Messages

451

Living Room / Re: Boomshine: Flash Game of the Day

« on: April 12, 2007, 05:58 AM »

Beat it with an even lower score of 241! Fun but not actually sure that there is any significant skill involved... certainly more luck than judgement.

452

General Software Discussion / Re: What fonts do I actually need?

« on: April 05, 2007, 05:57 PM »

Well I have decided to experiment, and have removed many of my fonts... I am down to 78 (bear in mind that this includes the many variants of each font - bold, italic, bold italic, condensed etc) so really isn't that many fonts total.

WinXP only complained about a couple of the fonts that I removed (the 'vector' / plotter fonts Courier and Modern) but I got shot of them anyway! Foolish? Who knows - we'll see if it throws up any issues over the next few days.

If I notice no side-effects of my action, I may slim down further... hmm this is sounding like an addiction now... must loose most installed fonts... lol

Ampa

453

General Software Discussion / Re: To cut or not to cut - The lousy MS Office ribbon

« on: April 05, 2007, 08:50 AM »

I am a very light user of Office - occasional dips into Word (mostly for letters) and Excel for the most basic of tables, and spreadsheets - and I actually like the ribbon!

Most things do seem to be readily accessible with only a click or two, and I like that fact that I can see it, rather than knowing that there probably is an option to do task X, if only I knew which menu it was buried in.

Ampa

454

General Software Discussion / What fonts do I actually need?

« on: April 04, 2007, 02:07 PM »

Today I was looking through the list of fonts that I have installed on my system - 186 in total.

Many of those installed I didn't choose to have there... in fact there are several that I really dislike - Comic Sans anyone?

It is not that I feel these extra fonts are slowing the system down, but they are slowing me down! It is tiresome wading through several screens of bland fonts just to find to ones that I want.

So here are my questions...

1) Which fonts do I actually need to have installed?

I am sure that this will in some way be related to the software that I have installed...

• Windows 95, 98, 2000, ME, XP fonts
• Office 97, 2000, XP, 2003 fonts
• Know of any more lists for major apps? (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver etc)

But I don't believe that all these fonts are actually used by the software; so which ones are actually required?

I know that Marlett is used for parts of the Windows GUI - so removing that would be inadvisable, but does it really need all those others?

2) Is there any way to find out which program installed a certain font?

I would imagine that the answer to this is a NO, other than searching for a list online.

3) I have a few 'vector' fonts in my windows directory (Modern, Roman, Script etc) - what are they?

And more importantly - do i need them?

4) Out of curiosity - how many fonts do you have installed on your machine?

I am not talking about your font library, only those that you have active at all times.

Ampa

455

General Software Discussion / Re: XMplay 3.4 released

« on: April 03, 2007, 05:55 PM »

Thanks for the heads-up... Here is the link...

http://www.un4seen.com/xmplay.html

Ampa

456

Living Room / Re: Good Video Editing Software? Is there any?

« on: March 30, 2007, 04:27 PM »

Adobe Premier Pro is another commercial product used by film makers and TV studios world-wide.

457

General Software Discussion / Re: Know of a freeware seamless texture tool? (Details inside)

« on: March 29, 2007, 05:53 PM »

rjbull: Thanks for the input. However...

Reptile - I know from the distant past. It is a proceedural generator that creates tiles from an algorithm rather than a photographic source. Think mid 90's garish website backgrounds!

Background Magic - I don't know, but the homepage is defunct, just full of spam content I did find one screenshot via google, and it looked pretty terrible!

Ampa

458

General Software Discussion / Know of a freeware seamless texture tool? (Details inside)

« on: March 29, 2007, 04:26 PM »

Hello folks, thought I'd pick the collective mind...

I am looking for a program to turn a photo into a seamless tilable texture.

Requirements...

• Either a Photoshop plugin or stand alone
  
• Should work from a range of common image formats - JPG PNG GIF
  
• Allows for large(ish) textures - many apps seem limited to 256x256 or there abouts
  
• Freeware

I have searched this evening and did find...

Texture Maker (Demo of commercial app - free for non-commercial work) [Limited to 512x512 pixels]
Redfield Seamless Workshop (Freeware) - utterly incomprehensible interface, could produce nothing worth looking at!

Any ideas?

Thanks

Ampa

459

General Software Discussion / Re: Lightweight alternatives to FeedDemon

« on: March 27, 2007, 04:37 PM »

I'm not a huge user of RSS feeds... but the few to which I do subscribe go straight into Opera's inbuilt feed reader.

I don't know what features people need in a feed reader... I just like to know when there is a new post, and to be able to see it! Occasionally I guess that I sort or search but not often. And for that reason having the tool integrated seamlessly with my browser is ideal.

Slightly off topic: I have been a fan of Opera for many years, but recently defected in favour of FireFox - which I loved, and spent a month customising until I had it just the way I wanted it... then out of curiosity went back to look at Opera one afternoon to discover that it did everything my well tuned FF install did (and more) pretty much straight out of the box - plus it is so much quicker, and seems more stable too.

460

Note Taking Software / Re: Enter TiddlyWiki

« on: March 27, 2007, 07:01 AM »

tomos: Ooops - It was WikidPad that I was refering too. I always forget about that pesky little 'd' hiding in the middle there.

Edited my post with the correct name!

WikidPad is certainly a very interesting program - it truely is a self contained Wiki. I must confess that I have always found it slightly too confusing for my little brain, simply because it is so versatile.

Ampa

461

General Software Discussion / Re: Anyone know any good cheap, easy to use software for interior design stuff?

« on: March 27, 2007, 06:53 AM »

+1 for SketchUp - It is almost as hands on a little bits of paper, and it doesn't blow away in the wind!

You will also find that there are plenty of exisiting bits of furniture in Google's 3D Warehouse that will give a good enough impression without spending time modelling your own.

Ampa

462

Official Announcements / Re: DC-IRLDD: DonationCoder.com Impromptu Real Life Dinner+Drinks, Sat 3/24 Illinois

« on: March 26, 2007, 07:43 AM »

We want salatious pictures - and we want them now!

463

Note Taking Software / Re: Enter TiddlyWiki

« on: March 26, 2007, 07:42 AM »

Tried TiddlyWiki and several variants, but found it too slow for real world applications.

I was attempting to use the system to support my GTD effort - but the lag that effects everything just builds up and makes TiddlyWiki unsuitable for this task (IMHO)

I also tried WikidPad for the same purpose, and found it much better - but eventually went with RememberTheMilk.

Ampa

464

Screenshot Captor / Re: Endpoint Text getting cut off

« on: March 25, 2007, 03:45 PM »

This has been frustrating me today too.

Ideally the endpoint text box should be positionable by the user irrespective of the angle of the arrow. This would allow all of the following...



In the final example it would be nice if the canvas expanded automatically if arrows or text fell outside the current canvas area.

I see this working as follows... the text box is magnetically attached to the end of the arrow and can be dragged around, but the boundary always stays locked to the end point. Corners and mid points of lines could be snappable, and there could be a default rule that is followed, for initial positioning.

To bend an arrow, one would perhaps double click on the arrow path to add a new control point?

It is of course possible to fake all of this using the existing tools (as I did to create the screen shot) but would be so much nicer this way

Thanks for your consideration,

Ampa

465

Screenshot Captor / Re: LATEST VERSION INFO THREAD - ScreenshotCaptor - 2.30.04 - FEB 09, 2007

« on: March 25, 2007, 03:22 PM »

Mouser - the links on the program and main downloads pages still say 2.30.02. Is the file they are linked to the updated 2.30.04 version?

-kproth (February 12, 2007, 07:33 AM)

YES it is the updated version (according to the about box) - the web page needs updating.

466

Mini-Reviews by Members / Mini-Review: TimeKeeper v2.20c by TSM, Kevin Pluck, Crypto-Central

« on: March 25, 2007, 11:07 AM »

Basic Info...

App Name	TimeKeeper
App URL	http://www.crypto-ce...html/timekeeper.html
App Version Reviewed	v2.20c
Test System Specs	Aging desktop: Athlon 2400+ / 1GB / WinXP SP2
Supported OSes	Windows (all versions)
Support Methods	eMail
Upgrade Policy	Lifetime licence (?)
Trial Version Available?	Trial available HERE Annoyances... The About window will displayed at start up You can't set all the options available in the Options window Limited to 8 tasks before registration Unregistered version chooses a different random interval for reminder popup 15 second enforced delay before dismissing TimeKeeper when it pops up No preview or export of reports (only printing) NOTE: All these annoyances can be removed if you apply for a generous 2 month Demo Registration (via the About box)
Pricing Scheme	Single licence = $15 Reductions available for group licenses

The Main GUI

Intro:

From the helpfile...

TimeKeeper is a personal time tracking system that is designed to reduce the amount of time that you do not charge for.

In brief - A simple time logging utility that also has basic reporting facilities.

Who is this app designed for?

Freelancers
Employees working on a number of projects
Anyone who needs to know where their working hours are going!


The Good

• Does what it sets out to do.
• Totally stable - never crashed on me.
• Easy to understand.
• Unobtrusive (yet intrusive enough to ensure that one doesn't simply ignore it!).
• Small and fast.
• Has a lot of little details that are well integrated and thought out.
• Simple reporting built in.
• Simple billing codes built in.

The needs improvement section:

I came across a few very minor annoyances...

• Several typos in the help file
• Can't enter times via the keyboard
• Can't tab between cells in the task log grid
• The default reports are ugly! (However these are 100% customisable - just edit the RTF template)

Why I think you should use this product

I have used TimeKeeper to account for my time over the last few weeks, and have found that it helped me to keep an accurate record of the time I spent working on a variety of projects.


How does it compare to similar apps?

The only other application in this class that I have tried is Skrommel's TaskLog v1.1 which is freeware, but only really suitable for very basic time logging.


Conclusions

TimeKeeper is a much more developed piece of software that has obviously evolved over a number of years to perform a simple task superbly.


Links to other reviews of this application

None found.


Bonus quick tutorial...

When TimeKeeper first loads you are prompted to enter your current task. This can be typed directly into the cell, or selected from a convenient drop down list.

The drop down is filled from a list of predefined tasks set in the options, plus all other tasks logged within the past 7 days. By default these are sorted by frequency of use, but this can be changed to a simple alphabetical list.

The times all remain editable - either by clicking the (tiny)arrows that appear when a cell is focused or (more conveniently) using the Quick Picker, accessed with a middle or ctrl click.

The window is then dismissed, and will hide in the system tray (by default) for a while (this period of inactivity is also defined in the options). I chose a period of 15 mins - so after that time the window reappears giving me two choices... either I continue with the current activity, or I register a change to a new one.

And that is it! Continue to log your tasks when reminded to do so, and then at the end of the day, week or month produce a report...

The registered version also allows export as a CSV file, which could then be imported into Excel (or other spreadsheet software) to generate invoices, plot graphs, perform statistical analysis etc.

Other Screenshots...

The website: a bit primitive. Does the job.	The About box	The Help file
Lots of options	More options	Even more options
Add details to a task. Can also log the applications used while working on the task.

467

General Software Discussion / Re: how tidy and complete is your music library?

« on: March 25, 2007, 10:09 AM »

Currently I use MusicBrainz Picard to identify and tag my files, it also renames them. Then I'd  - grab the cover art from Amazon, while MP3Gain sets the replaygain information.

Finally I use XMPlay to save the playlist.

Have always used a standard naming scheme for folders and files, and everything gets catalogued on CDBank - so in all it is good enough.

There was a stage where I'd add an album review, cover art and BPM etc to each file, but it was short lived and struck me as pointless at best.

Ampa

468

General Software Discussion / Re: Software for planning wood bookcases/cabinets/tables etc?

« on: March 23, 2007, 01:57 PM »

Old topic I know... but I'd give a +1 for SketchUp.

I have used it to plan several simple desks / work units with great success. Had no trouble with 'exact' dimensions... far from it. To me it seems very intuitive - snapping lines and points very intelligently, and allowing dimensions to be typed in without the need to switch tools or click in a certain input box.

469

General Software Discussion / Re: Strange Windows wallpaper trick

« on: March 22, 2007, 09:42 AM »

The best part is you get nifty gradation wallpapers that clock in at < 100 bytes (not a typo!) 

-Edvard (March 20, 2007, 05:55 PM)

I don't think that this is quite true... My belief is that Windows does the interpolation which results in the nice smooth gradient and saves this as a .bmp - it is this temp file which is used as the background image. So the original file IS tiny, but the temp file is that same size as any other wallpaper.

I am not sure where this file is stored - perhaps someone else can find it?

Reason for thinking this... erm, perhaps I read it somewhere once? And I think this is certainly how jpgs are handled (converted to a bitmap first).

Ampa

470

General Software Discussion / Re: I found a jewel of a program: XMplay

« on: March 22, 2007, 09:11 AM »

Have used this for many years.

The Pros are huge, but it is a one man project and updates are irregular (last major update Dec '05). Some feature requests have been waiting years and not yet seen the light of day.

The community is small too, which means that there is a fairly slow trickle of skins etc, but so long as you are happy with one of the existing ones you will not find such a compact and high quality player anywhere else - try it out!

Ampa

471

Official Announcements / Re: DC-IRLDD: DonationCoder.com Impromptu Real Life Dinner+Drinks, Sat 3/24 Illinois

« on: March 22, 2007, 09:09 AM »

I hope that someone will post a few photos of the event.

Is this the first ever RealLife™ meet up?

Ampa

472

Developer's Corner / Re: Ask the CSS Guy

« on: February 16, 2007, 08:02 AM »

I took your advice and sent CCSGuy and email with a couple of questions in it... my experience reflected your own - quick insightful reply, very helpful and very pleasant to talk to.

I followed up with a few probing questions about the 'man behind the mask' - he seems like a totally genuine, friendly guy.

Thanks for the help all concerned

473

Official Announcements / Re: FEBRUARY 2007 SOFTWARE DRAWING RESULTS POSTED

« on: February 15, 2007, 12:02 PM »

Yay! Hooray! I am delighted

Thank you DC and NeoSoft - your gift is truly appreciated.

Ampa

474

Living Room / Re: All my applications crash... in sequence!?!

« on: February 15, 2007, 05:37 AM »

I did not ever get to the bottom of the issue per say. It was finally resolved by a complete reinstall. However my pet theory was that it was a conflict between ZoneAlarm and AVG.

When I reinstalled, I chose to use Comodo Personal Firewall instead of ZA, and have not seen the behaviour since.

475

Skrommel's Software / Re: TaskLog v1.1 - Small bug and an improvement or 2...

« on: February 11, 2007, 08:01 PM »

Update to original post item 1...

I don't think that the tooltip ever changes - it stays at the value when the program is first run.

Skrommel: Any chance that you have time to look at the suggestions in this thread? I'd  really appreciate an update if you have the time, an would gladly donate to the cause.