (Collectorz.com).  I've discussed both these programs at length in other threads here, but it's very sad to see these best in class (nobody comes close) programs about to die.  In the case of MP3Rat, it's already dead as it's sister program PowerMarks.  In MP3 Collector's case, it's still around, but hasn't really been updated in ages (besides very minor things) and, at least to me, it seems to be on its way out also.  As it stands, I think it is by far the least popular of the Collectorz.com suite anyway, which doesn't help motivate the authors to work on it vs their other programs.

Part of the problem, and these continue to be my nemesis, is the bundling of the cataloging features with the music players (jukeboxes).  Sure it's handy to have it all in one location, but the universal truth remains, "Jack of all trades, master of none."  None of these programs are quite as nice as MP3Rat or MP3 Collector.  It's just the fact that they are stand-alone, and the others are integrated in their favorite player.  But for us who are very picky about features, its a compromise we aren't willing to deal with.  That's why I have a separate music player, a separate encoding/decoding converter, a separate cataloger (two actually), and so forth.

It's very sad.  It reminds me of when KeyNote went down (is marek still around here?).  KeyNote was like a pioneer.

-superboyac (March 16, 2008, 08:57 PM)

Hi,

I'm not an expert nor have I extensively used Either of the two mentioned Cat's but I used and think very highly of "Catraxx" by Fred Norbert, which handles MP3's as well as cd's and other forms of audio. Seemed Very Powerful and easy to use, to me!  There is a gfreee 30day fully functional trial.  I liked it so much I actually sprang for the full  $s version and several upgrades  .  Primarily used it to catalog my vinyl (remember that stuff?) as I digitized it...

 see http://www.fnprg.com/catraxx/

Chuck

44

General Software Discussion / Re: How to Slow down "notification area"?

« on: July 12, 2007, 03:45 PM »

I'm sorry, but i fail to understand why you'd need such thing.
Why not just remove those at all, or use a tray manager to keep the icons you like always showing?

-jgpaiva (July 12, 2007, 02:53 PM)

I like using the notification area, but I prefer limiting the number of icons which are always visable. I have a problem with the hand-eye coordination needed to select an Icon before they go away... 

A tray manager sounds in tersesting. can you recommend one? 

Not to mention that as long as you keep the cursor over the system tray, the icons will not hide

-Lashiec (July 12, 2007, 03:03 PM)

Doh!!! You're absolutely right!    I didn't realize that! I think what I've been doing is moving the cursor "out of the way so that I can better see thew icons, thus forcing the switch back. I say again: "doh!"   
Chuck

45

General Software Discussion / How to Slow down "notification area"?

« on: July 12, 2007, 02:50 PM »

If I have the right nomenclature, the "notification area", is that rightmost section of the taskbar, which holds the clock and displays Icons of running programs.  If you click on the left arrow "<" you can see all the Icons, including the ones which are normally hidden.  My problem:  The display switches back to display only the unhidden programs before I can scan, process,  select and click on an icon.  Does anyone know how to slow this transition down?  Though I'd prefer a programmed approach, I'm willing and able to tweak the registry if needed, I just don't know the appropriate keys or values to edit.


Thanks,
Chuck

46

General Software Discussion / Re: List of Vector Illustration Alternatives

« on: June 20, 2007, 03:35 PM »

Hi Chuck. I went to look at the software, but I can't find a copy to try. How do you actually GET the software to test/try?

Thanks, Ken

-KenR (June 19, 2007, 08:29 PM)

Ken,

Serif is not shareware, however, they have a liberal 30-60 day money back return policy (depends on product and what specials they are currently running.  Also they have a reasonable upgrade policy and run many customer loyalty specials. For example as a long time serif user I got my last serif program (a 2 release upgrade, for $29, a savings of $100! You can get older versions of their products for free or very cheap, but if you want to do a usefull evaluation I'd recommend taking advantage of the money back period. 

OBTW they have a superb user community at their site,  If you have specific questions before you go any further, I recommend asking them there. Many of those folks are Graphics professionals who have experience with a variety of different graphics and drawing tools.  They'll freely tell you if they think you're better off with something else. it's at  http://www.serif.com/forums.asp
 
Chuck

47

General Software Discussion / Re: List of Vector Illustration Alternatives

« on: June 19, 2007, 04:09 PM »

Have you looked at Serif's DRAW PLUS 8? Not sure it's in the same league as the tools mentioned above, but I've enjoyed Serif software for many years. Url is http://www.serif.com.../drawplus8/index.asp   

I'll be interested to read your opinion of this product! 



Chuck

48

General Software Discussion / Re: Need recommendations for ScreenMagnifying applications

« on: February 09, 2007, 07:25 PM »

I use the Microsoft Intellimouse software (free download from Microsoft.com) version 5.x+(?) has a built in magnifier that can be assigned to a mouse button. Magnifies ath the mouse loocation, rather than in a fixed box which I prefer. 

Only downsides I 'm aware of:
1) has a tendancy (on my system at least) to pop into magnify mode at unexpected times.
2) May require MS mouse to work I don't know because all I have is a MS intellimouse 2.0 so I've never found out what other mice it will work with (if any).  Worth a try...


Chuck

49

Screenshot Captor / Re: A noobee's questions

« on: June 28, 2006, 07:10 PM »

Wow, thats some good information!


I'll check it all out.


Thanks-a-bunch,

Chuck

50

Screenshot Captor / A noobee's questions

« on: June 28, 2006, 04:04 PM »

I've been playing with the latest Screenshot captor beta. Looks  very promising!  a few comments/questions though...

1) Is the text scraper supposed to be working yet?  I can't seem to figure it out.  I've tried on maxthon & IE6 with little success; it seems to only capture the window title... 

2) I tried it on a windows error message: again it scraped the dialog title, but not the error message text; It was captured, just not scraped.

3) Does the text box on the bottom of the capured object screen rerpresent the text which has been scraped?  In other words,  does copy text to clipboard do anything more than copy the text in this area?

4) I've tried the capture scroll function, with limited sucess. NOT a program bug; I'm just working with one hand and find it nearly impossible to hit ctrl-shift-click at the same time.  Could there be an alternate way to make your capture choice, after having selected the window object? (like maybe a button or two added to the red box description panel??? - Dont know if thats even possible.. if not, maybe a multruple choice singlecharacter entry? llike 'hit "a" to capture window'; "b" to scroll/capture the window, etc????

5) fom my point of view, the scroll capture is less important than being able to scrape text from window dialogs, error messages, etc.  Reason?: I dont really need a tool to copy/scrape  text from a browser window cut and paste works just fine for that.  For Y"'alls information, if capturing web pages or such is what you need to do there is an excellent program called evernote that does an excellent job of that. It's free and it allows you to capture an entiore page, or selected section with one mouse click.
However whjat I think is reaslly needfed is a way to error messages & dialogs, in text form so they can be included in error reports
without having to rersort to HTML or an attatcment, which many support groups disalow.


Well that's my five cents, for now at least, I'l report back when I have more. Keep up the great work 

Best Regards,
Chuck Brotman