Recent Posts

1401

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by J-Mac on July 10, 2009, 01:32 AM »

Oh, I have had a few cars in the past that drove at similar speeds while in the highest gear. Two in particular were early Volkswagons: one a 1963 from Germany, and the other, believe it or not, was much older!! Not sure how much older. The '63 had an engine held in place with only 4 bolts, and thick rubber washers were all that served as "motor mounts"! Neither had fuel gauges but the '63 had a reserve tank for when the engine started sputtering from lack of fuel. It was controlled by a valve handle under the front seat.

They could both get well over 40 km/hr but would have strained terribly at 40 in any lower gear. I would think that any seriously underpowered engine would do similarly. Again, I am not excusing overly cautious drivers. Just not ready to assume what type of transmission their cars must have.  

Jim

1402

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by J-Mac on July 09, 2009, 11:10 PM »

I was reminded of a pet annoyance of mine yesterday when I had to journey out in the car.

Automatic transmissions - the surest way to turn drivers into inconsiderate morons.

Why?  You can bet that the person trundling along at 40kph in a 60kph+ zone with a line of cars behind has an automatic transmission.
They simply have no idea that a high percentage, (here in Australia anyway), of people use manual transmissions and so are behind these idiots stuck in 4th, 3rd or even 2nd gear, (assuming a 5 speed box).

They should ban automatics in anything smaller than a bus, (excepting those people who require one for real disability reasons - not including the lack of eye-hand-foot coordination required for a manual).

-4wd (July 09, 2009, 08:10 PM)

OK, I can see being annoyed at people driving too slow, but to make a generalization that all slow drivers must be using automatic transmissions? A little presumptuous, methinks! 

Jim

1403

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by J-Mac on July 08, 2009, 02:25 AM »

And what is this: no file version, no date, no nothing in the details of the installation file. I keep all of my downloaded installation files (sometimes other users want versions of software no longer available & no one has a copy). It's a pain to have to make folders with dates or versions for each setup file.

-SKesselman (July 07, 2009, 10:57 PM)

Oh, I agree strongly with this. Basically it is simply laziness - they want to just use the same installer package with as little change as possible. I always add the version number. Unless I forgot what it is - then I add the date instead.

Jim

1404

Find And Run Robot / Re: Help for a new user please

« Last post by J-Mac on July 07, 2009, 10:46 PM »

Thank you!

Jim

1405

Find And Run Robot / Re: Help for a new user please

« Last post by J-Mac on July 07, 2009, 10:30 PM »

mouser... you have a PDF manual for FARR???

actually the help program i use (the great Help+Manual) can easily make pdfs from the same source it uses to make .chm files, so it's easy to do -- i just figure few people care enough to bother mentioning it.. i wonder if i should make clear links to them?

-mouser (July 07, 2009, 07:25 PM)

I'd love a link to it. I found one here in a really old post once - at least I think it was for FARR - but it was a dead link. You must have had it up at one time.

Thanks!

Jim

1406

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by J-Mac on July 07, 2009, 10:25 PM »

This one will probably get objections and numerous reasons why it is necessary, but I really, really hate it anyway:

Developers - particularly those with a catalog of exactly ONE application - who insist on having their program listed under a company name in Program Files. So as not to get personal, a "pretend" application named "Percolator" is in a Program Files folder named "JehosephatABCSoftware". Or something equally inane. Just so that when you need to find their app's folder either in Program Files or in the Docs and Settings User folder's Application Data and can't remember their stupid company's name, you can spin around like an idiot looking for it - alternating between AnyUser and your own User folder, plus the Local Settings folder. That's when you realize it is NOT in a folder named "Percolator" and you start all over again.

Grrr...

Jim

1407

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by J-Mac on July 06, 2009, 10:19 PM »

People who seem to think that by turning on my blinker I am telling them to "Speed up"


ARGH!!!!!!!!!   

-Josh (July 06, 2009, 04:31 PM)

Ha!  Just move to NYC. Turn signals are apparently big-ticket options there, and most must not order them....

Jim

1408

Find And Run Robot / Re: Help for a new user please

« Last post by J-Mac on July 05, 2009, 10:11 PM »

mouser... you have a PDF manual for FARR???

Jim

1409

Find And Run Robot / Re: Help for a new user please

« Last post by J-Mac on July 05, 2009, 03:20 PM »

the alias feature will probably be covered in mouser's screencasts in August!

-TucknDar (July 05, 2009, 01:53 PM)

I thought that one was scheduled for next February 30th.

-cranioscopical (July 05, 2009, 02:36 PM)

LOL - I couldn't say it better!! 

@chrisclark:  Don't feel bad at all - I'm an old-hand user of FARR and I still trip over aliases every time I decide to get brave and start using it for more than simple program launching!   

The Help file does have a lot of good info there, but it does seem to be spread out in such a way as to get me dizzy going back and forth when I'm trying to get something done with FARR. IMO it is lacking in some good old examples with the steps listed from beginning to end of each of FARR's more advanced features.

(And by "advanced features" I really mean anything other than plain old vanilla program launching!!)   

Jim

1410

Living Room / Re: Torrent Giant, The Pirate Bay sold, will go legal

« Last post by J-Mac on July 03, 2009, 02:47 PM »

... but they are only going to have one shot at grabbing the attention of people who are used to getting something for nothing and convince them to pay for what they are used to getting for free.

-Innuendo (July 03, 2009, 01:51 PM)

I think I'll go way out on a limb and speculate that will be a very, very tiny percentage of TPB users.   

Jim

1411

Living Room / Re: A small tweak to DC forum for Firefox & K-meleon users (enhances visited links)

« Last post by J-Mac on July 02, 2009, 12:08 AM »

Very nice, app!  And yes, I also used "Select All" and copied it with numbers at first. Had to do it again, not realizing the numbers would invalidate the script. (Definitely not a CSS person here!)

But after correcting it the forums now are much easier to look at and see what has already been visited.

Thanks!

Jim

1412

Living Room / Re: Torrent Giant, The Pirate Bay sold, will go legal

« Last post by J-Mac on July 01, 2009, 11:46 PM »

Just quickly, I don't appreciate the hijacking of this thread, nor do I imagine anyone else does. Unless your replies directly relate to the subject of this thread, please take them elsewhere.

Paying for content from TPB would be like buying a pound of apples at the market when you could walk down the road, and pick the apples from a tree, that are of the same quality.

-Loki15 (July 01, 2009, 01:26 PM)

Of better quality in many cases. It's as though the apples down the road were organic, and the kind you buy were sprayed daily with pesticides, and you were a pest. No matter, eventually the content-controlling corporations will realize that if they don't adapt they will go out of business.

Ehtyar.

-Ehtyar (July 01, 2009, 09:20 PM)

Sorry Ehtyar. I won't even post my thoughts here other than to say that this is possibly the most baffling thread I have read on DC. { Shaking my head... }

Jim

1413

General Software Discussion / Re: What is your prefered source of registry tweaks?

« Last post by J-Mac on June 30, 2009, 01:32 PM »

   <  snip  >  ... With all due respect, Windows XP is 9 years old now and cannot be considered to be a modern operating system.

-Innuendo (June 30, 2009, 11:25 AM)

Please tell me you're kidding! Currently, Windows XP is the dominant OS in the personal computer market. XP: 61.54%, Vista:  24.35%  (As of May 2009. See http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10).

So why - if you agree that XP does indeed require registry cleaning at times - does the age of the OS even come into play? If the vast majority of users are still using XP then registry cleaners are certainly a needed commodity - still. Your statement is probably a valid one in two years, but now now.

Jim

1414

General Software Discussion / Re: Help in printing out a program's Help (CHM) file

« Last post by J-Mac on June 30, 2009, 12:01 AM »

This looks good for me. As for consuming trees, well, for some of us it is necessary. A disability prevents me from sitting at my computer for long periods at a time; I have to compute in a lot of little shots. If I need to read a Help file and can only do so in front of my computer, that slows me way down. The ability to print the file in a nice, readable format allows me to move around and keep from locking myself in one position.

If only they allowed better payment options. (I really hate that they accept PayPal - but only if you pay an additional $3.50. They could easily just offer direct payment via PayPal instead).

Thanks!

Jim

1415

Living Room / Re: Giampy... how does it sound?

« Last post by J-Mac on June 29, 2009, 10:57 PM »

Sounds like Italian food.  Shrimp Giampy anyone?  

Jim

1416

Living Room / Re: Truely amazing piece of animation art

« Last post by J-Mac on June 29, 2009, 10:55 PM »

Now that is impressive!

Thanks 40hz.

Jim

1417

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by J-Mac on June 29, 2009, 12:09 PM »

Web forms that, after you have filled in all fields - some via a form-filling utility, like LastPass or RoboForm, but some that you must enter manually like your chosen username and password and other one-time entries - they return the form page as "invalid" because they don't like your email address or they want the 9 digit ZIP instead of 5 or vice versa, or the captcha was incorrect - and it wipes out ALL the custom fields, requiring you to enter the stuff all over again. Sometimes they do not specify clearly enough exactly what they didn't like and force you to refill the form several times before you finally realize what they want.

-J-Mac

Solution to this annoying problem if you are a Firefox user:

http://lazarus.interclue.com/

-Innuendo (June 29, 2009, 10:50 AM)

Looks good - I'm checking it out now.

Thanks!

Jim

1418

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by J-Mac on June 28, 2009, 01:44 PM »

Minor but at times extremely annoying:

Web forms that, after you have filled in all fields - some via a form-filling utility, like LastPass or RoboForm, but some that you must enter manually like your chosen username and password and other one-time entries - they return the form page as "invalid" because they don't like your email address or they want the 9 digit ZIP instead of 5 or vice versa, or the captcha was incorrect - and it wipes out ALL the custom fields, requiring you to enter the stuff all over again. Sometimes they do not specify clearly enough exactly what they didn't like and force you to refill the form several times before you finally realize what they want.

I rarely ever get to the end anymore, 'cause I usually just mutter a few choice unkind words as I close that tab after the second return!  Grrrrr....

Jim

BTW - I posted this because it just happened w/Share*It trying to purchase Archivarius. I was using the PayPal option - which though Share*It offers they do all they can to discourage you from using it - and I used the email address that is associated with my PayPal account. Share*It returns it as invalid saying I used a free email address and they don't accept them. First, it is NOT a free email address! Five year subscription cost me a couple of hundred bucks! Plus they want me to use my PayPal address and that is it. Share*It was already on my sh-tlist for other reasons, like how they screw people with undisclosed exchange rate fees and other added little annoyances. This one was the last straw though.

I won't be purchasing Archivarius.

1419

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by J-Mac on June 26, 2009, 06:16 PM »

Oh - of course if the song belonged to his family it then would be the Joneses' song.   

Jim

1420

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by J-Mac on June 26, 2009, 06:15 PM »

I don't know if they still teach it this way, but back when I was in school, possessives that ended in an s were written as an s+apostrophe. As in: Hans' hands were holding Hoss' horses' saddles. (Hmmm...not bad!)

-40hz (June 26, 2009, 03:51 PM)

Definitely the way I learned it in school!

-Darwin (June 26, 2009, 05:05 PM)

True if it ends in "s" because it is plural and is not a surname. Not true if it ends in "s" but is is a surname, which would make it not a plural.

E.g., That is Tom Jones's song. Not a plural so it still gets the 's instead of the s'   Thoroughly confused now?

Jim

1421

General Software Discussion / Re: Duplicate Finder 2009

« Last post by J-Mac on June 26, 2009, 02:01 PM »

It's fortunate for us that others like Mindgems are also listening- the competition between Bolidesoft and Mindgems forces continued development of their softwares. If Bolidesoft now supports lossless audio and tag editing, then it's a very good bet Mindgems will incorporate those features soon. Looks like Bolidesoft's Audio Comparer was first released in January 2009 and Mindgems only recently had their first public release of Audio Dedupe, so I'm guessing Bolidesoft had a bit of a head start.

I realize I'm entirely too picky, but Bolidesoft's Audio Comparer has several little issues that annoy me.
(1) I know it's trial software, but do they have to start with the incessant "Do you want to buy now" on day one? Bolidesoft, let me test your software for several days before you begin pestering. Mindgems' Audio Dedupe has a much more low-key approach-- a demo with feature limitations.

(2) AFAIK I must store database files in Audio Comparer; in Mindgems' software you have a "no cache" option. Bolidesoft, I would like the choice.

(3) I would prefer to keep my database files somewhere other than My Documents; Bolidesoft allows me, but nonetheless an empty Audio Comparer folder resides in My Documents. I can delete it, but rest assured it returns upon relaunching the app. Likewise, Audio Comparer has no memory of where I last stored database files; the only location it remembers is My Documents. Therefore, every time I create another database I have to click around like I've never used the app before. Carpal Tunnel, anyone?

(4) Whether it's Bolidesoft's Image Comparer or Audio Comparer, their software seems to suffer from short term memory loss regarding the user-selected similarity %. If my preference is for a 60% tolerance (ie. non-default value) in Audio Comparer, the software should remember it the next time I use the app. From my experience, it's hit or miss- sometimes Bolidesoft remembers but sometimes not.

(5) Bolidesoft's software protection scheme (Obsidium http://www.obsidium.de/show/home/en for Image Comparer and something? quite similar for Audio Comparer) resides in the registry and in my XP win.ini. Bolidesoft, stay the heck out of my win.ini file. I like to labor under the delusion I control my computer rather than it controlling me.

Yes, I know- picky, picky, picky. But darned if I don't feel better now.

-sajman99 (June 26, 2009, 01:32 PM)

I don't think you are being overly picky at all. All that you mentioned are certainly valid annoyances.

Thanks!

Jim

1422

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« Last post by J-Mac on June 26, 2009, 01:55 PM »

My current pet word peeve: People who don't seem to understand that an apostrophe 's' indicates possession - not the plural. I can't tell you the number of times I've see somebody referring to many of something with an 's.

I find that error really (real?) annoying.

 

-40hz (June 26, 2009, 11:54 AM)

Well then you must really go crazy over possessives and plural form for words ending in "s".....  I had English teachers who could not get it right!  (Remember to consider that ending in "s" doesn't always mean it is a plural form!)

I will mention that certain uses of the apostrophe+s to indicate plural form seem to feel very comfortable, while writing it correctly feels awkward. Some even postulate that using 's with certain acronyms and abbreviations that would otherwise look confusing is indeed proper!

Some examples:

Plural of the letter x.  xs? Doesn't x's just feel better? Plus in most cases no one would think that it indicates the possessive case of the letter "x".

Another is, "I was using Morse code to send SOSs". Doesn't it feel better to write, "I was using Morse code to send SOS's".

I used to go out of my way to rewrite sentences when trying to make an awkward plural form less confusing. Just like I once went nuts attempting to ensure that I NEVER ended sentences with prepositions. However I finally gave up and I now write it in a way that "feels" right to me - even when I know it is not grammatically correct.

 

Jim

1423

General Software Discussion / Re: COMPLIMENT: Liquid Story Binder XE - Black Obelisk Software

« Last post by J-Mac on June 26, 2009, 01:17 AM »

I have to chime in here with praise for the developers of LSB. I downloaded and installed LSB XE back in July 2008 using the free license at Give Away of the Day. However after starting it up for the first time I realized that this was not a tool I needed, at least at that time. Main reasons were the interface, which as Curt posted above is not at all easy to look at, let alone pick it up intuitively. Secondly, it was immediately apparent that LSB XE was designed for writing novels or other very long and involved pieces. It has tools for creating and developing all aspects of each character, plot development, determining and describing locations, etc. Since I wasn't writing anything of that complexity LSB would not be a help to me then. So I just closed it and pretty much forgot all about it.

Then earlier this week I decided to start a writing project that could very well be done with the help of LSB, so I fired it up. First thing I noticed after checking the web site is that I had version 2.91 installed and the latest version released is 4.03! Way behind, but since this was a GAOTD freebie there are no upgrades/updates or support. Yet I noticed while browsing their forum that a few users had asked about the upgrade path for GAOTD license holders and lo and behold he said that he gave away full, lifetime licenses at GAOTD! Had to be too good to be true.

So I downloaded the latest version and installed it over my version. Uh-oh... registration key was not automatically transferred to this version and entering it manually resulted in "Registration Failed" dialogs. So I wrote to their support address and asked about the forum posts. In a little over 12 hours I received a reply that they had changed their registration keys and he  - - - gave me a new one. Lifetime. For a GAOTD free download!?!

That, folks, is simply amazing. Customer service above and beyond. I don't think I have ever been as surprised over a software developer's actions!

Black Obelisk Software is definitely at the top of my list of user-friendly, caring, more than fair developers. Of all time!

Thanks!

Jim

1424

General Software Discussion / Re: Duplicate Finder 2009

« Last post by J-Mac on June 26, 2009, 12:48 AM »

Curt, are you using Audio Comparer?

Thanks!

Jim

1425

General Software Discussion / Re: Duplicate Finder 2009

« Last post by J-Mac on June 25, 2009, 03:27 AM »

A terrible situation, J-Mac. My deepest sympathy!
Do you feel almost certain that the files at least have the proper artist's name?

-Curt (June 25, 2009, 02:59 AM)

Nope. E.g., last week I was listening to some Dylan stuff with MM organized by Artist>Albums. I noticed that it showed I had several dupes of certain tracks. When "You Go Your Way" was up Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry" started blaring from the speakers! Nothing in the tag suggested that it was anything but the Dylan song it was "disguised" as. Whatever finds them, if anything, has to do it strictly by the audio.

Jim