Recent Posts

1351

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by 4wd on June 16, 2016, 01:28 AM »

I CAN'T UNSEE IT!

-wraith808 (June 15, 2016, 09:11 PM)

Thanks for the warning ...

1352

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« Last post by 4wd on June 14, 2016, 09:41 PM »

Another Windows 10 anti-spy program: Destroy Windows Spying

Source code is available for download for those who wish to inspect and compile from scratch.

1353

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for MP3 player with "speed up playback" option

« Last post by 4wd on June 14, 2016, 12:16 AM »

One of the MPC family, eg. MPC-BE, MPC-HC, etc

Control + Up/Down (by default) to increase/decrease playback rate, rates are: 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 1.2, 1.5, 2.0, 4.0

Not sure if they can be changed.

Found it (in MPC-BE), those steps are Auto mode, in Playback options you can set an alternative:

1354

Post New Requests Here / Re: Suggestion: A new GUI for ExifTools

« Last post by 4wd on June 14, 2016, 12:01 AM »

Couple of points (maybe even three) and then I'll give up.

Sorry, I went for the beta version and ignored the .zip version.

-dcwul62 (June 13, 2016, 08:09 AM)

Mentioned twice already: You can extract the contents of the installer.  Then it's just a matter of dropping the files into a folder for portable operation. Hint

As for speed, well, I took 1 folder with 115 images with a mix of raw and jpg
It took about 13 minutes to complete 'reading' the folder.

I did say it reads the metadata in the background, that is GPS data for plotting the photos on the map.

With ExifToolGUI there was no wait at all, all is instantly.
I admit, the images are 1-by-1, so there is no thumbnail preview of an entire folder I believe.

Then please compare on an equivalent basis next time, this is why in my image Geosetter is set for Report not Thumbnail.

Geosetter [Report mode]: 201 Canon .DNG RAW image files listed within 2 seconds, all background EXIF GPS data for them loaded within 10 seconds - the interface was responsive to selecting any photo within this time period.  Once that background data loading was finished, scroll over image preview happened immediately for any file, 0 delay (there is no need for a separate Image Preview).  Within that initial period of background data reading there was a short delay of a second or so before display occurred, (which I also mentioned above).
Subsequent runs on the same folder had everything loaded within 5 seconds, (cached), and image preview available immediately.

And just for laughs: 130 images had GPS data, all plotted on the map within 3 seconds (after data load) across two countries (UK and Australia) from where you could select any image you wanted.

ExifToolGUI [same set of files]: ~15 seconds before its interface appeared (opening on test folder by default) - no image preview for any of the files.  Subsequent run took ~5 seconds, (cached), still no image preview.

As soon as ExifToolGUI provides a thumbnail view your loading times for it will become relevant compared to Geosetter .... oh, wait ....

Third time I ran ExifToolGUI it failed to find any fixed drive ... again ... lol


@rjbull: The URL you provided is munged by the forum software, here's a Wikipedia link: Comparison of metadata editors^w

1355

Post New Requests Here / Re: Suggestion: A new GUI for ExifTools

« Last post by 4wd on June 12, 2016, 10:24 PM »

a. AFAIK not portable

-dcwul62 (June 12, 2016, 07:44 AM)

It also can run without being installed, just download the zip file, extract, and run.

...

Current available beta is 3.4.51 (2014 - can't find a link atm but I have the installer and it can be extracted from it), there's also 3.4.62 but it hasn't been released yet.

-4wd (June 10, 2016, 08:14 AM)

That'll be this file:



On first run it will use %APPDATA%\geosetter for settings, move the contents to the folder you extracted Geosetter to and it will use that for the next run.

b. I think it is quite slow, reading a folder it freezes for minute or two
and changing from one file to another also takes a little while.

A little test on a folder with 11483 images (a lot with GPS data) plus a few videos (some with XMP sidecar files), it may be a bit extreme but it served to highlight any perceived delays:



BTW, the columns and order of them are configurable, no need to display things you don't want so there may be no need for the full metadata display panel, plus you can sort on them.  It also has a flat file view so there's no need to enter sub-folders, (in the case you want to view multiple sub-folders), you can just go into flat file view on the parent (like DOpus).
Geosetter will continue reading metadata in the background until all images/XMP have been read, during background reading the image preview on hover may experience a short 1 second delay occasionally - still better than the 3-4 seconds of delay you get when clicking on a file to find the right image.

The second time ExifToolGUI ran it failed to find any fixed drive at all:

(read about an issue with .xmp files though)

A quick Google search shows only one apparent issue with Geosetter, ExifTool, and XMP files within the last year and that's for video files.

1356

General Software Discussion / Re: Software recommendation for extracting video clips: Avidemux

« Last post by 4wd on June 12, 2016, 08:24 PM »

Old post with simplistic instructions using an older version - still mostly relevant.

1357

General Software Discussion / Re: Software recommendation for extracting video clips: Avidemux

« Last post by 4wd on June 12, 2016, 04:16 AM »

File->Append

eg. Slice and dice your original clip into segments, preferably on Index frames so there's no need to re-encode, save each clip, then reassemble in the order you want using Append.

It was much better under the old versions where you could just drop clips on the interface to have them appended.

1358

Living Room / Re: problem with skype

« Last post by 4wd on June 11, 2016, 08:10 AM »

There's also the Echo/Sound Test Service in Skype, normally in All Contacts unless it's been removed.
Otherwise, Options->Audio settings->Make a free test call.

1359

Post New Requests Here / Re: Suggestion: A new GUI for ExifTools

« Last post by 4wd on June 10, 2016, 08:14 AM »

The 2015 version was a (minor) bugfix, I myself reported that bug, but actually, since 2012 there were just a few bug fixes.
My optinin is that the tool is quite handy. Used it quite a number of times. It is also useful, for instance, when you need a time shift.
(winter/summertime and camera is not adjusted)

-dcwul62 (June 10, 2016, 05:41 AM)

This example is simple under GeoSetter, (I've used it to adjust ~600 photos/videos from where the camera was reset to 1-1-2000 to the correct date in March 2016).

It also can run without being installed, just download the zip file, extract, and run.



And that's not all the info being displayed.

Current available beta is 3.4.51 (2014 - can't find a link atm but I have the installer and it can be extracted from it), there's also 3.4.62 but it hasn't been released yet.

1360

Post New Requests Here / Re: Suggestion: A new GUI for ExifTools

« Last post by 4wd on June 10, 2016, 03:47 AM »

no development since 2013.

-dcwul62 (June 09, 2016, 11:19 PM)

Latest version: ExifToolGUI v5.16, April 5,2015

http://u88.n24.queen...hp/topic,2750.0.html

FWIW, I always found ExifToolGUI to be an extremely slow program when working with more than a few images - so much so that I only use it if doing a Google search fails to find how I can do it using ExifTool from the command line ... and that's only if I can't do what I want in Daminion or GeoSetter.

1361

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: batch print silently pdf-2-pdf using SumatraPdf and Bullzip

« Last post by 4wd on June 09, 2016, 03:34 AM »

Thanks skwire 

Updated

1362

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: batch print silently pdf-2-pdf using SumatraPdf and Bullzip

« Last post by 4wd on June 08, 2016, 01:59 AM »

I've actually got it worked out, I'll update my post in a little while 

Updated

Also, would it be possible that the code sends only one file to be printed ?  Then it is printed by Bullzip. Then once bullzip has finished, the code sends another file to be printed ?

-jity2 (June 08, 2016, 01:44 AM)

Disabling the Print Spooler will stop SumatraPDF from just queuing up the print jobs, it has to wait until each job is finished before it can exit and run again.

1363

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: batch print silently pdf-2-pdf using SumatraPdf and Bullzip

« Last post by 4wd on June 07, 2016, 06:13 AM »

If you drop the -Recurse parameter from the following line:

$aFiles = (Get-ChildItem ...

then it will only do the folder you choose, no sub-folders.  You can then do a folder at a time changing the output folder for Bullzip as you go - slow but an easy way to do it.

I'll download Bullzip/SumatraPDF and play.

EDIT: Looks like you can specify the full output path/file for Bullzip's next job by using the config command it comes with, eg: config.exe /S "Output" "X:\output\<basedocname>.pdf"

1364

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by 4wd on June 06, 2016, 11:34 PM »

1365

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: batch print silently pdf-2-pdf using SumatraPdf and Bullzip

« Last post by 4wd on June 06, 2016, 11:24 PM »

NOTE: Only written for the OP's original purpose - requires SumatraPDF and Bullzip.

In Powershell, run it using the shortcut:

Code: PowerShell [Select]

1. <#
2.   PrintPDFs.ps1
3.  
4.   Print PDFs to default Bullzip PDF printer using SumatraPDF
5. #>
6.  
7. Function Get-Folder {
8.   Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
9.   $FolderBrowser = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.FolderBrowserDialog
10.   [void]$FolderBrowser.ShowDialog()
11.   $temp = $FolderBrowser.SelectedPath
12.   If($temp -eq '') {Exit}
13.   If(-Not $temp.EndsWith('\')) {$temp = $temp + '\'}
14.   Return $temp
15. }  
16.  
17. If($PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major -lt 3) {
18.   Write-Host '** Script requires at least Powershell V3 **'
19. } else {
20.   Write-Host 'Choose folder with PDF files: ' -NoNewline -BackgroundColor DarkGreen -ForegroundColor White
21.   $srcFolder = (Get-Folder)
22.   Write-Host $srcFolder
23.   Write-Host 'Choose output folder: ' -NoNewline -BackgroundColor DarkGreen -ForegroundColor White
24.   Do {$dstFolder = (Get-Folder)} While($dstFolder -eq $srcFolder)
25.   Write-Host $dstFolder
26.  
27.   $aFiles = (Get-ChildItem -Include *.pdf -Path ($srcFolder + "*") -Recurse)
28.   for($i=0; $i -lt $aFiles.Count; $i++) {
29.     $inFile = [string]$aFiles[$i]
30.     Write-Host 'File:' $inFile -BackgroundColor DarkBlue -ForegroundColor Yellow
31.     $outFile = '  output=' + $dstFolder + $inFile.Replace($srcFolder, "")
32.     Write-Host '-->' $outFile -BackgroundColor DarkBlue -ForegroundColor White
33.     (Get-Content "$Env:APPDATA\PDF Writer\Bullzip PDF Printer\settings.ini") `
34.       -Replace "(^..output=.+\.pdf$)", $outFile | `
35.       Out-File "$Env:LOCALAPPDATA\PDF Writer\Bullzip PDF Printer\runonce.ini"
36.     Start-Sleep -Seconds 2
37.     $args = '-print-to-default -silent "' + $inFile + '"'
38.     Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files (x86)\SumatraPDF\SumatraPDF.exe" -Wait -ArgumentList $args
39.   }
40. }
41. Write-Host ''
42. Write-Host 'Close window to exit ...'
43. cmd /c pause | out-null

First turn off Print Spooling in the Printer Properties:



This is so a job finishes before the next is sent (was the easiest way to do it)

• Run the script from the shortcut
• Select the source folder (where the PDFs are)
• Select the destination folder

For each file it will rewrite the "output= ..." line in settings.ini (%APPDATA%\PDF Writer\Bullzip PDF Printer\settings.ini) and save the new file as runonce.ini (%LOCALAPPDATA%\PDF Writer\Bullzip PDF Printer\runonce.ini).  Bullzip uses this file in preference to settings.ini if it exists and deletes it after a job is finished.

Once it's finished you can re-enable Print Spooling for Bullzip.

I've included the Bullzip settings.ini file I was testing it with for comparison.

UPDATED (20160609):

• Won't let you choose destination folder same as source folder, just loops until they are different.
• Can now choose drive root of source folder for destination, (barring condition where they are both the same) - strips the source path from the file path/name so the output folder structure is a bit more normal, ie. the extra folder levels aren't output.

1366

Post New Requests Here / Re: Idea : One Shot System Time Sync

« Last post by 4wd on May 28, 2016, 08:50 PM »

The Powershell version:

Code: PowerShell [Select]

1. # https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/1a4467e5-9b9e-4ef1-9b22-4af3a1a77362/setting-system-time-with-powershell?forum=winserverpowershell
2. function Set-Time ([string]$dateTime) {
3.   Set-Date (Get-Date $dateTime)
4. }
5. Set-Time (Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://www.google.com").Headers.Date | Out-Null

Needs a admin privileged console due to the Set-Date cmdlet.

Or create a shortcut with the following as the Target:

Code: Text [Select]

1. %SystemRoot%\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -sta -noprofile -executionpolicy bypass -Window Hidden -Command "& Set-Date(Get-Date([string](iwr 'http://www.google.com').Headers.Date)) | Out-Null"

And set Run as administrator under Properties->Shortcut->Advanced.

1367

General Software Discussion / Re: Using script to copy multiple image files to a page

« Last post by 4wd on May 26, 2016, 08:31 PM »

Of course there may be simpler ways than playing around with Powershell, ie. write the output as a HTML doc then load into Word and save as a Word file.

eg. Simple HTML output from a command file, etc.

Code: HTML5 [Select]

1. <html>
2. <title>Index</title>
3. <body>
4. <table>
5. <tbody>
6. <tr>
7. <td><a href="https://www.donationcoder.com"><img src="./test/dir1/invite.jpg" alt="Department of software"></a>
8. <td><a href="https://www.donationcoder.com"><img src="./test/dir2/invite.jpg" alt="Mouser lives here"></a>
9. </tr>
10. <tr>
11. <td><a href="https://www.donationcoder.com"><img src="./test/dir3/invite.jpg" alt="WTF"></a>
12. <td><a href="https://www.donationcoder.com"><img src="./test/dir4/invite.jpg" alt="The end"></a>
13. </tr>
14. </tbody>
15. </table>
16. </body>
17. </html>

You could also add the height and width attributes to the <img> tag to display them the right size to fit the page.

1368

DC Member Programs and Projects / Re: MFCRecorder - Continued

« Last post by 4wd on May 26, 2016, 07:32 AM »

i'm have an issue with the program hanging up after a day minimized to the tray.  I'll leave it, come back expecting to have a couple evenings of models i've included and find that it froze on the second night.  I need to kill it in task manager and restart it.  does anyone else have stability issues?

-jdemarco (May 26, 2016, 12:49 AM)

Yes, same problem here but not as regularly as you.  I think it might be something to do with being unable to access the internet at the moment it wants to do a scan, (or being interrupted when it's doing one), but this could just be coincidence with something else happening on my machine.

1369

General Software Discussion / Re: Using script to copy multiple image files to a page

« Last post by 4wd on May 26, 2016, 07:20 AM »

Adding images with hyperlinks can be done using Powershell but not having Word I can't try it.

Something along the lines of:

Code: PowerShell [Select]

1. #Create Word Document
2. $word = New-Object -ComObject word.application
3. $word.visible = $false
4. $doc = $word.documents.add()
5. $selection = $word.selection
6. $selectimage =   $selection.InlineShapes.AddPicture(C:\dir1\invite.png)
7. $doc.Hyperlinks.Add($selectimage.Range,'http://www.project1.com')
8. $selectimage =   $selection.InlineShapes.AddPicture(C:\dir2\invite.png)
9. $doc.Hyperlinks.Add($selectimage.Range,'http://www.project2.com')
10. $selection.TypeParagraph()
11. $selectimage =   $selection.InlineShapes.AddPicture(C:\dir3\invite.png)
12. $doc.Hyperlinks.Add($selectimage.Range,'http://www.project3.com')
13. $selectimage =   $selection.InlineShapes.AddPicture(C:\dir4\invite.png)
14. $doc.Hyperlinks.Add($selectimage.Range,'http://www.project4.com')
15.  
16. $doc.saveas([ref] "C:\document", [ref]$saveFormat::wdFormatDocument)
17. $word.quit()

With the attendant code to read from a list of invite.png file paths, the associated URLs, and repeating as necessary until the list is exhausted.

1370

Post New Requests Here / Re: Idea : One Shot System Time Sync

« Last post by 4wd on May 25, 2016, 05:42 AM »

Code: Text [Select]

1. net time \\computername /set

For computername you can try a server on the local network and hopefully get one that hasn't got an exceptionally paranoid firewall.

eg.

Code: Text [Select]

1. C:\>net time \\192.168.0.208 /set
2. Current time at \\192.168.0.208 is 25/05/2016 20:42:10
3.  
4. The current local clock is 25/05/2016 20:41:58
5. Do you want to set the local computer's time to match the
6. time at \\192.168.0.208? (Y/N) [Y]:

1371

General Software Discussion / Re: Using script to copy multiple image files to a page

« Last post by 4wd on May 25, 2016, 05:31 AM »

um, what?

This image is about 5"W x 2.5"H  (750x350p approx) and I can get close to 4 on a page doing copy/paste manually.

-questorfla (May 24, 2016, 09:13 PM)

It would be helpful if you provided a sample output file/image.  Otherwise, something like the way this appends?

1372

General Software Discussion / Re: Registry Key Locator and Access tool

« Last post by 4wd on May 17, 2016, 07:52 AM »

There's also the AutoIt script: RegJumper

Can run from CLI or double-click it, it'll load regedit at the position of a key in the clipboard.  If the key doesn't exist it'll offer to load the parent.

If you hold down Left SHIFT while double-clicking it'll load regedit with the root otherwise it'll load at the last key opened, (if clipboard has no key).

Keys opened by RegJumper are added to the Favorites menu.

And the source is available if you want to play with it.

1373

General Software Discussion / Re: advice on security setup for my elderly inlaws

« Last post by 4wd on May 11, 2016, 11:20 PM »

...I'm not coughing up hundreds of dollars for a new machine...

-Target (May 09, 2016, 05:52 PM)

You can pick up a new one from Amazon for a hundred and a bit (and refurbished and used ones from various manufacturers' outlets probably for less)

-dr_andus (May 11, 2016, 08:41 AM)

You're forgetting that not everyone lives in the USA, this includes Target.

So find something decent from a seller that ships outside the USA, add shipping costs in USD, then add ~35-40% (currently) if you want to pay either using USD (to cater for the banks ripoff exchange rate) or AUD (to cater for Amazon's ripoff exchange rate).

That hundred and a bit isn't quite that any more, is it?

Plus unless you can also find one that offers true International Warranty, any warranty is probably no longer valid or if it is you're usually stuck with international shipping back to the seller and the attendant possible months long wait in the hope that something is happening.

Besides which, it's more cost effective to install ChromeOS on your existing equipment.

1374

Living Room / Re: Good or bad password?

« Last post by 4wd on May 11, 2016, 10:43 PM »

Q: Is "Remember to pay gas Aug 14" a good, as in secure, password?

-tsaint (May 11, 2016, 08:17 PM)

I'd add some non-alphanumeric characters, eg. Remember! Pay gas bill, 14/08.

You could also keep it as Aug 14 in plain sight, just remembering to switch it to 14/08. for when you need to enter password.

1375

General Software Discussion / Re: Script to vary the hight of the task bar in windows 8

« Last post by 4wd on May 08, 2016, 09:01 PM »

The auto-hide disfunction is normally caused by one, (or more), of the icons in the Notification Area having displayed a message and then cleared it - you, having missed it, think the taskbar has gone wacko.

Exactly the same problem exists under Win10 - I have it constantly on a system I RDP into and until I click on the usual culprits in the Notification Area the taskbar will not hide, (luckily there is only 2 or 3 icons which are the cause of this effect, so a single LMB click on each will get the taskbar to hide again).

You could find out which ones are the cause of the problem on your computer and turn off notifications for them.