Recent Posts

10826

General Software Discussion / Java install - online or offline?

« Last post by tomos on June 22, 2007, 07:51 AM »

discovered (using http://secunia.com/s...inspector/?task=load)
I had already have two [older] versions of Java installed so will probably uninstall both & start from scratch.

But which version of Java to install ???

Windows XP/Vista/2000/2003 Online * filesize: ~7.1MB          Windows XP/Vista/2000/2003 Offline * filesize: 13.16 MB

(http://www.java.com/...nload/manual.jsp#win)

(I have contacted Java already but fear a long wait ...)

10827

Living Room / Re: gmail slowing down??

« Last post by tomos on June 22, 2007, 07:42 AM »

Doesn't your ISP offer a SMTP server? That tends to be the fastest and most reliable way of sending your mail, no matter where your pop3 is hosted.

-f0dder (April 25, 2007, 07:04 AM)

I tried a different SMTP server successfully
till
I realised my sent mail was no longer being saved in my gmail account

Logical,
but I hadnt thought of it.

Gone back to gmail.smtp now & just have to be patient sometimes
(It's definitely slowed down since they opened it up though ...)

10828

General Software Discussion / Re: The great defrag shootout

« Last post by tomos on June 22, 2007, 03:34 AM »

Having tried JKDefrag, it seems to take a very long time, even on a supposedly "fast" setting.

-SpiderJon (June 21, 2007, 12:52 PM)

I didnt time it but was very happy it defragged a drive that was 95%full
The optimization seemed to take longer than the defragmentation but i was off for dinner so didnt care ...

ClifNotes has it in his newsletter this week & explains how to use it as a screensaver, which i hadnt taken any notice of till now..
http://freewarewiki....ueandhandydefragtool

10829

Living Room / Re: Thank you for this site and the people here.

« Last post by tomos on June 22, 2007, 03:08 AM »

Jeff,

I'm really really sorry to hear about your wife
- I've shed a tear reading your post & others here too.
Don't know what else to say - thanks for being there & if we can help ...

Tom

10830

General Software Discussion / Re: Is an Organized Efficient Start Menu the Holy Grail of Daily Computing?

« Last post by tomos on June 21, 2007, 07:55 AM »

When loading various programs, like for music for instance, it wants to be the default player. As well as other programs for pictures, pdfs, documents and more.

Why not have the option to make all programs associate with what they can do with what is on your pc.

Have a list of the programs, and the ones you use most frequently be dropped in a favorites type section. With the rest of the programs below or listed somehow.
....

And then generate a working menu of everything on the computer.
It would scan and show what files can be opened with what programs and give the user choices quickly.

-cmpm (June 20, 2007, 09:43 PM)

sounds great 

I know there is the 'open with' command, but somehow modify that to show the programs that will run the file. Instead of showing programs that will not open the file.

An Auto file association checker or something, instead of random programs that won't work with the file selected.

-cmpm (June 20, 2007, 09:43 PM)

approaching it from the "open with" end of things is this thread...
IDEA: Replacement for Windows 'Open With...' dialogue

ChoiceEditor works great for this!

For example, I have the following ini file:

[Select]

[Options]
Language=0
CheckCursor=1
CheckKey=27
AlwaysChecked=1
[General]
DisplayName0=IrfanView
Editor0=C:\Program Files\IrfanView\i_view32.exe
Ext0=JPG,png,gif
DisplayName1=XnView
Editor1=D:\Applications\XnView\xnview.exe
Ext1=JPG,png,gif

I then associated jpg, png, and gif with ChoiceEditor, and a double click brings up this menu:
[ Invalid Attachment ]

Clicking the double arrow in the lower right lets you add another program:
[ Invalid Attachment ]

After you add the first program for an extension, you need to open the ini file and add a second program entry for the same extension to get the menu to show up.

-cthorpe (May 09, 2007, 05:14 PM)

has to be set up manually but still sounds good -
I havent tried it yet - it's on my todo list

EDIT added other thread link

10831

General Software Discussion / Re: Is an Organized Efficient Start Menu the Holy Grail of Daily Computing?

« Last post by tomos on June 21, 2007, 07:39 AM »

Nobody using the vista start button?

-urlwolf (June 18, 2007, 06:25 PM)

do you mean http://www.vistastartmenu.com ?
are you  ?

I have it but never got into the habit of using it cause of a bug that made it bigger than the screen - this is fixed now but I still havent gone back to it.

I like it so hope to get back to it, still have to organise things to make it more useful & hope it will get new skins soon - I like the look of it but it clashes so much with the older win(2000?) styles

10832

General Software Discussion / Re: List of Vector Illustration Alternatives

« Last post by tomos on June 21, 2007, 07:21 AM »

tried again,
got error message but post showed up when I refreshed page
who knows ..

10833

General Software Discussion / Re: List of Vector Illustration Alternatives

« Last post by tomos on June 21, 2007, 05:11 AM »

Carol

I just had a go - it said something about error & password "no"
I went back to copy my post & tried againto check the error message & was told it was posted already - so things are definitely a bit mixed up there but it could work if you want to try again

10834

General Software Discussion / Re: Xara Xtreme and Xtreme Pro upgraded to 3.2 - Proceed with caution: Info-rant

« Last post by tomos on June 21, 2007, 04:06 AM »

sort of BTW:
I flew home at the weekend and got a suprise on page 3 of the in-flight magazine

a full page add for Magix Xtreme ...

10835

What's the Best? / Re: cd burning

« Last post by tomos on June 21, 2007, 03:57 AM »

If you want a bit perfect copy it is important that you can verify that writing has completed correctly.

-Carol Haynes (June 18, 2007, 03:35 AM)

I was using Nero Express last week to burn a (photo) DVD
The verification took an absolute age (I dont think it's the drive - Plextor 716A - it burns at full speed anyway)

Had the idea then to test the next one with DOpus's synchronisation tool which also does a bit-by-bit comparison & it seemed to be a lot faster -
no scientific measurements but will keep track of how long it takes next time I do it.

I'm sure there's other free synchronisation tools out there if people wanted to go that route.

I havent been using Ashampoo Burn (6.5) cause it wouldnt update a multisession disk for me. I would have tried a bit harder - tested on a different disc or something, but I had Nero Express to fall back on so ...

10836

General Software Discussion / Re: Überwallpaper!

« Last post by tomos on June 15, 2007, 06:36 AM »

I like that third one there ...

10837

Word Processor Roundup / Re: Congratulations, Zaine - The full review is up!

« Last post by tomos on June 15, 2007, 03:18 AM »

Yes Yes, very nice 

thanks Zaine for all the hard work!

I spent a while lately looking for a word processer that could produce .docs that didnt screw up in Word 2007 & ended up with Textmaker & very happy with it.
Got one copy of it for my partner with an Educational liscence for €13 - later I got another copy on offer from Ashampoo for something ridiculous like €4.99 (no I'm not complaining )


I have fairly basic needs - but

• found AbiWord's .doc files just didnt read well in Word (& vice-versa)
  
• Atlantis I liked, fast too! Maybe it is there, but if I remember correctly I couldn't create tables in Atlantis ?? somehow find that hard to believe now 
  
• PolyEdit I liked as well - another fast app, but what turned me off it was I couldnt get a proper print preview - just see a "scroll" view of your document. I enquired earlier this year & it is planned for a future version

10838

General Software Discussion / Re: The GIMP, thoughts...

« Last post by tomos on June 14, 2007, 09:45 AM »

Argh... that didn't take long. 1 bad freeze, numerous odd behaviors, and for the frigging love of god: for some reason when you zoom with the mouse it doesn't zoom toward the cursor!

Looks like PhotoFiltre is next...

-Hirudin (June 14, 2007, 09:39 AM)

you're using vista arent you? maybe it's not ready yet ...

PS which version did you try?

10839

General Software Discussion / Re: The GIMP, thoughts...

« Last post by tomos on June 14, 2007, 07:42 AM »

Havent used Gimp at all myself but
there is a version called Gimpshop inspired by interface of you know what

is there even a portable version of the Gimp??
...
Yes http://portableapps.com/apps but its not the GipmShop one ...

10840

Living Room / Re: Links page - suggestions wanted

« Last post by tomos on June 14, 2007, 07:34 AM »

You also seemed to have forgotten Gizmo's site - http://www.techsupportalert.com/

-steeladept (June 08, 2007, 10:00 PM)

as a newsletter as well ?

Just had a look, great (links) page

re the hardware section
-
Steves Digicams is great site -
Another one I like a lot is Imaging Resource
http://www.imaging-resource.com/
If I was seriously researching cameras I would check out both 

Would you consider adding online computer hardware stores for UK, Germany/Europe or others?
Cant recommend any personally! (Have used a few but still wouldnt know enough to highly recommend anywhere ... pixmania I used a few times - reasonable price & easy to order with fast delivery in my experience - they're based in France but deliver Europewide I think)
I'm sure there'd be loads of people able to recommend sites here 

How about "shopping" sites then -
(is that the correct term - preisvergleicher/price-comparer?)
e.g. http://www.schottenland.de/ seems to be the best hardware oriented one here in Germany with feedback re the sellers.

10841

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: A new name

« Last post by tomos on June 14, 2007, 01:59 AM »

ClipTrap
ClapTrap 

CopyTrap

CodyTrap

CopyCody

CodyClip

ClipCage

CopyCage

CopyZone

ClipZone
ClipLaager 


oh I dont know,
a bit of high speed brainstorming
but nothing stands out ..

10842

General Software Discussion / Re: The great defrag shootout

« Last post by tomos on June 13, 2007, 04:21 AM »

Check out this forum thread for more (three!!) GUI options for JkDefrag

The options require a bit of contemplation on my part 
Here's some of the commandline options

Select an action to perform. The number N is a value from 1 to 11, default is 3:
1 = Analyze only, do not fixup and do not optimize.
2 = Analyze and fixup, do not optimize.
3 = Analyze, fixup, and fast optimization (default).
5 = Analyze and force together.
6 = Analyze and move to end of disk.
7 = Analyze and sort files by name.
8 = Analyze and sort files by size (smallest first).
9 = Analyze and sort files by last access (newest first).
10 = Analyze and sort files by last change (oldest first).
11 = Analyze and sort files by creation time (oldest first).

10843

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: FinePrint on at Bits du Jour Wednesday, June 13

« Last post by tomos on June 13, 2007, 02:57 AM »

21 hours left 

30% reduction to
$34.97 / €27.62

10844

General Software Discussion / Re: Xara Xtreme and Xtreme Pro upgraded to 3.2 - Proceed with caution: Info-rant

« Last post by tomos on June 13, 2007, 02:18 AM »

Fantastic idea. What is the best way to do that? Since you seem to get about 100 posts/day, I assume you know better than I how to do that.

-KenR (June 13, 2007, 01:58 AM)

Yup, he's experienced 

POLL: How many students are active here (instead of writing up?!)

10845

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Free computer help online (tune-ups, customization, etc)

« Last post by tomos on June 13, 2007, 02:08 AM »

Hi Brandon
I just wanted to say a belated thanks for sorting out my sounds
or should I say sorting out the lack of them 

To anyone else wanting to get some work done on their computers I say: I trust this guy - I mean I had to trust him in order to allow him remote access to my computer - but the important thing is that I still trust him afterwards

.
Yes,
I can now listen to Last.fm as I work -
I gotta say though, after 4 years with a silent computer,
I got a shock with the noises some programmes come out with!


P.S. have you read the current thread about Defragging - see this post AND the following few posts
https://www.donation...31.msg64656#msg64656

I've tried the JkDefrag with gui on my C drive - it seemed fairly fast to me
Havent rebooted yet to try the other two apps (regristry & pagefile defragger)

10846

General Software Discussion / Re: List of Vector Illustration Alternatives

« Last post by tomos on June 12, 2007, 11:24 AM »

some references to Freehand tools here in this post from Adobe's Freehand forum,
but you'll get the gist ..

I saw the future and it was cold. I turned to Illustrator CS, fooling myself, snuffing out the fire that still burned for that FH version of long ago. I tried to smile and tell myself I'd learn to love this awkward, ungainly beast as I tried to make a simple selection, or breeze through a multi-paged document on Illustrator's barren canvas. So many depravities later, on a stormy winter's night, a flash of lightning, a glimpse of something, someone, out there in the rain. It was Freehand. Cold and alone. But I hardened my heart and tried to focus on the hooting and clanking bells and whistles of Illustrator.

Then the apocolypse. Adobe, the bearer of my second love Photoshop and its beastly cousin, destroyed MM and absorbed the whithered corpse of Freehand. Millions of good designers and illustrators cried that day. Some, like I had, gave up on the past and looked towards the coming Nuclear Winter.

Not me. Not this time. I rose up and did a fresh install of [Freehand]MX. Wearing a torn leather driving suit and a feather earring, I burn across the backroads of digital design, souped up and spoiling for a fight. I ride the wastelands, looking for fuel and whatever loose palettes can be had. My name's not important, but my drawing program is. She's the last of the great Vector illustration programs and for all her faults she's mine. And if they try to handcuff me to a clipping mask, I will Paste Them Inside!

-http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/webforums/forum/messageview.cfm?forumid=17&catid=199&threadid=1222786&highlight_key=y&keyword1=canvas#4438509

10847

General Software Discussion / Re: List of Vector Illustration Alternatives

« Last post by tomos on June 12, 2007, 10:23 AM »

Thanks Tom! Another good resource is this wiki.

-Darwin (June 12, 2007, 09:48 AM)

from there to
Comparison of vector graphics editors
a brief, helpful, but fairly neutral description of the applications

EDIT: with good tables showing import/export details, basic features, price etc.
So I shouldn't really have called it "brief" !

10848

General Software Discussion / Re: The great defrag shootout

« Last post by tomos on June 12, 2007, 10:13 AM »

thanks Curt just found out the same from a tooltip


The version on offer from the link quoted -

I just downloaded it with a GUI this morning from The Great Defrag Shootout VIII: JkDefrag v3.8

there's a download link towards bottom of page...

-tomos (June 12, 2007, 04:45 AM)

has an older version of JkDefrag
It's confusing cause the version is 3.8 but the more recent version from the homepage is 3.14
Guess the older one should be called 3.08

10849

General Software Discussion / Re: Xara Xtreme and Xtreme Pro upgraded to 3.2 - Proceed with caution: Info-rant

« Last post by tomos on June 12, 2007, 09:47 AM »

Was going to post it here
but thought it veering off topic so started a new thread

List of Vector Illustration Alternatives

10850

General Software Discussion / Re: List of Vector Illustration Alternatives

« Last post by tomos on June 12, 2007, 09:45 AM »

From the thread Open source vector graphics software?

Well, since you've already found Inkscape, half the battle is already over. Let me help you with a few more...


XFig (just call him "Grandpa")
http://www-epb.lbl.gov/xfig/

SodiPodi (Inkscape's very nice Czechoslovakian cousin, who hasn't updated since '04 )
http://www.sodipodi.com/index.php3

Karbon14 (if you're using KDE, that is...)
http://www.koffice.org/karbon/

XaraXtreme (Xara's open source offspring)
http://www.xaraxtreme.org/

that oughta do it.

-Edvard (November 07, 2006, 06:27 PM)