Recent Posts

1076

General Software Discussion / Re: Firewalls - please, i can't be bothered.

« Last post by iphigenie on March 06, 2007, 01:01 PM »

thanks for looking into the file sharing side of things, iphigenie.

i'd tried setting up a few rules inside 'pc tools firewall plus' using the tcp and udp ports specified by microsoft but it made not one jot of difference. i shall try your recommendations later what i get chance as they sound very likely to work.

-nudone (March 04, 2007, 09:31 AM)

Have you had any luck after unblocking those two rules?

1077

General Software Discussion / Re: SuperboyAC's DC blog #2 (Live Search feature in software)

« Last post by iphigenie on March 05, 2007, 01:06 PM »

I have 768Mb of mboxes in opera and search is instantaneous?

-urlwolf (March 05, 2007, 10:56 AM)

I have a large mailbox and if i use the type-as-u-search filter box with all the messages shown, there's a noticeable but short delay, half a second, sometimes a second on the first letter. That's if you type one letter then wait for the results. If you type several letters the result feels near instantaneous.

I am not sure whether the delay is because of the time for search or simply because it waits a tiny bit when you have 1-2 letters to see if more are coming. After all it is actually extremely fast to search for one term in simple text files like email, so it could be an artificial pause

1078

DonationCoder Projects / Re: Flat File Mini CMS in PHP

« Last post by iphigenie on March 04, 2007, 01:28 PM »

he, you're right in a way about webideatree creating a flat file website.
I think of it as an outliner / thinking tree type program, but it is meant to generate a website from the contents at the end.

1079

General Software Discussion / Re: nostalgia hour: old software you loved

« Last post by iphigenie on March 04, 2007, 01:24 PM »

That's so true - most of the programs I have registered were utilities of some sort, more than applications that actually do something - and things which i believe should be in the OS.

But in a way MS are doomed if they do, doomed if they don't

If they take some tool or function that many people see as so necessary that they buy/install third party software, and put that in a tool that's part of the OS, they get screaming mobs accusing them of killing an industry etc. It happened when they announced they would add defrag, a firewall, skins... and quite a few other things.

Sometimes they tip toe the line and put a primitively simple version of the tool, sometimes they just leave it be.

1080

DonationCoder Projects / Re: Flat File Mini CMS in PHP

« Last post by iphigenie on March 04, 2007, 01:16 PM »

does it have to be php? http://yawps.sourceforge.net/ (that's server side)

1081

General Software Discussion / Re: nostalgia hour: old software you loved

« Last post by iphigenie on March 04, 2007, 09:13 AM »

I had all the floppies for quite a few tools and games until recently. Including some 5" ones - ability office, turbo pascal... threw them all away last summer, together with the zx spectrum and tapes. They live in memory

1082

General Software Discussion / Re: Firewalls - please, i can't be bothered.

« Last post by iphigenie on March 04, 2007, 09:05 AM »

You need a firewall somewhere to protect your machines against the external network. It really doesn't need to be on the machine, but there needs to be a protection. Considering the amount of port and vulnerability scanning that goes on the net all the time, and the amount of open ports etc. by default on the average windows machine, i think having a firewall *somewhere* that prevents casual access to ports on the machines to be a basic need.

It can be at the entrance to the network, on a corporate firewall or a simple broadband router, but if the machine is connected via modem then it needs to be on the machine. As a matter of fact it's better at the network entrance, not on the machine itself, so the traffic never reaches the machine.

Once you have such protection in place, then you need the second level of protection, which is from threats that originate within the network. You don't need a "network" firewall on each machine but unless you have very very savvy users you do need a certain amount of trojan/malware protection, because alas there's nothing we can install in people's heads to make them stop opening an attachment that says "i have always secretly loved you" or "naked pics of the boss inside" or click on a banner that says "free animated smilies, click here" or "test your pc's security now". That protection is nowadays either added to virus scanners or to tools called "personal firewalls" or "internet security", when really it fits in none of those labels.

Even the tech savvy crowd can fall for it, obviously it would need to be something more clever like spoofing the tortoise svn page

1083

General Software Discussion / Re: Desktop chaos please help

« Last post by iphigenie on March 04, 2007, 07:07 AM »

Yes, i have 0 icons on my desktop apart from the recycle bin, and really when i think of it i'd rather hide that too. After all it's covered in windows most of the time and it's a pain to have to minimize apps to find things.

But there are really 2 types of users - the ones who keep the desktop pristine and use menu tools, keyboard macros etc. to access things, and the people who like to have everything spread out on their desktop - after all it's quick to trigger "show desktop" and there are also tools that give you pop up lists of all that's on the desktop so it also works pretty well as an organisation scheme too.

I have never seen a tool that allows to split icons on 2 monitors, but obviously i have never looked for one. I know tools that can save a layout though, and restore it, that might work? Also I wonder if somehow you could use a "virtual desktop" tool to get the effect. There are virtual desktop tools that allow you to set different icons per virtual desktop, so if any of those allows a different VD per screen you're set.

Another option would be somethink like desktopX but that'd be way overkill I think.

1084

General Software Discussion / Re: Need app to find album cover art?

« Last post by iphigenie on March 04, 2007, 06:58 AM »

yes, sometimes the album image search in media center also comes up with strange matches, it's amusing

1085

General Software Discussion / Re: Firewalls - please, i can't be bothered.

« Last post by iphigenie on March 04, 2007, 06:57 AM »

Wilders forum might have the answer: It seems pc tools default set up blocks netbios. You need to allow the following (blocked by default), if possible only for known IPs. Of course if your broadband and wireless gateway both keep your internal networked closed (i.e. proper wifi security and no ip forwarding from the net) then you don't have to worry.

Anyway the 2 default rules to release seem to be

1) Block winNuke (which blocks filesharing)
2) Stop netBIOS

see here http://www.wildersse...?t=160868&page=2

1086

General Software Discussion / Re: Firewalls - please, i can't be bothered.

« Last post by iphigenie on March 04, 2007, 06:30 AM »

Well there are a few more you can try

this recent thread in wilders covers the same ground, starting with "zone alarm isn't playing nice anymore" too! with an amusing diversion in the middle on how the color of your firewall matters

http://www.wildersse...wthread.php?t=159763

they mention jetico (http://www.jetico.com/) and looknstop light (http://www.snapfiles..._Lite/looknstop.html) which you haven't tried yet which were mentioned but you haven't tried yet? I think they're both very similar to ghostwall, kerio 2 and other "pure" firewalls

But if windows file sharing is the only think not working, that's just a matter of opening a few inbound ports on your machine - i bet it can be done on the pc tools firewall! Windows file sharing is one of those protocols which needs inbound open as well as outbound - let me see if i can dig up the ports

1087

General Software Discussion / Re: Firewalls - please, i can't be bothered.

« Last post by iphigenie on March 04, 2007, 05:41 AM »

The reason you can't find a "pure firewall" much anymore is simple. Reviewers.

To me, pure firewall means state aware packet filtering - purely about traffic - i.e. it will look at source and destination IPs, protocol and ports use that to make a decision whether to let the traffic go through or not, in a chain or rules (that's what ghostwall is. That's what the old kerio and tiny used to be). Using a "pure firewall" on very restrictive rules should mean that no surprise traffic can get in or out. Of course a clever virus, or spyware, or a trojan, if it gets itself installed on the machine, can still hijack another software which is known to be usually trusted to get out. And that's normal, the firewall still did its job, watch the integrity of the network, another tool or two should watch the integrity of the system.

But reviewers and "obsessive" security power users started saying a firewall had failed if it didn't catch a browser hijacker, or a trojan... And the list of breaches a firewall is expected to catch keeps growing, year after year. They're doing the same to spyware detectors and virus scanners, too.

Whereas earlier people would have had a "pure" firewall, a virus scanner, maybe a trojan protection or intrusion detection and a spyware tool, now people tend to have a firewall that also does trojan and malware, a virus scanner that also does trojans and malware and more and more some virtualisation, a registry protection tool which also does a bit of firewall... All overlapping in features more and more. No wonder they conflict.

In a way I want several small tools that do their distinct job very well. I don't want 4 tools that are fighting to steal each other's job.

Edit: i did a quick search and you will find out that any review of firewalls nowadays centers on non-firewall features such as leak tests. That's what most firewall makers center their efforts on nowadays, making sure their system detect the leak tests, sometimes by cheats, but mostly by watching, scanning and analysing everything that happens between executables on the PC. This is quite slowing on the PC, in the end. And in a "one in all" product you can't turn off the anti-hijack tools on their own when you want, for example, to play a game.

1088

General Software Discussion / Re: nostalgia hour: old software you loved

« Last post by iphigenie on March 03, 2007, 06:18 AM »

I'm not in the habbit of sticking with outdated applications though, so I can't really think of any really old ones that I still use.

-Dirhael (March 03, 2007, 05:59 AM)

what about apps you followed through many versions and still use after many years, albeit in a new version?

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General Software Discussion / Re: nostalgia hour: old software you loved

« Last post by iphigenie on March 03, 2007, 05:47 AM »

I remember nuts and bolts, i had that! I think i got it when i "followed" cleansweep and dashboard to McAfee

Good point, i listed software i have had forever but i use a new version. must dig up what's the oldest one as in age of the version i actually use...

1090

General Software Discussion / Re: Photoshop - add supported online editor, soon...

« Last post by iphigenie on March 03, 2007, 05:11 AM »

I suspect there will be file size restrictions too to save bandwidth - which means it will probably only be usable for web images.

-Carol Haynes (March 02, 2007, 06:40 PM)

upload times alone, for large images...

1091

General Software Discussion / Re: Photoshop - add supported online editor, soon...

« Last post by iphigenie on March 03, 2007, 05:07 AM »

there's already one online editor which support layers. let me get my bookmarks

http://www.techcrunc...to-editing-overview/

1092

General Software Discussion / Re: nostalgia hour: old software you loved

« Last post by iphigenie on March 03, 2007, 04:55 AM »

nice questions but i personally can't think of anything old enough for it to be interesting. i look forward to seeing the other replies.

-nudone (March 03, 2007, 04:49 AM)

yes, i guess it depends on age and all. mine aren't very old compared to some people, probably, but seem antique when i realise it has been 12 years or more!

1093

General Software Discussion / Re: nostalgia hour: old software you loved

« Last post by iphigenie on March 03, 2007, 04:52 AM »

1) earliest software:

I'm not a 100% sure as I was using windows and OS/2 in parallel and it's hard to remember...

* squeaky mouse - navigation helper on windows 3 - moving the mouse cursor to dialog, help with scrolling, help with jumping down lists by typing a letter. Most of these features have now
* windows commander
* postroad mailer (OS/2)
* a fax software
i think i also had quarterdeck dashboard and cleansweep, but they're borderline "shrinkwrap".

The earliest software I remember spending money on was on a much earlier PC still, and it was Borland's turbo pascal. It cost and arm and a leg to me when i was in school and i saved for a long time to buy it (they didnt have academic pricing then) and a 20Mb hard drive. At 14? and I wasnt even that geeky but programming was fun... That was DOS! I'm sure I spent money on some other things too but I only remember that one cause it was so much money.

2) fondly remembered:

* squeaky mouse clearly is one of them, it was so incredibly cute as well as useful. I still have the executable. In my family we still have what we call the "squeaky mouse dance"... moving swiftly on...

* cookie pal would be another, before all browsers accumulated their own cookie management. It could still be useful if it evolved in being a tool where you can manage one blacklist, one whitelist which works in all browsers...

* webgal - a snippets management tool for developers, to store code bits etc. which the developer never moved forward. It was very useful to me, but I just might have been the only one.

I still have the executables for those 3 and everything I ever registered... although maybe not the os/2 ones.

3) oldest programs still in use:

a) I have had these through numerous versions, so the version i use is not old, but the "software relationship" is.

total commander - i'm not sure when i registered it, maybe i should ask. Somewhere around 1994 I think. And I still get upgrades for free! I'd almost feel bad about it, except I had several companies I work with buy 10-25 licenses and currently own 14 licenses on top of that one, so i think that evens it out.

object desktop - i used it under OS/2, around 1996? then when switching to windows I got it to get some of the tools I was familiar with, and I kind of have been renewing ever since. I think at the moment I use very little of it but it goes in phases...

slickedit - i love that editor. I'm stuck at version 6 cause i can't justify the upgrade costs at the moment. I remember discovering it as part of the IBM OS/2 developer connection in 96 or so

1094

General Software Discussion / nostalgia hour: old software you loved

« Last post by iphigenie on March 03, 2007, 04:33 AM »

I've just been sorting through old papers and one of the folders had old software licenses, old registration emails... It just got me thinking fondly of some old software I just liked (yes, fondly!), used a lot, lost... and some I still use...

So 3 questions

1) what are the earliest (independent) programs you "registered" - that can be paid registration, email registration, donation, postcard?

2) what are your favorite programs you no longer use?

3) what are the oldest programs you still use?
a) use a new version of / b) still use "as is"

1095

Official Announcements / Re: Mar. 2007 Giveaway/Discounts: Website Watcher,Local Website Archive,AM-Notebook

« Last post by iphigenie on March 03, 2007, 04:25 AM »

yes, looking at the feature list seems it does newsgroups and feeds too? I currently have all that in opera but it might be a good thing to move this out of my email program so i don't get distracted all the time by feed / newsgroup updates

1096

General Software Discussion / Re: uploading old mail to imap

« Last post by iphigenie on March 02, 2007, 02:12 PM »

I guess I'll just have to install each mail client i can find, see if they can import old mail, set them up to connect to my imap, import some messages, and see what happens if i drag an imported message up to an imap folder.

1097

Living Room / Re: A total eclipse of the Moon this Saturday

« Last post by iphigenie on March 02, 2007, 12:05 PM »

Our plan here is, if the skies are a bit clear, to head out to a pub further away from the cities to have a nice view. If the skies are nasty we might end up playing "chase the hole in the clouds"

1098

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Add a folder to right-click context menu similar.

« Last post by iphigenie on March 02, 2007, 10:39 AM »

If your menu is one of the standard "folder based" taskbar menu bars, then I think that stardock's right click will be able to do it. You can add a "folder based" menu in aout 2 minutes.

Just to test it i created a folder with games links, added it as a taskbar toolbar
[attach=#1][/attach]

Then I added the same one to right click commander and I get the same menu.
[attach=#2][/attach]
I don't know if that's what you meant?

"right click" is $9.99 but there's probably freeware tools that do the same, I just never looked for them since I had the object dekstop suite.

PS: I think it also can use any skin/windows style you have installed (I'm on XP) in the options menu, but I could be wrong. I actually don't use that tool (or object bar, its bigger brother) anymore, out of lazyness - Both wirekeys and sendman have customised my right click menu and I'm too lazy to see how to add them to rightclick or object bar...

1099

Official Announcements / Re: Mar. 2007 Giveaway/Discounts: Website Watcher,Local Website Archive,AM-Notebook

« Last post by iphigenie on March 02, 2007, 09:36 AM »

I never quite got "into" WsW but LWA is one of my most used programs.

With WsW I can tell it could probably save me time one it's all set up like I would like it, but it costs time to figure out, and I simply never spent that time. I did try since i had LWA and i thought it'd be nice to have WsW to check and update pages snapped in LWA. But it turned out to be time consuming so I gave up. This was 2005 or even 2004 so it's probably smooth and wonderful now, and I'm more patient, so I will listen and try it again.

I have said before I trial lots of software and realise halfway through the trial that I don't use it... But with LWA things worked differently - i was surprised one day within 2-3 weeks of install to be told "you have have hit the 100 documents limit" (not a limitation of the free version anymore) - needless to say I registered it and have been moving it from PC to PC since. It's one of the first things I reinstall after the security and utilities, along with a browser (which has changed from mozilla to slimbrowser to kmeleon to opera over the years - all of which happily worked with lwa), email (poco, which happily worked with lwa, and now opera, which alas doesn't at the email level), and text editor.

LWA is worth a try because it gives you a place to save web documents but also other documents which is independent of the tools you use. I don't know about you guys but I have used 6 or more different browsers in the last 2 years (ie, ie based slim browser, kmeleon, netscape, mozilla, firefox,seamonkey,opera), and several email clients. All other tools I know of either work on cut-and-paste, or only work in one or two browsers. When you switch browsers, you either lose your archive or have to cut/paste it all over...

Things I have done with LWA:
* keep a snapshot copy of order confirmations on ecommerce websites
* keep a (temporary) snapshot copy of ebay item description pages for items bid on, in case the description is amended later, so I can complain if needed
* keep a snapshot copy of T&Cs from companies I do business with, so if they change I have the one I "signed" to on record. For example a deal offered by an energy supplier, or a subscription based website etc.
* keep a copy of maps and itineraries so I can take them with me offline if necessary (I had a 9" subnotebook)
* keep a snapshot of sofware description pages with a note with the executable name (so when a month later I'm "what was this download again?" I have a quick way to check) and opinion notes after i try it
* keep recipes
* save key emails outside the email program, just in case, or to store them together with a snapshot the website/pages they refer to.
* snapshot of website visuals and web projects at different stages. Again, mostly useful to remember or if the client tries to be silly.
* snapshot of product pages when doing research for projects - it's much better than just a bookmark. I have folders on ecological paints, multi room sound systems, hotels in X, or topics from work
* snapshot of technical tutorials and reference information - again those sites disappear from the web sometimes and bookmarks don't help much. There are some key perl sites which have disappeared and I wish I'd snapped more pages there.

It's not perfect, but it's much more useful than you'd imagine.

1100

Developer's Corner / Re: Seeking your insightful advice...Where to start?

« Last post by iphigenie on March 02, 2007, 05:28 AM »

back to cnewtonne - if you know perl pretty well, you might want to do your first desktop steps in perl. That lets you focusing on understanding gui application development, and the kind of event driven thinking etc. without having to learn a new language.

There are a few libraries you can use to create desktop applications writing your code in perl. The best known toolkits you can hook in from perl are Tk (look on cpan, and there are many tutorials) and wx (http://www.wxwidgets.org/) - both are multi platform and multi language so quite a bit of the knowledge you learn can be taken onwards to another language.

I'm sure there's more, but either of these would be a good place to start and do some experimenting, get some experience, tear your hair out thinking of all the stuff you have to think about that you didn't have to think about when doing network apps or CLI apps or web development (I remember doing that jump on OS/2 - I'd only ever written command line and computational physics code, and sudenly I got it in my head to buy Visual Age and learn GUI. Knowing about parallel processing didnt help much  OS/2 had some nice APIs but it was still a change in thinking)

You can do pretty much everything in perl and one of those toolkits, it might not the sexiest, fastest app as a result but you'll learn loads. I'm a big fan of "write once, throw away, write again" especially when doing something you haven't done much before.

Then you might want to go to learn python, or C/C++ or C# depending on what kind of applications you want to design... or maybe perl6 will come out and who knows?