Recent Posts

151

Best Firewall / Re: Outpost and WinXP SP2

« Last post by Scott on June 17, 2005, 04:03 PM »

Agnitum fixes (or tries to) BSODs in many of its releases.  I've run every firewall under the sun, and I've never seen another one with such an ongoing propensity for serious stability issues.

After becoming tired of devoting several hours a month to configuration and other related hassles, I decided to give up on software firewalls indefinitely.  I don't run one at all now, and they can all kiss my ass.

P.S.  I don't want someone to tell me that I should run a software firewall, at all costs.

152

Image Manager Shootout / Re: Idea for this week, 6/20/05: Graphics Viewers

« Last post by Scott on June 17, 2005, 03:57 PM »

I REALLY don't want some database chugging away in the background. You must be able to switch this off.

I've had a serious look at acdsee 7 but I can't figure out how to stop the database part. If anyone knows then my search will probably stop there.

-jpfx (June 17, 2005, 03:52 PM)

Not sure what you mean.  I run ACDSee 7.0, and there are no background processes.  When I don't have ACDSee open, there is no other application related to it running.  And if you don't want to use the database, just go to the Database menu and exclude everything.

153

Image Manager Shootout / Re: Idea for this week, 6/20/05: Graphics Viewers

« Last post by Scott on June 17, 2005, 03:55 PM »

anyone else using 'ACDSee'?

-nudone (June 17, 2005, 04:40 AM)

I'm using ACDSee 7.0.  I tried a bunch of the freebies at length, because I strongly resisted the upgrade fee for ACDSee.  (I had owned version 5.0 of the stupidly-named "ACDSee PowerPack".)  But after missing one feature after another, or discovering one bug or shortcoming after another, that upgrade fee looked like a paltry trade for my remaining sanity.  I am not one who will put up with less just to save a few bucks.

ACDSee does have its shortcomings, though.  One thing I've noticed is that when I convert with ACDSee, the resulting images don't look as good as when I use Paint Shop Pro, even with equivalent settings.

154

Best Firewall / Re: Outpost and WinXP SP2

« Last post by Scott on June 15, 2005, 09:12 AM »

I agree the de-facto "support" forum in place is good to have, but Agnitum doesn't get credit for support offered by its customers.  And the forum is essentially useless for the types of problems I've had--things like BSODs, which are inherent product defects.  Another customer might be able to help by pointing to a software conflict or something like that, but it's all a waste if the vendor ignores the whole thing.

It's so absolutely maddening to me to use a product, encounter a problem with it, and try to get even a little bit of info--but be ignored.  Then to sit there, wondering if a reply will come.  Should I continue using it?  Should I remove it?  Should I follow up?  Did they not get my message?  Spam filters...  Could've lost the message.  I'll try again.  Oops, ignored again it seems.  Another crash.  Should I remove it now?  Two more weeks.  Nothing.  How much time from my family has this cost me?

Speaking of "oops", I forgot about that whole "STFU" thing. 

155

Best Firewall / Re: Outpost and WinXP SP2

« Last post by Scott on June 15, 2005, 07:30 AM »

Although it seems plausible, I have a hard time believing that they don't know anything about the problem. The info I gave them in response to their questions pretty much told them I was using a non-standard directory to install it to. Surely they would have said something about it if they thought that was the problem.

-tenseiken (June 15, 2005, 01:43 AM)

You're assuming they read your message in the first place.  In my experience (which includes several incidents with Agnitum), they like to ignore their customers, even (or perhaps especially) after they've paid up.  This is why I almost grit my teeth every time someone goes on about what a great solution Outpost is.  Shitty support really, really, really pisses me off.  But I'm being naughty here, again.  I'll STFU.   (P.S. I'm talking about Outpost Pro; I know you can't expect support for freeware.)

156

Best Firewall / Re: Outpost and WinXP SP2

« Last post by Scott on June 14, 2005, 09:54 PM »

Agnitum uses SFN extensively in the registry (and probably elsewhere) to make Outpost work, so it wouldn't surprise me at all that the path could make or break that house of cards.  I rarely use the default installation directory, and have seen that sort of thing happen before.

157

Best Firewall / Re: Outpost and WinXP SP2

« Last post by Scott on June 14, 2005, 09:30 PM »

Every version of Outpost has given me BSODs.  I have plans to check back on it in the year 2018.

158

Find And Run Robot / Re: Feature Request Thread

« Last post by Scott on June 11, 2005, 03:51 PM »

I was going to post this until I saw it here already:

ability to right click and get normal shell context menu

That would be awesome. 

159

Find And Run Robot / Re: new beta 1.05.15 (update only) available to beta testers

« Last post by Scott on June 11, 2005, 01:43 PM »

 
The issue with Opera seems to be resolved.  Thank you!

160

Living Room / Re: pc magazine issue came out today, cannon photo printers win top slots - i agree

« Last post by Scott on June 10, 2005, 03:46 PM »

In a flurry of stupidity, I bought a HP scanner and a pair of HP DeskJet 952C printers some years ago.  I keep hoping they'll die, just so I have an excuse to replace them.  They all suck, as does HP's software and drivers.  Never again.

161

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: Annoying toy

« Last post by Scott on June 10, 2005, 01:45 PM »

You didn't offend me!  I have used prank software, particularly RJL's stuff.  But I did it on someone who I was sure would know that I did it, and I never left him hanging for long.  I wouldn't use anything that really messed with the system though--just innocuous stuff like that mouse cursor that intermittently changes to a middle finger, and stuff like that.

162

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: Annoying toy

« Last post by Scott on June 10, 2005, 09:50 AM »

its not designed to harm anything, except you might cause someone to be miserable and spend a week trying to fix their computer, so i'm not sure i'd call it malware, but it sure could cause some pain in the wrong hands.

-mouser (June 10, 2005, 04:01 AM)

I'd call any software that is exclusively designed to cause confusion, anger, or stress of any type, malware.  It just means "malicious software".  The term "malware" doesn't mean "a program that formats your hard drive" or one that spies on you.

www.webopedia.com defines malware as: (mal´wãr) (n.) Short for malicious software, software designed specifically to damage or disrupt a system, such as a virus or a Trojan horse.

-deltaend (June 10, 2005, 07:50 AM)

Come on, think about it--read the definition above again, and read the description of this software suggestion again.  If you don't think that software could disrupt the operation of the computer it's running on, I don't know what else to say.

163

Find And Run Robot / Re: Anti-Naffness Request?

« Last post by Scott on June 10, 2005, 08:49 AM »

Anyone else find it ironic that a complaint about the phrase "super happy" would come from someone who chose the nickname "Deepthroat"?

164

Find And Run Robot / Re: new beta 1.05.15 (update only) available to beta testers

« Last post by Scott on June 10, 2005, 08:48 AM »

I don't run Opera anymore, so I can't test that directly.  Never mind me--I got 4 hours' sleep last night and it has colored my entire disposition today (as can be told from my other posts of today, no doubt).  I will test this under Win2K using VMware.  You took the time to try to fix the issue, so that's the least I could do.

I noticed you set ForegroundLockTimeout to 0.  I'm not complaining, just making sure you didn't mean to change that.

165

Living Room / Re: Upgrade cycles — How often is too often?

« Last post by Scott on June 10, 2005, 06:44 AM »

You know that some of your review winners don't meet these upgrade criteria, right?  (And that some of the same ones that shit this bed also spam their customers...)

I think free lifetime updates is a great thing from the standpoint of an end user, but I never expect them.  If I buy software, it's because I feel that what I see, now, is worth the price, now.  I don't feel entitled to the benefits of someone's labor forever.

Eternal betas are another issue, and I think it's a sign of half-assed authorship.  If you need 7,000 public betas for one major version, you're an idiot.  Software that shitty should be fixed internally before going public.  But I also think some authors keep their software in "beta" just to cover their ass.  "It screwed up?  Oh well, it is beta, remember.  Yes, I did charge you, but too bad!"

166

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: Annoying toy

« Last post by Scott on June 10, 2005, 02:03 AM »

Malware doesn't have to be any of those things.  I think wanting to "irritate and annoy" is malicious, so I called it malware.

There are quite a few joke programs available already, though maybe not one that does all the things listed.

167

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: Annoying toy

« Last post by Scott on June 10, 2005, 01:50 AM »

This would be malware, and I hope that DC wouldn't touch it for that reason alone.

168

Living Room / Re: Upgrade cycles — How often is too often?

« Last post by Scott on June 10, 2005, 01:46 AM »

I agree in general.  I often get really aggravated about this issue.  I can't stand fixed-length free-upgrade periods; it makes no sense.  So if you are a developer, and you take an extended vacation, then release an upgrade the day after my 12-month period has expired, I'm out of luck?

That's nonsense.  Upgrade eligibility should be based on version numbers, and nothing else--not time, not the name of the application, not cutesy new icons and toolbar button graphics, and not what company just bought it out and decided it's time to rake in some cash.

I can't stand when a vendor releases a major-version update, and the only changes are new, splashier colors, and a few token changes.  This happens all the time.

The sub-issue that pisses me off the most is when an application has bugs that get fixed in the updated version, but ignored in the old version.  That forces me to pay to obtain a fix to a product defect, and it puts a snarl on my face.

I wouldn't say that upgrades should occur every two years, though.  Upgrades should happen when upgrades are feasible and sensible.  How often depends on the product genre, the product itself, and on the people behind it.  If the current version of the product has significant issues, or a significant number of issues, fix them.  If you're working on a new version that does fix those issues, give people a free or seriously-reduced-cost upgrade.  And people who give up their personal time to help improve your product should always get a free update.

169

Cheat Sheeter / Re: Finally, a robust keyboard shortcut app!

« Last post by Scott on June 02, 2005, 09:12 AM »

I floated the idea of a cheat-sheet to the author of one of the hotkey utils a looong time ago.  Basically got ignored. 

170

General Software Discussion / Re: Finally, a robust keyboard shortcut app!

« Last post by Scott on June 02, 2005, 02:55 AM »

I think it's a matter of discipline and interest.  I can't be bothered to memorize 7,500 different hotkey combinations.

171

General Software Discussion / Re: Which app stays open on your desktop all day?

« Last post by Scott on June 01, 2005, 11:54 PM »

Oh crap, I just remembered that Zaine included "on your desktop" in the subject.  Oh well; strike all those services!  (It was too much formatting hassle for me to delete.)

172

General Software Discussion / Re: Which app stays open on your desktop all day?

« Last post by Scott on June 01, 2005, 11:51 PM »

 
I have a ton of applications in a variety of startup locations.  I like to put not-really-necessary stuff in the Startup group.  That way, if I don't want to run that stuff, I hold down the Ctrl key as I am being logged in.  I won't list all the applications I run from Startup...

From the registry (i.e. the HKLM\...\Run key), I load stuff that I typically have running all the time:

IntelliPoint 3.2  (Because IntelliPoint 4+ just plain sucks)
SpeedFan
NOD32
Toddler Keys  (The author is looking for a new maintainer...)
True Launch Bar
NTPTime  (Runs as a service.)
Undelete  (Runs as a service.  I would hate to be without it.)
mst Defrag  (Runs as a service.  I hate all other defraggers.)

I don't load these from the registry, but they're running quite often, if not all the time:

Miranda IM
Ad Muncher  (This belongs on Zaine's site as much as anything.)
Opera
UltraEdit
PowerDesk Pro
TClock Light
Process Tamer
Random Submitter  (Really, mouser--I use it!  I use it!)

Now, aren't you glad I didn't list everything? 
 

173

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: log downloads' filename, address and date

« Last post by Scott on June 01, 2005, 11:23 PM »

Use GetRight.  If you're using the "basic" configuration interface, the last configuration option you'll see is one that lets you combine all downloads into one log.  If you're using the "advanced" configuration interface, then in GetRight's options dialog, go to Advanced | Log Files, and provide a path for the "Single Combined Log File for All Downloads" option.  Make sure you also give it plenty of room, with the "Maximum combined log file size" setting.

Here is a sample of what GetRight stores in that log file, which is a non-proprietary, plain ASCII file:

[Select]

2005/06/02-00:18:09:  File: C:\Downloads\filename.zip.GetRight = http://the.download.url/filename.zip

If you use the "advanced" configuration interface, you can opt to include more details, such as when the download was added, start/stop/resume details, and so on.

** By the way, the ".GetRight" extension you see on the file name above is there because I have the option enabled that adds the .GetRight extension on files as the download is added.  GetRight automatically removes that extension when the download is complete.  You can opt not to use it at all.

174

General Software Discussion / Re: Finally, a robust keyboard shortcut app!

« Last post by Scott on June 01, 2005, 09:43 PM »

Thanks.  I feel better. 

I use a few of the basic Windows hotkeys, and Ctrl+Num+/- to alter my volume with Sound Control, but that's all my sleep-deprived brain can handle.

175

General Software Discussion / Re: nirsoft freeware

« Last post by Scott on June 01, 2005, 09:38 PM »

The "installation date" is actually a reflection of the last write time on the applicable uninstall registry key.