Messages

401

General Software Discussion / Re: SPAMPAL replacement

« on: January 11, 2006, 08:19 PM »

I've used SpamPal for a long time, and haven't experienced the slowdowns you describe.

402

General Software Discussion / Re: software i love

« on: January 09, 2006, 01:44 PM »

For locating files that contain a specific piece of text, I used Search for four years in my previous job.  I had a database of 30,000+ source files to deal with.  When creating new programs I was able to avoid reinventing many wheels by searching for certain strings inside these files.  It really made my job MUCH easier.

Search has many nice features - my favorites include the ability to search within the results of a previous search, or to back out to a previous search result and try something different rather than have to start over from scratch if you go down a blind alley and get no hits.

Search has regular expression and boolean searches, plus a number of other very easy to use configuration options.


http://www.simes.cla.../programs/search.htm

403

General Software Discussion / Re: I bought IBasic Pro,but i don't know how to program,need a jump off point.

« on: January 06, 2006, 08:21 PM »

I started with the Standard version almost four years ago, then moved up to Pro when it came out.  I'm not a hardcore programmer, but have gotten some nice programs done with both versions, including one that's starting to make me a few dollars.

There are some very savvy people at the forum.  It's a friendly and supportive place to hang out and ask questions, much like DonationCoder but not nearly as busy.

404

General Software Discussion / Re: I bought IBasic Pro,but i don't know how to program,need a jump off point.

« on: January 06, 2006, 02:53 PM »

I do program with IBasic, and I'll assure you that there are plenty of great forum members who will answer your questions.  They'll give you guidance, the grunt work is still for you to do.

Look forward to seeing you there!

405

Living Room / Re: Free Audio Books

« on: December 26, 2005, 10:02 AM »

I like the idea.  I used to pay a lot of money to listen to books from Recorded Books and Books On Tape when I had sixty-minute commutes.

One question - anybody have enough experience with this site to comment on the overall quality of the narration?  Some narrators can make a book, some can break it.  I'm guessing these are something less than professional quality.

406

Finished Programs / Re: MP3 Player

« on: December 25, 2005, 09:43 AM »

I also like 1by1 for a barebones MP3 player.

http://www.mpesch3.de/

407

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall SPECIAL INTRO PRICING $14.95

« on: December 23, 2005, 04:18 PM »

Regarding RAM usage, Sunbelt had this to say in CounterSpy news a while back:

"The most recent update of CounterSpy, although extremely effective has some attributes that are being addressed and fixed especially with regards to Active Protection taking up too much memory and/or spiking the CPU. An upcoming patch release will help but not resolve this issue completely.

CounterSpy 1.5 can take up a lot of memory because frankly it is "smarter" than previous versions. We have upgraded tens of thousands of users, and some issues are to be expected. We are diligently working to resolve these. The core of the problem is the Giant engine which we inherited from our previous relationship with Giant Software. We will be replacing it with a new engine with an estimated shipping date of late December."


http://www.counterspynews.com/?issue=15

408

General Software Discussion / Re: Has any one held off on upgrading to Firefox 1.5?

« on: December 22, 2005, 12:23 PM »

Another very interesting discussion of stability and memory problems with V1.5.  Apparently affecting a relatively small, but still significant, number of users.  Written by an industry guru, includes feedback from Mozilla.


http://internetweek.cmp.com/175007058

409

Official Announcements / Re: Change to Official License Key Policy

« on: December 21, 2005, 07:29 AM »

My somewhat cynical view.

I think the vast majority of computer users will pay for software only when they're forced to.  The idea of paying now in exchange for future support and updates is alien to them.

Many of them would prefer to walk three hours to get close to where they're going, rather than spend a dollar for a fifteen-minute bus ride to go right to their street.  Not very efficient, but "free".

410

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall SPECIAL INTRO PRICING $14.95

« on: December 20, 2005, 05:55 PM »

This was on the Sunbelt blog today:     http://sunbeltblog.b...ition-completed.html


Today we announced the completion of our acquisition of the Kerio Personal Firewall and the Kerio Server Firewall.   Link to our corporate propaganda here.

Here are the key points:

    *
      We have acquired both the Kerio Personal Firewall and the Kerio Server Firewall. Both products will be re-branded on an interim basis as the “Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall” and “Sunbelt Kerio ServerFirewall”.
    *
      Existing customers of the paid versions will receive full technical support through Sunbelt, with the additional enhancement of access to Sunbelt’s toll-free support.   Yup. Toll free support, right here in the US of A.
    *
      We are also maintaining Kerio’s product support forums for both products, with full transition of the forums to Sunbelt servers expected by January.  Forum link here.
    *
      We are continuing Kerio’s tradition of offering a free home version.
    *
      We will be launching a new version of the Kerio Server Firewall in the first quarter of next year, at a competitive price point.
    *
      We are dropping the price on both products.  And, we’re giving 25% off on the Kerio Personal Firewall product through the end of March. 

Personal Firewall will get Sunbelt’s “no brainer” pricing.

We’ve had this idea for years of what we call “No Brainer” pricing.  The idea is that it’s such a value that it makes the whole purchasing decision easy.  Plus, I do feel that most software is overpriced anyway.

 

Well, $19.95 is no-brainer pricing.  It’s the cost of a decent meal. So we have priced the Kerio Personal Firewall at Sunbelt’s No Brainer pricing of $19.95.  With that, you get one year of free support, upgrades and updates.  Subsequent annual subscriptions are currently $10.  It’s a ridiculously good deal.

 

This type of pricing upsets my accountants and the competition, but it’s good for the user and ultimately, it’s good for the company as it allows us to develop a large user base..   

 

But I went a step further.  I want as many people that are using the free version to convert to the paid version.  I also want our own users to own the product. And in order to get people to buy, you need two things:  a) a hot price and b) time urgency.  So I instructed our online shop team to put in place a 25% discount on the Kerio Personal Firewall until March 31.  That makes it $14.95.  It’s ridiculously cheap and I expect a lot of people will be buying up this firewall.

 

This $14.95 pricing works for people renewing their license purchased through Kerio as well.   

411

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall SPECIAL INTRO PRICING $14.95

« on: December 20, 2005, 05:03 PM »

Funny - they list separate pricing for one to five licenses - but there's no discount anywhere.

412

General Software Discussion / Re: Agnitum just sent me a newsletter...Outpost Pro 3.5 due in February

« on: December 20, 2005, 04:22 AM »

I'm not sure it is entirely the fault of Outpost but since I installed version 3 I have had 4 BSODs on my system - the first 4 ever since I built the machine a few years ago now.

The version of ZoneAlarm Free prior to the current one did exactly that to my computer, along with my wife's.  I'm not used to seeing a BSOD with XP, suddenly began to see one or two every week.  The most-recent release of ZA made the problem go away.

413

General Software Discussion / Re: Has any one held off on upgrading to Firefox 1.5?

« on: December 19, 2005, 09:33 AM »

it's still a bloated pig

Just wish they would get their damn act together and fix up the speed and memory hogging issues

I agree that Firefox is a large program that isn't particularly fast and clearly has a problem with memory management.

I hope the highly intelligent people who have donated so much time to Firefox so that we can use it for free will be able to resolve these issues.  I thank them for their efforts to date.

414

General Software Discussion / Re: Has any one held off on upgrading to Firefox 1.5?

« on: December 17, 2005, 06:14 PM »

There's some discussion here about mixed results with 1.5:


http://forums.scotsn....php?showtopic=14008

415

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Possible Large Directory Opus Discount

« on: December 17, 2005, 06:14 AM »

arrogant software developers

 


Each of us is free to try to do it better.  The author isn't holding a gun to our heads.  I can't imagine how much time he and his team have put into Directory Opus.

416

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Possible Large Directory Opus Discount

« on: December 16, 2005, 02:43 PM »

I have to say I like the slick integration of FTP

One of my favorite features too.  Two mouse clicks and I'm updating my website.

417

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Possible Large Directory Opus Discount

« on: December 15, 2005, 09:53 AM »

er, does this mean we can all use that discount code?

There's one way to find out.   

418

Found Deals and Discounts / Possible Large Directory Opus Discount

« on: December 15, 2005, 08:34 AM »

I cut this from a GRC newsgroup post this morning.  I'm assuming it's legit.  I know that Directory Opus is as good as it gets.



Directory Opus is *by far* the best file manager I've tried.

It costs about 85 AUD/ $64 / £36 . I paid full price in July 2003,
and (despite being a cheapskate, and despite a similar discount
being available at Xmas 03 <sigh>), haven't regretted it.

But I've received this offer (no good to me , which appears to be
a genuine 47% discount (down to 45 AUD / $34 / £19 ).

The only catch seems to be that it expires on January 1st, 2006,
thus effectively reducing the trial period (if you start now) from
60 days to about 15 days.

But if you decide about things quickly, have nothing to do over the
holidays, or have tried and liked it before (but balked at the
price), then this might be of interest :-

,------------

  Dear Directory Opus User,
 
  This message is an early Xmas present from GP Software!
 
  In the past you have downloaded Directory Opus from GP Software
  (either to evaluate it, or you have purchased an older version).
 
  We would like to thank you for your past interest in our software by
  offering you a discount on the purchase of the latest version of
  Directory Opus from the GP Software website!
 
  The Discount Code for this offer is:
 
  40XMAS2005
 
  This code entitles you to $40 Australian Dollars (approximately $30
  US Dollars) off the purchase price of Directory Opus (either 1, 2 or
  5 install licences). That brings the cost of a single-install
  licence of Directory Opus down to just $45 Australian Dollars (about
  $35 US Dollars)!
 
  This offer is not being made available to the general public - it is
  a special one-time "thank you" from GP Software to people who have
  taken the time to look at our software in the past.
 
  You can use this code yourself, or give it to a friend to use - or
  both!
 
  Please note however that this code expires on January 1st, 2006.
 
  You can download the latest version (8.2) of Directory Opus, and
  purchase it online, from our website at http://www.gpsoft.com.au
 
  Thank you very much again for your past interest in our software!
 
  Regards,
 
  Dr. Greg Perry
  GP Software

419

Official Announcements / Re: Change to Official License Key Policy

« on: December 12, 2005, 11:53 AM »

Three in a year, then no more, ever?  Man, that's five minutes of my VALUABLE time!  Your dozens (hundreds?) of hours of programming time don't mean squat to me, I want it NOW and I want it FREE!  And what's more, I want THAT and THAT added to the next version, or I'll have to use THIS instead of your crap!

420

Official Announcements / Re: Change to Official License Key Policy

« on: December 12, 2005, 10:29 AM »

Just read this at http://www.portablef...ws.php?date=20051212


12 Dec 2005: I have been informed by Chris that DonationCoder apps are nagware. After 180 days, the nags will start to appear and you need to get a license key via donation to turn them off. As such, I have removed their apps from the database: FindRun Robot, DragDrop Robot and System Path Commander.

421

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« on: December 10, 2005, 11:53 AM »

As mentioned, the Tabbrowser Extensions are buggy, bloated, and "unrecommended" by their author - but I love 'em!

422

Living Room / Re: ZoneAlarm is blocking some of the pages on DonationCoder.com?

« on: December 06, 2005, 01:17 PM »

Using ZA Free, no problems.

423

General Software Discussion / Re: Worst. Interface. Ever.

« on: December 04, 2005, 05:24 PM »

You can make Directory Opus as lean and mean as you like.  I use about 10% of what it offers, and hide the rest.

My system was fine (and still is, six months later).  xplorer^2 is just a buggy piece of software, in my opinion.  Lots of times on their forum, when somebody would talk about a problem they were having, the developer's only answer was along the lines of  "I don't understand, it's supposed to work".

Good luck with whatever you use.

424

General Software Discussion / Re: Worst. Interface. Ever.

« on: December 04, 2005, 04:46 PM »

I registered xplorer^2 and spent some time setting up the interface.  I liked the way it worked okay, but every so often all my settings would disappear and I'd have to set everything up again.  After several such problems I complained on the forum.  The developer didn't have a clue.  Another user wrote that he occasionally had the same problem.

The settings can supposedly be stored in a .reg file, which can be double-clicked to restore them when they disappear.  That worked once, then stopped working.  Besides, how klutzy is that?

Directory Opus is ten times the program xplorer^2 is.  It's one of the most useful and reliable  programs I've ever used.

425

General Software Discussion / IBasic Professional - A Fantastic Bargain

« on: December 04, 2005, 02:22 PM »

I program pretty much exclusively with IBasic Professional.  It can be used for anything from small utilities to major Windows applications, and produces small, fast, standalone executables.

Support from the owner and user community is outstanding.

Until the end of the year, you can buy the complete package for $24.99, which boggles my mind.


Here's a screenshot of a commercial application I wrote.  It's got a non-standard interface, but IBasic can be used to create programs with a traditional Windows interface quite easily.


http://mrainey.frees...tantProfessional.jpg



For people who are thinking of taking the plunge into programming, or just wanting something different, I'd highly recommend having a look at IBasic Professional.

http://www.pyxia.com