Recent Posts

15401

Living Room / Re: I have a very hard announcement to make

« Last post by mouser on October 12, 2010, 10:02 PM »

App, I think the first thing to say is that all of us here support you in whatever you decide to do, and whatever you want to focus on.

When something you used to love is causing you so much stress and frustration, it definitely seems like the right thing to do is put it down and spend time on other things.  It's so hard for anyone to make a living this way that it can cause extreme stress to try to make it work, especially when you don't have the cut throat shark personality so often needed to make something work as a business.

Forget about your NANY project and put the IDE aside for now and focus on taking care of the other things in life that are demanding to be taken care of.. we are still going to be here for you.  You may find that your love of programming will re-kindle when it's not also wrapped up in so much other stress.  Until then focus on simplifying the distractions and stresses and concentrate on what you need to do.

And most of all thank you for making DC a better and funner place to be and bringing your warmth to the site.  I hope you can lean on us a little while you plot a new path forward.

15402

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Teaser: Auspex - a Windows Productivity App

« Last post by mouser on October 12, 2010, 09:37 PM »

It's realllly easy to do, the only thing you'd have to change is start uploading new versions at a predictable url with a predictable name (and not change the file name with each version).  It can be a zip file or a full installer.  If you start doing that i'll make the update file for you to use.

If you're going to do it eventually you might as well do it now and make it easier on your beta testers to grab the new version.

15403

General Software Discussion / Re: EditPad Pro 7-BETA

« Last post by mouser on October 12, 2010, 09:08 PM »

i love the idea of more powerful nesting bracket highlighting, so i may give this a try.

15404

General Software Discussion / Re: True Launch Bar v5.0

« Last post by mouser on October 12, 2010, 10:55 AM »

True Launch Bar is a top notch toolbar, definitely one of the best out there, and one of the inspirations for my own LaunchBar Commander.

15405

General Software Discussion / Re: need to scan a map and then color it

« Last post by mouser on October 12, 2010, 10:46 AM »

well yeah you would want it to be able to save as an image, print, etc.

ideally if it was to be used as kid's coloring book program, you'd be able to give someone the standalone program that was kid friendly and just let them have a collection of images they could color, save and resume, print, download additional images, etc.

but this isn't quite what you were asking, i've gotten off on a kid's coloring book diversion.

15406

General Software Discussion / Re: need to scan a map and then color it

« Last post by mouser on October 12, 2010, 10:23 AM »

I wonder if there are some general programs for making an interactive "coloring-book" from an image by letting you designate regions and then later do interactive coloring by simple clicking on colors and then regions.  Sounds like a great kids program -- surely a good free one must exist? If not then it would make a great NANY application.

I'm almost tempted to work on this just for the fun of it.. But i suspect there must be some good free programs for this already.

I do wonder though if there might be ways to make a really nice version of this with some deluxe features..

15407

Developer's Corner / Re: Check Gmail using C#

« Last post by mouser on October 11, 2010, 09:44 PM »

cool 

15408

JGPaiva's GridMove and Ahk Tools / Re: GridMove: Grids Here

« Last post by mouser on October 11, 2010, 08:08 PM »

Thanks for sharing Cyrus and welcome to the site; You too mmaster and kranor!

It's great fun to see people make their first post sharing something 

15409

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Ripple open decentralized payment system

« Last post by mouser on October 11, 2010, 04:03 PM »

Ripple sounds quite interesting, welcome to the site 

15410

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Pledge: Mouser App - Webcam Diary

« Last post by mouser on October 11, 2010, 03:25 PM »

UPDATED - Based on poll here, i have decided to do the webcam diary application.

So now i need help figuring out what features people want in the Webcam Diary program.

15411

Site/Forum Features / Re: Promo "User Bars/Banners" for DonationCoder.com

« Last post by mouser on October 11, 2010, 12:26 PM »

I posted a link to the new images that often get lost in the shuffle.

15412

Living Room / Re: How much soda (pop) do you drink?

« Last post by mouser on October 11, 2010, 09:08 AM »

I remember years ago an aquaintance going on a mars-bars only diet (I think it was a fad for a while) - I cant remember how long it lasted - she lost weight but one day she collapsed and gave up mars bars after that :-)

my mother tried such a scheme on my sister and i when we were young.  so fed up with us eating candy was she, that she proclaimed we would eat nothing but candy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, until we were sick of candy and ready to give it up.

my memory of the experiment was that she lasted for a couple of days and then had to give up the experiment due to a catastrophic failure in predicted outcome

15413

DcUpdater / Re: Dcupdater problems - v1.23.01?

« Last post by mouser on October 10, 2010, 07:23 PM »

great, thanks

15414

DcUpdater / Re: Dcupdater problems - v1.23.01?

« Last post by mouser on October 10, 2010, 07:16 PM »

owen, can you try this version (it's just a new exe so replace existing one with this one):
https://www.donation.../beta/DcUppdater.zip

15415

DcUpdater / Re: Dcupdater problems - v1.23.01?

« Last post by mouser on October 10, 2010, 06:53 PM »

ahhh i didnt even notice the blanks.  ok, i'm on it.

15416

DcUpdater / Re: Dcupdater problems - v1.23.01?

« Last post by mouser on October 10, 2010, 06:40 PM »

i dont see any problem in that screenshot.. it may have been only certain plugins or other programs that displayed unusually? anyone have a screenshot of where it's wrong? 

15417

DcUpdater / Re: Dcupdater problems - v1.23.01?

« Last post by mouser on October 10, 2010, 06:02 PM »

i remember it but could you show me a screenshot of how it looks for you?

15418

Developer's Corner / Re: The Inversion of the Open Source - Big Corporation Divide?

« Last post by mouser on October 10, 2010, 01:40 PM »

Yeah let me try yet another way to re-frame my thinking on this.

We are seeing some very influential Open Source advocates (like Eric Raymond) basically advancing a vision that looks something like this: "Open Source is great and it is the future; it makes sense because it is more profitable for big businesses; a side effect is that it will either completely kill off small indie developers or else they won't be able to participate in the Open Source revolution."

What I want to see is a more ambitious Open Source cultural revolution, which is focused not just on Open Source as the only end result worth caring about -- without concern of the cultural consequences for artists and small developers.  I want to see the Open Source revolution paired with a revolution in funding -- where the Open Source community is actively interested in the idea of encouraging direct micro-scale grass roots, affordable donation-based FUNDING of independent artists and developers -- to help these coders and artists survive and thrive in our economies and help them break free of the traditional gatekeepers in the marketplace (rather than make this situation worse).

15419

Developer's Corner / Re: The Inversion of the Open Source - Big Corporation Divide?

« Last post by mouser on October 10, 2010, 12:44 PM »

The economics of software is independent of whether or not the software is "Open".  It is the business model of distribution that sets the economic viability of the software solution and not openness of the code.

but isn't part of the dilemma that the requirements to meeting an "official" open source license involve granting anyone the license to distribute your open source product and charge whatever they want for it, without any payment or arrangement with the author.

this seems to me part of why we are seeing such a move to indirect profit making from open source software, where companies give away software but find other ways to profit from users (ads, support services), since the very core of an open source license virtually guarantees an inability to raise money *directly* from users for the software.

again, i'm arguing more about a cultural issue than a legal one -- i'm saying that the culture is starting to view the idea that one should contribute financially to software authors or music artists as a foreign concept.  we are all starting to think that all software should be free of any (direct obvious) cost.  my point is that the consequences of this are unpleasant, and my worry is that some of the open source advocates are hastening our shift to this instead of trying to pair the Open Source revolution with a parallel cultural shift in supporting authors directly.

the commercial community has jumped all over the idea of providing things that look like they are free -- that are free from any direct cost to the user, in order to capture a market and capture a future customer.  think about the cell phone companies, who basically "give away" phones in order to capture long term phone plan payments.  my point is simply that we are heading towards a point where no one can conceive of paying for software (or donating to support authors) -- where they expect all software to be free and won't tolerate the concept of paying (as a donation or otherwise) a software author or a musician/artist.  they will simply conclude that if a musician/software author expects to make a living, they will figure out a way to sell their software to a large company that will leverage that work to get more customers to charge service rates or feed ads to, etc.  and i just don't think that's a good thing for the independent author/artist.

and just to reiterate a point i have been trying to make -- i'm not saying we need any new laws or software licenses -- mostly what i'm saying is that those who are interested in Open Source from an ethical standpoint (rather than as a commercial opportunity to increase profits), may have an obligation and an opportunity to try to pair this revolution with a shift in thinking about the need for individuals to directly fund independent developers/artists, and that *THIS* is as important (perhaps moreso) in terms of improving our society than is the concept of "open source" itself.

15420

Developer's Corner / Web Debate: Give Us Simplicity So We Can Ignore You

« Last post by mouser on October 10, 2010, 11:16 AM »

Nice summary of (and links to) some recent contrarian debates about simplicity in user interface design by Don Norman.

It’s cruel, really – companies are told over and over that “we want simple CMS.”  Yet, when this is built, no one buys it because it doesn’t have enough features.  Not only do they not buy it, they actively disdain it and are perhaps even a little insulted by its arrogance in thinking something that simple could handle their sophisticated needs.  (Even if it could.)

As a bonus to all this, Norman got into a streetfight with the guys over at 37signals about this.  They, of course, believe in ruthlessly stripping away features.  They took exception, and Norman proceeds to eviscerate them (rightly or wrongly)..

http://www.gadgetopia.com/post/7131

15421

Developer's Corner / Re: The Inversion of the Open Source - Big Corporation Divide?

« Last post by mouser on October 10, 2010, 10:37 AM »

I suppose the main point I am trying to make has nothing to do with big corporations and whether they are good or bad, or the role of open source in these corporations.

My main point is simply that it seems to me there are two paths that the Free / Open Source culture could go down..

• The first path (the one i think we are currently on) for an Open Source future leads to world view that says "no person should ever pay money for software"; i think the natural outcome of this is that larger corporations will use software as an indirect leverage to make money, and small independent coders will find it increasingly hard to make a living from coding software.
• The second path would be one in which the culture of Free / Open Source software embraced the idea that people should support authors/coders/musicians directly (through donations, small payments, whatever), and recognized that users providing financial support was integral to the health of the Open Source community.

My point is simply that the Open Source community offers a possible revolution in software and music, etc.  But that the Open Source community doesn't seem to be paying much attention to these two possible paths, and that in a zeal to spread the concept of Open Source, they may be pushing us towards the first path without consideration for its consequences, and that from an ethical and long-term standpoint, we need to be working harder to get us down the second path.


Perhaps a better way to view what i'm saying is simply that i can see a path forward where individuals directly support authors and artists, with donations that match their financial resources, and that this can create an entire ecosystem that bypasses the stranglehold and waste of the large corporations of middlemen whose only role is gatekeeping.  I don't want the Open Source revolution to take us someplace where all software is Open Source/Free but we end up worsening the relationship between independent authors/artists and end users.

I think we are starting to see a new generation of corporate management that views Open Source as a tool for increasing efficiency and profits.  Nothing wrong with that, and clearly some in the Open Source community are not concerned with bigger picture items -- they are interested in promoting Open Source as a first principle.  But I'm much more interested in Open Source as an ethical issue and as a piece of a larger shift towards bringing producers and consumers closer together as one community.  I'm interested in plotting a path towards having end users (and music fans, etc.) directly funding small developers and artists, and being part of the creation process.  And ultimately what I'm hoping for is an overlap between the Open Source advocates and those who are interested in this new way of funding small developers directly.  I'm just trying to feel my way around the Open Source community and figure out what corner of that universe i belong in.

15422

Living Room / Re: How much soda (pop) do you drink?

« Last post by mouser on October 10, 2010, 10:03 AM »

very nice, thanks for posting.

15423

Living Room / Re: Email Security

« Last post by mouser on October 09, 2010, 05:20 PM »

Whenever you are required to provide answers for so-called security questions, give nonsensical answers and be sure to make a note of what you give as answers.

agreed.

15424

Screenshot Captor / Re: "Grab Selected Region"

« Last post by mouser on October 09, 2010, 04:52 PM »

I think i remember not adding cursor capture in region capturing, since without the delay one can't even get the cursor in the region after selecting it; i will add it.

15425

Living Room / Re: Show us a photo of your mutt or other creatures..

« Last post by mouser on October 09, 2010, 04:47 PM »

merged it.

and now let's see some more photos from everyone!