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11301

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AceText - Your text/clipboard manager god.

« Last post by tomos on August 05, 2006, 02:02 PM »

Okay I'm probably going to go a bit off topic here,
&\or because ..
me, I'm about as opposite as you can get from a programmer (!)
but!
I am interested in some sort of clipboard "Manager" that also saves txt notes - I've been using PowerPro's clipboard menu feature for the clipboard bit but dont find it that great.

Curiously, I've only now seen Mouser's Clipboard Help & Spell
Maybe I'll check that out first
regards, tom

11302

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: AceText - Your text/clipboard manager god.

« Last post by tomos on August 05, 2006, 12:38 PM »

hi mitzevo,
               nice review!

do you know which functions are disabled in the free version ?
Just curious
 I'm going to try it out anyways, sounds like it could be a replacement for Evernote which I've been using less & less of late.

Ahhh ... just noticed its a trial version, (not a free version then?)

11303

Living Room / Re: Is IE7 or Firefox 2 safer?

« Last post by tomos on August 05, 2006, 11:12 AM »

Securitywise I'll stick with Opera
See this comment on the article
http://talkback.zdne...=449513&start=-1

Did I say securitywise ... almost every otherwise as well - only miss addblock & flashblock ... ah well

11304

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: InstantBoss - For those of us which require motivation to work

« Last post by tomos on August 02, 2006, 05:52 AM »

I like this InstantBoss - its just what I've been missing - a boss

What I find is I need something to tell me to work & also to take breaks.
This fits the bill nicely.

One thing I notice is:
when I get prompted to take a break & I select "work longer", it no longer prompts me to take a break. I'd like to see that included personally for two reasons:
1) I'm often surfin when i should be workin, so when i take a break I know I gotta get back to WORK instead of whatever...
2) Unfortunately, when I'm actually working, I work mostly with the mouse - if i dont take breaks I end up getting tennis elbow or whatever its called

PS thanks for the programme Apps

11305

General Software Discussion / Re: Situation re: unsupported software

« Last post by tomos on August 02, 2006, 04:26 AM »

This is pretty unfortunate, I agree, but companies do have a right to control their products, even if that company is now owned by another (the parent company then has that right). So it sucks, but it makes a bit of sense. I just wish if companies weren't planning to actually replace the app in question they'd sell it or open source it.

- Oshyan

-JavaJones (August 01, 2006, 09:15 PM)

Yeah, thats true, [companies do have a right to control their products] & they've paid for the right.

& re:
[I just wish if companies weren't planning to actually replace the app in question they'd sell it or open source it.]   well, they want me to buy illustrator      ... I could check if they're offering an upgrade from Freehand to illustrator - but think I'll check out the other competition at some stage instead (Corel, cant think of anyone else at the moment)

11306

General Software Discussion / Situation re: unsupported software

« Last post by tomos on August 01, 2006, 11:51 AM »

Greetings,
I'm wondering what the situation is when a piece of software is no longer sold or supported.

Can that software then be freely copied (or might that even vary from country to country?)

One example would be Windows98,
but I'm actually asking cause of Freehand (Macromedia) which has been taken over by Adobe.
I'm using version 9 & was considering upgrading this summer\autumn\year..
macromedia.com is now redirected to adobe & when you click on the buy link for Freehand MX you just get a blank screen.

now this may just be temporary, but i suspect its the end for Freehand which is a shame cause I'll need twice as much time to do the same amount of work on Illustrator & probably a computer thats twice as powerful as i have now ..
(I did try out ZaraXtreme {& Inkscape} but while the difference isnt that great in terms of quality, if you're working with it all day the little things can make a huge difference in terms of time, etc.)

Anyways FH is still on sale on Ebay & not particularly cheap either (except for one so cheap I presume its a copy or whatever they do)
So I'm wondering if I "aquired" a copy or update will I be BREAKING THE LAW - these days all my software is legal & I'd like to keep it that way, cause even though I'm not very successful & working from home, I am registered as a business & as such presume I could be checked out at any stage. (Also its feels good )

From a gut point of view I couldnt care less about Adobe here cause its the one area I've always felt they've been going down the wrong road (with illustrator I mean) and now the b#$*§ds are burying my beloved freehand ...                                                                                                     

11307

General Software Discussion / Re: WINRAR free this sunday 30th July 2006

« Last post by tomos on July 30, 2006, 11:43 AM »

Easier to pay for it than to go to all this damn trouble.. hell I could dig a ditch and make enough money to buy it in the time it takes to get this free version .

-db90h (July 30, 2006, 11:21 AM)

wheres the fecking shovel

11308

General Software Discussion / Re: WINRAR free this sunday 30th July 2006

« Last post by tomos on July 30, 2006, 11:09 AM »

I got the reg page & got a mail with as app says confusing directions\lack of same
and a link for the download which doesnt work today sofar,
AND it doesnt say if the download-link is good after today...

(says i get two attempts at downloading, be lucky if i get any at this rate )

11309

General Software Discussion / Re: Good programs for helping you manage what programs start with windows?

« Last post by tomos on July 24, 2006, 04:51 AM »

or
http://www.winpatrol.com/download.html

WinPatrol (free version)

very easy & you can keep an eye on various other things as well

11310

Living Room / Re: Free blog hosting for members at DonationCoder - might be a good idea?

« Last post by tomos on July 20, 2006, 11:56 AM »

Well, I respectfully disagree. 

Blogging should be independent and personal, strictly, and also no strings attached, no restrictions imposed. Blogging is fun only when it's simultaneously personal (or private) and interactive, IMO.

-Mobysaurus (July 20, 2006, 10:12 AM)

Point taken,
its not that I really prefer the mixed bloggers idea, its just that I know I get an idea once in a while, it then takes time to mature,    and more time to get written, which means I wouldnt get to post so often
and I wouldnt want that to mean that people just dont get to read the stuff

but your idea would probably get around that-

1. Allow a member to submit a RSS feed to his own profile (should be from his own blog, by default)

2. He will then have the option to "Display an extract of my latest blog entry on the Forum" or "Keep other members up-to-date about my blog"

11311

Living Room / Re: Free blog hosting for members at DonationCoder - might be a good idea?

« Last post by tomos on July 20, 2006, 08:33 AM »

now a question for the bloggers.
i am going to try to figure out a way to have both options, so blogger can choose, but in general do people think they would rather each of their completely independent blog with their own custom look, or be different bloggers on a single blog.

i am guessing the former; the real advantage of the latter is that if you had 20 bloggers who only posted once a week you would still have a lively vibrant page that visitors might grow to enjoy and visit.  wheras if you each have your own individual blog, you might get lost in the crowd.  on the other hand, im assuming most of you will want to have your own blog which you can use for your own circles.  maybe we can find a way to do both..

-mouser (July 20, 2006, 06:35 AM)

for myself, I was thinking of the latter (different bloggers on a single blog), but maybe as you say both would be possible, or people could choose, or they could overlap?
 - someone could choose "the best of" (or simply the more suitable stuff from) the individual blogs to go into a mixed one?

or as mouser suggests above:
"it might be fun though to have a page where the most recent post from all dc blogs would be shown, like our our previous blog columns."

11312

Living Room / Re: Free blog hosting for members at DonationCoder - might be a good idea?

« Last post by tomos on July 20, 2006, 06:26 AM »

yaaaaaaay

11313

Living Room / Re: Free blog hosting for members at DonationCoder - might be a good idea?

« Last post by tomos on July 20, 2006, 06:14 AM »

I've started writing stuff lately (I dont know ... just happened out of the blue) and would love to have it here at this wonderful website instead of, well, instead of anywhere else!
I've got to confess that I haven't even read hardly any blogs myself, except when they're linked to from somewhere

my feeling is that these would be people's blogs and could be about whatever people wanted, politics included.  it would just be a little service that dc could do for donating members.

it might be fun though to have a page where the most recent post from all dc blogs would be shown, like our our previous blog columns.

-mouser (June 27, 2006, 07:35 PM)

For example:
I'm not really a political being, (or maybe I'm being too narrow in my understanding of the word) but I wrote something lately inspired by the "morality debate"  in the Why is so much software cracked?* thread, and somehow felt it just didnt fit in there  -  yeah, it needed a blog!

What I'm saying is: I think it would be great to have Blogs here, and about all\any subjects (any  ?! - I guess someone would keep an eye on them?)
I think they'd end up being to a large extent related directly or indirectly to software\computers\ (oh, also living & working with same\life\etc...back to all\any subjects )

* https://www.donation...x.php?topic=3831.120

11314

General Software Discussion / Re: Poster Printer - free (open source)

« Last post by tomos on July 20, 2006, 02:16 AM »

I got to print stuff often that's bigger than A4, - using Freehand - you can "Tile" the image and dictate the overlap.
  At god knows what price you're probably not going to get Freehand just for that

But, what I do then is - use a medical scalpel and one of those cutting mats (in\correct name??) and you can crop edges very accurately.
I use it for photos too, can't trust a guillotine for really fine work ...

11315

General Software Discussion / Re: BufferZone and other virtual machine like safe program executors

« Last post by tomos on July 19, 2006, 09:35 AM »

has anyone tried runasadmin
that is  RunAsAdmin Explorer Shim

available from Sourceforge
https://sourceforge..../projects/runasadmin

I tried it myself a while back & had some problems with my machine, but i was pretty sure afterwards they were to do with something else.

As far as I remember everything runs as a user (?- NOT as administrator) unless you dictate otherwise, but think there were various options\settings.

They have a new beta out i might give it a go - just got DSL\broadband\cable whatever you call it & find it a bit scary being simply connected all the time

11316

General Software Discussion / Re: Browsers, Bookmarks, & synching

« Last post by tomos on July 18, 2006, 10:51 AM »

hi y'all
thanks for the various tips

I've tried:
BookmarkBuddy which was very much what i had in mind, but i found i really had to struggle with the bookmark "management" system. I started getting used to it but found the idea of paying $29 or whatever for it difficult cause of that.

then tried Bookmax but it must have been having a bad day cause it couldnt import my bookmarks in Opera OR in Netscape\FF formats.

so I am just starting with linkagogo, and, considering it always seems to be a major struggle for me to start with new sware\computer stuff, it has been a very painless start-up !

ta agin for the help
tom

11317

Living Room / Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid

« Last post by tomos on July 13, 2006, 07:36 AM »

........ do you think we'd get away with the American version: "garbage", or how about "trash" ??

wOOPs! 
I'd better be careful, I know Bush & his missis are over here in Germany as I write 

11318

Living Room / Re: Anyone know any good free font sites

« Last post by tomos on July 12, 2006, 02:34 AM »

thats an interesting query from nudone above whether any of these fonts can be used comercially.

I've had stuff - illustrations - published (in fairly obscure archaeological journals &, well, books nobody reads )
Mostly the fonts have been dictated to me, but sometimes I get a free hand 

I just checked the links i gave above (post #19) & they are free for commercial use

Does anyone know about the commercial aspect of all ~ or any of these other free fonts ??

11319

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: warn if IE has been running for too long

« Last post by tomos on July 06, 2006, 08:20 AM »

I use Avant (which uses Explorer) to look at saved .mht files.
I close it afterwards.

A couple times I've noticed this:
Some time later (hours, days?) when closing down computer a window has popped up, saying its closing Avant.

Just an idle observation which I havent really tested - dont know if thats ie that keeps running secretly or Avant.
Last time after closing Avant, I checked in Proccess Explorer but couldnt see it.
Havent closed down though since. !!

 as I say, "Just an idle observation" - if I notice it again I could always use your script

11320

Living Room / Re: Anyone know any good free font sites

« Last post by tomos on July 06, 2006, 07:54 AM »

heres a short list i like:

http://www.alvit.de/...-free-official-fonts

and
http://www.alvit.de/...ense-free-pixelfonts

(They are what he calls "serious" fonts  so it depends what you need!)

11321

Living Room / Re: OpenOffice user - can you do me a favour please ...

« Last post by tomos on July 04, 2006, 08:57 AM »

ach, no need, Mouser, Carol,
just keep on answering my questions as usual !! 

11322

Living Room / Re: OpenOffice user - can you do me a favour please ...

« Last post by tomos on July 04, 2006, 08:49 AM »

I zipped it again in case
tom

11323

General Software Discussion / Browsers, Bookmarks, & synching

« Last post by tomos on June 28, 2006, 05:37 AM »

what with imperfect browsers and so on
I end up using (at the moment and depending on requirements etc.)

Opera
Firefox
Avant (I.E.)


I wondering does this exist, (or could it?!!):

A (portable?) programme that you can save your bookmarks to , say with a universal hotkey, or from the context menu.
Then you dont have to be thinking, now where did i save that.

Or maybe something that can import bookmarks from diff browsers, synch them, and export them or save them in format for import back to browser

I know theres online stuff & I've only tried delicious with FF, but if youre working on a different computer & you dont have the plugin installed its a pain I found.
Maybe I'm just being too impatient (or not understanding ...)

What do you people out there use?

11324

Living Room / Re: Recommendations for good external hard drive solutions?

« Last post by tomos on June 22, 2006, 09:42 AM »

Hi
as someone desperately trying to get to grips with all these new types of connections, brand names, PATA ATA & SATA, IDE & SCSI, etc.        i throw out a plea for help


What I want are 2 things:

a backup drive that i might backup everything to once a week & keep off the premises
 &
another drive simply to have more space to work with and do more regular smaller backups to.

I dont fully understand these racks - are they external, internal or can they be either?
Okay, looking at the link in the DC backupguide for mobile external racks there seems to be both on offer there at directron.com
Do they then work with all HDs?

If they internal do you need extra fans? Likewise with external?

this ones a bit out of my price range but looks good!   
http://www.sabiostorage.com/   

From Review:
Racks come in two pieces, and inner tray and an outer rack. Hard drives are mounted in the trays, while the outer racks get installed in your computer case.

So you gotta first have space in your computer, then you need to buy:
Rack
Trays
Drives

does usb2 do for internal removable drives or do you need something more exotic!
I read (somewhere here I think) that firewire isnt so good.


Has anyone used the Maxtor one touch II (Retrospect) backup software?

sorry for barraging ye with questions
thanks for any help
tom

11325

General Software Discussion / Re: programmes that use little system resources.

« Last post by tomos on June 12, 2006, 01:41 AM »

hey, thanks everyone for all the help & advice

I'm downloading stuff as I write.
I have the Atlantis nova, def. have a Acrobat 5 on disk somewhere. Using processexp myself, (didnt realise no taskmanager in 98)
Going to try the Offbyone browser, wont have to worry bout flashblock with that! Reckon its fine for a beginner

Happy to get the links for portable stuff - Floppy office has an email client as well, super!
anyone know what portablepolyedit.sfx.exe is? found something in Russian bout it ...

Ultimately you'll probably have to make some sacrifices to get decent functionality with low resource use these days. For example using Wordpad for all document editing - very basic, but hey it works! If this is acceptable then all should be well. Otherwise tell 'em to spend just a couple hundred bucks and upgrade.

-JavaJones (June 09, 2006, 06:34 PM)

True for ya!

Yeah, re-Office, i find it very slow - use wordprocessers very little myself but its always nice to find smaller faster programmes no matter how much memoryetc. you have. (I find myself struggling at times with 512)
thanks all again,
tom