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Recent Posts

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1326
If you use Firefox, some of the addons can meet your first requirement.
1327
Either NotesHolder or QuotePad, which is a rebranded version of it.  Not quite your mouse target, but you can set it so that you "bump" a line at the edge of the screen to pop it up, or use a hotkey.  If you go this route, it may help to know that QuotePad is free and NotesHolder has both free and payware versions.  Overkeen AV scanners tend to mark the payware version as a false positive, but not the free version, and AFAIC the payware version doesn't have a huge extra functionality anyway.
1328
CopyText is another freeware that looks similar to Control Content Saver.  Warning - trying to use it has sometimes done my head in  :o

Another thought - maybe take a screenshot, put it in EverNote, and use EverNote's text recognition feature?  I should add that I'm using old EverNote 2.2, not the only current version which has gone cloud and which I haven't tried.

Maybe ABBYY Screenshot Reader, $10, which is like a more sophisticated equivalent of JOCR but doesn't need Microsoft Office installed?
1329
the problem is that while the filenames are the same, I have every ebook extension you can name, which leaves me with dozens of copies of the same book. I'd like to be able to specify a wildcard search for all files where the name is the same but the extension is different.

Erm, DoubleKiller can do that already, so it looks like a good suggestion to add here  :)  DoubleKiller has one version free for private use, and a more advanced payware version.
1330
General Software Discussion / Re: Best Text Expander software for Windows
« Last post by rjbull on March 17, 2011, 04:13 PM »
I think they include an algorithm that tries to decide whether you're using it for personal or commercial purposes.  I can see why, but it must be very hard to make an accurate decision.

We used to give away free licenses to users who provide evidence for any claim that our commercial use detection would be malfunctioning. So far, we never had to issue a license for that reason.
-BartelsMedia (March 17, 2011, 03:54 PM)

That's quite an achievement.  I used to write scripts that corrected for the multitude of various ways users could enter the names of products, and was constantly amazed at the variations they came up with...

You omitted:
Text snippets can be HTML-, RTF- and Microsoft Word text formatted and contain .JPG, .PNG. .BMP und .TIFF bitmap images.
  as the OP wanted to have formatted text, which, as far as I'm aware, not all text expanders offer.
1331
General Software Discussion / Re: Best Text Expander software for Windows
« Last post by rjbull on March 14, 2011, 11:25 AM »
One I recommend quite often is Yadabyte Subtext

But very basic, and I once had it deleted from my USB stick as a false positive by an overenthusiastic college AV system.
1332
General Software Discussion / Re: Best Text Expander software for Windows
« Last post by rjbull on March 14, 2011, 11:22 AM »
If you want formatted text:

-----------PCMag.com Utility Library Update ------------

NEW RELEASE: RoboType 4
RoboType accelerates your typing by providing a means to
associate boilerplate text, form letters, signatures, and
other reusable text, html, and images with short abbreviations.

Released: February 17, 2011
Version: 4.0

Learn more and download
http://enews.pcmag.c...eLaNnsSrT78NN1yk=440

RoboType 4: Type in Shorthand
By Tim Smith

only $7.97
No additional charge for Utility Library subscribers
Subscribe now just $19.97
Version: 4.1.8
Updated: March 9, 2011

Supported Platforms: Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, & 7 (32 & 64-bit)

Are you a tech support specialist who has to type the same responses to questions over and over? Or perhaps you're a lawyer or business professional typing the same name throughout a document? You can always copy and paste, but that's clumsy and slow. RoboType solved this problem when it was first released in 1997 by providing a means to associate boilerplate text, form letters, signatures, and other reusable text with short abbreviations. When you typed the abbreviations, RoboType replaced them with the expanded text.

Robotype 4 continues to build on the original's strong foundation but adds many new features including:
Support for rich text, html, and images as replacement snippets
• The ability to replace date phrases with dates in multiple formats. For example, if you type "now," Robotype will offer to replace the text with the current date
• A new popup menu for the user to select replacement data if the same abbreviation has been assigned to multiple snippets
• A Random password generator. Type "password" and a dialog box for generating a password will appear
• The ability to launch programs based on an abbreviation. For example, if you're typing in notepad and want to add two numbers just type "calc" and Windows calculator will launch
• A new user interface featuring a tree and groups of abbreviations
• Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and 7

Other than formatted text, the features aren't particularly exciting  <shrug>.  Not free, but very cheap.
1333
Living Room / Re: Spaceships A-Z, LEGO
« Last post by rjbull on March 14, 2011, 10:54 AM »
A Model T spaceship, eh?  Is it only available in black?  ;)

I still like the Liberator from Blake's 7.  There's even a Lego version!  And of course (being English, and of a certain age) the immortal Dan Dare's Anastasia and Zylbat.
1334
General Software Discussion / Re: Best Text Expander software for Windows
« Last post by rjbull on March 14, 2011, 10:24 AM »
If it's an important document I would proof read it anyway.
With or without spell and phrase help.

I have problems proof reading something I've written myself because I read what I think should be there, rather that what's really there.  I use text expanders more to shorten typing by using expansion on long words and phrases, rather than to ensure correct spelling.  I generally check everything above trivial size with the spelling checker built into whatever editor or word processor.

I've wondered, though, about something I read years ago.  On Linux, you tend to have one spell checker that's called by every program that needs it.  On Windows, every program has its own.  How many spell checkers do you need on one PC?  How much space are their dictionaries wasting?
1335
General Software Discussion / Re: Best Text Expander software for Windows
« Last post by rjbull on March 14, 2011, 10:19 AM »
Typing Assistant, however, is not free for any use.

That's true, but neither, as far as I am aware, are Breevy or Direct Access that you mentioned in your OP.
1336
General Software Discussion / Re: Best Text Expander software for Windows
« Last post by rjbull on March 14, 2011, 06:45 AM »
The personal version prompts to upgrade to commercial when used for personal use.

I think they include an algorithm that tries to decide whether you're using it for personal or commercial purposes.  I can see why, but it must be very hard to make an accurate decision.  E.g., if I were, as a private person, writing a letter to a utility company, how would an algorithm decide.

http://www.autotext-software.com/

Is a free, no pop-up or prompts to upgrade to commercial, fine program.

A freeware by the Phrase Express people, when Phrase Express is already free for personal use?  Getting very complicated!

I currently use Typing Assistant, and like it, but you have to press the number of the phrase that you want in the pop-up list.  I asked them to remove that and allow "instant" text input, but they said no, as then users might be more likely to type the wrong thing by accident.  I see where they're coming from, but I disagree.  Having to use an explicit trigger spoils the flow.  And after all, what's typed is the user's responsibility.  I would prefer to go back to Instant Text which doesn't enforce that, but would have to pay $99 to go from version V to the version VII that works properly on Vista Home Premium with UAC On (full new price is $189).  At present I'm resisting!
1337
General Software Discussion / Re: Best Text Expander software for Windows
« Last post by rjbull on March 13, 2011, 11:31 AM »
There has been much discussion of text expanders on DC already.  I listed some of the other expanders, and links to DC thread that mention them, here: Re: Auspex

List is not exhaustive!
1338
Are the PCs networked?  Could they all have their schedulers set to copy their data files to folders on a remote PC to which users had read-only permissions, so users could get the data off that, without being able to affect the originating PCs?
1339
Living Room / Re: England Is Grinding To A Halt.
« Last post by rjbull on March 11, 2011, 03:46 PM »
I'm questioning the focus on hydrogen as a useful option, and I do so from the perspective of someone who used to be a huge believer in it. But I've done a lot of research since then and as far as I can see it just doesn't make that much sense. It's not efficient, it's hard to transport and store, and the distributions systems don't yet exist.

I don't disagree, but one of the great features of fossil fuels is their convenience for those points, combined with their energy density.  I rather assumed that the fuss about hydrogen was largely because it looked the nearest thing to a replacement for them, so the world could go on with, more or less, business as usual.  The thought of having to abandon easy distribution of everything is truly scary.

But, given the problems of hydrogen, maybe the sensible move is to start breeding horses and oxen, dig canals, and invest in sailing barges...
1340
General Software Discussion / Re: Your most used SPECIAL programs
« Last post by rjbull on March 11, 2011, 03:12 PM »
The default RIOT 0.3.3.0 plugin in IrfanView is a lite version, not an old version [...] maybe that was what you meant.

It's what I couldn't remember  :-[  Thanks for the clarification!
1341
The Getting Organized Experiment of 2007 / Re: My System - Index Card Centric
« Last post by rjbull on March 11, 2011, 02:59 PM »
Maybe ndxCards?
ndxCards is a powerful electronic note taking software that helps record, retrieve and recap all your knowledge in whichever form you choose. Anything you read, hear, some boiler plate text or a code snippet - enter it as note cards and ndxCards can manage it all.

I thought app103 and others were using Notezilla in this kind of way?

The beauty of mouser's or other paper-based systems is that they don't need batteries and you can take them anywhere.  But, it would be a real problem to move back and forth between a PC and a written system, and that seems insuperable to me.
1342
DC Member Programs and Projects / Re: Stoic Joker's (File & Folder) Fix When
« Last post by rjbull on March 11, 2011, 02:34 PM »
See also two programs by Roman Korcek, both of them plug-ins for Total Commander:
  • AddTime
      Useful when you need to change the time or date of many files by a specific amount. Example situation - your digital camera's clock has been set incorrectly and now all your pictures have their dates off by an hour. Now, instead of changing the individual properties of every file you just select them all, click AddTime Addon's button, select 1 hour, press Start, and you're done!
      Also available in a free-standing version.
  • ReDate
      It works similar to the counter [C] in TC's Multi-Rename Tool, however, it is used for file dates (and times) only. Using ReDate you can change the dates of multiple files incrementally or randomly.

Back in DOS, I mostly used Charles Dye's (Web site defunct) TOUCH:

TOUCH.COM   v1.08d   2003-10-05   C. Dye
GPL Freeware.  Copyright 1996-2003, Charles Dye.  No warranty!

TOUCH [filespecs] [options]

   /D:date  set to specific date     /D  set to today's date
   /T:time  set to specific time     /T  set to current time
   /C=file  copy stamps from file
   /A:attr  change file attributes
   /P  offer yes/no prompt           /F:x  set date format
   /S  recurse into subdirectories   /M    page output

Unless you use /D /T /C or /A, no changes will be made!
Try /D? /T? /C? /A? /F? or /M? for more info.

The local date format is DD/MM/YYYY; you may omit the year.


One of the most interesting options was /C= copy time stamps from another file.
1343
And I suppose if you make even one small gesture in that direction, you'll be flooded with eager requests for "just one more little feature."  Oh, well.  It was just an idea.
1344
General Software Discussion / Re: Your most used SPECIAL programs
« Last post by rjbull on March 10, 2011, 03:47 PM »
Is IrfanView still shipping (well, downloading) with an old version of RIOT, so that you have to go to the RIOT site and download the current one from there and install over it, or is it now up to date?
1345
Living Room / Re: England Is Grinding To A Halt.
« Last post by rjbull on March 10, 2011, 03:45 PM »
50% of the cars currently on UK roads are parked along either side of those  roads.
-cranioscopical (March 10, 2011, 07:34 AM)

And the M25 London orbital motorway is the world's biggest car park that doesn't have a toilet block  :(
1346
mouser, note taking apps are a different kettle of fish from clipboard enhancers, but there's an overlap.  I don't know if you've ever used Evernote, but it sounds like CHS's clip folders work like the Evernote ribbon does, i.e., date/time order is the only form of organisation.  I suggest that you could mimic basic Evernote functions by adding an extra hotkey that would send the selected text or image into a predefined "Permanent Notes" folder rather than the default one, so important "research clips"  didn't get mixed up with transient clips.

To mimic Evernote closer would mean a lot more work; tags (which I don't use, but many would want), more sophisticated searching with highlighting of the search strings, and support for HTML and RTF.  But the basic usage might be nice, and allow people to run only one program instead of several.
1347
@bob99: nobody seems to have mentioned that Zhorn Software's stickies is freeware.
1348
General Software Discussion / Re: Editor for PDFs: recommendations, please?
« Last post by rjbull on March 10, 2011, 03:00 PM »
Serif is making a big noise about the "new" (almost half a year old) PagePlus X5's PDF capabilities

Hmmm...  I have X4, maybe I should consider responding to their e-mails about upgrading, as long as I can use a coupon.  On the other hand, I already have both Foxit and Infix...
1349
What I don't understand is the "no opposing view will be tolerated" attitude.

I've been thrown out of one forum and had posts deleted from another, I think because I dared suggest features found in other softwares.  I'm concerned that Stalinist mind control is on the increase.

People might find it interesting to revisit
for an unusual e-mail client and a sophisticated strategy for dealing with e-mail.  IIRC, Allen said he thought TheBat! was not only the best and most highly-featured e-mail client in existence, but also the best there would ever be, because of the move to Web mail.
1350
Bump!  It's today.

40% discount also applies to the Portable version, but that's more expensive, so today $29.95 instead of $49.95.
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