Messages

26

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: (10+2)*5 Timer

« on: October 10, 2007, 09:33 AM »

Thanks for your help, app! I appreciate it!

27

Post New Requests Here / Instant Boss problem--they are using XP, not Vista

« on: October 09, 2007, 10:45 AM »

They are using XP, so that doesn't seem to explain it.  Apparently another person is having a problem with a mystery extra 23 minutes added on to their total time.

I have tried unchecking the box on the prompt-- it keeps the prompt from coming up each time, but does not solve the 'system reset' problem.

I'd like to verify that I am saving these files to the correct folder(s). How can I check that mine are saved to the registry, as suggested?

The discussion thread about it is http://www.phinished...owthread.php?t=21218

Thanks for your help.

28

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: (10+2)*5 Timer

« on: October 09, 2007, 03:55 AM »

I didn't ask what OS they were using...I'll find out. (duh...sorry.  )

29

Post New Requests Here / Problem with Instant Boss

« on: October 08, 2007, 02:41 AM »

You have a lot of fans over on Phinished.org with this program!  However, someone there has run into this problem:

Basically, the Instant Boss application works (window comes up, and I get a little icon in my system tray, seems to function ok). But every time I restart my computer, I have to run the application from scratch. So, the total time worked ("total work to date") keeps resetting to zero and I have to start all over. (How can I keep track of the time I've worked over days, weeks, and months if it resets every time I restart? Maybe this is something IB is not meant to do.)

Am I doing something wrong in terms of installation? This is what I did: downloaded the program; when prompted, saved the zipped folder to my desktop; extracted all items from the zipped folder; then, double-clicked on the Instant Boss icon (yelling man); instant boss opens (after I get a message about whether or not I want to run this application) and I use the timer; the icon appears in the system tray. Once I exit the program and restart my computer, I click the Instant Boss icon again to start the program (promt asks me each time whether I want to run the app); all timers (including life timer) are set back to zero. What's the deal?

Any suggestions?

30

Living Room / Re: LV here I come!

« on: August 14, 2007, 07:08 AM »

I suggest that you go to the Klondike--turn left after the airport (that is, away from "the strip"), if it's still there.  It was a very interesting cultural experience, with fairly tasty 99¢ margaritas, and interesting things like penny-ante games (with cards and a dealer, rather than video machines).  The whole place is old-fashioned and was extremely cheap.  A good place to warm up without losing too much money!

Then again, I'm cheap and I like to play the nickel slots almost exclusively. 

31

General Software Discussion / Re: Fingertips - Rapid Task Entry into Outlook

« on: August 07, 2007, 01:05 PM »

Fingertips is a program like FARR or Launchy, but what sets it apart is that it allows you to enter in tasks, contacts, appointments into Outlook with little or no interaction with Outlook.  This makes it extremely easy to enter in tasks without being bothered by switching applications or loading up the Outlook task form.

-tim254 (November 09, 2006, 01:21 AM)

Pardon my ignorance, but is it possible to set FARR to do this as well?

32

Living Room / Re: Article: A Woman's Primer for Building Her Own Computer

« on: August 05, 2007, 06:42 AM »

It seems like it's definitely a mixed bag of results.  My husband built his own a few years ago, and the only problem he's had is that the graphics card doesn't play as nicely as it could, but it all works.   

I've always wanted to see what I could build from scavenged parts, and/or see what I could get for some small fixed sum.  Kind of like those silly home-improvement-and-decor-on-a-budget shows.  Now, I know pretty much diddly-squat about how to do any of this, so it's a pipe dream at the moment.  But I long to be able to do things like build a computer in a whiskey bottle, or make my own tiny custom portable device.

However, I was just thinking of looking for advice on how to start researching this very thing, so this was a well-timed post!

33

General Software Discussion / Re: XP or Vista user — take the poll!

« on: August 05, 2007, 06:19 AM »

The main thrust of MS these days seems to be to make money and to placate the music and video industries (ie. make it harder to actually use products you have purchased). The rest of Windows development seems more aimed at eyecandy and anti piracy - non of which really helps or encourage the legitimate user.

-Carol Haynes (August 01, 2007, 04:31 AM)

Which is why I'm sticking with XP until I am in a position to move to Linux.  It's not perfect either, I'm sure, but from a sort of "consumer politics" point of view I'd like to encourage the open source underdogs.  I don't appreciate being treated like a criminal when I am a legitimate paying customer, and as far as I can tell Windows "eye candy" is often annoying and just makes everything run slowly on run-of-the-mill PCs.

34

General Software Discussion / Re: What is the currently best Desktop Search software?

« on: July 30, 2007, 08:30 PM »

At the link you provided there's no checkmark for the Vista search (which is what my laptop has). Would it still be compatible?

-Laughing Man (July 30, 2007, 08:04 PM)

That I don't know, I'm afraid.  I haven't switched to Vista so I tend to ignore anything Vista-related. 

I thought that Vista was supposed to include the same functionality as WDS on XP?  Does it not index Tbird and what have you?  How lame...

35

General Software Discussion / Re: What is the currently best Desktop Search software?

« on: July 30, 2007, 07:33 PM »

I have a question (for anyone that's used Beagle in Linux). Is there a "Beagle" for Windows? By that I mean something like Beagle. I like how I can search and it shows the results in its window split up by pictures, music, documents, etc..

I use Google Desktop Search and Windows Desktop Search right now. WDS is pretty close to what I want. But I can't remember why I don't use it (indexing TB emails maybe?). I remember there was a reason why I installed GDS on there..

-Laughing Man (July 30, 2007, 04:35 PM)

Me too!  Beagle looks so much more useful with everything split up like that.

I was using WDS for a while, in the vain hope of getting MS Research's Phlat tagging tool to work.  However, I have recently gone back to Copernic because WDS seems to slow the whole system down to a crawl, even when it claims it's not doing anything.  One thing I did like about WDS, though, was the search syntax and the way that you can limit it with various options, which you don't seem to be able to do in Copernic.  You can download plug-ins for WDS that will index Thunderbird and a bunch of other stuff at http://www.microsoft...earch/wdsaddins.mspx.

36

Official Announcements / Re: How to punish DonationCoder if you are angry at being nagged to donate

« on: July 25, 2007, 03:25 PM »

All this is making me feel like I should donate some more...

Even though I mostly use the software here as entertainment, it's become an invaluable resource.  I find a lot of useful info here.

Plus, the mascot is cute.

37

Finished Programs / Re: DONE 07/19/05 - IDEA: Capslock reverses case of selected text

« on: July 23, 2007, 03:58 PM »

This is a pretty nifty little utility and it has been useful.  But is it possible to change the delay time, so that if I actually want to use the caps lock for a short time I can hit it quickly and it will function as normal, but if I want to use the change case function I can hold it down for longer?  I messed around with the settings file and managed to mess it up completely (when I highlighted some text and then invoked CapShift from the tray icon, it just pasted in whatever was on the clipboard!).

38

Living Room / Re: OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?

« on: July 22, 2007, 09:11 PM »

first contact with Computers was with a Commodore VC20

Somewhere in my parents' house, I'm sure, the old VC20 still survives, along with the tape deck.  I never was much of a programmer, though--I made it as far as the multi-colored bouncing balls before I discovered boys. 

I don't think I ever posted anything in this thread, but most of the relevant bits are in my profile.  I don't know anything about programming, really, but I like to mess around with various little programs.  I'm always searching for something that will make me actually get my research done. 

My research is on prehistoric art of Mediterranean Spain (Murcia), and it's going really slowly because my Spanish isn't very good and it takes me forever to read stuff.  I am starting to worry that I will never finish.  Especially not if I keep messing around here...

The photo is a quick 'n' dirty enhancement of one of the sites I am studying.

39

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows firefox edition... I guess

« on: July 21, 2007, 10:23 AM »

I tried wintabber before, but as I recall, the programs that were open were then invisible to the alt+tab menu.

Is that actually true?  What about the Jedi program?

I suppose it's not really all that different from a taskbar in the first place, in some ways.  If I could just get that to act a bit more like Firefox tabs, that would be cool.

40

General Software Discussion / Wanted: GNOME-style emblems for Windows XP?

« on: July 21, 2007, 10:09 AM »

My husband's computer runs Fedora Core 6, with the Gnome desktop (Nautilus file browser).  I am in love with the emblem feature--it lets you add little icons to files, folders, whatever so that they appear in the file browser with these little markers.  It does other nifty eye-candy things as well, like letting you add backgrounds to folders and so on.  The emblem feature would be highly useful for me, but I'm not yet in a position to switch to Linux myself (trust me, the day is coming very soon...).

Anyway, has anyone ever seen such a thing for Windows?  Or anything like it?

41

General Software Discussion / Re: How to work with (display, format, restructure) big amount of structured dat

« on: July 20, 2007, 11:56 AM »

what are the writers, researchers and Ph.Ders in the DC community using when structuring and restructuring big amounts of mostly “textual” data (ALSO containing images and tables — almost inevitable in my field)?  Softwares like myBase or Ultra Recall? Despite the format restrictions they impose?

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm spending a lot of time fiddling around with various programs, too!   

The beta version of LyX (1.5) has an outline view now, much like Word, but I think that it is kind of a steep learning curve and it doesn't quite do what you want, I don't think.  I'm learning to use it because after spending a solid month trying to get my MA thesis formatted correctly in Word, I'm favorably impressed with how LaTeX effortlessly formats things.  However, for day-to-day writing it's kind of a pain.  I've been using Word to write in and exporting it on occasion (using a Word to LaTeX macro http://kebrt.webz.cz...-to-latex/index.html) and it works okay with a little fiddling.  Not really what you're after, though.

The Wiki route sounds promising to me, although it also has a bit of a learning curve for me.  I've found some potentially useful info here, including an add-in for OpenOffice that will convert a document to a Wiki, although I haven't had the time to mess with any of it yet:

http://www.pmwiki.or.../Cookbook/WikiToBook
http://nothickmanual...doku.php/writertools
http://www.jhorman.org/wikidPad/
http://www.bellz.org/treeline/index.html
http://www.dklevine....00/jarnal-basics.htm

Post it here if you come up with anything good!

42

General Software Discussion / Re: Is the Windows start menu dead?

« on: July 14, 2007, 08:46 AM »

I've recently re-discovered a couple of things that Windows does that have made my life a lot easier, without extra software. 

One is Win+R.  I made a folder called "c:\shortcuts" and put shortcuts to various things, such as Thunderbird and LyX, and renamed them to something easy to type.  So, when the run box comes up, I just type in the appropriate thing and it opens.  Neat.  I put a shortcut to this folder on the desktop, so that when I want to add something it is easy to find.  And, I've just discovered, you can put a shortcut to the shortcut folder itself in there, and then Win+R "shortcut" will open the folder of shortcuts!  Amazing.  How come I never knew I could do this?

The other is that you can add shortcut keys to shortcuts on the desktop, using Right Click+Properties.  So, for instance, I have a desktop shortcut to the folder that has my PhD work in it and have created a shortcut key combo of Ctrl+Alt+P, and presto!  the folder opens.  It starts faster than the QuickLaunch bar, I don't have to look at it all the time, and I don't have to navigate down multiple levels to get to it.

Since I have a tiny screen and I normally have whatever I am working on at any given time maximized, I don't particularly care about having a clean desktop.  I also find that it makes sorting things easier if I can just drag files onto the appropriate desktop shortcut and thus move them to the appropriate place, although I have also found the programs called "Folder Guide" http://www.freeware3...ktop/folderguide.htm and "File Targets" http://www.moonsoftware.com/download.asp handy. 

I use FARR sometimes, too, but I'm afraid that I am a little bit too dense to understand how to use it properly.   

(Edited for clarity)

43

General Software Discussion / Re: Combine AHK scripts in tray button?

« on: June 07, 2007, 05:51 PM »

Thanks...it's a bit over my head, but I'll figure it out eventually.  I just didn't know what terms to look for.   

44

General Software Discussion / Combine AHK scripts in tray button?

« on: June 07, 2007, 04:20 AM »

Apologies if this is misplaced and/or obvious.

Is it possible to combine all the AHK scripts and programs in such a way that there is only one taskbar button, and right-clicking on it would allow you to navigate to the program you want and then access the menu for that program?  Sort of like a miniature program launcher or start menu, only in the tray.

45

General Software Discussion / Old school Pocket PC software?

« on: June 06, 2007, 02:46 AM »

I've got an ancient old Pocket PC (Cassiopeia, EM500) that I'm reluctant to replace because hey, it still works just fine.  Plus, it's turquoise.

Specs are:

Operating System: Windows CE ver 3.0
Processor: MIPS VR4122 processor operating at 150 MHz
Memory: 16MB RAM

But I'm having a hard time finding any new or improved software that will run on the thing (it's pre-ARM, or whatever it's called).  In particular, I would love to figure out how to run something like LyX or a similar LaTeX editor, and something that will let me change the orientation of the screen. 

Does anybody else use an antique thing like this and have any suggestions?

46

General Software Discussion / Re: what kind of keyboard you use?

« on: June 01, 2007, 08:34 PM »

Wow, you guys are keyboard freaks...I'm starting to wonder if mine is inadequate now!   

I have an ancient old Microsoft natural (? the ergonomic kind) keyboard that I rescued from the trash at the place I used to work four years ago...the wrist rest part is starting to turn all shiny from where my hands rest, but hey, it still works!

I might have to go shopping now, though!   

47

Living Room / Re: Latest Apple Mac vs PC Commercial: PCs suck because of all the software choices

« on: June 01, 2007, 08:10 PM »

In fact I am embarrassed to say that of all the time I spend on computers probably only 2/3 is spent actually producing something and the rest on fiddling with software

I don't even consider myself a geek, and I have exactly the same problem.  DC doesn't help, of course!

I'm glad I haven't seen any of these commercials (who has time to watch TV?  I'm messing around with software!) because I think they would get irritating very quickly.  The only one I did see made me mad because of the stereotypes it used.

I've been a DOS/Windows user for as long as I've had a computer.  I didn't really like the old "grey box" Macs with the happy face in high school, nor did I get on with the more sophisticated ones in college, although I don't really know why.  It's all what you're used to, I guess.  That being said, all of the demos of Vista that I've seen really turn me off and I'm thinking about jumping ship to something else.  I was recently giving some guy's MacBook a jealous stare on a train, because it seemed so light and compact.  But I really enjoy fiddling, so I can't see myself buying something that is harder to fiddle with.  I also played around with the new Fedora core earlier today...they are all starting to seem more or less the same to me!

What to do?   

48

DesktopCoral / Re: Er...what am I missing here?

« on: May 31, 2007, 03:52 PM »

I was thinking that desktop coral would allow me to do things like put trillian windows (or word, or a folder of files that I'm working with) in their own protected spot on the desktop so that they are protected, yes?  Or am I misunderstanding the point of it?

If I try to move a window into the area that is "marked off", so to speak, as the desktop coral dock, they just move over to the edge of it and I end up with a lovely view of that part of my desktop, but I can't put anything there (window or shortcut or whatever). 

Am I just being dense, or what?   

49

DesktopCoral / Re: Er...what am I missing here?

« on: May 31, 2007, 01:58 PM »

Yes, that's what I thought.  But if you try to drag any shortcuts there, they are moved, because this part of the desktop is protected...

50

DesktopCoral / Re: Er...what am I missing here?

« on: May 31, 2007, 07:47 AM »

Within this shielded area you might put certain application windows that you want to be always visible

That's the bit that sounds useful, but the configuration screen talks about adding shortcuts.  How do I put said programs into the blocked area? 

I think I'm being a bit of a dunce here....