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1001

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your preferred File Manager

« Last post by J-Mac on July 17, 2010, 11:11 AM »

The official version of XYplorer 9.30 is released (here)

-cranioscopical (July 16, 2010, 10:13 AM)

Thanks for the heads-up Chris. Got 9.3 now.

Still using DOpus though for every day use; I can't seem to get my mind set on learning how to do all the things I do in DOpus with XYplorer. Every time I decide to give XYplorer an extended go I find myself staring at it, trying to perform some action that is automatic for me in DOpus, and I always end up closing it and using DOpus instead. I haven't found the time to really read up on the XYplorer features or at least the nitty gritty details of how to access them easily. One of these days....

Thanks!

Jim

1002

General Software Discussion / Re: IMAP Email hosting

« Last post by J-Mac on July 15, 2010, 10:23 PM »

Josh, Take a look at http://www.spamex.com . $9.95 USD gives you 500 throwaway addresses which go through their servers - both ways - so you can reply to emails to these addresses without revealing your true email address. II'e used it for a few years now and it has worked well for me.

Thanks!

Jim

PS - I use this service with an enhanced Fastmail account.

1003

Living Room / Re: Looking for a Decent Contacts Manager

« Last post by J-Mac on July 15, 2010, 12:19 PM »

Perry,

Pressure? Please, don’t feel under pressure from me! I didn't mean it that way.

I'll have to look up "xfn format", but if you use it then it is probably just fine for me too.   

Regarding linked files, I meant just that: files that are associated with a particular contact and just a logical link to them; not attach files or literally insert files into the contacts app.

By "slice and dice" I just mean the ability to filter and sort the contacts in any way desired. Some of the address book apps I looked at were severely limited in this respect. Many utilize "Categories" or "Groups" to accomplish this but I guess I am accustomed to using groups for mailing lists. BTW most were also using the same vehicle for their mailing lists. I figure that if the contacts are contained in a database then selecting and sorting should be very expansive. (Though limited knowledge might very well make me dead wrong in that assumption!?!)  However most of the apps on the market don’t allow any access to the database itself. A lot of them rework the database structure to be - or at least appear to be - proprietary. Like using an Access-based DB but renaming the file format as *.abcdb (For an imaginary contacts software by the imaginary "ABC Addressbook" developer!    ) instead of the native *.mdb. (I didn't see any using the more recent *.accdb Access format; all that used Access seemed to be using Access 2003 or earlier).

And as for having this conversation in your NANY 2011 thread, you're right, though I started this thread before I had seen that one. Sorry...   

Thanks!

Jim

1004

Living Room / Re: Looking for a Decent Contacts Manager

« Last post by J-Mac on July 14, 2010, 11:55 PM »

Perry.

Come to think of it I downloaded Open Contacts right after reading that you were using it and possibly basing your upcoming app on its feature set. I did end up purchasing Handy Address Book but mainly as a stop-gap because I needed something now. However I am still watching for your new app as soon as you have anything available for testing.   

Thanks!

Jim

1005

Living Room / Re: Looking for a Decent Contacts Manager

« Last post by J-Mac on July 14, 2010, 10:21 PM »

Take a look at Open Contacts Free, open source, simple and flexible.  Reasonable printing by selection.  Just basic and works great for me.

-Sarkand (July 14, 2010, 08:25 PM)

Sarkand, I did download that about a week and a half ago; haven't installed it yet though. Good to hear it works well on your end. I'll give it a try sometime in the next few weeks.

Thanks!

Jim

1006

Living Room / Re: Kindle and iPad Books Take Longer to Read than Print [STUDY]

« Last post by J-Mac on July 14, 2010, 03:57 PM »

I very often print out ebooks so I can read them on paper. I have them available on the computer, but I READ them in print. It's much easier.

-Renegade (July 04, 2010, 09:23 AM)

I'm a wee bit late to this thread, but I'm glad to see someone besides me does that.

Coincidentally, I calculated laser printer ink and acid-free paper costs just the other day to show my wife that cost per page made it actually a cost effective way to get a hard copy book in many cases, especially if the digital copy is in a form that allows you to reflow the text (taking advantage of the larger 8.5 x 11 pages vs 'normal' book page size).

Of course, you need to be sure of copyright issues, but when it's allowed, it's pretty handy.

-slowmaker (July 14, 2010, 11:41 AM)

I imagine that this is very dependent on printer make and model, and whether or not you use ink from the manufacturer, aftermarket cartridges, or refill your own (if possible).

I don’t think I have printed an entire ebook - or maybe I have with some really short ones - but I do print out pages or chapters of user manuals quite often. 

Thanks!

Jim

1007

General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by J-Mac on July 06, 2010, 08:58 PM »

If you remember I shared my Process Monitor results with you and they showed differently by quite a bit. Of course that was about a year ago - has anything changed in Surfulater in that regard? All I remember is that Surfulater is the only app I own that has this issue with Dropbox. And anyone else that asks gets told to use CrashPlan instead....

Jim

1008

General Software Discussion / Re: jv16 - Pay to keep license on file?

« Last post by J-Mac on July 06, 2010, 03:46 PM »

I'm pretty sure that they mentioned either in their forum or somewhere on their web site that it is a free upgrade for ANY jv16 license holders and that the 2009 license works for it. I'll post a quote and a link if I can find it again. 

On the other hand, I haven't used it since installing Windows 7 as several modules weren't compatible with it. Also be take care in using this version: there are apparently still a lot of issues that are yet to be ironed out. Check their forum for more details. If your current version is working well for you then you might want to stick with that until a few more point updates are released. That holds true for most new software versions but especially for jv16 as the issues are plain to see on their forum!

Thanks!

Jim

1009

Living Room / Re: Dell knowingly shipped millions of defective computers?

« Last post by J-Mac on July 06, 2010, 02:41 PM »

First, the problems with the XPS M1310 wasn’t industry-wide; it affected many HP and Dell notebooks. Secondly Dell did not deal with it well at all. Sounds like someone is speaking of business machines and naturally Dell addresses business PCs rapidly. Personal machines are a whole different story.

Jim

1010

General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by J-Mac on July 05, 2010, 10:29 PM »

That was probably me, Paul. Also I don’t quite agree that Dropbox is necessarily the problem or the cause. I haven't had similar issues with any other software and Dropbox. Surfulater is extremely slow to close. By that I mean that even after it appears that Surfulater has closed the database is still being used; I think it is creating an autosaved copy and/or backup or something. Whatever it is it prevents Dropbox from gaining exclusive access to sync the file to the server. Many apps do not allow access while they are running, which is understandable. E.g., neither Evernote nor Ultra Recall can sync with the Dropbox server until those apps close and their respective databases are freed up. Those two sync nicely when the app closes. With Surfulater once you close the app Dropbox "grabs" the database to sync it. However Surfulater still tries to autosave or whatever. When it  finds it cannot (because Dropbox is using it) it cause Surfulater to think the database is corrupted. The next time you start Surfulater it says the database is corrupt and directs (suggests?) that the last autosaved file be opened instead. On one occasion Surfulater renamed its database and then couldn't find it the next time it ran. I had to locate it manually and rename it back.

I know Neville disagrees with my explanation, which is really my best guess as to why the problem occurs. But I will say that I also must shut down Surfulater well in advance of rebooting my computer or I get the same database issues. Surfulater's database stays active for from 30 seconds to as long as 90 seconds after closing the application. as long as you remember this and close it in advance you're OK. Except you still have to keep it out of your Dropbox because Dropbox insists on trying to sync the file immediately after it sees the app close, which starts all the troubles mentioned above.

Hope I wasn’t too dense in this post!

Thanks!

Jim

1011

General Software Discussion / Re: jv16 - Pay to keep license on file?

« Last post by J-Mac on July 04, 2010, 10:16 PM »

Curt - you might want to blur the license code in your post.

Jim

1012

Living Room / Re: FARK creator doesn't believe in the wisdom of crowds

« Last post by J-Mac on July 03, 2010, 10:29 PM »

mouser, I was about to post about the Digg phenomenon when I clicked your link and saw that you already had it covered. Unfortunately this is how "crowd wisdom" often works. The wisdom of small groups that are able to dominate the opinions/stories/"facts" being considered are whose wisdom is usually mistaken for that of the "crowd". It isn't often that crowds are able to show any wisdom because there always seem to be "special" subsets of the crowd that manage to substitute their own version of "wisdom" for that of the crowd. That has been my experience anyway.

Thanks!

Jim

1013

Living Room / Re: Kindle and iPad Books Take Longer to Read than Print [STUDY]

« Last post by J-Mac on July 03, 2010, 10:20 PM »

I have an original Kindle and haven't touched it in about a year now. At first the books were inexpensive: Amazon committed that NY Times Bestsellers would always be $9.99 while other texts could be lower or higher. I got some great sci-fi classics for $1 and $2. However things started changing rapidly about a year and a half ago. Suddenly Kindle books were selling for the same or very close to the same as print books; the number of low priced books seemed to dwindle; and many of the NY Times Bestsellers often didn't even have Kindle versions anymore. Very disappointing. Add to that the "1984" fiasco and resulting revelation that Amazon could and would reach out overnight and delete whatever they desired from my Kindle and the attraction was completely gone for me. And if I was somehow still in love with the device after all that the battery issue would have done it in anyway. Seems that the original battery life was almost exactly as long as it took Amazon to release their "Kindle 2" device. As of the K-2 release parts for the original Kindle simply disappeared from Amazon - and everywhere else for that matter. No batteries in stock for the "Kindle 1". Found this out after I ordered one because Amazon had no notice that they weren't in stock; product page said "Usually ships within 24 hours". Ha! eight months later - yes that's EIGHT months, the number immediately after 7 and right before 9. My replacement battery was finally delivered. Amazon, usually very responsive to support requests, completely ignored all my emails and calls asking when and where batteries would be available again. All in all a pretty bad experience. No more Kindles for me. No more DRM-laden e-readers either, from anyone.

I still read all print books now, except for the occasional PDF ebook on my machine here.

Jim

1014

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Pledge: ContactFX

« Last post by J-Mac on July 03, 2010, 01:33 AM »

After a very long (and for the most part fruitless) search for a personal address book, I am locking my eyes onto this project!! I am available for testing also. Whenever you're ready Perry.   

Thanks!

Jim

1015

Living Room / Re: Dell knowingly shipped millions of defective computers?

« Last post by J-Mac on July 03, 2010, 01:29 AM »

I have one of their rotten XPS M-1310 notebooks; has the same overheating that some HP notebooks had. After ignoring the problem altogether for some time Dell finally released an update that "fixed" the GPU overheating issue... by forcing the fan to run overspeed 100% of the time. Grrr...

Never again, Dell.

They screwed me big time five years ago and I stopped buying Dells. Then I decided to "try" the M1310 because it was on sale for lower than any comparable notebook I could find. Duh (as I start beating my head on my desktop again, over and over!) Thought I would have learned. I have now.

Jim

1016

Living Room / Re: Looking for a Decent Contacts Manager

« Last post by J-Mac on June 29, 2010, 02:30 PM »

I am definitely keeping both eyes on Perry's project!

I wasn’t trying to disparage all the other contacts apps mentioned here. It's just that certain features that were important to me personally didn't exist together in any of them, unfortunately. Handy just happened to have the most included in one app. Other users may - and probably do - feel the same about others discussed here. Address books are a particularly personal software and it would be difficult for a developer to satisfy all wants in one program. Could be done, for sure. But the cost of putting all features in one app is probably too high and wouldn’t necessarily get a big enough return. I noticed a lot of these apps try to mimic Outlook in many ways as I guess they feel that Outlook's features are known/wanted by most users. (Not me, though!)

There are a couple apps above that I will also keep an eye on and if they add certain features I will quite possibly end up purchasing one of them down the line. 

Thanks!

Jim

1017

Living Room / Re: Looking for a Decent Contacts Manager

« Last post by J-Mac on June 29, 2010, 12:22 PM »

BTW, I never posted back as to which I ended up purchasing: That would be Handy Address Book. Not that it is that great or much better than the others mentioned here, but it had the least annoyances for me compared to the rest. If another progresses to the point where it has almost everything I want then I might just buy that too.

Thanks to all for your comments!

Jim

1018

Living Room / Re: When life rains down lemons...

« Last post by J-Mac on June 26, 2010, 09:55 PM »

Quint told the story in the original "Jaws".

I didn't know that the CO was court martialed. Wow - that really puts a sucky ending on a story that sounds like the CO's name should have been "Murphy". I would guess that there's more to that story that we haven't heard though it's hard to imagine any other details that would justify that kind of treatment of the CO.

Thanks!

Jim

1019

Living Room / Re: Very Loosely Based on a True Story

« Last post by J-Mac on June 26, 2010, 09:49 PM »

I'm familiar with almost all of them and while I have some differences with the above I agree for the most part. Missing item that kinda falls into the trope but then again doesn’t is "Fargo", which announces at the start of the ending credits,

"THIS IS A TRUE STORY. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred."

In fact the story is as complete a fiction as could be. Some try to relate it to a case in Connecticut that involved a man disposing of his wife's body using a wood chipper, but that's a real stretch. The Coen brothers admit that they weren't entirely honest with that statement in the credits but say that

"If an audience believes that something's based on a real event, it gives you permission to do things they might otherwise not accept."

Yeah, sure.       Wish I had thought of that during one of the many times when I was in deep doo-doo as a young  troublemaker!

Jim

1020

Living Room / Re: South African doctor invents female condom with 'teeth' to fight rape.

« Last post by J-Mac on June 23, 2010, 01:46 AM »

Various rights organizations that work in South Africa declined to comment, including Human Rights Watch and Care International.

I wonder what this means...

-wraith808 (June 21, 2010, 03:32 PM)

Probably means that they had to wait to stop laughing before commenting.

I'm sorry but this has been made into a bad joke. Rape is not funny but every headline/tagline I have read so far has sounded like the author was trying his/her hardest to write the most sarcastic, pun-laden headline. (Are there awards for stupid, thought-to-be-funny headlines?)

Again, the subject matter is not funny at all but let's face it... the whole concept of a toothy female condom is custom-made for the late night hosts' monologues.

Jim

1021

General Software Discussion / Re: Should we merge the complaints and compliments section into other section?

« Last post by J-Mac on June 21, 2010, 12:25 AM »

I am OK with whichever way you decide to go. It has been kinda fun watching the history of the Complaint forum; at times I can remember either mouser or a moderator saying that some complaints shouldn’t be in a general forum but instead in a complaint forum. Of course once the Complaint forum was created, mouser, you did express regret about it on more than a few occasions. It does seem to nag at you and so I think you should do away with it. I think it will tend to reduce the number of complaints, or at least the spotlighting of the complaints. Which may be a good thing or not, depending on your point of view!

How about the Compliments portion of the forum? Is that also better served by merging it into the other forums? Just curious.   

Thanks!

Jim

1022

General Software Discussion / Re: Someone MUST make a new PowerMarks program.

« Last post by J-Mac on June 18, 2010, 12:10 PM »

Wow - that IS a deal.

I recommend that any DC member reading this at least take a good look and consider picking up Linkman Pro - at that price it is literally a steal!

Jim

1023

Living Room / Re: Looking for a Decent Contacts Manager

« Last post by J-Mac on June 17, 2010, 01:32 PM »

Mark, mine opened maximized - or actually not maximized but the window as large as my 24" monitor. Twice I manually resized it to look like yours but upon system reboot it opened again too large. I just gave up trying to fix it. After all I could only add a few contacts and that was it. Not that much else to try with it. It is uninstalled now.

Thank you.

Jim

1024

Living Room / Re: Looking for a Decent Contacts Manager

« Last post by J-Mac on June 17, 2010, 11:12 AM »

Hi Mark.

I just didn't really like the UI of Start Trak. Maybe it's just me being fussy but to start it shows a sample contact in the center of the screen like it is a pop-up, but I don’t think it is. Can't dismiss it, can't move it out of my way. It just sits there and does nothing no matter what action I take. It just looked odd enough to make me feel out of sorts when trying to work in it.

Oh - and it only allows like three or five contacts to be added to the trial version. That is a little too limiting for me to see how I like it. Can't even get a full page report with that. Handy Address Book has a similar limit but theirs is 30 added contacts. A little better but not great. What is with the unreasonable limits? If things are that tough then just add a lot more demo material on the website and skip the damn trial version!

Thank you.

Jim

1025

Living Room / Re: Looking for a Decent Contacts Manager

« Last post by J-Mac on June 16, 2010, 11:35 PM »

Well, ok.  It's a legit program, you don't have to worry about that. i'll see how their printing options are...

-superboyac (June 16, 2010, 10:30 PM)

Not saying they're not legit; they just don’t tell me enough about their program to make me want to try it.

Thanks!

Jim