Recent Posts

1201

Living Room / Re: Play Media Files on my Network House-wide?

« Last post by J-Mac on February 18, 2010, 03:01 PM »

I haven't seen this mentioned yet...

I think what you're looking for is a Roku Soundbridge.  http://soundbridge.roku.com/  It has all the network connections you need.  The soundbridge can be used for any existing audio hardware you have (or want to purchase), and the radio is something you can easily put in a room and use in place of your laptop.  Both would have better quality than what your laptop would have.

The downside is it looks like it requires some kind of server to stream from.

I haven't tried this myself, but it looks like a possible solution to what you're looking for.

-rwremsik (February 18, 2010, 01:13 PM)

Now this actually sounds promising! I already have a Roku Digital Player - the so-called "Netflix Player". That little box is a dream come true! I had not even looked seriously at Roku's other products; not really sure why. Most of the other suggestions here require adding a computer at each TV/entertainment location, which is n0ot realistic for me. Or add transmitting equipment/server to my network and receiving equipment at each location, which is exactly what I want to avoid, for both expense and wiring reasons. I was even thinking how Roku accomplished such easy streaming of movies so why had no one done the same - inexpensively - with other media. Looks like Roku has!

OK, I am going to take a look at the Roku Soundbridge right now!

Thank you very much!

Jim

1202

Living Room / Re: Nearly caught by spam.. [or 'Saved by Thunderbird']

« Last post by J-Mac on February 18, 2010, 02:53 PM »

"Security Theater", as security guru Bruce Schneier calls it. Doesn’t do a thing to actually authenticate the purchase but it is supposed to look like it does. Bunch of crap!

Worse yet are all the financial institutions I use now requiring me to add so-called "security questions" to my login, supposedly to enhance my online security. All that does is reduce my security online. Idiots - and then some.

Jim

1203

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

« Last post by J-Mac on February 14, 2010, 01:48 PM »

No, I'm talking Dell. My last HP was a Media Center box back in about 2002 or 2003 and it actually wasn’t too bad, though I have read about how much junk they include nowadays.

My Dells had the following junk: The Dell Support Center, which made Windows Help, the Event Log, and a number of other standard Windows tools branded with Dell's name. My problem is it ran all the time and reported my config - all of it - back to Dell continuously. At least the earlier boxes did. They claimed that it allowed them to serve me better w/support, though when I did have to call I got their truly terrible India operations. (BTW, I normally don’t mind support centers in India as long as competent people are staffing them; I worked with engineers from India most of my career and they were about the brightest coworkers I ever had. But Dell's were poorly trained and could hardly speak/comprehend English). So the Dell Support Center didn't help at all and just stole CPU resources.

Also, they had - and still have, I believe - a program pre-installed that takes over misspelled URLs and throws you to a Dell/Google branded page filled with ads. Can be uninstalled but you need to remove a registry key or it occasionally returns. I never have figured out what event(s) triggers it to rise from the dead like that.

Finally they have a version of Trend Micro installed - or did in 2008 anyway - that as mentioned here doesn’t not allow you to uninstall it until after you register the product and give up about as much personal information as your mother ever had.

Not too awful bad but still a pain. My last desktop box is a custom job from Falcon Northwest, which though it has had its own myriad problems came with a full retail copy of the OS and had nothing installed except that which I had specified. Check that: it also had a few benchmarking programs that they use for pre-shipping performance testing. And they asked me if I wanted that left on the computer first.

Thanks!

Jim

1204

General Software Discussion / Re: Bartels Media paranoia

« Last post by J-Mac on February 14, 2010, 01:31 PM »

OK, maybe I am just slow this morning, but....

...if I put a license key in a forum sig, wouldn’t that let all who look take my key and, well, maybe do something they shouldn’t with it?

Thank you.

Jim

1205

Living Room / Re: Nearly caught by spam.. [or 'Saved by Thunderbird']

« Last post by J-Mac on February 14, 2010, 01:28 PM »

My bank will NEVER email me about ANYTHING. Nor will they request info over the phone.

I can't even set up any sort of automatic bill payment through them unless I go there in person and fill out a bunch of forms authorizing a reoccurring payment, stating the name & address of company, specific amount to be paid and how often, and if the company tries to submit an amount that differs from what I put on that form, it gets rejected.

I once lost internet access because of this, right after a price increase, because I failed to go to the bank in person and file an update to the original authorization, with the new amount. They refused to pay the ISP one penny, and the ISP shut me off for nonpayment.

The bank doesn't even offer ATM cards, because they are worried about security...things like unauthorized use, lost or stolen cards, people being robbed at ATM machines, and something about 4 char PIN codes using only numbers 0-9 being too easy to crack. So, we can't have them.

But I love this bank. Yeah, they can be a little backwards where technology is concerned, but that can have some benefits. It's small, but run much different than your typical bank. It's not a big corporation owned by a bunch of tycoons and speculating stockholders. It's a very conservative community bank that is owned by its depositors, and we all have voting rights. (Yup, because I have money in there, I own a piece of that bank) It was set up after the stock market crash of 1929, by a bunch of people that wanted a more secure place to keep their money, after they nearly lost it all to the bigger banks that collapsed. Ever since then, every time there has been some sort of banking crisis, our bank hasn't really been affected by it. In fact, they always seem to come out even stronger. They never lost sight of their original mission of safety & security for your money and service to the local community. And that's why I have kept my money there for almost 30 years.

-app103 (February 14, 2010, 03:22 AM)

Then you are fortunate indeed. But keep an eye on them anyway. Never know when a new CEO decides to change things up a bit!

After my last post here I went through my email archive just to see what was there: a total of four phish-looking emails that were really from Wachovia, two from Citizens, and even one from Vanguard. My replies are classic - had me snickering myself while reading them now. Amazingly, as aggressively sarcastic as my replies sometimes were, the first reply back from almost all of the institutions read like they still didn't get my point at all. Sad really...

Thank you.

Jim

1206

Living Room / Re: Nearly caught by spam.. [or 'Saved by Thunderbird']

« Last post by J-Mac on February 14, 2010, 12:51 AM »

Your BANK will NEVER ask for you to confirm ANYTHING via e-mail, this is a scam that has been going around for a long time, if they require you to confirm anything they will call you and ask for you to come into the bank. 

-Stephen66515 (February 09, 2010, 11:49 AM)

Uhh, wrong. Banks like to profess that they are the ultimate in security but most of the time they are anything but.

I received an email from Wachovia about 18 months ago asking me to click a link and login to my Online Banking page to change my login credentials - claimed they were converting to a more secure authentication system. I forwarded the email to their fraud division and got a call from them. I asked for a number and called back after verifying the number. Lady there told me that it wasn’t a phish email; that the login upgrade was indeed real. I blasted here for such a security lapse, which she didn't understand, and followed up with snail mail letters to their corporate office and their Fraud division.

My wife - who was an assistant manager for them at the time - told me later what a stink I made! Special training, etc. and a revamping of their "online presence".

Sorry, but banks are basically stupid, simple animals who will violate any security parameter for the sake of cutting spending and making money!

Jim

1207

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

« Last post by J-Mac on February 13, 2010, 10:34 PM »

Actually that is a perfect example of crapware. The last three Dell machines I purchased were immediately wiped and the "bare" OS then reinstalled. Without TM and without Dell's "Support Center". Oh yeah, it also gets rid of Dell's lousy branded Google search pages.

Thanks!

Jim

1208

General Software Discussion / Re: Bartels Media paranoia

« Last post by J-Mac on February 13, 2010, 06:17 PM »

i think this thread has convinced me that we really shouldn't have a dedicated Complaint Section on the forum.. it was a reasonable idea but it's just not appropriate here unless we want to get into these kinds of arguments regularly.

-mouser (February 13, 2010, 05:51 PM)

Oddly enough, I have never seen such bickering in complaint or praise threads here involving any other company. But then again maybe I just missed them.

Thank you.

Jim

1209

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

« Last post by J-Mac on February 13, 2010, 06:02 PM »

Thanks for the info!

I guess one of my biggest problems was that I never saw any "Plug-in Manager". 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!). That was the only way to find out if they had become outdated. And a lot of times no one was maintaining the sites where I had gotten certain plug-ins, so it was really difficult to find out if my TC problems were related to specific plug-ins or not. And to be honest the forum help has been, well, let's say "spotty" at times in the past. Like, only getting sarcastic replies from experienced users who couldn't understand why anyone didn't know all that they did. I probably just caught a few a-holes on those occasions; all forums seem to have them!

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!

Thanks again!

Jim

1210

General Software Discussion / Re: Bartels Media paranoia

« Last post by J-Mac on February 13, 2010, 02:38 PM »

I had DA 1 and I have a license for DA2 or 2.5, but the developer changed his product to a subscription-based program. I didn't renew my "subscription".

-J-Mac (February 13, 2010, 01:18 PM)

That was actually sort of a 'lost in the translation' moment.  What the new license is in essence is a purchase with a 1 year upgrade protection policy, i.e. if you buy, then you get all version (major and minor) released during the year for free, instead of the former lifetime upgrade policy.  You can keep using your version for as long as you like (which is substantially different from an 'subscription' policy where you can't use the software after your subscription runs out a la Auction Sentry Deluxe).

-wraith808 (February 13, 2010, 02:11 PM)

I'm using Nagarsoft's wording. Their email to me:

Dear James,

Thank you for your purchase of:

(1) - Direct Access Upgrade Subscription

Licensing information will be sent to you in few hours.
Please check your spam filters so that you will receive e-mails from nagarsoft.com.

Thank you.

Jim

1211

General Software Discussion / Re: Bartels Media paranoia

« Last post by J-Mac on February 13, 2010, 01:23 PM »

One last comment: Personally I don’t care much either way, banned or not. I just said "Good..." meaning that it would have been nice for a change to read through a thread about a new text expander - any new text expander - and not have to see it turn into a stink bomb war!

Thank you.

Jim

1212

General Software Discussion / Re: Bartels Media paranoia

« Last post by J-Mac on February 13, 2010, 01:20 PM »

Arguing about the validity of his claims is exactly what is going to open up all this stuff again.. how can we expect someone to not reply to a thread claiming he has no proof people are stealing his work?  sigh.. this has really become counter-productive.

-mouser (February 13, 2010, 10:24 AM)

Jess, I can understand the above, but in most cases I couldn't see the exactness of the "copied" stuff that were often linked. Other than the programs have the same basic purpose of course.

Jim

1213

General Software Discussion / Re: Bartels Media paranoia

« Last post by J-Mac on February 13, 2010, 01:18 PM »

I will say that the Breevy developer reacted much smarter to the attacks and slurs than the DA guy did. BTW, I'm now using Breevy.  

-J-Mac (February 12, 2010, 11:45 PM)

Do you know if there are any advantages of Breezy over DA?  I was using DA, then switched to MacroExpress Pro, but it's a bit too heavy for launching applications (though good for a lot of other things), so I've been looking at the newest version of DA...  how does Breezy compare?

-wraith808 (February 13, 2010, 10:15 AM)

I had DA 1 and I have a license for DA2 or 2.5, but the developer changed his product to a subscription-based program. I didn't renew my "subscription".

I had a lot of problems using DA. For one thing, it could not handle abbreviations well, often deleting the word and replacing it with the first letter doubled and sometimes tripled. Also in some programs DA did not register line feeds/breaks, thus rendering a name and address field all on one line without spaces. Things like that. Further, it choked on Vista for about the first six months, not opening or opening and immediately closing. Some things he fixed; others he seemed to ignore. Check my posts at their forum for a recap.

Breevy is very similar but I haven't had the same kinds of difficulties with it so far.

Jim

1214

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

« Last post by J-Mac on February 13, 2010, 01:09 PM »

Yes, you did mention it, but your point was that they aren't necessary - Tomos was specifically talking about a case where a Program known for such problems - TrendMicro - was uninstalled but left enough behind to cause him problems. This is common with some security programs; you should not have more than one active A-V scanner installed at a time, so when one leaves behind remnants of itself you will have great difficulty installing the next one. I have experienced this twice, and both times the issue was a leftover registry key that was preventing the installation of the newer programs I was trying to install.

Jim

1215

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

« Last post by J-Mac on February 13, 2010, 03:38 AM »

All depends on what is left behind.

Jim

1216

General Software Discussion / Re: Bartels Media paranoia

« Last post by J-Mac on February 13, 2010, 03:37 AM »

Well, the BartelsMedia guy was eventually banned from DC, wasn't he? It really takes a lot before a non-spammer gets the boot, and I think that says something about whether you'd want to use their software or not...

-f0dder (February 13, 2010, 01:04 AM)

Really? I didn't know that. Good move if true.

Thanks!

Jim

1217

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

« Last post by J-Mac on February 12, 2010, 11:51 PM »

This is one of those few times when a registry cleaner is valuable and recommended! I used to go crazy trying to remove all pieces of programs I no longer wanted but that refused to fully relinquish my computer back to me. Now when this occurs I pull out my jv16 Powertools weapons and search the registry for any leftover keys related to that program. This has worked for me every time.

However let me mention here that I do NOT recommend regularly scheduled registry cleanings just for the heck of it. Only for specifically directed search and remove ops like above.   

Thanks!

Jim

1218

General Software Discussion / Re: Bartels Media paranoia

« Last post by J-Mac on February 12, 2010, 11:45 PM »

Their forum replies are pretty much always like that. Then again there is one person staffing the forum, I think, and there are a lot of questions that are clearly from not RTFM. However this reply is used way too often and IS very off-putting.

Regarding the Bartels Media "attack posts" back when Direct Access first announced their product here at DC, the same was done to the developer of Breevy text expander when he posted in the "Deals..." forum to announce his product's availability on Bits last month. Same BS that was smeared all over the Direct Access developer.

I will say that the Breevy developer reacted much smarter to the attacks and slurs than the DA guy did. BTW, I'm now using Breevy.  

Thanks!

Jim

1219

General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by J-Mac on February 11, 2010, 10:38 PM »

Armando,

I thought that you were working for Pierre. Didn't happen?

Thanks!

Jim

1220

General Software Discussion / Re: What is the currently best Desktop Search software?

« Last post by J-Mac on February 10, 2010, 09:32 PM »

Hmm.. - Firefox also blocked it when I clicked the order buttn, so maybe it's Share*It that is the bad egg. Good - they should be blocked!!

I still won't buy because Share*It / RegNow converts Euros to USD with a significant bump. Crooks.

Jim

1221

General Software Discussion / Re: What is the currently best Desktop Search software?

« Last post by J-Mac on February 10, 2010, 09:27 PM »

I just went to the likasoft site.  Firefox did its best to discourage me from doing so.  Apparently Firefox is using advisories from Google to decide what sites to block.  I was interested to see that Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Pro with IP Protection enabled and the latest definitions loaded did NOT flag the site as dangerous.  OTOH, the page I reached looked surprisingly lame.  I don't usually visit it, so I have no way of knowing whether it usually looks so amateurish, but it looked like a page I would design with my exceedingly basic and outmoded web-construction skills.  That made me wonder whether it's the real page.   

-cyberdiva (February 10, 2010, 11:13 AM)

I don’t think that Firefox is getting its advisories from Google. Firefox 3.6 is still blocking likasoft.com, yet Google Chrome is not. Weird.

Jim

1222

General Software Discussion / Re: "Recent folders" in the open/save dialog box

« Last post by J-Mac on February 07, 2010, 01:20 AM »

I bought Piky Suite last time it was on Bits. Piky Folders is the only part I use though. Doesn’t do much except allow me to create a list of Favorite folders which I can access from most Open and Save dialogs. It doesn’t have "Recent" folders but Win7 already has that so I don’t need a 3rd party app for that anymore.   

Jim

1223

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

« Last post by J-Mac on February 07, 2010, 12:57 AM »

OK, I just have to ask this once again; I've asked here and elsewhere in the past and have never gotten very good replies.

I purchased Total Commander - oh, about 20 years ago, it seems. Well, actually it was probably sometime in 2003, right around the time Christian was forced by MS to change the name from Windows Commander. License was sent via postal mail on a 1.44 MB floppy!

Anyway, though I still use TC for certain functions I have never been able to comfortably adopt it as my default, daily-use file manager. The UI is just different enough to confound me when I try to use it for all things file-related. I keep hearing - everywhere but also in this thread, all throughout - that the plug-ins make TC extremely configurable. While that may be technically true I have never found the TC plug-in system to be friendly at all. To the contrary as a matter of fact! I would search for plug-ins - they were once spread all over the web though now most are kept on one site - and install a few that sounded useful but then had to install and configure them within TC. ANd there were never any clear instructions for that. Instructions, yes; clear? Well, not exactly crystal - and I pretty much need "crystal" clear!

If my plug-ins did not work as expected I would post in the TC forum - which in itself has been a trip at times; I've had three separate usernames there. (Christian used to delete the usernames that were not active frequently!) Most of the time when I did post I would get a lot of advice; unfortunately not much of it agreed with other advice in the same thread. Oftentimes I would find out that the plug-ins I installed were not current; I was told I shouldn’t have used those but instead should have used others. It was always confusing enough to drive me back to something else.

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?

Thanks for comments.

Jim

1224

General Software Discussion / Re: "Recent folders" in the open/save dialog box

« Last post by J-Mac on February 07, 2010, 12:41 AM »

No problem Darwin. It was my fault! 

-jity2 (February 02, 2010, 12:43 PM)

It was?!?  So it was you that stopped development then?   

Jim

1225

General Software Discussion / Re: Quicklaunch annoyance, question

« Last post by J-Mac on February 07, 2010, 12:37 AM »

That's odd - I have not seen delays with the Quick Launch toolbar before. There is a long existing sorting bug in QL, and since MS has done away (for the most part) with QL in Windows 7 I doubt that the sort bug will ever be addressed. I used to get around it by renaming the links and putting numbers before each.

Jim