Messages

901

General Software Discussion / Re: How to work with (display, format, restructure) big amount of structured dat

« on: July 16, 2007, 03:35 PM »

I use Word 2007, but not the huge documents.  I know the specs are for much larger documents though if that helps.

902

General Software Discussion / Re: MS-OOXML Fails to Gain Approval in US

« on: July 16, 2007, 12:18 PM »

Isn't ISO a French organisation - I thought ANSI was the US equivalent?

-Carol Haynes (July 16, 2007, 11:07 AM)

No, ISO is international.  ANSI is the US branch of ISO.  The EU also has a branch, but I can't remember off hand what it's designator is.

-EDIT- It is actually based on National Standard bodies as outlined in the quote below.  ANSI is the US National Standards Body.

In general, each country or economy has a single recognized Standards Body (NSB). Examples include ABNT, ANSI, BSI, DGN, DIN, IRAM, JISC, KATS, SABS, SAC, SCC, SIS, SNZ. An NSB is likely the sole member from that economy in ISO.

-Wikipedia

903

General Software Discussion / Re: imaging & partitioning queries

« on: July 16, 2007, 09:00 AM »

In reverse order -

What I mean is to make the image, then (on another drive) verify that the image was made and made correctly.  It really sucks to think you have been backing up the system all this time just to find out it didn't make the image correctly and/or the data is corrupted.  That means you wasted all this time because you have to start over again anyway.  The reason I say check it on another drive is two-fold.  1st - It guarantees that the image is good as otherwise you couldn't recreate the data on another drive.  2nd - If it is bad, you still have the original to make an image from.

As for the differential images, it is true, you can get some garbage in there over time.  This is particularly true when you delete programs that don't totally remove themselves or you have your data in the same partition (some programs actually require this,  ).  How I handle that depends on how long it has been since my original image and how much my system and/or requirements have changed.  If it has been a long time and/or I have many upgrades, etc... I just start over from scratch and essentially toss out my old images.  I take a snapshot of the start menu using screenshot captor and print it out to ensure I remember all the programs I want to reinstall, then I wipe the machine and start over.  If it hasn't had many changes or the image isn't so old, then I just recreate the base image.  This is why -RW media is so nice.  Reformat the media and make a new image .  Again, don't forget to test the image.  Differential images aren't nearly as critical to check, but the base image absolutely is.

904

General Software Discussion / Re: How to work with (display, format, restructure) big amount of structured dat

« on: July 16, 2007, 08:25 AM »

Thank you for the explaination, that helped a lot.  The zooming, to my knowledge can not happen the way you described if you want to keep the pages separate.  That is just one of the drawbacks of using HTML.  As URLWolf mentioned, maybe using Evernote would work for that.  Other than that, though, HTML can do exactly what you want.  Since I tend to code my own HTML directly in a text editor like Boxer or Notepad++, I can't really make any good suggestions as to what WYSIWYG editor would work best for you, but hopefully someone else here can.  Perhaps Microsoft Visual Web Developer Express?  Just a though where to start anyway.  What I can say is you would need to put a lot of thought into the underlying structure before the editor would work the way you want (for pagination and navigation for example).  Most likely that would also require a lot of custom coding before using the editor.  I think if I were you, though, I would try Evernote first, as this route could take a long time to streamline and make effective (assuming the missing zoom feature didn't disqualify this to begin with).

905

General Software Discussion / Re: PawSense: catproof your computer

« on: July 16, 2007, 08:13 AM »

That is kinda funny, but I bet it has a lot of uses.  Cats aren't the only PC nemisis on the keyboard.  A not quite 2-year old can do amazing things to a computer with a keyboard.  I am a computer technician and have had trouble undoing some of the things my daughter has done when I wasn't looking 

906

General Software Discussion / Re: imaging & partitioning queries

« on: July 16, 2007, 07:57 AM »

It depends on how you image it, but essentially it sounds like what you are saying is correct.  An image is just a snapshot of the state of the PC at the time of the image.  If you only image the one partition, it will leave other parts of the disk alone.  If you image the entire disk, it will take that snapshot of every partition on the disk.  When you go to restore the image later (and I strongly suggest you try to put the image on cd's or dvd's and restore to your "image disk" as a verification process), you can restore it to a partition or the entire disk just as you imaged it. Either way, however, it is restored to EXACTLY how your system is setup at the moment the image was taken - no rollback to how it was, no easy way to recover any lost data.

At work, one of the ways we use imaging is to setup a base image of how every PC in the corporation needs to be set up, complete with all enterprise licenced software and settings.  Then we image the machine and it is the base image.  (Make sure you do a disk cleanup and defrag before you take the image if you want it to be clean when it is restored....).  We then have a baseline of what we KNOW will work a certain way.

At home, I do something more like what you are talking about (I think).  I will install Windows and all my software (No data) to the way I want it, complete with all updates as of that time.  Then clean it up and take the image.  Now I don't need to take several hours to reinstall the software.  It becomes a 15-20 minute ordeal at most.  With Acronis, I can take Differential Images as well, and use those as updates to the original.  I do this so the original stays relatively pristine, while the differential images allow for software updates to be included in the image.  When you keep your data on a different partition, that becomes a rather elegant method of backing up the entire system without clutter.  (I backup the data at the same time, but in a different job so as to keep the data and the programs separate as much as possible).

907

FARR Plugins and Aliases / Re: Announcing Winners of the (first?) Find and Run Robot Plugin Programming Con

« on: July 14, 2007, 08:13 PM »

Congrats.  Now where is that programming plugins for dummies book?

908

General Software Discussion / Re: A question about DRM

« on: July 14, 2007, 04:34 PM »

Good luck.  Let us know if there is anything you need to support your efforts.

909

General Software Discussion / Re: How to work with (display, format, restructure) big amount of structured data?

« on: July 14, 2007, 04:33 PM »

Can you explain what you mean by "zoom out and see a lot of material"?  The reason I am asking is from what I can see, a Good HTML structure, especially with CSS for formatting, might work very well for you.  You can use a masterpage concept to create the outline view, you can skip to any page you want without regard to it's location within the "document", you can add pages with a simple writeup, and you can index it with ANY indexer.  Best of all, if you have it on a web server, you can access it from any computer with web access.  Alternatively, you can compile it into an .mht file (I think that is what it is called) and carry it with you as an archived HTML file.  With the right editor, it is as easy to use as Word as well.  The only catch is, I am not sure how you would impliment the Unified View, because I am not completely certain I understand what you want out of the view.

910

Living Room / Re: Flash game/fun: The Cadaver Calculator

« on: July 12, 2007, 01:48 PM »

$6325 

-app103 (July 12, 2007, 01:16 PM)

App, that is because you are perfect...Anyone who can sqeeze out of an old machine what you are able to must be just this side of Christ himself... 

911

Living Room / Re: Flash game/fun: The Cadaver Calculator

« on: July 12, 2007, 01:04 PM »

$5125 

-nudone (July 12, 2007, 12:56 PM)

Forget me, better not let your wife find out...

912

Living Room / Re: How to best share documents, notes, links with coworkers?

« on: July 12, 2007, 12:15 PM »

Right we do have groove but only the client, you'd need to set up a seperate groove server which we don't have. 

-justice (July 12, 2007, 02:47 AM)

Hm...My understanding (though it might be wrong) was that a Groove Server was not necessary.  If it was, what would be the point of SharePoint?  Groove is more local workgroup level, whereas SharePoint is much broader in scope.  Groove also allows for you to invite people not on the network (say a vendor for example) whereas SharePoint does not.  I can see a Groove Server needed for some of the extended functionality, but I could have sworn it wasn't critical.  I will look around and get back to you on this further.

Check out this link to a demo on Microsoft Groove.  Looking more into the server at the same time, and it appears to primarily be services for deploying Microsoft Groove.

Welcome to Microsoft® Office Groove® Server 2007, the new suite of Microsoft server software and tools for deploying, managing, and integrating Office Groove 2007 software in your enterprise.

-Microsoft

The Office Groove platform consists of two primary components: the Office Groove 2007 client software that installs directly on each user’s desktop or laptop computer, and the server software that extends Office Groove 2007 client software with centralized management, data relay, and data integration services. While all enterprise customers will deploy Office Groove 2007 client software, customers have two choices for server software based on the size of deployment and required functionality: Microsoft Office Groove Server 2007, which is installed and maintained by the customer, or Microsoft Office Groove Enterprise Services, which is hosted and maintained entirely by Microsoft.

-Microsoft

---FINAL EDIT---

The definitive guide of how the Server integrates into the system can be found here.  It is lengthy, but pretty much confirms exactly what I said.  The only thing it did not clarify is if Server is required to extend beyond your company network (which it may), or just makes it easier to extend.  The biggest advantage to this route over Skype is that it is completely internal...No need to worry about what sensitive data may be on Skype servers.  Otherwise there would be a plethora of services available to you.

913

Living Room / Re: Flash game/fun: The Cadaver Calculator

« on: July 12, 2007, 11:56 AM »

$5065  Uh-oh.  Don't let the wife find out...

914

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Activity logger (with screenshots)

« on: July 11, 2007, 08:11 PM »

Cool!  It is always great to see developers visit.  Glad you are here secretGeek.

915

General Software Discussion / Re: Is the Windows start menu dead?

« on: July 11, 2007, 07:52 PM »

Actually you can pin it like that very easily, at least in 2000/XP.  Where you do that is (by default) in C:\Documents and Settings\******\Start Menu where the ******* is either All Users or a specific user(s) depending on who you want to see that pin.  I am not so sure in Vista, though my guess is it would be similar.  Just place a shortcut there and it works.

BTW:  You can also drag and drop it into location in XP and 2000.

916

Living Room / Re: How to best share documents, notes, links with coworkers?

« on: July 11, 2007, 07:38 PM »

Just beware, Groove is only available as part of Office in the full Enterprise edition and Ultimate edition.  So it may well be that you don't have Groove even when you do have Office 2007.

917

Living Room / Re: Who is more corrupt?

« on: July 11, 2007, 07:30 PM »

Actually, I sort of expected that.  But I figured in balance it will work out.  It is just a good way to release my frustrations with all three, because like Grorgy, I think all three to one extent or another would fit.

918

Living Room / Re: How to best share documents, notes, links with coworkers?

« on: July 11, 2007, 06:18 PM »

Since you are talking about work, there are two or three options for most companies, depending on what you already have or are willing to buy.  If you run LotusNotes Domino servers, they can setup QuickPlace if it doesn't already exist.  The MS alternative is SharePoint.  If you are looking for a more freeform package for a small group, you can also look at MS Groove.  I am sure there are many other alternatives, especially OSS alternatives, but I don't know any and even if I did, I couldn't tell you how good they are.

My experience is with QuickPlace and SharePoint.  I am not so fond of either, they just both seem very cumbersome.  However, they are capable of doing (more or less) what you are asking for.  Groove is new with Office 2007, but it looks promising if you want to try that out.  I have it, but have never had the need or opportunity to use it.  Microsoft offers a free trial of this as well to see if it would work for you.  It looks like it is good for 12 months, so it is worth checking out if you are seriously looking at it.  If you do, let me know what you think. 

919

General Review Discussion / Re: Vote for what Review to do Next

« on: July 11, 2007, 06:01 PM »

For a variety of reasons, I think that these reviews, while useful would be better resolved in a slightly different way.  Farmsteader has a great idea, but I think it would help to change it one way.  Have a reviewer bring as many tools to the table with a general overview, then have other people take two of them and have a Shootout review comparing one to another.  I only have a few issues with this that maybe someone else could give a suggestion to overcome.

1) How do you ensure each package gets equal (or near equal) review and comparisons with other contenders - not just a feature for feature shootout between the two packages and that is all you ever hear about those two programs.  A corollary to this is to ensure all programs at least get reviewed instead of mentioned and left without comparison.

2) I would think the developer should not do the shootout with their product, but rather comment on other people's shootout review.  I see no reason they can't do a shootout between two competing products they compete with, however.

The merits of this that I see are that no one person has a bias toward a specific product over all the others and it limits the amount of time and effort any one person needs to put toward the project.

920

Official Announcements / Re: DC-IRLDD #2: DonationCoder Real Life Dinner+Drinks, Sat 7/14, Champaign Illi

« on: July 11, 2007, 05:44 PM »

Most of my surviving relatives live near you, so I will let you know next time I get to visit them.  Until then, I must miss it.

921

DcUpdater / Re: Another Bug, Maybe

« on: July 11, 2007, 05:29 PM »

Well that just makes sense, now doesn't it 

922

DcUpdater / Another Bug, Maybe

« on: July 11, 2007, 04:41 PM »

I don't know if this is a bug or not after reading the way the plugins work, but I noticed DCUpdater seemed to update all the plugins except the ProcessKill plugin.  I ended up following the instructions which worked fine, but I thought the Updater did all that.

923

Living Room / Re: Who is more corrupt?

« on: July 11, 2007, 02:45 PM »

Wow, looks like I am not the only one that feels that way after all.

924

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: New Books Cheaper

« on: July 11, 2007, 02:34 PM »

Yes, you are right.  That is the same thing I saw.  I just thought it was another outlet that Amazon uses, not other vendors.  Regardless, the price difference is pretty negligible after shipping as we pointed out.

925

Living Room / Who is more corrupt?

« on: July 10, 2007, 12:39 PM »

I just finished dealing with my lawyer and the government red tape we have to go through to open an estate (a hassle in itself.  6 months and two lawyers just to accomplish a half hour paperwork job ), just to be hit with a banking institution I never contracted with for online services looking for payment on a "debt" that was incurred over 2 years ago.  This debt was over a bank error that I disputed, but they refused to acknowledge.  When I refused to pay bills until they recognized it, all of a sudden they found my dispute and we finally resolved it with final payment to the bank to as the seal to the issue - or so I thought.  Apparently the bank insulates itself by using third party contracts for the online payments, but now they refuse to pay the contractor and the contractor is comming back to me.  Even with the letters of resolution they are not bothering to even contact the bank for proof of payment and my legwork can not access the bank records.

The entertainment industry is well known for their underhanded, conniving ways, but I think there is more corruption elsewhere.  What do you think?