Recent Posts

1176

General Software Discussion / Re: Has anyone had experience buying from www.buy.com ? Is it reliable ?

« Last post by mwb1100 on March 14, 2009, 01:11 AM »

I've bought from buy.com, but it's been a while - at least more than a year (my tech purchases are usually from newegg now).  I never had a problem.

A quick look at the reseller ratings link posted by Cloq makes me think they may have gone a bit downhill over the years.

1177

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: WinPatrol Plus on Bits Du Jour - Friday 2/13/09

« Last post by mwb1100 on March 13, 2009, 12:17 PM »

The developer's policy has always been that ALL new versions are free once you've paid for the PLUS version.

-cyberdiva (March 13, 2009, 10:48 AM)

This is confirmed by a comment by the developer on BitsDuJour:

Yes, WinPatrol 2009 will be launched on Monday and is a free upgrade. That means if take advantage of the Bits discount today, it's still good for the new version and ever other future version. PLUS is a one time fee and not a subscription.

-Bill Pytlovany (BillP Studios Developer)

1178

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Surfulater 50% discount @ www.bitsdujour.com on Mar 4

« Last post by mwb1100 on March 12, 2009, 11:25 AM »

Is it possible to share Surfulater repo across computers? Is the database structure suitable for synching(via another software) ?

-kartal (March 12, 2009, 12:00 AM)

A Surfulater database consists of 2 files; I think that they are both XML files (I know at least one of them is - I'm not at home right now to actually look).  So a sync where file(s) are modifed only on one side or the other is quite easy - any sync software can handle it.  However a sync where both sides have updated the file is not something that can be easily handled - there's no way for an application that doesn't know about Surfulater databases to know how to handle the conflict. Since they are XML files, you might get lucky with a simply text-based merge, but I wouldn't think this would be reliable.

KB syncronization has been on nevf's todo list for quite a while, and it's the one that I've been most anxiously waiting for, but it's a tough nut to crack and I think that he's been concentrating on things his other customers want more.

I'm hoping it'll get into the 3.x version at some point, but I really have no idea how soon it'll be along.

As far as sharing a read-only copy of the KB, there are a couple options:

  1. just copy the files where they are accessible from whoever you want to have read access - an unregistered Surfulater acts a free reader application
  2. Surfulater can publish a KB as a website

1179

Post New Requests Here / Re: REQ: Independent volume per application for XP

« Last post by mwb1100 on March 07, 2009, 12:18 PM »

But that made me think, if it's been coded into Vista, couldn't there be a way to find that code, and make an app for XP?

-Mizraim (March 07, 2009, 10:03 AM)

The architecture of the audio driver stack in Windows was completely revamped for Vista. One of the design targets of the new architecture was to support this type of control among applications (and classes of applications).  That's not to say it can't be done in XP, just that it's not as good a fit for how the drivers work, so it's not necessarily easy.

1180

Living Room / Re: Surfulater 3 - huge price hike (166%) + where is the Firefox add-on?

« Last post by mwb1100 on March 04, 2009, 12:22 AM »

You will soon - on March 4 - be able to purchase Surfulator for $39.50 at Bits. 

-sazzen (February 26, 2009, 10:56 AM)

Just a bump to the thread as the discount is now available for the next 22 or so hours...

http://www.bitsdujou...software/surfulater/

1181

General Software Discussion / Re: Anal Program Monitor/Firewall

« Last post by mwb1100 on March 01, 2009, 02:37 PM »

For a few years now I've been using a discontinued Firewall called Tiny Firewall. ... Let's just say it served me very well for the past few years.

-Ehtyar (March 01, 2009, 03:32 AM)

If you like Tiny Firewall you might like it's more or less direct descendant. Tiny firewall became Kerio Personal Firewall which in turn became Sunbelt Personal Firewall.  The version you download acts as a trial of the paid version for one month - if you don't register it it reverts to a free version with some of the 'pro' features disabled.

I don't use it so this is not an endorsement - it's just that it seems reasonable that you might find it similar enough to like it (note that it supports Vista, but only the 32-bit version).

1182

General Software Discussion / Re: The ultimate piece of retro-computing

« Last post by mwb1100 on February 15, 2009, 11:16 PM »

Looks like this "ruler" is not working correctly

Since when 2.7 x 23 = 61?

-fenixproductions (February 15, 2009, 05:16 PM)

Well, it does claim "Two-digit precision or less".

1183

General Software Discussion / Re: The ultimate piece of retro-computing

« Last post by mwb1100 on February 15, 2009, 05:05 PM »

I once had a cheap slide rule that I goofed around with for a week or two.  I think that even today with calculators, phones, computers, MP3 players, etc. that can all perform arithmetic easily that slide rules should still be introduced to kids at some point in their math education. Slide rules really illustrate the amazing properties of logarithms in a concrete way.

I'm not saying that kids should be taught to be slide rule experts, but that slide rules can be used as tools to teach something about logarithms. Hey, they still use abacuses (abacii?) in kindergarten or 1st grade to teach how addition works, don't they?

Anyway, I suppose it hard enough to get most kids to even pay attention (or even attend) class. But it might help a few 'get' logs.

1184

Found Deals and Discounts / Upgrade discount for SoftMaker Office 2008 - $15/€13

« Last post by mwb1100 on February 14, 2009, 02:11 PM »

I got an email this morning providing a discount for previous owners of SoftMaker Office (and presumably AShampoo Office - but I'm not certain about that).

The order page indicates that it's for previous owners - I'm not sure if the installer checks for a previous version or not.

You can now upgrade to the full SoftMaker Office 2008 for Windows package for the low price of just EUR 12.99 (worldwide) or US$ 14.99 (United States and Canada only).
...
Please use the appropriate one of the following links:

WORLDWIDE CUSTOMERS:
http://www.softmaker...ode=a05&curr=eur

CUSTOMERS IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA:
http://www.softmaker...ode=a05&curr=usd

1185

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Take Command v9 New $20 off, Upgrade $10 off,TC/LE $10 off

« Last post by mwb1100 on February 14, 2009, 01:50 PM »

I haven't - $50 for an upgrade is more than I'd like to spend.  I'll either wait for a discount or for the next major release maybe (I think they're on a  more or less once a year major release schedule).

However, one of the bullet items on the 'new in v10' list is "Loads and runs faster than v9".  I'm not sure if this means they've fixed the problem of long load times when there are  slow or disconnected network shares, but it might be worth checking if that's something that's been a bother for you.

FWIW, the coupon code "Partner1000" seems to be a long-standing code for 10% off - so you'll save $5 on the upgrade of you decide to go for it.  I'd like to see a better discount...

1186

General Software Discussion / Re: VMWare releases open source client under GPL

« Last post by mwb1100 on February 05, 2009, 12:24 PM »

I'm not sure, but from my brief reading of the press release and the VMware View page, it seems that VMware View is a product that lets a company easily deploy virtual desktop machines to a server farm running in a central data center.

The client is something like a Citrix ICA client, an RDP client or a VNC client that lets you connect to one of the virtual desktops.  This GPL client is for the Linux platform.

That's what it seems like to me.

1187

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for simple backup software

« Last post by mwb1100 on January 29, 2009, 02:22 AM »

Yes - SyncBackSE definitely does 1 through 6.  I've used all those features except #5 (multiple versions).

However, some people would argue that it's not particularly simple.  But I think that's true of most backup applications that are highly configurable.

1188

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Acronis True Image 11 Home for US$ 9.99

« Last post by mwb1100 on January 28, 2009, 12:05 PM »

TrueImage is a *wonderful* product. It has a lot of nice features and is very easy to use. I am thinking that I should just consider it as a yearly subscription and pay the $30/year to get the upgrade.

-tinjaw (January 28, 2009, 11:12 AM)

What I've been doing is instead of updating when they come out with a new release: I wait for the period of time that occurs just before the new release, and pick up the version that's about to be 'obsolete' for $10 or so. This is never anything that's officially announced, but generally a couple months before Acronis releases a new version you start seeing these $10 deals for the current version.  That's the time to buy.  $10 for TI 11 and DiskDirector 10 was a good deal.

Also, there's often not a reason to upgrade at all if the version you have does the trick.  Many people are still happily running TI 8. A lot of people consider the later versions to be bloated, and if you're still running XP, there may not be a reason to upgrade if you're not interested in the new features.

Of course, if it turns out the new version has something you want or need and can't wait for 10 months or more for the next wave of big discounts, then $30 is certainly not anything I'd worry about paying (just wait a few weeks at least so everyone else can help Acronis shake out the 1st wave of bugs).

1189

Found Deals and Discounts / WinPatrol PLUS - 50% off for a few more hours

« Last post by mwb1100 on January 25, 2009, 05:15 PM »

I happened by the WinPatrol homepage and noticed that there's a 50% off sale running for the PLUS version:

http://www.winpatrol.com/

The free version is pretty good on its own - the PLUS version adds access to an online knowlegebase and some real-time detection of file system and registry changes.  But mainly it helps support ongoing development of the program.

The discount ends at midnight EST today (25 Jan 2009) - so there's about 8 more hours as I write this...

1190

General Software Discussion / Re: Another 'Lifetime' license bites the dust

« Last post by mwb1100 on January 10, 2009, 03:47 AM »

Why not just make it the "lifetime" of the exact unit you got? If the unit is broken, clearly its lifetime has run its course.

-Hirudin (January 09, 2009, 11:27 PM)

I can't believe this didn't cross my mind.  Clearly, we have the Ultimate Lifetime Guarantee (from the vendor's point of view) here!

1191

General Software Discussion / Re: Another 'Lifetime' license bites the dust

« Last post by mwb1100 on January 09, 2009, 10:17 PM »

I no longer trust anyone who claims to offer a lifetime license.  Who's lifetime? Mine? Theirs? Until they realize they need more regular income? Until their mood changes?

-sazzen (January 09, 2009, 05:51 PM)

This reminds me of an SMC router I had several years back - it had a lifetime warranty, and when it failed one day and I tried to get warranty service I found out that the 'lifetime' of the warranty was the the marketing lifetime of the product.  Ie., since they didn't sell that model anymore, the warranty had expired.

I was actually more amused than angry at the use of the fine print - even though it was totally deceptive, I had to give them props for a clever deception.

1192

General Software Discussion / Re: EULAlyzer™ 1.1

« Last post by mwb1100 on January 04, 2009, 08:11 PM »

only the annual subscription will make sense to me. And twenty dollar PER YEAR sounds very expensive

-Curt (January 04, 2009, 02:44 PM)

Once again, the wording of this type of annual license is a bit unclear - when I read it, it sounded like you get a license to use EULAlyzer Pro (the main advantage of which is the EULA-Watch feature) - and that you also get any upgrades that occur in the one year period.

I would have interpreted/guessed that the right to use EULAlyzer Pro/EULA-Watch does not end with your annual fee - just the right to upgrades/updates.

Or is this really the type of license/software that becomes useless without the annual updates/upgrades?  I do wish vendors would try to make that more clear more often.

1193

General Software Discussion / Re: Another 'Lifetime' license bites the dust

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 26, 2008, 11:49 AM »

My understanding for xplorer2 is that you get updates for 1 year after purchase (I'm not sure if this applies to only major upgrades or all), but that this policy has not been enforced yet. He's mentioned in the forum that he plans to start enforcing in the near future, but you can buy (I think for about $20) 'Upgrade Assurance' which gets you lifetime upgrades.

1194

General Software Discussion / Re: How do I stop selling myself v1agra?

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 26, 2008, 12:27 AM »

Well, the CAN-SPAM Act requires that the spam provide an opt-out method, so it seems to me you should just send yourself an opt-out request.
 

1195

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Outpost 2009 – A lifetime license for 3 PCs for the price of a 1-year!

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 24, 2008, 10:11 PM »

Given that it's at the the current price for a 1 year/3 machine subscription, even with the questions about the details this is still probably a pretty good deal - if you're interested in Outpost.

I believe that when Outpost was first offered they gave a lifetime license - does anyone know if they are still honoring it or not?

1196

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: EditPad Pro discounted at Bits du Jour on December 18

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 19, 2008, 08:44 PM »

He's integrated a custom forum system into regexbuddy, and I think that new versions of the other software (Like EPP) might see that feature integrated.

-allen (December 19, 2008, 02:32 PM)

Thanks for the pointer - I was unaware of that feature.

Personally, I'd still prefer a standard webforum, but that might just be because I'm not used to the one in the software itself yet.

1197

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: And... The Ultimate Steal makes a comeback

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 18, 2008, 01:49 PM »

It's also interesting looking at the listed versions of windows that qualify - I thought MS initially said that only Windows 2000 and XP qualified for upgrade prices to Vista?

-Carol Haynes (December 18, 2008, 08:11 AM)

At least one prominent page at microsoft.com still says that:

http://www.microsoft...your-pc-options.aspx

Upgrade copies are not available for versions of Windows earlier than Windows 2000. These earlier versions of Windows require you to install a full copy of Windows Vista.

1198

General Software Discussion / Re: Another 'Lifetime' license bites the dust

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 13, 2008, 01:23 AM »

BTW, what is DVDFab's policy WRT grandfathering its lifetime licensees?

-Darwin (December 12, 2008, 10:36 PM)

My understanding is that for purchases made prior to the change you still get lifetime updates (similar to AnyDVD's announced policy).

1199

Living Room / Re: Finally a DonationCoder.com License Key for Time Travelers..

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 12, 2008, 09:26 PM »

Oh why, oh why did I delay donating until after the charter member offer was expired?

Now I'll have to time travel back to before that expiration, so I can donate in time for my license to be valid for my time travels.  Now if I could only find the time for all this...

1200

General Software Discussion / Re: Another 'Lifetime' license bites the dust

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 12, 2008, 09:20 PM »

Lifetime licenses that I own (I assume that they are still valid  ):

...
XYplorer (lifetime license no longer available)
...

-Darwin (December 12, 2008, 08:59 AM)

XYplorer is still available with a lifetime license, but it's at a higher cost than the standard license.