Topics

526

Found Deals and Discounts / Light Alloy limited-time discount

« on: July 17, 2006, 07:33 PM »

It seems like Light Alloy is only $9.95 (normally ~$30) for the time being.  It's a really full-featured and lightwieght video and multimedia player.  I primarily use MPC for my videos, but I'd also like a few more customizability options and Light Alloy is great for that.  And for this cheap, why not?

http://www.softella....m/la/features.en.htm

527

General Software Discussion / How to monitor and fix corrupted files on the computer?

« on: June 08, 2006, 11:15 PM »

In line with my recent backing up issues...

Often with external USB drives (hard drive and flash drives), I have this problem with corrupted files.  The files themselves are difficult to delete and they get annoying sometimes.  Is there any software that can monitor a computer for corrupted files and even fix them...at the very least, delete them with ease?

I don't even really know what a corrupt file is.  When I do a scandisk or other disk checking software, it doesn't appear, so it's not really a bad sector like I was thinking.  So I don't know what corrupt actually means.

528

Living Room / Recommendations for good external hard drive solutions?

« on: June 06, 2006, 03:45 PM »

I don't mean the simple Maxtor OneTouch stuff here...

There's this company, Addonics, that provides some really cool stuff as far as hard drive bays and external hard drives.  I was wondering if there were any similar alternatives that anyone has heard of.  Here's Addonics' website:

http://www.addonics.com/

What's cool about addonics is that you can get 5.25" bay that goes into your desktop pc, and then you swap hard drives in and out of it using enclosures.  But there's more!  When you slide one of the enclosures out, you can use it as a separate external hard drive using usb or firewire.  How cool is that?!  Of course they offer all the varities of connections inclduing IDE, SATA, USB, Firewire.

Anyway, if anyone knows of other similar products, please let me know!

529

Living Room / Is firewire better than USB?

« on: June 03, 2006, 05:56 PM »

If I'm going to transfer large amounts of information back and forth from my desktop to a portable hard drive, is firewire better than USB?  I ask because it seems like firewire is used when people transfer video from their digital camcorders instead of USB.

What are the pros/cons of each?

530

General Software Discussion / Looking for a REfinancing app

« on: May 29, 2006, 04:04 PM »

I just noticed the thread about financing apps...I also want to know if there are any good refinancing software out there.  Basically, I want something where I can put my many refinancing options (different interest rates, different points, different closing costs) and analyze them to see which is the best option for me.  I'm trying to do a spreadsheet right now in Excel, but it's taking too long and I'm getting a little tired.

I've searched the web, and can't find anything good, but I'm probably not using the right words or something.  I don't Money or Quicken does this the way I want.

531

Best E-mail Client / Do you use the Bat's OTFE encryption?

« on: May 26, 2006, 04:39 PM »

Do you guys use this feature (the one that asks for a "master password" when starting the application)?  I'm thinking of getting rid of it, as I see no real purpose for it in my case. 

532

General Software Discussion / Email archiving/indexing software with The Bat!

« on: May 23, 2006, 01:17 AM »

I'm currently trying the only two programs I know that do this, Mailbag Assistant and Archivarius 3000.  Both of them don't seem to work with The Bat! even though they claim it does.  I wonder if it's because I've set up the Bat! to ask for an master password before it starts, because I've heard that that will encrypt the mailboxes.  But there should be a  way around it if these programs claim to be compatible specifically with the Bat!.  If any of you want to try it, here are the links:

http://www.likasoft....t-search/index.shtml

http://www.fookes.com/mailbag/

533

General Software Discussion / Difference between PCL5e, PCL6, and Postscript printer drivers?

« on: May 19, 2006, 04:36 PM »

Every time I want to install printer drivers, I have the choices of PCL5e, PCL6, and Postscript.  I don't know what the differences are, and even if I did, I don't know which is better.  What are the pros/cons of each, and do I have to pick one or do I install all of them and choose the appropriate one when I print?  Thanks.

534

General Software Discussion / Taonotes (weird software!)

« on: May 19, 2006, 10:39 AM »

http://actitrend.fre3.com/

I was going to post this in the notetaking brainstorming thread, but I felt it was a little off-topic there.  Anyway, I've stumbled across this Taonotes program.  I don't know what the hell this thing does.  I am kind of fascinated by it on one hand, and on the other hand, it looks like just a bundle of chaos.  I went on the forums and it seems like it's some kind of notetaking application, but not really.  I see an outliner and a notes section in the software, but it really doesn't function like a notetaking software.  And it's comapred to MyLife Organized, which I reviewed here in another thread, so I guess that means that Taonotes is also used to create an interactive ToDO list.  I see how that works in the program, because you can check and uncheck things as being completed.

But seriously, download this program and try to see if you can figure out what it can be used for.  It's weird.  I don't think I've ever downloaded a program and after using it, I think to myself "What is this supposed to be doing?"

535

Best Firewall / Software firewall issues in general...

« on: May 19, 2006, 09:49 AM »

Every time I try using software firewalls I always get discouraged after about a day.  I've tried Outpost in the past, and just recently, I tried the Kaspersky one that comes with it's Internet Security suite.  Here's what happens:

I install the firewall, it usually has some kind of "training" mode that asks you to allow/block all the connections.  Here's my problem with this, I get these training notifications every 5 seconds for every little connection made from the computer.  Each webpage has multiple things it wants me to allow.  The problem is that I can't really even tell at all if something is a good connection or a bad connection, and even when I decide to block something that looks suspicious, it ends up being something necessary to view a webpage that I'm trying to get to.  The bottom line is, I can't tell what to block or allow, so I just allow pretty much everything.  I mean, what do I do with 'generic host process"?  I don't know what that means, but I know I need it.  Whatever.  After I try all this, I usually put the firewall on some kind of minimal mode where everything is allowed except the stuff I explicitly block, but I never block anything because I don't know what to block, so the firewall is essentially useless.  So after a few days of this, I usually just uninstall the firewall.

That's my firewall experience.  I've never had any spamming problems, or wild spyware problems, and so far, I've never had any kind of problems with people hacking into my computer (that I know of).  But everyone says a firewall is important, so I keep trying, but the end result is that I just get frustrated and quit.

536

General Software Discussion / Recommendations for form creation software?

« on: May 10, 2006, 10:49 AM »

Anyone know fo a software that can be used to create forms (like a pdf with fields in it, for example, and application form)?  I know acrobat can do this, but the end-user can't save the form unless he has the full acrobat, which people rarely have, so they either have to print it or submit the information online.  I need something that can be saved to the computer and recalled later.  Also, Omniform does this, but i was wondering if there were any other alternatives.  Omniform creates an exe file that is standalone, so no viewer or anything is needed, the user just runs the exe, and fills out the form and all the information is saved in that exe file, it's pretty nice.  However, Omniform hasn't been updated for years, and for some reason, I can't find any competitors out there.

537

General Software Discussion / Saving data in fields in pdf forms

« on: May 09, 2006, 11:36 AM »

Is it possible to save the things you type in the fields of a pdf form when using Acrobat Reader?  When I open a form in Acrobat Reader, I get the message "You cannot save data typed into this form".  Is there a way around this?  Is it a security feature?  I can find the original file and recreate the pdf to remove this feature, but I can't find the setting for it in Adobe InDesign.  I have a feeling it's a limitation of Acrobat Reader and not a security setting in the form.

538

Living Room / Very disappointing wifi connection!

« on: May 05, 2006, 01:39 AM »

I've had my wifi connection for about a year now, and I have to say, the performance is extremely disappointing.  I know a thing or two about computers and hardware, but I can't set this up so that I can transfer between computers at any reasonable rate, let alone get a "good" connection.  I mean, even when I bring my laptop like 3 feet away from the router, it's still barely a good signal, what's up with that?  I've heard people tell me that their wifi connection is good enough to watch movies through the network.  No freakin way here!  I can't even transfer a 10 MB file without a hitch in the connection, and that would take me like 10 minutes.

I have one of those linksys speedbooster wifi routers, and I can't figure it out.  Most of the time, I can get a better signal using one of my neighbor's unsecured wifi router.  Yesterday, I went in my bedroom, and I couldn't even connect to the router...it's like 20 feet across the hallway!

539

General Software Discussion / Recommendation for Project Management software?

« on: May 01, 2006, 05:35 PM »

Can anyone recommend a good project management software?  I'm a sueprvisor and have 5 people working under me and between us, we have to keep track of 20-30 projects.  I don't need a heavy duty project management package, like Microsoft Project, or something that complex.  What I'm looking for is something simple with just basic information in the database.

The data I'd like to keep track of are the following:  project manager, Project, project description, project #, state of project (how far along it is, either as a percentage or a description), random notes.  I'd also like to be able to separate out the projects according to the project manager, so I can see who's in charge of what.

So, are there any ideas out there?  I use mylife organized right now, but it's more of a To-DO list maker, than a true project management program.  Although, I can probably tweak it easily enough to act like what I'm trying to do, I'd be interested if there was a better option.  The main issue with MLO is that I can't separate the projects according to the different managers--it's basically meant for one person.  It would be cool if every person had their own MLO file and they could be combined to form one master-supervisor list for me.

Anyway, look forward to the suggestions.  Thanks!

540

Living Room / The greatest candy in the history of the world!

« on: April 25, 2006, 05:41 PM »

Have any of you tried the special Easter edition of Reese's Pieces?  They are called Pastel Eggs, but they are the best candies ever.  I already like regular Reese's Piece's, but being the size of M&M's they are kind of small.  The Easter ones are huge and crammed with that great peanut butter cream.  My friend describes it the best, "Reese's Pieces on steroids".  Seriously, for those that like peanut butter candies, go get this, you'll be hooked.

I go to the supermarkets after Easter and clean them out of these bags, since they're usually half price.  I probably have a good year's supply right now, to last me until next Easter.  OK, I have to stop eating...I don't think it's healthy.

541

Living Room / Anyone actually use rewriteable media?

« on: April 20, 2006, 05:01 PM »

I know every time I've tried using CDRW discs, I've found them to be widely incompatible between machines, and always a little frustrating to use.  Drag and drop never works as simple as that, the discs become corrupted easily, etc.  I think the last time I tried was 2 years ago.  I've never tried DVD rewriteable technology, but I assume it's just as bad.  When I buy discs (CD or DVD) I NEVER get rewriteable discs.

But I haven't kept up with the times and I was wondering if it was better now, and if anyone actually uses these on a consistent basis now.  Flash memory seems to be the standard as far as being able to write/rewrite on a portable media.    But CDRW never worked that easily, at least for me.  Also, I just got a minidisc recorder, and it uses magneto-optical discs which are very easy and stable as far as rewriting data on it.

542

Post New Requests Here / IDEA: A USB device manager that makes sense

« on: April 16, 2006, 02:53 AM »

You know how there's that icon in the system tray for "Safely Remove USB device"?  And then you click on it and remove the device, but if you have more than one, it disconnects all of them?  And also, it's annoying how you see the list of devices and it looks like you can select one and just disconnect that one, but it doesn't really work that way?

So, the idea is to make a usb device manager that makes it easy to connect/disconnect the usb devices.  Maybe it already exists, but I couldn't find one.  I'd basically like to see a list of the usb devices and I could select one or many of them and click disconnect.  Also, if at all possible, maybe I could reconnect a device without having to reboot.  Does it sound reasonable?

Thanks.

543

Living Room / Why is my USB flash drive so slow on my home computer, but not at work?

« on: April 07, 2006, 10:02 AM »

I have a Sandisk 512 MB SUB flash drive.  On my home computer, transferring to/from it is as slow as an ox, like over 5 minutes to transfer 100 MB.  However, the same drive, when I use it at work transfers blazing fast, like 10 MB per second.  What's the deal?  All of my USB ports at home are 2.0.  And it doesn't matter where I plug it in, either the usb ports that come attached to the mother board, or the extra belkin 4-usb-port pci card that I've installed.  I don't get it.  Anyone else ever have this problem?

544

General Software Discussion / How necessary is a software firewall?

« on: April 04, 2006, 04:14 PM »

I've been wondering lately about how important a software firewall is.  Many years ago, I used to use ZoneAlarm, but it got too bulky and bloated, so I stopped.  Then I tried a few others, mainly Outpost, but I found that i grew tired of all the configuration, where it keeps asking me to accept/deny connections, etc.  So I quit that also, and since then I don't use a software firewall anymore.  Am I at big risk here, or is it not such a big deal.

For general computer practice, I am pretty safe.  I have good virus protection, I borwse the web responsibly (with ad blockers and good sense of what not to click on), I am a respnsible email user (I have never had a problem with spam).  I have a wifi linksys wrtg-something and it has a firewall in it.  I always heard that these hardware firewalls are better than software anyway.

SO, how secure am I?  I don't think I've ever had any problems with security, but maybe there's some things happening in the background that I don't know about.  Packet-sniffing, what not, I don't know what that means anyway.

545

Living Room / Any MiniDisc people out there?

« on: April 03, 2006, 01:53 PM »

Any of you use minidisc player/recorders?  I know they're not big in the US, but they are popular in other countries.  Anyway, the new HiMD format has been out for a while (which is cool...anyone who knows the advantages of the new format will understand).  A friend of a friend who is in Japan right now, just bought me the new orange HiMD unit that Sony released recently, the MZ-RH10.  You can only get the orange one in Japan.  It's so good looking.  Super sweet.

546

General Software Discussion / Mcafee security suite...4 thumbs WAY down

« on: March 29, 2006, 10:53 AM »

My goodness...my mom just got her dell laptop, which comes with Mcafee security suite.  This program is a load of <fill in>.  First of all, if it were mine, I'd just uninstall it and use something really simplistic, like AVG or some poweruser antivirus solution.  But since it came with the computer, and my mom isn't too familiar with computers yet, I figured I'd leave it.  I assumed Mcafee caters to people who don't know much about computers.

But it's a bloated, horrible software.  First of all, it makes you go through these wizards to set it up, which is a pain, because it makes you register and keep passwords and all this crap.  I mean, why do I need a password for virus protection, let alone how confusing this would be to someone who doesn't even know about computers.  It's retarded.  And the whole interface is bloody, bubbly work of trash.  It's like an unorganized webpage with things linking to other pages in an irrational way.  The options are convoluted and nonsense.  I think it's impossible to actually disable components (like the firewall) permanently.  The most you can do is temporarily disable it until reboot.  It won't work with IE7 beta installed.  It's basically a piece of junk.  I hate, I absolutely hate, how the major software companies make a living by putting out this bloated trash, while guys like mouser and some of the developers here write good software for free, or for pretty cheap.

547

General Software Discussion / Foxit Reader (fast pdf reader alternative)

« on: March 29, 2006, 10:36 AM »

http://www.foxitsoft...are.com/foxitreader/

For those of you that find Acrobat reader bulky and slow, try this baby out.  It's fast!  I just found out about it, so I don't know if it's old news or what, but I like it.

548

General Software Discussion / Any issues about burning long filenames in Nero? (or any burning software)

« on: March 27, 2006, 01:14 AM »

I know that in the default setting, Nero will warn you when burning really long filenames, and will actually bring up a dialog to truncate the names and such.  Now, I don't know much about all this stuff about ISO and Joliet standards, but is it really a big deal if I set Nero so that it will just allow me to burn long filenames?  To help you guys offer me advice, let me just say that if it's a matter of compatability, I don't really care.  For example, if the only reason not to burn long filenames is because I won't be able to read the disc in Windows 95 or something like that, I don't care.  I'm either going to read the discs from Windows XP or the next more recent version, so it doesn't really matter to me.

I ask because it seems like all burning software make an issue about it, but it seems like I have no problem with really long filenames when they're on my hard drive, so why should it matter if it's the same on the burned media?  As always, thanks for the advice.

549

General Software Discussion / Any recommendations for mp3 streaming/playing module for a website?

« on: March 24, 2006, 10:06 AM »

I know nothing about website designing/programming, but I'm good enough with computers to put together a simple website with the proper no-brainer tools like Dreamworks (I don't know if this is still a good software, I used Dreamworks to make a couple of webpages 5 years ago!).  And I can also tweak a little bit of code if necessary, but nothing major.

I'm looking to make a webpage that simply has a bunch of text on it and also a place for the user to play an mp3.  I don't want them to be able to download the mp3, just play it off the webpage, kind of like you see on those annoying myspace sites.  Is there some module or program that people recommend for this?  I'd like the user to have pretty good control on the mp3 file, as in they should be able to play/stop, rewind/ff either with dragging the scrollbar AND with buttons, and I'd also like them to be able to see the time remaining/played on the display.  In other words, I don't want just a simple play and stop button.

That being said, from a user standpoint, what do people prefer?  Do people prefer to play the music directly from the website, or do people like to click on a song and have it open up in their own computer's default player?  I don't really care if people download the song, so I can make it ultra easy and just link the mp3 file, but I wanted to be just a little more sophisticated!

By the way, this is for a monthly music contest, where people listen to a song and discuss the details of the tune.

550

Living Room / hard drive resurrection [I'm desperate!]

« on: March 20, 2006, 07:24 PM »

Hi everyone, this is a problem I have had for over a year now.  Last year, my 80GB IBM deskstar (aka Deathstar) drive stopped spinning.  I had all mp3's on that drive and a lot of them are fairly rare, and I'll never get them back.  I was devastated.

There were no clonking noises or anything, the hard drive just stopped spinning.  A week before, while the computer was on, the hard stopped spinning, but once I rebooted it was ok.  I should have taken it as a warning and transferred my files, but I was lazy and stupid so I didn't.

I've looked at data recovery services and they are all expensive.  I'm trying to keep the cost under $200 if possible.  I've already spend $75 buying an identical hard drive.  I switched the circuit board under the drive with the new one, and I plugged it in.  The hard drive spins, but the computer will not recognize that the drive exists.  So, now I don't know what to do.  When switching the boards, someone told me that not only do I have to make sure that the two drives are the exact same model, but the part number and factory number, etc., have to be the same also.  Well, I know that the model number and all that is the same, but there is one part number that is different.  So maybe that's the problem.

If anyone has other suggestions on what I can do, please let me know.  Would it be possible to somehow open the drive and transfer the heads to the working drive, or is that way too risky for an amateur like me to do?  Is there any way to get the old drive with the switched circuit board to be recognized on the computer?

Thanks.  Help!