Recent Posts

1951

General Software Discussion / Re: WinExposé Clone for Windows - Get your windows out of each others way

« Last post by JavaJones on October 21, 2006, 01:27 AM »

Nice one. Anyone brave enough to try? I'm a wuss.

- Oshyan

1952

Living Room / Re: Solid Potato Salad

« Last post by JavaJones on October 21, 2006, 01:23 AM »

That is some crazy business right there. You need to change the title, I had no idea how cool this would be. Although I must admit the title was intruiging.

- Oshyan

1953

Living Room / Re: Forums: pay for posts

« Last post by JavaJones on October 21, 2006, 01:18 AM »

I'm surprised I'm in the top 10. Eek.

- Oshyan

1954

Living Room / Re: BSoD...screensaver? Check it out!

« Last post by JavaJones on October 21, 2006, 01:07 AM »

Haha, Sysinternals has a sense of humor. Nice.

- Oshyan

1955

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Vista EULA to users: Go to hell!

« Last post by JavaJones on October 21, 2006, 01:06 AM »

Hahah, that analogy is priceless!

- Oshyan

1956

General Software Discussion / Re: Speeding up Windows

« Last post by JavaJones on October 21, 2006, 12:46 AM »

Methinks it was #1. From the Bootvis site on MS.com

The boot optimization routines invoked by Bootvis.exe are built into Windows XP. These routines run automatically at pre-determined times as part of the normal operation of the operating system.

- Oshyan

1957

General Software Discussion / Re: Physics Games Website

« Last post by JavaJones on October 21, 2006, 12:32 AM »

Oh boy, more ways to waste my time!  Nice find.

- Oshyan

1958

General Software Discussion / Re: Scrybe: an online organizer that goes offline just as easily

« Last post by JavaJones on October 21, 2006, 12:13 AM »

Holy carp, that looks awesome! Can't wait to get a shot at this one.

- Oshyan

1959

General Software Discussion / Re: Speeding up Windows

« Last post by JavaJones on October 21, 2006, 12:02 AM »

Unless I'm mistaken I'm fair sure "bootvis" also has some optimization functions. Haven't used it in ages though. I suppose that shows how vital it is to me (not very). But I do think it can at least show you problems in some cases.

- Oshyan

1960

Living Room / Re: Making a combination super-security program, need help...

« Last post by JavaJones on October 20, 2006, 11:59 PM »

Frankly using 30+ programs for security on one computer is just asking for trouble. I can't see who your target audience for this would really be. Power users who would know enough to fully utilize all tools would know which ones to use anyway, and would probably prefer to be able to install and customize themselves. Meanwhile inexperienced users would not be wise to use it as it will really overcomplicate things, and most people have no need for such extreme "security". Honestly if someone is that paranoid, just don't ever connect to the 'net.

I don't mean to discourage you, I love the enthusiasm you have for the project and for learning and doing things. I just think this is not a very productive use of time. Better to find the few best programs in a given category and learn how to make them work best together, then publish that info, or even make a package of those apps. It should take no more than 10 *at most*, and I would say 5 should be very good. To create a free package I would recommend as a start Ewido/AVG Anti-spyware or Windows Defender, Etrust or Kaspersky/AOL or AVG free antivirus, Spywareblaster (for immunization), Spybot S&D (mostly for immunization), and some free antispam app (I don't know which is best).

The other issue to consider with all of this is the legality of redistributing these apps. Check the EULA's of all apps to be sure.

- Oshyan

1961

General Software Discussion / Re: Is there any tool to see pdfs full screen in two pages?

« Last post by JavaJones on October 20, 2006, 11:12 PM »

Actually rendering in Foxit varies system-to-system. I've seen this in person on a few machines at work and had no idea how to solve it until recently. I do believe there's an addon to the new Foxit 2.0 that solves it however. I forget the name of it, but if you go to Updates (nice new feature of 2.0) it will show up in the list with a description that should seem relevant to the problem. Download and install and your text rendering quality should improve.

2.0 also includes basic form fill functionality, although it chokes on more complex and rule-based forms (more extensive embedded javascript; they're working on it). It also sadly doesn't work properly with OpenOffice exported fill-in PDF's, which is a cool function of OO, so I hope they can fix that soon.

- Oshyan

1962

General Software Discussion / Re: The Vista "kernel access" controversy - what does DC think?

« Last post by JavaJones on October 20, 2006, 11:10 PM »

Interesting info indeed. I agree with f0dder, would love to see sources of additional info on this as it's a potentially thorny issue. And of course if putting up money is all that's required how much of a safety measure is it?

- Oshyan

1963

General Software Discussion / Re: Speeding up Windows

« Last post by JavaJones on October 20, 2006, 11:07 PM »

MS removed Bootvis quite a while ago from their site. They claim the stuff it does is already done by XP automatically on boot as appropriate. I've seen improvements from using it though. It's still available elsewhere with Google searches...

- Oshyan

1964

Living Room / Re: Ms Dewey: the search engine with a face & personality

« Last post by JavaJones on October 20, 2006, 05:40 PM »

Haha, the only entertainment to be had here is putting in dirty things and seeing what stupid comment she has about it, sometimes with hilarious results. I'll spare you details. But she does get a bit offended at times. Haven't had her threaten to call the cops just yet...

I'm betting that the more desperate the people who own this are for success, the less clothes their model will wear. So I'm holding out for "naked search assistant".

- Oshyan

1965

General Software Discussion / Re: The Vista "kernel access" controversy - what does DC think?

« Last post by JavaJones on October 20, 2006, 05:03 PM »

I thought pretty much all A/V soft had "real-time" protection these days. It seems to me like filter drivers aren't being restricted (although admittedly we don't have enough info really), so that should still be an option. And MS is saying they will be including security vendors in design of the security API. So we'll just have to see how that turns out.

I agree there are a lot of problems here, but I think they're on both sides of the equation, and I'm not so sure - in this particular instance - that MS is really in the wrong. That's not to say I'm happy about much else with Vista, lol. But I do think it's a good thing they're trying to secure the kernel better!

- Oshyan

1966

General Software Discussion / Re: The Vista "kernel access" controversy - what does DC think?

« Last post by JavaJones on October 20, 2006, 03:49 PM »

F0dder, just because kernel hooks are needed/used now doesn't mean they will be in Vista. It's a pretty significantly changed architecture, as far as I understand. The need for kernel hooks I would say is something of a kludge, to make up for previous OS's lacking in terms of kernel protection, etc. MS didn't do a proper job of it so A/V companies needed to. There's been no clear indication of exactly *why* anyone needs access to the kernel, provided they are given API's to perform the functions they need (which MS now says they will do for SP1).

Note also that according to what I've read MS's OneCare is subject to the same limitations - i.e. it can't access the kernel directly either. Of course they built the underlying systems so they could build whatever they want into it, but the point is that those protections are separate from OneCare and OneCare doesn't need to work with or interfere with them to do its job.

As far as the driver signing, I agree with you again. It'll never happen but I think the verification should be done by a 3rd party and, as I said before, have different levels or types of verification.

It seems to me like a lot of misinformation has been spread by both sides. It's hard to tell whether A/V companies are full of crap, or MS, or both (probably both). But MS seems pretty emphatic in the latest news that they have been misrepresented and misquoted, etc. So that's interesting.

Carol, other A/V companies have specifically come out and said they do *not* need such access. It's not just that they're keeping quiet.

Anyway, I wonder why these companies aren't shouting at Apple for not having more vulnerabilities in OS X. I mean clearly Mcafee is losing revenue from all the Mac people who don't need to buy their products.

The saga continues!

- Oshyan

1967

Living Room / Re: 404 - Page Not Found

« Last post by JavaJones on October 19, 2006, 03:43 PM »

I actually thought it would send me to a random page on your site, which I thought was kind of a cute idea. But prizes are good too.

- Oshyan

1968

General Software Discussion / Re: New Winzip will open rar archives

« Last post by JavaJones on October 19, 2006, 02:05 PM »

Yeah, I've seen many, many systems where people just get by with the reminder screen all the time. My question is Why bother? What's so great about Winzip that isn't equalled (or IMO mostly bettered) in other free applications? Its basic UI is fine, but the wizard system is awful - at least last time I tried it. And other archiving apps have similar base UI's (Zipgenius has a mode like that). I'm not saying Winzip isn't a valid choice - people can spend their money on whatever is of value to them - I just don't personally see much value in it at all.

- Oshyan

1969

General Software Discussion / Re: New Winzip will open rar archives

« Last post by JavaJones on October 19, 2006, 12:48 PM »

HAHAHAHAHA. Winzip finally adds this feature about 5+ years after *every other archiver on the planet* has had it, including tons and tons of free ones. Seriously, where do they get off charging $30-50 bucks for Winzip? I simply do not understand it. Shocking.

- Oshyan

1970

General Software Discussion / Re: Is there any tool to see pdfs full screen in two pages?

« Last post by JavaJones on October 19, 2006, 12:45 PM »

This is because Foxit kicks ass. Aside from the javascript functionality that is lacking and making some fill-in PDF's not work...

- Oshyan

1971

General Review Discussion / Re: Icon Tool Shootout Review by HamRadio - Draft Available to Supporting Members

« Last post by JavaJones on October 19, 2006, 12:09 AM »

Interesting! A market where there are no real standout free tools? I wonder how active this software market is...

P.S. Nice work on the review.

- Oshyan

1972

Developer's Corner / Re: Let's Make us some Games!

« Last post by JavaJones on October 19, 2006, 12:05 AM »

Interesting concepts but it sounds like that *depends* on multiplayer functionality fundamentally, and that's a tall order for a web-based game - or if non-web based, then it would probably require a central server, or people to run servers. Not impossible, just additional complication we probably don't want to start with.

As far as the rewards of building and maintaining the castle, I understand the traditional goals of that in a regular civ-like RTS. It sounded like it was being suggested that it be different than that though, particularly in the sense that the user only controlled one guy. Would people follow you? Would additional units just run around with AI and do their own business? Lots of questions are raised in this scenario.

- Oshyan

1973

General Software Discussion / Re: PCMag Security Suite Reviews (Part 1)

« Last post by JavaJones on October 18, 2006, 11:07 PM »

An interesting overview on the first page. I didn't delve too much into the reviews, but they look fairly complete, which is nice. I'm glad to hear Norton is slimming down a bit too. But I'll still continue to recommend against it for some time.

tinjaw, is what you linked to the actual Kaspersky *suite*, or just the A/V product? I though the latter.

- Oshyan

1974

Developer's Corner / Re: Let's Make us some Games!

« Last post by JavaJones on October 18, 2006, 10:34 PM »

So what are the advantages/disadvantages of building? The consequences or effects? If you don't build and your city gets destroyed, do you die? Lose points? Will you have to end up tending your castle when you'd rather be off fighting? If no, then how is the castle management dealt with when the player is not handling it - AI? And if that's the case then you have to develop the AI, and how effective is it? If it's too effective, no one will want to do the building parts. Lots of problems I see with that basic concept. I like that it's reasonably innovative, but it also seems kind of like just throwing in some unrelated components as sort of filler. The bits have to interrelate and depend on each other to make each compelling. I understand you just may not have outlined the idea fully, but it does already sound immediately complicated. If so perhaps it's something to do a little later, after a first game or prototype is done, to build momentum for the team and ideas.

- Oshyan

1975

Living Room / Re: Buying New PC. Suggestions?

« Last post by JavaJones on October 18, 2006, 09:09 PM »

Woah, nice find dk!!! You get creds for that one.

F0dder, I'm glad you finally see the light. Although sad to see it confirmed once again that this is how Dell is addressing its bottom line. I wonder how much they really make from these bundles...

- Oshyan