Recent Posts

1876

General Software Discussion / Re: Why choose XP PRO (NT 5.1) over XP Home?

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2007, 03:20 PM »

i think media center is xp pro with a bit added on but then with a few bits disabled. sorry, no expert but that's what i recall when i encountered it.

so i guess that's an upgrade. better to wait for a more authoritive reply...

1877

Living Room / Re: For Discussion: Search engine query repository and bookmarking service

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2007, 03:13 PM »

ah, so the idea is to create the best search term that may or may not link to the same page over time.

the term would be open to fine tuning to provide the expected best result. i now see why you meant that there would be no 'page not found' problem - the finely tuned search term would always result in something because the search engine would always have a match.

so even someone completely new to the internet could search for something and instead of receiving a search result list that was full of rubbish - because they used a terrible or simplistic set of keywords, they'd find a page that was exactly what they were after. they knew what they wanted but didn't have the experience to set up a clever enough set of search keywords (or switches).

your service would provide the interface that allowed someone to obtain a finely tuned search term without necessarily knowing how to create it.

i think i've got the point now - is that correct?

1878

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2006 / Re: Getting Organized in 2007

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2007, 08:36 AM »

oh dear.

so that's two against and two for.

i wasn't expecting the experiment to be so controversial. nor so serious.

perhaps we are reminding everyone what a load of rubbish these GTD things are. not a bad thing in itself.

1879

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2006 / Re: Getting Organized in 2007

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2007, 08:05 AM »

good point. i suppose that this shows what exactly each person took out of it or expected to take away from last years experiment.

i merely wanted to stop procrastinating. i wasn't really concerned how it would be done or whether the systems really worked - i still consider it to be a matter of belief - the system is pretty irrelevant. the whole experiment provided me with something to believe in and so it was a personal triumph.

i appreciate that you were a lot more serious about it and wanted to really obtain some useful findings from it all. it's a shame that didn't happen.

i think we can do this experiment again (perhaps experiment is the wrong word). it's a bit of fun. i think it will help motivate a few people. will it be a life changing experience - probably not, but if it just creates a bit of a positive belief for a while that's no bad thing.

it would also be a shame if you felt like refraining from taking part. it might be good to know why you abandoned your system (sorry, i can't remember if you've already posted about it) and it would certainly be interesting to hear if you've a current way of dealing with procrastination.

1880

Living Room / Re: bioshock on a geforce 6 card - anyone tried?

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2007, 06:18 AM »

Get ready guys. Next month we're getting Crysis demo

-Lashiec (September 01, 2007, 05:48 AM)

sounds good - if it happens.

1881

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2006 / Re: Getting Organized in 2007

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2007, 05:38 AM »

great!

i will be providing short tips from my current reading material - which i believe may provide a better method for dealing with procrastination - all will be revealed soon.

mouser should be along soon too as i know he has some things up his sleeve.

edit:
TucknDar, i'd like to just say that you don't have to follow the experiment religously - there isn't an award for doing everything that is advised. the aim is simply to help you realise a way of doing a bit more than what you are currently doing - or, if not a bit more, then just less of what you shouldn't be doing.

1882

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2006 / Getting Organized in 2007

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2007, 04:51 AM »

it's september again, so that must mean it's time for... yes, wait for it...

yes, it's time for the Great Donation Coder Getting Organized Experiment of 2007.

if you participated in last years push to get things done then you'll already know how well the group worked. if you didn't join in with the fun then how fortunate it is that we're running the experiment all over again.

the idea remains simple. declare to the group that you'll commit to finishing something that you've been putting off and then get on with it. it might be something trivial that you are procrastinating over - nevermind, if you are annoyed at  yourself for not doing it then i'm confident that you'll complete it within the next three months - if not a lot sooner.

to help you, there will be a variety of tips and techniques that will be discussed - many of which will have the luxury of hindsight from those of us having tried them for a year. perhaps there have been new GTD like ideas developed since last september - if you know of any then please post about them.

the group will succeed. i can say with certainty that i am not the procrastinator i was this time last year and that is almost entirely down to being part of the last experiment.

as before, your input is essential. experienced GTD'ers are very welcome, as are the greatest procrastinators on the planet. together, we'll work it all out as we go along.

so, if you are ready (take a while to procrastinate over it if you wish) will you, please, announce yourself below.

i'll start off:

although i learnt a lot during the last experiment and found that it changed the way i work, i have recently started to put things off for no good reason. it's time to get back on track with things...

1883

General Software Discussion / Re: Stay Away From Microsoft VISTA

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2007, 03:57 AM »

maybe we can just hold out for the Chinese developers to produce something that will take over China - and then the world. if they are content on keeping windows then that obviously kills that idea but i'd hope that they'd be getting something ready to replace it - i guess that would be linux one way or another.

mind you, when you can get windows for a few dollars in China then there's little point creating something to compete with it.

i really hope xp lives beyond its life expectancy - and the number of people using it means that new software is always designed to be compatible with it. if not, lets just stick with the old software that is perfectly fine anyway.

1884

Living Room / Re: For Discussion: Search engine query repository and bookmarking service

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2007, 03:41 AM »

i think i don't understand or appreciate the flexibility of what you want to incorporate.

i'm probably repeating what you've described but is the aim to have the 'perfect' result? so, you want to find a page or bit of information but you want it to be the ultimate find - kind of, without question, there'd be no need to spend time searching for anything other than this result as it would exactly fit your needs.

its perfection is tuned via the feedback of users looking for and finding similar results - combined with the advanced search features of google... ?

1885

General Software Discussion / Re: Searching a "Filesystem based event trigger tool"

« Last post by nudone on August 31, 2007, 05:03 PM »

LogMonitor will get you half way there. http://www.freeware-...om/month/072002.html (can't get the original home page to load).

then maybe if you run the right batch process or exe associated to a particular folder and task you'll get what you want.

1886

Living Room / Re: For Discussion: Search engine query repository and bookmarking service

« Last post by nudone on August 31, 2007, 04:51 PM »

i also find myself completely ignoring my bookmarks (favorites) and just doing the search in google again. so i understand the redundant nature of all those saved links.

but as you can create google search result shortcuts like any other saved link why would you need to code something special?

1887

Living Room / Re: bioshock on a geforce 6 card - anyone tried?

« Last post by nudone on August 31, 2007, 09:15 AM »

weeks? hehe, i promise not to tell you how the game finishes by the time you get the card.

1888

Living Room / Re: bioshock on a geforce 6 card - anyone tried?

« Last post by nudone on August 31, 2007, 07:21 AM »

fingers crossed that a geforce 8 isn't essential then. 

1889

Living Room / Re: bioshock on a geforce 6 card - anyone tried?

« Last post by nudone on August 31, 2007, 06:22 AM »

i have tried the demo on my 6600, it ran but VERY poorly

-p3lb0x (August 31, 2007, 05:46 AM)

oh dear.

i've ordered the game now as i'm pretty confident it will play okay on my card - it's about time my friend with the 6600 card upgraded his machine anyway.

1890

Living Room / bioshock on a geforce 6 card - anyone tried?

« Last post by nudone on August 31, 2007, 02:43 AM »

i'm about to hit the buy now button for Bioshock but i'm wondering how well it will actually play - i know i'll buy it regardless.

anyway, i'll be playing it on a geforce 7800 gtx which i think should be okay but a friend nearby has a geforce 6600; they'd also like to buy it but i have my doubts it will be bearable on such a card.

anyone tried playing it on a lower end graphics card like the 6600?

1891

Living Room / Re: Show us your (physical) desktop

« Last post by nudone on August 30, 2007, 02:01 AM »

TOOWILD, i think that's the first time i've been impressed by reading the numbers.

(i wonder how long it will take before a typical high end desktop machine will match all that. ten years?)

1892

Coding Snacks / Re: taskbar at top annoyance - autohotkey to the rescue?

« Last post by nudone on August 30, 2007, 01:53 AM »

thanks, lanux. shoveit looks like it will do it but i'm still content to use the method that's currently working - it doesn't cost $15 either.

1893

Coding Snacks / Re: taskbar at top annoyance - autohotkey to the rescue?

« Last post by nudone on August 28, 2007, 06:33 AM »

Couldn't GridMove be used for something like this, to resize and position windows to fit without being under the taskbar?

-app103 (August 28, 2007, 05:53 AM)

a tweaked version of gridmove or something that uses part of the script would work i'm sure. for the moment i'm happy with the EasyWindowDrag method.

1894

Coding Snacks / Re: taskbar at top annoyance - autohotkey to the rescue?

« Last post by nudone on August 28, 2007, 06:30 AM »

Recommending xBar utility by methodik should earn me the credits . With xBar you can create a margin on your screen that maximized windows will not cover... and there are other great little programs listed on that page. You will find info on methodik's programs at Virtualplastic.

-PhilB66 (August 28, 2007, 05:48 AM)

sounds great but i can't get it to work.

i've got xbar in a folder also called xbar on the root my C drive and then i've got a shortcut that runs

C:\xBar\xBar.exe - desk "0 30 1920 1200"

which i think is correct, i.e. move windows down from the top of the screen. i've tried a few other numbers but i can't get any indication that xbar is running or actually doing anything. running the same command from the start > run command doesn't do anything either. 

1895

Coding Snacks / Re: taskbar at top annoyance - autohotkey to the rescue?

« Last post by nudone on August 28, 2007, 02:54 AM »

NiftyWindows may be even better as it offers even more functions just using the mouse AND keyboard control too http://www.enovatic....indows/introduction/

1896

Coding Snacks / Re: taskbar at top annoyance - autohotkey to the rescue?

« Last post by nudone on August 28, 2007, 02:43 AM »

thanks, TucknDar, EasyWindowDrag is near perfect.

i had just modified skrommel's MoveInactiveWin to use the middle mouse button but it still required a key hit to activate it.

EasyWindowDrag's combined left and middle mouse button click method works better for, i.e. no keyboard required and a crucial point is that it won't conflict with things like photoshop that use keyboard and mouse combos to draw on the screen.

(i've even got my middle mouse button set at the right of my mouse under my thumb so the EasyWindowDrag method feels like i'm actually grabbing hold of the window with my thumb and index finger - really makes me think that this is how mouse interaction should work all the time. very intuitive.)

1897

Coding Snacks / Re: taskbar at top annoyance - autohotkey to the rescue?

« Last post by nudone on August 28, 2007, 02:08 AM »

unfortunately desktopcoral won't rest underneath the taskbar (which is sensible) so that won't help.

winwarden provides the hotkey functions to move the window around but i've now decided that i'd like a mouse controlled way of moving the window - as i'll be using the mouse and not the keyboard when opening the troublesome programs.

i know i've used something in the past that let me move windows around without clicking on the titlebar - using a middle or right click and drag kind of thing - i just can't remember what it was called and can't find anything in google.

maybe skrommel made something so i'll check there...

1898

Coding Snacks / Re: taskbar at top annoyance - autohotkey to the rescue?

« Last post by nudone on August 28, 2007, 01:11 AM »

thanks, lanux.

how strange this is. i had used both of the little utils you suggested when they were first released but i had completely forgotten about them (i can't fully remember but i may have been the person that asked for desktop coral to be made).

i shall try each one again as they probably will be the solution. thanks.

1899

Living Room / Re: Does my future pc suck ?

« Last post by nudone on August 27, 2007, 02:37 PM »

my face is about 24 to 30 inches away from the screen depending on how i'm sitting. i don't think i'd be happy to move it further away and i could probably work with it being a bit nearer - but nearer would probably feel uncomfortable. all i know for sure is that my eye strain is nothing like it was before i had this monitor.

the only comment i can really make about TN film is that i would hope that it has progressed and so wouldn't be a problem. but i suppose that explains the price of the monitor.

i think viewing angles are pretty irrelevant as you'll be sat directly in front of the screen. colour reproduction, hmm, well, it's not going to be perfect no matter what so maybe that's not too big a deal either.

the eizo i'm i'm looking at is pva so that obviously means that the iiyama screen is a different samsung model - not the original bargain i was hoping for then.

if you can, i recommend trying to see the monitor up and working before you buy it. maybe you can find it in a big computer shop and do a comparison with the other screens on display. i think it will be obvious whether it looks good or not - flesh tones are usually a good indication of how bad the monitor is as you will instinctively know what looks right or not - well, that's what i tend to find anyway.

could you buy from somewhere that you could send it back if you weren't happy with it? Carol usually reminds us of the regulations - i can never remember. i would guess that France offers better consumer regulations than the UK.

1900

Living Room / Re: Does my future pc suck ?

« Last post by nudone on August 27, 2007, 12:26 PM »

the iiyama monitor sounds good - the price sounds crazy. i see that you can disable the 2000:1 contrast to provide greater colour accuracy (yet another example of this weird above 1000:1 ratios where things don't quite add up, i.e. bigger numbers equal less accuracy - bizarre).

for the prices i've seen i'm tempted to buy one just for the sakes of getting a bargain. i wouldn't even need to take it out of the box to feel satisfied. the eizo model i've got is the 24" 1920x1200 res thing and i can imagine that this iiyama will be identical (same samsung screen i bet) but for a third of what i payed.

what an insane bargain, and i'm trying to justify why i should buy one - two 24" screens would surely be an over indulgence. hmm, maybe.

oh, and congratulations on the birth of your new machine