Recent Posts

2126

General Software Discussion / Re: Naming one's product

« Last post by app103 on June 05, 2011, 11:28 PM »

Pho-TO-pus

Directory O-pus


It's all in the emphasis.

-mrainey (June 05, 2011, 03:00 PM)

Sorry, it was the first thing I thought of. 

2127

Living Room / Re: Microsoft unveils new UI prototype - Windows 8?

« Last post by app103 on June 05, 2011, 11:19 PM »

-- When I can accurately type 80-90 words per minute, why in the world would I want to revert to an onscreen/block keyboard? (I'm still using old Microsoft ergonomic keyboards!)
-- As Carol notes, that UI might be good for palm device, but my chubby fingers aren't made for smartphones, much less tablets! (Does this make me handicapped?)

-zridling (June 05, 2011, 11:08 PM)

I have an older handheld device with a touch screen, and I hate the onscreen keyboard. I am really glad I never have to use it. I am really glad someone had the sense to make a real keyboard for it, one that folds up to about the same size as the device.

2128

Living Room / Re: Suggestions for removing nVidia drivers?

« Last post by app103 on June 05, 2011, 01:59 PM »

Make sure you take an inventory of all the current hardware and obtain a copy of all the drivers you will need.

Use this utility from Nirsoft to retrieve the OEM Product ID & key before you wipe out the current installation.

And if you are worried about reactivating it, you might want to follow this or use the Win7 version of the utility here to backup and restore the activation data.

2129

General Software Discussion / Re: Cleaning out old dll files - advice needed

« Last post by app103 on June 05, 2011, 08:51 AM »

I agree with 40hz too.

The best and safest way to remove "old" dlls from your system is to format, reinstall your OS and all your current software. Anything else is asking for trouble. And I wouldn't even recommend that way unless you are having serious problems that couldn't be fixed any other way.

2130

Living Room / Re: Will Apple Tell You What You Can/Can't Take Pictures of?

« Last post by app103 on June 04, 2011, 07:32 PM »

Yes, let Apple have a patent on that...and no company want to license the technology from them, especially Canon. 

2131

General Software Discussion / Re: who can set up WordPress for me?

« Last post by app103 on June 02, 2011, 04:41 PM »

If you are only looking for setup and not design work, I'd be willing to do it. I like doing stuff like this more than I enjoy generating the content to fill such a site. I think I keep creating new blogs just so I can go through the process of setting one up and customizing it.

If you have the hosting account and the theme you want to use, along with some idea of the plugins you want, I'll be willing to do the work to set it up.

2132

Living Room / Re: Website lets you practice using SLR Camera controls

« Last post by app103 on June 02, 2011, 04:13 PM »

My daughter got an expensive DSLR for Giftmas and is feeling quite intimidated by it. The manual for it is HUGE and will probably take longer than reading the average novel just to skim the surface of what this camera is capable of. She has yet to figure out how to use it for the most basic of images, and this site could be a big help in helping her understand her new camera. Thanks!   

2133

Living Room / Re: Microsoft unveils new UI prototype - Windows 8?

« Last post by app103 on June 02, 2011, 04:01 PM »

I am really sick of the mindset that everything needs to be "purdy at all costs", forsaking functionality and customizability if necessary in order to achieve this "purdy-ness". (You can probably thank Apple for this)

I do not like desktop icons. I do not have any. My desktop is usually covered by open windows so I rarely ever see it. It is inconvenient to go to my desktop to launch applications. I use my desktop as a personal message board, pinning sticky notes to myself and an assortment of gauges and widgets that supply info I don't need to see every moment of every day, but still needs to remain handy.

It is inconvenient to go to the start menu and go scrolling through huge menus looking for the app I want to launch. I do not have a mere 10 apps installed on my computer...I have many. Just in games alone, I have over 50 that have shortcuts on my taskbar. That Win8 start screen is great for people that don't have much. Can you imagine scrolling through 100's of "pages" to find the one app you want to use?

A lot of time, thought, and work went into setting up my desktop to be as productive as possible. 12 years to be exact. I resent any company that takes a few months to undo all that I have done over the course of many years, in order to appeal to people that should be using a TV rather than a computer.

The apps I have installed often have a collection of files that go with them, in their own folder, which I do not keep in "My Documents".

For convenience sake, I keep shortcuts to things I use often on my taskbar, sorted into nice sections by purpose, with the folders of related files located right next to the shortcut for the app they are used with.

It is faster and easier for me to pop out my taskbar when I need it and go right to the shortcut I want. My hand instinctively knows where everything is. It is so much a part of myself now, that I am lost when using another OS in which I can't have a taskbar arranged the way I want. It is the one thing that keeps me coming back to Windows and prevents me from adopting another OS full time.

I hated the introduction of themes in XP because besides looking ugly and childish, it took up more space on the taskbar, causing less shortcuts to fit per row.

I hated the removal of the ability to have additional shortcut bars on other edges of the desktop, introduced in Win7. (saw this on my dad's PC and decided not to upgrade till I found a solution to the problem)

I like the simplicity and complete customizability of the classic Win9x theme.

If it means not upgrading in order to keep my desktop functional to me, then so be it.

If it means choosing another OS to accomplish what I want, then so be it.

If Microsoft continues to attempt to cater to Mac users and idiots that can't use a computer, they risk alienating people like me that have taken the time to get to know their OS and what it is capable of, and customized their desktop in ways the average person has not.

We are not all going to jump to using tablets, forsaking our desktop computers. We are not all going to move all our data to the cloud. We are not all going to live in our browsers. We are not all going to stop being productive producers and switch to being happy little idiot consumers that just need a few icons we can select with our chubby fingers to view what someone else has created (most likely created on a different OS designed for productivity).

2134

Living Room / Re: Microsoft unveils new UI prototype - Windows 8?

« Last post by app103 on June 01, 2011, 08:48 PM »

I am NOT trading in my taskbar full of icons for that stupid start screen!

2135

Little Voice Commander / Re: Adding spoken word option

« Last post by app103 on May 31, 2011, 10:19 AM »

I remember hearing Zaine's voice on the DC Podcast(s) back in the day. I thought he had a great voice for this kind of thing. IIRC, he does have a bit of a southern accent (which I only mention because Renegade mentioned having a Canadian accent), but I still thought Zaine has a great "radio" voice.

-Deozaan (May 31, 2011, 02:08 AM)

Skwire also has a great voice. We all thought that back when we were chatting on Mumble. He sounds like a professional voiceover announcer.

2136

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by app103 on May 30, 2011, 07:22 AM »

Okay, here's a geeky science song featuring Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking:

-Deozaan (May 30, 2011, 06:01 AM)

Carl Sagan had such a beautiful way with words...so poetic. It was already a song in prose, long before this was made. 

I have been known to fall asleep listening to the audiobook of A Pale Blue Dot...at least the chapters that he read, himself. I love his voice. 

2137

Living Room / Re: Who else is sick of difficult word verifications on the web?

« Last post by app103 on May 30, 2011, 07:10 AM »

¿ǝɹoɟǝq uʍop-ǝpısdn pǝdʎʇ ɹǝʌǝu ǝʌɐɥ noʎ
¿ʇɐɥʍ

2138

Living Room / Re: Who else is sick of difficult word verifications on the web?

« Last post by app103 on May 30, 2011, 07:01 AM »

Okay, I encountered this one yesterday. I could read it just fine, I just didn't know how to type it:
 (see attachment in previous post)

-Deozaan (May 30, 2011, 06:59 AM)

Like this:

lɐɔıʇılod

2139

General Software Discussion / Re: Google Killing off Google Translate API & More

« Last post by app103 on May 30, 2011, 05:52 AM »

The only "restriction" I remember seeing is how somewhere in the app it had to say "powered by Google" which I did include in mine.

2140

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by app103 on May 30, 2011, 05:19 AM »

I just came across this:

http://www.videobash...ng-on-a-guitar-16306

Trance music on guitar? I was impressed. Very cool stuff.

The artist's site:

http://ewandobson.com/

-Renegade (May 30, 2011, 01:57 AM)

He was introduced one page back. 

2141

General Software Discussion / Re: Google Killing off Google Translate API & More

« Last post by app103 on May 30, 2011, 05:10 AM »

Micah's Translatorize (this is freaking awesome!)
My Fried Babelfish

2142

N.A.N.Y. 2009 / Re: NANY 2009 Release: Fried Babelfish

« Last post by app103 on May 29, 2011, 10:21 AM »

Nobody is more upset by this news than myself. I happen to be a big user of this app, too. Krish and I made this because I had a personal need for it.

I'll see what I can do to cook up something to replace Fried Babelfish, but no promises that I will be able to, or if I can that it will be "pretty".

I think worse than Fried Babelfish not working after Dec. 1, is Translatorize, which has torn down the language barrier on Friendfeed, allowing everyone to post in their native language, yet we can all have a conversation together in real time, with all parts automatically translated to our native language, whatever that may be. It's an awesome script that uses the same API.

I have about 30 people I am subscribed to on Friendfeed that I won't be able to easily understand any more.

2143

N.A.N.Y. 2009 / Re: NANY 2009 Release: Fried Babelfish

« Last post by app103 on May 28, 2011, 04:40 PM »

Due to Google discontinuing their translation API, this application will stop working on December 1, 2011. (sorry, out of my control  )

2144

Living Room / Re: 15 Minutes to Hack Your Email

« Last post by app103 on May 27, 2011, 04:33 AM »

You can switch off https in GMail - and in the early says http was the norm. I don't think older accounts were automatically updated to https.

-Carol Haynes (May 27, 2011, 04:09 AM)

I have one of the oldest accounts and yes, it was automatically updated to https.

2145

General Software Discussion / Re: looking for a program to close other program in a batch

« Last post by app103 on May 22, 2011, 10:06 AM »

Yes, I recently requested something very similar for when I am watching movies and member 4wd created Movie-ize, which did the task very well.

You set it up with the apps you want it to close and it will check if any are running and if they are, close them. Then later it will restart those apps again for you, but only the ones it closed. You only have to set it up once with all the apps you could possibly want closed, then it's just one click to do the job.

2146

Living Room / Re: Man vs. Mississippi

« Last post by app103 on May 21, 2011, 02:11 PM »

But

And that guy is a pussy in comparison to the guy who built the levee there!

-Renegade (May 20, 2011, 08:26 PM)

I wonder if he drove a Chevy to it...?

-Stoic Joker (May 20, 2011, 09:24 PM)

If he did, it was dry when he got there.

-Edvard (May 21, 2011, 12:09 AM)

But surrounded like that, all you could do is drink whiskey and rye.

-wraith808 (May 21, 2011, 11:58 AM)

I take it this is the day that you die?

-Renegade (May 21, 2011, 12:12 PM)

Only if the raptor gets him.

2147

General Software Discussion / WorkTimer: A free web app for freelancers

« Last post by app103 on May 20, 2011, 06:43 AM »

WorkTimer is a free web application that allows you to track time spent on projects, with features such as reports, invoicing, data export, and an optional desktop app (Adobe Air).

Seems this might be great for some of the freelancers among us. Has anyone had any experiences using this?

http://worktimer.co.uk

2148

Living Room / Re: Show us a photo of your mutt or other creatures..

« Last post by app103 on May 15, 2011, 10:54 PM »

In my daughter's words, how Chevy came to live with us:

While walking home from work one morning during early September 2008, my co-workers & I found a little kitten under the cars at the Chevy dealership on Washington Avenue in Nutley. A parking lot on a busy main road is no place for a tiny kitten. It took all four of us to corner & capture her, but we had a successful rescue!

I wrapped her up in my hoodie and brought her home. She's been my little sweetie ever since.

An elusive and shy cat, photos of her are hard to capture.

She is a tiny little thing, a midget cat about the size of a 6 month old kitten (even though she is full grown). Afraid of her own shadow, she spends most of the day hiding, somewhere.

She loves my husband to pieces, though, and thinks SHE is his wife. She comes out of hiding when he comes home from work and follows him around wherever he goes in our apartment. Air popped popcorn is one of her favorite snacks, which she cons out of my husband while they are watching TV together.

2149

Living Room / Re: Cat and Owl are Friends

« Last post by app103 on May 14, 2011, 07:46 PM »

That's probably how this all started. 

2150

Living Room / Re: need recommendation for an onlne computer store

« Last post by app103 on May 13, 2011, 09:53 PM »

My dad has shopped at Zip Zoom Fly in the past, for some of his parts to build PCs.

You can also check Geeks.com for some good deals, especially for complete systems that can be upgraded (might be cheaper than starting a system from scratch). My dad got a few "unbranded" HP machines from them really cheap.