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1126

Living Room / Re: SSD Drives - something to consider before taking the plunge

« Last post by Dormouse on May 12, 2011, 03:25 AM »

I use a SSD for my OS & apps; I don't use it for any data at all. I take and keep images of the SSD fairly frequently which I keep on HDDs. If/when the SSD fails, I will replace it with another. The speed of the SSD is well worth the higher price - to me anyway.

1127

General Software Discussion / Re: Software recommendations for writers

« Last post by Dormouse on May 12, 2011, 01:20 AM »

As far as changing their business plan, that's the risk you take using free services.

-40hz (May 10, 2011, 06:38 PM)

I don't think Evernote 2.2 was free, at least my version wasn't.

Business plans changed when Evernote was taken over by someone with a clear idea of where they wanted to take it. And had the program completely rewritten.

I should have put it better: handing over control of my data.  I would feel very vulnerable if it was only stored on their servers.

-rjbull (May 11, 2011, 04:01 PM)

Agreed - except that the cloudy versions always have a copy on the HDD too. I don't think there's a way of making it cloud only (I suspect using sync minimises their transfer costs).

I doubt it would remain free very long, but, I thought the storage was part of what you paid for when you paid for Evernote > 2.2.  I don't want to go on paying for evermore...

-rjbull (May 11, 2011, 04:01 PM)

All versions of Evernote are free (well, since they were taken over they have been). The free version allows datebases ("notebooks") to be synced to the cloud or just kept locally. What you get if you pay is a much bigger upload limit (1GB a month rather than 60MB) and the ability to sync any file type instead of just PDF, images & audio. I'm willing to pay if I need it, but have never wanted to sync other file types or upload more than I do.

Apart from the sync with the cloud, the big issue a lot of 2.2 users had was the inability to organise/reorganise by switching around in a note hierarchy. I've come around on that eventually since I do use the cloud availability. They do have tags - better now than they were - but it is still not the old functionality. But then, if I need that I just use Ultra Recall instead    I always did only use Evernote for snippets.

1128

General Software Discussion / Re: Software recommendations for writers

« Last post by Dormouse on May 10, 2011, 05:20 PM »

If I remember correctly, Evernote 2.2 was the last version that was a "proper app" which stored its data locally.  I believe the 3 series is a cloud app.

-rjbull (May 10, 2011, 05:03 PM)

No. You can synchronise any of your databases to the cloud if you want - but you can just keep them locally on your hard drive if you prefer. Personally, I have found the ability to access databases from anywhere on my phone very useful.

PS It's now on v4.

1129

Living Room / Re: Farewell Skype ...

« Last post by Dormouse on May 10, 2011, 02:39 PM »

In fact, they had already sold out long ago. Sold it to ebay in 2005. Ebay sold it to venture capitalists (+ founders) in 2009, having not got the most out of it. Hardly a surprise to find venture capitalists then selling for a profit - that is what they do (except when they sell for a loss that is).

1130

Living Room / Re: Farewell Skype ...

« Last post by Dormouse on May 10, 2011, 01:02 PM »

MS may be the best option out of the 3. I'd hate to see Skype folded into Facebook (& not sure what else they'd do with it to make it worthwhile for them). The business model behind all Google's businesses is pretty much the same as the Skype one & I think they'd make it work - but that would make it extremely hard for anyone to compete. MS's record with acquisitions is hardly positive. I assume they see a potential benefit in their cloudy ambitions & possibly with WM7 too - and that clearly needs all the breaks it can get to avoid a rapidly visible flop. But it is a very different business model to the ones that MS is used to milking and I'd be surprised to see them make it work, so I suspect Skype (as is) will decline and become no more. The one good thing with that is that Google will still be out there & will have the ability & desire to move into any space left behind by MS.

1131

General Software Discussion / Re: Software recommendations for writers

« Last post by Dormouse on May 07, 2011, 12:51 PM »

I mostly use two programs:- Liquid Story Binder (shareware) and TreeDBNotes (free version probably sufficient). Both have multiple ways of organising/reorganising what you have written, both have the ability to store/give easy access to other info you will want to use while writing, both are in active development with good support, both have an option for a simple writing screen should that be what you want, both have a variety of import/export options. Liquid Story Binder is set up for writers, TreeDBNOtes sells itself as an outliner/PIM - but I mostly use it for writing.

There is also the Windows beta version of Scrivener, a very well regarded/popular writing program for the Mac. I have tried it, but saw no reason to move from the programs I already use.

1132

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 10

« Last post by Dormouse on May 04, 2011, 02:23 AM »

Pity the extra money doesn't reach GP Software.

-michaelkenward (May 03, 2011, 04:31 PM)

Where does it go?

-mwb1100 (May 03, 2011, 06:23 PM)

I think he means it is just eaten up by the exchange rate change. It is only the same number of Australian dollars for GP Software

1133

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 10

« Last post by Dormouse on April 30, 2011, 04:53 PM »

Only space for one discount code on the buy page. I did check by going through the upgrade links.

1134

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 10

« Last post by Dormouse on April 30, 2011, 03:41 PM »

it's too expensive for an actual license...

-Tuxman (April 30, 2011, 12:46 PM)

Maybe. It's certainly more expensive than the "competition". And I don't like the still expensive upgrade price. But it works very well &, even though I use Q-Dir probably more often & also have a lifetime license for XY (& use Shellless quite a lot too on my 2nd computer), I will almost certainly upgrade. It has been 4 years since the last major version change, & it was regularly improved over that period, & it is easy to see why this is a major version change. And there is the DC 25% discount which is presumably still available.

1135

Living Room / Karen Kenworthy RIP

« Last post by Dormouse on April 25, 2011, 06:42 PM »

I was very sad to hear of the death of Karen Kenworthy (KarenWare.com) earlier this month.

1136

Site/Forum Features / Re: I think we should close the Company Complaints and Compliments Section

« Last post by Dormouse on April 23, 2011, 03:27 PM »

I don't have ... any position on those arguments other than to have privately reached out to both sides and told them they were making the situation worse with the tone of their posts and the ad hominem attacks -- not that my advice seems to have had much influence. 

-mouser (April 22, 2011, 06:38 AM)

Indeed.

1137

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for "Always on Top" Software for Windows 7

« Last post by Dormouse on April 23, 2011, 01:13 AM »

I use Actual Windows Manager

Not free, but very good. Does more than just pushpins though.

1138

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: XYplorer Lifetime License Pro on offer BdJ Friday 8th April 2011

« Last post by Dormouse on April 08, 2011, 06:53 AM »

I wonder... is there any benefit to purchasing this if one already has a license to DO9?

-cthorpe (April 08, 2011, 06:23 AM)

I have both. I actually use DO & Q-Dir.

I am sure there are benefits to XY that I don't take advantage of.

1139

Site/Forum Features / Re: Shortcomings of DC and How to Improve

« Last post by Dormouse on March 07, 2011, 04:14 PM »

So, Mouser, is the proposal that you send the Cody replacement around to deserving members?
No wonder the fundraising is going so well.

1140

Site/Forum Features / Re: Shortcomings of DC and How to Improve

« Last post by Dormouse on March 06, 2011, 10:05 PM »

Well since you choose to respect people who take covert actions than someone like me who speaks out,

-lotusrootstarch (March 06, 2011, 09:39 PM)

I'd've thought a hidden identity was covert

1141

General Software Discussion / Re: Trying to switch to Opera: Need help, tips

« Last post by Dormouse on March 01, 2011, 04:26 PM »

I use Lastpass and AdMuncher (not free). Both work fine on Opera, or any other browser I fire up.

1142

General Software Discussion / Re: Software to share To-Do lists?

« Last post by Dormouse on February 22, 2011, 11:59 AM »

Does what you ask.

And a whole host of other things, should you ever need/want them.

Abstractspoon's ToDoList2

1143

General Software Discussion / Re: SpiderPlayer Pro Becomes Free

« Last post by Dormouse on February 13, 2011, 04:01 PM »

Very sad as it is my favourite music player.

The developer stopped developing it once before (felt he had added all the features that it wanted/needed), but then started developing it again. Was on BitsDuJour on 18th Nov, and I got my last update at the end of December, so this looks like a recent, sudden decision.

OTOH, it works very well at what it does & I can understand him wanting to leave it as it is. And the free version was always very functional, and the Pro version very cheap, so I assume he never made much money from it. Or even seemed to want to make money from it. I'm quite happy carrying on with it just as I am.

1144

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sagelight Image Editor - pay what you want promo (Apil 2010)

« Last post by Dormouse on January 17, 2011, 05:19 AM »

and v4 (Part 1) pre-release beta is now out! 

Details HERE

1145

Living Room / Re: R.I.P. MySpace

« Last post by Dormouse on January 12, 2011, 11:04 AM »

Like the guy who won and lost $100K in a poker game, it must be incredibly depressing to live with the certain knowledge you HAD it -and totally blew it.

-40hz (January 12, 2011, 08:23 AM)

I don't know. They had it - and they sold it (for a pretty good price, given that they were already losing out to Facebook).

It's Murdoch taking the loss (& the responsibility for its decline). 

1146

Developer's Corner / Re: "competitive upgrade" - is it ethical?

« Last post by Dormouse on January 11, 2011, 04:32 PM »

You have to realise that people who have bought a competing product are a group of potential customers who have particular characteristics:

• they have already spent money on this type of product and spending the same again may be a step too far
• but this investment shows that they have a real interest/need for your type of product and may well be serial upgraders if you can get them and keep them happy
• if they have even just looked at your offer, you know they are at least somewhat dissatisfied with what they have

And the reason you offer upgrade deals anyway is because people in general are very unhappy about paying the full price on a regular basis. I can certainly see why competitive upgrade offers are seen as being a good strategy.

And there are swathes of the IT industry where attracting other vendors customers is the only game in town.

I also think it is B/S to think that this works better for larger vendors. Software usually has a relatively limited maintenance cost per customer, so each sale is pure extra money unless a discount just reduces the price for a sale that would be made anyway. My guess is that customers of other companies will relatively rarely want to buy your product at full price (unless it is a low price area where some people (naming no names) are happy to build up a whole collection of licenses). BDJ type sales may lose a few full price sales, especially for companies that do them regularly, but I think it would be very rare for this to be the case with competitive upgrades.

1147

Living Room / Re: Why I love product reviews....written by NON-TECHS

« Last post by Dormouse on January 10, 2011, 09:32 PM »

This guy rocks - Ken Rockwell.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/

His reviews are fantastic. But he's RARE. There are not many people like that out there. He's the sort of person that you want to read reviews from.

-Renegade (January 10, 2011, 08:36 PM)

You do need to understand his biases though.

1148

Living Room / Re: Are You Ready to Switch to GNU/Linux?

« Last post by Dormouse on January 10, 2011, 09:28 PM »

This is an area where English is simply deficient and Chinese excels. Where a single pronunciation and spelling in English is ambiguous, Chinese characters differ and make the exact meaning clear. We really need to be verbose at times in English in order to not send the wrong message.

-Renegade (January 10, 2011, 08:10 PM)

 

You then go on to give some examples that clarify the meaning rather than using the word "free".

As a constantly evolving and highly flexible language(s), English gives a vast range of options to its speakers. Ranging from words that define meaning precisely, to usages rich in allusion or insinuation, to usages (frequently colloquial) that almost seems designed to allow the maximum range of meanings to be eked from limited vocabularies. Precise meaning can come from the individual word or word groups or can arise from the context.

The whole "free" thing arises from people enjoying the word play the word 'free' offers.

Admittedly, it also seems to have been deliberately misused in this thread to imply things that were never meant. "Free market" and "free speech" are usages where the meaning is defined in the specific word pair rather than the word 'free'  as an adjective. Just as there is a misuse of the concept of 0 in an equation. Simply people having fun, I assumed.

1149

General Software Discussion / Re: Your most used SPECIAL programs

« Last post by Dormouse on January 05, 2011, 11:58 AM »

From what I have read (I've not tried it) Outline 4D seems to be aimed at screen writers. I did also note a comment somewhere that it was basically a 2005 program that hadn't been updated since (except for something very marginal) and was freshened up by being given a new name - but still the same program underneath. Not really a problem,, I suppose, if it is already as good as it needs to be.

1150

General Software Discussion / Re: What is your preferred server OS for home use? And Why?

« Last post by Dormouse on January 05, 2011, 11:50 AM »

I've had a NAS for many years. Set up with hardware based RAID. I've also used backup programs for many years.

Increasingly, though, I have become concerned about how much security they really bring. I've not had a failure with either (yet); at least, that I know about. And it is knowing about it that I really want to do. A backup is always a worry unless you check every time that it has everything and you can read it. I'm now much happier just syncing all my data files, and periodically copying them in their entirety to other drives/places (with copies of various stuff in places on the net). It is very easy to copy TrueCrypt volumes too. It means I can check or use either set of files in normal use; I always sync in one direction only (feeling that gives me a bit of extra protection against something going wrong), so I have to remember to save everything on to one drive only, but that is not a problem. I also image my OS/App drive regularly. I know most of them are OK because I do check from time to time, and I can always rebuild from scratch if necessary anyway.

And my NAS? Well, when I get around to it I will just copy everything off it, reformat it without RAID and use it as separate drives. I just don't see that RAID is bringing me anything I need right now. With the current price and speed of usb3/sata3 drives & SSDs, it seems best to just add them as I need them.

PS I voted for FreeNAS, because that is all I would use a home server for. If I wanted a real server, I'd go Linux. Much more familiar with Linux servers than Windows Servers.