Messages

126

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Syncovery Pro 50% off at BitsDuJour - Today 19thDec19

« on: May 21, 2020, 06:06 PM »

the version I have has 'file system monitoring' -- in order to get that now, one has to buy the Premium version which is 99$/€
That's too much

-tomos (May 21, 2020, 07:17 AM)

Does that mean real-time monitoring of files and folders?  If so, SyncBackPro is about £55.95...  which is much the same.  Alternatively there's AJC Active Backup at £29.60, but that's all it does, not 'normal' backups, which AJC serve by a separate program, AJC Sync.  I never used AJC Active Backup very much, and haven't ported it to the latest laptop.

127

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Affinity offers 90-day free trial/50% discount on all software

« on: May 21, 2020, 05:49 PM »

Definitely make use of the 90-day trial before you buy, as you may be unhappy with the results.

-Deozaan (May 20, 2020, 05:41 PM)

All too true.  I've been bitten several times myself, and I'm struggling with Affinity Publisher.  I think there are several reasons:

• I haven't ever done desktop publishing before, and barely understand what the program is trying to do.
• It's a big complicated program, so there's a steep learning curve anyway.
• Too much if it is hair-trigger; too easy to change things inadvertently.
• I suspect its Mac heritage might be causing difficulties for anyone used to Windows. UK magazine 'ComputerActive!' thought Affinity Photo ran better on a Mac than a PC.
• I'm using a laptop.  It's probably better on a big monitor.  Some of the dropdown icons are tiny.
• I suspect I might have run into a bug...

noticed some bugs and issues, including a serious performance issue. Then I posted on their forums to report the bugs or otherwise get support, and. . . nothing.

-Deozaan (May 20, 2020, 05:41 PM)

I've only posted once, and received a couple of helpful replies from experienced users rather than Serif.  I haven't posted about what I think might be a bug yet, until I get a handle on it.

I bought the Affinity Designer Workbook. When it arrived, I opened it up and started reading through it so I could learn how to use the software. A within the first ~15 pages or so, still within the introductory chapter which explains the UI and basic tools, I noticed a few discrepancies between what the book showed me and what the software showed me.

-Deozaan (May 20, 2020, 05:41 PM)

This is annoying, but the book is always going to be behind the software ("Documentation - the worst part of programming").  The books seem to me very expensive.  If they want people to use, and evangelise for, the software, maybe Serif should make the books freely available as a PDF or something.  They would be easier to keep up to date in a purely electronic format.

So far, getting Publisher to do what I wanted has been a nightmare, but bear in mind the issues I mention above.  At the moment, I feel like I never want to go through this again, but I assume it's much better than I give it credit for ("can't be much worse") and the pain is  mostly because of my own ignorance.  Even so, the learning curve is far too steep.

128

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Affinity offers 90-day free trial/50% discount on all software

« on: May 20, 2020, 03:38 PM »

90-day free trial and half-price offer extended again, until 20th June.  This will probably be the last extension.

90-day trial
SIGN UP NOW (https://affinity.ser...19&mc=COVID19E03)

50% off all apps
BUY NOW (https://affinity.ser...19&mc=COVID19E03)

129

Found Deals and Discounts / WinX Anniversary Special Pack All-in-one Video Multimedia Toolkit Save More 75%

« on: May 05, 2020, 05:39 PM »

WinX Anniversary Special Pack: All-in-one Video Multimedia Toolkit Save More 75% OFF
    - Full Version.
    - Lifetime Free Upgrade.
    - 30-Day Money Back Guarantee

https://www.winxdvd....aloffer/?ttref=index

DVD Ripper Platinum
5 min - rip DVD to MP4 and any digital. Strongest for 99-title disc and the latest DVDs.
Input: DVD disc, DVD folder, ISO image
Output: MP4/H.264, HEVC, MPEG, WMV, MOV, FLV, AVI, iPhone, iPad, Samsung, Huawei, etc.

HD Video Converter Deluxe
All-in-one video converter, editor & downloader. Compress, trim, merge, crop, subtitle, and more.
Input: UHD/HD/SD MKV/AVI/FLV videos, photos
Output: MP4, MP3, H.264, AVI, MKV, WMV, FLV, HEVC/H.265, iPhone, iPad, Android, etc.

DVD Copy Pro
DVD to DVD/ISO image. 9 DVD copy modes. 1:1 revive even old discs.
Input: DVD disc, DVD folder, ISO image
Output: Blank DVD disc, ISO image, folder, MPEG-2 file, ISO virtual drive, video/audio tracks.

MediaTrans
More than iTunes alternative. Transfer & manage iOS files freely. No data erasing.
Features: Transfer, convert, manage, kill iTunes DRM
Supported files: photo, video, music, ringtone, ebook, voice memo, podcast, iTunes U, etc.

130

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« on: April 24, 2020, 03:08 PM »

131

General Software Discussion / Re: The best uninstaller

« on: April 23, 2020, 03:56 PM »

I see that CrystalIDEA's Uninstall Tool is based on the code of Geek Uninstaller.

Do you rate it better than Total Uninstall (TUN)?

-rjbull (February 26, 2020, 11:48 AM)

Are you sure is based on the code of Geek Uninstaller?
According to their websites, CrystalIDEA exists since 2005, GeekUninstaller since 2012.
In fact, according to its history of changes, the Install Tracker was added on November 12, 2011, a year before GeekUninstaller was published.

-c-sanchez (April 22, 2020, 06:10 PM)

Go to the Geek Uninstaller link referenced above by BGM, page down to the bottom of the page:



Then look at Geek Uninstaller's About page, which says in part:

Geek Uninstaller Pro

Pro version of GeekUninstaller is called Uninstall Tool and it's developed by CrystalIDEA Software company based on my code.

132

General Software Discussion / Re: The best uninstaller

« on: April 21, 2020, 03:47 PM »

I just heard about this one:  Mirekusoft Install Monitor.  I haven't tried it.  Appears to work like Total Uninstall, but runs as a service, so installs are constantly monitored rather than needing before- and after- scans.  Comes with a startup monitor.

133

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Affinity offers 90-day free trial/50% discount until 20th May 2020

« on: April 21, 2020, 03:39 PM »

Offer extended to 20th May 2020:

We’re extending our offers for another month
https://affinity.ser...19&mc=COVID19E02


Four weeks ago, as a way to support the creative community amid COVID-19, we made a 90-day free trial (https://affinity.ser...19&mc=COVID19E02) available for the Mac and Windows versions of the whole Affinity suite while also cutting the price (https://affinity.ser...19&mc=COVID19E02) of all of our apps, including iPad versions, by 50%.

We originally planned to make the free trial and 50% discount available until 20 April, but because of the positive response we’ve received and since we’re still seeing so many people sign up to the trial, we’ve decided to extend the offer period for another month.

So, if you haven’t signed up for your 90-day free trial or purchased the apps for half price yet, you’ll have until 20 May to do so.

90-day trial
SIGN UP NOW (https://affinity.ser...19&mc=COVID19E02)

50% off all apps
BUY NOW (https://affinity.ser...19&mc=COVID19E02)

Also, due to its own overwhelmingly positive response, we’ve decided to extend the submission deadline for our 100 Days. 100 Commissions. (https://affinity.ser...19&mc=COVID19E02) initiative by a week — so freelancers can continue to submit their work to us for consideration until 27 April.
MORE INFO (https://affinity.ser...19&mc=COVID19E02)
/color]

134

General Software Discussion / Re: What was a great program that's now been forgotten?

« on: March 27, 2020, 03:57 PM »

Now that brings back memories. Quarterdeck QEMM/386 and DESQview. All that extra memory and multi-tasking DOS apps too. (Should have mentioned it above when I was reminiscing about the BBS -- DESKview let me run a BBS and use the PC for other things at the same time. Sounds trivial now, but pre-Windows that was kind of revolutionary. Not cheap but once you had it you never, ever wanted to do without it again...

-oblivion (March 27, 2020, 12:46 PM)

+1   

DOS with QEMM, DESQview, and 4DOS (or NDOS) as command processor was a greyhound and the fastest, most responsive and productive system I ever had - provided you didn't want graphics or the Internet.  <deep melancholy sigh>

IIRC, QEMM contained speeder-upper memory management technology that Quarterdeck called Virtual Real-time Object-Oriented Memory Management, or VROOMM for short.  I hope somebody got a small prize for dreaming up an acronym as twisted as that.

135

Found Deals and Discounts / 25% off purchase of SyncBackPro/SE (backup software) new or upgrade licenses.

« on: March 23, 2020, 04:56 PM »

25% off purchase of SyncBackPro/SE new or upgrade licenses.

World Backup Day 2020 Special Offer

As part of efforts to promote World Backup Day, we are offering everyone 25% off their purchase of SyncBackPro/SE new or upgrade licenses.

This offer ends Friday April 3rd, 2020.

136

Found Deals and Discounts / Affinity offers 90-day free trial/50% discount on all software

« on: March 20, 2020, 07:26 PM »

Affinity: Supporting the creative community

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have severely impacted people all over the world. To provide some support during this incredibly difficult time, we’re now offering a 90-day free trial of all the Mac and Windows versions of the whole Affinity suite. We’re also offering a 50% discount for users who would prefer to buy and keep the apps, including iPad versions.

Affinity Publisher
  Experience next-level professional publishing with this groundbreaking creative software.
     macOS    50% off - Only £23.99
     Windows  50% off - Only £23.99

Affinity Photo
  Create the perfect images with the fastest, smoothest and most precise photo editor around.
     macOS    50% off - Only £23.99
     Windows  50% off - Only £23.99
     iPad     50% off - Only £9.99

Affinity Designer
  Bring your visions to life with the ultimate graphic design and illustration app.
    macOS     50% off - Only £23.99
    Windows   50% off - Only £23.99
    iPad      50% off - Only £9.99

Affinity Workbooks
  The official guides to Affinity on macOS and Windows.
     Affinity Photo Workbook     Only £37.99
     Affinity Designer Workbook  Only £37.99

137

General Software Discussion / Re: sluggish Win 7 and 10 upgraded to hot Win 10 - transfer automatic or by hand?

« on: March 09, 2020, 05:20 PM »

I'm doing your (2) method too, because I'm going from 32-bit Vista to 64-bit Windows 10.  But the following claim to transfer software for you:

• Total Uninstall can help transferring or deploying programs
• Paragon Drive Copy Business
• Laplink PC Mover

Sanity check - I haven't tried any of them for this purpose, although I'm using Total Uninstall to monitor certain installations at present.

138

Find And Run Robot / Re: A similar function to Listary's Quick Switch function?

« on: March 05, 2020, 04:50 PM »

I more or less 'live' within my favourite file manager, Total Commander. Listary's ability to steer the dialog box to whatever is the active directory in TC is invaluable.  Listary supports several other file managers etc. too.

-rjbull (March 04, 2020, 03:25 PM)

Do you with "steer" mean one of these or something else? [...]

-Nod5 (March 04, 2020, 05:46 PM)

Something else. Suppose you have one of Listary's supported file managers in one window, and you are currently at the File Open/Close dialog of any arbitrary program in another window.  Alt+Tab to the file manager, Alt+Tab back to the dialog, and Listary will point the dialog to the active directory in the file manager.  I had even more fun testing this with two supported file managers    The Web site currently lists:

Listary supports most of the popular 3rd-party file managers:

    Directory Opus
    Total Commander
    XYplorer
    xplorer2
    FreeCommander XE
    SpeedCommander
    One Commander

The Options screen lists several others.

139

Find And Run Robot / Re: A similar function to Listary's Quick Switch function?

« on: March 04, 2020, 03:25 PM »

I'm a long-term big fan of Listary...  When at my PC, I more or less 'live' within my favourite file manager, Total Commander. Listary's ability to steer the dialog box to whatever is the active directory in TC is invaluable.  Listary supports several other file managers etc. too.

Suggestion - from a non-programmer...  I don't know how Listary acquires the active directory from the file managers.  If FARR can offer the same information (ask Mouser), maybe you could persuade Channing to add it to Listary?

DC has older discussions on dialog box extenders, but I believe they mostly offer favourite and recent directories, not the switching feature that's so useful that for me, it's more less worth the modest asking cost of Listary on its own.

140

General Software Discussion / Re: The best uninstaller

« on: February 26, 2020, 11:48 AM »

I need something wich have an "install tracker" the best I've seen is Uninstall Tool by CrystalIdea.

-c-sanchez (February 23, 2020, 10:57 PM)

I see that CrystalIDEA's Uninstall Tool is based on the code of Geek Uninstaller.

Do you rate it better than Total Uninstall (TUN)?

141

Post New Requests Here / Re: Windows Launcher by Only One Key

« on: February 26, 2020, 11:30 AM »

It's funny- malwarebytes blocks that Qsel site, but virustotal shows it as clean from malwarebytes

-wraith808 (February 25, 2020, 05:02 PM)

I reported both the false positive, and your post, to Malwarebytes.  They replied the block would be removed in the next database update, but didn't comment on the odd VirusTotal result.

142

Post New Requests Here / Re: Windows Launcher by Only One Key

« on: February 25, 2020, 09:48 AM »

Website has returned, wasn't alive earlier: The Bond Interface

-4wd (February 16, 2020, 09:52 PM)

Still on 25% off offer at Bits du Jour

Possible freeware alternative:  Qsel by Horst Schaeffer.

143

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« on: February 10, 2020, 04:28 PM »

144

Living Room / Re: Legally Buy & Download Music Easily - Is it even possible any more?

« on: January 22, 2020, 11:41 AM »

I installed X-plore, an android file manager recommended by Tuxman.

-tomos (January 21, 2020, 11:10 AM)

A sound recommendation - that's my default one on Android.

It's sort of a two pane manager, with one pane pinned on the side. If you copy/move from one pane, the destination will automatically be the other pane.
[...]
Pressing the arrow on the top-left corner with show the other pane:

-tomos (January 21, 2020, 11:10 AM)

Have you enabled automatic screen rotation (or whatever its called) on your device - i.e., when you turn your phone/tablet from vertical (portrait) format to horizontal (landscape) format, it turns the text to match?  If you do, you'd see X-plore present itself in the usual Norton Commander-style two-pane clarity.  This 'one pane in vertical format, two panes in horizontal format' behaviour seems not uncommon in Android two-pane file managers, at least, Ghost Commander and Solid Explorer both do it.  Total Commander is slightly different.  It defaults to the same scheme, but there's a configuration option to force two panes even in vertical format.  In that case, they're very narrow, of course.

145

General Software Discussion / Re: Artists: What digital hardware+software do you use for digital sketchin/painting

« on: January 13, 2020, 03:43 PM »

my tools of choice are Serif's DrawPlus for vector graphics

-oblivion (January 13, 2020, 08:42 AM)

That's their pre-Affinity one, yes?  Are you still happy with it on Win10?

I have several graphics tablets: [...]10 inch Ugee

-oblivion (January 13, 2020, 08:42 AM)

I've heard of Wacom, but never of Ugee.

146

General Software Discussion / Re: What Android Apps Do You Use?

« on: January 13, 2020, 03:34 PM »

I apologize for not including the links to each app.

-city_zen (January 06, 2020, 12:55 AM)

As they say, "there's an app for that", viz. List My Apps.  I've used it in a simple way here, but there're more features than you'd expect; see under Annotations, and the variables in the Templates.  There was already a template for BB code - I've modified it for DC, though I can't now remember why.



This generates a list like this;

Alarm Plus Millenium
Package name: com.milleniumapps.milleniumalarmplus


App Search+
Package name: rjt.appsearch


ArsClip Mini
Package name: com.joejoesoft.acmini


BookmarkFolder
Package name: com.coconuts.webnavigator


CalcTape
Package name: de.sfr.calctape


Glance Note
Package name: com.fangleness.glancenote


HalnaOutliner
Package name: jp.blogspot.halnablue.HalnaOutliner


List My Apps
Package name: de.onyxbits.listmyapps


Stopwatch & Timer+
Package name: com.jupiterapps.stopwatch


Total Commander
Package name: com.ghisler.android.TotalCommander


X-plore
Package name: com.lonelycatgames.Xplore

List made using List My Apps

[/list]

147

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: Possible suggestion -- variables in clips

« on: January 13, 2020, 03:02 PM »

Are your podcasts common file types like MP3, and if so, do they contain metadata tags?  If the answers to both are Yes, you might try a different approach.  Some of the better bulk file renamers can read metadata, and use it to rename files, which would do the job for you.  Examples include Rename Master (RM) and Bulk Rename Utility (BRU).  You can operate RM from the command line, which would mean you could add the same author's NewFileGo automation utility to watch for new files and invoke RM on them, perhaps as a scheduled event.

148

Coding Snacks / Re: The Best Way to handle finding and removiong Duplicate Files

« on: December 22, 2019, 04:22 PM »

Back when I was more excercised about nuking dupes, I used

DoubleKiller.  Last update was 2015, as the author is probably working on his PhD.

Two more different approaches:

Cathy is a media cataloguing tool; in my experience, it's very fast at making catalogues.  It has a "search duplicates or singles" feature.

Nir Sofer's SearchMyFiles has a "Find duplicates" feature that can be combined with normal file-finding criteria.

149

General Software Discussion / Re: Top 3 programs you use

« on: December 22, 2019, 04:09 PM »

2. TreeDBNotes

-BGM (December 21, 2019, 07:51 PM)

Looks as if the main website is now down completely and purchase links no longer function.
The free version was always good enough for most uses.

-Dormouse (December 22, 2019, 10:12 AM)

Maybe there were too many two-pane organisers for the market to bear, as there appears to be a winnowing going on.  You're reporting TreeDBNotes development moribund.  The entire Treepad family (including the popular freeware Treepad Lite) and associated Freebyte site have gone from the web.  Smereka TreeProjects appears to be freeware.  Jot+ Notes has just been declared freeware.  Still plenty of others, of course.

150

General Software Discussion / Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?

« on: December 06, 2019, 04:55 PM »

In its latest issue (dated 4-17 December 2019) UK magazine Computeractive published its list of "Best Free Software for 2020."  They recommend:

• VSDC Free Video Editor as having plenty of features but easy to master, with excellent tutorials.
• DaVinci Resolve 16 (as noted by sphere earlier).  More advanced than VSDC, but also harder to master.

Both of those are cut-down versions of payware programs.  The full version of DaVinci Resolve is very expensive.  VSDC Pro is more approachable, and appears to currently be on offer at $19.99

They DON'T recommend HitFilm Express because while it's a decent if complex program, they don't like the way it requires you to sign up for an account before you can even download it.  It also needs a powerful computer, including a graphics card with a minimum of 1 GB of memory.