Recent Posts

1201

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

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 12, 2008, 09:08 PM »

SlySoft also have a good marketting ploy here - tell all your friends, post around the web .... quick buy your stuff now with lifetime updates --- while you can!

-Carol Haynes (December 12, 2008, 07:39 AM)

As far as whether this is a marketing ploy to gain sales this month, that may be, but I see nothing wrong with informing people of the pending change so someone considering a purchase can make their own choice of whether they want to purchase earlier than they might otherwise in order to get lifetime updates.  I suspect if they made no announcement until the policy actually changed, there would be many more people complaining that they would have bought sooner if only they had known...

1202

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

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 12, 2008, 09:06 PM »

Then I'm confused about what you're paying extra for if you buy a "lifetime" license. To me, everyone should be entitled to bug fixes -- those are places where you're currently being denied the functionality that you thought were paying for in the beginning. That should be free, included in the base price.

-CWuestefeld (December 12, 2008, 03:14 PM)

One thing that I think is a little different with a product like AnyDVD is that they need to update/fix problems not only due to bugs, but because of intentional activities of DVD manufacturers to make DVDs uncopyable.  Probably most of what goes into AnyDVD updates are changes to make the program deal with new protection techniques for new movie releases, so there is a continual  R&D cost.

To my mind, I was surprised how long they kept on the Lifetime Updates policy (a main competitor of theirs, DVDFab, moved away from that policy several months ago).

1203

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

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 12, 2008, 08:54 PM »

Are there really programs out there that quit working after the license period has expired?

-Hirudin (December 12, 2008, 05:54 PM)

Yes, there is software with that type of licensing.  I think it is somewhat common in the 'enterprise' or server software marketplace, but it is quite rare in the consumer/individual software market.  One bit of software that has this type of license is SlickEdit's "SlickEdit Core for Eclipse" (http://www.slickedit...id=162&Itemid=57).   I'm a fan of SlickEdit's main editor product (which does not have this type of expiring license), but I could not bring myself to buy into the type of license they have on the Eclipse plug-in.

1204

Living Room / Re: Google Native Client Puts x86 On the Web

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 09, 2008, 07:29 PM »

Sounds like "Son of ActiveX" - I'm skeptical of how well native code can be secured - it's just not easy to verify.

1205

General Software Discussion / Re: Is it time to start a new AntiVirus/Internet Security Suite review thread?

« Last post by mwb1100 on December 01, 2008, 12:02 PM »

One thing that people should look into is that ISPs often provide an anti-virus package as part of the subscription/account (at least this seems to be common in the US). 

For example, if you're on Comcast you can get McAfee Security Suite by going to http://security.comcast.net/.  Note that you can get one installation for each email address on your account, and I think you can have up to 7 email addresses on an account (at least that's the case for my account).

Of course, whether McAfee (or whatever your ISP might offer) is the package you want is another story, but I imagine that given that you've already paid for it (in a sense), it's worth at least considering.

1206

Living Room / Re: The little computer that nobody wanted

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 29, 2008, 04:22 AM »

Anybody know why they created this particular package design?

-40hz (November 29, 2008, 12:44 AM)

Dunno, but the sales brochure says, "pedestal, with desk-height controls, writing table, convenience, and futuristic styling" so it seems like they might have been looking to give it a "2001: A Space Odyssey" look.

1207

Living Room / Re: The little computer that nobody wanted

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 28, 2008, 09:55 PM »

Quite funny - but I think it's a bit unfair to tar Honeywell as trying to pull off this goofy stunt - the computer was a legit Honeywell computer (that I imagine sold quite a few more than 0 units).

It was Neiman Marcus that tried to sell it as a "Kitchen Computer".  But then again, they're well known for selling a thing or two for an embarrassingly high price tag that no one in their right mind would consider buying; it's kind a of a trademark of theirs.

1208

Living Room / Re: Where the hell is Ralf Maximus?

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 27, 2008, 03:48 PM »

Welcome back Ralf - I love the pic/story on DeviantArt about your dachshund, Oscar. I've got a wiener dog, too.  Gets stuck in the holes he chews in blankets.  Makes me laugh, but no photos, yet.

1209

Living Room / Re: Experiences buying software on eBay?

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 24, 2008, 06:38 PM »

Buyer protection from eBay/Paypal (take your pick they are the same people) is a joke and almost impossible to claim.

-Carol Haynes (November 24, 2008, 03:31 PM)

Sounds like eBay/Paypal are as deep into scamming as the rest of 'em.

1210

Official Announcements / Re: Licence key for Tennis Elbow Manager

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 24, 2008, 06:34 PM »

Are you serious? Tennis Elbow Manager? What is that, some medical sports sim where you manage patients with tennis elbow?

-Deozaan (November 24, 2008, 06:21 PM)

I thought this was a joke too at first, but here are some of the things download.com has to say about it:

Become a tennis coach and manage up to 4 tennis players take care of training sessions, planning, sponsors, team members, and match tactics...

And even more interesting (maybe it is a joke):

#10 in  Tennis Video Games  (out of 9 products)

1211

Living Room / Re: Experiences buying software on eBay?

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 24, 2008, 02:43 PM »

The thing you have to be careful of when buying software on the 'gray market' (this could be eBay or software discounters that sell old versions or OEM versions) is that if the license is invalid (or sold too many times) the manufacturer will often blacklist the code.  That means that updates to the software will cause it to stop working, or if the  software requires online activation it may stop working even without updates.

1212

General Software Discussion / Re: JetStart Launcher

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 21, 2008, 10:07 PM »

I used to use JetStart a while back, but stopped because it crashed a bit too often; except for that, I liked it pretty well.  That was a while ago, so those problems might be resolved by now.  I don't recall having any problem uninstalling it.

1213

General Software Discussion / Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!

« Last post by mwb1100 on November 13, 2008, 12:11 AM »

These policy changes are unfortunate.  I wasn't too interested in paying for an upgrade to 2.0 to start with, but with the more restrictive licensing, I doubt even some sort of stupid impulse will get me to buy (stupid impulses probably drive most of my software purchases).

One year and done. No option to continue using the current version - I asked and that apparently will not be allowed.

-J-Mac (November 12, 2008, 11:43 PM)

Are you sure about that one?  I got an email about the impending release of Direct Access 2.0, and the way I read it, the annual subscription is for support, updates and upgrades - pretty much standard stuff for an annual subscription fee.  It doesn't say anything about the license for what ever you have at the time running out:

To get Direct Access 2.0, you need to have an active upgrade subscription. You can buy the upgrade protection now for only 24.95$/year and get priority support and free updates and upgrades for 1 year.

-nagarsoft.com

1214

Living Room / Re: Things your kids will never know - old school tech!

« Last post by mwb1100 on October 29, 2008, 10:38 PM »

My first camera...

-4wd (October 29, 2008, 05:59 PM)

Oh yeah - that reminds me of flash bulbs and flash cubes.  Wow,  I'd completely forgotten about their existence.

Here's a groovy commercial for them:  http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=0eGZX_4EIEU

1215

Living Room / Re: Companies paying people to say good things about their products on forums

« Last post by mwb1100 on October 13, 2008, 06:12 PM »

Hmm...  I guess we have to watch out for that mouser guy then.

1216

Living Room / Re: Why Does Microsoft Make File Type Names So Long?

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

You'd have to show me (on my system, of course) what extensions need more than three characters. I don’t see them.

-J-Mac (October 10, 2008, 08:11 PM)

The problem is that when a developer wants to come up with an extension for their application's data files they want to make it unique across all applications so there's no conflict on anyone's machines, not just yours.

1217

General Software Discussion / Re: FinePrint vs. priPrinter

« Last post by mwb1100 on October 02, 2008, 01:14 PM »

I have FP6 at home and 5-something at work.  Not thrilled with version 6, but anything is better than file|print.  I wonder if it will be available for U3 so I can use it both places w/1 purchase.

-Padlock6 (October 01, 2008, 07:08 PM)

You already can - from the FinePrint FAQ (http://www.fineprint...om/support/faqs.html):

Can I use the software on my laptop and my desktop without purchasing again?

Yes, you can. The license allows you to use the software on multiple computers as long as they are not simultaneously used.

1218

General Software Discussion / Re: Reading Administrator account files from USB

« Last post by mwb1100 on September 25, 2008, 12:59 AM »

I was able to take ownership of some other account files and this without ever being asked a password... what kind of security is that? What is the point of setting access priviledges to files, if anybody can simply bypass this and simple take ownership?

I'm happy to have been able to do it, but at the very least, I expected to be required to enter the original account credentials (account name, password), otherwise NTFS security is just a joke...

-PPLandry (September 24, 2008, 11:01 PM)

I assume that you are running with an administrator account on the new machine?  Administrators have the right to take ownership of files.  If you were logged on as a non-admin user, you would not have been able to do this.

1219

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: The Superior Software List

« Last post by mwb1100 on September 23, 2008, 05:36 PM »

I modeled it after Zaine's list

-superboyac (September 23, 2008, 04:33 PM)

So, are you going to post the occasional nudie pic?

1220

General Software Discussion / Re: CCleaner Or Not?

« Last post by mwb1100 on September 23, 2008, 01:05 AM »

If you are going to use CCleaner then yoiu should consider going to the 'Other Builds' download page: http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds

The normal CCleaner installer includes the Yahoo Toolbar (although the toolbar installation is optional).  The Portable or Slim builds do not.

1221

Living Room / Re: News Article: Comcast Discloses Bandwidth Throttling Practices

« Last post by mwb1100 on September 22, 2008, 04:05 PM »

The not only came clean with the FCC - they sent a notice to me that the Acceptable Use Policy was changing as of Oct 1 (250GB/Month limit).   I'm not too concerned with the limit - as long as they're up front about it.  I'll be interested to see how their advertising changes.  I'll bet it will say "Unlimited* Internet" with nothing but the asterisk to indicate that it's really not unlimited.

1222

General Software Discussion / Re: Volume Shadow Copy : how do you get this damn thing to work!

« Last post by mwb1100 on September 16, 2008, 03:23 PM »

I guess I'm looking on some advices on cluster size. That's the only potential solution I foresee for now. Anyone knows from experience what will happen if I increase the cluster size of my partitions?

-Armando (September 16, 2008, 03:05 PM)

Not from experience, but the thing that comes first to mind is make sure you're adequately backed-up.  While I think the conversion should be safe, since it's a low-level change if there's any kind of glitch it'll be a disaster.

The only drawback I believe you might see is there will be increased 'slack' space usage, especially if you have a ton of small files.  However, given today's disk sizes, I doubt that would be of any significance.

1223

General Software Discussion / Re: Volume Shadow Copy : how do you get this damn thing to work!

« Last post by mwb1100 on September 15, 2008, 10:44 AM »

VSS can be finicky.  2BrightSparks has a long list of troubleshooting steps for VSS that you should try, if you haven't already:

http://2brightsparks.../viewtopic.php?t=932

The thing that worked for me when I had problems is supposed to be in that list, but I didn't notice it.  I had the following problem/fix:

http://support.micro...scid=kb;en-us;828481

1224

Living Room / Re: Vuln. Alert: Malformed URLs Crash Acrobat 9

« Last post by mwb1100 on September 14, 2008, 09:20 PM »

Denial of service is the technical term, regardless of any connotations associated with the phrase.

I wouldn't say they're blatantly lying, just exaggerating or sensationalizing the scope of the problem.

-mwb1100 (September 14, 2008, 06:09 PM)

How so, given that their use of this phrase is entirely legitimate?

-Ehtyar (September 14, 2008, 06:21 PM)

It may be a technical term, but apparently there is still some difference of opinion on it.  In my opinion it's a stretch to call this a denial of service - what service is being blocked/prevented/denied?

Since you suggested using Google to clear up any  misconception, here's what I get on the first results page for the search '"denial of service" definition', listing only the results that don't discuss only distributed denial of service attacks, which I think everyone can agree this is not:

A denial of service (DoS) attack is an incident in which a user or organization is deprived of the services of a resource they would normally expect to have.

-http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid92_gci213591,00.html

A denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) or distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS attack) is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users.

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack

A type of crack attack that makes it difficult, if not impossible, for valid system users to access their computer or particular services?such as Web applications?on a computer.

-http://www.yourdictionary.com/denial-of-service

A condition in which a system can no longer respond to normal requests.

-http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=denial+of+service&i=41128,00.asp

I still don't think this meets these definitions. If you do, that's fine.

1225

Living Room / Re: Vuln. Alert: Malformed URLs Crash Acrobat 9

« Last post by mwb1100 on September 14, 2008, 06:09 PM »

Use of "denial of service" in this case is entirely legitimate, unless they're blatantly lying, which I am yet to see any evidence of, unless you have any...?

-Ehtyar (September 14, 2008, 05:12 PM)

I wouldn't say they're blatantly lying, just exaggerating or sensationalizing the scope of the problem.