Topics

1

Living Room / livestrong.com MyPlate webapp

« on: July 06, 2010, 03:58 PM »

So, a few months ago I stepped on the scale and it read something in the upper 280s, like 288. I think my mind blocked it out due to the trauma. I am closing in on 40 (currently 38) and it's only downhill from here.

I decided to lose weight and I started with exercise to increase my stamina. Then, after about a month and a half I started changing the way I eat. I haven't had a soda in about 3 weeks, which is unheard of. I used to drink about a 2 liter a day, though in recent years I had dropped that down to about a two liter every few days. I had myself convinced that I couldn't eat without a soda. I could drink water at other times, but when I'm eating I had to have soda. I think I have just about kicked the habit, I can even go out to dinner and order water with it now!

So, on to the point. I have lost 25 lbs so far, and I started tracking my calories a few weeks ago with an excel spreadsheet that I made. A few nights ago I stumbled across this site:

http://www.livestrong.com/myplate

Wow!  It is awesome! You can type in the foods you eat and it has a lot of stuff in the database, or you can enter the calories manually. If you eat the same meals commonly, you can set the meal up and add it with one or two clicks. You can also log your exercise.

If anyone here is trying to lose weight you might want to give this one a look.

2

Developer's Corner / This is interesting ... LoseThos Operating System

« on: December 14, 2009, 12:03 PM »

Now, it is probably the most focused purpose OS I have ever seen. It is an OS that the author describes as a modern day Commodore 64 OS. The entire OS is built on a C compiler and compiles the OS at boot time for the required components to boot, then JITs the rest as needed. Its actually quite fascinating, I have just watched the videos. Part of the fun of the videos for me are listening to the author describe things. He is unintentionally hilarious at times. My favorite snippet so far that absolutely cracked me up was on the video "InstallBoot(): Compiling the kernel" he was talking about setting up a RAM disk and said something like "I have 12 gig, I have nothing better to do than make ram disks...".

Anyway if anyone is interested check it out at http://www.losethos.com/

I am just having a good time listening to his videos in the background. haha.  It is a very interesting project though.

3

General Software Discussion / Looking for a good project time tracking application

« on: November 21, 2009, 10:19 AM »

It doesn't have to be freeware (though that IS preferable haha), but it does have to be cheap.  Being cheap is necessary though. Being out of work blows hard!

Ideally, I could configure projects by name, and have a dropdown box to select the project, then it just has a start and stop buttons, and a timer. It would be neat if each project has a configurable "billing period" and you can easily report on the totals, and on the main interface it would show the total accumulated time for this period when recording.

Anyone know of anything quite like this?

4

Clipboard Help+Spell / QuickNote Add???

« on: April 23, 2008, 03:33 PM »

Would you believe I only JUST tried out this feature that has been partially implemented for a looooonng time?  It would ROCK!  Any idea if you will be getting it working anytime semi soonish Mouser?

5

Coding Snacks / Idea: TCP/IP Configuration Save/Restore

« on: January 22, 2008, 08:14 AM »

I work on people's computers for a living and often find myself having to change their IP configuration as a test for networking problems.  I was doing this yesterday, first I go to a command prompt and do an "ipconfig /all > ip.txt" command so I can restore the config.  I was thinking how cool it would be if I had a little app that I can run that will save that ip configuration to a text file unique to that pc, maybe one named for the machines host name so it will know what was that machines original config and then you can have some presets for other configurations (like a straight dhcp one) you can select and load with a couple of clicks.  Then you can revert the changes with a click or two.  Any geeks want to second me on this one?

6

Skrommel's Software / ScreamerMenu

« on: January 21, 2008, 05:02 PM »

Hey Skrommel, I have been using Screamer for quite a while now and semi-recently found your menu for it.  A lot of the features don't really have much use for the way I use it (I only use it to listen to 2 streams) but the record option is very interesting for me, since I recently figured out that I can use screamer to record a stream (talk radio) and use it as a sort of PVR for online talk radio along with Winamp.  This allows me to pause the stream as I answer the phone or talk to a customer, and fast forward through the boring parts (after establishing a buffer).

Anyway, I tried the record scheduler but it didn't seem to work for me, but thats probably because its never running when the schedule is set to start.  Is there any way the program can be set to check for missed schedules and pick it up where it is instead of ignoring the schedule entirely if it misses the start time?

7

Living Room / I was wondering when this was going to happen.

« on: November 02, 2007, 01:47 PM »

But, to be honest, I never thought it would happen when I was only 35 years old.  I have now officially seen it all. 

Woman convicted of rape.

8

Living Room / Podcast Clients....

« on: October 03, 2007, 11:36 AM »

The only thread I was able to find via search was almost 2 years old, so I figured it would be ok to start a new thread on this subject.  Anyone here fans of podcasts?  What do you look for in a client?  I have been searching high and wide for the perfect client.  I found one a long time ago that was close, but it is glacially slow on updates and bug fixes so am "in the market again".

Here are my desired features.

* Freeware or OpenSource.  (I am poor and saddled with debt)
* History, it knows what it downloaded and when it downloaded it, plus gives you the ability to easily re-download something it already did.
* Tag replacement.  Podcasters obviously don't know what tags are, they normally seem to be randomly generated.

Thats all I can think of right now.  I was using Doppler, but like I mentioned, the updates come sloooooow.  Bug fixes too. 

9

General Software Discussion / Nothing to see here :/

« on: September 29, 2007, 11:36 AM »

I can't believe I missed that other thread that was exactly this same subject! 

10

General Software Discussion / Wanted: Simple drum machine program!

« on: September 27, 2007, 11:20 AM »

I have been looking forever, I am learning to play the guitar and need to work on my timing.  I despise metronomes and want something more interesting, something that can just loop a drum beat.  Sounds simple right?  Surely there has to be a bunch of programs out there that do this, right?  No.  Everything I find is this huge convoluted mess of a program where you have to design the beats and stuff.  I just want something with some drum beats that I can select and hit play and it goes and goes, so I can practice along with it.  Anyone seen or heard of anything like that? 

11

Clipboard Help+Spell / DBISAM Engine Error# 11010

« on: September 11, 2007, 09:55 AM »

Heyyyy Mouser.  All of a sudden CH+S has decided to be a pain in my butt!  Hah.  It looked like the database was damaged, so I tried restoring all the backups but that failed giving me messages similar to the ones I am posting screen shots to below.  Then I tried going into the database folder in the program folder and deleting the database files, figuring it would recreate blank ones when I ran it and I could restore my latest backup.  This didn't work, it doesnt create them and I still get these messages:

Spoiler

Spoiler

12

DcUpdater / Crazy and probably not feasible idea: DCUpdate swarming.

« on: July 16, 2007, 11:57 AM »

The bandwidth of downloads via DCUpdate may not add up to much and im not sure how you are sitting on the bandwidth front.  Would it be feasible to add swarming capability to DCUpdate and some of us can enable "seeding" mode so we can help out in serving your updates?  I think the bittorrent protocol is pretty well documented.  I know I would be willing to seed updates.  In this case, the program would automatically download and save the updates and immediately seed even if I haven't installed it.  Possibly add the option to automatically silent install updates and run the new version.

I am just babbling here.

13

DcUpdater / New feature idea, is it too late?

« on: July 11, 2007, 08:44 AM »

I can see that if things go the way you want, that little application box is going to get veeeery full.  One thing I would like to see is a tree view where plugin updates are a subtree of the program they update.  Automatically expanded only if there are updates. Maybe an option to show only applications or plugins that have updates.  Perhaps the ability to create "folders" in there to organize the apps.  I could create a DonationCoder folder and put all of your programs in it.

14

DcUpdater / Do you want possible bugs posted here as new threads?

« on: July 11, 2007, 08:41 AM »

Or would you want a bug reports thread that people reply to?

When DCUpdater updates itself, it is losing at least some of my options.  Under General Optons, I have "start minimized", "close to tray", and "pop up on available update" selected.  After updating the program those options are no longer selected and I have to go in and reselect them.

15

General Software Discussion / Im sick and tired, and not taking it any more!?!

« on: May 14, 2007, 03:25 PM »

Ok, that was a little melodramatic.  The issue is Firefox's apparent inability to automatically resize imbedded images (like when posted on forums and such). So huuuge images don't get resized.  IE also has the same problem.  I can post an example if you don't get me.

Question is, is there an add-on for firefox to address this issue?

16

General Software Discussion / Help!!! :)

« on: April 24, 2007, 10:01 AM »

Ok guys and gals, I have a strange request.  I am working on a system for a lady and without getting into a looong description of the problem it is missing a file called "userenv.dll".  This system is running Win98 SE and I desperately need that file.  I have searched the web and found versions but every one I have found are for NT based OSes, none for Win9x.  So, if you are running Win9x of any flavor and feel like it could you see if you have this file?  Would be MUCH appreciated.  My catch-all email address is: [email protected].  I post this in public to foil scrapers and such.  Thanks for any help!

17

PopUp Wisdom / Couple of fairly minor issues

« on: December 20, 2006, 08:43 AM »

Hey Mouser, I just got around to checking this program out and was surprised to find that I like it!

I did find two issues quickly though.  One, the program does not support multiple monitors.  I set the position to custom and moved it to my second screen, when it came up it came up on the other one (the primary).  The other issue is on long quotes, especially from the bash.org one, when the window scrolls due to the length, the text is drawn under the buttons making the bottom line hard to read.  I usually have to adjust the length of the window.  Perhaps a fix would be to calculate the height of the button image and add it to what it thinks the height of the window should be?  Also, the buttons draw at the VERY bottom of the window with no space between the bottom edge and the bottom of the button and it just looks odd. 

Cool program, I like it.

18

General Software Discussion / Anyone know of some good voice mail software?

« on: October 26, 2006, 12:18 PM »

I am tired of standard answering machines and their ridiculous little button interfaces.  I want some software running on my computer to handle this with a modern interface that makes dealing with my messages much easier.  Ideally, it would be network aware where I can run it on my machine and have a client version on my wifes computer so she can check messages from her PC.  Should be caller id aware, but then that is a given now.  Internet accessible would be a big plus so you can easily check messages from a remote location.  Another great feature would be the ability to send emails on incoming calls from all callers or just specific callers (caller id of course).  Oh, and a huge plus would be the ability for it to display caller id info on the screen when a call comes in, and to do this in a non-intrusive manner.  Possibly multi-monitor aware so you can designate a specific monitor to display the info to and to do it without taking focus so if you are playing a game you can see who is calling without it taking focus from the game.  This last thing is pretty unlikely though, but would be nice.

So, anyone know any good voice mail software?

19

Post New Requests Here / IDEA: One or two click screenshot emailer

« on: September 12, 2006, 07:44 PM »

This may be a little bigger than a snack, but it is something I have been thinking would be cool and havent found on the internet at large.  I am always fielding support calls from friends and family members where they tell me they saw this thing, or got this vaguely described message box.  Would be super cool if I could send them a tiny program to install, that ideally has my email address preconfigured or other wise on first run it would ask for the destination email address, and then it would sit in the tray.  They could hit a hotkey to send the desktop or active screen to me, or even use the icon in the tray. Maybe it would hook the system menu and they could select "Email Screenshot" from the little box at the top left corner of the window.  Just throwing out some ideas here.  It would either include a little built in SMTP server, or use the MAPI configured client, or even ask the person what outgoing mail server to use (on first run), then when a shot is to be mailed, it would grab the screen, convert to say PNG, then zip it and email it automatically to the configured email address (me).  So in practice the person would only have to hit a hotkey and it would shoot the screen off to me, maybe a single dialog box asking permission to prevent accidental shots sent.  Also, perhaps a governer that will allow it to only send out say 2 screenshots per minute or something, to prevent someone playing an unfunny joke.  Would be nice if some of these options were configurable before sending to the recipient.

20

Developer's Corner / A little game project I have been thinking about and started tonight.

« on: May 25, 2006, 01:18 AM »

I like checkers, so have wanted to do a checkers game.  For me, it would only be fun if you could play it with someone else.   A screen cap of the UI I have mocked up so far is attached.  My plan is this:

* The name is currently netCheckers, but if someone has a cooler name let me know.
* I am thinking about putting a basic in game AI for playing locally alone.
* The main thing it is for though is playing someone else over the network.
* I would like to have it auto discover other games running on the local lan and be able to connect to a specified IP over the internet.  When it launches it will look for other instances running and offer them as a destination, but the user can also select "Internet" or something to put in an IP.
* I am toying with some ideas for some "modes" to make it more interesting, like the ability to somehow earn back your pieces from the other player, etc.
* I am planning to implement some different board/piece colors that will be user configurable.

The checker positions are currently picture boxes, with the pieces planned to be .pngs with background transparencies. I would LIKE to make the pieces draggable to the new position, but may do a  click source and then click destination method since I dont know if I can do the drag and drop thing.  Maybe a grid of picture boxes arent the best way?

Most of this is currently beyond me, but will be a good learning experience.  Any input would be appreciated.  If I am able to make this thing and make it work, I would want to post it here for people to use if they want.

Notes on the screenshot:  The white arrows will designate the current player to move, only one will be showing at any given time.   I was thinking of making a small box between the players arrow and the players info that will "hold" jumped pieces, sort as a visual indicator of how many pieces you have taken. 

21

Developer's Corner / Variable naming conventions

« on: May 05, 2006, 05:53 PM »

Well since I am trying to get back into coding, I guess I will get some opinions on a few things.  One thing I have always sort of struggled with, and have changed my method many times over the years, is variable naming.  My current way is pretty much a single letter to designate the datatype i expect to see in it (i for integer) and then a descriptive name, first letter of each word capitalized for enhanced readability.  I really have never worried much about standard conventions to facilitate others reading my code because, frankly I have never written anything anyone would ever want to read.    But, who knows, if I can actually stick with it at some point I may be able to.

I also would like to see a few more threads on various, language agnostic if possible, ways to write code that is readable and such.  Also, maybe the more experienced guys (im looking at you Mouser!!) can give us some pointers on how to decide when to write functions to replace code blocks and when to just do it in place.  Here is one:  When do you write a class instead of a series of functions or methods?

22

Developer's Corner / Ok, I need some advice here.

« on: May 05, 2006, 03:28 PM »

A short background:  I have been programming off and on for about 12 (wow, i told mouser yesterday that it had been 8 years but while writing this I realized its been longer than that.) years, mostly off.  I love it, but have trouble sticking with it since no one I know is even slightly interested, and having a friend or two that shares your love makes it so much more fun.  My experience was with commodore asm and basic (mostly basic   then Borland turbo pascal and c/c++, all procedural dos stuff.  When Windows became big (hey, we all know 3.1 sucked) I scaled back since there weren't many free options for doing event driven windows programming back then.  I did do some Visual Basic with vb 4 and 5, but then I basically stopped other than doing ASP with data access via ODBC to Access 97 databases for years (a second job i have, part time).  Well, now you know my entire life history!  Well some of it.

Recently, I have really been wanting to get back into programming, over the last few years I have tried to get back into it, but books are expensive and there are too darn many options out there.  I am way too indecisive and always second guess my decisions.  I keep thinking I want to get back into C++, since that is the language that I did a lot of before I started drifting away, and really love how the language is structured.  But, keep in mind I only did procedural stuff in C++.  And, finally, we come to the question.  I have gotten the whole Visual Basic Express 2005 stuff from Microsoft and started messing around with it some, mostly Visual Basic, but a wee bit with the C++ product.  I keep hearing a lot about C#, and have been toying with the idea of just going for it with that language.  I have this little voice in the back of my head that keeps telling me any of the managed languages aren't really programming, not like a real C++ compiler that compiles to stand alones haha.  Shades of VB4 bytecode runtimes.  I know that is an outdated view, and its hard to shake, but I am trying.  So, C#, or C++?  Or keep on doing Visual Basic?  What do you guys think?  Also, anyone here know offhand if the C++ Express 2005 in that stuff from Microsoft compiles standalone exes or do they also require .net?

Thanks beforehand for any advice, and sorry for the rambling.