Recent Posts

176

N.A.N.Y. 2016 / Re: NANY 2016 Release: SysTrayIconsManage

« Last post by dr_andus on January 03, 2016, 03:22 PM »

Thanks for the app!

One (very minor) issue: the app doesn't have an icon in the "Notification Area Icons" window, when setting the behaviours. Or maybe it's there but because it's white, it can't be seen against the white background.

177

General Software Discussion / Re: YNAB moving to a subscription model

« Last post by dr_andus on January 02, 2016, 12:12 PM »

If you come across where that was stated, I'd be interested in seeing the reasoning.

-wraith808 (January 02, 2016, 10:22 AM)

It might have been this one: Evernote is in deep trouble - Business Insider

178

General Software Discussion / Re: YNAB moving to a subscription model

« Last post by dr_andus on January 02, 2016, 08:41 AM »

Anyone got a download link for the most recent, working, buy-once, non-cloud-as-a-service YNAB?

-Deozaan (January 02, 2016, 02:15 AM)

http://www.youneedab...04_4.3.656_Setup.exe

-PhilB66 (January 02, 2016, 02:30 AM)

Oh, wait... Does this mean I can no longer buy a licence key for this one? It looks like I missed the YNAB 4 boat then 

Edit: or is this one still a legit way of buying it?
Purchase Budget Software that Will Change Your Life

179

General Software Discussion / Re: YNAB moving to a subscription model

« Last post by dr_andus on January 02, 2016, 07:11 AM »

wraith808 & 40hz - thanks for your replies, some good points there, I've decided to go for the off-line versions.

Thanks for the classic YNAB links as well, will check it out. Let's hope it can download data from UK banks and credit cards.

@wraith808 - not sure about the Evernote example though. The reports I've come across recently suggest that the company is in trouble (I can't remember where I saw the article but I think it suggested that they've wrongly focused on adding useless bells and whistles instead of improving the underlying product).

180

General Software Discussion / Re: YNAB moving to a subscription model

« Last post by dr_andus on January 01, 2016, 08:33 PM »

Yeah, so to answer one of my questions, I was looking at the free "Money Dashboard" (a Yodlee-based service), and wondering "How does Money Dashboard make money?" and found:

Money Dashboard may offer suggestions for products and services like credit cards, home loan offers or insurance providers that can save you money. If you select a product based on our suggestion, Money Dashboard may receive a fee from the product provider.

Money Dashboard also provides insight and market research services to help companies better understand trends in consumer behaviour. We identify shifts in consumer preferences using anonymised spending information from groups of Money Dashboard users.

We guarantee that Money Dashboard will never share any personally identifiable data with a third party without our users express permission.

I don't like the sound of that. I'd rather pay a subscription fee, if I can be confident that I'm not being cross-selled and advertised to and my personal data is not being sold on. Maybe I should check out YNAB then?

181

General Software Discussion / Re: YNAB moving to a subscription model

« Last post by dr_andus on January 01, 2016, 08:18 PM »

I don't mind having some things in the cloud.  But my financial information?  I want it in as few places as possible.  And with all that they have access to?

-wraith808 (January 01, 2016, 01:19 PM)

But doesn't your bank, credit card company etc. already keep your financial information in the cloud anyway? What these cloud-based services seem to do is pull the data and aggregate it in a read-only form (i.e. it should not be possible for a hacker to execute transactions, should 'only' be able to read info in one place which otherwise might not be in one place).

I'm in the market for a PC-based or cloud-based personal financial management solution. One thing in favour of a cloud-based system is that it is accessible from any device (for me this mainly means my work PC or my Chromebook), rather than being tied to my home PC, which is not always on.

How do PC-based apps like Intuit store your data pulled from your bank etc. accounts? Doesn't it pass (and is stored) in their cloud somehow before they aggregate it in your desktop software? I don't know, I'm asking, trying to get my head around this category of software.

I was thinking of aggregating my various bank account and credit card data manually, but it just seems such a waste of time, and if I want to share it with my significant other, then I might put it into a Google Sheet, in which case it's in the cloud again.

It seems to me that the first step is to aggregate all the various account data as quickly and as painlessly as possible, so that the more valuable process of budgeting can begin. So, don't all these software somehow gather the data via clouds one way or another?

I'm also wary of using a Yodlee-based cloud service, on the other hand the service they provide is invaluable, as it would be a nightmare to aggregate all this data manually on a daily or even a monthly basis.

So, what is there to lose and gain one way or another (using a PC-based vs. cloud-based personal finance software)?

182

N.A.N.Y. 2016 / Re: Idea Thread for NANY 2016

« Last post by dr_andus on January 01, 2016, 07:35 AM »

Never mind re above... I've decided to create a dedicated Google Calendar for recording my Don't Break the Chain activities. While it's a bit more manual (will have to create a new entry each day for a given type of activity), the benefit is that it's mobile and cross-platform.

183

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Privacy Concerns

« Last post by dr_andus on December 30, 2015, 09:02 AM »

Has anyone tried or heard about this one yet?

10se1ucgo/DisableWinTracking · GitHub

DisableWinTracking - Uses some known methods that attempt to disable tracking in Windows 10. (Telemetry, DiagTrack Log, Services, hosts-file, IP blocking, Windows Defender / WifiSense, OneDrive)

Edit: In the meantime I found a Reddit thread on it with quite a few comments:
I made my own user-friendly Windows 10 privacy tool for inexperienced users

184

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox 43.0.2 stable release

« Last post by dr_andus on December 29, 2015, 08:03 PM »

it went well; all my addons are still working (because of xpinstall.signatures.required=false) in 43.0.3

-Curt (December 29, 2015, 07:14 PM)

Anyone knows how long will that trick work? What are we talking about? Weeks or months?

I really hope there continues to be a workaround, as it can cripple some of my software that depend on FF add-ons for good.

I'm already annoyed that my favourite calculator add-on has been abandoned... 

185

N.A.N.Y. 2016 / Re: Idea Thread for NANY 2016 - Don't Break the Chain software

« Last post by dr_andus on December 29, 2015, 07:13 AM »

This might be a bit late for NANY 2016 (?) but wasn't sure where to request it.

Idea: a simple calendar app for Windows that implements the Don't Break the Chain productivity approach as follows:

• - use standard self-updating calendar in the style of Classic Calendar, showing monthly view (though ability to switch to annual view would be also nice).
• - ability to add an unlimited number of rows for tasks/projects to be ticked in the column represented by each day. This would be the competitive advantage of this software over what's on the market, as normally these types of calendars only allow for one task/project to be followed across time, when one might need several (e.g. one for work, one for exercise, one for meditation etc. etc.)
• - allow to add a big X or tick sign (with customisable colour) for each day to be ticked off, for each task/project separately.
• - ability to add a few words (or at least abbreviations) to describe the nature of the task that was accomplished that day. This could be overlayed by the X or tick sign, but still visible.
• - option to launch at system start-up or waking up
• - option to launch automatically at a predetermined time every day (or a number of times a day)
• - option to launch in fullscreen mode.

Thanks for considering.

P.S. examples of existing implementations:

• Don't Break The Chain! - online, with Google Chrome app

• Don’t Break the Chain - Jerry Seinfeld's Method for Creative Success - just a PDF file
• Chains.cc - Don't Break The Chain App - with iOS and Chrome Web Store apps

186

General Software Discussion / Re: gateway ta6 laptop

« Last post by dr_andus on December 29, 2015, 06:41 AM »

Another option: Turning a crappy old Windows PC into a full-fledged Chromebook with CloudReady | Ars Technica

187

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: GP Software (Directory Opus) 2015 Holiday Sale

« Last post by dr_andus on December 23, 2015, 06:43 PM »

Thanks for all the feedback.

Hard to tell why that should be without know the specs of that old PC. I have the latest version of Dopus running on some seriously old hardware.

-michaelkenward (December 17, 2015, 10:06 AM)

In hindsight I'm not even sure if it was about hardware limitations, as my PC had a corrupted Win 7 at the time, so it could have been that too.

But now I've tried v.11 on my old Asus netbook eee PC1000H with XP, and it's running reasonably well. And v.11 seems to be running even faster than v.10 on my new laptop, so my fears are allayed. 

188

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Essential PIM Pro - Mini-Review ("also-ran")

« Last post by dr_andus on December 22, 2015, 08:07 PM »

What I use every day is still my Palm T3, and Pimlical is interesting precisely because it can work with Palm.

-rjbull (December 22, 2015, 05:13 PM)

Respect! (from a fellow ex-Palm T|X user). While I haven't tried it (these days I'm a Google Calendar user), there is also Pimlical Android, which is supposed to be the Android replacement for the legendary Palm calendar app, Datebk6.

189

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Essential PIM Pro - Mini-Review ("also-ran")

« Last post by dr_andus on December 21, 2015, 05:17 PM »

I prefer to avoid the cloud, and don't really need "everywhere availability" anyway.  I like the ability to sync between Windows and Android locally.

-rjbull (December 21, 2015, 04:17 PM)

If you're still looking, Pimlical can do that.

190

General Software Discussion / Re: Upgrading and slowing

« Last post by dr_andus on December 20, 2015, 01:16 PM »

Not using the latest version is often the best solution.

-eleman (December 20, 2015, 11:21 AM)

Indeed, upgrading to the latest is not always the greatest... The other radical option might be to reinstall Windows (if it's an old machine), and get rid of all the unnecessary stuff that has accumulated over time and is slowing it down.

With Word 2010, sometimes disabling add-ons helps speed it up. As for Adobe Acrobat, why do you need it at all? There are many snappier PDF readers and creators out there.

191

General Software Discussion / Re: gateway ta6 laptop

« Last post by dr_andus on December 18, 2015, 08:46 PM »

I am still trying to disable the Motorola fax from auto-starting.

-holt (December 18, 2015, 08:39 PM)

WinPatrol might be able to help you with that, but I can't make out from the website whether there is still a free version.

Edit: Oh, yeah, there is still a free version.

192

General Software Discussion / Re: Microsoft OneNote - some experiential Tips & Tricks

« Last post by dr_andus on December 17, 2015, 01:01 PM »

It seems to me that the author's Zettelkasten notebook is for specific types notes, whereas you seem to collectively call any and all your notes stored in OneNote a Zettelkasten. Am I right?

-Angry Thinker (December 17, 2015, 07:39 AM)

I think there is a bit of a terminological confusion here. IainB seems to use "Zettelkasten" to denote a database where you can store any type of digital data in variety of formats and states of processing (including raw captured data), while DutchPete's post is showing the use of OneNote for one possible implementation of Luhmann's Zettelkasten method specifically.

One big difference is that the latter is not really for the capture of unprocessed raw data (such as the videos, spreadsheets etc. that IainB includes) but for the capture, storage, recall and analysis of processed information, i.e. one's own notes and thoughts about some underlying data (which itself does not need to be included), such as one's reading notes or thoughts triggered by a movie or a piece of music (but not the underlying book, movie, or music).

193

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: GP Software (Directory Opus) 2015 Holiday Sale

« Last post by dr_andus on December 17, 2015, 04:43 AM »

Thanks! Dopus 11 users out there, what's been your experience? On my old PC I found 11 much slower than Dopus 10, so downgraded back, but now I have a new machine, so maybe it's time to reconsider...

194

General Software Discussion / Re: Microsoft OneNote - some experiential Tips & Tricks

« Last post by dr_andus on December 16, 2015, 11:41 AM »

Here is one implementation of the Zettelkasten method using OneNote:

OneNote Review • Zettelkasten Method

195

General Software Discussion / Re: notepad2-mod: custom code folding for txt files?

« Last post by dr_andus on December 14, 2015, 04:17 AM »

Nod5

Thank you very much for your time, it's all working now as expected. 

196

PBOL / Re: PBOL gauge text too big on hi res monitors

« Last post by dr_andus on December 09, 2015, 11:35 AM »

Fabulous! Perfect!    Thank you very much mouser for the quick solution! I went with font size 9 and it fits in perfectly and is still bigger than the bar item name.

I love this tool and it's permanently displayed at the bottom of my screen all the time. And now it's got even better! Thanks once more!

197

PBOL / Re: PBOL gauge text too big on hi res monitors

« Last post by dr_andus on December 09, 2015, 09:50 AM »

That would be great! Thank you for looking into this.

198

PBOL / Re: PBOL gauge text too big on hi res monitors

« Last post by dr_andus on December 09, 2015, 09:04 AM »

Sure, here you go:

199

PBOL / PBOL gauge text too big on hi res monitors

« Last post by dr_andus on December 09, 2015, 08:32 AM »

On my 14" monitor with 1920 x 1080 resolution, the guage text (such as "remaining" and "end date") stays too big (while the progress bar item name is displayed in much smaller font, which is fine).

The problem is that I'd like to have one single row with 5 bars (docked at the bottom of the screen, stretching across the whole screen), and while the bars with their item names fit in there fine, the start and end of each guage text gets cut off because the font is too big (not the same size as bar item name).

It's kind of nice to have the gauge text a bit bigger than the bar item name (as there is normally more room within a bar), but at the moment the font is a bit too big.

Mouser - any chance for an option to adjust the font size on the gauge text? (And a bit more love for this awsome tool!) 

200

General Software Discussion / Re: notepad2-mod: custom code folding for txt files?

« Last post by dr_andus on December 08, 2015, 08:31 AM »

I specified the comment syntax (everything after #) as bold headings and any word suffixed with : gets color background.

-Nod5 (October 27, 2013, 04:14 AM)

This also stopped working for me for some reason  :(

Now comment highligthing after hash (#) and colon (:) only works if the line does not start with a Tab. I don't mind that behaviour for the colon (actually I prefer it), but with # this means I can't use them for folding Markdown headers because I can't create foldable sub-headings by hitting Tab and starting a level 2 (##) etc. heading.

Actually starting the line with # even prevents the creation of a folding point now, so it definitely doesn't work for use as Markdown headings.

Any ideas how to fix this? It used to work before.