Recent Posts

1126

Living Room / Re: So Apple really is a religious thing...

« Last post by Dormouse on May 22, 2011, 06:05 PM »

There will be other possibilities, but not simply about liking. There has been quite a bit of fMRI research into religion (as with many other things, including liking), so they will have known what they expected to look for with this case. AFAICS, they just looked at one fervent Apple lover & checked to see whether the pattern fitted with previous research on religious people. It should have been easy to discount most obvious alternative possibilities. But it's not a study, just a single test used given all the spin by a journalist. Doesn't mean that other Apple lovers will be the same (though the behaviour & belief of many is very similar), &, if they were, they would then expect to see the same pattern with other things that engender the same apparent fervour.

1127

Living Room / Re: So Apple really is a religious thing...

« Last post by Dormouse on May 22, 2011, 05:21 PM »

Maybe it's the "image-processing and interpretation" part of the brain. You know, from looking at pictures and images and processing them into some kind of meaning.

-Deozaan (May 22, 2011, 03:47 PM)

Quote from the article:

A team of neuroscientists studied Brooks’ brain while undergoing an MRI scan, to see how it reacted to images of Apple products and (heaven forbid) non-Apple products.

According to the neuroscientists, the scan revealed that there were marked differences in Brooks’ reactions to the different products.

Image processing areas would, of course, have been triggered by both Apple & non-Apple products, so that cannot be what they were looking at. There have been quite a few fMRI studies on religion.

1128

General Software Discussion / Re: windows file manager with single-click navigation?

« Last post by Dormouse on May 22, 2011, 01:06 PM »

DOpus, of course.

1129

Living Room / Re: Tech shopping tips

« Last post by Dormouse on May 22, 2011, 01:05 PM »

Agree with all the comments about staying away from the leading edge. That said, I'm sometimes there (eg to get USB3, SATA3) because the timing of my build meant it was either leading edge of not having those options (which I knew I did want).

1130

Living Room / Re: Audio Equipment -- (Spinoff thread)

« Last post by Dormouse on May 22, 2011, 12:59 PM »

For Audio Technica, I looked at their mics a while back, but everything I liked was significantly more expensive. A friend bought their USB mic and it was very nice. I forget what he paid, but it wasn't cheap either. Came with a nice stand though.

-Renegade (May 22, 2011, 06:33 AM)

The 2020 is very cheap for what it is - the USB version costs a bit more but is also reasonably priced.

Not as cheap as the SM-58, but a good general purpose condenser mic for the studio.

1131

Living Room / Re: Audio Equipment -- (Spinoff thread)

« Last post by Dormouse on May 22, 2011, 12:52 PM »

The thing about Reaper is that you have to get the concepts behind the way it works, and they aren't the same as other DAWs you are used to. If you do get them, it is very powerful; but there's no getting away from the fact that it is very complex with any number of features that aren't obvious. I find it suits the way I think, but there's still a lot of stuff that will need to be discovered/learned to make full use of all its features (at least to the extent that I'd be interested in doing so); that's where the forum community comes in - there's usually someone who knows answering queries fairly quickly. I've only been playing around for it for a year or so and have a long way to go (and might have spent more time reading the forum than using the program  ). I'm certain I'd've cracked it fairly quickly with full immersion, but I have other programs I use and no spare time to allow me focus on it for a period of time.

1132

Living Room / Re: Audio Equipment -- (Spinoff thread)

« Last post by Dormouse on May 22, 2011, 05:52 AM »

I'm thinking of going the Reaper route if I can't get SONAR, or maybe crossgrading to SONAR X1 Essentials from FL Studio.

-Renegade (May 22, 2011, 12:53 AM)

I'd certainly recommend Reaper, even if you do soldier on with other DAWs. Very actively developed, very reasonably priced and with a very knowledgeable and helpful community; lots of veries in one package. When I think about what I'm doing/going to do, it is always with the idea that I will pull it all into Reaper in the end.

Not so sure about the Shure. Good for live voice; not so good with studio & a lot of instruments.

1133

Living Room / Re: Sound problems

« Last post by Dormouse on May 16, 2011, 04:06 AM »

One other option would be to run a version of Linux from a CD (making sure it is one that has the required sound/video codecs etc). That would exclude Windows specific issues and change nothing on your system.

If you think it might be something to do with your hard drive, then run a portable player + mp3 from a memory stick (or just load both into RAM if you have a RAM disk). That would also make sure they are using a local codec, so no issues from any that are already installed.

1134

General Software Discussion / Re: Software recommendations for writers

« Last post by Dormouse on May 15, 2011, 10:30 PM »

Liquid Story Binder XE looks really complex but I'm intrigued is there ample documentation included with the program to help figure it out because  without that I can see myself getting lost quickly.

-Dochappy (May 15, 2011, 03:44 PM)

Manual here and Online Tutorials here. Lots of help available in the forum. IIRC, the developer's general advice is for people to start off using just a few types of screen/file type and then add others as they feel the need; I don't think most people use anything like all the options and which ones are useful depends on what you are writing. You can make it very simple if you want.

1135

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

« Last post by Dormouse on May 12, 2011, 01:32 PM »

$560 for 240GB?
I can't afford to throw away that kind of money every 200 days or so.

-Deozaan (May 12, 2011, 05:13 AM)

But he's not throwing the money away. There is an advantage to things failing within the warranty period.

I was going to say that there can't be a real need for 240GB, but then I thought of apps that make massive use of lots of scattered bits of data files to work (eg DAWs). and I can see that I might start thinking that it might be worth it.

1136

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.

1137

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.

1138

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.

1139

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).

1140

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.

1141

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.

1142

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

1143

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.

1144

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.

1145

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.

1146

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.

1147

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.

1148

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.

1149

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.

1150

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