Topics

176

Found Deals and Discounts / Crayon Physics Deluxe - Birthday Sale (valid until January 15, 2010)

« on: January 07, 2010, 11:54 PM »

taking a cue from World of Goo's 'pay what you want' sale recently, Kloonigames is having a go for its game, Crayon Physics Deluxe, which is one year old. more info about the sale here.


• http://www.crayonphysics.com/

177

Find And Run Robot / Req: Ctrl+backspace to delete from cursor position

« on: January 06, 2010, 05:43 AM »

currently when using Ctrl+backspace to delete the previous word, Farr starts from the end of the line regardless of the cursor position. can Farr be made aware of the cursor position and delete from that position?

178

Screenshot Captor / Req: ability to change filename in the post-cap dialog

« on: January 04, 2010, 09:46 PM »

how about adding an ability to change the filename in the post-cap dialog? it'd come in handy if i want to send the screencap via email and i don't want to confuse the recipient with my standard file-naming template.

179

Screenshot Captor / ad-hoc MoveTo dialog

« on: January 04, 2010, 09:38 PM »

while the default MoveTo menu in SC is adequate, sometimes i need a quick dialog to paste a path. this is for a one-time path which i won't be using that much. i was thinking something like the screenshot below, is this possible to add?

180

DC Gamer Club / bit-tech.net - Top 10 Games of The Year 2009

« on: December 24, 2009, 02:10 AM »

bit-tech.net have compiled their year-end customary Top 10 Games of The Year for 2009. you can read about it or take a peek at the spoilers if you're feeling lazy. so how many from the list have you played? you can post your own list of some of the better games to come out in 2009.

the list

in descending order

* Machinarium
* Arma II
Empire: Total War
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II
Shattered Horizon
Mirror’s Edge PC
Borderlands
Dragon Age: Origins
Left 4 Dead 2
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Modern Warfare 2

* joint tenth

• http://www.bit-tech....s-of-the-year-2009/1

181

DC Gamer Club / Torchlight 50% off until Monday at Steam

« on: December 19, 2009, 03:45 AM »

Torchlight is an action RPG à la Diablo, however it's single-player only.



• http://store.steampowered.com/app/41500/

182

DC Gamer Club / Microsoft is giving away Tinker for free

« on: December 17, 2009, 11:58 AM »

Backstory: Microsoft is launching an online games store not unlike Steam, GOG, etc with the moniker "Games on Demand". you can call it GoD if you want.

In conjunction with this launch, Microsoft is giving away Tinker, a 60-level puzzle game, previously only available to owners of Windows Vista Ultimate. Tinker is free but you must create an account and install the "Games for Windows LIVE" client.



Source: http://www.downloads...inker-game-for-free/

183

General Software Discussion / Net Profiles - change your network settings with the click of a button

« on: November 08, 2009, 05:56 AM »

after having to switch back and forth manually, i found this freeware that allows one to switch between network settings. Net Profiles works on a profile basis, basically create a profile and key-in a set of values pertaining to the network that you want to be connected. among the options you can alter with a profile are IP addresses (dhcp or manual), proxy settings, default browser homepage, mapped drives, screen resolution, wallpapers and even activate Wireless SSID based on different profiles.

With Net Profiles, mobile computing becomes a whole lot easier. It eliminates the need to manually reconfigure your network settings when you move your desktop/laptop computer to another location. Once a profile is created, Net Profiles can configure your IP settings, proxy settings, mapped drives, default printer, wallpaper, and screen resolution with a click of a button; as well as run any number of user-defined applications upon activation of a profile.

-website

in the changelog there is a note saying, "Completely rewritten in .NET 2.0" so .NET 2.0 runtime might be needed but i can't verify since i already have .NET 3.5 on my system.

• http://code.google.com/p/netprofiles/

184

General Software Discussion / How to remove this file - KeyHH.its?

« on: October 28, 2009, 08:07 AM »

i noticed that there is a file called 'KeyHH.its' on my PC. double-clicking it only opens a blank IE window. as usual googling indicated that this file is related to the system help and apparently it helps to open chm, etc. however i want to know if there is a way to remove it?

185

General Software Discussion / n2ncopy: copy/move stuff to multiple locations

« on: October 08, 2009, 01:47 AM »

based on a request on the chatroom by srikat, presenting n2ncopy.

[13:37pm] <srikat> need a small portable freeware
[13:38pm] <srikat> something like http://www.zenosys.com/mirror/index.html
[13:38pm] <srikat> from the screenshot appears like the above can support only one target location
[13:45pm] <srikat> I downloaded the above program and we can only mirror all the content of a folder
[13:45pm] <srikat> I need the ability to specify a file for the source
[13:45pm] <srikat> and for the destination multiple folders
[13:46pm] <srikat> into which the source file should be copied
[13:46pm] <srikat> with overwrite if exists option

this program is easy enough to use. a window will appear in the left bottom corner of the screen. Drag-n-drop the files and folders that you want to copy/move (there is an option for this later) into the left side of this screen. Drag-n-drop the destination where you want to copy/move on the right side of the window. this is a freeware but donations are welcome.

Note: the author's site is on Geocities (which is closing on October 26, 2009) so he's in the midst of moving his programs to a new host.



• http://www.softpedia...gement/n2ncopy.shtml

186

General Software Discussion / NirLauncher tools package

« on: October 07, 2009, 10:09 AM »

presenting a new launchpad for Nirsoft tools - NirLauncher, more news here. note: the launchpad can also be configured to include other programs as well. i wonder if anyone has tried this yet?



• http://blog.nirsoft....ailable-to-download/

187

General Software Discussion / MOVED: text capture in anywhere

« on: September 29, 2009, 12:42 AM »

This topic has been moved to Announce Your Software/Service/Product.

https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=20108.0

188

DC Gamer Club / Tales of Monkey Island (Episode 1) - for free

« on: September 17, 2009, 08:44 PM »

Telltale Games is giving away the 1st episode of Tales of Monkey Island for free! just head on here and register to get the unlock code. the codes will be given away starting midnight GMT September 19.

* Get complete first chapter of the epic 5-episode adventure. Free one day only. If swallowed, induce vomiting.

-website

• http://www.telltaleg....com/playlikeapirate

189

General Software Discussion / Do you touch-type or hunt-and-peck?

« on: September 14, 2009, 08:08 AM »

recently a couple lamented that the school their kids go to do not have any formal classes to teach typing on a computer. i didn't realise that learning to type is important. do current work scope generally require the applicants to turn in an assessment showing what is their words-per-minute (wpm) speed?

i for one never learned how to type, always relying on word-expanders and auto-correcting macros to correct my mistakes when typing my reports and whatnot. therefore i am curious how important is it to learn to type-touch instead of hunt-and-peck and i would like to open this question to all here. how many of you have learned to touch-type and is it worth spending some time (especially for youngsters) learning it?

• related link on wikipedia

190

Coding Snack Guidelines / MOVED: IDEA: Toggle mouse acceleration with a simple program

« on: September 03, 2009, 12:35 AM »

This topic has been moved to Post New Requests Here.

https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=19785.0

191

DC Gamer Club / Droplitz promotion at Steam - 80% off until August 28, 2009

« on: August 22, 2009, 10:35 AM »

there is a 80% discount for the game, Droplitz which is valid until August 28th. so the price is now $1.99, down from the normal price of $9.99. i haven't played this game before but the metacritic score shows a respectable 78/100.

Immerse yourself in this addictive puzzler that's all about strategically twisting and connecting mismatched dials to save precious droplitz. Just making a single junction is child's play; can you master the art of the combo or will you let your pipes runneth over? Be warned: losing too many droplitz can be hazardous to your ability to win. With four unique play modes, a variety of board sizes, and infinite replayability, Droplitz promises to drain all your time away.

-website

• http://store.steampowered.com/app/23120/

192

Mini-Reviews by Members / KidsMenu - a shell replacement for kids

« on: August 19, 2009, 11:38 PM »

Basic Info

App Name	KidsMenu
App URL	http://glob.com.au/kidsmenu/
App Version Reviewed	Release 9
Test System Specs	Pentium C2D E6550 @ 2.33Ghz, 2GB RAM, WinXP Home SP3
Supported OSes	Any of the Windows OS  family, provided it supports Internet Explorer 7 or higher.
Support Methods	The author provides his email address on the website.
Upgrade Policy	N/A
Trial Version Available?	Freeware
Pricing Scheme	Freeware, donations accepted (Paypal).
Author Donation Link	Donate to Byron Jones, the author.
Reviewer Donation Link	N/A
Screencast Video URL	N/A
Relationship between Reviewer and Product	I am not affiliated with this product and its developer in any way. Just another happy user.

Introduction

As any parent would agree, introducing computers to young children can be quite frustrating. Since most of the systems are not designed with kids on their mind, it's not wise to leave the kids unattended. There are several useful utilities here at Donationcoder that can attest to this fact, such as Skrommel's ToddlerTrap and CrazyLittleFingers by Kwacky.

This is where alternate shells come into the picture. They let the children to explore and launch programs while allowing the parent to retain certain amount of control. One such program that recently caught my eye is KidsMenu by Byron Jones and as it turned out Byron wrote this program for his kids to use and I feel that is an important criteria.

As he explains on the KidsMenu website.

kidsmenu avoids some of the complexity and danger introduced by the standard windows shell (explorer) when put in front of young children. for example, as there's no start menu, hitting the windows key accidently while playing a game won't show the start menu. (note this functionality currently requires kidsmenu to be running as the replacement shell).

-website

Who is this app designed for:

As mentioned earlier, parents can focus more on the programs they had installed for their children instead of worrying about Windows getting wrecked.


The Good and Why I think you should use this product

I find KidsMenu relatively easy to install and configure, even though it is to be used a replacement shell (normally a terrifying prospect). The hard parts are all taken care of the program itself.

Based on my experiences while setting up the computer to run KidsMenu. I find it quite intuitive and highly customisable. In fact there is a file called "Customisation Guide.rtf" that helps you to get started. By referring to the guide, I managed to switch the default two-column layout into a three column one (see image).



If you are handy with HTML & CSS, you can basically modify every aspects of the GUI.

Another positive factor is that one doesn't have to create any shortcuts within the shell to have a launcher menu. Instead the user just have to drag-and-drop existing shortcuts into the folder called "shortcuts". Then upon starting the shell, these shortcuts will be displayed.


How does it compare to similar apps

There is another program called GDS Child Menu but I feel that it still exposes a lot of the default shell. And to be honest with the kids snapping at my heels, I haven't had much time to explore other kids-friendly shell replacements.


Conclusions

What can I say - this program can be set-up in a snap, ready to be used and I can take my eyes off the kids while they're using the computer. That's a big compliment for any launch system.

The best thing about the program's current status is that it being actively developed and the author is very responsive to suggestions.


Links to other reviews of this application

A google search returned only this review by Lifehacker.

193

General Software Discussion / SuperCopier 2.2 Beta (NEW!)

« on: August 19, 2009, 02:53 AM »

previously mentioned here and after a long hiatus, SuperCopier 2 is being developed actively again. a few days ago, Beta 2.2 was released with several new enhancements and some bug-squashing.



• http://supercopier.sfxteam.org/

194

General Software Discussion / Need drivers for 56K internal modem (PCI)

« on: August 18, 2009, 12:28 PM »

i have this problem with a WinXP PC that throws up a 'found new hardware' message each it's started. the device happens to be a 'Modem PCI Simple Communications Controller', a google search showed that it's a code for internal PCI modem. so i checked further and found that it's called 'Agere PCI Soft Modem' with the chipset labelled MSP-7850W. the problem is now finding the drivers since Agere has long been sold to Lucent (or is it vice-versa) and somehow the vendors website is now non-existent.

the normally reliable google search only points to certain drivers website where one has to install a certain driver-sleuth programs before being able to download the drivers. so i would like to ask fellow DC'ers if they happen to have the drivers or the links to this drivers, please share with me. thanks..

The modem's identification string.

195

DC Gamer Club / Batman Arkham Aslyum (coming in Sept.2009)

« on: August 18, 2009, 12:13 PM »

as you may (or may not) know, there is a new game based on the Batman to be released next month. no one can be sure how the finished article is going to be, but i'm quite glad that this is a stand-alone game, not a movie tie-in. games that are based on movies are normally rushed through production and the story-line is quite blasé.

i've just finished the demo and even though it was quite short at about 20-30mins, there are ample signs that this game has the potential. so for those who always wanted to don the dark knight's cape, this is your chance.



• http://www.batmanarkhamasylum.com/

196

Screenshot Captor / SC: Discussion of Scanning Functions

« on: July 26, 2009, 07:58 AM »

SC's reinvention as a scanning tool is going to be a great addition. i can feel it..

197

General Software Discussion / the best hand-held pdf reader?

« on: July 21, 2009, 07:50 AM »

i've been accumulating e-books for some time now, but i can hardly find the time to read anymore since it means being stuck to my desktop. hence, my question - what is a good hand-held pdf reader that is not Kindle? i'm looking for a product that is readily available, with decent screen size and good battery life.

198

Coding Snack Guidelines / MOVED: move mouse to active window

« on: July 19, 2009, 09:34 PM »

This topic has been moved to Post New Requests Here.

https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=16997.0

199

General Software Discussion / bookTome the book organiser

« on: July 12, 2009, 09:06 PM »

bookTome is a freeware tool to manage one's book collection and is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

bookTome is a book management system which allows users to enter information about their book collection and then sort and search this information in a variety of different manners.

bookTome can catalog and manage your library or personal book collection and it is suitable for collections of all sizes and types.

-website

http://booktome.shanemca.com/

200

LaunchBar Commander / KeepInLine: AHK script for LBC

« on: July 12, 2009, 12:51 AM »

my default LBC dock is at the top of the screen but due to some apps not being able to differentiate between a monitor's screen area and workspace, the windows open at coordinate 0,0 and get hidden behind the dock. so i wrote this AHK script which keeps them in line by moving those windows down. so if you have this problem then this script will be useful to you as well.

Notes:
• the dock height is hard-wired to 30 pixels. if you need to change it, edit the included INI file.


• there is an option to 'show hint' which pops up a balloon each time a window is moved, you can turn this off if it gets to you after a while.


• if your dock is not at the top and if you have this problem, let me know maybe i'll extend this to cover other areas of the screen.

KeepInLine in action


thanks to Deleket (Jojo Mendoza) for the program icon. visit his website for more cool icons: http://www.deleket.com/