Messages

26

General Software Discussion / Re: Calibre 2 is out

« on: August 24, 2014, 12:58 PM »

but it still won't convert this DRM-protected book of mine :-( ... How can I convert this dinosaur?

-Curt (August 24, 2014, 02:59 AM)

I don't know if the DRM is preventing Calibre from converting it, but you might try removing the DRM with a third-party plugin.
http://apprenticealf...ving-most-ebook-drm/

The large size of the ebook might be part of the problem. I like Curt's suggestion of getting the individual books or stories from Gutenberg or elsewhere.

27

General Software Discussion / Re: RightNote Revisited / Review (in lieu of a RN forum)

« on: July 12, 2014, 06:31 PM »

I agree, the new Tree Filter (Ctrl + F when the tree is focused) is very helpful.

But a very basic improvement is still needed: Automatically scroll the tree so that the focused (open) node is always visible in the tree.

Problem: When the focus moves above the top or below the bottom of the notebook tree, the tree does not automatically scroll to follow it; the focused node is then out of view. This happens, for example,
  - When navigating the tree with the PgUp/PgDn, Up/Down, or Alt+Up/Down keys (only the Home/End keys scroll the tree to show the new focused node).
  - After adding a new note and naming it, if the name auto-sorts out of the visible area of the tree.
  - After renaming an existing note, if the new name auto-sorts out of the visible area of the tree.

When this happens, users have to manually scroll the tree to bring the focused node into view.

28

General Software Discussion / Re: RightNote Revisited / Review (in lieu of a RN forum)

« on: July 12, 2014, 04:20 PM »

e) "History" and "Recent" are totally awful, since those lists are populated by all those dozens of items you just touched a fraction of a second, by kb tree navigation, so those lists become totally useless since for identifying those "real finds" there to which you would like to navigate, using those lists as a "shortlist", you would have to read dozens of irrelevant "false hits". Solution to this problem is very easy: Just have items entered into those list JUST whenever they did appear for more than one second or such on screen (which is not the case for items "touched" by navigation only, and perhaps better, for more than 2 seconds (= opening of parent items), and even better, make it an option for the user to determine the length of display necessary in order for items to be included in those lists; I would probably choose 3 seconds then.

-peter.s (May 13, 2014, 07:55 AM)

Peter S. -- RN 3.1.0 includes a fix for "Note history tracking did not work properly". I'm wondering if that took care of the problem you described.

29

General Software Discussion / Re: Sell your MS Office 2010?

« on: May 14, 2014, 06:29 PM »

You can also try LibreOffice, which is free.

-Deozaan (May 14, 2014, 03:21 PM)

Thanks, Deozaan. Our organization has gone to LibreOffice in an effort to break free from Microsoft, so I use it as necessary. But it is sometimes surprisingly different or simply awkward in the way it works. It is fine as a free Office suite, but I would never use or recommend it specifically as a replacement for MS Office. That's why I want to try Softmaker Office. If it is as similar to MS Office as I have heard, I would rather pay for it than use the free LibreOffice. (Yes, I know Softmaker has a free version, but I need the more advanced capabilities of the paid version.)

I use both: Softmaker Office is much more compatible with MS Office. Libre Office's compatibility is so-so to poor in my experience. ... I'd highly recommend [Softmaker] if MS compatibility is important

-tomos (May 14, 2014, 03:30 PM)

Thanks, Tomos, for that confirmation. Yes, compatibility with MS Office is important for my use, so that's another reason I don't want to go with LibreOffice.

30

General Software Discussion / Re: Sell your MS Office 2010?

« on: May 14, 2014, 12:40 PM »

I've changed my plan. Instead of MS Office I will try Softmaker Office. The price is so much better, and compatibility is reportedly quite good. I'll feel much better if I can get free from MS.

31

General Software Discussion / Re: RightNote Revisited / Review (in lieu of a RN forum)

« on: May 13, 2014, 10:32 AM »

Why have Tree shortcuts different from general standards, i.e. "bold" is "Alt b" here, instead of "control b".

-peter.s (May 13, 2014, 07:55 AM)

First of all, Peter, I would be glad to see an unofficial RightNotes forum get started. As you say, the program has great power and potential, so it would be good for users to share their experiences, questions, and solutions.

As for the shortcut Alt+B, I agree it is a bit bothersome to remember a non-standard combination. But it has the advantage of toggling the bold state of the tree node while still in the note editor. That is, you don't have to move your focus from the editor to the tree to make the node bold. Now whether that is an advantage or not is another question, but I think it explains why the shortcut is not Ctrl+B.

32

General Software Discussion / Sell your MS Office 2010?

« on: April 30, 2014, 02:41 PM »

Do you have one or more licenses for MS Office 2010 which you are not using? I would like to buy one copy of Office Home & Student, and two copies of Office Home & Business, with installation CDs. The licenses would be transferred from your computer to mine, of course. Please send offers by PM, and post comments to this forum thread.

33

Found Deals and Discounts / RightNote 50% discount at BdJ - March 3-5, 2014

« on: March 01, 2014, 11:09 AM »

RightNote will soon be offered now available (March 3-5) at a 50% discount on Bits du Jour. I highly recommend RN as a very capable note and clip organizer.
http://www.bitsdujou...m/software/rightnote

I'm going to take advantage of this to replace my wife's Standard license with a Professional license so she can integrate with Evernote. I consider that well worth the price.

34

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: RightNote Pro 50% Off Thru January 31

« on: January 25, 2014, 01:59 PM »

... there are a number of other tweaks that RN could use IMO. Some I mentioned above but there are more that I didn't list.

-J-Mac (January 24, 2014, 09:59 PM)

+1

Personally I would much rather see the current improvement needs and deficiencies addressed before adding major features, which will naturally take up all development time available and leave the other stuff at the bottom of any priority list or roadmap.

I agree. And this is indeed what seems to be happening with RN for now, at least. I'm hoping Rael will get back to more basic fixes and improvements once the Evernote feature is in good shape. I am confident the past history of RN justifies that hope.

For somebody new to note-taking software, what would be the main advantages of Rightnote over Evernote?

-Lutz_ (January 24, 2014, 10:14 PM)

Although I don't use Evernote myself, I'd say they both can collect and save webclips for future reference. But beyond that, they are two different classes of program -- apples and oranges. RN is great for [1.] creating notes of various types (webpage clips, spreadsheets, formatted text, and others) and [2.] organizing notes (using tags, tabs, and a  hierarchical note tree per tab). AFAIK Evernote is weak if not actually incapable in those areas. I hope someone who knows more about Evernote can give you a better answer.

Here's an example of one way I often use RN when researching a topic: (1.) Clip or copy all or any part of a web page to the relevant note in RN. (2.) RN includes graphics, the URL of the source, and the date it was added. (3.) I tag the new note. (4.) I edit the note: character and paragraph formatting, highlighting, delete unwanted images, make annotations, hyperlink to other RN notes, etc. Some of those functions are available only in the paid versions of RN (Standard or Pro).

35

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: RightNote Pro 50% Off Thru January 31

« on: January 24, 2014, 04:45 PM »

Is anyone here using RightNote v.3? If so, can you tell me if there are any other changes/features/improvements over v.2, other than the Evernote sync changes?

-J-Mac (January 24, 2014, 10:43 AM)

You can view the history here http://bauerapps.com...ote-release-history/

Clearly all the recent development has gone into Evernote sync. Although RN is truly useful software and very well done, the interface is sometimes awkward. I'm hoping Rael will also work on improving that -- for example, making the note tree auto scroll to always focus the current note.

Rael, am I correct that the discount applies only to new orders, not to upgrades from v. 2?  Thanks.

-wocius (January 24, 2014, 08:34 AM)

Why not just buy a new license at 50% off? I think upgrades for any software are rarely better than that, and often at a lower percentage discount.

36

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: RightNote Pro 50% Off Thru January 31

« on: January 22, 2014, 09:53 AM »

Paying for a RightNote license is well worth it, and 50% off is a generous offer. I used the free version of RN for about a year before upgrading to the Standard version. I wish I had done that earlier because of how much time the extra features have saved me -- particularly with links to other notes, formatting preserved in web clips, and the formatting options for RichView notes. I've rarely felt as satisfied over a software purchase.

37

N.A.N.Y. 2014 / Re: NANY 2014 Release: Process Piglet

« on: January 16, 2014, 12:30 AM »

Process Piglet doesn't report processes such as svchost.exe and MsMpEng.exe (MS Security Essentials). I'm curious why that may be. Thanks.

38

N.A.N.Y. 2014 / Re: NANY 2014 Release: Process Piglet

« on: January 14, 2014, 11:40 AM »

... MS Sec Essentials is usually the one that gets out of hand for me, but it's an AntiVirus so I don't know what I can really do about it except let it do its thing.

-TaoPhoenix (January 02, 2014, 08:21 AM)

You might try to find out if MS Security Essentials is using a lot of memory scanning a particular process. If so, and if you are sure that process is safe, you could try excluding it from MSE scans (go to MSE settings > Excluded Processes).

39

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: looking for MS Word

« on: November 28, 2013, 08:17 AM »

I presume that older versions of Word will not be able to open the docx files created by the newest versions

-tomos (November 26, 2013, 01:44 AM)

This is not a problem. The free MS Office Compatibility Pack enables older versions of Word to open the newer docx format. Likewise for Excel and Powerpoint. I've used it many times myself in Word 2003. Download from http://www.microsoft...ad/details.aspx?id=3

40

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: RightNote 3.0 - 50% deal at BitsDuJour - August 12-14

« on: September 02, 2013, 10:33 AM »

I just want Clip to New Note: to automatically put the cursor on that newly-created note, so that subsequent Clip to Current Note: append to it.

-rjbull (August 10, 2013, 02:51 PM)

Good news, rjbull: Your request is now avaialable in RightNote 3.0.4. In Tools > Clipper Options the user can enable "Move focus to new note (when add new clip)". I really appreciate authors who respond to user requests like that. Not only are our needs met, but their software becomes increasingly polished and sophisticated. Really nice.

I must say, the more I use RightNote, the more I love it.

41

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: RightNote 3.0 - 50% deal at BitsDuJour - coming soon!

« on: August 13, 2013, 10:54 AM »

Good news, rjbull. Another user recently submitted the same suggestion as yours in the BdJ comments (copied below), and got a positive reply from Rael. Nice   http://www.bitsdujou...tent=1#comments68275

Brian W - Question: How best to easily manage where new clips go?
Suggestion: Add option: After Win-V to create a new note, change the focus to that note so that additional Win-A appends are added to that note.
Why: Typically, I will want to make several notes on one subject (win-A) but when I change to another subject, I would Win-V for a new note and then win-A to continue on that subject. If I want to go back to the first subject, I probably just Win-v again to create a new note, then later go back to RN to combine or file the notes, but at least all win-A appends are on a single subject.
With the current setup, before taking any clippings, one must open RN and set a focus, otherwise the notes could go somewhere unexpected.

Rael Bauer - @Brian: Yes, someone else has asked for this behaviour, so I hope to add it as an option for the next release. (i.e. move focus to newly created note after clipping).

42

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: RightNote 3.0 - 50% deal at BitsDuJour - coming soon!

« on: August 10, 2013, 03:30 PM »

Within the current tree structure, I just want Clip to New Note: to automatically put the cursor on that newly-created note, so that subsequent Clip to Current Note: append to it.

-rjbull (August 10, 2013, 02:51 PM)

That would be efficient. How about submitting it as a wish to Rael? I'll vote for it too.

43

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: RightNote 3.0 - 50% deal at BitsDuJour - coming soon!

« on: August 09, 2013, 07:53 PM »

In sum, I wanted the action of clipping something to a new entry in RN to make that entry the current one, to simultaneously put the cursor on that entry in the tree (same thing, I suppose) and to scroll the tree to show it.  The way RN currently operates seem to me less than logical.  It's presumably the author's preference, but maybe my preference could be made a configuration option.

-rjbull (August 09, 2013, 03:50 PM)

I just realized that there is at least one workflow context in which RN's current behavior is logical and beneficial; I should have thought of this earlier because I often use it myself! Let's say we are collecting web excerpts or pages on topic A, and want to have each as a separate note (or sub-node) under topic A. If the tree focus is on the A node as parent, then RN's behavior allows us to successively clip as many items as we wish from our web browser without ever going back to RN. The result will be as many new sibling notes, all under A.

So RN provides the following two options for clipping web excerpts or capturing web pages, each with its own dedicated, configurable hotkey:
1. Add new notes under a parent node.
2. Append new content to an existing note.

In both cases, the action applies to the focused node of the tree, and the focus remains on that node after the action. Because the focus doesn't move, we can continue to add more notes or append more content from the browser without returning to RN.

And likewise in both cases, we must first select the target node in RN before clipping or capturing from a web browser. If we do that, I think RN will easily compile multiple clips into one note just as you described. Now that I understand this, I see that it is logical and consistent.

The auto scrolling is a separate but related matter which I think could be improved. I will send Rael my suggestions for that.

[EDIT: I just found that the method for inserting a new Web clip can be configured in Tools > Clipper Options. It can be added either as a child of the current note or at the bottom of the tree.]

44

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: RightNote 3.0 - 50% deal at BitsDuJour - coming soon!

« on: August 09, 2013, 05:02 PM »

just to prevent misunderstandings: The advertised version is the PRO version ($60 now $30), but I expect both versions of course will be available when the offer is on.

-Curt (August 09, 2013, 04:53 PM)

Yes, it is good to point that out. Previous discounts of RN at BdJ applied to both Standard and Pro versions (see, for example, some of the older comments there), so I was assuming the same would be true for this offering. We'll see what Rael has authorized.

45

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: RightNote 3.0 - 50% deal at BitsDuJour - coming soon!

« on: August 09, 2013, 04:56 PM »

RN's default seems to be to make a new clip if you tell it to, but not to make that the current clip.  Consequently if you use the add-to-entry hotkey, the addition goes to the entry the cursor is on, which from my point of view is the previous one (getting tired, not sure I'm making sense).

In sum, I wanted the action of clipping something to a new entry in RN to make that entry the current one, to simultaneously put the cursor on that entry in the tree (same thing, I suppose) and to scroll the tree to show it.  The way RN currently operates seem to me less than logical.  It's presumably the author's preference, but maybe my preference could be made a configuration option.

-rjbull (August 09, 2013, 03:50 PM)

I can confirm that when RN adds a new note from a web clip, the focus remains on the current note in the tree and does not shift to the new note. So if we want to append subsequent clips to the new note as you describe, we must first manually scroll the tree and change focus to the new note. I agree that is an awkward work flow.

I had already intended to submit a wish for improved auto scrolling of the tree after I purchase my licenses. Your comments here have been very helpful, and confirm the need for that improvement. I will refer Rael (the author) to this thread. I will also second your desire for new notes to be given focus.

46

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: RightNote 3.0 - 50% deal at BitsDuJour - coming soon!

« on: August 09, 2013, 02:17 PM »

I have a license for RightNote Pro version 2, and yes, it does do web clipping, but not quite as I'd like it.  See my earlier post Re: web clipping

-rjbull (August 09, 2013, 01:54 PM)

I would distinguish two points:
1. The quality of either the web excerpt or entire web page after it is saved to RightNote (these are two different capabilities in RN).
2. The ease or difficulty of locating where that new material was added to RN.

I think your post on web clipping is primarily about the second point. I agree that the RN tree does not scroll well in certain situations including the one you describe. And it would be better if newly added clips or web pages would be focused in the tree. Those are weaknesses in the interface design, and could be improved. So when you say RN "does web clipping, but not quite as I'd like it," it appears to me that you are dissatisfied with the mechanics of the tree. I agree with you there.

When I mentioned web clipping in my original post, I was focused on the first point, which I think RN does quite well. How would you assess RN in that respect?

47

General Software Discussion / Re: which file format is more accurate to save webpages?

« on: August 09, 2013, 01:30 PM »

... which file format is more accurate to save webpages?

-kalos (April 08, 2013, 04:53 PM)

You might try the webpage note type in the Pro version of RightNote, which saves entire web pages as an internal note. You can then organize the notes in a tree hierarchy, tag them, search by content or tags, etc. https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=35733.0

48

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for something close to Evernote Ver2.xx

« on: August 09, 2013, 01:15 PM »

... could anyone suggest another utility for me to replace Evernote ver 2.xx? ...

-tslim (July 24, 2012, 09:45 PM)

I think RightNote provides all the features you specified, and many more. The Pro version can also sync selected notes to any of your devices via Evernote. http://bauerapps.com/rightnote/  It will be on 50% sale at BitsDuJour sometime soon after August 9, 2013 https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=35733.0

49

Found Deals and Discounts / RightNote 3.0 - 50% deal at BitsDuJour - August 12-14

« on: August 09, 2013, 11:51 AM »

RightNote will soon be offered for 50% off in an upcoming deal at BitsDuJour
http://www.bitsdujou...m/software/rightnote

[EDIT: This offer is now active, August 12 -- extended two days to August 14.]

I have used the free version of RightNote for the past year, and I will definitely pay to upgrade plus buy my wife a copy. After discovering RN, I stopped searching for a good note organizer. It has become one of my primary productivity programs because of its hierarchical, tabbed, and tagged notes. The main added benefit of the paid Standard version for me is the ability to clip and import from web pages while preserving most original formatting; other users will find further advantages. A Pro version is also available with even more features, including Evernote sync, also the ability to save entire web pages as a note.

This is an excellent deal for excellent software, now in a new major version (3.0). Highly recommended.

50

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: automated mp3 rip from video clip

« on: April 09, 2013, 10:52 AM »

... Mine works the way it does because it was specifically requested to by the original poster.  In other words, I wasn't trying to compete with any of the others out there...just fulfilling a request.  If you're looking for options and such, you'd definitely be better off using a different application.  If you're looking for something that will quickly create a throw-away type of audio track, this might fit the bill.  =]

-skwire (April 08, 2013, 03:49 PM)

Ah, yes ... sure enough, that's basically what it says in the OP. Heh, I didn't take that into account  Even so, the question of input formats was still open. But universality could be reasonably assumed given the no-brains, no-fuss goal of the program.