Recent Posts

13201

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: NANY 2012 Idea Suggestion: Picture Grid Arranger

« Last post by mouser on July 13, 2011, 06:11 AM »

i wasn't particularly interested in any effects -- the main goal is to make one new image that combines them all, by letting user easily and quickly arrange the thumbnails.

13202

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / NANY 2012 Idea Suggestion: Picture Grid Arranger

« Last post by mouser on July 13, 2011, 04:35 AM »

This is an idea i've been meaning to code for a long time but as it's not really my area of expertise I thought i would put it out there in case anyone else was interested.

The idea is for a program that would let you drop in a bunch of photos and would let you move around their thumbnails to arrange them in some kind of grid, and then save the full sized montage.

An important aspect would be snapping behavior.  If you have ever used the windows multiple-monitors settings dialog, that is what i had in mind:


This would let users easily arrange photos in a horizontal strip, vertical strip, grid, etc.

I can see some additional nice flourish options such as a function to autofit a grid, options for some kind of automatic bordering feature, resizing options, and ability to drag and adjust relative sizes of images.

This is a program that is 90% user interface.

13203

DcUpdater / Re: DcuHelper.exe v1.10 (7/12/11) - Update checking for your apps (dcupdater compat)

« Last post by mouser on July 13, 2011, 04:09 AM »

This is not so great as product updates in this case are not available from my website

i didn't fully understand the 3 options you proposed, could you elaborate on them and which you would prefer?
do you just want me to let the .dcupdate file specify an alternative web page the user should visit to get the update?
so that dcuhelper would present 2 buttons, one would say like "visit program website" the other would say "visit registered user update page"?

13204

DcUpdater / Re: DcuHelper.exe v1.10 (7/12/11) - Update checking for your apps (dcupdater compat)

« Last post by mouser on July 13, 2011, 04:04 AM »

DcuHelper is now showing my complete XML file under the whatsnew

this should not be happening -- it's either a bug in my code (what? never!) or you are specifying your xml as your whatsnew file somehow.  if you can't figure out a solution email me and i'll help.

13205

DcUpdater / Re: DcuHelper.exe v1.10 (7/12/11) - Update checking for your apps (dcupdater compat)

« Last post by mouser on July 13, 2011, 04:02 AM »

I think some options would benefit to either move to the versionxml or to manage the .dcupdate file centrally and download it on update

Yes i was thinking this too -- or simply make it possible for the remote file to overide the values. 
It's the way it is mostly to keep the remote version file as small as possible since it is downloaded so frequently.
But it does seem like i should make it an option that would let remote version file overide the download location, etc.

13206

DcUpdater / Re: DcuHelper.exe v1.10 (7/12/11) - Update checking for your apps (dcupdater compat)

« Last post by mouser on July 13, 2011, 04:00 AM »

Minor update:

• v1.10.01 - July 12, 2011 - if launched as a hidden window (common in old versions of dcuhelper) the new dialog would not display; thanks worstje

13207

General Software Discussion / Re: USB Drive shows Write Delay error

« Last post by mouser on July 12, 2011, 11:21 AM »

does the error occur while you are trying to write data to it or when you remove the thumbdrive?

it is interesting that the error is only occuring on one pc.

i very much doubt it's malware.

13208

General Software Discussion / Software Mysteries (or: the rants and raves of a tech blogger)

« Last post by mouser on July 12, 2011, 04:57 AM »

On of our favorite sites, FreewareGenius.com, has a fun piece up today with musings and observations on the world of freeware.  In it he talks about some of the strange patterns he has noticed after reviewing so many programs.  Some funny stuff, and also some comments that should be useful to people looking for programming ideas.  Let's hope Samer writes more of these kinds of articles in the future!

http://www.freewareg...s-of-a-tech-blogger/

13209

Find And Run Robot / Re: Web search as default when no entry was found?

« Last post by mouser on July 11, 2011, 03:26 AM »

From the help file, this is a bit tricky but it can be done:

You can now create a special alias called noresults.

If user hits enter when no results are shown, this alias will be triggered.

It can be useful if you want to do something like launch what they type directly (as if it was on path), or invoke another search program, etc.  Just use $$1 in the results.

Important: you need to set the regular expression pattern to:
^noresults (.*)$

So if you wanted to do a web search your result would be just:
http://www.google.com?q=$$1 or http://www.google.com?q=$$u1

(the u1 is for better url encoding of the parameter)

or if you wanted to show the web search inside farr's window use result
igo http://www.google.com?q=$$u1

13210

Screenshot Captor / Re: Invalid Pointer crash in ScreenshotCaptor 2.93

« Last post by mouser on July 11, 2011, 03:17 AM »

I've never heard a report of an error crash before when messing around with clipart BUT then again i don't think it's a very commonly used feature.
The "List index out of bounds" error usually means some improper attempt to reference an item in the list of files that no longer exists..  I'll play around and see if i can cause it to reoccur -- if it happens to you again let me know.

13211

Mobysaurus / Re: Mobysaurus on Windows Vista x64, Win7/10 requires updated dll - download here

« Last post by mouser on July 10, 2011, 01:55 PM »

This dll should also work for windows 7 and xp 64 bit.

13212

Coding Snack Guidelines / Re: I need help editing a script

« Last post by mouser on July 10, 2011, 02:00 AM »

DC member skwire may be able to help.. i've let him know about this thread.

13213

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: Request: Select Audio Source

« Last post by mouser on July 09, 2011, 10:36 AM »

My problem (in case there are other ways of solving this) is that the CHS sound is rather loud.

The easiest solution to this is simply replace the sound that chs uses -- it loads it from a wave file specified in the "Behavior and Sounds" tab.
So just make a copy of the defaults and then lower the volume of them in your favorite sound editor (Audacity is free).  Or use your own different audio files.

(Remember not to just modify those default files as they will be overwritten on the next update; make a copy of them into a new directory if you modify them).

13214

LaunchBar Commander / Re: Mouser Help! Launchbar Commander keeps "stealing focus"

« Last post by mouser on July 08, 2011, 11:46 PM »

Hi wperkins.

Hmm that's interesting! I'm trying to think why it would steal focus..

772 nodes!  Perhaps it has become sentient at this point and just does what it wants to.

What might be nice to know is if turning off the option to "Keep launchbars on top" will make the problem go away.

Meanwhile I will search the code and see if i can find the problem.  I'm guessing it does have something to do with that.

ps. you should post a screenshot of your launchbar here.

13215

Living Room / Re: 64 Bit OS - When to Switch ?

« Last post by mouser on July 08, 2011, 04:27 AM »

As worstje says, I think it's all about memory.  With the 32 bit versions you are limited to about 3gb of memory.
With memory as cheap as it is, using 4gb, 8gb, and greater amounts of memory is starting to become standard -- and for that you really need a 64bit OS.

So if you are building a new machine, go with 64bit OS, no doubt about it.  Unless you know for sure there is some legacy hardware you are using that isn't supported and you refuse to upgrade the hardware.

If it's an old machine whose memory is going to stay < 4gb, don't worry about it.

Note: My understanding of the memory limits in windows is very superficial -- if others on this thread say there are memory limitations with 64bit Windows they would know better than me.

13216

Screenshot Captor / Re: Initial Recommendations

« Last post by mouser on July 08, 2011, 01:37 AM »

I would like it to be the default frame and mask when i capture.  Is it possible?

not currently possible.. i get the impression that almost no one uses the frames and mask feature of SC.. it would be nice if people made some new and better frames (like some better torn edges frames), then maybe it would be worth improving the feature.

13217

Living Room / Re: quick opinions: do i return this annoying machine

« Last post by mouser on July 07, 2011, 02:44 PM »

amen to what chris said. 

13218

Living Room / Re: nearby lightning skrike kills neighbours computers (and mine)

« Last post by mouser on July 07, 2011, 11:50 AM »

My thought was two-fold:

1. Increases likelyhood that the problem will be solved by replacement parts.  In case there is something wonky about the interaction of parts, or a particular run of hardware, etc.  Getting different models will only increase chance of solving the problem -- and obviously you don't want to downgrade.

2. It seems like it's also fair for you to expect that if you are having to go through all of this inconvenience, and if they are trying to convince you not to demand a refund, the least they could do is upgrade your parts in order to increase the odds of solving the problem.

13219

Living Room / Re: nearby lightning skrike kills neighbours computers (and mine)

« Last post by mouser on July 07, 2011, 11:08 AM »

if you have to settle for a replacement, i'd insist on a replacement of both motherboard and ssd.  and if they really want to convince you not to get a refund, tell them to upgrade you to a better model ssd or motherboard.

13220

General Software Discussion / Re: alternative to filehamster?

« Last post by mouser on July 07, 2011, 10:16 AM »

This actually raises a really good idea for a feature that FileHamster could add that would be extremely useful.

A report you could generate which showed a list/table of files whose latest copies had not been revisioned.

This would be extremely helpful in diagnosing these kinds of issues, and doing a sanity check to make sure your files are being backed up.

13221

Developer's Corner / Re: My First Aussie Gig =D

« Last post by mouser on July 07, 2011, 10:00 AM »

Congratulations on the job! 

13222

General Software Discussion / Re: alternative to filehamster?

« Last post by mouser on July 07, 2011, 09:00 AM »

It was a php file, edited in normal text editor.  the settings were set to keep infinite revisions, and make new revisions every 5 seconds.  It seems random to me why it missed revisioning the file.  I turned off the popup messages after a week of using the program as they became too distracting.

FileHamster seems to do a pretty good job when it does its job right.. The problem is i simply cannot afford to roll the dice and have a 25% chance that the file i counted on it revisioning was simply skipped for random reasons..

13223

Living Room / Re: quick opinions: do i return this annoying machine

« Last post by mouser on July 07, 2011, 04:27 AM »

i'd return it.  i know it's s huge pain in the neck.

but i think one has to distinguish between two kinds of problems.

if it was something where one part was clearly broken, and could be replaced, i wouldn't worry about it.

but you have a case where something RANDOM is wrong, that you will not be able to identify.
it could be the solid state drive (seems probable).
it could be the motherboard.
it could be cable.

you're going to have a hard time ever knowing for sure what's wrong even if you get it working again, you'll not know if the problem will re-emerge.

an alternative would be to get them to send you a replacement SSD and an email saying that they will extend the period you have to return everything if the problem does not get fixed.

im glad you have been moving stuff around in that machine, plugging and unplugging stuff, and stress testing it.  better to find out now that the machine is unreliable than to find out later.

13224

General Software Discussion / Re: alternative to filehamster?

« Last post by mouser on July 06, 2011, 09:37 PM »

Since i wrote saying i chose FileHamster, it's only fair that I post a follow up saying that FileHamster just completely f*cked me.  It was supposed to be monitoring a set of files, and all the settings seem to show it is, but its randomly ignoring files that changed, grabbing changes sometimes.. ignoring some files revisioning others, etc.  Very unhappy.  I didn't lose any data but I've wasted a lot of time messing with FileHamster to now discover it seems completely undependable.  bad show

13225

Site/Forum Features / Re: DC Forum Mods Thread

« Last post by mouser on July 06, 2011, 02:18 PM »

I don't think its that there is anything inherently bad with reviving an old thread..

My personal take is that the object is mainly to alert people that they are about to post in a thread where the original participants may have moved on long ago -- that the discussion they are replying to may contain out of date information and opinions, and that others on the forum are probably not following the thread the way they would a more recent thread.

So the warning is to catch the attention of the poster and give them an opportunity to re-frame their intended post in light of the fact that it's not currently an active discussion.