Recent Posts

11051

Living Room / Re: Typing Speed Competition!

« Last post by mouser on August 05, 2012, 12:40 PM »

Here are my results on my 2nd try, beat this if you can!
(Actually I did better on my first try, but I stopped early because it didn't seem like the damn thing was ever ending -- but it does end so you have to keep going until it tells you to stop)

11052

General Software Discussion / Re: software to write gamebooks ?

« Last post by mouser on August 05, 2012, 11:33 AM »

Looks really fun Farkran! 

11053

Developer's Corner / Does anyone know any article comparing/analyzing CMS admin areas?

« Last post by mouser on August 05, 2012, 10:44 AM »

I've been working on structuring the Administrative area for the big web framework project I've been working on (YUMPS), and I've become quite interested in the issue of structuring the "Administrative" area. 

That is, I'm interested in the different ways that CMS systems set up their administrative/moderation areas (control panels, etc.) for system admins and moderators.

I'm interested not so much in the visual "look" (though I am interested in that too) but in the philosophy of organizing the areas in terms of things like navigation structure (hierarchical menu organization, etc.).  And some related issues like how to handle cases where different moderators have different permissions to access certain settings, etc.

Anyone know any good comparisons or essays on the subject?

Anyone who has experience with lots of different modern CMS systems have a take on one or two that handles this particularly well?

11054

Living Room / Re: Happy Birthday TRS-80

« Last post by mouser on August 05, 2012, 09:33 AM »

Here's what a very advanced trs-80 full screen graphics game looked like back in those days:

11055

Living Room / Re: Happy Birthday TRS-80

« Last post by mouser on August 05, 2012, 09:25 AM »

We never owned a trs-80, but i have very fond memories of programming on it extensively in the early 1980s, writing games for myself and friends.  The blocky black and white graphics were beautiful.

Also, the Trs-80's that I remember all looked like this (not like the above photo), from wikipedia:



According to Wikipedia, the photo in the first post is for the TRS-80 Model III, where mine is the model I (which used a cassette player to save programs not a disk drive).

11056

Living Room / Re: Hacked "hard" via the cloud.

« Last post by mouser on August 04, 2012, 12:48 PM »

wow. scary.

11057

Living Room / Re: DonationCoder Poker Tournament is Scheduled!

« Last post by mouser on August 03, 2012, 05:08 PM »

There may be multiple annual poker tournament mugs, but only one FIRST ANNUAL poker tournament mug.

11058

Living Room / Re: DonationCoder Poker Tournament is Scheduled!

« Last post by mouser on August 03, 2012, 04:37 PM »

8 days till the tournament and we only have a few people signed up so far!
Does no one want boasting rights and the one and only first annual Cody Poker Tournament Winner Mug?!?!?

Come on people, sign up!

11059

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR Release v2.107.04 beta - Sep 23, 2012

« Last post by mouser on August 03, 2012, 11:26 AM »

Hmm that is odd, i'm going to have to check that out -- there is no reason you should get that error.

jamesthebod you could also look into telling farr not to use its QuickDoc Launcher helper, and other launch options:

11060

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: sql statements help?

« Last post by mouser on August 03, 2012, 04:35 AM »

I see I actually do provide a list of fields in the Advanced Features->Virtual Folders page of help, which in online here:
https://www.donation.../virtual_folders.htm

Fields available for sql statements:
•   Index
•   UserKeywords
•   ClipType
•   ParentId
•   ParentGroup
•   OtherGroups
•   Application
•   Title
•   Description
•   ImageIndex
•   ExcerptText
•   ClipText
•   CreationDateTime
•   ModificationDateTime
•   ViewDateTime
•   MarkDateTime
•   DueDateTime
•   IsFavorite
•   UserFlag
•   UserCheckbox
•   UserRating
•   Protected

Are there other places (in CHS) where we can use them (SQL and variables) as well?

Nope, but I'm open to suggestions.

11061

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: sql statements help?

« Last post by mouser on August 02, 2012, 08:50 PM »

Hi Rashid, welcome to the site, and welcome to an advanced feature that not many people use.

And your question is a great one -- it's a perfect case where a virtual group might be useful.

These threads might be the best place to start in general about virtual groups and sql:

• https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=27336.0
• https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=4135.0

And I really need to post a list of field clip variable names you have access to.

But for your specific question, here's an answer:

When you merge clips, CHS names the new clip with a title like "Merged clips (4)".

So we create a new group like so:


The key is the sql:

Code: Text [Select]

1. (Title LIKE '%Merged clips%')

Actually it would be a little more efficient to make the sql:

Code: Text [Select]

1. (Title LIKE 'Merged clips%')

Because we know the clip title will START with the word "Merged" so we dont need the wildcard % at the front.

11062

Living Room / Re: Should we pre-emptively retire old hard drives?

« Last post by mouser on August 02, 2012, 03:05 PM »

 

11063

Living Room / Re: Should we pre-emptively retire old hard drives?

« Last post by mouser on August 02, 2012, 10:21 AM »

One thing I've observed that does have a direct effect on service life is heat. Cases packed with multiple hard drives, inadequate airflow, and "hot room" environments do experience more drive failures than single-drive PCs in normal office or home environments.

Yes, that seems to be very well established, which is why I now take hd overheating very seriously, when it's something i never paid attention to before.

In fact, that's why I love Crystal Disk Info, and why I linked to it in my first post -- it lets me put a separate icon for each hard drive temperature in the system tray (and it's free).  [If you have only one HD in your computer, there are lots of tray-based hd temperature monitors you could use].

11064

Living Room / Re: Should we pre-emptively retire old hard drives?

« Last post by mouser on August 02, 2012, 08:33 AM »

Some sound advice here.. I guess what I'm hearing is:

• For the next big new computer build, make the move to raid.
• Because of the unpredictability of failure, the costs+risks vs. benefits of pre-emptively retiring old drives makes it unappealing -- especially compared with the alternative approach of using RAID.

Personally I've avoided RAID for a long time -- mainly because my approach has been to use HD racks, with 3 hard drives in my desktop pc, each serving a different purpose (Operating system, My data, Large Drive for backups, etc.).  And I don't think RAID will let me do that.. Though I'd love to hear about a solution that would let me use that kind of 3-drive setup, and give the computer a 4th terrabyte drive and configure it to store raid-like instant redundancy for all the other drives.  Anything like that exist?

11065

Living Room / Should we pre-emptively retire old hard drives?

« Last post by mouser on August 02, 2012, 01:52 AM »

We all know that hard drives can and will fail eventually, and often unpredictably and without warning.  That's why we make sure we back up regularly.

But here's is a question I've been thinking about lately, and I don't know the answer to:

Should we pre-emptively retire old but perfectly-working hard drives, and migrate data to a new drive? If so, after how many hours?

Or should we just run them into the ground until they fail?

Here's a screenshot of one of my favorite tools (CrystalDiskInfo), showing smart data of my oldest drive, with 39,000 hours powered up:


Is powered-up hours even the right metric to use -- or should we be using the actual years since manufacture?

11066

Living Room / Re: Hidden Netflix Marathon Gems to Watch Online

« Last post by mouser on August 01, 2012, 07:30 PM »

Breaking Bad Series:

Breaking Bad was created by Vince Gilligan, who spent several years writing the Fox series The X-Files. Gilligan wanted to create a series in which the protagonist became the antagonist. "Television is historically good at keeping its characters in a self-imposed stasis so that shows can go on for years or even decades," he said. "When I realized this, the logical next step was to think, how can I do a show in which the fundamental drive is toward change?"

Quite a good show.

11067

General Software Discussion / Re: Immersive Explorer: Oh God why?

« Last post by mouser on August 01, 2012, 01:35 PM »

we increasingly seem to be entering an age where functionality takes a very distant back seat to eye candy.

11068

Living Room / Re: OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?

« Last post by mouser on August 01, 2012, 08:39 AM »

That's an old school formal writing guideline (and one I like!).

See for example:
http://answers.yahoo...0060719082151AAkfEeo

11069

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: Paste a screenshot in windows explorer

« Last post by mouser on August 01, 2012, 12:09 AM »

However, I don't see a way to paste that screenshot into an explorer window to create an image file of that screenshot.

Just follow my instructions above and the image will be copied to the clipboard.  Then you can just exactly what you asked, go to windows explorer, and hit Ctrl+V where you want the image and hit Ctrl+V to paste it; that will create a new image file.

Having said that, I see an unpleasant aspect -- when you hit Ctrl+V it will create a new image file, but the image file will be called "Clipboard Image.bmp" and be in bmp format.  Wheras if you just drag it out of the Screenshot Captor thumbnail panel into a windows explorer window, it will make a copy of the file and preserve the filename and format.

I'll look into an option copying the file to the clipboard in the way that preserves filename and format.

11070

Developer's Corner / Re: Help me think of a small ipad app idea to code

« Last post by mouser on July 31, 2012, 05:39 PM »

Trying to keep the brain sharp by learning new things!

11071

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: Paste a screenshot in windows explorer

« Last post by mouser on July 31, 2012, 12:28 PM »

You can do exactly what you want using my Screenshot Captor; just set the option to automatically copy the screenshot to the Clipboard, and set the program to stay minimized after capture (so it doesn't pop up asking you what you want to do after each capture).

11072

MEWLO Web Framework / Re: OLD - Unfinished Web project: YUMPS

« Last post by mouser on July 30, 2012, 01:31 PM »

I have not been focusing at all on looks, so this is nothing to be excited about, but here's the navigation sidebar in action:


Again, the themeing and style needs major work; the important thing is that there is a site navigation system that handles main menus, sidebars, breadcrumbs, etc.  So that when you make a custom web system you don't have to worry about such things.

11073

Living Room / Re: esata vs. USB...fight!

« Last post by mouser on July 30, 2012, 01:22 PM »

One serious drawback of esata for external docking solutions is that you need one esata port and cable for EACH DRIVE in the dock.
This was a nasty surprise for me, and i've never forgiven esata for this issue.

To me, the external usb docks are great in that they are so portable; speed is not my main concern -- I just want to be able to quickly connect and disconnect and move the dock to different pcs, etc.  USB has seemed like a better match for my needs over esata.

11074

Find And Run Robot / Re: alias for toggle internet proxy

« Last post by mouser on July 29, 2012, 04:46 PM »

Filipe, it may be that you have an option set for FARR to grab focus. now whether you want to keep that or not i dont know.

11075

Find And Run Robot / Re: FARR stopped displaying all alias icons after trying to create new icon

« Last post by mouser on July 29, 2012, 03:18 PM »

I wonder if maybe ONE of the icons is corrupted and it's breaking farr's icon rendering.
Can you look for any possible icon file that you may have changed that is broken?