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2176

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: InfraRecorder

« Last post by J-Mac on May 14, 2008, 01:23 AM »

a new version of InfraRecorder has been released (version 0.45), featuring several bug-fixes and some new features. Full details in the changelog.

D/L: http://infrarecorder...forge.net/?page_id=5

-lanux128 (May 13, 2008, 04:06 AM)

Hi lanux!

So, are you still as much in love with InfraRecorder as you were last year?  That's the true test of an app.   

Thanks!

Jim

2177

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Bits - ActMask - Drive Encryption - problems in encyption claims

« Last post by J-Mac on May 14, 2008, 01:16 AM »

And how that TrueCrypt supports Full-Disk Encryption of boot volumes, I wouldn't even consider anything else.

-f0dder (May 11, 2008, 06:52 PM)

Hey f0dder!

I take it from your comment that you have used True Crypt for Full Disk Encryption?  I have used it on a USB Flash drive, but I was holding off on trying it on any of my hard drives until there was more available in the way of user reviews saying how well it wiorked for them.

Is it working well for you?

Thanks!

Jim

2178

Living Room / Re: The Rule of 3 Drives: How to Build your Next PC

« Last post by J-Mac on May 13, 2008, 02:39 PM »

Personally speaking, I don't see much of an advantage to putting all my programs on a drive separate from the OS. I have 2 physical drives with one of them partitioned into 2 logical drives. OS and programs on C, Data on D, and Backups on E. I also have a HP Mediavault 1TB NAS for secondary backup and music server.

The reason I like to keep my programs on the same drive as the OS is because if you need to reinstall the OS you would have to reinstall all the programs anyway, unless they were portable. I keep an image of a fresh XP install and, just because it's so easy to do, I like to start fresh every few months. If I had all my programs on the D drive then I would have to reinstall on top of the existing installs.

Why do I reapply the OS image so often? 1) I like to experiment with a lot of new software that I usually uninstall later (but they still leave remnants), 2) I'm anal retentive! Having the image of the OS, tweaked the way I like it, allows me to run without a virus scanner or software firewall. I've never been bitten but if I do I can start fresh in about 5 minutes.

-edbro (May 13, 2008, 09:11 AM)

edpro,

I have three internal drives and I also keep the OS and program files on the C: drive.  I don't see a benefit in separating them.

Off-Topic:
BTW, how do like your HP Media Vault?  Do you stream media files from it?  Or just use it mainly for backups?

Thanks!

Jim

2179

Living Room / Re: any existing collidoscope program thing...

« Last post by J-Mac on May 12, 2008, 12:50 PM »

Maybe he did mean that.  I couldn't "connect" the word with anything, but if you say it, it does sound a little like "kaleidoscope".

Who knows?!

j-

2180

Living Room / Re: any existing collidoscope program thing...

« Last post by J-Mac on May 12, 2008, 02:15 AM »

Do you mean kaleidoscope, by any chance?  If so, try Google - it's your friend!

In the meantime, here's a few:

http://aleph0.clarku...e/java/Kaleido3.html
http://aleph0.clarku...e/java/Kaleido2.html
http://aleph0.clarku...ce/java/Kaleido.html

Jim

2181

Living Room / Re: Thief caught on Webcam

« Last post by J-Mac on May 12, 2008, 02:08 AM »

That's great, but the thread title sounded like the video was available to view.  Darn! 

Jim

2182

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Let's Bundle Our Orders For Software995 Toolset

« Last post by J-Mac on May 11, 2008, 02:09 AM »

I purchased the toolset license about four years ago.  Last year (or maybe the year before that?) I saw that they had upgraded some tools and I downloaded and installed them, but the registration key didn't work.  I wrote them and asked about it and was told that my license, while good for as long as I had it, was only good for the version I originally purchased and if I wanted the updated stuff I had to purchase again.

That bummed me out a bit since that proviso was not listed on their site when I had purchased; they added that much later.

I will say that when I complained about that they did offer me a complimentary key for the later versions to placate me.  I declined, though.  I wasn't trying to wheedle a free ticket. Just thought that adding that after I purchased was a little unfair. Either way, with all the "tools" you get, I mostly just used the PDF creator.

Jim

2183

Found Deals and Discounts / Microsoft Office Ultimate 91% Student Discount Through May 16

« Last post by J-Mac on May 11, 2008, 01:59 AM »

Saw this at LifeHacker:

Microsoft Office Ultimate, normally $680, selling for $59.95 to anyone who has an .edu email address through May 16.

Here's the link:  http://www.theultima...soft_office_ultimate

Here's the LifeHacker Link where I first saw it:  http://lifehacker.co...soft-office-ultimate

Jim

2184

Living Room / Re: Fujitsu Scansnap S300 - Looks Nice; Anyone Using One?

« Last post by J-Mac on May 09, 2008, 02:11 PM »

Just thought I would post back and give an update.

I did end up getting the S300 Scansnap.  This thing is pretty amazing!  So far I have sat and scanned for about an hour or so, each time scanning approximately 200 two-sided documents, plus about 150 business cards I had thrown into a shoe box.

Extremely fast - especially considering that it is scanning both sides at once - plus in all that time it has only jammed about a dozen times.  And two of those were because I had left staples in a few documents - thought I had gotten them all out but hadn't. Plus the included organizing software is nice.  The time I soent included creating several folder and sub-folders for the various scanned documents.

Another good feature is that the PDF documents created are "searchable".  I haven't tried any complex searches but I did run a few sample searches and it performed OK.  I didn't have to put these docs through an OCR conversion - it is configured in the setup so that all I scan is made searchable.

All in all a worthwhile purchase for me, as I have hundreds of documents - all insurance correspondence - that really need to be kept orderly and searchable.  This is doing it much better than I was with my Canon All-In-One.

Jim

2185

Living Room / Re: Winamp 5.53 Release

« Last post by J-Mac on May 09, 2008, 01:57 PM »

Just 40.000 songs. With musicIP tags, which may make it bigger. I'm reporting physical + virtual memory here. Some players release memory when in the tray (foobar, winamp), others not (MusicIP, MM).

-urlwolf (May 09, 2008, 01:14 PM)

Wow - that would be why I am not seeing that kind of memory hit with MM3!  I only have about 3,000 songs in it!

Jim

2186

General Software Discussion / Re: Software Ethics

« Last post by J-Mac on May 09, 2008, 12:54 AM »

@cathodera:

I think that the great majority of people are honest and want to support good software developers.  Most, but certainly not all.

I use freeware also, especially if it is something that for the most part only comes that way.  An example of that is Google Calendar. Sure, there are a few good online calendar applications that charge money. I used one all through its beta testing, but then it was released and the price was set at a few hundred dollars, US!  Yikes! Beyond my means - apparently they wanted to sell primarily to corporations.  So I use Google Calendar.  Free.

Other free software I use often has a link for donations via PayPal.  When I use those, if I end up liking it and use it often, I donate.  For real.  In every case.  Those I don't like and stop using get no donation from me.  And I think that is how most treat freeware.  At least, those who can afford to donate or to purchase commercial software.  If someone truly cannot afford to pay for , say, an office suite, then I have no issue at all with them using it and never considering donating.  That is usually the intent of the Donate buttons.  I don't like those who use free software and never donate, even though they can well afford it. But, hey - that's life!

Personally I feel very blessed indeed that before becoming disabled I was able to work in a very good field and earn good money for years.  Thus I have always been able to purchase most of the software that I have ever wanted.  I will admit that since the disability hit me I have become much more discriminating as to what I can purchase, but I still manage.

And I really do think that most people want good software to continue to be developed, and are perfectly willing to pay for it.  Sure, Ad-supported Web 2.0 applications will definitely cut into good software developers' pockets, and some will no doubt fail because of this.  But I also think that good development will still pay off ultimately, and that we will always see the better ones available.

If not, then I am very wrong about all this.  And it will sad to see real software development disappear.

But overall, I have faith in ingenuity and hard work, and I will always do whatever I can to support good software development!

Jim

2187

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: GAOTD Down??

« Last post by J-Mac on May 09, 2008, 12:28 AM »

Ampa - you're right!  I have that site bookmarked and of course I forgot all about it!  It worked, too.  Great site.  Thanks for reminding me about it.   

BTW - To all:  GAOTD is back up!!  I finally did get MultiSet about 2 hours before it expired.  Hurry up if you want it - it expires in 1.5 hours from the time on this post!!  (currently 1:30 AM on 5/9/2008, EDT - - - - Expires at 3:00 AM EDT).

Jim

2188

General Software Discussion / Re: Your fav' audio CD burner?

« Last post by J-Mac on May 08, 2008, 06:23 PM »

Gothic,

Originally Nero Burning ROM and Roxio Easy CD Creator were exclusively for CD burning.  While they could burn data CD's, they were designed around burning ripped audio CD's and downloaded music.

Of course that was before DVD's were around -- or at least popular.

Jim

2189

General Software Discussion / Re: Verifying if an email has been spoofed

« Last post by J-Mac on May 08, 2008, 06:18 PM »

All versions of MS Outlook support IMAP (as does Outlook Express installed on every Windows machine) so Thunderbird is hardly the only desktop client that supports IMAP!

Actually MailStore Home also supports IMAP directly - so you can keep an archive of IMAP mail with a single click or even use it as an IMAP client!

-Carol Haynes (May 08, 2008, 04:01 AM)

Carol - are you using IMAP with Outlook or Outlook Express?  I doubt it.  It claims to support IMAP but in actuality it barely touches it.  Microsoft refuses to fully support IMAP because the MS Exchange format competes directly with the IMAP format.

The support it does provide is pitiful and does not work a good bit of the time.

Jim

2190

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: MiniReview of Linkman URL Organizer and Search Tool

« Last post by J-Mac on May 08, 2008, 06:11 PM »

The alternate methods are fine; no need to hurry with this.  I just thought it was odd behavior for an application.  Hadn't seen that before.

Thanks again!

Jim

2191

Found Deals and Discounts / GAOTD Down??

« Last post by J-Mac on May 08, 2008, 04:45 PM »

I received my usual daily Give Away of the Day email this morning and lo and behold, Almeza MultiSet is the give-away for today!  I was hoping and waiting for another discount on that program, but a complete give-away??  Cool!

Then I tried following the link and - GAOTD is down!  I haven't been able to get to their web site all day long!

Has anyone else been able to get to their site?  Or is it their server that is down?

Frustrating, to say the least.   

Thanks!

Jim

2192

Living Room / Re: Winamp 5.53 Release

« Last post by J-Mac on May 08, 2008, 03:10 AM »

Winamp, at some point - not sure exactly when - started getting a little pushy for my taste.  Once it grabbed all the file associations when I had specifically configured it to not do so.  That was it. Gone.

Now I use MediaMonkey 3.x  Excellent player and cataloger at the same time.  So until that gets too "pushy", I'll use it.   

2193

General Software Discussion / Re: Your fav' audio CD burner?

« Last post by J-Mac on May 08, 2008, 03:06 AM »

I used Nero Ultra 6 and 7, along with Roxio Easy Media Creator - both large, bloated try-to-do-it-all packages, and I hope I never make that mistake again!!  Another issue with both of them is that if you install almost ANY other kind of A/V application on your PC there will definitely be conflicts caused by the vastness of Nero and/or Roxio.

Now I stick with smaller very specific tools.

For CD's I use one that was mentioned above by Stephen: cdburnerxp.  The interface looks almost exactly like Nero Burning ROM used to before it got so darned big, and it does it all pretty much.  Nicely.  And it is very small and unobtrusive.

For video, DVD copies, etc. I use different tools altogether.  (cloneDVD2, AnyDVD, and most of the Applian programs).

I can pretty much rip, burn, copy, play, edit, etc. any audio or video I want.   

Jim

2194

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: MiniReview of Linkman URL Organizer and Search Tool

« Last post by J-Mac on May 07, 2008, 10:36 PM »

Thanks Ken.  I did find the "hide deskbar" link finally.  That's good - and it works for me.  That I can live with.

However I am still a little confused as to why it holds tight to that screen space at the bottom even when it is closed.

But it does sound like Outertech Guy has a handle on it and is researching it.  Cool!

Thanks all!

Jim

2195

General Software Discussion / Re: Verifying if an email has been spoofed

« Last post by J-Mac on May 07, 2008, 10:32 PM »

Actually, I had T-Bird installed early on in its beta and it was a little too raw then.  However as soon as it went to V. 2.x I tried it again and pretty much loved it.  It is now - as far as I can tell - the ONLY desktop email client that supports IMAP mail.

However that corruption involving Freenigma just drove me pretty antsy.  Since then I have reinstalled XP Pro on that box and I di have a fresh copy of T-Bird on it. But I have not gone through importing my 14,000 - 15,000 messages and their 200+ folders.  I hate doing that every time something happens and the only answer is either create a new profile, or uninstall/reinstall!!  For the most part I have been using Fastmail and Gmail online.

Jim

2196

General Software Discussion / Re: Verifying if an email has been spoofed

« Last post by J-Mac on May 07, 2008, 10:26 PM »

thanks Ehtyar - will check that out

-tomos (May 07, 2008, 01:00 PM)

You're most welcome
I'd also like to say I've been using Thunderbird for at least two-three years now, have never compacted my database (I was an ignorant boob) until Googling this database corruption business, and despite my inbox containing almost 10,000 emails have never had a database corruption issue.

Ehtyar.

-Ehtyar (May 07, 2008, 05:25 PM)

Then watch out!!  You're overdue!!      

2197

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: MiniReview of Linkman URL Organizer and Search Tool

« Last post by J-Mac on May 07, 2008, 03:31 PM »

BTW, I don't see a quick or easy way to disable the toolbar.  Can it be done through the toolbar itself?  Or do you have to open the program?

Jim

2198

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: MiniReview of Linkman URL Organizer and Search Tool

« Last post by J-Mac on May 07, 2008, 03:30 PM »

Try it without disabling anything - just close Linkman and tell me what happens then.

Jim

2199

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: MiniReview of Linkman URL Organizer and Search Tool

« Last post by J-Mac on May 06, 2008, 03:21 PM »

I seem to have run into a problem with Linkman -- it apparently has taken over the bottom of my display.  there has to be a way around this.

Whenever Linkman is running the deskbar runs across the entire bottom of the screen, which I am not especially fond of because with a widescreen monitor the vertical dimension is already reduced, compared to a standard display.  I was just working in 3D Home Architect and I grew tired of having to switch to the "hand" icon to drag the view up and down because the screen is so narrow with Linkman running.  So I exited from Linkman. After all, I didn't even have a browser open so it was just there doing nothing.

However even after closing Linkman, 3D Home Architect - which was maximized - still did not fill in the space across the entire length of the bottom of the monitor.  In other words, it acted as if Linkman was still there. I thought, "This can't be right", so I restored 3DHA to a regular window and then maximized it again.  Nope - still left the space that had been taken up by Linkman.

Then I thought that perhaps this was a unique flaw in how 3D Home Architect renders and that it would not find the correct screen size unless it was closed and then restarted without Linkman open in the first place.  I closed 3DHA and reopened it - still has the space for Linkman at the bottom!  Next I opened several other programs to their maximized view but all cannot fill the bottom of the screen at all, the place where the Linkman deskbar had been.

This is not good.  When I need my entire screen, I need the entire screen!  Including the bottom where the Linkman deskbar sits.  Why on earth does Linkman reserve that area even when it is not open?

More importantly, how do I reclaim that space for other applications?  I can see it taking that space while my browser is open, but not at other times.  Especially when Linkman is not even open.  Other applications that use an added taskbar or a sidebar automatically grab the screen space they need when opened and then yield it when they are closed, so it can definitely be done that way.

Is this done via a registry key?  Whatever the case I need to be able to use that portion of my screen when I need it, so how can I get Linkman to give it up when requested or when closed?

Jim

2200

General Software Discussion / Re: Thorough harddisk checking.

« Last post by J-Mac on May 06, 2008, 01:15 AM »

The Hitachi Drive Fitness test is very thorough.  It is the test that Falcon had me download and run before they would replace one of my Seagate 500 GB SATA drives.

Only problem I have with it is the same problem I have with the memtest86+ diagnostic test for RAM:  There are no reports, no results that you can save.  Grrr.  In this day and age it makes little sense to me to have diagnostic tests that only show results on the screen, but that is what the Hitachi Drive Fitness test does.

I used my digital camera and took pictures of the screen every so often.

You have to download an image onto a CD and then boot from that CD to run the Hitachi test.  Same with the memory test, memtest86+.  And the test is definitely not a quickie!  Depending on the size of the drive it can take several hours.  My 500 GB drive took about 8 to 10 hours.

Jim

PS - The test does not wipe your disk. That being said, make sure to backup all data on the disk before running any diagnostic test.  Better safe than sorry!