Messages

51

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: 14 days with SmugMug and Zenfolio

« on: July 20, 2012, 10:33 PM »

I heard about Zenfolio a couple of years ago before I got on SmugMug.  It seemed decent, but I got a discounted year at SmugMug from some bundle I picked up and promptly forgot about it.  After reading over your review, I will definitely do a trial and consider moving, as I have noticed many of the things that bothered you about Smug.

I will be sure to use your referral code if that is what I end up doing.

52

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: InfoRecall - $5.99?!?!

« on: July 06, 2012, 03:32 PM »

RightNote now allows Evernote sync of notes that you set to the "Evernote" type.

I haven't tested it yet to see how well it works, but it is there.

You can see it in the last two entries on their revision history http://www.bauerapps...ightNoteHistory.html

C

53

Web Link Captor / Re: Web Link Captor is occasionally useful!

« on: June 21, 2012, 04:44 PM »

This is awesome!

Another top-notch program, Mouser!

54

Found Deals and Discounts / Huge Linode Birthday Celebration Giveaway - $100+ in free VPS services

« on: June 19, 2012, 11:39 AM »

Linode is giving away $100 in credit for all new accounts to use towards any of their outstanding VPS plans.

Existing users can add a linode to their account and get 3 months free.

In all, they will be giving away $250,000 worth of credit, and it just started at 12:00 noon EST.  As of now, they are still reporting over $200,000 in credit remaining.

For both new and existing customers, you have to pay for the end of June and through July, then the credit for new accounts or 3 months of free service for exiting accounts is applied.

I have been with Linode since 2009 and have never had any issues at all.

They are an unmanaged VPS provider, however, so you have to administer your server on your own or pay someone to do it.

If you are interested in taking advantage of this offer and are a new user, I would greatly appreciate it if you would use my referral link http://www.linode.co...e739c7b9109446a64f40

If you don't want to use the referral link, then just head on over to their page with this link: http://linode.com

They are getting hammered right now, so it may take some time for pages to load and whatnot.


C

55

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Norton Identity Safe -- Free Download

« on: June 01, 2012, 12:23 AM »

There was a 2 month period where I did not have a new subscription for Norton on one machine since I wanted to wait until all my machines expired to get the full 12 months.

I uninstalled it and shifted over to Microsoft Security Essentials.  I had no problems removing Norton, no problems installing MSE, and no problems going back to Norton.

Oh, and for those who are bound to wonder why I went back to a paid solution instead of MSE?  MSE slowed my system down considerably compared to Norton.  And full system scans took more than 24 hours (with minimal computer use and no sleeping or hibernation).

Norton is not the same plodding, system killing beast it once was.

Carl

56

General Software Discussion / Re: Software Charity?

« on: May 30, 2012, 12:49 AM »

With your software in mind, I would look at schools and community groups that offer music programs for youths.  I would also consider churches if that kind of thing is agreeable to you.

57

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Norton Identity Safe -- Free Download

« on: May 30, 2012, 12:46 AM »

I used to hate on Norton like everyone else in this thread.

I bashed it every single chance I got.

Bloatware, useless, heavy, "as bad as the viruses it claims to stop," etc...



Then I started having issues with NOD32.  Issues that were brought up repeatedly at WildersSecurity in their recognized support forum, only to be discounted by their reps.

So I had to ditch it.  Either that or ditch Firefox since I could not download any file that was compressed in anyway without NOD screwing it up.


People told me to give Norton a chance, but I dismissed them and tried numerous AV offerings, only to have problems with each.

Finally, I gave in and tried Norton AV 2010.

Immediately, I noticed 3 things.

First, it installed so fast that I was sure something had gone wrong.

Second, it didn't even suggest that I should reboot.

Third, nothing seemed slower on my PC.

Everything I had hated about Norton security products had been fixed.

Bootup times did not take a noticeable hit.

File transfer times were just as snappy.

Hard drives didn't thrash.

False positives didn't cripple my programs and utilities.


Everything has been so great since I gave Norton another shot that I recently I upgraded to Norton AV 2012 for all Windows PCs in my home without a second thought.

In fact, I even recommend Norton AntiVirus to friends and family without pause.


My Norton protected computer runs without a hitch.

What more can you ask for?


Btw...

Total working set size for Norton AntiVirus 2012?  22mb.
CPU use?  Non-existent unless I am running a full scan.



Carl

58

Living Room / Re: Donation gamer: Games to give

« on: May 20, 2012, 07:00 PM »

I have the following available in Steam:

Half-Life 2: Episode One
AudioSurf
Defense Grid
Toki Tori Taken
aaaaAAAAAAAAHHH!
Super Meat Boy
Cogs
Counterstrike Source

I will only give one game per user, and I do ask that you have legitimate activity somewhere here on DC.  It doesn't have to be a lot, and it doesn't have to be recent, but I won't give out games to people who somehow found this thread and create an account just to PM me.

59

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Norton Identity Safe -- Free Download

« on: April 30, 2012, 10:44 AM »

Well, the page does state:

Download by October 1, 2012 and enjoy it FREE of charge forever. No strings attached.

60

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: RoboForm Everywhere for only $7.95-This Weekend Only

« on: April 14, 2012, 12:17 AM »

Of all the companies that I have dealt with that reneged on "lifetime licenses," Siber did it in the worst and most flippant manner.

Many other companies did away with lifetime licenses, but if you pushed hard enough they continued to update you or at least provided some kind of discount.

Siber thumbed their noses at everyone and refused to offer any kind of compensation, recompense, or even a half-assed explanation for why they went back on their promises.

It's too bad, too, as I really liked RoboForm.  It was better than any of the available options IMO.

That being said, I went LastPass and pay for their premium service to use it on my Android phone.  It works, and they don't seem to be evil.

At least not yet.

61

DonationCoder.com Newsletters / Re: --> Newsletter for July 18th, 2011 - "DonationCoder Plus"

« on: July 18, 2011, 06:05 PM »

Hopefully later today or early tomorrow.  Discount info will also be posted as soon as possible.


C

62

General Software Discussion / Re: Google+

« on: July 11, 2011, 01:12 AM »

When I was a a middle school teacher, I worked to make sure anything you could find with a full name search was positive.  Of course, I was teaching at a school that had a 1:1 laptop program funded by Apple, so I was 100% sure that my students were online.

I didn't avoid giving my real name, as I need to be visible on the web.  I just tried to make sure I was in as much control as possible.  I think I spent more time doing SEO than most internet marketers.

63

Finished Programs / Re: IDEA: Dropbox "Desktop"

« on: July 11, 2011, 01:03 AM »

Not a solution, as I have no clue how to write the program behind it, but all the folders you need are at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders in the registry.  Find a way to read the keys to a script or program, and you are on your way to what you need.


C

64

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: NewsBin Pro $35.00 -> $10.00 *lifetime subscription*

« on: July 05, 2011, 11:50 PM »

I've used NewsBin Pro in the past, and I always found it slow and crashy (is that even a word???)

IF I was going to get back into newsgroups, I would go with this:

SABNZBD+ = Free and open source downloader that is completely hands free (http://sabnzbd.org/)
Sick Beard = Free and open source scheduler (http://sickbeard.com/)
NZBMatrix subscription = $10 for 10 years of nzb listings that are monitored and moderated which gets rid of many of the viruses and password protected nonsense
Binsearch for stuff that doesn't meet nzbmatrix's standards if necessary

And don't forget the best antivirus you can find.  And don't click on any unexpected exes (which seems like good advice for RL as well, now that I think about it....)
C

65

General Software Discussion / Re: When your word processor begins openly mocking you, it's time to call it a day

« on: June 20, 2011, 01:08 AM »

In the end, the beast was tamed, and I managed to wrestle a well-formatted pdf out of it.  It did require completely uninstalling Office 2010 from her laptop and reinstalling 2007, but it is done.

Now it is up to the thesis and dissertation office to approve it, or to send back absurd demands for ridiculous formatting corrections.  No doubt at least one of the corrections will involve converting every third line to Comic Sans or replacing her footers with ASCII drawings that are actually a flip-book depicting a young woman who is so close to her PhD, only to have her diploma snatched away by a cruel man in a funny hat.

I swear, the folks in that office must have had the worst time possible in grad school, as they clearly get their jollies out of tormenting every PhD candidate that goes through the system.

66

General Software Discussion / When your word processor begins openly mocking you, it's time to call it a day

« on: June 20, 2011, 12:49 AM »

My wife and I spent 7 hours today fighting with Microsoft Word 2010 as we attempted to get her dissertation into the specific, random-ass, ever-changing format that her university requires for final submission and publication.

Word's more impressive moves included:

• Deciding to liberally and randomly sprinkle sub- and super-script formatting throughout her endnotes.
  
• The "section break jumble" every single time we saved the document.
  
• Completely corrupting half the references section with random garbage after a save.
  
• Insisting that we use quadruple space on one single page of the document.
  
• Regularly ignoring specified pages when printing small portions to attempt to fix pagination issues caused by Word.
  
• Turing on Windows' built in Text-to-Speech just in time to capture a bevy of full-on, modernist, William-Faulkner-would-be-proud stream of consciousness profanity.  Oddly enough, it got most of the more colorful words right and failed miserably on everything else.
  
• BSODing both my desktop and her laptop when trying to use the built in Save to PDF function.
  
• When not BSODing, telling us "File Not Found" when trying to use the built in Save to PDF function.
  
• Generating over 300 pages of margin to margin garbage text when using the full version of Adobe Acrobat 9 to create the required PDF.
  
• Replacing her name with my name in the document metadata when we tried to use no less than 3 other PDF generators.
  

Seriously, Word, what the hell?  What did we do to deserve that?  I defend you - you and Excel and Powerpoint and even Windows.  And this is how you repay us?

F'n Ingrate!

67

Living Room / Re: Should retailers be held accountable for recommendations?

« on: June 20, 2011, 12:20 AM »

Just an update on the whole NewEgg thing.  Both drives were accepted back from NewEgg without hesitation for full refunds. 

After spending considerable time on NewEgg's website to determine the best replacement HDs, I made an order and ended up with 2 DOA drives that would not format in the NAS or when connected directly to my PC through onboard SATA.  So they went back as well.  Again free shipping back due to ShopRunner (see below).

While I appreciate NewEgg handling my returns with no problems at all, I need working drives for my NAS.  I ended up going to my local BB and spending a little more to buy a pair of drives so I don't have to wait for returns and such if they go bad.

New drives installed and formatted without a hitch.  The NAS is compatible with fun_plug which allows you to access the linux os, so I have been playing around with lots of cool stuff.

I will be posting a review and some more about fun_plug soon.


As for the free returns: It turns out that was a benefit of signing up for ShopRunner (http://www.shoprunner.com/) when I made a recent online purchase of an extremely heavy and bulky dehumidifier.  ShopRunner is like Amazon Prime but it works at various online retailers.  I intended to cancel before the free trial month was up, but considering it has already more than covered its annual cost, I might keep it.  The orders have arrived from NewEgg within 2 days, however returns take forever as they use the cheapest possible method to get items back to the retailers.

68

Living Room / Looking for suggestions for domain name registration

« on: June 07, 2011, 12:03 AM »

The registrar I have used for as long as I've been buying domains (gkg.net) runs at $10.89 including ICANN fees.

I am looking to buy a couple more .com domains, and I would like to save as much money as possible, while making sure that I am using a reputable registrar that isn't going to hold my domains hostage, screw up my settings, or squat of domains that I search for.

I don't need hosting of any kind to go with the domains.

Who are you using for your domain needs?

Thanks!

C

69

Living Room / Re: Should retailers be held accountable for recommendations?

« on: June 05, 2011, 12:29 AM »

So I finally got an email back from NewEgg.  They have offered to allow returns with 100% refund on both hard drives, the NAS, or all 3 items with return shipping covered.  All of the items were shipped to me free of charge, so it looks like everything is good.  I mentioned the scratches on the HDs from inserting them into the NAS in my initial email, however I replied to the customer service tech to ensure that they will still refund on the drives despite the cosmetic damages.  Incidentally, one of the drives appears to be DOA as it won't even format in a usb enclosure that I borrowed from a neighbor, so they should be able to recoup their full cost on that one.

Originally, the drives showed up in the "Get the most from your D-Link DNS-325 with these extras!" section on the product page.  They are no longer listed, so maybe NewEgg actually read over the website I sent them where D-Link said that those drives will not work with any of their NAS offerings.

Assuming everything goes as planned, I am working on a review of the NAS that I will post sometime next week.  The web-based UI looks promising at the very least.

70

Living Room / Should retailers be held accountable for recommendations?

« on: June 03, 2011, 03:11 PM »

I bought a D-Link NAS from NewEgg last month.  On the page for the NAS, they recommended that I purchase 2TB Western Digital Caviar Green HDs to install in the NAS.  I went ahead and bought the drives, because they were a good price, low heat production/energy use, I have always had luck with WD drives, and because NewEgg recommended them.

The items arrived yesterday, and I tried in vain to get the thing set up in a RAID 1 configuration.  After multiple failures, I finally found a posting from the manufacturer of the NAS that states that the specific model of hard drive that NewEgg recommended that I purchase along with the NAS is explicitly not supported by the manufacturer.

As NewEgg sold me the drives specifically to use in the NAS I purchased, I have emailed them to ask for a refund so I can purchase compatible drives.  I have yet to hear back from them (nearing 24 hours since I emailed them), but I am worried that their return policy is going to cause problems.  Specifically, their policy states that all refund requests are subject to a 15% restocking fee.  Also, the installation procedure for the drives involves sliding them past metal tabs into the enclosure.  This caused long scratches spanning the entire length of the drive.  As there is clearly physical damage to the metal, label-side of the drives, I am worried that NewEgg will deny any return at all since their policy states that they will not accept products with physical damage.

So, should the retailer refund the purchase since it was made on their faulty recommendation?  What about that 15% restocking fee?  It's not like I changed my mind after using the items.  Since the damage was caused by installing the drives into the enclosure that was part of the recommended package, should they still accept them even though they are scratched?  Does it make a difference that the recommendation came from an automated system rather than a salesperson making an honest mistake?

What are your thoughts on the matter?

71

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: AnVir Task Manager Pro 60% off Today Only

« on: May 29, 2011, 07:59 AM »

I bought a license for this program back in 2008.  I had quite a few problems with it, and I was never able to get any support at all.  At that time, their forum was full of spam posts, and emails sent to their support email address given on their site bounced back.  After about a month of trying to contact them, I gave up and uninstalled the program.

Their support and forum may be better now, but I felt I should share my experience with the company.

Disclaimer
I am not affiliated with the program(s) mentioned in my post, unless explicitly stated.  I will not receive any compensation for any sales generated by my post unless explicitly stated.  The opinions expressed are my own and do not reflect the opinions of this site or its staff unless explicitly stated.

72

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Mezzmo - Deal at Bits du Jour

« on: May 27, 2011, 12:12 PM »

I;ve been testing it throughout the day, and it seems like a solid program.  I only stream to my PS3, and in the past I have been using PS3 Media Server (PMS).

PMS is free, but it chokes on a number of videos that I have.  Some of them seem to be the exact same format as other videos that it plays without a hitch.  Also, it really has issues streaming HD video smoothly.

Mezzmo has handled everything I've thrown at it, including HD content.

I am just about to the point of purchasing, and it helps that they have a 30 day money back guarantee available.


C

Disclaimer
I am not affiliated with the program(s) mentioned in my post unless explicitly stated.  I will not receive any compensation for any sales generated by my post unless explicitly stated.  The opinions expressed are my own and do not reflect the opinions of this site or its staff unless explicitly stated.

73

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 10

« on: May 26, 2011, 09:24 AM »

It was included in the price for me.

74

General Software Discussion / Re: VoicePics - A Toy App that encourages toddlers to Babble

« on: May 20, 2011, 07:51 PM »

My 15 month old son definitely enjoys babbling at the computer and seeing what pops up.  Oddly enough, "frog" constantly shows up, even when his babbling doesn't sound like frog to me.  I put in pictures of him, my wife, and myself, and he definitely gets excited when I make them appear, but so far he hasn't figured out that making sounds like me will get those pics to pop up.

C

75

General Software Discussion / Re: EditPad Pro 7 - released

« on: May 19, 2011, 11:23 AM »

Discount/Giveaway request for EditPad Pro 7 sent to developer.