Messages

101

General Software Discussion / Re: Anyone uses MediaMonkey? I need your advices.

« on: August 28, 2008, 12:51 PM »

I've been a MM user (lifetime license) for a number of years now and can vouch for it's ability to do 2, 3 and 4 (not sure about 1).  The mp3 tagging support is superb and the mp3 conversion uses the LAME encoder, so is excellent quality.

Would I buy it now?  Not sure - there are many more efficient players around for free (e.g. foobar, xmplayer etc.).  Tagging can be done via Picard http://musicbrainz.org/ - although the track properties in MM gives you a huge amount of control over the tracks (e.g. tempo, mood etc.) - and there are a thousand-and-one CD rippers, converters and burners.

The MM skins really put me off at first, but the non-skinned version looks better.

So, it's good, but you'll really need to demo it before buying to decide if it's $40 better than the free stuff.

102

Living Room / Re: Take That Stupid Printer -- Stop Tricking Me Into Wasting Ink!

« on: August 23, 2008, 04:31 AM »

Yep, exactly the same thing here - I've got a Minolta Magicolor 2350 and one day, without warning, it told me that one of the toner cartridges needed replacing even though the print quaility of that colour had not reduced.  Looking on fixyourprinter.com suggested that there was a fuse inside the cartridge that needed replacing and the toner would come magically back to life...

103

General Software Discussion / Re: LifeHacker Roundup: Track Your Fitness Progress with Free Tools

« on: May 24, 2008, 12:54 PM »

I used to use Zeropace's (paid) Training log (http://www.zeropace.com/), but gave it up for Sportstracker (http://www.saring.de/sportstracker/).  Brilliant multi-platform application for keeping track of exercises - it even imports Polar HRM files for keeping track of training data.  Only downside is that it's a Java application and takes a while to start-up...

104

General Software Discussion / Re: Dilemma - Free AVG8 - Buggy; Updates for Free AVG 7.5 ending May 08

« on: May 17, 2008, 04:31 PM »

I've been using Avira for several years now . . . my only complaint is the nag screen that popus up with each update

-allen (May 17, 2008, 11:59 AM)

The AntiVir update nagscreen can be deactivated:

http://www.elitekill...able_antivir_nag.htm

A little naughty, but you're still limited to the once-a-day automatic update.

105

General Software Discussion / Re: Carbonite Online Backup

« on: April 20, 2008, 10:51 AM »

Yes, I started using Jungledisk about a year ago after being a Mozy user for sometime.  I've got around six GB backed-up from two machines, with the backup service running once an hour.

Pros (over Mozy):

• Cheaper (for the above, I pay <£1 / month)
• Jungledisk has a web interface and maps S3 to a network drive
• Backups are available from anywhere
• Unlimited number of restores per month (I seem to remember Moxy only allowing 3/month)
• Very active forum and responsive developer
• Allows you to define your own symmetric key for security (can't remember if Mozy does?)

Cons:

• No "free" strorage
• Mozy's interface is much more intuitive, although the developer of Jungledisk is improving this for Jungledisk 2

106

General Software Discussion / Re: Small Apps

« on: March 23, 2008, 03:45 PM »

Mempad is often mentioned around these parts, but Horst Schaeffer also has a number of other excellent portable utilities:

http://home.mnet-onl...de/horst.muc/win.htm

I use QSel to launch portable programs on every computer I use (it's a portable program used to launch portable programs  ).

107

Living Room / Re: What Are Your Favorite Science Blogs?

« on: March 11, 2008, 03:29 PM »

This one's a podcast, rather than a blog, but it's interesting stuff and very informative.

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/

108

General Software Discussion / Re: What Are Your Views On BUGS?

« on: February 03, 2008, 04:47 AM »

I guess that in this world of high competition, companies earn more money through the addition of new features than squashing bugs.  More new features mean more bugs and the vicious cycle continues.

In Bruce Schneier's book "Secrets and Lies", he cites a piece of research from Carnegie Mellon University that every thousand lines contain five to fifteen bugs, so constantly adding new features means adding lots of new bugs too.  It seems like the software world is one big beta at times...

Slightly off-topic, Secrets and Lies is great book on computer security - Bruce Schneier's got a really enjoyable writing style:

http://www.amazon.co...202035441&sr=8-2

Wow, that's pessimistic for a Sunday morning 

109

General Software Discussion / Re: App and Web app solution

« on: February 03, 2008, 04:06 AM »

But at the moment i dont backup online, just 2 usb drives, one which i take away on a rotation... online would be better but i always thought it'd be slow...

-iphigenie (February 02, 2008, 05:51 PM)

Well, the initial backup is slow and can take days, but once it's over it improves.  Mine is set to backup once an hour and takes seconds on a standard broadband connection.

110

General Software Discussion / Re: App and Web app solution

« on: February 02, 2008, 08:07 AM »

I used Mozy for around six months, before swapping to Jungledisk, which I've been using for about a year.

Here is what I prefer about Jungledisk:

(1) Jungledisk is cross-platform (can run on Windows and Linux)
(2) Jungledisk uses Amazon S3 via WebDAV, so you see your storage as if it's another directory.
(3) Jungledisk has a limited number of data downloads per month, whereas Mozy doesn't (although you have to pay for each download with Jungledisk).
(4) I have about 6Gb stored, which costs $5 p/m with Mozy and only about $1.10 p/m with Jungledisk.

For anyone worried about the security of their data, Jungledisk allows you to specify your own symmetric encryption key.

As I've been registered for a while, I got JungleDisk plus free for a year - not sure if I'd pay the extra $1 p/m, but it's useful if you backup lots of big files.

111

General Software Discussion / Re: Plain text editor for writers

« on: January 20, 2008, 10:24 AM »

"F Lock"? What is this "F Lock" you speak of? I do not see anything that says this on any key of my keyboard. Nor do I see this on any spare keyboards I have. Where would this be located?

-app103 (January 20, 2008, 10:20 AM)

Mine's right of the Pause/Break key and above the Num Lock (Microsoft wireless comfort keyboard).  Not entirely sure of it's purpose, but it seemed to do the trick.

112

General Software Discussion / Re: Plain text editor for writers

« on: January 20, 2008, 10:12 AM »

app103

F1 doesn't work, so I don't know how to do anything with it that requires a not-known-to-me keyboard shortcut.

-app103 (January 20, 2008, 07:00 AM)

Hmmm, I had exactly the same problem until I hit the "F Lock" key on my keyboard and F1 started working again.

Seems like the world is a-changing, started years ago with really basic apps, then they grew and grew and grew into bloated monsters and now everyone is clamouring for the basic stuff again - are we seeing the start of a revolution? 

Time to stay goodbye to Word / Openoffice and move on to Q10!

113

General Software Discussion / Re: How to keep track of the software you actually use?

« on: January 20, 2008, 10:06 AM »

There's also http://www.rescuetime.com, which does the same type of thing.

114

General Software Discussion / Re: post your 5 most used applications in 2007 here!

« on: January 13, 2008, 01:00 PM »

Firefox
KeePass
Directory Opus
EmEditor
Acemoney

Honorary mention: JungleDisk (runs constantly in the background)

115

General Software Discussion / Re: Best password manager?

« on: December 18, 2007, 03:44 AM »

PD: And that it does not let you add various URLs and/or title(s) per entry, unfortunately some of the sites I go to have various login points in there, I suppose I could find a generic window name in all of them, it could not be that difficult.

-Lashiec (December 17, 2007, 04:37 PM)

You can have as many "Auto-Type-Window:" clauses as you want in each entry.  This is useful for things like Google, where the same username/password is used for mail, calendar etc.  Although, yes, you can only have one URL per entry.

116

General Software Discussion / Re: Wallpaper Manager?

« on: December 16, 2007, 04:33 AM »

I really like John's Background Switcher (Donationware) for this kind of thing:

http://www.johnsadve...e/backgroundswitcher

Can keep track of folder's containing wallpapers and can even download wallpapers from Flickr and Picasa based on keywords.

Actively developed too!

117

General Software Discussion / Re: Your Unistaller 2008 just released.

« on: December 09, 2007, 02:52 PM »

Hmmm....I've been a long time user of Your Uninstaller with a lifetime license, but have recently started using http://www.revouninstaller.com/ in preference - mainly due to its more frequent updates.  Never seen a comparison between the two, but I just seem to prefer Revo now for some reason (although the way that Your Uninstaller marks recently installed programs is very useful).

Oh, if you don't forget to untick the 2008 registry value when you uninstall 2006, it seems to screw something up and stop you registering for 2008...ho hum..will have to uninstall the lot using Revo and try again 

118

General Software Discussion / Re: Best password manager?

« on: December 09, 2007, 08:21 AM »

And what exactly are the negative concerns with .NET framework in use?  Seems many useful programs have gone this path... (I am seriously asking as I am just an end-user)

-vegas (December 09, 2007, 07:43 AM)

My only concern is from a purely personal point-of-view as we use Windows 2000 at work, which doesn't have the .NET framework installed.

119

General Software Discussion / Re: Best password manager?

« on: December 09, 2007, 05:37 AM »

Yes, I've been using KeePass for years - once you get used to the extra work required to set-up the auto-type information for each important password, hitting a hotkey populates the data just as Roboform does.  I use KeePass for a lot more than just passwords though - registration codes can be kept in the notes section, along with an attached copy of the original email.  You can also store all your bank details and other private information there too.

I still use Roboform for holding my contacts list though, which is very useful functionality.

My only concern is the .NET development path that KeePass 2 is heading down, altough is no big deal as Password Safe can easily import a KeePass file if this ever becomes a problem.  Would love to move to Password Safe, but it just doesn't quite have KeePass' functionality and usability yet.

120

General Software Discussion / Re: Good websites/blogs/programs for managing money?

« on: October 30, 2007, 07:41 AM »

I've used Acemoney for years and haven't found a better alternative yet (paid and free versions available):

http://www.mechcad.net/products

If I didn't have years tied up in Acemoney, I 'd move to Money Manager Ex, which is free, open-source and cross-platform and has *fantastic* support:

http://www.thezeal.c...php?Money_Manager_Ex

Not sure where you are in the world, but here is a great UK finance website (with a very active forum):

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

121

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for a small dockable, auto-hide notepad

« on: October 23, 2007, 07:13 AM »

Mempad has a lot of this functionality and seemingly improves by the day.  Lastet betas allow the program to sit in the task bar until summoned:

http://home.mnet-onl...e/horst.muc/wmem.htm

Free and doesn't need installation.