Recent Posts

1826

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5

« Last post by Carol Haynes on August 17, 2010, 01:47 PM »

Anyway, I guess I'm wondering about Xara's capabilties as a artist's sketching tool vs. the Adobe products.  All we ever hear about is Adobe and sometimes Painter.  Not many people talk about Xara's capabilties.

-superboyac (August 17, 2010, 11:44 AM)

Best I can suggest is download the trial version and give it a go. If you like it and want to buy a copy let me know and I will send you my affiliate link (which I only have because I added it to my website so I thought I may as well benefit from sales).

1827

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5

« Last post by Carol Haynes on August 17, 2010, 11:08 AM »

I'd recommend Xara over Corel anything (even if it is unrelated to drawing).

I no longer buy any Corel products although I do own Corel Draw 8 (probably the last good version) and Corel Painter 9.5 (not the best version but at least it works unlike the newer versions if you believe all the bad comments).

I also had Corel Linux (never did get it to install at all - and Corel hadn't got a clue)
Intervideo WinDVD (now bought out by Corel - so I won't be upgrading that ever again)
KPT photoshop plugins (from the days when they were actually supported)
Paintshop Pro (but can't see any point in any of the versions since JASC sold out).

Is there a pattern emerging here? Corel seems to be to graphics what Symantec is to security - the place where good software goes to die!

For drawing applications I have Corel Draw 8, Adobe Illustrator CS3 and Xara Designer Pro 6.

If I want to draw something I naturally gravitate towards Xara because it is quicker to use (onscreen rendering is instant unlike AI) , there are excellent video tutorials and a good manual plus a very active community with tutorials. The whole thing is more intuitive than AI (at least to me). You can even do some bitmap editing (including photoshop plugin compatibility) and generate quick Flash animations. I don't use it but there is a very comprehensive WYSIWYG web designer buit in with loads of templates to get you going. It also comes with loads of fonts, clipart etc.

My only negative comment is that I really don't like the new colour scheme in version 6 - which seems to have been changed (too late) to make it fit in with Vista colour schemes - personally I thing the old colour scheme is clearer and more pleasant (perhaps they can be persuaded to include a skinning or theme function in version 7).

1828

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5

« Last post by Carol Haynes on August 17, 2010, 09:45 AM »

I have Xara, and I will not recommend it.
Besides, Xara was Corel was Xara; they are siblings / cousins.

Next stop: Adobe!

-Curt (August 16, 2010, 08:12 AM)

Xara was never Corel - they briefly marketed it but development has always been with the same UK company.

Boring history lesson:

Computer Concepts (UK company) developed brilliant software for the Acorn Archimedes/RiscOS computers back in the 80s.

One flagship product was ArtWorks which was later redeveloped for the PC as Xara (I bought the original and have been upgrading ever since).

Xara products have been produced by the same UK company ever since (from the same premises).

They briefly allowed Corel to sell the product (big mistake - but it was brief and Corel never got the opportunity to screw it up).

Now Xara is owned by Magix in Genrmany - but Xara still exists and you can buy Xara or Magix versions of the products - they are all still produced by the same developers in the UK.

I know some people have had problems getting off their mailing list but that doesn't detract from the fact that the sofwtare is brilliant - comparable in terms of functionality - with Adobe Illustrator but much faster in use and has features beyond what illustrator can do - you can even construct whole websites and flash animations in minutes.

1829

General Software Discussion / Re: monitor ink usage

« Last post by Carol Haynes on August 15, 2010, 06:54 AM »

Just a word of warning - if your printer has a separate print head (as do most Canon printers) then beware of cheap ink refills or compatibles - I have come across a number of dead Canon print heads over the past year from using cheap ink and the replacement print head is more than the cost of a new printer. You can sometimes recover them by soaking the head in alcohol over night but often they never work quite as well after they have been clogged and seem to be more prone to clogging in the future.

I don't sell cartridges (maybe I should) but I always recommend my clients use original cartridges if they are reasonably priced and if not buy a new printer with decent consumable prices.

1830

General Software Discussion / Re: Website design recommendations for a small business site?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on August 13, 2010, 02:11 PM »

You are welcome. 

1831

Circle Dock / Re: Goodbye all, I'm out of here effective immediately

« Last post by Carol Haynes on August 13, 2010, 09:21 AM »

Consider this situation: 1) X releases V1 of a project under the GPL. 2) Y contributes to the development of V2 with changes and new code based on V1. 3) X wants to convert V2 to a non-GPL license. Does X need Y's permission?

    Yes. Y was required to release its version under the GNU GPL, as a consequence of basing it on X's version V1. Nothing required Y to agree to any other license for its code. Therefore, X must get Y's permission before releasing that code under another license. (from http://www.gnu.org/l...pl-faq.html#Consider)

Interesting idea that once a project has been released under GPL even the original author cannot release it as a commercial product after further development whilst one developer in the world objects! Presumably there is nothing to stop Y releasing a commercial version 2 of the software provided the version 1 code remains under GPL?

Having said that according to the rules of the license any derivative of version 1 is legally obliged to be GPL too - so does this apply to the original author? In which case a commercial product is not possible.

From the discussion in the rest of this thread does this not imply that a GPL product that is developed must remain GPL even if the development goes so far as to modify every single one of the original lines of code?

Also are there no intellectual rights on the original concept which would preclude the development away from the original license?

Redeveloping a functionally identical product from scratch of an existing product is surely a violation of the intellectual rights of the original author even if it is under GPL.

How would this work:

A writes a software library (for the sake of argument containing two functions) and releases it under GPL
B rewrites the code for function 1 and releases it as a standalone product with no license restrictions
C rewrites the code for function 2 and combines his work with that of B to produce a new library containing none of the original code of A.

Is the new library forced to be under GPL since none of the original code exists - yet the product is functionally identical to the original GPLed software?

What would constitute modification in this case that would allow the product to be removed from GPL? Can it be trivial (such as adding 'ripoff' to all the variable names) or does it have to be substantial change - in which case how is that quantified?

1832

Circle Dock / Re: Goodbye all, I'm out of here effective immediately

« Last post by Carol Haynes on August 13, 2010, 07:52 AM »

I have been reading this thread with some bemusement (not to say sadness at all the bitterness in evidence).

Total aside:

Is GPL in practice ever enforceable except in the most trivial of examples?

If source code has to be provided then almost by definition it is ultimately impossible to satisfy that criteria in full. The only way it would be possible is the writing of assembly language with no external calls to the operating system.

To comply in a higher level language would require the source code of all the libraries used (including OS calls) and probably the source code of the compiler!

I know I am being pedantic but GPL does sound rather stupid in this regard - especially where external non-GPL code is incorporated.

1833

Adventures of Baby Cody / Re: A Map of where Baby Cody Visits?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on August 12, 2010, 04:20 PM »

Maybe we should get him a GPS tag ...

Last I heard he was off to Afghanistan but I don't think anyone has heard anything since.

1834

General Software Discussion / Re: Which archive software are we using in 2010 (and why)?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on August 11, 2010, 04:53 AM »

rarlabs has other bits and pieces on it to whereas win-rar is just winrar

1835

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: EASEUS Partition Master 6.1.1 Professional Edition-24hrs.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on August 10, 2010, 10:18 AM »

Thanks - that's helpful.

Note the Pro version supports up to Win 7 in both 32 bit and 64 bit edition. The free Home version is only 32 bit (rather a limitation as the majority of computers now seem to be supplied with Win 7 HP 64 bit).

Presumably this free pro download is pre-licensed and doesn't allow updating ???

1836

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: EASEUS Partition Master 6.1.1 Professional Edition-24hrs.

« Last post by Carol Haynes on August 10, 2010, 10:09 AM »

Can't seem to get there at the moment - site is timing out.

1837

General Software Discussion / Re: Microsoft Office - Did you know?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on August 02, 2010, 02:00 PM »

Yep - retail only. Strictly the license is only for one office computer and a laptop owned by the same person ... not separate installs for two users.

1838

General Software Discussion / Re: Whoa, this gal hates MS Office 2010 -- 5 Reasons Why You Don't Need It

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 27, 2010, 05:06 AM »

Face it, some folks -- including me -- honestly do NOT like the ribbon. No amount of perfume is going to make that pig smell any better. The ribbon is:

• Cheesy (really, this is just bad design and Microsoft poured too much cash in it to admit it)
• A waste of space (I got better uses than a dead ribbon eating up screen space)
• Looks like a 1st grader designed it (see cheesy above)
• Its icons are unnecessarily HUGE (I'm not a retarded blind person)
• Keyboard shortcuts and self-designed start pages are more efficient and economical (simple is better)

-zridling (July 26, 2010, 11:13 PM)

1) Cheesy is a matter of taste - personally I find it MUCH clearer than an amorphous block of cryptic icons (and toolbars that are often hidden - if you show them all then you use up about 40% of your screen) and menus that constantly change and move so you can never find anything (yes I know you can turn of the popular menu items feature but lots of users don't and I find it a real pain on client computers to find what I am looking for). Having been using the ribbon for a long time now the one thing you can say is that it was designed - by comparison earlier versions of Office weren't even designed they were thrown together.
2) If you don't like wasting space minimize it - it takes one line on the screen. On my screen (a 22" 16:9 monitor) I can work on two full A4 pages side by side without having to scroll at all - and my eyesight isn't great.
3) You have some very clevery first graders in the US then!
4) Most icons are pretty much the same size as they have always been. Some are larger but actually that is a really good idea (and comes from a lot of UI research - not just MS research) as they are much easier to hit quickly with a mouse and therefore less tiring. Also if you are going to have a fixed height ribbon (even if you minimise it) you may as well use the space the user's advantage.
5) You can customise the ribbon bar completely in Office 2010, and assign any keyboard shortcuts you like to any functions).

No matter. I no longer pay for OS, nor would I pay for an office suite. Ninety-nine percent of my work is done using a text editor.

If a text editor meets your needs that is great - for most people using MS Office a text editor wouldn't do what is required.

1839

General Software Discussion / Re: Whoa, this gal hates MS Office 2010 -- 5 Reasons Why You Don't Need It

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 26, 2010, 04:49 AM »

You can minimize everything in Office 2010 except:

The mini tool bar that is part of the window title bar
The Ribbon tab names (the ribbon itself minimises with a single click or you can set it permanently)

Given that most people these days have largish screens it really doesn't take up much space (effectively one line plus the window frame).

The only people who seem to really hate the ribbon are the people who have never used it for any length of time. I was initially sceptical but now I absolutely wouldn't go back to the plethora of silly toolbars and cryptic icons of Office 2003 and earlier and trying to use Open Office (when I am working on other people's computers) feels incredibly clunky.

1840

General Software Discussion / Re: Whoa, this gal hates MS Office 2010 -- 5 Reasons Why You Don't Need It

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 25, 2010, 01:47 PM »

I'm using Office 2010 (part of a MAPs subscription) and I like it. I prefer Outlook 2010 to 2007 and earlier (though it takes a while to find things)!

My only minor niggles are addon related (I use MathType and they want payment for an upgrade from version 6.6 to 6.7 to an addon that works fine in 2007 - which is plain stupid but not Microsoft's fault).

Regarding no upgrades I suppose my first reaction was yikes but in practice the vast majority of people will be unaffected as they wither use the Home and Student/Academic version (which has never had an upgrade pricing) or else have business license packages which means they get updates without further payment.

The small group of people who will be affected are small businesses that buy 2 or 3 copies but even then the new prices for 2010 editions are actually almost the same as the upgrade prices for 2007 editions so effectively prices have been reduced by moving prices to the upgrade level. I am not naive enough to underestimate the price rises planned - doubtless the next versions will see a substantial price hike to redress the balance.

The key card system is just plain daft - who is going to pay the same for a single license locking you to one computer when you can buy a three license non-restricted version? I suppose MS are working on the Symantec and MacAfee law of inertia rule!

1841

Living Room / Re: What the heck has happened to Google search?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 21, 2010, 06:55 AM »

Hi thanks for the scroogle link - I am liking what I see.

For Firefox there are a variety of search plugins (which restrict regional content) - is there any way to craft the URL for scroogle to restrict say to the UK?

Update - figured it out - easy to do just add " site:.uk" (without quotes) to the URL being set up as a default search engine or to the search term in the Scroogle page.

1842

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 15, 2010, 08:48 AM »

I think Corel work on the principle that if it is really expensive it must be good.

Personally I refuse to buy anything from Corel anymore - they used to be good but now everything they produce is full of bugs which never get fixed.

1843

General Software Discussion / Re: jv16 - Pay to keep license on file?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 01, 2010, 05:12 PM »

Just upgraded to Xara Design Pro 6 (the new name for Xtreme Pro) and this was in the email AFTER THE PURCHASE WAS MADE:

Please note:
This serial number may stop working if you change your hardware.

If the computer on which the program runs has internet access, you
can re-activate the program by following the procedure above.

If you do not have internet acccess or you have any problem with the
serial number, please contact our support team at http://support.xara.com.
Please ensure you have this receipt in front of you since we may
need the serial number and order number.

Re-activation may be carried out free of charge up to three times
after purchase.

The emphasis is mine. So after you have purchased a piece of software costing £250 (not far off $400 US) you can only activate it three times if you change your hardware. There is no option to deactivate the product before upgrading windows or reinstalling your system or adding a new graphics card or memory etc.

I have generally liked Xara in the past but if this is the way things are going they will not be getting money from me again in the future.

1844

General Software Discussion / Re: jv16 - Pay to keep license on file?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 01, 2010, 03:16 AM »

What do you do with people who can't remember their user name, email and password to request the automatic retrieval?? I come across a lot of people who don't know what their email address is and have no clue what their password is. Makes life interesting when something goes wrong. These are the same people who either never create recovery disks or on older systems throw away all the disks that came with their computer (because they haven't had to use them before) and then blame the manufacturer or Microsoft.

Golden rule - however simple you make something some people will still screw it up!

1845

Living Room / Re: Obama Can Shut Down Internet For 4 Months Under New Emergency Powers

« Last post by Carol Haynes on June 29, 2010, 07:04 PM »

It would be interesting to know what effect a US kill switch would have on other countries.

OK obviously it won't be possible to connect through US servers or to US websites/email but, aside from those limitations, would the rest of the world be business as usual using alternative routes?

If yes it could have an interesting economic impact on the US!

1846

Living Room / Re: Obama Can Shut Down Internet For 4 Months Under New Emergency Powers

« Last post by Carol Haynes on June 29, 2010, 12:19 PM »

How much compensation will internet based companies be entitled to? And what about multinationals trading in the US?

If it was actually used - even for 5 minutes - the law suits would grind the US government to a halt for years!

1847

General Software Discussion / Re: jv16 - Pay to keep license on file?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on June 29, 2010, 03:47 AM »

It's looking for features to add to make the new licensing model worth the bother. The license resending 'feature' is just plain daft - unless they plan to remove the automated web-based retrieval.

1848

General Software Discussion / Re: InfoHesiveEP from 2BrightSparks now free

« Last post by Carol Haynes on June 26, 2010, 06:44 AM »

It is unlikely to be at all portable as it requires the installation of some libraries during set up (not least the MS CHM authoring tools).

1849

Living Room / Re: Why does the computer have to pause when you stick in a blank dvd/cd?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on June 25, 2010, 11:16 AM »

If you have enough memory you could try disabling the page file completely and see if that has any effect. It is in the System settings from the Control Panel under Advanced/Performance settings.

1850

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Cyberlink DVD Suite 7 Centra_10.000 Licences

« Last post by Carol Haynes on June 25, 2010, 03:22 AM »

Just fill in a different address - I'm sure you can make something up. Here is a valid UK postcode if you want HP19 3JF

The number and street name can be pretty much anything.

Interestingly Version 7 seems to be more expensive (if you weren't paying) than version 8.

Note Version 7 is for Windows XP/Vista, Windows 7 support was included in Version 8. Anyone tired 7 on Win 7?

Having looked at cyberlink's website this looks like Nero's competition - a true 'jack of all trades' piece of software.