Recent Posts

1176

General Software Discussion / Re: Boxer editor 14 released - paid upgrade, $29.00 - text wrap at last

« Last post by Innuendo on March 07, 2010, 09:23 PM »

Boxer has always been a paradox. While supporting very advanced features that no other editor has there's always been a few basic features that every other editor has that Boxer lacks.

I think the first version of Boxer I ever used was v6 or v7.

1177

Living Room / Re: In rememberance of....The antiquated hardware/software reminiscence thread

« Last post by Innuendo on March 07, 2010, 02:52 PM »

Software: QEMM386 & DesqView! QEMM provided the memory management for my DOS games & DesqView provided the multi-tasking for my DOS apps.

Hardware: I cringe when I see people referring to the HP LJ4 as antiquated. I have an HP LaserJet 5, which is a slightly updated hardware version of the LJ4, which I bought off of eBay a couple years ago that had only had 2,500 pages printed on it. Patiently watching eBay like a hawk netted me the RAM to max out the printer, the PostScript chip, the 250 page extra paper tray, the duplexer, *and* the 10/100 managed network card with a built-in web server to control the printer! And I got all of these items for a pittance.

What did it all get me? It got me a printer that's built better than any printer made today, full controls on the printer with an LED screen, network & PostScript capable, and the toner cartridges are dirt cheap price-per-page compared to modern printers.

Another priceless bonus: no-nonsense full-featured drivers that just work without all the goofy upselling modern printer drivers do trying to get you to buy consumables and accessories.

No, I'll be keeping my LaserJet 5 MP printer till they quit making toner cartridges for it.

(Though for color and printing on CDs/DVDs I do have a nice Epson, but it's hardly used as I mostly print text.)

1178

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: O&O Software freebees

« Last post by Innuendo on March 03, 2010, 07:52 PM »

It's neater and more honest than using a so-called 'disposable' address - and nowadays, most sites that ask are onto the disposable addresses trick anyway.

-40hz (March 02, 2010, 06:44 PM)

My ISP has a web control panel where we can create our own email addresses. I'll create one for use & when it starts getting spam I nuke it and create another one. It's really handy for those sites that don't allow the use of free email addresses.

1179

Living Room / Re: When 40%-Off Your Total Purchase Becomes 0.3%-Off

« Last post by Innuendo on March 01, 2010, 10:47 PM »

The thing is that I am kind of sad, because my post/comment wasn't meant to bash O'Reilly but point out how unexpected use cases and unplanned events backfire if they aren't properly handled. It turns out O'Reilly was actually having a planning meeting today to work on their new ecommerce website system.

-tinjaw (March 01, 2010, 09:59 PM)

Don't be sad. If you hadn't posted on your blog:

1) You would never have gotten the great deal on the books you will now enjoy.
2) O'Reilly may never have caught the bug in their shopping cart system.
3) Others who want(ed) the same deal wouldn't be able to enjoy the great deal, either.

Rejoice. Your blog post did a lot of good for a lot of people.

1180

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Zoner Photo Studio Professional Buy 1 Get 1 Free - Any one interested? ($25)

« Last post by Innuendo on March 01, 2010, 10:42 PM »

The Photo Studio Professional 12 program is okay, but people should know that the Zoner site is being totally blocked by Outpost Firewall and Outpost Security Suite. I cannot even get their emails, or update, or follow your link.

-Curt (February 28, 2010, 01:25 PM)

I run Outpost Security Suite & I have never been blocked from going to the Zoner site. You must have something else going on over there, Curt.

1181

General Software Discussion / Re: Recommend anti-spyware, please?

« Last post by Innuendo on February 27, 2010, 09:59 PM »

I went searching for an anti-malware program and I was really close to buying malwarebytes' offering, but when I ran them through their paces on a test computer none of them found anything that my Outpost Security Suite found (cookies aside. I don't know how any of these programs do on cookies because I have separate programs & extensions to deal with them.)

I was actually surprised that OSS found everything the dedicated programs did.

1182

Living Room / Re: Desktop Icons

« Last post by Innuendo on February 24, 2010, 05:45 PM »

Stardock's Fences will hide desktop icons (among other things) via a keyboard shortcut. There's a Pro and a Free edition, but the free edition will do what you are asking.

1183

Living Room / Re: computer audio: rear + front jacks, different results

« Last post by Innuendo on February 24, 2010, 05:41 PM »

Make sure you are using the latest drivers. If you are, dropping back a driver revision or two might reap benefits. Onboard sound card drivers sometimes have issues like this that changing the driver will sometimes fix.

1184

General Software Discussion / Re: Why is it so hard to find a decent image organizer?

« Last post by Innuendo on February 21, 2010, 03:01 PM »

I hadn't heard of Zoner Photo Studio Pro so I'm off to download it to try out. From the screenshots it looks good so I have high hopes. I just hope I can adapt from my ACDSee ways (used every version of ACDSee since v2.xx).

1185

General Software Discussion / Re: Game-play always beats graphics

« Last post by Innuendo on February 21, 2010, 02:50 PM »

I agree totally with the OP. That's why:

Fallout 3 < Fallout 2 < Fallout 1 < Wasteland.

Oh, how I miss my "old friends" Angela Death and Metal Maniac. 

1186

Living Room / Re: [Project] Combining network devices into one SOHO Router/Server

« Last post by Innuendo on February 18, 2010, 08:33 PM »

I've never used MagicJack, but I've talked to a few people who have & I have yet to hear a good review of the product. Everyone's experiences echo JavaJones's.

And a comment on the pic - Ahhhh, the wondrous computing products of yesteryear. That pic is a sea of beige.    Oh, and great labeling.     

1187

General Software Discussion / Re: Trend Micro Security - oddly like malware...

« Last post by Innuendo on February 18, 2010, 08:25 PM »

One great option in dealing with the crap is the excellent program Decrapifier. It targets all of that crapware that come preinstalled on computers & eliminates it in one fell swoop.

1188

Living Room / Re: Low-cost laptop in February 2010. Comments anyone?

« Last post by Innuendo on February 15, 2010, 10:24 PM »

Just gave an Acer laptop as an Xmas present this past December. It was a 2.2 GHz Celeron, 15.6" screen, 160 GB HD, and 2 GB RAM that was bought for a low US$279 at an Xmas sale @ Best Buy.

It was well-built & performed very well. When I was working with it to get everything set up for its intended owner it exceeded every expectation I had of it.

1189

General Software Discussion / Re: Trend Micro Security - oddly like malware...

« Last post by Innuendo on February 15, 2010, 10:19 PM »

I just meant that HP (/Compaq) was the worst for that type of (garbage "recovery" disks) nonsense.

-Stoic Joker (February 15, 2010, 05:15 PM)

Unfortunately, when it comes to evil trends in the ways computer equipment is sold, HP/Compaq are *always* the worst perpetrator of any given 'nonsense'.

1190

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your preferred File Manager

« Last post by Innuendo on February 14, 2010, 02:55 PM »

I guess one of my biggest problems was that I never saw any "Plug-in Manager".

-J-Mac (February 13, 2010, 06:02 PM)

The plugin manager I referenced in my last post may be found here:

http://www.totalcmd....ring/tc_plugman.html

And if basic installing of plugins is all you are after usually just double-clicking on the zip of the plugin you want to install from within TC will walk you through installing it. Things have really come a long way from the good ol' days.

Every time I started having problems I would have to go around trying to find the plug-in pages for the ones I had (they didn't used to all be on one or two pages, but were kinda scattered all over the  place!).

I agree. It's a less than ideal setup. It's much the same situation as foobar2000 & its plugins.

Anyway I'll surf around a bot, though right now Directory Opus is pretty much covering all I need. Never know what I am missing though unless I keep looking!

Directory Opus is awesome. It's the most powerful Explorer-style file manager on the market today (although XYplorer is gaining ground). The only thing that keeps me from owning a license is the high buy-in price & the ridiculous pricing for version upgrades. There have been numerous complaints from long-time users that when a new version is released that they were only offered a 10% discount off retail to upgrade.

That's just a little too rich for my blood as I always like to be running the latest version of any apps I happen to be using. Total Commander's pricing is much more sane by comparison.

Thanks again!

Don't mention it. I enjoy learning new things, but I enjoy teaching what I know even more. TC is a DOS-style command structure connected to a near-Windows 3.1 interface. It's got an almost archaic, eldritch vibe going for it when compared to other file managers, but tweaked out it really soars and tasks can be completed much faster than with other file managers because everything has a keyboard shortcut & you rarely, if ever, have to take your fingers off the home row of keys.

1191

General Software Discussion / Re: Trend Micro Security - oddly like malware...

« Last post by Innuendo on February 14, 2010, 02:38 PM »

Actually, you're both right when it comes to whether or not Dell computers were shipped with an OEM recovery disc. There was a time span of a year or so a few years ago that Dell did not ship an OEM OS disc with their PCs. You could buy one as an up-charge when you ordered the machine, though.

Fortunately, they did away with that nonsense and have gone back to shipping an OEM OS disc with every machine they sell. Dell also does everyone a favor in that the OEM OS is just the bare OS. All the trialware, additional drivers, etc. are shipped on a second disc that doesn't have to be used.

1192

General Software Discussion / Re: Trend Micro Security - oddly like malware...

« Last post by Innuendo on February 13, 2010, 07:12 PM »

Something similar is happening on Dell PCs right now. They ship with a trial version of McAfee installed. If you want to get rid of it you have to agree to the EULA and let it activate the trial period first or Very Bad Things Happen (tm).

1193

General Software Discussion / Re: is there any file manager that doesn't enforce sort order?

« Last post by Innuendo on February 13, 2010, 05:20 PM »

Total Commander in conjunction with the TWinKey plugin/utility will allow you to set the order of your files (it calls them sticky files) and will remember the order you set.

1194

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your preferred File Manager

« Last post by Innuendo on February 13, 2010, 05:18 PM »

Yet I continually see posts here about how easy TC customization is. What am I missing? Or does it require a lot of tweaking, constant tweaking?

-J-Mac (February 07, 2010, 12:57 AM)

I would have thought fenix would have jumped on this reply by now, but since I have just stumbled upon it I'll relate my experience. I've used Total Commander for years. I even used it for years before it was renamed Total Commander from Windows Commander, but I mostly just used it for basic things & had a few (5-7 or so) highly recommended plugins. Once I won a free license here on DonationCoder I resolved to start using TC in earnest.

First thing I did to achieve my goal was I browsed the two major sites for Total Commander plugins & utilities (http://www.totalcmd.net and http://en.totalcmd.pl) while keeping in mind what functionality I'd like to see in TC. I downloaded the strongest candidates in each plugin category for comparison later.

I also downloaded some non-plugin stuff like petermad's excellent extended menu for TC (adds functionality & breaks up the menus a little differently than stock), Plugin Manager (will keep track of your plugins for you & will even install & uninstall them effortlessly) and Ultra TC Editors.

After I did that I headed over to http://www.ghisler.ch and read up in the plugin sub-forum to see if there were any last caveats or recommendations against the plugins I had chosen to use.

I won't lie to you. All this took a whole afternoon to set up, installed and get going properly. However, it was a one-time thing & I'll never have to do it again as just backing up your TC directory will preserve your entire setup for eternity. Now I just stop by those three web sites every couple weeks to see if there are any updates to the things I'm using & any updated components unzip and install in a matter of seconds.

In case you're curious at the end of my search I've got 41 plugins installed and co-existing peacefully, but my journey has just begun. I still have a lot to learn about the built-in functionality of TC & when I find myself on Google searching for something to manipulate a file I stumble across a post on http://www.ghisler.ch and find out that TC can do it already.

So, yeah...you're going to spend some time up front getting everything set up the way you want, but once you do it's going to make your file management chores so much easier & save you much more time in the long run.

I'm far from an expert, but I'll help you get up to speed as best I can if you'd like.

1195

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by Innuendo on January 17, 2010, 11:12 AM »

How about 17 page long threads filled with nothing but people griping?

1196

Living Room / Re: Something on computer is fubar

« Last post by Innuendo on January 17, 2010, 11:04 AM »

Hardware-accelerated audio and EAX are dead. Neither work on Vista or Windows 7. The only reason to go with a dedicated sound card these days is if you need something like ASIO support or if you have an undying hatred & mistrust of all things Realtek.

1197

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your preferred File Manager

« Last post by Innuendo on January 17, 2010, 10:58 AM »

When the links were still working I contacted Novatix and was informed that ExplorerPlus was written by the person who wrote/compiled the original and earlier versions of PowerDesk (before it got sold to a number of companies like VCOM Avanquest etc).

History (taken from a horses mouth source): ExplorerPlus was originally released in 2003 and was a Novatix Corporation product.  In May of 2005, however, that Novatix Corporation officially changed its name to SendPhotos, Inc. and that was where you could find ExplorerPlus being supported until just recently (late 2006).  (A new different Novatix was also formed whose focus was solely on behavior-based security products.)

-IL1keT0Donate (January 15, 2010, 12:40 AM)

Yes, I am quite familiar with the story, but thanks for posting it here for those who didn't know. I was too lazy to type all that out. I'd love to see the author come back and release a new file manager. It'd be interesting to see what new tricks he would come up with.

But although ExplorerPlus was a great file manager and possibly even better or more reliable than PowerDesk v6 or v7, I doubt that it works glitch free in Windows 7 32 bit (and don't even think about 64bit).

Oh, definitely. It wasn't 100% glitch-free on XP, its target platform, but it did some neat stuff & did it rather well, too.

I like to see all file & foder details (not just icons or listings) and also see true file sizes not round ups. I'd like a dialog tracker to find recently opened files & folders, quick viewer pane and an indexing search engine built into the program if possible.

You sound like your needs lean towards being a power user so I would suggest you start your search with looking at Directory Opus, XYplorer, and Total Commander.

I feel need to point out that after installing Total Commander it will appear to be the most sparse regarding features. This is very misleading as it is rather like Firefox in that its functionality can be extended through plugins. Everything can be changed including the toolbar icons & even the pull-down menus. It is definitely the cadillac of orthodox file managers (orthodox being the term to describe all file managers that are clones of Norton Commander).

If something more Explorer-like is more to your tastes then concentrate on Directory Opus and XYplorer. Directory Opus is approximately as configurable and as extensible as Total Commander, but unfortunately, it is priced quite high.

XYplorer has just recently had a significant price increase so you may want to check out the pricing on that before you proceed, but at least the author offers a lifetime license (as does Total Commander).

There are numerous freeware choices available as well (like Free Commander), but I will let others cover those. None of the ones I briefly tried could stack up to my crazy OCD-level criteria.

Any of these should handle your list of criteria except for perhaps the built-in indexing search engine. I don't think any file manager I have ever seen (and I have trialed well over 40) has one of those. However, there is a plugin for Total Commander that allows it to interface with Locate32.

1198

General Software Discussion / Re: ToolTipFixer 2.0 for Windows < Vista

« Last post by Innuendo on January 12, 2010, 10:55 AM »

Not to sidetrack here, but can I ask what exactly the big deal is with .NET? Why does everyone hate it so? I have yet to find a single reasonable explanation as to why it is so horrible.

-Josh (January 11, 2010, 04:06 AM)

I think the original reason for all the .NET hate was you had a 1.5 MB program that required .NET so you had to go download the 20+ MB framework so it would work. This was back in the days before broadband was commonplace so a 20 MB download would take up a good portion of your time and bandwidth.

Nowadays, a 20 MB download is a trivial affair for most people & .NET ships with most versions of Windows, but those .NET haters just can't let go of a grudge even when the reasons are moot these days.

1199

General Software Discussion / Re: SUPER © updated, download from Major Geeks

« Last post by Innuendo on January 06, 2010, 05:12 PM »

I have never even tested Ad Muncher, because I don't understand why it is so expensive. I could understand if it was $20/$30 ONCE. But yearly?!! Do you use it? Is it really worth that much money? Why?

-Curt (January 05, 2010, 05:49 PM)

I use it...but I bought it way back when they offered a lifetime license & I used a DonationCoder discount code. Not sure I'd buy it at the current prices.

Are there any free addon that will do the trick in mention?

There has to be. That option is turned off in my Ad Muncher, but I'm still able to pull off the trick. Must be one of the 40 or so Firefox Extensions I have installed. I'll dig around in their options to see if I can find which one is providing the mojo.

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General Software Discussion / Re: SUPER © updated, download from Major Geeks

« Last post by Innuendo on January 05, 2010, 11:08 AM »

your answer went above my head. Could you please name such plugin/addon, to make me understand what kind of application it is?

-Curt (January 05, 2010, 02:26 AM)

I'll try the simple explanation & I'm sure if I falter someone will come along and correct me. When you follow any link whether it be a link to a file or a link to a web page one bit of info that is passed on to the server hosting that link is what is called the referrer. This is the referring page from which you are clicking on the link. It's mostly functionality used so that web server admins can see where traffic to their server is coming from.

To use that link download link above as an example, when you click on it your browser contacts the www.enright.biz server & makes the request for that file. Along with the request your browser passes along the information that this link is being clicked on a DonationCoder.com web page. Usually this is where the story ends, but this practice I just described is called hot-linking & some server admins take a dim view of such so they code their servers to only accept download link requests that have as the referrer information their own servers. Any download request lacking this information will either simply not work or you'll get a rude message telling you to quit hot-linking.

The solution I alluded to regarding this problem is that there are Firefox extensions (and Ad Muncher will do it as well) will take any download link you click upon and will, again using the link above as an example, change the referrer from "www.donationcoder.com" to "www.enright.biz" getting around the hot-linking prevention code. It also has a side-effect of not showing web server admins where you are coming from.