Messages

451

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful

« on: March 06, 2006, 04:21 AM »

This is a thread I've been meaning to read, finially got around to it tonight. I haven't tried many of these extensions with Firefox 1.5, but here's a bunch that I used to use with FF 1.0X...

Blanklast - This is one that I don't actually need any more, but would probably be useful for others. If you like to use Ctrl+W to close tabs (or documents in word, or chat windows in mIRC) you've probably noticed that closing the last tab will close the whole window, which can be annoying. This extension fixes that problem. If you're like me and use a button on your mouse to close tabs, Ctrl+F4 is a better shortcut than Ctrl+W  since it only closes tabs/documents, not windows.

BugMeNot - I'm sure most of y'all have heard of the bugmenot website. Ever go to a website that requires a login and password, probably only because they want your e-mail address so they can sell it? Well, bugmenot is the answer to those pages. The extension gets a random login and password from their database so that you can access those websites.

DictionarySearch - This one is very cool. You know how you can highlight a word and search for it by right clicking on it? This extension takes that to the next level and allows you to search for words/phrases on other websites, like dictionary websites. I use it to look up words on dictionary.com and acronyms on acronymfinder.com. I used to use it with a couple other websites, but I forget wich ones right now. It's very easily customized so you could use it with practically any search-engine.

Download Statusbar - Has already been mentioned, but here's my longer description: Pretty much it adds a little button to the status bar for every download, the button fills like a progress bar and gives stats of the download speed/timeleft/percentage/and total transfered. When the download is done you can double click the button to open the file.

FLST - This is one of my favorites! FLST stands for "Focus Last Selected Tab" it remembers what tab you were viewing before opening the current tab. When you close the current tab it returns the focus to the previously viewed tab (not just the tab to the imediate left or right).

Imagezoom - Imagezoom is awesome! Hold the right mouse button then use your scroll wheel to zoom images in or out. Also lets you make an image fill the screen.

MiniT (Drag + Indicator) = Now a standard function of FF 1.5.... lets you drag tabs around to organize them better + it shows a little arrow indicator to let you know where it'll go.

Nuke-Anything - This is another awesome extension (hopefully it works with 1.5 by now!). Lets you highlight text/pictures and "nuke" it. Useful for printing webpages without having to print all the stupid ads. (Aparrently useful for screenshots too.)

Show Image - kinda handy: When an image doesn't load for some reason, use this extension to load it, without having to refresh the whole page.

Slim Extension List - Makes each extension in the extension smaller on the screen, so you can see more at once. Not essencial, but useful.

"UNDO CLOSE TAB" - I can't beleive nobody has mentioned this one yet (unless it's included with Tab Mix Plus). This one is indespensable! If you've ever closed a tab accidently you can appreciate how hard it can be to find it again. With Undo Close Tab you just click it's button select the closed tab and it'll re-appear. It's super-cool, I hope it works with FF 1.5!

452

Living Room / Re: Planet Earth starts tonight

« on: March 06, 2006, 02:36 AM »

Unfortunately you are unable to access this content. This is offered only to audiences in the UK.

Darn UK Crowd TV shows, quit getting my hopes up!

I hope PBS picks this up!

453

Living Room / Re: coding horror does it again - the importance of simplicity

« on: March 06, 2006, 02:31 AM »

WOW! The Yahoo progression is outragious! LOL

454

Living Room / Re: Microsoft redesigns the iPod packaging (not really) ...

« on: March 06, 2006, 02:22 AM »

Pretty funny, the final box is very true.

Don't get me started on iPods though, they suck (except their storage space, which fails constantly).

455

Living Room / Re: The Simpsons come to life - humans act out the opening

« on: March 05, 2006, 10:29 AM »

The video isn't working for me, I'll have to try it again later.

I LOVE Futurama!

The commentary on the DVDs just makes me love it more! So clever, so funny!

456

Living Room / Re: Interested in teaming up for good web hosting / website accounts?

« on: March 04, 2006, 06:56 AM »

I haven't read this whole thread, but count me in.

I just bought my first domain on GoDaddy.com and will try to get a host tomorrow or something. If I can pay Donation coder to host my very few files and e-mail that would be awesome!

By the way, the domain is www.fantasgreat.com ... I think it's a pretty cool name, specially for email.

457

General Software Discussion / Re: utorrent and azureus high cpu activity

« on: February 16, 2006, 05:45 PM »

I've only used utorrent a little, but durring that time I didn't notice it using a significant percentage of my CPU. I used to use Azureus, but then I remembered that I hate Java and went to Bitcommet. I don't know how Bitcommet stacks up against the competition in regards to CPU use, but I've accidently left it on a couple times when playing Counter Strike, and not realized it until after I left the game. Of course, the download speeds I was getting were very low, so maybe that is why I didn't notice it using up my processing power.

458

Found Deals and Discounts / Perfect Disk for 70% off (w/ $20 MIR). Rebate expires April 30th 2006.

« on: February 14, 2006, 07:20 AM »

Through perfect disk's website I saw that Amazon is selling version 7.0 for $31.99 (20% off the normal price). The cool thing is, there is a $20 mail in rebate for it, which brings the final cost down to $11.99 (70% off the normal price!). The rebate ends April 30th.


[edit]LOL, for some unknown reason I kept putting the "%" before the numbers.... thanks brotherS[/edit]

459

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Perfect Disk 25% Off! **ENDS MIDNIGHT FED 14**

« on: February 14, 2006, 07:06 AM »

Thanks for the tip, I've been thinking about getting this software for a while now, and I think I finially will... But for even less!

Through perfect disk's website I saw that Amazon is selling the software for $31.99 (20% off the normal price). The cool thing is, there is a $20 mail in rebate for it, which brings the final cost down to $11.99 (70% off the normal price!). The rebate ends April 30th.

I'll start a new thread with this deal...

460

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox url entry problem ...

« on: February 09, 2006, 05:25 PM »

Enter should work... must be some kind of bug.

Does the "Go" button work?

If you want the address to open in a new tab hit Alt+Enter, but this shouldn't be necessary.

461

General Software Discussion / Re: U3 Smart Drives

« on: February 09, 2006, 04:25 PM »

BTW: I've edited the post above this one a couple times.

I took a couple screenshots of the U3 icon and menu, here they are...




Here you can see the only button I use ("Explore U3 Drive") that saves me the time of trying to figure out which drive letter the flash was assigned (very useful for shared computers). Also, my drive came with Thunderbird installed, though I've never used it.


PS so I've finially tried screenshot captor... It's awesome!

462

General Software Discussion / Re: U3 Smart Drives

« on: February 08, 2006, 03:08 PM »

I've got one of these drives, it's a pretty cool idea, but I haven't put any additional software on it yet. A couple pieces of software you can put onto the drive is a self-contained Firefox (version ~1.01.5.0.1) and FirebirdThunderbird.

When you insert the drive into the computer, it'll add 2 drive letters (1 for the U3 stuff, 1 for the files), it also adds an icon to the system tray. Clicking the system tray icon opens a start-like-menu that has the various programs that you have. It could be very useful, but so far I've only used the menu to open the drive in explorer. It's also has security/encryption that could offer protection if you loose your drive or something.

[edit]I'm actually editing this post using the newest Firefox available (running from my U3 drive). Pretty cool![/edit]

463

General Software Discussion / Re: Automatically sort the windows "All programs" menu

« on: February 08, 2006, 02:59 PM »

CCleaner will clear that registry key for you. Then you can have it run at every startup (or access it through the Recycle Bin context menu).

I must say, I love the Recycle Bin menu option, SO convienient!

464

Screenshot Captor / Re: Screenshot Captor in latest CPU magazine!

« on: February 03, 2006, 10:06 AM »

i just posted an info about this review a week or two ago with the excerpt of the review taken from the pdf version

-mouser (February 02, 2006, 09:25 PM)

I wondered if this was already known, but after a quick search for "cpu magazine" didn't yield any results I figured I'd post the pics...

465

Screenshot Captor / Re: Screenshot Captor in latest CPU magazine!

« on: February 02, 2006, 08:24 PM »

I don't know, is part of the description 'lifted' from this webpage or something?

466

Screenshot Captor / Screenshot Captor in latest CPU magazine!

« on: February 02, 2006, 06:21 PM »

Just thought y'all'd wanna know that the latest CPU magazine has a little blurb about Screenshot Captor in  their "The Bleeding Edge Of Software" section.

I'm really liking this magazine by the way... a couple months ago they had a lil' blurb about The GodFather in there too!


I'm between computers right now, so I'm going to have to install some graphic software on this comp before I can post the pics I took.


OK, I got 'em online...

Here's a shot of the cover in case you wanna go pick yourself up a copy...

And here's a shot of the actual "blurb" (almost a half page, nice!)

Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

467

Living Room / Re: DIY Projector Project - Pre-Pre-Planning stage

« on: January 24, 2006, 01:28 AM »

Yeah, the light source is pretty serious. The forum reccomends an Ushio S400DD lamp. It's a 400 watt, 33,000 lumen, hot-ass light! You have to take precautions not to melt your lenses and I think even your LCD! I'm going to add a little extra cooling/heat sheilding, as the LCD I plan to use is pretty darn expensive!

This website I'm on (LumenLab) seems to be a very good resource. There aren't very many descenting opinions on there, which could be either good or bad. I've probably spent about 20 hours of research on there.

Before I actually start ordering parts (next week) I'll probably branch out a little and see if I can find anything better or the same stuff anywhere else. I've done that a little, and there doesn't seem to be much else out there so far.

I know it wont all be peaches and creame, but I think it'll be something I can live with. I'll never really know until I try.

One thing that will be nice about this is that since I'm building it myself I'll know it inside-and-out. If something comes along that would make my projector better I can always put it in later. If the picture is too dim I can put in a better reflector, or a higher power bulb. Maybe since LED technology is progressing so rapidly I'll be able to make the light source an LED in a couple years.

468

Living Room / Re: DIY Projector Project - Pre-Pre-Planning stage

« on: January 22, 2006, 11:09 PM »

Welp, I've been pouring over the $20 forum for the last week or so (time really flies when I become obsessed with something!). I've decided that I'm going to do it. I've also decided to go big with the projector (not go home)! If everything goes as planned (which it wont) I'll have a HD (1080p) projector within a month or two. I expect to "save" about $12,000 by not buying a comercial projector too! I might scrap the whole thing still, but I don't plan to. (Sorry, that last sentence was only written so that I could have 3 sentences in a row that end in a homonym of the word "to.")

I plan on taking tons of pictures while I build it, I haven't decided if it would be fair (to the greedy forum) to post the pictures on the 'net (for the general public) or if I should post them to the forum...

469

Living Room / Re: Best Video Player there is

« on: January 19, 2006, 03:55 AM »

Possibly difficult to build on windows

-housetier (January 18, 2006, 11:20 AM)

You bastard! Not really... I'm another BSplayer fan, but what you posted about Mplayer sounds awesome, well... up until that windows bit.

470

Best E-mail Client / Re: How I set up my mail folders

« on: January 18, 2006, 05:17 AM »

is that last thing about Ritlabs selling info true

No. I knew it looked bad when I wrote that... Everything up to that comment is true for me. I only just started using The Bat, I'm on ~day 4 of my trial.

a friend of mine's friend, that deleted a very important mail, and asked google if there was a way to get it back. next day,there it was.. *spooky!*).

That's crazy... It does show a commitment to customer service though.
Also, nobody's paying me. Just don't let the good people at Sony/BMG know I said that (just kidding).
I see what you (jgpaiva) mean now about not having to download the messages. Yeah, they can get huge if they have attachments (I don't get very many attachments, so it's easy for me to forget them). But when my neighbor decides to send me 6mb of BMPs it is quite annoying. Yeah, I think downloads are slower using e-mail servers too (instead of html servers).
Also about sent mail, I don't think I understood you the first time. In my experience, sent mail is only stored in the webmail interface or by the e-mail client. I hate sending mail with webmail for this very reason, it's stuck there forever.

I'm pretty surprised/chagrined that you can import/export mail/contacts to/from g-mail... well actually, with the "ad scanning" stuff it makes sense... It does sound like g-mail is the way to go if you're going to use any webmail!

Honestly, the ads don't bother me that much. They're everywhere except in dreams (check Futurama season 1 episode 6 for more details). It just seems stupid to let google scan your e-mail when most people would activly try to stop an application from doing the same.

[OnTopic]
Here's what I do, it's not that fancy, but it works...

I have a "From Contacts" folder, where all the mail that is from someone in my address book is stored. (These messages don't have any other filters run on them).
Then for everything else (that doesn't get automatically deleted) I have the "Inbox" folder.
Since starting with The Bat! I've started using a dedicated folder for a mailing list I'm on. The mailing list has 4 types of messages; each type has it's own subfolder.

My e-mail organization is more based on filtering out spam. I have a couple main filters that take care of ~90% of the 50 - 100 spam messages I get daily.
I don't keep my spam, if a message meets any of my filter's criteria, it gets deleted from the server, I never see it.

Filter 1: delete anything that isn't sent to my addresses.
Filter 2: delete anything that doesn't have a vowel in the subject. This takes care of the international spam for the most part.
Filter 3: delete anything that has an attachment (remember, people in my address book bypass these filters, so friends can send me infected files, but strangers can't).
Filter 4: delete mail with the following words/phrases (the list will grow with time): pharmacy, stock, love life, voyeur, as low as, echannelline

I'm thinking of filtering out anything from a foreign domain.
[/OnTopic]

471

Best E-mail Client / Re: How I set up my mail folders

« on: January 15, 2006, 11:38 PM »

My biggest advice for e-mail: automatically delete mail that isn't sent to your address(es). I don't know how I get mail that doesn't have my e-mail address in the "recipients" field, but I do, and it's pretty much all spam.
There is one problem: you may loose mail sent to you because you're signed up to a mailing list. (The donationcoder mail comes through just fine though.)

I'm finially testing out The Bat, so far I like it. The filter possiblilties look good...


My 2¢ on the whole use Webmail or a Mail Client topic, here's my biggest gripe wit' webmail:
I don't like the idea of having my mail on a website, sorry. Google freely admits it scans YOUR mail in some kind of twisted, world dominating, marketing strategy.

I don't send a whole lot of personal e-mail (maybe because it's so impersonal...?), so that may make me an abnormal e-mail user, but here's a couple reasons why I think mail clients are better (or at least not worse) than webmail.

Sure, mail clients do use space on your hard drive, but it's very little. My entire mail backup uses <100mb (the oldest e-mail is from May 2002). 100mb is nothing; my proof? It's hard to even buy a flash drive that's less than 256mb! I don't know how much space spam blockers need, but I'd be willing to bet it's less than 0.1% of an 80gb hard drive (again, just about as small as you can buy these days). Also, hopefully you already have an antivirus. Again, it's true you have to wait for the mail to be downloaded. But you have to wait for the web page to be downloaded as well, seems like an even swap to me. And again, e-mails are small, they don't need much time to download, even if you're using dialup.
Every e-mail client that I can remember using does have a dedicated folder for "Sent mail." I know Pocomail has a "find" feature, I'd hope the rest do too.
I'm pretty sure most e-mail clients will group message threads together as well.

Sure, using an e-mail client does cut you off from your old e-mail and your contact list, but pretty much every email service has webmail too, so at least your new mail (arguably your most important mail) would be available. Then again, the only time I check my e-mail when I'm not home is when I'm dying to find out if something I just bought has been shipped or not.

One thing that's majorly restrictive with webmail is that you can only check one account at a time. If you have multiple accounts (from multiple services) webmail becomes infinitely less convienient.

And perhaps the biggest reason mail clients are better: competition! Don't like Outlook because everything Microsoft touches turns to shit*? Get pocomail! Don't like pocomail because they want to charge practically as much to upgrade as they charge NEW customers? Try The Bat! Find out The Bat is pulling a google and selling information from your personal email**? Get something else.
Almost all e-mail clients will let you import and export your mail and contact list, so you don't have to loose your old e-mail while changing clients. Show me webmail that will let you import mail, much less export it into something another website can use.

Rant over...

I have to say: the "tag" feature of g-mail does sound cool. I hope e-mail clients start copying it.

* - until about generation 7, when it becomes pretty good, but still not great
** - of course, this wouldn't fly in the software world

472

Living Room / Re: submerge your pc in veggie oil - cool and quiet

« on: January 10, 2006, 06:06 AM »

How can you have non-organic petroleum based oil ??? Petroleum is a biological biproduct ...

-Carol Haynes (January 09, 2006, 07:08 PM)

Oh yeah... forgot about that...



Another crazy liquid that supposidly could be used: distilled water, except it's corosive.

473

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your favorite launch bar? Your favorite features? Missing Features?

« on: January 09, 2006, 07:32 PM »

Here's an idea that may be unique:

Make it so the shortcuts use relitive paths so that it could be put onto a flash drive and have quick shortcuts to the applications on the drive.

I use a flash drive at work, and it would be awesome if I could have a quick menu to all the apps/documents on the drive.

474

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: The GodFather - Audio File Manager with Scripting

« on: January 09, 2006, 07:08 PM »

One aspect I found hard to enjoy about TGF is that as you switch to the different modes of tagging/renaming files, the whole view of the program switches.

-superboyac (January 06, 2006, 09:24 AM)

Yeah, I don't like that either. It's also kind of ambigious which panel does what you want. For instance you can do pretty much everything in the "Tag" panel as you can do in the "Manual Edit" panel. I think jtclipper should condence the program into 1 or 2 panels if possilbe.

Also another problem the different panels create is that the scripts only work with one panel, and each one has it's own procedures (if that's the right word). Some features overlap, but some scripting procedures are only available in certain panels.
I don't know the specifics, but it's like this: if you want to make a script that creates folders you need to write it for the "Organize" panel, renaming has to be done in the "Rename" panel, etc. This makes it difficult/impossible to create an "all in one" script that does everything.

I'll let ol' jtclipper (the author of The GodFather) know about this forum. He might enjoy talking with fellow programmers...

475

Living Room / Re: submerse your pc in veggie oil - cool and quiet

« on: January 09, 2006, 06:59 PM »

I kinda want to do this with my HTPC, because it's so durn loud. The biggest thing that's stopping me is that I'm afraid the oil will go rancid. Supposidly the computer creates a warm environment that makes stuff start growing in the oil. Aparrently the way to go is to use a petrolium based (non-organic) oil. I seem to remember someone saying that the best oil would be completely clear (which would look a LOT better too).