Recent Posts

1226

General Software Discussion / Replace Windows XP's Icons

« Last post by tinjaw on October 09, 2007, 06:37 PM »

I have been screwing around much of today instead of getting work done.  This is doubly bad, as I took a vacation day from my real job to get this work done. 

So, I will make this post and then get back to some real work.

I downloaded StyleXP and found a few themes I like. Now I would like to do a complete replacement of the all of the standard system icons in WinXP. I assume there is a program to do that which is STABLE and has good support of the artists within the customization community. Can you folks help me out with some links?

thanx

1227

General Software Discussion / Re: Question: Quickest way to receive spam?

« Last post by tinjaw on October 09, 2007, 03:06 PM »

I mean this in all seriousness, go to a bunch of free porn sites and sign up for everything you can using that email address.

1228

General Software Discussion / Re: Two mozilla thunderbird developers call it quits - leave Mozilla Corp

« Last post by tinjaw on October 09, 2007, 01:01 PM »

I don't think Mozilla acquired Eudora, not in the sense of one company buying another. Yes, Mozilla is a company, but Eudora is morphing into a uber-extension to run inside Thunderbird.

For some more on this "breaking news story" 

david ascher - » Open letter to the Thunderbird community
[attach=#1][/attach]

1229

General Software Discussion / Re: Exe/Dll Resource viewers and Editors

« Last post by tinjaw on October 08, 2007, 10:49 PM »

I found a nice freeware resource editor today. It seems to be able to view and edit as well as many of the other I have used.

resEdit
[attachthumb=#2][/attachthumb]

It is offered by the same company that sells styleXP.
[attachthumb=#1][/attachthumb]

1230

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Announcing discountsoft.org, including thousands discount coupons

« Last post by tinjaw on October 08, 2007, 03:10 PM »

(Regnow) don't look very trustable to me (yeah, I'm a paranoid type of guy ).

-Lashiec (October 08, 2007, 02:41 PM)

I'm not sure if you were joking, but if you weren't, I can assure you that RegNow is a very reputable dealer. Digital River is a huge company that has been around the block of the software industry many times over and is well respected. Plimus can also be trusted. Between those, and a few others, I have purchased several hundreds of dollars worth of software. And many of the vendors that visit these forums and offer members discounts sell their software via these services as well.

1231

General Software Discussion / Re: Two mozilla thunderbird developers call it quits - leave Mozilla Corp

« Last post by tinjaw on October 08, 2007, 10:55 AM »

You can get some background on this on Om Malik's blog.

[attach=#1][/attach]

1232

General Software Discussion / Another Website Charging for Free Software

« Last post by tinjaw on October 08, 2007, 09:58 AM »

I'm not sure if this one has been mentioned yet. We need to set Veign lose on them if not. 

http://www.irfanview2008.com/

IT is one of those sites that charge for membership so you can download free software.

1233

General Software Discussion / Re: Autoreplace in clipboard

« Last post by tinjaw on October 07, 2007, 03:10 PM »

I don't understand what you are asking for. Replace the contents of the clipboard with what? How would it know what to replace it with? Can you provide a few examples please?

1234

General Software Discussion / MP3Toys

« Last post by tinjaw on October 07, 2007, 02:19 PM »

mp3toys... great for getting massive cover art and enjoying your collection in a very visual way.

-urlwolf (October 04, 2007, 12:11 PM)

Boy MP3Toys is one sexy player. I use MediaMonkey Gold, but I'm a sucker for a pretty face. I'll have to give that a try.

[attachimg=#1][/attachimg]

[attachimg=#2][/attachimg]

[attachimg=#3][/attachimg]

Images are from this online article.

1235

Best Dialog Extender / Re: Enhanced File Dialog

« Last post by tinjaw on October 07, 2007, 01:51 PM »

I own/use Direct Folders and love it, but I find it very unstable. It constantly crashes on me. Even if I block several programs for using it. They haven't come out with an update for quite some time. Version 3.21 was released in December 2006. I should email them and see if they plan on releasing anything more stable then the present version.

1236

Living Room / Re: Do you archive/store your downloads (mainly install files)?

« Last post by tinjaw on October 07, 2007, 01:47 PM »

mitzevo, It is weird that you posted about this. The reason I just logged in was to post a similar question. Odd. 

I have thought about saving every downloaded file as well, but always end up just relying on the Internet as my archive. You can always find a copy somewhere. And with a 10 MB download connection, it doesn't take long for even several hundred MB of files.

However, I do have a need for something very very similar. I want to better organize my software CDs, software DVDs, and various compressed archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.). I plan on converting the CDs and DVDs into ISO images. I have Terrabytes of HDD storage with hundreds of Gigabytes RAIDed. I have set up Openfiler to make all of this storage space available in various forms (SMB, NFS, FTP, and WebDAV).

Now I want to put a web frontend on it. I want some way to easily browse as well as search the files. Indexing should cover the metadata as well as introspect the files data. For example, this way I could search by file name or words inside a file.

I do not know of a best of breed solution for this. Ideally it would be a PHP application that uses a database to store the metadata and the index, and then provides links to the files in the filesystem.

Now, I know that I could build something like this using Microsoft technologies to index the files and ASP apps served up by IIS, but I am not as proficient with Microsoft web technologies as I am with LAMP.

I am aware of one script that runs FilesHome.com, but it doesn't even come close.

Any ideas?

1237

Living Room / Re: Versioning of files

« Last post by tinjaw on October 07, 2007, 01:29 PM »

Is it easy to keep backups of the versions that FileHamster keeps (complete with the comments of course)?

-jzippo (October 07, 2007, 09:24 AM)

Yes. Behind the scenes all FileHamster is doing is making a bunch of copies of the files in another directory. You just need to backup that directory.

And, how would it work if I would like to keep two FileHamster's on two computers synchronized?, would I be able to use a software that synchronizes files with the versions that FileHamster keeps?

-jzippo (October 07, 2007, 09:24 AM)

I haven't tried this, but my guess is that you should be able to as long as you don't try to edit the same file at the same time. You should be able to use the same shared network directory for the FileHamsters storage. I don't know if all the info FileHamster needs, like what files/folders to track, is also stored in that directory, of it is stored in the executable directory. If it is in the executable's directory, that might break things.

You should probably ask the developers. I imagine they would be able to tell you if it has already been done, or even if it is feasible.

1238

General Software Discussion / Re: download managers: what is the best for mass-downloading all mp3s in a site?

« Last post by tinjaw on October 06, 2007, 11:03 AM »

I suggest NeoDownloader. Note that the Lite (Free) version will only grab JPEG files. The full/pay version has a 30-day trial. IIRC the trail will force you to restart the application every time you hit 100 downloads in a single session.

NeoDownloader
[attachthumb=#1][/attachthumb]

The good news is there is a very slim chance you grabbed a free copy a few days ago as it was very recently on GiveAwayOfTheDay. I have owned a copy for several years and like it very much.

1239

Living Room / Re: Versioning of files

« Last post by tinjaw on October 06, 2007, 09:13 AM »

I havent figured out how to use the zip plugin yet - says it's running but cant find any options related to it..

-tomos (October 06, 2007, 08:02 AM)

There is a plugin section in the help file.

Zip Plugin

Storing revisions of all your files can take up quite a bit of space.  With the zip plugin you can reduce the amount of space used by these revisions.

You can enable zipping of revisions in the context menu for a watch in the watch tree.  Just right click your watch or  document, choose options from the menu and change the ZipRevisions option for the zip plugin to True.  You may also select your preferred type of compression.

-FileHamster Help File

1240

Living Room / Re: Online business incorporation in the US... recommendations?

« Last post by tinjaw on October 05, 2007, 07:46 PM »

I think mouser is thinking of the same one I am. I don't know anything about them other than they exist.

MyNewCompany.com
[attachthumb=#1][/attachthumb]

1241

Living Room / Re: Versioning of files

« Last post by tinjaw on October 05, 2007, 07:39 PM »

  Ralf, dude! You're killing me. You are doing everything you can to avoid using an actual version control system. You are doing extra work, that you would get "out of the box" with version control. I see that you said you had a bad experience with VSS, but I beg you, <humor>it is bad enough you are using Visual Basic</humor> but if you would just install subversion and TortoiseSVN, make frequent small atomic commits, and set up svn to insist you add a comment, you could ditch the papernotebook, all those zip files with crazyassed names, and.... Oh, I can go on and on about how you are just making it so difficult when it could be so much easier. And searching through paper notes to find info an a specific date, or build? Tags dude! Oh, I can't bear to watch any longer. 

1242

Living Room / Re: Versioning of files

« Last post by tinjaw on October 05, 2007, 07:32 PM »

tomos,

FileHamster is what you are looking for. Some suggestions for you:

• Watch the video tour. In the video you well get a chance to see him add a comment.
• When you install FileHamster, you will be presented with some help files that visually step you through the basic. Look for the Quickstart.
• If you want to take notes while working on the file, instead of waiting until you make a save. Use the Notes Window Plugin.
• Note that you can tweak the settings to change how your files are saved. For example you can keep the last X number of saves. But note that at each version you can override that by choosing to lock that version so that it won't be autodeleted.

1243

Developer's Corner / Re: Software Copy Protection Questions

« Last post by tinjaw on October 04, 2007, 07:09 PM »

To be honest, I'm less interested in hearing about this in a blog compared to receiving some feedback from you as to which solutions mentioned so far you're liking and for what reason.

-Ehtyar (October 04, 2007, 05:12 PM)

That would be the content of the blog entries as I use the stuff.

If you just wanted a massive list of all protection schemes i imagine Google would have been a better place to look.

-Ehtyar (October 04, 2007, 05:12 PM)

I wasn't looking for just a list. I was looking for a prescreened list with plenty of critiques of items listed. For example, product x is inexpensive to purchase but takes five times as long to implement as the others, while product y only does this one thing, but is best of breed, etc.

1244

Developer's Corner / Automate Your "Cut It In Half" Debugging Sessions

« Last post by tinjaw on October 04, 2007, 12:34 PM »

We all know you sometime have to just cut stuff in half and see if the bug goes away. If it doesn't, cut it in half again. Loosely speaking, academia is trying to automate this process, and have had some success.

The following has been lifted from UC Davis News & Information :: Software 'Chipper' Speeds Debugging

Software 'Chipper' Speeds Debugging

September 28, 2007

Computer scientists at UC Davis have developed a technique to speed up program debugging by automatically "chipping" the software into smaller pieces so that bugs can be isolated more easily.

Computer programs consist of thousands, tens or even hundreds of thousands of lines of code. To isolate a bug in the code, programmers often break it into smaller pieces until they can pin down the error in a smaller stretch that is easier to manage. UC Davis graduate student Chad Sterling and Ron Olsson, professor of computer science, set out to automate that process.

"It's really tedious to go through thousands of lines of code," Olsson said.

The "Chipper" tools developed by Sterling and Olsson chip off pieces of software while preserving the program structure.

"The pieces have to work after they are cut down," Olsson said. "You can't just cut in mid-sentence."

In a recent paper in the journal "Software -- Practice and Experience," Olsson and Sterling describe ChipperJ, a version developed for the Java programming language. ChipperJ was able to reduce large programs to 20 to 35 percent of their former size in under an hour.

More information about automated program chipping is available on Olsson's Web site at http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~olsson/.

1245

General Software Discussion / Re: Question: Does the GPL allow program redistribution?

« Last post by tinjaw on October 04, 2007, 11:32 AM »

I still really don't understand the animosity toward the GPL

-mwb1100 (October 04, 2007, 10:17 AM)

It is with software licensing as it is with all things in life. As long as their are choices/alternative, there will be opinions. Give me a choice and I will give you a religious war.

1246

Developer's Corner / Re: Programming 101 Lesson: Don't Purge User Data

« Last post by tinjaw on October 04, 2007, 11:26 AM »

OGroeger, I am going to have to disagree with you. If you are using it as a key, it should be unique. Regardless if it is a user name or a ISBN. Detach the key that identifies a *record* in a database from the *data* it holds, even if that "data" is used as a "key" is some other system. I explain this as the "Not My Database" problem. By using ISBNs you are relying on somebody else's key system to identify entities. This also locks you into using ISBNs. Use a layer of abstraction. If the people who dictate what an ISBN "is" in general, and what a specific ISBN "equates" to, then you are hosed. You are, in effect, tying your database schema to some other's schema. Primary keys are cheap.

Now, I am not advocating over normalizing your database to absurdum, but Best Practices in object oriented programming and frameworks have shown the value of adding reasonable layers of abstraction. What may seem set in stone today will seem like warm gelatin when somebody decides to change the rules without your consent.

1247

General Software Discussion / Re: How do you launch stuff?

« Last post by tinjaw on October 04, 2007, 09:13 AM »

*Being a software junkie sucks...

-Darwin (October 04, 2007, 09:00 AM)

We should start Crackware. The first hit is always free. You can run the software once, for free, then you must pay.

1248

Developer's Corner / Re: Programming 101 Lesson: Don't Purge User Data

« Last post by tinjaw on October 04, 2007, 08:29 AM »

• Someone inserts a new record with the identical business key as the archived record

-OGroeger (October 04, 2007, 04:48 AM)

There is your problem. You should never reuse such a key. Unique Primary Keys are the heart and soul of any database.

1249

Developer's Corner / Re: Recommended/Best/Most Useful IDEs for Language *insert language*?

« Last post by tinjaw on October 04, 2007, 08:26 AM »

vim

-urlwolf (October 03, 2007, 05:48 AM)

NO

-Lashiec (October 03, 2007, 09:08 PM)

Gesundheit!

1250

General Software Discussion / Re: Should I Move To (Gasp!) Microsoft Outlook As My Main Email Client ??

« Last post by tinjaw on October 04, 2007, 08:24 AM »

Sorry for that long post... I guess I'm procrastinating.

-Armando (October 03, 2007, 10:01 PM)

Please. No need to apologize. That was exactly the kind of info I was looking for.