Topics

76

General Software Discussion / How to add/delete files of an installer?

« on: September 27, 2006, 05:48 AM »

I received an .exe built by someone using InstallShield that copies bunch of folders and files to user's machine upon installation. I need to modify few of these files and repackage the .exe.

How do I do this other than via the expensive InstallShield? Any freeware?

Thanks.

77

General Software Discussion / OperaTor - Anonymous surfing using Opera

« on: September 24, 2006, 01:46 AM »

78

Developer's Corner / A Quick Reference for various programming languages

« on: September 23, 2006, 01:34 PM »

Find programming documentation - fast!

http://www.quickref.org/

QuickRef currently includes: C, C++, CSS, HTML, HTML DOM, Java, JavaScript, MySQL, Perl, PHP, and Ruby

79

General Software Discussion / KO Approach

« on: September 22, 2006, 10:46 AM »

A desktop utility application designed to speed up file navigation in Windows Explorer. Unlike the traditional way of accessing files where a window needs to be opened to reveal a folder's content, Approach offers a convenient and easy to navigate set of hierachical menus.

Just click on any folder in Windows Explorer, hold down the mouse key and a menu will appear, displaying the contents of the selected folder as a list of items. Highlight folder icons to expand sub-menus and move further down your directory structure, or select a file to open it in the same the way you do it from the Start menu. It's that simple.

Freeware.

Download: http://www.koapproach.com/default.aspx

But this isn't working in xplorer2. Anyone know a alternative that works in xplorer2?

80

General Software Discussion / XPize - Give your windows a fresh look

« on: September 20, 2006, 10:11 AM »

XPize is a GUI enhancer that replaces most of the non-XP icons, avis and bmps that Microsoft has always overlooked. It also includes some extras and a reloader, which you can use after visiting Windows Update.

Homepage: http://xpero.msfn.org/

Before: http://xpero.msfn.or.../personal/xpize2.gif
After: http://xpero.msfn.or.../personal/xpize1.gif

I've tried all the three major transformation packs available out there namely Flyakite (converts your windows into a Mac OSX look), Vista Transformation Pack and XPize.

XPize is the only one which didn't slow down my system. YMMV.

81

Living Room / OpenDNS - safer, faster and smarter DNS

« on: September 19, 2006, 11:36 PM »

This is a nice free option to change your DNS servers to from the default ones provided by your ISP.

DNS, the Domain Name System, translates the human addresses of websites and servers (like wikipedia.org) to the numerical address used by computers (207.142.131.203).

Why is OpenDNS faster than other DNS services?

Two things make OpenDNS faster than similar services. First, OpenDNS runs a really big, smart cache, so every OpenDNS user benefits from the activities of the broader OpenDNS user base. Second, OpenDNS runs a high-performance network which is geographically distributed and serviced by several redundant connections. OpenDNS responds to your query from the nearest location. That means we're very fast (and extremely reliable, to boot).

Why is OpenDNS smarter?

We fix typos in the URLs you enter whenever we can. For example, if you're using OpenDNS craigslist.og will lead directly to craigslist.org.

How do I start using OpenDNS?

Change your DNS settings to the OpenDNS servers:

    * 208.67.222.222
    * 208.67.220.220

OpenDNS is free to use.

Here's a recent testimonial from our IRC channel:

[09:56] <Gothi[c]> srikat: thanks, openDNS seems to be working allooooot faster

I've been using it ever since it came out and have had no problems so far. It works in the background and we hardly notice its usage.

82

General Software Discussion / Few Mouse and Keyboard freeware

« on: September 19, 2006, 09:42 PM »

Volumouse: provides you a quick and easy way to control the sound volume on your system - simply by rolling the wheel of your wheel mouse.

It allows you to define a set of rules for determining when the wheel will be used for changing the sound volume. For example: You can configure Volumouse to use your mouse wheel for volume control when the Alt key is hold down, when the left mouse button is down, when the mouse cursor is over the taskbar, and so on...

Key2click: offers an alternative for windows users by replacing the mouse buttons with two keyboard keys. It differs from windows 'mouse keys' in emulating the mouse keys exactly.

Qliner hotkeys is a free and open source keyboard productivity environment. Just hold the Windows key for three seconds and up pops a on screen Keyboard with icons on the keys that are configured. Hotkeys is smart in the way it launches applications and opens documents. When a key combination is pressed hotkeys will first try to find an existing instance of the requested application or document and bring that to the front.

Are there any other mouse and keyboard related freeware that you know and are useful? Let us know 

83

Developer's Corner / 5 Easy Ways to be a Better Developer

« on: September 18, 2006, 10:27 AM »

http://steve.jessica...e-a-better-developer.

84

Living Room / [Video] 4 year old drummer

« on: September 17, 2006, 05:53 AM »

85

General Software Discussion / MouseTool - Let this program click the mouse for you

« on: September 16, 2006, 08:52 AM »

MouseTool decreases your reliance on mouse buttons by automatically clicking them whenever you pause the mouse. Desktop items can be dragged and dropped without having to click. You can set the time delay, and the number of pixels the mouse can drift without clicking. Left-, right-, and double-clicks can be made on your keyboard by using hot-keys.

The last freeware version of this program is good enough and can be downloaded from here.

Do you use this program? I usually use this at work in the evenings when my fingers get tired of all the typing through the day. I just move the mouse to where I wanna click and this program will click it for you. 

86

DC Website Help and Extras / [Screencast] How to join #donationcoder IRC channel

« on: September 13, 2006, 10:33 AM »

I've created a 4:44 minute screencast in flash format that shows

1) Downloading mIRC
2) Installing it
3) Setting up mIRC
4) Connecting to Efnet
5) and finally joining DonationCoder's IRC channel.

File size: ~ 7 MB

It has helpful bubbles but no audio.

Click on the screenshot below to launch it:



Let me know if anyone wants it in zipped format.

87

Living Room / Soople - Google Searches Made Handy

« on: September 11, 2006, 10:47 PM »

http://www.soople.com is a useful site where you can do a variety of Google searches. I'll let the attached screenshot below do the talking.

Of these, I use ' Search within one site' most often.

88

Living Room / Do you have a blog yet? Introducing "Vox"

« on: September 09, 2006, 01:59 AM »

Vox.com is a free blog provider with supercool designs, helpful community, and great features.

Few highlights:

1. Tagging, Commenting
2. Unlimited uploading of your Photos, Music, Videos.
3. Flickr, YouTube etc. integration (meaning, you can pull stuff from there and have it displayed in your blog posts)
3. Template customization
4. 'Collections'  where you can group any blog posts, photos, mp3s, videos of your choice so they belong to a particular topic.

You don't have to worry about hosting costs, uptime, bandwith and other such maintenance headaches. Of course, you also can't insert your own Google ads or do other customizations that you could, on say your own WordPress blog.

My Vox blog is at http://sridhar.vox.com. That is the default design and I haven't touched the template.

Vox registration is currently invite-only. Let me know if any of you is interested and I shall see if I can arrange some. 

Again, a disclaimer: I am just a voxer, not affiliated with that service.

89

General Software Discussion / MiniReview: Windows Live Writer

« on: September 09, 2006, 01:39 AM »

Hello all,

I wrote a 'on the fly' review (meaning: quick, reviewing as I was testing it) of Windows Live Writer, a free downloadable program that will help you include rich content in your blog posts.

I am linking it here so others might find it useful: http://www.sridharee...windows-live-writer/ 

I am in no way affiliated to Microsoft. What is your favorite blog posting software?

[edit: i just changed topic to say MiniReview - mouser]

90

Living Room / How to turn F lock on the keyboard ON by default?

« on: September 09, 2006, 01:31 AM »

I have a Microsoft keyboard which has a 'F lock' (Function lock) which is OFF by default when the computer is turned on. Unless that key is turned ON, pressing function keys like say F5 doesn't work.

It's not a problem as such, but a minor annoyance.

Is it possible to have this key turned ON by default upon system start?