Messages

426

General Software Discussion / Re: are email clients sofware a dead industry ?

« on: March 29, 2008, 11:59 AM »

There are some very vague lines in their privacy statements. And remember "nothing" is free even thou you think you are getting it for free.

-kartal (March 29, 2008, 11:22 AM)

This is absolutely true. I am fortunate in that I have always been immune to the privacy hysteria/paranoia, make no illusions as to my privacy (or lack thereof); online or otherwise, none of us are "off the grid" now, are we?  Frankly, I feel my data is more secure with google long term than the minutes (or hours or days) it might spend with my isp were I using ISP mail -- but at the end of the day, yeah. Realistically, nothing is private that leaves your head.  So long as nothing leaves my head that'll get me killed, I figure I'm doing ok.

427

General Software Discussion / Re: are email clients sofware a dead industry ?

« on: March 29, 2008, 09:48 AM »

3 years ago, I was the one playing with betas of Pocomail, Eureka, The Bat!, Thunderbird etc. Now I don't even think about local email.

-MrCrispy (March 29, 2008, 02:27 AM)

Me as well -- honestly, I used to spend more time tooling about with e-mail and clients to download it with than any other activity on the computer.  I can't even venture a guess as to how many hours I logged into scripting in Poco and Macros/templates in The_Bat!.  And now I really can't bring myself to bother with all of that tedius tweaking and organization.  Not when I can use gmail to simply read, reply, archive mail -- finding it virtually instantly with a quick search (much faster than clicking through folders).  Locally, Opera functions very similar to gmail so wtih gmail imap + opera, it's really a much simpler and more efficient solution.

As a matter of fact, I very recently finally decided to relinquish my web domain e-mail to google hosted apps.

The shift is pretty simple, to me--it's not about more features, anymore.  It's about more data and how it's handled to scale.  The more data there is, the less beneficial manual, heirarchal organization is.

428

General Software Discussion / Re: Cause of Vista crashes

« on: March 29, 2008, 09:22 AM »

allen: drivers have to be signed, generally... especially for x64 systems.

-f0dder (March 28, 2008, 07:00 PM)

Yeah, I think that's his complaint. He's saying that laptop drivers have to be issued by the laptop manufacturers, so they have to be re-signed, which means he has to run old drivers until his laptop manufacturer gets around to updating their version of the driver.

-Deozaan (March 29, 2008, 01:43 AM)

Precisely.

429

General Software Discussion / Re: Cause of Vista crashes

« on: March 28, 2008, 05:24 PM »

Plus these are very integral drivers/resources. The only time I've managed to crash vista, it was display related. What really pisses me off is that, with laptops, you have to wait for the manufacturer to resign the drivers before you can use them--mandating that I use outdated drivers indefinitely. The issue may be fixed, but only for desktops.

430

General Software Discussion / Re: On-Line Dictionaries

« on: March 28, 2008, 05:16 PM »

I voted m-w and other -- I use m-w's non-free unabridged dictionary as I am a bit of an etymology fanatic. I also use Google when looking more for popular usage rather than precise/detailed definition.

Also worth noting, my loyalty lies forever with m-w.com as an extension of my offline usage of their print volume fr as long as I've been lifting a pen with intentions of putting words to paper. (I hate to type anything not computers in nature. I love ink.)

431

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: PowerCmd on Bits du Jour

« on: March 25, 2008, 11:33 AM »

This program is outstanding. This is going to make me a lot happier when using ftp/telnet so much nicer. (I don't want to hear the telnet hate! I'm insecure and happily so!

432

Developer's Corner / Re: [BEST] Boxer Editor Scripting Thread

« on: March 25, 2008, 10:34 AM »

Here's one I use fairly frequently. It takes the body of a text file and activates it as a mailto link, sending it to your default e-mail client.  The arbitrary buffer size limits the size of document this works with, but it's handy if I'm working on something and want to jot down a quick message without switching to my mail client.
- If nothing is selected, line 1 is subject and the rest is the body
- If there is a selection, it is treated as the body and you are prompted for the subject

Code: C [Select]

1. // Send the selected text as an e-mail message
2.  
3. macro SendAsEmail()
4. {
5.   // Set prompt to 0 to disable subject prompt
6.   int prompt = 1;
7.   int inc;
8.   string line;
9.   string sel;
10.   string subj;
11.   string strout;
12.   // Check for selection, if nothing selected
13.   // Line 1 = subject, rest = body
14.   // This is to ensure cursor placement doesn't
15.   // truncate the url encoding
16.   if ( GetSelectionSize <= 0 ) {
17.     GetLineText(1,subj);
18.     ChangeString(subj," ","%20");
19.     for ( inc = 2; inc <= LineCount(); inc++ ) {
20.       GetLineText(inc,line);
21.       ChangeString(line," ","%20");
22.       line += "%0a";
23.       sel += line;
24.     }
25.   } else {
26.     // Prompt for SUBJECT only if "prompt" is not 0
27.     // Otherwise, blank subject is sent
28.     if ( strlen(subj) < 1 && prompt > 0 ) {
29.       GetString("Subject of Message",subj);
30.       ChangeString(subj," ","%20");
31.     }
32.     // Fetch body, add spaces and line endings
33.     GetSelection(sel);
34.     ChangeString(sel,"\n","%0a");
35.     ChangeString(sel," ","%20");
36.   }
37.   // Assemble mailto string
38.   strout = "?subject=";
39.   strout += subj;
40.   strout += "&body=";
41.   strout += sel;
42.   // Send to mail client
43.   OpenEmail(strout);
44. }

433

Developer's Corner / Re: [BEST] Boxer Editor Scripting Thread

« on: March 25, 2008, 09:53 AM »

ROT13 is just a silly way of rotating through the alphabet as a 52 character index (caps and lowercase unique) to mask text. It's naturally bi-directional, not at all secure, but I guess can mask things from search engines and obfuscates the information from those unfamiliar with ROT13 . . . (Yvxr lbh svir zvahgrf ntb!)

434

Developer's Corner / Re: [BEST] Boxer Editor Scripting Thread

« on: March 25, 2008, 09:36 AM »

That's not an actual rot13 conversion, though--it's a literal +13 and only one direction I think. . .

This does rot13

Code: C [Select]

1. // Macro for rot13 text conversion
2.  
3. macro rot13()
4. {
5.   // Define primary alphabet key
6.   string base = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
7.   // Define the conversion key
8.   string conv = "NOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklm";
9.   // Declare some vars
10.   string output,sel; // selection text
11.   char thischar;
12.   // Check for selected text; if none,
13.   // print message to status bar and exit macro
14.   if ( getselectionsize <= 0 ) {
15.     statusmessage("Nothing was selected.");
16.     return;
17.   } else if (getselectionsize >= 2048) {
18.     statusmessage("Selected text exceeds allowed size.");
19.     return;
20.   }
21.   // Fetch selected text
22.   int thispos=0,thischarpos,selsize=getselection(sel);
23.  
24.   // Convert text
25.   while(thispos<selsize) {
26.     thischar = sel[thispos];
27.     thischarpos=strchr(base,thischar);
28.     if ( thischarpos >= 0 ) {
29.       thischar = conv[thischarpos];
30.     }
31.     output += thischar;
32.     thispos++;
33.   }
34.   Delete;
35.   PutString(output);
36. }

435

Living Room / Re: Whats on your desktop?

« on: March 23, 2008, 02:49 PM »

Not excessively busy nor absolutely minimalist.  Sufficient is the name of the game.

436

General Software Discussion / Re: Process Tamer.. The Drink

« on: March 22, 2008, 11:03 AM »

anyone who does more than a shot of 151 at any given time is nuts, IMHO.

-Josh (March 20, 2008, 11:21 AM)

Well, it was you who brought up the shooting of it . . .

437

Living Room / Re: TV Characters -- Love / Hate -- By Show

« on: March 22, 2008, 11:01 AM »

Dr Who
Love: The Doctor, of course
Hate: Mothers of his assistants (always)
So/So: The Doctor's assistants (I really don't think they ever appreciate the opportunity they've given until it's too late. Which is, incidentally, about the time they stop annoying me)

Seinfeld
Love: George
Hate: Jerry [Seinfeld]

30 Rock
Love: Jack, Liz
Hate: Jerry Seinfeld as Jerry Seined

House
Love: House, Wilson
Hate: Pretty much every one on houses team(s); admittedly Foreman's new-ish role is a bit ok

Torchwood
Love: Jack (Most of the time, when he's not pining after someone)
Hate: Owen (Emo kid playing it off as angry and self-important)

438

General Software Discussion / Re: Process Tamer.. The Drink

« on: March 20, 2008, 11:11 AM »

Wait, you mean you cant drink 151? I shoot it all the time!

-Josh (March 15, 2008, 06:42 PM)

I make a distinction between drinking and shooting. I don't enjoy leisurely sipping 151 proof so much.

439

General Software Discussion / Re: Process Tamer.. The Drink

« on: March 15, 2008, 06:39 PM »

Except, instead of Bacardi 151, go with Gosling Bros. Black Seal 151 -- it's a much more richer, flavorful rum and every bit as flamable. (and for actual drinking, you can't beat their 80 proof Black Seal)

440

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Tudumo discounted till March 20

« on: March 15, 2008, 06:36 PM »

Pretty sure it's the one linked to previously.

441

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Agenda At Once v3.0 final - finally :)

« on: March 15, 2008, 06:35 PM »

Ken, Palm Desktop has recently been updated.

-Josh (January 28, 2008, 03:47 PM)

Not really . . . it jumped two version numbers to vista compatibility, but it actually had no improvements other than vista compatibility.  Actually, it went backwards a bit (no longer auto snags birthdays from contacts to display in your calendar, no longer supports colors) -- the only improvement was the conduit--now it can install apps from vista systems.  Palm Desktop hasn't been improved in terms of features and functionality in 5-10 years.  It, remarkably, now offers less features than its handheld counterpart. WTF?!

Count me in for the Palm beta if you need testers! I would love nothing more than to replace Palm Desktop with an actively developed, rich application -- but the only alternative on Windows is Outlook--something I see as an even greater evil than Palm Desktop.

Beyond that, I'm in the same boat as Ken--organizers do me no good if they can't talk to my external (Palm) brain.

442

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Tudumo discounted till March 20

« on: March 15, 2008, 06:30 PM »

TuDuMo is simple and pretty, but very very limited.

-Dormouse (March 15, 2008, 05:56 PM)

Yeah, its purpose -- it's an application with a single purpose. That was the appeal. I already have massively powerful

443

General Review Discussion / Re: Wovel

« on: March 15, 2008, 02:35 PM »

It has about a 25 inch blade span -- and it is so much less stressful on the body! First few rounds with it will make your mucles a bit sore as it uses a different set than other forms of shoveling, but I'll take a good upper body workout over neck and back pain any day!  For dealing with more reasonable amounts of snow, as you're liable to get in Kansas, the Wovel should make snow removal all but a joke for you

444

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Tudumo discounted till March 20

« on: March 15, 2008, 11:57 AM »

Ok, I've been playing with it for a bit -- and it's nothing short of beautiful.  It is clearly an application designed for a single purpose -- no clutter, nothing unecessary, and it's as keyboard friendly as it is mouse friendly. It's interface really seems to me to be the epitome of efficiency--which is exactly what you'd want from such an application. I love it.

BUT for me it's not practical. I do 99.9% of my thinking away from the computer; and thinking is when I populate my todo lists.  As Tudumo has no import feature and very limited export (csv only, atm), using it would require I jot things down elsewhere, then rewrite them into Tudumo. Which really isn't a viable option.  So for now, I'll continue to use Palm native solutions with desktop counterparts. . .

I really, really want to use TuDuMo . . . alas.

445

General Software Discussion / Re: What’s this "Linux" thing and why should i try it?

« on: March 13, 2008, 09:01 AM »

I have willed myself away from installing Linux on this machine.  In moments of weakness, I've downloaded 3 or 4 iso's but manage to stop myself before burning them.

I love linux.  I typically just run fluxbox, live in the shell, and watch as my productivity grinds to 5%.  When I'm in linux, I spend 45% of my time in the web browser reading linux crap, and 45% of my time tooling with it, editing this and that, and the other 10% is split up between making coffee, pissing and actually being productive.  The two least productive years of my life were the years I spent playing, literally, with Linux.

So I'm using my will powers to stay where I play less (and enjoy more software compatibility) -- Windows.

446

General Software Discussion / Re: Has the browser become more important than the OS?

« on: March 12, 2008, 09:55 PM »

My internet connection  is  painfully  unreliable,  and as such I
don't really allow  myself  to  become  absolutely  dependent  on
anything  that  I  cannot  access offline.  Even gmail--my entire
account is backed  up  locally  so  I  can  access e-mail when my
Internet connection is down or slow.

Furthermore, I cannot tell  you  how  many  times  I've  lost  an
e-mail,  forum post or other document because I was editing it in
a web form.  Whether it's  failure  to  submit due to Internet or
server issues and inability to go back (suck as with some  secure
forms  or  forms  where JavaScript rather than the actual editbox
holds the  text).  Subsequently,  even  for  web  based  things I
typically do all of my writing in an  offline  application.  This
very post is being composed in  my  text editor, to be copied and
pasted over at submission time.

Additionally, of all the applications on my system, it's my  text
editor(s)  that  must  be  proven  the most reliable.  I crash my
browser from time to time--but my text editor must keep going.

If I am composing anything requiring any sort of significant time
or thought  investment,  I  want  the  fewest  possible points of
failure.  With web apps, you have the potential for  the  browser
to  fail; the potential for your local isp to fail; the potential
for the remote host  to  fail;  the  potential  for the script to
fail; the potential for your session to expire.  There  are  just
far  too  many  things  that  can go wrong -- compared to working
offline where there are only  two  points of failure at any given
time: The operating system and the application in question.

So for me, the desktop is still home.  I love putting  things  on
remote hosts knowing that no matter  where I am I can access them
so long as I have access to the Internet--but the  web  is  still
very  much a secondary environment for me.  So long as it's still
a system of unreliable  layers  of technologies scrapped together
and stacked on top of one  another  where any one of them hiccups
and all is lost,  I  won't  be  adopting  the Internet apps as my
primary work point.

447

Living Room / Re: Favorite TV Episode???

« on: March 12, 2008, 04:47 PM »

The final episode of the sopranos is probably my favorite . . . I thought it was brilliantly done and really appreciated the ambiguity of it.  It left me really wanting more, mourning the loss of the series; which is much better than so many series ends: Typically too much or too abrupt. The sopranos ended in an indescript, yet meaningful way.  (Though I tend to think the actual unshown ending is/was made more than obvious by a number of episodes leading up to it the absense of any clear gratification as to the end really drove it home.)

Also up there are "Gridlock" and "Last of the time Lords" from the new Doctor Who. ( I really love the allusions to the origin of The Face of Boe.)

448

General Software Discussion / Re: I'm looking for a Pink Noise Generator for Windows

« on: March 12, 2008, 09:44 AM »

I'm am looking for a coworker who has Tinnitus. We are wondering if listening to pink noise will help relieve the symptoms when he is trying to concentrate on work stuff.

-tinjaw (March 11, 2008, 10:31 AM)

I have pretty bad constant tinnitus -- should you find something that works well for your co-worker, please forward it on to me!  Most any noise helps me cope with it -- be it music or a TV in the background -- it's absolute silence that I cannot stand, even for a moment.

I'd never heard of "pink" noise before, and as such have never really looked into it.  White noise doesn't jive well with my "ears", curious to see how this pans out.

449

Living Room / Re: What Are Your Favorite Science Blogs?

« on: March 11, 2008, 07:36 AM »

I follow space.com.  And recently have been following newspond, which scrubs many daily science resources.

450

DC Gamer Club / Re: Lets get organized so we can get gaming!

« on: March 09, 2008, 11:16 PM »

Alas, 95% of my gaming is console gaming . . .

I love Test Drive Unlimited, but play it on my Xbox 360 not PC -- I'm pretty sure the online functions of the two are completely separate.

Feel free to add my gamertag (My virtually empty friends list could use some improving upon!)
"Petty Nihilist"