Topics

326

Living Room / Transform Yourself

« on: January 30, 2007, 09:26 AM »

Someone asked me for the link to this a little while ago and I just realized I never shared it here...

You can upload a photo of yourself and transform it to make yourself look a different race, in the style of a famous artist, or even into an 'ape'.

To save the images after transformation, you will need to do a screen capture. (what better reason to download Screenshot Captor and give it a try)

http://www.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~morph/

This is what I used to create the image of myself that you see in the biography section of my profile:

327

Living Room / Hard Drive File System Questions

« on: January 27, 2007, 06:13 AM »

I have a 400 gig hard drive that I created 6 partitions on.

The first 4 are formatted FAT32 and are about 60 gigs each.

The 5th is about 60 gigs too

The 6th is about 80 gigs.

When formatting the partitions, I was given a FAT32 option on the first 4 but not the 5th or 6th....only options were NTFS or ext3. (Partition Magic)

I wanted to make the whole thing FAT32 just in case there should be a reason why I might have to put this hard drive into my other pc for any reason...like if this pc dies. (other pc is 9x)

I didn't select a file system for the last 2 partitions because I wasn't sure what to do.

Windows XP says the file system is RAW on those last 2 partitions.

I have read & write access to those 2 partitions in XP even though the file system is RAW.

What I want to know is this:

• Is it ok to leave it like this or should I format those last 2 as NTFS?
  
• Can 9x access the files if I leave it RAW?
  
• What would be the negative effects of leaving it the way it is now?
  
• Is it safe to put files on it while it's RAW? Am I risking data loss?

328

Developer's Corner / CodeIDE: the online IDE that works in your browser

« on: January 15, 2007, 04:43 PM »

CodeIDE is an online IDE that works with BASIC, Pascal, C++, Perl, Javascript, HTML, and LISP.

Registered users can chat online and save programs on the service.

There is also a wiki to help you learn programming, and a forum for discussions.

http://www.codeide.com

329

General Software Discussion / GiveawayOfTheDay now has a freeware section

« on: January 09, 2007, 03:34 AM »

Happy New Year!

Here goes our present for you, dear visitors and members of Giveaway of the Day!
Today we launched a new project at giveawayoftheday.com: freeware library. We worked hard to make it handy and also to filter out all that disgusting adware/spyware that some developers call “free”.

This project seems to be a good addition to our site: missed some cool giveaway? Check out similar free software in our library using convenient tags. Don’t think today’s giveaway is useful for you? That’s sad, but check out today’s freeware updates, maybe you`ll like some of them?

Also I guess lots of freeware geeks we know for their comments (;-)) will try this toy to compare our giveaways and similar freeware stuff.

-http://blog.giveawayoftheday.com/2006/12/30/our-freeware-library-is-launched/

And they are accepting PAD files for freeware, if you have anything you would like to submit.

Freeware library is here:  http://www.giveawayo...theday.com/freeware/

and if you would like to leave and/or read any comments about this, you can do that here: http://blog.giveaway...library-is-launched/

There is a discussion in the comments about some of the stuff in their freeware library being bundled with spyware by the original developers of the programs offered (the GiveAwayOfTheDay people didn't do it).

You might want to read the comments on that page before you download anything, and be careful. If you spot something not so nice, be sure to comment there and let them know about it so they can investigate and get the crapware off their site.

330

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2006 / Intensive Care for the Nurturer's Soul

« on: January 09, 2007, 02:55 AM »

There are some really great articles on this site for those that are interested in changing their lives, improving themselves, and reaching goals.

It is targeted at women, but there is no reason why her writings wouldn't help men, too.

I am a Professional Life Coach and the founder of Beyond Horizon Coaching, a nationwide coaching and training company specializing in helping nurturing women practice Intensive Self-Care, and providing solutions for Nurturing Burnout, Work/Life Balance, and Stress Management. Prior to becoming a Professional Life Coach, I've been a Registered Nurse, college counselor, assistant director of a nonprofit health care foundation, small business owner, full-time working mom, stay-at-home mom, etc. Having been a "nurturer" all my life, and having experienced the Nurturing Burnout myself, it is my passion to empower women nurturers to practice Intensive Self-Care, achieve Work/Life Balance, and create a life they truly desire.

http://nurture-me-coach.blogspot.com/

331

Living Room / A Woman from Inside Out

« on: January 02, 2007, 10:32 PM »

Watch as the artist sketches this woman, beginning with her skeleton.

http://www.pelourinh....com/movies/c003702/

332

Living Room / Build Your Own Laptop

« on: January 02, 2007, 07:41 AM »

13 page article about building your own laptop from scratch.

http://www.custompc....your-own-laptop.html

(site will require registration in order to read entire article)

333

Living Room / Hugg.com (the green digg)

« on: December 31, 2006, 09:42 AM »

It's the environmentally friendly digg for green people.

http://hugg.com/

334

General Software Discussion / Looking for a freeware .mov to .mpeg4 converter

« on: December 31, 2006, 04:04 AM »

My daughter's new camera takes video but the files are .mov.

She is in need of a very easy to use freeware converter that will convert the files to MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid) for uploading to youtube. (not for burning to dvd)

She isn't very patient or knowledgeable with computers so it would have to be something very easy to use. (think of what you would suggest to the average grandma that hasn't used a pc for anything except email, IM, and web surfing)

335

N.A.N.Y. Challenge 2007 / PesterMe - v1.00.0 - December 30, 2006

« on: December 30, 2006, 03:22 PM »

PesterMe - v1.00.0 - December 30, 2006

• First public release.
  
• Features custom nag message, tray icon, customizable timer, sound.

WHAT IT DOES:
 Allows you to create your own repeating nag message that will popup as frequently as you want.

SCREENSHOTS:

Main window:


tray icon with menu:


Custom message box:


Visit homepage for download.

336

N.A.N.Y. Challenge 2007 / Smile Inducer 2007 : Project Withdrawn - January 10, 2007

« on: December 30, 2006, 08:31 AM »

Smile Inducer 2007 : Project Withdrawn - January 10, 2007

Please see reason here.

PREVIOUS RELEASES:
v1.0.0.0 - December 31, 2006

• First public release.
  
• Features a mood based timer.

WHAT IT DOES:

Helps fight depression by giving you reasons to smile.

The more depressed you are, the more frequently you are given 'smiles'.

Just click the face that corresponds to your current mood.

SCREENSHOT:

337

Developer's Corner / SectionZ Electronic Music Community

« on: December 28, 2006, 07:52 AM »

Everything on this site is covered by a CreativeCommons license, although there are restrictions on some of the work as to what you can & can't do with it.

There are over 160 tunes with an Attribution Only license though, which means you are free to use them any way you choose, even in your games, as long as you give credit.

http://www.sectionz....stall.asp?listall=by

338

Developer's Corner / Public Domain Stock Photos

« on: December 28, 2006, 07:43 AM »

Website of photographer Jon Sullivan, who has decided to place a huge chunk of his work into the public domain for anyone to use in any way they choose.

The quality on many are fantastic.

Click the thumbnail to see the full size of a sample of his work.




http://www.pdphoto.org

339

Living Room / Art in your morning coffee

« on: December 28, 2006, 03:12 AM »

Some incredible art that suggests to me that someone doesn't need that morning cup of coffee to put themself in work-mode.

http://www.pantherho...helton/espresso-art/

340

General Software Discussion / Looking for a freeware ipod utility app

« on: December 25, 2006, 01:25 PM »

My daughter received an ipod for Giftmas that was preloaded with 6 gigs of music.

We would like to be able to copy this music to her hard drive so she won't lose it.

Does anybody know of a freeware utility that will copy these files to a Windows PC? 

I found a few that were free, but they were for Mac only, not Windows.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

341

Living Room / Share your Pandora Stations

« on: December 17, 2006, 06:06 AM »

mouser suggested I ask everyone to share their favorite Pandora stations and explain exactly how to do this.


Method #1:

The easiest way to share a station, or all of them is with your Pandora rss feed.

Those that are using Open Pandora will have to actually visit the pandora.com site to do this.

Click on the 'your profile' button



Then right click the rss icon and copy the target:



Add that link to your favorite rss reader.

When it loads, it will give you a list of all your stations.


(this is from my AOLex browser)

The url of each one is what you share, to share that station with others. I can't explain how to get the individual urls from your reader, as every reader is different. (I can just right click an entry and copy the link in mine.)


Share the rss feed url you originally added to your reader, to share them all in one shot.

Method #2:

The alternative is to email yourself the stations individually...

First, start playing the station you wish to share.
Then click the share button and select 'email current station to a friend'.


Fill in your own email address and click 'share'.



Then go check your email for the link. Share that link. 


Here is my rss feed for all of my stations:

http://feeds.pandora...telamer/stations.xml
(add this to your rss reader)

Here is just my station of Christmas music that I just made for my daughter:

Jingle Bells Radio
(you can just click this to listen, no extra software needed)

342

Living Room / Myer-Briggs Personality Test For Programmers (or anybody)

« on: December 10, 2006, 09:53 PM »

If you have never taken a test like this before, you may find the results very interesting.


http://www.eggheadca...icles/mb/default.asp

It's just 69 questions with 2 answer choices each.

343

General Software Discussion / New & Free from Corel: Snapfire

« on: December 05, 2006, 10:19 AM »

Corel® Snapfire™ puts the fun in photo sharing! Now it is easier than ever to organize, edit & share your digital photos and videos! Wow your friends and family by creating stunning Snapfire Shows - multimedia presentations of your photos & videos with transitions and effects! There's even one-click photo fixes and effortless organization making this FREE software the easiest way to have fun with your digital photos and videos.

http://www.snapfire.com

344

Living Room / Flash Game: Flower Quest

« on: November 26, 2006, 01:18 AM »

My kind of puzzle game. 

Join 2 or more flowers by connecting the vines. Eliminate the all the green & yellow blocks by connecting the vines and flowers in long chains. Once all of the green & yellow blocks are eliminated, you advance to the next level.

http://www.alawar.co...ine_game.php?ID=2757

345

Living Room / Would you like a rare & valuable Cody mug?

« on: November 19, 2006, 08:04 AM »

Mouser has generously donated one rare & valuable Cody mug as a prize for a little contest...

It will go to our busiest typer.


Is this you?

GOE participants will get a chance to practice all those new productivity skills you have been learning.

As some may know, I have started a DonationCoder WhatPulse team.

For those that don't know what that is, I made a post awhile back about it.

Anybody that is part of the team will be elegible to win a Cody mug. (except me)

Anybody that isn't on the team yet, hurry up and join before the contest begins. I am giving you plenty of notice to get signed up and everything running correctly.

At midnight on Saturday, November 25, 2006, NYC time, I will take a screenshot of the team page.

You will then have 7 days to be your most productive self and type as many keys as you can. No cheating please, you have to type them all yourself with your own 2 hands and/or feet. (or head)

To make this fair to new team members, only keystrokes made after I make the screenshot will count. Please have your WhatPulse client set up to make automatic pulses about once per hour or every 1000 keys.

The team member that has accumulated the most keystrokes by midnight on Saturday, December 2, 2006, NYC time, will recieve 1 rare & valuable Cody mug.

Anybody that would like to display their stats in a team banner in their signature, like mine, read my next post below for my official super easy to follow tutorial.

You may send me a private message on the forum to ask for individual help setting things up, if you need it. Don't be afraid of me, I don't bite and I am MEGA patient.


At this time, the WhatPulse client is only available for Windows. (my appologies to Mac & Linux users)

346

Living Room / Wiki of the Week: Wikimapia

« on: November 17, 2006, 03:23 AM »

This is the first in a series of weekly posts introducing you to smaller lesser known wikis on the web.

The goal will be to introduce you to new sources of information on specific topics, and hopefully those of us with knowledge in these topic areas may want to contribute to the wikis and improve them.

Our first stop: Wikimapia - Let's Describe the Whole World

At first it seems like just a giant Google map.



But when you click an area, you are zoomed in for closer inspection and given a chance to describe a place you are familar with, or read a description someone else has given.

Take a look at your own neighborhood on this wiki.
Click the Wikimapia menu at the top and select "Search City" and type in the name of your town. Then select the correct one from the list.


(my neighborhood)

Are the parks, hospitals, and other landmarks labeled and described? If not, maybe you might want to contribute a description for a few.

Here I am adding a description of a supermarket near my house:

Step 1: adding a place:

Zoom in on the location you want to describe and click the red "add place" button at the top. Then adjust the box over the location. When you have it the way you want it, click OK.


Step 2: Add the description:


As soon as it is approved, it will be added to the map:


Have you ever wondered about the neighborhood that an online friend lives in? Zoom in on their town and see what kinds of landmarks have been labeled.

"mouserville":


I hope you have enjoyed this wiki. Come back next Friday and I will introduce you to another. 

347

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2006 / What do you want to do with your life?

« on: November 12, 2006, 08:29 PM »

Pick 43 things.

They don't have to be big things. You can start out small.

Choose from a list of things that others feel are worthwhile or come up with one of your own. The point is to do something you feel is worth doing.

http://www.43things.com

348

Living Room / TIME Announces the Best Inventions of 2006

« on: November 11, 2006, 05:47 AM »

http://www.time.com/...uide/bestinventions/

They picked YouTube as the best one. 

349

General Software Discussion / Do you know someone that just hates Clippy?

« on: November 11, 2006, 04:25 AM »

Cute little freeware program that takes the Dr. Windows idea to another level.

Have you ever been working in Windows and a small annoying Clippy assistant appeared? We have too, that is why we created this prank software called Clippy.Clippy is a simulated office assistant that, when ran, will hide in the background for 1 minute then popup in the lower right hand corner of the screen and say something useless. There is no right-click Hide option on our Clippy prank, you will think there is no way to get rid of it (but there is). Every minute, Clippy pops up spouting useless nonsense about your computer. Clippy looks exactly like the annoying Clippy assistant you are used to, complete with sound and a variable size hint box based on the size of the hint.That is not all! Clippy comes with a dozen or so default messages, but Clippy can be customized to fit your needs.

Comes with such message gems as these:

• It appears you are connected to the Internet.
• I see that you have been using your mouse.
• Your computer seems to be turned on.
• It looks like your keyboard is working correctly.
• Your productivity has been decreasing lately. I hope everything is ok.
• Sometimes I just popup for no particular reason, like now.
• I have detected a mouse move, this was normal.
• Your posture seems to be degrading, please reposition yourself now.
• Your Windows Desktop icons are still there.
• Your monitor is operational.

http://www.rjlsoftwa...ntertainment/clippy/

350

Living Room / TV will be shut in 10 years, says Bill Gates

« on: November 11, 2006, 03:54 AM »

Television as we know it today will become obsolete in the next 10 years, said Microsoft founder Bill Gates. He was speaking at the First Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh during his first visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. “I had my children with me recently and while we were walking in a shopping area, there was this record store and my son asked me: ‘What is a record?’ Well, he has never seen a record. If I take him to a museum, he will see one. Yes, he knows what a TV is, but 10 years from now even TV will be something people will look back on and say: ‘Well, how inconvenient that was. You couldn’t carry it with you wherever you wanted to, and you couldn’t organise it the way you would’ve liked to,” Mr Gates said during his keynote address.

http://www.deccan.co...0years,saysBillGates