Recent Posts

1901

General Software Discussion / Re: Fax Software

« Last post by 4wd on May 08, 2015, 06:58 AM »

A couple of slight corrections:

The above suggestions look pretty handy to me, but they are not cheap ...

-IainB (May 08, 2015, 04:26 AM)

Impact Color Fax Lite is free, you just need to fill out your name and email to download it here.

Yet @40hz says "Personally, I just use Windows Fax & Scan ... never had a problem with any write protection stuff on Windows XP, 7, and 8."

Close but not quite there 

And for what it's worth, I'm using something similar to one of these modems.

1902

General Software Discussion / Re: Fax Software

« Last post by 4wd on May 08, 2015, 02:47 AM »

Impact Color Fax Lite

Personally, I just use Windows Fax & Scan since I only use it once every couple of years or so - never had a problem with any write protection stuff on Windows XP, 7, and 8.

1903

Post New Requests Here / Re: REQ: HTPC Util - Hide Desktop for x seconds while program is being executed.

« Last post by 4wd on May 08, 2015, 02:28 AM »

Thanks..I've grabbed it and will give it a try but if I understand you right it's an all or nothing setting?  Why not let a /wait parm or something be added so the user could have one application wait while another does not?

-famewolf (May 06, 2015, 08:35 PM)

Since you need one .ini file per application and the Wait parameter is set in that .ini file according to what you want, it's not an all or nothing setting.

The setting applies according to what it is set for, for that particular execution.  One .ini could have Wait=True, the next could be Wait=False.

It's not waiting the 10 seconds......

-famewolf (May 07, 2015, 03:00 AM)

The timeout period is only used if the executed program' process can not be opened to check for a wait idle state.

In your case, the MCE process can be opened to check its state, thus the Timeout period is redundant.  MCE' process then indicates that it's ready to accept input so BlankIt closes its screen and swaps to MCE.

Timeout is the maximum time in seconds the blank screen will be displayed if the Process.WaitForIdleInput fails or the program has no GUI.

To solve the flash of Desktop before switching to MCE, I'll switch it around to swap to MCE first and then close its screen, (BlankIt not MCE).  Might work.

Do you want the BlankIt screen to display for a specific period as set by Timeout, (I could add an Override option to the .ini file so that it overrides the default of checking the process).

If there is a flash of Desktop before BlankIt kicks in, then I think that might be caused by the program that's calling BlankIt momentarily dropping to the Desktop to run a DOS command.

I've got no way to test all this, so you're the guinea pig 

1904

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Utility to handle files/folders with illegal characters

« Last post by 4wd on May 08, 2015, 01:27 AM »

Possibly Powershell?

Remove Invalid Characters from File Names

Though the problem remains of how to get the file from the filesystem before fixing it.

1905

Living Room / Re: block private numbers from leaving voicemail?

« Last post by 4wd on May 07, 2015, 04:02 AM »

are you telling us that even if you block this number, they can still leave a voicemail?

-Curt (May 07, 2015, 03:05 AM)

Private numbers have number forwarding turned off, you don't know what number is calling - you just get "Private number" as the identification.

The only way would be to ask your service provider to see what they can  do.

1906

General Software Discussion / Re: Help with Windows batch script

« Last post by 4wd on May 06, 2015, 04:37 AM »

@Ath: I was hoping you'd show us a one line Powershell script.

 

Good idea the per server user list. 

1907

General Software Discussion / Re: Help with Windows batch script

« Last post by 4wd on May 06, 2015, 02:36 AM »

Seemed to work OK with the example output you gave above, (edited to test various cases), but I couldn't test it listing output from servers, etc.

Create a file in the same directory as the command file called validusers.txt and enter each user, one per line.

Remove the echo. in front of the LOGOFF command if the output looks OK.

Code: Text [Select]

1. @echo off
2. SET serverlist=APPLE BANANA CHERRY
3. SET userlist=.\validusers.txt
4. SET tempfile=.\quser.txt
5. for %%s in (%serverlist%) do (
6.   QUERY USER /server:%%s >%tempfile%
7.   for /f "skip=1 tokens=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8" %%a in (%tempfile%) do (
8. rem If it's a remote session then %%h will not be empty
9.     if "%%~h" NEQ "" call :Logoff %%a %%b %%c %%d %%s
10.   )
11. )
12. goto :End
13.  
14. :Logoff
15. findstr /I ^%1$ %userlist% >NUL
16.   if %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 (
17.     echo.Logging off User: %1, Session: %2, Status: %4
18.     echo.LOGOFF %2 /server:%5
19.   ) else (
20.     echo.Ignored user %1
21.   )
22. goto :EOF
23.  
24. :End

Example output, (as is, using a modified QUSER output):

Code: Text [Select]

1. Logging off User: wertala, Session: rdp-tcp#2, Status: Disc
2. LOGOFF rdp-tcp#2 /server:8x8x64
3. Ignored user trowe801
4. Ignored user administrator

So if nothing else, the :Logoff subroutine will maybe give you some ideas.

QUSER test output used

Code: Text [Select]

1. USERNAME              SESSIONNAME        ID  STATE   IDLE TIME  LOGON TIME
2.  ablebz                                    2  Disc         4:25  5/5/2015 5:33 AM
3.  wertala               rdp-tcp#2           4  Disc         2:57  5/5/2015 10:21 AM
4.  trowe801              rdp-tcp#40          7  Active       5:18  5/5/2015 10:49 AM
5.  administrator         rdp-tcp#1           8  Active       4:17  5/5/2015 3:18 PM

validuser.txt used

administrator
yankee
zebra
trowe801

1908

General Software Discussion / Re: Help with Windows batch script

« Last post by 4wd on May 06, 2015, 12:52 AM »

Thanks for the example output, forgot about having more than one user logged in since I only have single user machines on a LAN to play with - so yeah, my example only dealt with that scenario so not having a session specified in the LOGOFF command is kind of limiting

I might have a play with your output to see what I can come up with.

1909

General Software Discussion / Re: moving data from desktop to laptop

« Last post by 4wd on May 05, 2015, 09:31 PM »

If they're Gb ports, (or even if only one is), more than likely they'll be Auto-MDI/X in which case you can use x-over or non x-over cables.

1910

General Software Discussion / Re: email client and a special feature

« Last post by 4wd on May 05, 2015, 09:11 PM »

outlook.exe /select foldername
thunderbird.exe -mail mailbox://[email protected]/foldername
Alpine -f foldername

Aside from that:

First you should make more clear what you want to achieve, as it's totally unclear to me

-Ath (May 05, 2015, 04:14 AM)

What he said!

1911

General Software Discussion / Re: Help with Windows batch script

« Last post by 4wd on May 05, 2015, 08:27 PM »

Bearing in mind I haven't got a Domain setup to test this on:

I get the following return from QUERY USER /server:8x8x64  (8x8x64 is localhost):

Code: Text [Select]

1. USERNAME      SESSIONNAME       ID   STATE   IDLE TIME      LOGON TIME
2.  4wd          console            1   Active      none       6/05/2015 10:31

A multi-line return, you seem to be interested in only the first three tokens returned, which would be: USERNAME, SESSIONNAME, ID

If it's a different for a Domain server, can you post an example?

Otherwise, here's a short version that might work, (no output regarding who's logged on/off - but you should be able to add it under the IF statement by parsing the text file for the info):

Code: Text [Select]

1. SET serverlist=APPLE BANANA CHERRY
2. SET userlist=administrator zebra yankee
3. SET tempfile=%TEMP%\quser.txt
4. FOR %%s in (%serverlist%) DO (
5.   QUERY USER /server:%%s >%tempfile%
6.   FOR %%u in (%userlist%) DO (
7.     FIND /C /I %%u %tempfile%
8.     IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 LOGOFF /server:%%s
9.     )
10.   )

Regarding your command file:
'QUERY USER /server:%%s^"'  - seems to escaping a single quotation mark, there's no matching quote, although quotes shouldn't be needed anyway since there's no spaces in any of the arguments.

While it runs, it could be written as:

FOR /f "tokens=1,2,3 usebackq" %%a IN (`QUERY USER /server:%%s`) DO (

1912

General Software Discussion / Re: email client and a special feature

« Last post by 4wd on May 05, 2015, 04:45 AM »

http://kb.mozillazin...starting_Thunderbird

1913

Living Room / Re: Kickstarter Highlight: Onion Omega

« Last post by 4wd on May 04, 2015, 07:53 PM »

It's cheaper for the Onion+Dock+OLED than it is for the MicroView+Dock, and more capable.

Crap, there goes more money I could use elsewhere ... curse you wraith!

1914

Post New Requests Here / Re: REQ: HTPC Util - Hide Desktop for x seconds while program is being executed.

« Last post by 4wd on May 04, 2015, 08:15 AM »

Thanks!  Anything quicker than 6 months beats my response time.

-famewolf (September 21, 2014, 05:46 PM)

Well, I guess I didn't make it before the six months time limit ... I added the option to wait for the called program to exit then completely forgot about posting it  

Oh well, happens when you get older  

Try this version, there's an option added to the .ini file called Wait, set it to True or False depending on whether you want to have BlankIt wait for the process it calls to exit, before exiting itself.

Attachment removed.

1915

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by 4wd on May 04, 2015, 01:19 AM »

One word: Thermite.  

-Edvard (May 04, 2015, 12:35 AM)

I suggested that but the hard part is the acquisition of the Al particles which would either involve a lot of grinding/filing or finding some paint supply that would be willing to sell it.

The PTB here go a long way to restrict our fun.

1916

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by 4wd on May 03, 2015, 11:10 PM »

Hmm... given that... I do still have a few drives that I was going to give to 4wd, but he lives a ways away from here, and probably won't be able to make it over before we leave...

-Renegade (May 03, 2015, 10:39 PM)

Sorry about that ... and remember, you said you'd leave some kangaroo behind when you go. 

EDIT: Drat. Looks like they have those hex-star screws that I don't have a driver for.

Use an allen key, or a small flat blade screwdriver, (a tap with a hammer can assist in resizing the "slot" in the screw ).

1917

General Software Discussion / Re: Configurable batch code to launch a web after check internet connection

« Last post by 4wd on May 03, 2015, 11:03 PM »

Code: Text [Select]

1. rem Check Internet connection, if not found loops every 30 seconds
2. rem Adapted from:
3. rem http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6357515/batch-files-using-ping-to-test-network-connectivity
4. @echo off
5. set site=www.google.com
6. :loop
7. ping www.google.com -n 1 -w 5000 > nul
8. if errorlevel 1 (
9.   ping -n 30 127.0.0.1 > nul
10.   goto loop
11.   )
12. elseif (
13.   start http://%site%
14.   )

FYI

1918

Living Room / Re: Show us the View Outside Your Window

« Last post by 4wd on May 03, 2015, 10:44 PM »

Back when we had the lunar eclipse in April, taken with my aging Canon A720is at full magnification, (optical + digital):

~450kB


I wish I'd had my new camera, Olympus SH-60:

~3.5MB


Both taken handheld.

1919

Living Room / Re: What books are you reading?

« Last post by 4wd on May 02, 2015, 03:34 AM »

Continuing my L. P. Davies^w trend from the movie thread:

The White Room
Dimension A
The Land of Leys
Adventure Holidays, Ltd

All available for free via the Open Library, although The White Room was seriously munged in some places by the OCR process.

1920

Living Room / Re: Movies or films you've seen lately

« Last post by 4wd on May 02, 2015, 03:28 AM »

The Groundstar Conspiracy and Project X both based on the novels of L. P. Davies^w.

Both are based on the loss of identity, (in one form or another), of the main characters.

1921

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Self Script

« Last post by 4wd on May 02, 2015, 02:42 AM »

I'm sure you could have mentioned VDSWorld somewhere Chris 

1922

General Software Discussion / Re: Using a batch file to create a hyperlinked png or jpg image.

« Last post by 4wd on April 29, 2015, 09:54 PM »

More likely the dictionary meaning:

1

• :  to cry like a calf or sheep :  bleat

2

• a :  to make a raucous noise
• b :  blab

transitive verb

• :  to utter loudly or foolishly :  blurt
• — blat noun

Examples of BLAT

    <blatted an obscene expletive before biting the dust>

Origin of BLAT
perhaps alteration of bleat
First Known Use: 1846
Related to BLAT

Synonyms
    exclaim, blurt (out), bolt, cry (out), ejaculate

Or I guess I could go look at the history 

History of Blat

Who wrote Blat?

    Pedro Mendes & Mark Neal until October 1998
    Tim Charron & Gilles Vollant after October 1998

Where did the name Blat come from??

``NO real reason for calling it blat... actually I wanted to call it Blat mainly because Pedro thought it was a ridiculous name. And then because we could say things like 'I'm just going to blat off a quick email to ...' etc...''

--Mark Neal

1923

General Software Discussion / Re: Chrome Portable in a RamDisk = decadence?

« Last post by 4wd on April 29, 2015, 09:48 PM »

K-Meleon is still around, v75RC02 as of 29/03/2015 - quite a capable browser.

1924

Living Room / Re: Matchstick - A streaming stick using Firefox OS [Kickstarter]

« Last post by 4wd on April 29, 2015, 12:16 AM »

Blog post about the latest firmware update:

This version is largely a maintenance release with fixes including memory leak, EMMC issue, and HDMI output display errors. We have also made numerous preparations in this version to get ready for the soon-to-be-announced release of AdHoc mode and Local Play mode. Stay tuned !

As one comment mentioned:

Hey devs - it's great you released this update, but so you know, this update is only relevant to the 500 dev units you already shipped. The other 24,021 final units aren't given a single mention and it comes across a little teasing/harsh to literally 98% of your audience in these updates. In the future I'd recommend you try to give some sort of update to 98% of your audience that's patiently waiting, in addition to the 2% of dev units already shipped.

Still twiddling my thumbs.

1925

General Software Discussion / Re: Using a batch file to create a hyperlinked png or jpg image.

« Last post by 4wd on April 27, 2015, 08:13 PM »

FWIW, the command line utility Blat is able to create and send HTML emails with embedded images.

Just create your HTML email source using <img src="cid:image-name"> tags and then use -embed to attach the images.

eg.

Code: Text [Select]

1. blat.exe -to [email protected] -subject "Embedded images" -bodyF "test_email.html" -html -embed "Top.jpg","Middle.png","Footer.png"

SMTP server info, (missing in above), can be specified in command line or saved to registry so it need not be entered every time.

Only downside is Blat can't handle secure server connection but you could get around that by the extra step of using stunnel.