Messages

1526

General Software Discussion / Re: Brillant Text Editor (search functions)

« on: February 14, 2007, 03:51 PM »

cant you search L*p*r*?

-kimmchii (February 14, 2007, 03:35 PM)

That'll work for a lot of situations, and it might be good enough for the original poster's needs.  But you'd miss such things that might be considered close-enough matches like:

Luberini
Luperim

which have the same soundex code as Luporini, Luperin, and Loperoni.

And you'd have matches like:

 Longpastor
 Langpresser

which probably shouldn't match.

That problem could maybe be fixed with more targetted regex:  L[aeiou]*p[aeiou]*r[aeiou]*
But I'd hate to have to come up with a custom regex each time I wanted to locate some names.

1527

General Software Discussion / Re: VirtualBox: VM software for home and enterprise use

« on: February 14, 2007, 03:39 PM »

Can you "clone" your current system into a VirtualBox system, so you don't have to reinstall everything ?

-MerleOne (February 14, 2007, 02:30 PM)

I don't know if VirtualBox has a specific tool for this, but one way to perform a physical to virtual clone is to use something like Ghost or another appropriate tool to copy the drive form the physical machine to the virtual machine.

In other words, pretend you got a new system from Dell (or whomever).  How would you get your existing computer's stuff on to the new machine?  Do something similar for the VM.

You may have to image your physical drive to a file then 'restore' the image to the VM in order to work around the fact that the VM will be running on the physical machine.  Also, you'll generally have to deal with re-activating any installed software that's tied the hardware signature (like WinXP, Office XP, etc.).

1528

General Software Discussion / Re: Paperless Home: Need document management software

« on: February 14, 2007, 12:52 AM »

what I need is something that can read and convert tens of thousands of handwritten pages [from many different hands, in many different layouts] into editable and searchable text.)

-cranioscopical (January 19, 2007, 05:41 PM)

This seems like it might be a task for the "Amazon Mechanical Turk" (http://requester.mturk.com/mturk/welcome).

You can scan the documents into image files, then create a bunch of 'HITs' (Human Interface Tasks) to have someone transcribe the documents.  You indicate how much you'll pay per task, and if someone chooses to do the work, Amazon pays them the agreed amount out of your account (taking their cut, of course) once the work is verified.  I'm not sure how much you'd have to pay per page to get people interested, but I believe it costs nothing to set the tasks up (though you do have to place some funds in an account that will be used to pay any tasks that are completed).

When I browsed through the lists of available tasks, many of them are asking to identify images - these seem to pay about 5-10 cents for identifying a small set of images.

In reality, I think you might not have much success, but I think it would be an interesting experiment to try out for a couple dozen pages.  If you do this, please let us know how it goes.

1529

Best Text Editor / Re: Pre-review discussion of "BEST TEXT EDITOR"

« on: February 13, 2007, 02:41 PM »

There's a text editor that supports soundex (an English-oriented phonetic matching algorithm) searches.  I haven't tried it, but you may want to give it a shot:

Power Edit ($30): http://www.galcott.com/pe.htm

I'm surprised I didn't find more on Google.  Soundex is a pretty simple algorithm.

1530

General Software Discussion / Re: needed: tool to sync two HDs/folders

« on: February 13, 2007, 11:54 AM »

I agree with the SyncBackSE recommendation.  It's an easy, flexible, and very well supported backup solution.

However, if you want to go with the free SyncBack version, you can get it to back up open files (on WinXP or later) using VSS if you're willing to do a bit of work.

Take a look at the support forum thread:  http://2brightsparks...viewtopic.php?t=2801

There's information on using some tools made available by an MS blogger for scripting VSS volume shadows.  You can use those scripts to get a shadow started before a backup and stopped after the backup.  Voila - backup open files.  These scripts should be able to work with most any backup solution as long as you can get the backup to run scripts (or have the backup started by a script), not just SyncBack freeware.  They're by no means straight-forward or easy to set up, but they're free.

1531

General Software Discussion / Re: Have an opinion on DefenseWall HIPPS??

« on: February 04, 2007, 12:23 PM »

Not sure if you know this, there's a yearly subscription fee.

-AdIyhc (February 03, 2007, 07:28 PM)

It looks like this is a bit different from AV subscriptions in that the program is still useful after 1 year - you just don't get upgrades:

http://gladiator-ant...ndex.php/t43026.html

So, you don't get a lifetime upgrade license, but you are not required to pay a subscription to continue using what you bought.

edit:  on further reading, it seems that while the functionality of DefenseWall continues after the 1 year period (and you are apparently able to manually update - just not automatically), the program will display a nag screen at each start-up after that period unless you pay $10 to 'prolongate'.

That seems rather heavy-handed (and unacceptable to me).

1532

Living Room / Re: password-protect external HD (USB)?

« on: February 04, 2007, 12:11 PM »

Truecrypt still needs admin access to run, no?

-imtrobin (February 04, 2007, 06:52 AM)

No, TrueCrypt needs admin access to install, but not to run.  If you want to run it in no-install mode, this will also need admin privileges (since it has to load a device driver).

1533

Living Room / Re: ASP or C# ?

« on: February 02, 2007, 04:27 PM »

You don't need to have a hosted web server to do ASP.NET work - the IIS webserver on WinXP (or Win2000?) will host ASP.NET applications just fine.  I believe that there are other web servers that will host ASP.NET, too, but I've never used them and I'm not sure what their limitations might be.

Because of this, to get started learning to program ASP.NET, there's no additional cost above your development machine.

So the question is really about who do you want to be able to access your application?  If it's just you (or others on your local network), then you don't need 3rd party hosting.  If you want the whole world to access your application then you have 3 options:

1) 3rd party ASP.NET hosting
2) put your machine on the Internet as a web server (make sure you have your security configured properly!)
3) have the installer or install instructions for your application enable (or install) an appropriate web server on the user's machine (this can be tricky)

All of this pretty much applies to the web technologies that Mouser mentioned, too (PHP, etc.)

1534

General Software Discussion / Re: console: a great CMD.exe replacement application

« on: February 01, 2007, 05:22 PM »

I have also found Console2 to be very interesting but a bit too unstable for everyday use.

A couple of similar (non-free - each is $30) offerings that I have been meaning to look into, but haven't yet:

TCI (Tabbed Console Interface):  http://www.jpsoft.com/tcides.htm

TCI is from JPSoft, the people who produce the 4NT command processor/shell.  I used 4DOS/4NT a long while ago, but have drifted away, mostly because I have found that I can get by well enough with cmd.exe.

PromptPal: http://www.promptpal.com/

All I know about PromptPal is that it was on sale a couple weeks ago on BitsDuJour.

1535

General Software Discussion / Re: "intelligent" multisession burn

« on: January 27, 2007, 02:08 PM »

Are you saying that you're burning a CD/DVD in multi-session mode:  the first time you burn file_B (so that's what's in session 1), and the second time you burn files "file_A" and "file_D" for session #2?

If that's the case, every time I've tried this, the burning software defaults to 'importing' session 1 into session 2 so that file_B is still accessible (even though it's not re-burned).  It's been a while since I've done multi-session burns, but I'm certain that Nero behaved this way.

Also, even if the previous session is not imported into a subsequent session, you can get to the older sessions in Nero by using the 'Save Tracks' feature to save previous sessions to an ISO or NRG file that can be mounted to a virtual CD drive (Neros' ImageDrive for example).  I'm sure there are other utilities (ISOBuster?) that let you get access to previous sessions more easily.

Since you don't like Nero, CdBurnerXP Pro (http://www.cdburnerxp.se/) is pretty good free burning software that handles importing sessions.

1536

General Software Discussion / Re: Sudo for Windows?

« on: January 25, 2007, 01:15 AM »

That's wrong, though - unfortunately there's been a few ways to elevate from user->admin from time to time, and I'd be surprised if there aren't a few holes left on XP... and holes to be found on Vista.

-f0dder (January 24, 2007, 05:14 PM)

Then again, the same can be said about exploits that get past AV programs - they crop up every now and again.  I think it boils down to diminishing returns - some users believe that adding the costs and potential problems of those programs to a system running in non-admin mode isn't justified by whatever additional protection is provided.

1537

General Software Discussion / Re: IMAP Account

« on: January 25, 2007, 01:02 AM »

You may want to consider something like a web hosting account with 1and1.com (or some other cheap provider).

Right now their cheapest accounts are $1.50/month for 6 months.  The std price is $3/month.

So, figuring it at the regular price ($36/yr), it's more money than most email accounts.  However, even though I don't use mine for much of a website, I do use it for:

 - FTP backups of important files; they support SFTP or FTPS  (I forget which one) for secure transfers, and my backup program supports encrypted backups
 - files accessible from anywhere; I use a free web file manager (phpXplorer) so I can upload/download files from anyplace that has Internet access.  It's like a USB Flash drive that I don't have to carry around (note that this is not secure, so encrypt anything senstive before doing this)
 - email access; POP3 and IMAP support.  They also have a web interface that's admittedly not great.  If I cared, I'd look into fixing this with a PHP script or something.  Also, my email has *my* domain, so if I decide to move to another provider, I don't have to send out a change of address.  Oh, and the domain name is included in the fee, which would cost about $10 otherwise.

Anyway, it's something to think about if you might have use for more than just email.  Also, I'm mentioning 1and1 only because that's what I'm using.  I'm sure there are plenty of other webhosting services that will provide similar or better.

1538

General Software Discussion / Re: Sudo for Windows?

« on: January 24, 2007, 05:08 PM »

Any ideas on the best antivirus/firewall setup for this scenario?

-JennyB (January 23, 2007, 08:38 AM)

I don't know about the best, but here's the little bit I do know:

 - I don't run a high-power firewall; I use the WinXP firewall and depend on a NAT router to keep attacks from the Internet anyway from my machine.  I suppose that this leaves me open to software 'phoning home', but right now I'm not too worried about that.  I found that 3rd party outbound firewalls were always asking me questions that I had no idea what the right answer was to and required far too much maintenance than I was willing to deal with.

 - F-Prot did not run well for me as non-admin out of the box, but a tweak to the permissions for the registry keys it wanted to write to solved that problem.

I've heard the Norton AV runs OK in non-admin, except for Live Update which only works from an admin logon (that was a while ago - they may have fixed that by now).

Many people believe that if you run as non-admin then having a real-time AV check isn't needed and simply running an explicit AV check periodically is sufficient - I've heard good things about ClamAV/ClamWin for this.

1539

Living Room / Re: password-protect external HD (USB)?

« on: January 22, 2007, 05:01 PM »

I haven't tried automating TrueCrypt mounting, but TC has a commandline interface, so as long as you can get a specified command to execute when you attach the drive (I imagine that AHK can do this) then you can get the encrypted volume to automount.

1540

Living Room / Re: password-protect external HD (USB)?

« on: January 22, 2007, 04:04 PM »

• what comes here?

-brotherS (January 22, 2007, 12:16 PM)

I double-click on the encrypted volume container file and the TrueCrypt mount dialog comes up.  I choose the drive letter to mount the volume on, click the 'mount' button, enter the passphrase, and I have a newly accessible drive letter.

Note that working this way (double-clicking on the container file) requires that TrueCrypt (TC) be installed on the computer, but TC will work without being installed - though you do need admin access to work without installation.

1541

Living Room / Re: password-protect external HD (USB)?

« on: January 22, 2007, 11:48 AM »

They are bound to that user and that windows instalation. If you reinstall windows or really wish to have access to those files in another computer, if you didn't unencrypt (does that word exist?) the files first, you're screwed.

-jgpaiva (January 20, 2007, 10:11 AM)

This is a key point - if you want to use EFS (the encryption used with NTFS) you must understand how to be able to recover your data from a reinstalled Windows system, otherwise your data is in grave risk of being totally unrecoverable.  It can definitely be done, but it's not a particularly simple process:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223316
http://www.microsoft.../deploy/cryptfs.mspx
http://www.microsoft...taprot/w2kadm21.mspx

Personally, I'd stick with TrueCrypt.  with TrueCrypt, the only things you need to know to have recoverable backups are:

1) a backup of the encrypted container file (a single file, generally)
2) the password (or the keyfile if that's what you're using)

With those 2 things, you can recover your data on any system

1542

General Software Discussion / Re: Sudo for Windows?

« on: January 22, 2007, 11:37 AM »

Running as non-admin has many benefits - you're far less likely to be hit by a virus or other malware - but many normal operations in Windows can become frustratingly difficult.

A pretty good starting point for information on how to effectively run as non-admin (and unfortunately there a ton of  stuff you need to know) is:

    http://nonadmin.editme.com/

1543

General Software Discussion / Re: Network Clien/Server based Password Management System?

« on: January 11, 2007, 04:28 PM »

This seems to be something closer to what you're looking for:

http://www.thycotic....tserver_screens.html

I haven't tried it, so I'm making no assertions about whether it's good or bad.

1544

General Software Discussion / Re: Tray-stuff: free tray minimizer: trayIt; free tray ordering: ShellTrayInfo

« on: January 11, 2007, 01:24 AM »

If you go into the taskbar's properties page, there's a 'customize' button for the Notification Area.  When you press that you get a dialog that lets you choose from 3 options for each program in the tray:

1) hide when inactive
2) always hide
3) always show

1545

Developer's Corner / Re: C# Microcontroller

« on: January 08, 2007, 04:29 PM »

A couple years ago there was quite a bit of talk about the '.netcpu' that ran something called TinyCLR.

Sadly, that project (and its company - http://www.dotnetcpu.com) have disappeared.  I'm not sure if anything along those lines has been done since.  A quick google of '.netcpu' or 'tinyclr' turned up nothing other than old articles about the defunct device/company.

Now, I'm by no means a Java expert, but Java seems much closer to C# than to C/C++ or assembly.  You'd probably have little trouble picking up Java if you know C#.

1546

General Software Discussion / Re: Remoting Software Questions

« on: January 04, 2007, 10:55 PM »

Something I should have mentioned before: LogMeIn (https://secure.logme...p?page=products_free) is a site that enables remote access to PC's, and they have a free account option.

The remote control isn't particularly speedy (definitely slower than RDP), but it works well enough for me (occasional remote usage), and it's a very simple install.  The biggest advantage is that it takes care of dealing with PC's behind firewalls with no problem.  The PC that's going to be remote controlled makes periodic outgoing connections to the LogMeIn host, and when a remote client wants to connect, the LogMeIn host acts as a proxy between the 2 machines, so there's no need to configure the firewall to allow an incoming connection to the host PC (GoToMyPC works the same way).

1547

General Software Discussion / Re: program to visually design a database?

« on: January 04, 2007, 01:07 PM »

I'm not entirely sure, but I think that SQL Server 2005 Express has this capability:

Screenshot:  http://msdn.microsof...ss/features/data.gif

Homepage: http://msdn.microsof...vstudio/express/sql/

1548

General Software Discussion / Re: Remoting Software Questions

« on: January 04, 2007, 12:48 PM »

What do you mean about the session ending for the local user? Does that mean all files and programs opened would be closed and it would log the local user off?

-Deozaan (January 04, 2007, 11:27 AM)

On WinXP only a single session is supported.  That session can be remote (via RDP) or local (on the console).  When an RDP connection is started, if there is a different user logged on to the desktop, the RDP client (the remote user) will be presented with a dialog that says the machine is in use and gives the option of logging that user off in order to log the new, remote user on.  If you're logging on remotely using the same credentials as the user logged on to the console, the desktop will be switched to remote use automatically.  While the session is remoted, the local, non-remote console (display, keyboard & mouse) is disabled except to allow ctrl-alt-del to regain control (which will disconnect the remote session).

It's similar to if the workstation is locked, and you press ctrl-alt-del - if you're not the user who locked the workstation, you can log on, but in the process the existing user is automatically logged off.  If you are the currently logged on user, you simply get the desktop.

I believe that in both cases you must have admin privileges to force the logoff of the current user.

1549

General Software Discussion / Re: SandBoxie! Best Security Tool 2007?

« on: January 04, 2007, 12:38 PM »

i will prolly do an All-in-One type review /comparison.

-SexyLilDarkPaw (January 04, 2007, 12:23 PM)

I'm looking forward to this...

1550

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Mini-Review of Fineprint (Virtual Printer)

« on: December 29, 2006, 07:36 PM »

My Canon ip5000 has a cartidge tray feed but it also also a straight through feed - it is great to have the choice. Plus it includes automatic duplex, automatic 4-up booklet printing (which is really neat), mulitple page reduction to a single sheet and CD/DVD printing and produces really great photos.

-Carol Haynes (December 16, 2006, 05:35 AM)

Doesn't the fact that those features are built into hardware render FinePrint rather pointless?

-rjbull (December 29, 2006, 02:44 PM)

I'm hoping that FinePrint will let me set up 2 types of virtual printers -

1) ones that simply let me give my own name to the network printers at work (um... is the color printer that's on floor 2 the one named LP711 or is it LP345?).  I have no idea why Windows won't let me do this natively.

2) Virtual printers for the same printer, but with different settings.  I want a Printer named "LaserJet - 2 up" and another simply named "LaserJet" that does 1 up printing.  That way I don't have to go into Printer Properties all the time; I just need to select the virtual printer that does what I want.  Again - why can't I do this in Windows natively???

I haven't run the trial, yet, but the description of FinePrint seems to indicate that it can do both things.