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10351

Coding Snacks / Re: [request] Hide Show desktop icons

« Last post by tomos on November 08, 2007, 06:39 AM »

it's Skrommels

Maybe I should just take a few hours out to look and extract and edit the code to do what i want.

-relequestual (November 08, 2007, 04:56 AM)

or
you could post in the Skrommels software board although he'd probably see it here..

or someone else might modify it ...

10352

Coding Snacks / Re: [request] Hide Show desktop icons

« Last post by tomos on November 08, 2007, 05:18 AM »

I tried using the icon hide show app on here,

-relequestual (November 08, 2007, 04:56 AM)

which app is that? 

10353

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2007 / Re: My System - Index Card Centric

« Last post by tomos on November 07, 2007, 02:12 PM »

Instead i seem to mostly just organize things by project.

-mouser (November 07, 2007, 10:20 AM)

that's the way I've been generally thinking too
might give that a go myself - I did do project grouping before but didnt have proper homes for them...

When I did use cards by project, & then planning - say,
today & the next couple of days,
I enjoyed being able to lay all the "active" cards out on the rug & move them around a bit to help get an overview

Dont know whether that's a throwback to childhood or just my "visual" preferrences 

10354

Living Room / Re: To wide-screen or not to wide-screen

« Last post by tomos on November 07, 2007, 10:10 AM »

A dual-monitor setup can't help you with such things either, so a widescreen is the only

-Dirhael (November 07, 2007, 07:42 AM)

Explain this, please.  I'm simply drawing a blank.  My auxillary monitors are *crammed* with sidebars and toolbars and whatnot.

-Ralf Maximus (November 07, 2007, 09:51 AM)

I had been thinking along Dirhaels lines but then I keep generally keep a lot of toolbars hidden.
Of course it depends on what programmes, but,
I guess with "auxillary" monitors you can feel free to open loads of toolbars & wouldnt even have to have toolbars from diff apps overlying each other..

10355

Living Room / Re: Genuinely stupid laws - that still APPLY !!

« Last post by tomos on November 07, 2007, 06:39 AM »

some good ones there allright

10356

Living Room / Re: To wide-screen or not to wide-screen

« Last post by tomos on November 07, 2007, 03:37 AM »

Jeff links to this nice LCD buying guide:

http://www.xbitlabs....lcd-guide-f2007.html

-nontroppo (November 06, 2007, 03:16 PM)

thanks nontroppo, via this link i found a review on Samsung 931BW.

-lanux128 (November 06, 2007, 08:30 PM)

it gets a good review there!

I get confused when they talk about 100nit White:

By default, the monitor has 100% brightness and 75% contrast. When the contrast setting is increased above its default, details get lost in lightest color tones. To achieve a 100nit brightness of white I reduced the brightness and contrast settings to 31% and 33%, respectively.

if 100nit white is "ideal" (?) does that mean youre losing out on lots of contrast - he reduces it to 33%
had a look a a few reviews there & this seems typical - he's not complaining about it so I guess it's okay
But I'm still curious..

When i look it up in google I just get the xbitlabs site,
when i look it up in wikipedia I get a list of articles about basketball teams

10357

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2007 / Re: For those with a System that Works -- Post it!

« Last post by tomos on November 06, 2007, 05:01 PM »

thanks laughinglizard for that helpful post

I like the 10 minutes or app's 4 minute stint at something

and

-Have fun. Take a break and do something I like to do. Go outside, read a favorite blog or website, anything I enjoy that fits into what's going on at the moment.

-laughinglizard (November 05, 2007, 04:24 PM)

I often forget that...

-Make lists

-laughinglizard (November 05, 2007, 04:24 PM)

no, stand back!!!

laughinglizard, would you consider sometime writing a mini-review or intro post type thingy about the Swift-To-Do-List programme & what it does (or doesnt) that you like it so much?

It's only 4 minutes. Nothing can possibly be so bad that I can't put up with doing it for that long.

-app103 (November 06, 2007, 04:29 PM)

or conversely, not doing it ...let me explain:
I've read (& tested to some extent) the idea that if you - say you trying to stop smoking -
if you can resist the craving for 3 minutes it goes away (& comes back again but you know you managed last time to RESIST)

10358

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2007 / Re: My System - Index Card Centric

« Last post by tomos on November 06, 2007, 04:39 PM »

Glad you posted about that Jesse

I'm working, well sort of coping, with A4 sheets of paper.
I bought index cards last year but my system didnt work - or maybe I didnt really get one going that suited me would be a better way of putting it.

I liked tiny index cards & considered setting up a row of them in front of my desk.
Say, one box for Job_X, one for Job_Y, Computer related, Ideas_X, Ideas_Y Etc, Etc

When you say..

I write it down on a 3x5 index card and file it in one of several card boxes i have on my desk

-mouser (November 04, 2007, 07:16 AM)

could you give us an idea of how you organise/group the cards.

Is it per GTD ideas according to action needed or have you your own slant on it or something completely different?

10359

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2007 / Re: "To-Do-Visual" or "Multi-Lists" - does this exist?!

« Last post by tomos on November 06, 2007, 04:05 PM »

hi app,
it's possible with multiple instances that could go the direction I want

and KISS, that's a new one to me
-
who you calling stupid, simple
NO
who you calling simple, stupid
NO
........

will go download that,
thanks!

10360

General Software Discussion / Re: SyncBackSE vs. SuperFlexible

« Last post by tomos on November 06, 2007, 06:20 AM »

Keep hourly backups for the last 24 hours, keep daily backups for the last month, and keep weekly backups for all previous months

-tranglos (November 05, 2007, 04:24 PM)

12 Ghosts:
the icons arent very inspiring & I dont know when it was last updated - I see vista mentioned ...
http://12ghosts.com/ghosts/backup.htm

HyperBackup creates one version per minute for one hour, one version every hour during one day's time, one version every day for the last month, and finally one version per month. This way it keeps a history of changes but requires only moderate disk space. A technology is used that does not require any processor resources while waiting for changes. Hence, most of the time 12-Backup just sits there, doing nothing. And even while backing up it does not block other applications because it runs in idle time, that is, when the processor has nothing else to do.

.
Also, have you looked at Filehamster -
various threads here if you search
watches folders & makes backup when you save - option to write comment -
you can e.g. easily delete all without comments or
limit number of backup saved (I havent used it that way so cant say..)
I love it but use it only for active (work) projects

10361

General Software Discussion / Re: SyncBackSE vs. SuperFlexible

« Last post by tomos on November 06, 2007, 03:45 AM »

I'm not a fan of the SFFS interface - I agree its poorly designed in terms of user interaction.

In terms of setting up a backup, if you simply go through everything you *should* be covered
Saying that I have been caught by an overlooked setting -
which can be easy to do cause it takes a while to follow/understand it all - I've found
Generally I copy a Profile I'm happy with for a new profile & work from there

I generally start scheduler manually each morning -
I dont want it running till i start working
but
I'm sure the scheduler works - worked for me before anyways -
Options: restore previous windows & scheduler states. should cover you?

That with having to disable scheduler I've gotten used to 

By default SFFS insists on zipping each file individually - expect fun manually unzipping thousands of files, one by one, if you ever need to access the backup without SFFS!

-tranglos (November 05, 2007, 04:24 PM)

eh,
with winrar at any rate I just select the zip files I want to restore (edit: i.e. all selected same time!)
right click - extract here
& the original folder hierarchy is recreated
In fact for restoring a lot of files I find it a very good solution

I have restored stuff - from one folder - but not to original folders, & found it so easy I havent even used SFFS for it
Copying to original location then should be no problem too
I guess if you want to restore a whole bunch of stuff from different folders you'd need to use SFFS

Also, I've personally had no problems extracting encrypted zip files with Directory Opus and Win Explorer


Tranglos, have you tried DirSync ? (see post #13) I havent but if you've tried everything else...

PS/EDIT: just noticed, on my system SFFS is using 10MB memory if I'm reading correctly (private bytes - Process Explorer)

10362

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2007 / Re: "To-Do-Visual" or "Multi-Lists" - does this exist?!

« Last post by tomos on November 06, 2007, 03:11 AM »

will have a look at Papel

reminded me of another "writing" programme
Notebox Disorganizer

which I thought might be suitable but I dont think so (nice programme though!)

EDIT: if I cant find a software solution I probably will go ahead & make something with index cards & timber 

10363

Living Room / Re: To wide-screen or not to wide-screen

« Last post by tomos on November 06, 2007, 02:45 AM »

I have a friend that bought a 21.4" Samsung with 3000:1 contrast ratio. I'm not sure why he needed it (suspect he doesn't) but I'm gathering from people's choices here that 800:1 (which is a lot cheaper where I am) would be just fine for normal usage?

-Darwin (November 05, 2007, 07:25 PM)

I was looking at a catalogue & some advertising/junk mail yesterday.
I was suprised even in the catalogue for some screens they were saying
Kontrast (dyn.) 3000:1
others then were listed without the dynamic bit - (are they using the same word in english - I think so)

Read somewhere here lately someone saying dynamic contrast wasnt worth much...?
& that the actual contrast much more important

Unfortunately they often dont say what the actual contrast is
which means you've got to go research

There was a thread lately (name?) where (nudone, I think) was saying go for 1000:1 if you can 

10364

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by tomos on November 06, 2007, 02:33 AM »

Congratulations, Tom. The Kilo Club is growing!

-Darwin (November 05, 2007, 05:40 PM)

Cheers Mike!
It was kind of comical - I was making a few posts -
very concentrated & absorbed (of course ) & then this thousand jumped out at me as I was closing the page,

& then I did say oh my god....

10365

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by tomos on November 05, 2007, 03:43 PM »

OMG
didnt notice that creeping up



or I did really but didnt expect it so soon or something 

10366

Living Room / Re: To wide-screen or not to wide-screen

« Last post by tomos on November 05, 2007, 03:40 PM »

I like the 4:3 format
but imagine with widescreen I'd be able to work nicely on my 4:3 (Olympus) photos
& have a nice bit of space at the end for the tools/panels

but I wonder would a regular 19" monitor have more height than a 19" widescreen?
24" please

10367

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2007 / Re: "To-Do-Visual" or "Multi-Lists" - does this exist?!

« Last post by tomos on November 05, 2007, 03:28 PM »

thanks laughinglizard
thats an interesting read, unfortunately no screenshots
so I dont get any sense of how they organise things
there I go with the visuals again

From your illustration, I would think a spreadsheet would work well - something like Excel or any of the others.

-laughinglizard (November 05, 2007, 02:53 PM)

-
I probably shouldnt have used that table!
It doesnt really express what I want...
I'm not that familiar with the complexities of spreadsheets but I dont think it can do this:
-

In a software version you would be able to click on each heading & get a drop down list.
Could preferably be set up so you only see what you plan to do today - a la Forster's book - Do it Tomorrow -(plan it today)
Naturally when something's marked done it goes down to the bottom of the list...

-tomos (November 05, 2007, 12:43 PM)

or maybe it could?!

re Swift To Do list
"Todo lists organized using hierarchical tree structure with icons" scares me off
I can see that's a necessary [evil ] but me,
I just loose track of things in a "hierarchical tree structure" & everything go downhill from there
Thats even though I dont have a lot of different projects or things to do (just have to spend a long time doing certain things )

< musing to myself!> maybe I'm approaching things from the wrong end but I do think my idea could help me..

10368

General Software Discussion / Re: Do you use Desktop Widgets?

« Last post by tomos on November 05, 2007, 01:19 PM »

I use Samurize. Here's one of my configs. I have a multi Mon setup.

-PhilB66 (November 05, 2007, 10:34 AM)

Samaurise looks nice on your computer Phil !!
does one still have to do a lot of customising of it to get it going AND looking good?
(I tried it briefly, or should i say -tried to try it- a couple of years ago but never got off the ground with it)

10369

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2007 / Re: "To-Do-Visual" or "Multi-Lists" - does this exist?!

« Last post by tomos on November 05, 2007, 12:46 PM »

does the software version exist?!

-tomos (November 05, 2007, 12:43 PM)

or if it doesnt & you code this & make millions dont forget to give me a cut   

10370

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2007 / "To-Do-Visual" or "Multi-Lists" - does this exist?!

« Last post by tomos on November 05, 2007, 12:43 PM »

I think this idea is veering towards GTD which I didn't get into last year (was more of a Mark Forster follower)

It may well exist - I mean as software.

First:
My problem with To-Do-Lists is they dont work for me - on paper or software
On paper they breed (& get lost or pile up unread...)
On screen things get lost in tree-lists, "flat" lists are too long, tagging just doesnt cut it for me - with To-Do-Lists at any rate

The idea is simply that at one glance you can see all the major "areas" of work you have to do -
this suits me at any rate cause I fill an A4/Letter page nicely with the different areas -
which is what I've been doing for a while.
It's okay but I think it might be more successful like this:

In a software version you would be able to click on each heading & get a drop down list.
Could preferably be set up so you only see what you plan to do today - a la Forster's book - Do it Tomorrow -(plan it today)
Naturally when something's marked done it goes down to the bottom of the list.
Maybe a little icon by each heading that would toggle full screen/back to "multi-list"
"Areas" can be added/removed/disabled

...........................To-Do-Visual............................

Post	JOB_KERRY
# cc bill # Versicherung..............	# check has P. approved xyz............................... # do corrections to geomap....................... ...............................
Phone	JOB_Longford
# Deeke # MSV........ # P. re est	# estimate.................. # change fills.......................
Write	JOB_M.Survey Volume#9
# Central # M.R.F.........	# what scan kaputt # List new fig's & add to SQL-Notes

etc., etc....

I've actually considered making a flat box/frame from timber -
small index cards on the left, larger on the right,
when you look down on it it's a bit like the view of the table above.
But while timber can look very nice, it isnt very flexible

does the software version exist?!

10371

Living Room / Re: Whats on your desktop?

« Last post by tomos on November 05, 2007, 11:38 AM »

On another topic: "curiosity killed the cat" I wrote, on another DC thread, because I and many others were trying to open an empty file, though we were told in advance that it was empty. Seems like something similar is happening again... :
 (see attachment in previous post)

-Curt (November 05, 2007, 11:21 AM)

my viewer enlarges images to size of window
maybe I could use it for my desktop ?!

10372

General Software Discussion / Re: best clipboard program

« Last post by tomos on November 05, 2007, 09:23 AM »

is there a program that will sit in the tray and will record everything I type? I want this because often I write a big text and then the program where I write it crashes, so I loose all the text

also it would be nice to save all the files I have in my clipboard

are these programs called clipboard managers, or I am wrong? whats the best?

-kalos (November 05, 2007, 04:50 AM)

I believe a clipboard manager manages what you copy or cut (text & some manage images as well)
meaning it doesnt manage what you simply type

So what you are looking for is something else really
if it exists I dont know 

I'd recommend changing the thread title -
maybe to a summary of your question & you might get more appropriate responses

10373

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2007 / Re: For those with a System that Works -- Post it!

« Last post by tomos on November 05, 2007, 09:11 AM »

thanks for that clarification nudone

"instead, you avoid negative habits by consciously avoiding the situations and places that these negative habits usually occur. this method is shown to work better than expecting will power to help you."

-nudone (November 05, 2007, 02:13 AM)

10374

Living Room / Re: Structured Procrastination - hahaha

« Last post by tomos on November 05, 2007, 08:56 AM »

I do use filing cabinets. They are for a) storing finished things that one plans never to look at again and b) putting things that one would feel bad about throwing away...

-Armando (November 05, 2007, 12:18 AM)

I can relate to that.
I've started using lever-arch folders & in-out trays for things I really use

10375

General Software Discussion / Re: best clipboard program

« Last post by tomos on November 05, 2007, 08:49 AM »

but the problem is that it records even hotkeys I type
I wish it could only record the more than 2 characters text

-kalos (November 05, 2007, 05:58 AM)

dont see how you'ld get around that ?
use find & replace afterwards ?

me I've gotten to a stage where I save whatever I'm working on very often...