Topics

76

General Software Discussion / UltraFinder: new product from IDM, File and Content Finder, Duplicate Finder

« on: July 30, 2012, 03:48 PM »

Announcing UltraFinder: A new product from IDM!

http://www.ultraedit...08-aug-uf/index.html

Expected release this fall... sign up for beta now!

UltraFinder

The Ultimate File and Content Finder
Disappointed in your operating system's find options?
•   Ever forgotten where you saved a file?
•   Looking for particular text within a file but don't remember the file name?
•   Wanting to clean up some clutter and remove redundant files or duplicates?
•   Need to find files by regular expressions or with special encoding?

UltraFinder is your personal search engine for your PC, network, and remote servers! Find every file, every word, every string, every duplicate and everything else you need in seconds...on your hard drive, shared network volumes, backup and removable drives, or FTP/SFTP servers!
Join Beta
      
      
       What can UltraFinder do for you?       
      
      
UltraFinder includes two advanced modes: Find Files and Find Duplicates.

UltraFinder's Find Files mode will quickly find whatever you're looking for - wherever it is. You don't need to know the complete file name to find the file you need. UltraFinder gives you the power to find files based on a full or partial name match, or based on file contents. Furthermore, UltraFinder supports finding of content with many advanced options for power users such as regular expressions, filters, encoding, and more.

If you know you're maintaining multiple copies of the same file, but you really don't want to spend time combing through duplicates, then let UltraFinder's advanced Find Duplicates mode do the work for you! Tell UltraFinder what criteria define a duplicate, and UltraFinder will tell you where they are. You can then delete, move, or rename the duplicate files and save the originals.

You're not just limited to local drives - UltraFinder supports FTP as well!

Do you want to do a Find in files on a remote FTP server? Or do you need to locate a file somewhere on your remote drives? It's possible with UltraFinder! UltraFinder supports both Find Files and Find Duplicates modes for FTP/SFTP. Even better - you can enable the shared FTP accounts feature to access the same FTP accounts that you use in UltraEdit and UltraCompare!

(Please note: FTP support planned for beta II)
      
      
       What else can UltraFinder do for you?       
      
      
• Find files based on name - full or partial match - in seconds
• Locate files based on contents
• Pull together a list of files matching a regular expression pattern
• Find and resolve duplicates based upon custom criteria
• Search for files or duplicates on FTP/SFTP servers
• Save path histories/favorites and find histories/favorites for quick future access
• Configure each search to suit your needs
      
      
       And...it integrates with UltraEdit and UltraCompare!       
      
      
UltraFinder integrates with with other IDM products. Want to open a found file in UltraEdit or UEStudio? No problem. Need to compare duplicate files in UltraCompare? Easy enough! Plus you can securely store and shred outdated files in UltraSentry!

UltraFinder is an essential part of IDM's TOTAL file management solution!
Join Beta  http://www.ultraedit...der-beta-signup.html

Received by e-mail today.  The FTP will interest some, but if you don't need that, I wonder how this will fare.  Like many of us, I already have good file finders, content finders and a duplicate finder, and some of them are free.

77

General Software Discussion / NoteTab 7 editors released

« on: July 08, 2012, 03:20 PM »

Upgrade to NoteTab 7

A rare upgrade of NoteTab Pro and NoteTab Lite, to version 7.  Pricing:

Upgrade to NoteTab 7
Get a free upgrade to version 7 if you bought NoteTab in 2012. Or a 50% discount if you bought NoteTab earlier.

Free Upgrade

If you bought NoteTab Pro or Std v6.2 any time in 2012 you can upgrade to NoteTab 7 for free.

50% Discount

If you already bought NoteTab Pro or Std, but before 2012, then you can upgrade to NoteTab 7 for half price.

Just go to Help > Check for Updates (available since v4.95) and click on the upgrade link. If you don’t see the link, click on the “Get headlines” button to refresh the list.

If you don’t have a copy of NoteTab or your version is older than 4.95, use the form on the left to submit your order details. You’ll then get an order link with a huge 50% upgrade discount.

From Version History:

Version 7.0

    * Under Windows 32-bit with the /3GB option and Windows x64, NoteTab can now allocate resources past the 2GB address limit when needed (up to 4 GB).
    * NoteTab Pro: Added syntax highlighting for CSS files and improved HTML syntax highlighting with documents that contain PHP, ASP, and Javascript code.
    * Improved the Strip HTML Tags feature with better handling of documents that contain PHP, ASP, and Javascript code.
    * Added real-time word count feature, with a choice between two counting methods. The feature is controlled through the View | Word Count submenu and the word count is displayed in the status bar next to the Ins/Ovr info panel. Word-count is based either on selected text or the whole document (or topic with Outlines). This feature is not available in NoteTab Light (unless you enable trial mode).

      The MS Word method returns a count that should be a close match to the word-count result in Microsoft Word. The NoteTab method is more sophisticated and counts words using a more extensive set of word delimiters. MS Word mostly counts words delimited by space characters. In the following examples, MS Word counts one word per line whereas NoteTab counts three words in each:
          * [email protected]
          * http://fookes.com/
          * help-me-please
          * 2x10x250
    * When the real-time word-count feature is enabled, you can click on the corresponding panel in the status bar to see more detailed text statistics. This information is also displayed after you select a certain amount of text. You will see the word count based on the NoteTab method, the average number of characters per word, the number of sentences, and the average number of words per sentence. This information is particularly valuable to copywriters, bloggers and journalists.
    * In NoteTab Pro and Std, the Tools | Text Statistics feature is now based on the new NoteTab word-count method.
    * When the Text Statistics feature is used on an HTML file, NoteTab only counts visible page text (tags, CSS, scripts and commented blocks are ignored). Hold down the Shift key when selecting this menu command if you want to also count words in HTML tags and comments.
    * Simply select one character in the current document to see its decimal and hexadecimal value in the status bar.
    * New keyboard shortcuts to easily insert typographic characters:
          * Ctrl+. inserts the ellipsis character …
          * Ctrl+- inserts the n-dash character –
          * Ctrl+, inserts “smart quotes” around selected text or a proper apostrophe ’
    * You can now remove history items from drop-down lists in the Find and Replace dialog boxes. To remove an undesired item from the history list, first select it, close the drop-down list and then press the Shift + Delete keys. Or right-click in the field to open the popup menu and choose Delete from List; you can also delete the whole history by choosing Clear History.
    * The Find and Replace dialog boxes now show search results in a balloon (unless you are using Blind-User mode) instead of a message box. This speeds up you work as you no longer need to click on the message box OK button to close it.
    * Added support for wildcard searching in find/replace tools. This feature is not available in NoteTab Light (unless you enable trial mode).

      The following tokens are provided:
           * = matches 0 or more word characters. Example: “jo*” matches “JO”, “John”, “Jody”, “joint”, “join_leave”.
           # = matches 0 or more word characters, including HTML entity characters. Example: “na#” matches “naïve”, “naïve”, and “naïve”.
           ** = matches 0 or more characters and can span across words within a line. Example: “click**link” matches “click link”, “click on link”, “clicking on link”, “Click on this link”, but not “click on links”.
           ? = matches exactly one word character. Example: “jo?” matches “Job” and “jot”, but not “JO”, “John”, “Jody”, and “joint”.
           ~ = matches 0 or one word characters. Example: “jo~” matches “JO”, “Job”, and “jot”, but not “John”, “Jody”, and “joint”.
           & = matches exactly one word character or one HTML entity. Example: “caf&” matches “café”, “café”, and “café”.
           Word characters include alphanumeric characters, all extended ANSI characters, as well as “_”.

      To search with wildcard tokens, select the Wildcards option in the Search drop-down list. Choose Standard for literal searching and Regular Exp. for searching with regular expressions.
    * Find and Replace dialog boxes: you can use keyboard shortcuts to change option in the Search drop-down lists. Simply press CTRL+ALT+{first letter of option name}. Example: CTRL+ALT+A sets the All option and CTRL+ALT+W sets the Wildcards option.
    * Added new Bootstrap library, Clipbar and templates. Bootstrap, from Twitter, is a fantastic collection of CSS and HTML for rapidly developing professional-looking web sites. For more information, visit the official Bootstrap website through this link: http://www.notetab.com/redir/Bootstrap
    * Added new HTML-CSS and HTML-AutoReplace libraries and Clipbar, which include support for HTML5 and CSS3. They replace the following outdated files (note that these are not uninstalled by NoteTab):
           HTML.clb
           HTML-ar.clb
           CSS1.clb
           HTML-1.ctb
           HTML-2.ctb
           CSS1.ctb
    * Added two new web page templates (Web page.tpl and Web page HTML5.tpl) to replace the following outdated files (note that these are not uninstalled by NoteTab):
           HTML.tpl
           CSS1.tpl
    * Updated the regular expressions engine to the latest release, which is based on PCRE 8.31.
    * A confirmation dialog box is now displayed when the Close All menu command is used.
    * You can now use CTRL+ALT+V to paste Clipboard data in HTML format (if available).
    * The Search Disk.fvr Favorites file created after a Search Disk operation now removes the maximum limit of 65 files.
    * Added new program icon and splash screen. Note that you can still revert back to the old icon through the Options dialog box.
    * Program file is now code signed to reduce the risk of anti-virus false positives.
    * Fixed printing issue whereby last page or pages failed to print.
    * Fixed issue with Save Directory setting being ignored under the Use Default Directories option.
    * Fixed issue with Disk Files option in Quick List when Show Full Names option is turned off.
    * Fixed issue when pasting text with non-Windows line breaks into NoteTab Pro.
    * Partially fixed issue with disappearing Clip wizard labels under Windows 7 (though the problem does reappear if you hit the Alt key).
    * Fixed issue when comparing negative integer values in Clips.
    * Fixed issue in ^$GetDate(Date Mask;+/-days)$ function when using the +/-days parameter.
    * Fixed issue in ^$GetDateToInt[(Date;DateFilter)]$ function that failed when date filter did not exactly match date pattern. Example: ^$GetDateToInt(2012-3-27;yyyy-m-d)$
    * Fixed issue with ^$GetDocumentPath$ and the %NtbDocuments% token failing to use the user-defined default directories.
    * Fixed errors in the CRC32 algorithm used in the ^$GetCrcFile("Filename")$ and ^$GetCrcText("Text")$ Clip functions.
    * Fixed errors in the Clip Assistant.
    * Fixed issue in the Modify | Block | Cut feature that failed to work if only the last character column was selected.
    * Many other minor improvements and issues fixed.
    * Updated documentation.

Clip-code Additions

    * NoteTab Pro and Std: Added two new Clip functions.
           ^$StrWordCount("Str"[;Method])$
            Method = MsWord or NoteTab
            To count the number of words in a string.
           ^$StrWordList("Str")$
            To extract a word list (with duplicates removed).
    * Updated Clip functions to support regular expressions and wildcards:
           ^$StrCount("SubStr";"Str";Options)$
           ^$StrPos("SubStr";"Str";Options)$
           ^$StrReplace("SubStr";"ReplaceStr";"Str";Options)$


      Options:
           C: Searches for whole words only.
           I: Ignores character case.
           R: Specifies that the search criteria represents a regular expression.
           *: Specifies that the search criteria uses wildcards. In NoteTab Light, this option is only recognized during trial mode.
           A: Use to replace all matched occurrences with ^$StrReplace. When this option is not used, only the first match is replaced.

      Note that the old format for these Clip functions is still valid.
    * The ^!Find and ^!Replace Clip commands also support wildcard searching. Use “*” as an option parameter. The following example searches for words that end in “tab”:
      ^!FIND “*tab” C*
    * Added Clip command to delete the current selection:
      ^!DeleteSelection
    * Added two Clip functions to calculate a hash signature of specified data using the SHA-1 algorithm. SHA-1 was designed by the United States National Security Agency.
           ^$GetSHA1File("Filename")$
            Returns the SHA-1 signature of the specified file. The result is produced in hexadecimal format. Example: ^$GetSHA1File("^$GetAppFileName$")$
           ^$GetSHA1Text("Text")$
            Returns the SHA-1 signature of the specified text. The result is produced in hexadecimal format. Example: ^$GetSHA1Text("^$GetText$")$
    * Added Clips to control which type of data is pasted in a document (plain text or HTML if available):
           ^!SetPasteHtml [TRUE|FALSE]
            When set to True and the Clipboard has data in HTML format, pasting its contents into a document inserts HTML code instead of plain text.
           ^$GetPasteHtml$
            Returns 1 if the Paste Html option is set and 0 if it is not.

NoteTab doesn't get much love in this stronghold of coders, but it's still a good editor if you aren't a coder.

78

General Software Discussion / Total Commander 8.0 final for Windows released!

« on: May 23, 2012, 03:02 PM »

Total Commander 8.0 final for Windows released!

May 23, 2012: Total Commander 8.0 final is now available for download.

Since 32-bit plugins cannot be used by 64-bit programs, they need to be converted first. Therefore there will not be many plugins available initially for 64-bit. If you use plugins extensively, you should keep using the 32-bit version. You can install both in parallel to the same directory - there is now a separate installer which will install both together.

Please download Total Commander 8.0 (Shareware) now from our Download page!

The update is still free for all registered users (also of Windows Commander) - please check our update instructions.

Still no upgrade fee!   

79

General Software Discussion / Recommend bulk editor for EXIF/IPTC metadata?

« on: May 15, 2012, 04:05 PM »

My compact digital camera records some EXIF data in JPEGs, but not author or copyright.  It doesn't appear to write any IPTC data at all.  I know very little about digital images, so:

1) Is it possible to add author and copyright data to EXIF, when IrfanView doesn't show any such fields at present?  I.e., can those fields be added?

2) If so, please can you recommend a batch/bulk means of adding and/or editing EXIF/IPTC data?  I'm thinking of something like a file manager with a thumbnails view where I can mark the images for a particular operation, as opposed to a bulk rename-type utility where all files in a folder are operated on, without much choice.  However, if all else fails, or works out too expensive, I'd be prepared to take that route.

I'm not looking for image alteration features, only EXIF/IPTC data.  Naturally, the cheaper the better 

I've heard of several that claim to do something close to what I'm looking for, including (apart from programs that are primarily image editors):

• AttributeMagic Pro ($25)
• PowerExif ($49.99 basic version, $89.99 for batch operation Pro version)
• METAmachine ($49.00)
• Photo Mechanic ($150)
  

[Edit at UK time 2012-05-16, 22:06:-] Added Photo Mechanic.  Some of these programs are very expensive, given the prices of photo editing programs now. [/Edit]

80

General Software Discussion / Simple means of joining images?

« on: April 30, 2012, 03:59 PM »

Please, is there a simple program that will allow me to butt-join graphic images together, much like you'd do with paper and glue?  This would be nice for things like before-and-after screenshots, etc.  The images might not always be the same size or shape.  I'd like full control over their positioning, and to save the composite result as a new graphic.

I thought this was what NANY 2012 Pledge & Release: Image Grid was, but it felt like a sliding-block puzzle and wasn't quite what I wanted.   

81

General Software Discussion / CintaNotes 1.6, 10 April 2012, goes "Freemium" (pay for extra features)

« on: April 18, 2012, 04:34 PM »

Apr 10, 2012 — First Commercial Release! Version 1.6
License change notice: with this version, the licensing model changes to "Freemium". Basic functionality (which covers all features of version 1.5.7) continues to be free, but the new commercial features require buying a Personal or Company license.

    * Multiple notebooks support. (Commercial) Feature

      CintaNotes now has the "File/Open" and "File/Save As..." commands, and also has the recently opened files list to easily switch between different DB files. The name of the currently opened DB file is displayed in the main window title (unless it is "cintanotes.db").
    * Ctrl+Enter shortcut to paste note text into currently active application. (Commercial)Feature
    * Exporting notes to HTML format. (Commercial)Feature
    * Tag sidebar can now display tag usage counts. (Commercial)Feature

      This allows you to easily see which tags are underused and can be merged or removed. Tag count display can be turned off in Options/Tags menu.
    * Unified and consistent search behavior: Search behavior is now unified and consistent. "Exact search" mode has been removed. Instead there's an option to search inside words. Now you can always use the logical operators: space as AND and '|' as ORFeature

      If you need to search for an exact quote, put it in doublequotes, like this: "to be or not to be".
    * Support for mixed case tags.Feature
    * "Cut" command for notes, and custom clipboard format to transfer notes from one notebook to another while keeping text formatting.Feature
    * New "Help/License" dialog to manage product licensing: The dialog includes ability to automatically fill licensing data from clipboard and also via clipping.Feature
    * Tag sidebar can now be resized with the mouse.Enhancement
    * New Options/Tags submenu to configure tagging options.Enhancement
    * New option: "Options/Clipping/After Clipping/Assign currently active tags"Enhancement

      When this option is on, newly clipped notes are automatically assigned tags which are currently selected on the Tag Sidebar.
    * Note editor: Alt+C now works as shortcut for "Cancel".Enhancement
    * Ctrl+U shortcut for displaying untagged notes.Enhancement
    * Last used export format is now remembered in settings.Enhancement
    * Main menu reorganization. "Note Appearance" menu item moved to the Options menu.Enhancement
    * The executable is now signed with a digital signature.Enhancement
    * Proper metadata and version information in the executable.Enhancement
    * Note export dialog now includes the "Export scope" groupbox.Enhancement
    * Ctrl+Home/End in search box to focus note list and go to first/last note.Enhancement
    * Eliminated possibility of painting artefacts on window maximization.Fix
    * Full-text search was not working for East-Asian languages.Fix
    * Searching for "-a" lead to a "Malformed MATCH expression" error.Fix
    * Search could produce wrong results if query contained punctiation or delimiter characters.Fix
    * Copy/pasting note in the notes list lost text formatting.Fix
    * Pasting text in main window didn't recognize links.Fix
    * Removed redundant formatting tags in exported XML file.Fix
    * Non-ASCII characters in page URLs were corrupted on clipping.Fix
    * USB stick could not be safely removed after note import or export.Fix
    * Restoring focus after clipping was not working in Opera.Fix
    * Note editor: wrong window position after being mazimized.Fix
    * Note editor: lower pane height changed on Ctrl+S.Fix
    * Note editor: applying formatting cleared existing formatting.Fix
    * Note editor: pressing Enter twice didn't cancel bulleted and numbered lists.Fix
    * Note editor: Undo behavior was incorrect after pasting text from clipboard.Fix
    * Note editor: pressing F7 when Link is empty opened Windows Explorer.Fix

Personal license is $9.99, more for commercial license, one year of free updates included.

82

General Software Discussion / IsoBuster 3.0 released

« on: April 13, 2012, 04:10 PM »

A rare release of a new version of IsoBuster:

I am glad to be able to announce the final 3.0 version release of an exciting new IsoBuster. Excited because this new version, besides optical media (CD, DVD and BD) now also supports Flash drives, Media cards of all sorts and makes, Jaz, Zip, Floppy drives, Hard Drives etc. To top it of, there is now also brand new NTFS support !

To try and pour it in a list, here are the newly supported disks / drives:

    * Thumb / Flash drives
    * SD disks / drives
    * Compact disks / drives
    * MMC disks / drives
    * SSD disks / drives
    * Jaz disks / drives
    * Zip disks / drives
    * Floppy disks / drives
    * HD disks / drives
    * And more ...

And here's the newly supported File System:

    * NTFS

On optical media (CD, DVD, BD) we are accustomed to the concept of Sessions and Tracks. On all these newly supported disks, logical volumes (file-systems) are put into Partitions, not Sessions. IsoBuster supports, just like you were used to with Sessions using IsoBuster:

    * All Windows / DOS / Macintosh / HFS Partitions are immediately shown
    * All the file-system(s) in those partitions are immediatly shown
    * You can use all the features you normally would use on tracks and sessions, but now on partitions.
    * You can do data recovery pretty much the exact same way as on optical
    * Forensics investigators will love the easy overview of all partitions and all file systems
    * See sector per sector content with Sector View
    * Extract portions of the media
    * Support for UDF, FAT, NTFS, HFS(+) on any partition
    * Etc.

(announcement here)

[Edit at UK time 2012-04-14, 20:34:-] I forgot to add: it's a paid upgrade for users of version 2, with discount for now. [/Edit]

83

Screenshot Captor / Et tu, Brute?

« on: March 09, 2012, 03:33 PM »

Carried over from another thread, Re: SnagIt 11

SSC is complicated and I can't always get it to behave.

-rjbull (March 08, 2012, 05:49 PM)

say what? how so?

you people are brutal! 

-mouser (March 08, 2012, 05:51 PM)

<sigh>  I'm an occasional user, and even I don't have any problems with just making screen captures, as such.  My troubles start when I try annotating them.  It's a mixture of things I don't understand, facets of the UI that don't work well for me, consequences of too-easy fumble-fingers, and probably expecting things that SSC can't do, may not even be designed for.

Using SSC 3.00.00 portable on Vista Home Premium, UAC On, user account.  Here's my personal list of glitches and confusion.  Going through them in itself has made a few things slightly clearer.

1) Drawing arrows the wrong way round
I could have sworn that yesterday I started drawing arrows from the tip to tail, and had them point away from the target.  Today, they're pointing the right way.  Which is supposed to happen?  Maybe arrow sense could be user-selectable?

2) Removing last addition
I'm drawing an arrow.  Oops, I meant to draw a highlight box.  How do I remove the arrow?  Ctrl+Z Undo doesn't work.  Maybe a need to optionally toggle auto-save after every edit, so that reversion is possible?

3) Text opacity
When adding a text object, it looks solid, like ink on a piece of thick paper.  When I finish it - zap, it goes transparent.  I've fiddled with the transparency thing, but don't really know what to do with it, and it doesn't seem to make much difference.  I think the default should be opaque text on an opaque background, that overwrites what's underneath without show-through.  Yesterday I had a few Access Violation errors when adding text objects, but don't have a handle on them.  SSC worked OK later.

4) Multiple annotations
I want to add several highlight boxes to a screenshot.  I make the first one.  Go for the second - oh, the highlight features pane disappeared.  Have to pick highlight icon again.  Maybe the details pane could be made sticky if required.

5) File saving
The file name appears in the box under the work area.  I want to change it to something meaningful in context, so start writing in the "Name:" field.  Oh, I meant to save it in a different directory, easier to get at.  Press Ctrl+E.  But that shows the original auto-generated name, not the one I've just started to change.  I was going to ask for it to work more like a text editor: in fact I suppose it already does, but not remembering the change is an invitation to frustration.

6) Wild zooming
I didn't know why this was happening before - I'd touch something and find the image size zooming wildly, quite nausea-inducing.  The "zooming track" is close to the vertical toolbar, and it's rather easy to hit it by failing to hit an icon square on.  I think now the main reason is my accidentally touching the right edge of my laptop's mousepad, which acts as a scroll wheel.  This is easily overlooked when staring at the screen, so I'd like a little tick box that says "Lock zoom."

7) Changing colours
Occasionally I want an arrow or something in a different colour.  I still find that SSC usually draws the next arrow in the old colour, with only subsequent ones in the correct colour.

84

Found Deals and Discounts / NoteFrog Professional Lifetime License on Bits du Jour today, 2012-02-08

« on: February 08, 2012, 05:06 AM »

NoteFrog Professional Lifetime License on Bits du Jour today, 2012-02-08, $15.95 instead of $49.95.

Bits du Jour promotion commentary:

NoteFrog Professional Lifetime License
Use it, Don't Lose it!

"273-374-9984 ext.35"
"DiPalma's Pizza on 3rd"
"Little Bobby's Birthday 4/8"
"Google: Gogol"
"Pitch Brand Name: Squiggles"
"Milk, TP, Celery, Onion, Crackers"
"Copy all .xls files to hard-drive before Wednesday's clean-out"

All important, and all essentially useless -- a dank bayou of misplaced information -- without a sound system of navigation and retrieval.

NoteFrog keeps every bit of information organized, accessible and meaningful. Breaking away from conventional spreadsheet systems of information management, NoteFrog uses an open-ended, amendable system of stacks to organize your notes. Allowing you to organize information in a way that makes sense to you. Have a stack for work, or each individual project at work. Have a stack for reminders, phone numbers, important dates, things to do at work, things to youtube at home, potential names for the puppy, research, finances, purchase dates and warranties, accounts numbers, passwords -- the possibilities are as endless as language itself!

Once everything is stacked, NoteFrog's supersearch will quickly guide you to the information you need. From the first letter you type, in NoteFrog's search box, candidates are selected from your Active stack. Once you've whittled it down to the note you need, just click and read. Or you may save a NoteFrog stack as a publishable, searchable, HTML document: see this feature in action!

NoteFrog also features tagging capabilities and a "clipboard capture" feature which is great for quickly gathering large chunks of information and safely filing it away in the stacks. So when you need it the NoteFrog can retrieve it.

Promotion Written by Andrew Dick

Features:
* Quickly generate free-form notes and file them in appropriate stacks.
* Cross-reference notes.
* Find the information you need instantly with supersearch.
* Enable/disable images.
* Enable/disable stack password protection.
* Capture and incorporate elements from you computer's clipboard.
* Purchase with BitsDuJour's discount coupon code and get all this at a promotional price!

85

General Software Discussion / Listary updated to Version:3.51 (Build 752) (23 January 2012)

« on: January 23, 2012, 02:08 PM »

Listary Version:3.51 (Build 752)
3.51.752 (23 January 2012)
——————————————–

- New: “Add Here” for submenus (Pro version only)
- New: %files% parameter for custom commands
- New: Find-as-you-type ignoring diacritics
- New: Page Up/ Page Down/ Home/ End support in menus
- New: Recent folder support for Office 2003 on Windows 7
- New: New language file (Portuguese)
- New: New language file (Brazilian Portuguese)
- New: New language file (Traditional Chinese)
- Improved: Float toolbar can handle ESC after activating a menu now
- Improved: Better compatibility with high DPI
- Improved: DirectoryOpus detection
- Improved: Find-as-you-type compatibility with xplorer2
- Improved: Total Commander INI path detection (can handle default path in Windows/AppData folder now)
- Improved: Order of search results
- Improved: Installer won’t reset “Start Listary when Windows starts”
- Fixed: May make Windows 7 task switcher not always on top
- Fixed: Selection mark wasn’t correct in XP Explorer
- Fixed: A minor popup menu z-order bug
- Fixed: Favorite items can’t be dragged into an empty submenu

86

General Software Discussion / A New ArsClip for the New Year (2012)

« on: January 06, 2012, 03:07 PM »

A New ArsClip for the New Year

ArsClip v3.2.0 has officially been released. The goal of this version was to go back to older sections of the program and clean up clutter and fix old problems. This did, however, require adding new functionality and features to alleviate some of these issues.

The Configuration window has received quite a bit of work. I've added settings that were previously only found on the Popup window and re-categorized/re-organized the options. Options should be easier to find and the more important options should appear first in the list for each page.

The default view of the popup has been simplified for new installs. This makes learning the program much easier by having much less clutter and implicitly adds value to the 'Full Mode' menu command.

External Editor support adds a convenient way to edit clips directly in the programs associated with text files and bitmaps. This automates almost all of the steps required to edit clips in your favorite editor.

Lastly, I've replaced the the Shift+Select and Ctrl+Select keystroke commands with user definable actions. This adds a quick way to execute any command normally found on the right-click menu.

Jan-04-12 9:36 PM CST

Changes in v3.2.0

New: Configuration window reworked and categorized
New: Default popup view simplified for new installs
New: User defined Shift+Select and Ctrl+Select keystroke configuration options
New: External Editor support for text and picture clips
New: Clip size shown on tooltip hint
New: Option to use Virtual Desktop for the Trigger Window
New: Tooltip Hint will grow to show larger clips when hovered for longer

Fix: Configuration displayed by default when second instance is run
Fix: Configuration screen not displayed in foreground in some instances
Fix: System menu on popup showed old icons
Fix: 'Current' popup menu item not cleared correctly
Fix: Tweaks and fixes to the Clipboard Bar window
Fix: 'Edit Selected' popup menu item was not always working in Full Mode
Fix: Wrong icon sometimes shown on Program Options popup menu item
Fix: Configuration window shown on taskbar when opened

87

Found Deals and Discounts / Chameleon Task Manager on offer at Bits du Jour 2011-12-01

« on: December 01, 2011, 05:54 AM »

Chameleon Task Manager is on on offer at Bits du Jour today, 2011-12-01.  50% off: $14.97 instead of $29.95.  Here's the BdJ blurb:

Chameleon Task Manager
A Better Alternative to Windows Task Manager

Windows Task Manager - you know it, you don't love it, but you use it because you have no other alternative. Or do you? How would you like an app that replaces Windows Task Manager, enabling you to do everything that you're used to doing with Windows Task Manager, but even better, faster, and with a bunch of additional features? If you are nodding your head enthusiastically and clapping wildly, read on for more details on Chameleon Task Manager.

Chameleon Task Manager gives you complete control over the processes that are running on your computer, giving you much more detailed information about your programs than Windows Task Manager can even dream about. With Chameleon Task Manager, you'll have a way to automatically manage background processes that hog CPU or disk usage, reducing their priority to allow current programs to fly like the wind. An optimizer determines exactly how much memory a program needs, so you're sure that every bit of RAM that's in use is by design.

Have you ever taken a peek at your process list and been aghast at the number of programs that are running in the background? Chameleon Task Manager gives you control over when programs are allowed to run, either after other programs have finished or started, or on certain days - so you can set annoying, but necessary, system scans to run on weekends when you're out partying, instead of when you're trying to work during the week! You can even set Chameleon Task Manager to automatically kill processes, preventing unnecessary programs from running at all.

Lastly, you'll get an added layer of protection and peace of mind with Chameleon Task Manager. Newly launched programs result in instant notifications, and Chameleon Task Manager is smart enough to check the files of all programs to quickly identify modified files. And with the handy resource usage statistics, you'll be able to instantly see which of your programs use the most resources!
Promotion Written by Derek Lee

It's been mentioned on DC in these threads, amongst others:

• Chameleon Task Manager
• Chameleon Task Manager Pro 40% Discount
• Win Patrol Plus (Bits Du Jour- Fri) Chameleon Startup Manager, Startup Organizer

88

General Software Discussion / Listary updated to Version:3.50 (Build 689)

« on: November 22, 2011, 03:03 PM »

Listary has been updated to Version:3.50 (Build 689).  Changes:

3.50.689 (22 November 2011)

——————————————–

- New: Accelerator key support for all menus

- New: Environment variable support for all paths

- New: New language files (Swedish, Italian, Ukrainian, Korean and Polish)

- New: Paths of recent documents can be compacted automatically

- New: New toolbar UI

- New: Toolbar can be transparent now

- New: Regular expression support is back for Pro users

- New: Tooltips for all hot keys

- New: Users can set default file manager now

- New: Search results now shown in bold (and underline as before) font

- New: New way of handling subfolder expanding

- New: Code signing all files

- Improved: Improved overall performance for menus

- Improved: Improved performance of auto-expand subfolder

- Improved: Toolbar will be always visible for file dialogs

- Improved: Total Commander ini file path detection

- Improved: Uncheck “Watch screencast” for updating

- Improved: New version of crash report component

- Fixed: Cannot open a recent file in Explorer

- Fixed: Mouse lag (mouse hook conflicts with some software)

- Fixed: Minor bug of Export List Content

- Fixed: Icon display bug in Options > Favorite

- Fixed: Many other bugs

89

Found Deals and Discounts / Action Outline on offer at Bits du Jour, 2011-11-21

« on: November 21, 2011, 02:43 PM »

All versions of Action Outline, one of the many two-pane outliners/notekeepers, are on offer via Bits du Jour today, 2011-11-21.

90

General Software Discussion / SyncBackSE V6 and SyncBackPro V6 Backup Software Released

« on: November 14, 2011, 04:32 PM »

2BrightSparks Home Page

SyncBackSE V6 and SyncBackPro V6 Backup Software Released

Whether it's a paid upgrade or not depends on when you bought your license.  If it was before 1st January 2011, the upgrade fee is US$15 per license (volume discounts available).

Changes list:

NEW TO VERSION 6! Amazon S3 and Google Storage support
You can backup and synchronize your files via cloud storage services. Amazon S3 provides a simple web service interface that can be used to store and retrieve any amount of data, at any time, from anywhere on the web. Google Cloud Storage is a service for storing and accessing your data on Google's infrastructure. The service combines the performance and scalability of Google's cloud with advanced security and sharing capabilities.
Choose SyncBackSE    

NEW TO VERSION 6! Microsoft Azure support
Windows Azure helps developers build, host and scale applications through Microsoft datacenters. Azure requires no up-front expenses, no long term commitment, and enables developers to pay only for the resources they use. The Microsoft cloud platform is used to build, host and scale web applications through Microsoft data centers. Windows Azure forms part of Microsoft's cloud computing strategy, along with their software as a service offering, Microsoft Online Services.
Choose SyncBackSE    

NEW TO VERSION 6! Backup of emails stored on a POP3/IMAP4 server
There are two main ways that users can access their email. POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) is the standard whereby messages are delivered to your computer, put in your mailbox, and are then your responsibility. IMAP (Interactive Mail Access Protocol) is a newer method. IMAP is delivered to the server, and you connect to the server to see your mail. The mail is not stored on your machine. When a message is marked as read, it is marked as read on the server, not on your computer. SyncBackPro allows you to backup both Pop3 and IMAP4 emails.
Choose SyncBackSE    

NEW TO VERSION 6! Integration with SyncBack Management Service
Remote installations of SyncBackPro can now be managed and monitored from a central location. The SBM Console (currently in beta) works with SyncBackPro and the SyncBack Management Service (SBM Service - also in beta). All three applications are required and work together to enable the management of backup and synchronization profiles across a network. The SBM Console allows system managers to review the history status of backup profiles, limit client machine access to the backup system, securely restrict user intervention of their backup profiles, and the automatic update of backup profiles.
Choose SyncBackSE    

NEW TO VERSION 6! Notification about profiles runs, creation, etc.
SyncBackPro V6 can use a SysLog server for notification about profiles runs, creation, etc. This new feature set includes a range of settings including: Send status messages to a SysLog server; SysLog hostname or IP address; SysLog port number; SysLog facility number (0 to 23); Send date and time in GMT timezone (the dates & times of the messages can either be in the local timezone or in the GMT/UTC timezone); Send messages in UTF8 (messages can either be in ASCII or UTF8); Prefix messages with username (to help with tracking, the messages sent to the SysLog server can optionally be prefix with the Windows username); Send Test Message to the SysLog server.
Choose SyncBackSE    

NEW TO VERSION 6! New script functions, function calls, and example scripts
Scripting is a way in which the functionality of SyncBackPro can be changed or extended by writing small scripts. SyncBackPro can use scripts written in any scripting language (supported by the Windows Scripting Host) that is installed on the computer, but typically they are written in VBScript or JScript. This powerful feature allows you to configure how SyncBackPro works and runs profiles. For example, you could create a script that lets SyncBackPro backup to a database (or anything else you can access). Scripting can also be used to change how profiles run. A number of new scripting functions have been added to version 6. Scripts can now also add their own profile configuration page for easy integration and configuration
Choose SyncBackSE    

NEW TO VERSION 6! SBHistory scripting object for access to profiles run history
SyncBackPro V6 can use a SysLog server for notification about profiles runs, creation, etc. The SBHistory object allows you to refer to a profile's history, e.g. when it was run, who ran it, what the result was, etc.
Choose SyncBackSE    

AND MORE: NEW TO VERSION 6!
• Detect changes in file and folder name case and optionally correct them
• SmartSync options to skip and ignore changes
• Can choose what to do when cannot be prompted for action
• Option to not log successfully copied, moved, or deleted files
• Option to not send log email if simulated run
• Can encrypt log file when emailed
• -log command line parameter to display latest log file for a profile
• -clearss command line parameter to clear SmartSync data
• -monoff command line parameter to switch monitors off
• -importprofile and -importscript command line parameters to import multiple profiles or scripts using wildcards
• -sbmssync command line parameter and appropriate exit code
• -profbackup command line parameter
• -winpassword to specific Windows login password
• Copy symbolic links as-is
• Email bodies can now be plain text and/or HTML
• Profiles can now be stored in the users roaming application data folder         

• Option to ignore NTFS encrypted files
• Uses Windows 7 taskbar features
• Can stop Windows sleeping while profile is running, e.g. when burning CD
• Can use hardware serial number for drive insert detection and in new variables
• Groups can also have time limits
• When running a profile because of file or folder changes then can set how long to wait with no changes before running profile
• Many new variables, e.g. HWSERIAL
• Regular expressions now treat the backslash character as a line separator
• Group settings main window lets you filter profiles listed
• Profile run history can be seen in profile setup window
• /max prefix to maximize window when running programs in Run Before and Run After
• On Vista and newer, and if the locking application supports it, it can report the application that has a file locked
• Profile result shows if profile aborted because too many files would be deleted
• Stop, pause, and resume buttons in progress panel
Choose SyncBackSE    

Backup to CD/DVD/Blu-Ray
Backup to CD/DVD/Blu-Ray with disk spanning (compression not required). SyncBackPro can also backup to an ISO image file which can be mounted as a virtual drive (using 3rd party software). SyncBackPro also performs automatic disk spanning, i.e. if your files do not fit onto the CD/DVD then it will split the files and continue onto another CD/DVD.
Choose SyncBackSE    

Backup To or Restore From an Email Server
SyncBackPro allows the user to backup or synchronize their files with an email server whether SMTP, POP3, or IMAP4 (not to be confused with synchronizing emails). This is similar to backing up via FTP, however the backup is made via an email server e.g. Gmail, Yahoo!, etc. SyncBackPro provides advanced customization of the settings that allow the user to define SMTP and POP3/IMAP4 server connection details like "Must use SSL/TLS connection", "Direct SSL/TLS connection", and includes the ability to create a custom email body instead of using the default.
Choose SyncBackSE    Scripting Support
SyncBackPro allows the user to configure the program and profiles using their own scripts. Scripts are distinct from the core code of the application, which is written in a different language. Scripting is a way in which the functionality of SyncBackPro can be changed or extended. A script is a set of instructions and is similar to the macro support in Microsoft Office, and Java Script in web pages. SyncBackPro can use scripts written in any scripting language (supported by the Windows Scripting Host) that is installed on the computer. SyncBackPro Scripts.
Choose SyncBackSE    SFTP Support
SFTP, or secure FTP, is a program that uses SSH to transfer files. Unlike standard FTP, it encrypts both commands and data, preventing passwords and sensitive information from being transmitted transparently over a network. Functionally similar to FTP, SFTP uses a different protocol, it is not possible to use a standard FTP client to talk to an SFTP server, nor is it possible to connect to an FTP server with a client that supports only SFTP.
Choose SyncBackSE    Processes an Unlimited Number of Files
Instead of storing the information in RAM (memory), SyncBackPro uses a database to store details of the files it is copying. This means an unlimited number of files and folders can be processed. SyncBackPro uses RAM for performance but will automatically and seamlessly switch to a database if memory is running low or the number of files reaches a threshold. Using a database is significantly faster when the number of files is in the hundreds of thousands.
Choose SyncBackSE    BZip2 Compression
Enjoy a higher compression rate than Zip making FTP and email backups faster, and lessening the load on network backups. BZip2 typically compresses files up to 15% more, is around twice as fast at compression, and six times faster at decompression. Bzip2 compresses files using the Burrows-Wheeler block-sorting text compression algorithm, and Huffman coding. Compression is generally considerably better than that achieved by more conventional LZ77/LZ78-based compressors.
Choose SyncBackSE    

Automatic Drive Failure Detection
Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology, or "S.M.A.R.T.", is a monitoring system for computer hard disks to detect and report on various indicators of reliability, in the hope of anticipating failures. Mechanical failures, which are usually predictable failures, account for 60 percent of drive failure. The purpose of S.M.A.R.T. is to warn a user or system administrator of impending drive failure while time remains to take preventative action - such as copying the data to a replacement device.

91

General Software Discussion / TED Notepad updated to stable version 6.0.1 Beta, Nov 2, 2011

« on: November 01, 2011, 04:36 PM »

That excellent small but feature-rich editor, TED Notepad, has just received one of its rare updates.  Current stable version
6.0.1 Beta, Nov 2, 2011:

TED Notepad ChangeLog
small - quick - light - innovative - extensible - variable - free

This listing describes all major changes between previous versions of TED Notepad. Minor changes that did not affect difference between major versions listed here are omitted.

Version 6.0.1 beta (Nov 2, 2011)
    This version is a complete rewrite of the entire project. Small changes might be left out by omission.
    + Search and Replace dialog replaced by Search Bar.
    + Added: Support for Escapes and Regular Expressions in search/replace patterns.
    + Added: Experimental Search and Last Tool concept. Similar to Search and Replace.
    + Added: Long searches automatically display an abort dialog.
    + Added: Option to Mimic Case upon Search and Replace.
    + Added: Auto-search for current word upon no selection in Find Selected.
    + Added: Extended Replace also supports Escapes, RegExps and Mimic Case.
    + Added: Support for user-defined color of text and background.
    + Added: Random Color Scheme generator in Settings dialog.
    + Added: Display Line Numbers, Newlines and Line Lengths.
    + Added: ZoomIn, ZoomOut, ZoomReset.
    + Added: Auto-recognition of UTF-8 files without BOM.
    + Added: Import/Export/Reopen file in chosen encoding or codepage.
    + Added: Full transparent support for binary files (load+edit+save).
    + Added: Full transparent support for mixed newlines (load+edit+save).
    + Added: Command line parameter: /b Skips the "Create new file" question.
    + Added: Option to auto-save documents directly to their original files.
    + Added: Option to create recovery auto-save files with hidden attribute.
    + Added: Question, whether to auto-load a lost auto-save version of a file.
    + Added: Question about saving before closing is skipped for empty Untitled documents.
    + Added: Favourite files now support relative paths.
    + Added: Template file for new documents.
    + Added: Shuffle Lines tool.
    + Added: First Capital, Random Case and Fun Case tools.
    + Added: Unclose Lines, Trim Empty Lines and Shift Lines Right tool.
    + Added: Collapse Empty Lines tool.
    + Added: Unwrap Lines tool.
    + Added: Extract Words tool.
    + Added: Most tools are now showing their progress and support cancel.
    + Added: Classic old system edit control replaced by new improved editbox.
    + Added: Text storage engine with improved support for working with huge files.
    + Added: Support for very long lines (current limit is set to 1 MiB).
    + Added: Multi-level Undo and Redo. Better Undo granularity.
    + Added: Legacy single-level Undo still available through Alt+BkSpace.
    + Added: More sensitive navigation through entire words.
    + Added: Support for Triple/Quadruple/Quintuple-click and mouse selecting.
    + Added: Option to auto-Copy to clipboard upon mouse selection.
    + Added: Paste/Swap from clipboard upon mouse Ctrl-Right-click.
    + Added: Option to Mimic Case upon Paste from clipboard.
    + Added: Option to auto-select current word/line/paragraph/document upon empty Copy/Cut.
    + Added: Insert Recently Inserted and Recently Deleted text.
    + Added: Support for Smart Home and End keys, working with indentation
    + Added: Support for moving/selecting by entire paragraphs.
    + Added: Option to keep distance between the Caret and window borders.
    + Added: Improved and enriched Right-click menu.
    + Added: Support for Insert/Overwrite mode.
    + Added: Horizontal mouse-wheel scrolling.
    + Added: Improved INI files for saving settings into Config.
    + Added: Support for hierarchical INI file loading.
    + Added: Command line parameter: /i Load specified INI file
    + Added: Location of current INI file added to Settings dialog.
    + Added: Printing font.
    + Added: Page Setup for printing.
    + Added: Check Updates shortcut.
    + Added: Sort tool: Upto five independent sorting keys available.
    + Added: Sort tool: Range of columns can be specified in each sorting key.
    + Added: Sort tool: Option to ignore white-spaces and/or punctuation while sorting.
    + Added: Sort tool: Option to ignore all but alpha-numeric characters while sorting.
    + Added: Sort tool: Option to ignore blank and/or control characters while sorting.
    + Added: Sort tool: Options to ignore characters supported even while sorting as numbers.
    + Added: Sort tool: Uses current user locale settings while sorting as numbers.
    + Added: Sort tool: Support for positive signs while sorting as numbers.
    * Modif: Sort tool: Sorting keys no longer depend on previous keys.
    + Added: Columns and Sort tools: Option to "delimit by entire phrase" rather than "separate characters".
    + Added: Columns and Sort tools: Options for saving info from tool dialogs into the Config.
    * Modif: Columns and Sort tools: Tool dialogs accept ranges and columns inverted.
    + Added: Columns tool: Random number insertion point (%r).
    * Modif: Columns tool: Center alignment modifier changed from ^ to !.
    + Added: Translate Charaters tool: Supports escapes and ranges.
    + Added: XmlTag tool: Works more carefully with singleline/multiline selections.
    * Modif: XmlTag tool: Reselects the original selection after enclosing it.
    + Added: XmlTag tool: Option to keep or reset fields "Attributes" and "Empty".
    + Added: Compare tool: State of checkboxes from tool dialog are saved into Config.
    + Added: Compare tool: Option for saving the compared strings into Config as well.
    + Added: Filters: New variable %S, which expands with current selection.
    + Added: Filters: Option to convert all text to/from UTF-8.
    + Added: Filters: Option to push no input (stdin) into filter.
    + Added: Filters: Option to ignore output (stdout/stderr) from filter.
    + Added: Filters: Option to mix output (stdout/stderr) from filter together.
    + Added: Filters: Option to display filter output as message instead of replacing.
    + Added: Filters: Option to auto-exit when filter is finished.
    + Added: Filters: Option to skip saving upon auto-exit when filter is finished.
    + Added: Filters: Option to ignore filter's return value.
    + Added: Filters: Option to wait for filter to finish.
    + Added: Filters: Option to skip the launch dialog.
    + Added: Filters: Quoting variable modifiers, which escape all double-quotes while expanding.
    + Added: Search and Replace All feature groups Undo steps into one Undo step.
    + Added: Search and Replace All feature shows total count of replacements in the Status Bar.
    + Added: Progress and info messages displayed in the Status Bar during most operations.
    + Added: Undo feature can now remember the last document save-point.
    + Added: Double-clicks on the Status Bar supported (as shortcuts to anticipated actions).
    + Added: Word Wrap indicator in the Status Bar.
    + Added: Current character value in the Status Bar.
    + Added: Suggest filename from first line supports longer filenames.
    + Added: Suggest filename from first line now works also in Exclude File feature.
    + Added: Option to confirm with user whether to exit by Esc key.
    + Added: Option to prevent insertion of control characters.
    + Added: Option to show bold Caret upon Overwrite mode.
    + Added: Option to improve definition of what a word consists of.
    + Added: Option to Indent selection (of multiple lines) with simple Tab key.
    + Added: Option to reduce Undo steps to the last single step upon Save.
    + Added: Option to persist current scrolling during tools.
    + Added: Option to auto-hide the Search Bar after it has been used.
    + Added: Option to auto-hide the Search Bar only after a successful use.
    + Added: Options to reset/keep specific search attributes in the Search Bar.
    + Added: Option to execute search as non-abortable (for compatibility).
    + Added: Option to execute all tools as non-abortable (for compatibility).
    + Added: Option to warn, when a file being loaded is bigger than a specific value.
    + Added: Support for overriding user locale settings (number formats, date/time formats).
    + Added: Many more settings and options to subtly adjust behaviour of features.
    - Fixed: Malformed UTF-8 files could cause loading troubles.
    - Fixed: Save As dialog allows read-only files when read-only files can be forced.
    - Fixed: Save As dialog no longer changes current working directory on the way.
    - Fixed: Switch to already opened document, while the other document's window is in tray.
    - Fixed: Troubles with changing the opened-and-watched-for-modifications file too rapidly.
    - Fixed: The opened-and-watched-for-modifications file no longer share-locked unnecessarily.
    - Fixed: Statistics tool: Average line length computed over non-empty lines only.
    - Fixed: Statistics tool: Line lengths (avg/min/max) ignore tail white-spaces.
    - Fixed: Unique Lines tool: Duplicates of empty lines not counted upon Leave empty lines.
    - Fixed: Unique Lines tool: Improved algorithm used in the tool (bug with quadratic impact).
    - Fixed: SysTray icon reappears after explorer/taskbar crash and recreation.
    * Improved and more user-friendly Goto dialog.
    * Statistics tool dialog supports copying of the values into clipboard.
    * Settings dialog now remembers the last active tab for convenience.
    * All tools working with selection can now auto-select word/line/paragraph/document.
    * Changing document Encoding or Newlines makes the document modified.
    * Old Margin Bar renamed to Wrap Margin. It soft-wraps lines upon Word Wrap.
    * Message "Search pattern not found!" now includes the search pattern.
    * Current selection and scrolling try to persist Search and Replace All operation.
    * Search and Replace All draws all changes at once if there is no idle CPU.
    * Undo is available in the Search Bar, when selection is pre-filled as new pattern.
    * Ability to define and use the Second Search through the Search Bar.
    * Longer patterns (upto 8 KiB) allowed in the Search Bar.
    * The selection is reversed upon searching upwards.
    * Word Wrap rewraps the line being edited correctly, including previous word.
    * Better maintenance of current scrolling and selection upon reverting the document.
    * Better maintenance of current scrolling upon rewrapping lines of the document.
    * Horizontal Scroll Bar tries to be a bit smarter and less resource consuming.
    * Quote Mail tool removed.
    * Few hotkeys modified or switched between functions.
    * Tools sub-menu and Edit sub-menu rearranged a bit. All dialogs improved.
    * Defaults for some of the settings modified to fit the new capabilities.
    * Few config names changed or moved to prevent sharing with old versions.
    * Core memory-handling and text-processing routines improved.
    * Non-linear generator of pseudo-random numbers used in tools.
    * Default fonts changed to Courier New and Arial.
    * New application icon introduced.
    Changes against version 5.4.1.

92

General Software Discussion / Recommend host for slide shows?

« on: October 10, 2011, 03:24 PM »

mouser makes screencasts to show features of some of his programs.  For the rest of us, there's Jing, but Jing seems to work on either single screenshots or five-minute movies, and you can't annotate the movies.

I'd like the equivalent of Wink, i.e., a series of screenshots that can be annotated individually, and assembled into a slide show that the viewer can step through at their own pace, including stepping backwards.  Can anyone recommend a good host for such slide shows?  I don't have Flickr or YouTube accounts, and maybe somewhere else is better.  Ideally I'd like at some space free, as it's not something I'm likely to do very often.

93

Found Deals and Discounts / RoboForm 7 Desktop on BdJ today, 2011-10-04

« on: October 04, 2011, 04:15 PM »

RoboForm Pro v7 Desktop is on offer at Bits du Jour today, 2011-10-04, with 9 hrs 51 min left at time of writing.  It's $14.95 rather than the regular $29.95 (and $9.95 for a second copy).  That's $5 less than the upgrade price from v6 to v7 for existing v6 users.

In the discussion, numerous posts mention the "phantom lifetime license" that's already been heavily chewed over on DC and elsewhere.

In one of the posts, Siber Systems say that RoboForm2Go will be on Bits du Jour on 13th October.

94

Living Room / Free camera reviews from OTC

« on: September 13, 2011, 03:48 PM »

OTC are a British company supplying manuals and reviews of cameras and other photographic equipment.  I've dealt with them a few times myself.  Here is a limited free offer.

As well as being the world's leading supplier of printed camera manuals, OTC also offers reviews from two of the leading photographic magazines and, for a limited period, you can download the last three months of reviews free of charge.

Free Camera Reviews

If you are thinking of buying a new camera or lens you should first read what the experts think. OTC now offer compilations of reviews from both Amateur Photographer and What Digital Camera and supply them as downloadable, bookmarked files.

As a special offer, available only until September 17th, you can download every review from Amateur Photographer from June to August this year - http://srv.ezinedire...7228&s=125036813 - and every review from What Digital camera from June to August this year - http://srv.ezinedire...7229&s=125036813 - free of charge.
 
Printed Portable Camera Manuals

Don’t forget about our manuals, which are now supplied as small bound books which will fit into your camera bag or your pocket.

Don't underestimate how much it will cost you to print a 150 plus page manual yourself.  Buying a proper printed manual from us will cost you far less than you would spend in paper and toner if you printed the manual yourself.

We can supply a printed manual for almost every camera ever made. It doesn't matter if your camera is new or 50 years old - we will have the manual for it. Visit our website - http://srv.ezinedire...7230&s=125036813 - to find the manual for your camera or accessory today.
 
Training DVDs

DVDs are a great way to increase your knowledge of your camera and how to use it.  These instructional DVDs offer a comprehensive guide to using your camera.

The information on the DVDs is presented in an interesting and in-depth way.  The high production quality provides easy-to-understand and well-illustrated video footage covering all the key features of your camera.

These DVDs are available for most digital SLRs.  A full list can be found here - http://srv.ezinedire...7231&s=125036813 - or you can go to our website search - http://srv.ezinedire...7232&s=125036813 - for your model of camera and see the DVDs listed under the printed instruction manual for your camera.
 
 
Contact us

We welcome hearing from our customers. Either email us at [email protected] or call us on 01707 273773. We are open 9.00 to 5.00 Monday to Friday. When you call us you will speak directly to a person - you will never have to deal with an automated switchboard!

95

Clipboard Help+Spell / Feature request: Web clipping, permanent note keeping

« on: August 21, 2011, 03:58 PM »

mouser,

Do these make sense?  What I'm getting at is improving CHS as an application for keeping permanent notes, particularly when they're Web clips.

• Add, or re-purpose, a hotkey that will act the same as "Ctrl-C copy to clipboard and add to CHS", except that it will send the clip to a user-defined folder that isn't included in the standard Automatic Filing and cleaning procedure?  So that one can easily differentiate clips needed for long-term storage from the commoner transient ones, without having to organise things afterwards?  One might have a series of such folders, selected perhaps by right-clicking on the tray icon.
• Offer a configuration option to include the URL on a line at the bottom of a clip, so that when you want to paste the clip into a document, the URL automatically comes along with the text, without needing any extra action?

96

General Software Discussion / HotKeyP updated to 4.6, 2011-07-30: first update since 2008

« on: August 14, 2011, 10:55 AM »

The hotkey program HotKeyP has been updated to 4.6, first update since 2008:

HotKeyP
-------
4.6 (2011-07-30)
- command "Desktop resolution" has optional parameter monitor number
- command "Control panel" without parameters opens the control panels folder
- command "Macro" can have parameters \media_select, \launch_app1, \launch_app2
- option to use hook only for special system shortcuts (e.g. Win+E, Win+D, Ctrl+Esc, Alt+Tab, ...)

fixed bugs:
- multimedia keys on some keyboards did not work (e.g. Genius USB keyboards)
- shift sometimes remained pressed after the macro
- if launched application required admin. rights, its exe file name was passed as the first parameter

97

General Software Discussion / Windows Update disaster - recovery help, please!

« on: July 18, 2011, 10:54 AM »

Windows Update disaster - recovery help, please!

I run Vista Home Premium, when it will let me.  It has automatic updates.  I get tired of the interminable disk-thrashing and resource usage of Windows updates, which mean I can barely use the laptop while they're downloading, but until recently things have worked properly afterwards.  Last week I was cursed with a toxic update. After rebooting, it wouldn't let me into my user account, saying that it couldn't start a Windows service.  It would, however, let me into the admin account, though without Internet access, again because it couldn't start a (different, I think) Windows service.  Oh, joy.  Lack of Internet access nowadays means no easy way to get help.

Symptoms:

Access violation at address 00723159 in module "oauie.exe."  Write of address 00000050.

WiFi said

Connection status: Unknown.  The dependency service or group failed to start.

Tried Diagnose > Windows Wireless Service is not running on this computer > Start Wireless Service > Windows cannot resolve this problem.  Please contact your network administrator or ISP.
Well, the admin is me.  It's my own machine.  This is Vista Home Premium, after all.

From the admin account, a bubble appeared from the tray:

Windows could not connect to the System Event Notification Service.  This problem prevents limited access users from logging on to the system.  As an administrative user, you can review the System Event Log for details about why the service did not respond.

Of course, being Windows, it doesn't tell you the exact name of the log, nor its location.
         

I didn't know what to do.  My first glum thought was to restore from a disk image, glum because I knew the image would be out of date, and I would lose things.  So I set out to back up as much data as possible to a removable drive, knowing most existing backups would be at least slightly out of date.  Windows UAC keeps accounts in sealed boxes, so even though I could load SynchBack Pro, it behaved as a new unregistered program and I couldn't quickly work out how if at all to pick up its configuration. Likewise with TheBat!, which was serious because that's my e-mail. I copied over all data files I could think of using Total Commander, which has a very nice directory synchronization feature. Windows doesn't make this easy because data seems scattered all over the place. Then I wanted to check what programs I'd installed since last disk image, so looked in Total Uninstall to see if it could make a simple list.  It can, but, I also found it had a menu entry, System restore. Ah-haaah... I'd forgotten that, never having had to use it before. So, with little to lose, I tried it, rolling back the latest update, and after rebooting, everything was back to normal.

My first act then was to get out the external drive and make a new disk image.  I found the last one I had was six months old, and my data backups were a month or two old as well.  Mea culpa...  Main point arising: take mouser's constantly reiterated advice to heart - BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP!

Now, a day later, the system has downloaded what are presumably the same poisonous updates, because it's done the same thing again. Once more I've had my time wasted on endless downloading, once more I've had to roll the system back, and I feel condemned to a Sisyphean treadmill of repeating the process.

Please can DC help with help on the following?

• Can anyone please recommend a good disaster recovery pocket book?  Something small, to be consulted by fuming people in a hurry, maybe a compilation of trouble-shooting charts, not some massive and pricey tombstone?
• How do I turn off automatic updates? 
• If you're in an admin account, is there a way to run a program as if you were the user, so you get access to the user account's configuration settings and data? Sort of the inverse of elevating from user to admin?
• Who can I complain to or warn?
• And will they listen?
• Given Microsoft's near-monopoly status, and the unimaginable amounts of money it makes, why aren't its products better?  <sigh>

More disk-thrashing...  must be downloading the Update from Hell again...

98

General Software Discussion / EmEditor Core: Paid upgrades for licenses purchased on or after November 1, 2011

« on: July 10, 2011, 11:18 AM »

EmEditor Core : Paid upgrades for licenses purchased on or after November 1, 2011
Posted by Yutaka on 6/27/2011 2:28:58 pm

Paid upgrades for licenses purchased on or after November 1, 2011

We have been providing free upgrades for EmEditor Professional from v4 through v10. We realize that this is a major benefit for users, and we thoroughly appreciate your participation and support. Unfortunately, due to the recent difficult economic climate, it has become impossible for us to continue offering free upgrades to all users.

Thus, in order to allow us to continue the development of EmEditor, for users who purchase new licenses on or after November 1, 2011, upgrades will be paid. We plan to keep the upgrade fee as low as possible.

Licenses purchased before November 1, 2011 will be the same as before. They are eligible to be upgraded for free as long as they are registered at the Emurasoft Customer Center. The date of purchase can be verified in your purchase history at the Emurasoft Customer Center.


Currently, EmEditor programs are separated into the trial and the full-version. Switching from the trial to the full version requires you to first uninstall the trial and then install the full-version. Beginning with v10.1.0, the trial will become the same as the full-version (as it was in v8 and earlier), and simply entering a registration key during the trial will switch the program to the full-version. We hope that this will make your use of EmEditor smoother and more intuitive. Thank you.


Deadline for product registration for free upgrades

The product registration for free upgrades from EmEditor Professional v8 or earlier that we offer at the Emurasoft Customer Center will end on October 31, 2011. In order to ensure smooth upgrades in the future, if you have a license for EmEditor Professional v8 or earlier, but have not registered your license for a free upgrade, please register your license at Emurasoft Customer Center for the upgrade before November 1, 2011. If you do not register your licenses, the future upgrade eligibility, whether free or paid, will be expire.

99

Found Deals and Discounts / TypeMate - Text Expander for Windows on BdJ, Saturday 7 May, 2011

« on: May 01, 2011, 02:20 PM »

Please note, this post is not flame bait.

Just when you thought it was safe to come out, here's yet another new (to me, and apparently so far unmentioned on DC) text expander, to be offered on Bits du Jour, Saturday 7 May, 2011, at $20.97 = 40% off regular price of $34.95.

Sanity check: I have not tried this myself.

Here's the blurb from the TypeMate Web site:

Repetitive typing costing you time? TypeMate is the solution
TypeMate lets you automate regularly typed phrases and sentences

TypeMate text expander makes typing a breeze by converting shortcut text into fully formatted phrases or sentences as you type. TypeMate works in almost any Windows application that can accept text input, including word processors, spreadsheets, web browsers, email programs and more!
One utility, hundreds of uses
Speed up email responses

Speed up your customer service productivity by defining shortcuts for your most commonly used email responses.
Insert signatures into documents

With just a few keystrokes you can insert your full signature, including a scanned autograph or a company logo. You can even use different fonts, colors and sizes.
Speed up technical transcription

Define shortcuts for regularly used technical terminology, and let TypeMate save you hours of typing. Ideal for highly technical typing, such as in the medical profession.
Correct common spelling mistakes

With TypeMate you can define shortcuts for frequently misspelled words. No need to make the same mistake twice!
Turbocharge your programming

Use TypeMate to define shortcuts for your regularly used keywords and expressions and watch your coding speed soar.
Autocomplete words in any application

TypeMate also features an Autocomplete mode that can provide suggestions to complete the word that you are currently typing. TypeMate is supplied with both US and UK English dictionaries containing over 110,000 words. English not your first language? No problem - TypeMate allows you to create your own dictionaries too.

The feature list, on the face of it, doesn't look exceptional.

100

Found Deals and Discounts / PhraseExpress v8, Pro Edition, on BdJ, Tuesday 12 April, 2011

« on: April 07, 2011, 03:11 PM »

Another Bits du Jour offer on PhraseExpress, a program that's very well known on DC 

PhraseExpress v8 - Professional Edition - for PC - Type Less, Produce More
Deal Available: Tuesday 12 April, 2011
 PhraseExpress lets you organize your frequently used text snippets in categories for   easy access using text abbreviations.
Deal Price: $48.98
List Price: $139.95
You Save: 65%

Bits du Jour blurb - you have to log in now to get this 

PhraseExpress v8 - Professional Edition
Type Less, Produce More

You know "the paragraph" by heart. It's the same boilerplate paragraph that you've been typing over and over for who knows how long. For some folks, it's a disclaimer. For others, it's an email signature. Still, for some others, it's a description of a product or service. No matter what it is, it takes you a long time to type and you know it backwards and forwards. What if you could produce that whole paragraph with just a few keystrokes?

PhraseExpress lets you organize your frequently used text snippets in categories for easy access! Just assign your snippets to abbreviations, then perform your work as usual. When you need to insert that huge paragraph, just type in your abbreviation and PhraseExpress will automatically expand it to insert the paragraph! Imagine how much more productive you can be!

Not only will PhraseExpress help you to finish your work more quickly, you'll also be able to avoid common spelling mistakes! In addition to the integrated system-wide spellchecker, you can also configure PhraseExpress with your most often-committed mispellings, and have the app automatically change your typos to the correct word! Best of all, this works in any Windows application!

A couple of nifty extras make PhraseExpress an absolute must-buy. Using the same handy abbreviation system, you can have PhraseExpress launch programs using text shortcuts! Tired of only being able to copy one item to the Windows Clipboard at a time? PhraseExpress gives you access to clipboard history, letting you pick and choose from anything you've recently copied!

Check it out folks, PhraseExpress is currently ranked #2 in the "Automation Section" of Download.com!

Written by Derek Lee

Note, the offer is for the super-duper top edition and (as so often) appears to be cheaper than the regular update fee for existing users.

Here's the Feature list.  I can't see a comparison table of the different versions.