Recent Posts

18476

Find And Run Robot / Re: Latest FARR Release v2.107.04 beta - Sep 23, 2012

« Last post by mouser on August 26, 2009, 07:44 AM »

New release, mostly bugfixes, but a fair number of them:
Version 2.77.01 - August 26th, 2009

• [BugFix] - Changing skins preview while options dialog was open sometimes showed larger window than it should.
• [BugFix] - Triggering toolbar button with .lnk file argument was not resolving the lnk.
• [BugFix] - Farr was showing more results than it should if an alias used the dosearch action.
• [BugFix] - Alias action modifier launching was not working.
• [BugFix] - When launching alias results that were .lnk files, the /showmax type alias arguements were not obeyed.
• [MinorFeature] - some options moved to new tabs in options.
• [BugFix] - Moving and deleting items in one of the option lists could on rare occasions lead to an error when loading the ini file on next run (would report bad ini file and reset to defaults).
• [BugFix] - When option to use numpad keys to launch was set, numpad keys could not be used for memo/html mode typing of numbers (which hindered their use in calculator plugins for example).
• [MinorFeature] - Using the paste special alias command now pastes \r\n when the \n constant is found in the paste text.
• [Feature] - You can now customize the result background color for the main results window.

NOTE: As of 8/26/09 I have not yet told the updater about the new version, but if you right click on FARR and tell it to install the new version it will install it.  I'm hoping I can get some reports from early testers before i make the update public.

18477

General Software Discussion / 30 Days of DonationCoder Screencasts - Day 26 - FARR Alias Management

« Last post by mouser on August 26, 2009, 02:21 AM »

DAY 26:

Today's video takes a look at Alias Management in FARR:

https://www.donation...c/3ds/fr15/fr15.html

The entire screencast video series can be seen here: https://www.donationcoder.com/3ds/

18478

Living Room / Re: What have I done!?

« Last post by mouser on August 25, 2009, 08:41 PM »

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

18479

General Software Discussion / MOVED: Time and Expense Tracking Application

« Last post by mouser on August 25, 2009, 12:33 PM »

This topic has been moved to Announce Your Software/Service/Product.

https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=19670.0

18480

General Software Discussion / Re: Firewalls, What you need to know...

« Last post by mouser on August 25, 2009, 11:07 AM »

Since it happens so rarely let me disagree with f0dder while I have the chance.

I think f0dder's main point is completely valid, which is:
If you run an evil program on your computer, even if you have a perfect software firewall, you have bigger problems on your hands and the evil program can do all sorts of bad things to your pc, and figure out ways to get around your firewall if it really wants to.

While that's true -- I think it skips over some important points.  Having multiple lines of defense is in practice extremely useful in protecting yourself against badly behaved software and rogue software.

A firewall can be a really useful first line of defense in alerting you when something unusual is going on and when a program is trying to connect out to the internet unexpectedly.

I can't count the number of times that my firewall has alerted me about some newly installed program or driver making a web connection that I would have otherwise had no idea about -- and which prompted me to investigate further what was going on.  In some cases it has been extremely useful in diagnosing slow startups, program hangs, etc.

In addition, I just like to know what's going on on my pc and I like the fact that a software firewall tells me when programs are trying to connect to the web. And I like having a second layer of defense in my remote control tools, etc.

Having said all that -- firewalls can also introduce all kinds of tricky-to-diagnose gremlins that occur when they get it into their heads to block stuff silently and cause programs to stop working with no sign of why.

Adding all that up my approach is to use a software firewall and configure it to alert me about anything that i haven't specifically configured it to allow, and to not block anything I don't specifically say to block.  So for me, the firewall is mostly used as an "unexpected-connection alerter" -- much more than it is used to actually BLOCK stuff.  And i find it extremely valuable in this regard.

18481

Developer's Corner / Re: RAD Studio 2010 Released Today (Delphi/C++ Builder)

« Last post by mouser on August 25, 2009, 08:44 AM »

We should figure out if we want to have another C++/Delphi programming contest..

18482

General Software Discussion / Re: Firewalls, What you need to know...

« Last post by mouser on August 25, 2009, 08:20 AM »

would it also find portable browsers on your hard drive?

while it could be programmed to do so, this is very very unlikely.
you could make it impossible if you changed the exe filename of your browser.

18483

Developer's Corner / RAD Studio 2010 Released Today (Delphi/C++ Builder)

« Last post by mouser on August 25, 2009, 08:17 AM »

RAD Studio 2010, the latest version of of the well-known Delphi programming language/ide/suite for MS Windows, which also includes C++ Builder, has been released.  The tool, previously released by the company known as Borland and then CodeGear, is now being managed by a company called Embarcadero.

I've used C++ Builder (which is basically the full C++ language with extra support for the Delphi visual class components) to develop most of my larger applications -- the 3rd party visual component support for it (for Delphi) is extremely impressive, which makes it possible t create very poweful GUI interfaces rather quickly.  As a true "rapid application development" tool -- it's hard to beat it in terms of being able to quickly test user interface ideas.

http://www.embarcade.../products/rad-studio

18484

General Software Discussion / Re: 30 Days of DonationCoder Screencasts - Video Links Here

« Last post by mouser on August 25, 2009, 12:27 AM »

for those wondering, i used Skrommel's wonderful tool "ShowOff" to display keypresses during the screencast.

18485

General Software Discussion / 30 Days of DonationCoder Screencasts - Day 25 - Keyboard shortcuts/tips in FARR

« Last post by mouser on August 25, 2009, 12:08 AM »

DAY 25:

Today's video takes a look at keyboard shortcuts and tricks in FARR:

https://www.donation...c/3ds/fr14/fr14.html

The entire screencast video series can be seen here: https://www.donationcoder.com/3ds/

18486

Developer's Corner / Re: JayIsGames.com - Casual Gameplay Design Competition #6 Opens - 10/4/09 deadline

« Last post by mouser on August 24, 2009, 10:58 PM »

anyone going to give this a try?

18487

Living Room / Re: DC-IRLDD Champaign, IL - Aug 29, 2009

« Last post by mouser on August 24, 2009, 09:29 PM »

no one wants to come play board games?

18488

General Software Discussion / ManicTime: Interesting and nice looking free time tracking tool

« Last post by mouser on August 24, 2009, 09:28 PM »

Another good find from Free Download A Day:

ManicTime automatically collects data on your computer usage. It records active and away time, as well as which applications you used and for how long you used them.

The data ManicTime collects is stored in a local database on your computer. Collected data is not transmitted anywhere or shared with anyone. Only you have access to it, which means no privacy concerns.

http://www.manictime.com/

from http://www.freedownl...king-with-manictime/

18489

Living Room / Re: 8-bit trip with animated lego bricks

« Last post by mouser on August 24, 2009, 05:10 PM »

Other DC posts about stop motion videos:
https://www.donation...ch=%22stop+motion%22

18490

Living Room / Re: Battle of the 6 Online Malware (AntiVirus) File Scanners

« Last post by mouser on August 24, 2009, 12:34 PM »

Now VirusTotal have added my TrID file identifier among their analysis tools!

just one more sign that VirusTotal is one of the smartest online antivirus scanners 

18491

General Software Discussion / Re: 30 Days of DonationCoder Screencasts - Video Links Here

« Last post by mouser on August 24, 2009, 09:50 AM »

These have been created with TechSmith's Camtasia, a very good, if expensive, commercial tool.

The truth is however that for these Screencasts, i don't really use any of the advanced features of Camtasia, and could have produced these just as well with some of the free tools I think.

In particular, since I don't do any editing, I think BB Flashback Express (free) would be just as good -- and I have used that in the past, and may use it for some of the upcoming screencasts.

18492

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: UltraEdit bundle on Bits du Jour 31st August 2009

« Last post by mouser on August 24, 2009, 08:37 AM »

I still really like ultraedit.

It should be pointed out though that the other two applications that are bundled..

• For file and folder comparisons I swear by "Beyond Compare" and the free WinMerge is very good (though i don't know how it compares to the latest version of UltraCompare).
• For secure file deletion and registry/browser cleanup, there are terrific free programs (Eraser and CCleaner for example).

18493

Developer's Corner / JayIsGames.com - Casual Gameplay Design Competition #6 Opens - 10/4/09 deadline

« Last post by mouser on August 24, 2009, 08:00 AM »

We've talked about previous JayIsGames.com competitions to design flash games.  It regularly produces some of the best flash games you'll find anywhere -- it's a very high caliber of talent that participates.

This year they are opening up the challenge to any web-compatible technology, not just flash (Silverlight, etc.) - though I expect that the overwhelming majority of games will be done in Flash.

The theme this year, Explore -- is wonderful.  I think this will make for some really interesting entries.

I'd love to see some DC members participate and submit a game of their own design.  If there's anything we can do to help or encourage you, let me know.  I'll reserve some special DC games division mugs for anyone who enters.

Design a game that incorporates our theme (see below). It doesn't have to be complex nor large in scope. Since you will have just 6 weeks to complete your design, simple ideas are probably the best way to go. You may use any browser-based technology platform you are comfortable with (Flash, Unity, Shockwave, Javascript, etc.). If we can embed your finished game file on our competition page, you may use that platform to design and develop your game.

For the 6th Casual Gameplay Design Competition, we are asking for entries designed to incorporate this theme: EXPLORE.
...
The deadline for entries is Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 11:59PM (GMT-5:00).
...
1st place:  $1,000
Audience award: $500

http://jayisgames.co...gn_competition_6.php

18494

Living Room / Re: top secret: tech support cheat sheet (xkcd)

« Last post by mouser on August 24, 2009, 07:10 AM »

 

18495

General Software Discussion / 30 Days of DonationCoder Screencasts - Day 24 - Custom Hotkey Triggers in FARR

« Last post by mouser on August 24, 2009, 07:07 AM »

DAY 24:

Today's video takes a look at creating custom hotkey triggers in FARR:

https://www.donation...c/3ds/fr13/fr13.html

The entire screencast video series can be seen here: https://www.donationcoder.com/3ds/

18496

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2009 / Re: Live as if Today was a Quantum Superposition of the the Rest of your Life

« Last post by mouser on August 23, 2009, 10:02 AM »

Well in fact that is the biggest takeaway for me from David Allens GTD, and i find it incredibly useful.  I've written about it before on the forum.

Basically for me you could boil the *useful* lesson of Allen's GTD for me personally to one sentence, and throw away all of the details and specifics in his book:
"Write down stuff where you can find it later, and then let it go from your consciousness."

This is an incredibly simple idea, but for me it was one of those "ah ha" moments when i really started doing it (i personally keep notecards of all project ideas, todo items, etc.).  But it really does make a huge difference for me that i can convince my brain is does not have to be actively trying to remember and keep in mind all of these thousands of issues and ideas..  I can offload them to paper and then free up my working mind for other things.

I've also been using this strategy to help me not perseverate (get suck on) programming project ideas that i just don't have time to work on -- I let myself have a few days to plan it out, brainstorm about it, chew it over, write it down, etc.  And often that's enough to let me brain not feel like it has to keep bringing up the idea and working on it in spare moments.

18497

Living Room / Re: Postmarks

« Last post by mouser on August 23, 2009, 09:52 AM »

oh i see you don't just want stamps you want envelope with postmark on top of stamp -- that's why you want to know cities.
ok i can send from Champaign, IL USA

18498

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2009 / Re: [Minor] Mini-Parking Lot Tool: Timeline Maker Alternative

« Last post by mouser on August 23, 2009, 07:30 AM »

i'm lost.. somehow youve combined popup wisdom, a notepad program, parking lot tools, timeline makers, and a bunch of different formatting and nested sections.. but i don't get how it all fits together.. my head hurts.

18499

Living Room / Dice Tower starts Top 100 Board Games Video Series for 2009 w/ kids perspectiv

« Last post by mouser on August 23, 2009, 07:13 AM »

I've posted before about Tom Vassel's Dice Tower board game reviews.  He is now going to do his top 100 board games series for 2009, which is a great tour of board games in a way that is a great way to learn about the variety of good board games out there.

He always has one of his young daughters in the videos helping him out, which is very cute -- but this time one of his daughters is going to talk about *her* top 100 board games -- and this could be a really fun thing to watch if you have a young daughter, to discover board games you might like to play as a family.

MELODY is doing her top 100 this year!  I think her list will be much more interesting than mine.  I gave her complete freedom when putting her list together, so it should be interesting to see how our lists compare.  We have 11 of the same games, so maybe you should take special note of them.

http://www.thediceto...er/index.php/top_100

18500

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2009 / Re: Live as if Today was a Quantum Superposition of the the Rest of your Life

« Last post by mouser on August 23, 2009, 06:57 AM »

Paul that is a really interesting approach.. i love the idea of it.. i feel like my days are very unstructured and would really benefit from something like that.

My original post was just a thought really, and not a particularly deep one -- but your idea of making days very different is really intriguing to me -- especially since i find it very hard to do context-switching on anything shorter than a day long period.

I think this is an important an often-overlooked issue.  Some people seem to be able to switch working contexts very quickly.  They can have a meeting at 10am and then switch to working on a different project at noon.  Others, like me, find that almost impossible -- once i switch to thinking about one project, it's basically stuck there for at least a day.