Recent Posts

226

General Software Discussion / Re: Anyone know a good free program to record streaming audio?

« Last post by m_s on November 20, 2005, 02:55 PM »

You mention that some of the free tools don't record to MP3, Wolf: how about using DWPowerAmp to convert - this is a great free tool that I rely upon in my work (for converting WMA recordings from an Olympus digital voice recorder to WAV for voice-recognition, and to MP3 for distribution).  Search on Google for Version 10, which was the last one to include free MP3 encoding - nowadays you have to pay for this (due to some conflict with the Lame developers).

227

General Software Discussion / Re: Hitman Pro

« Last post by m_s on November 20, 2005, 03:41 AM »

That's what I like about it - it automates all the programs I already rely on...  In fact, it's a bit of overkill I expect, but you can choose what runs.

228

General Software Discussion / Hitman Pro

« Last post by m_s on November 18, 2005, 02:11 PM »

Do others know of this little gem?  It's mentioned in a good Geek To Live piece over at LifeHacker (http://www.lifehacke...-computer-138113.php), on how to fix your parents' computer.  It's fantastic, automating the process of checking for malware of all kinds, and bringing together a range of really dependable programs.  (By the way, when it installed Webroot's Spysweeper, I was presented with a special offer - today only! - by enter NPQVBCJ at the webroot store, one year's updates costs $19.95 - worth jumping for?)  Combining this with AutoPatcher (www.autopatcher.com) is going to make my work of fixing people's machines a whole lot easier!

229

General Software Discussion / Re: RSS Reader?

« Last post by m_s on November 18, 2005, 01:50 PM »

I have been playing with Onfolio today - this is great!  I think this might be even better than FD...

230

General Software Discussion / Re: SequoiaView

« Last post by m_s on November 18, 2005, 06:02 AM »

I like sequoiaview and windirstat, but I have always preferred Spacemonger - http://www.werkema.c...are/spacemonger.html

He has been promising version 2 for more than a year now...  but version 1 is pretty fine.

231

General Software Discussion / Re: RSS Reader?

« Last post by m_s on November 17, 2005, 02:02 PM »

Following on from my last post on this thread, I had another reply from NewsGator:

'FeedDemon v1.5 will continue work as always even once the new version is
released.  It's a separate product and will remain that way.  The
difference is that the new v1.6 is designed to integrate and sync with
NewsGator.  You can still use 1.5 as long as you choose.'

I have played around today with a number of related products - Onfolio, Omea Reader, SharpReader, GreatNews, Folio First, and one or two others (I followed links from the Wikipedia entry on RSS) - and I don't think anything touches FeedDemon for its clarity and neatness.  I just love the design and layout of this program!

232

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: CCleaner / Crap Cleaner - easily remove Windows ballast

« Last post by m_s on November 17, 2005, 10:17 AM »

It's worth noting that you ought to run the Issues module a few times on CCleaner - on the first pass it'll throw up a whole lot of issues, on the second far fewer, on the third maybe one or two, and then it shouldn't find anything at all.

233

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: CCleaner / Crap Cleaner - easily remove Windows ballast

« Last post by m_s on November 17, 2005, 04:28 AM »

I've used CCleaner for a year or two, and I swear by it.  You're right, it's quite conservative, so it's always been safe in my experience.  I run the Issues module once a month or so, and I just let it delete everything it throws up - the first few times I was cautious, and did check through to make sure there was nothing that stood out as possibly problematic.  I haven't had a single problem in all that time.  It's one of the first things I install on any computer I work on.

234

Best E-mail Client / Re: Pegasus Mail?

« Last post by m_s on November 17, 2005, 04:17 AM »

Thanks for clearing up the default address thing.  As I said in my first post here, I have several friends who absolutely swear by it...  One thing I notice from talking to them, is that it seems easier to work with several recipients than it does in The Bat!  But I am a Batevangelist - I love it, and can't see myself changing email client for a long while.

235

General Software Discussion / Re: RSS Reader?

« Last post by m_s on November 16, 2005, 04:01 PM »

You can buy it as standalone... at the moment, but this, which I just received from a NewsGator customer services person, muddies the water regarding the future:

"As for the future of FeedDemon, v1.6 will soon be released and rolled
into the NewsGator subscriptions.  I believe it will continue to be sold
as a stand alone product, but cannot say that is definite as things
change very quickly around here. "

236

General Software Discussion / Re: RSS Reader?

« Last post by m_s on November 16, 2005, 02:21 PM »

Having siad what I did, Carol, I nonetheless went ahead and downloaded a trial of FeedDemon, and all I can say is Wow!  To my mind, this is the best of the various readers I have downloaded and tested this evening - by far!

237

General Software Discussion / Re: RSS Reader?

« Last post by m_s on November 16, 2005, 01:39 PM »

Hmmm, just found this short article on the future of FeedDemon - I think that's turned me off it... http://www.recommend...gator-and-feeddemon/

238

General Software Discussion / Re: RSS Reader?

« Last post by m_s on November 16, 2005, 01:33 PM »

Okay, BrotherS, I'll leave Mouser to close down the new thread I started...

The problem with your way is that you need to run GDS, and I now prefer Archivarius as my desktop search (https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=1046.0)... 

FeedDemon looks good, but before I go spending any money I want to make sure that I would really use a reader.  SO any recommendations for Open Source or Free or Donationware?  I don't really want a list of names, but rather to hear people's experience of using them.

Thanks.

239

General Software Discussion / RSS Reader?

« Last post by m_s on November 16, 2005, 01:08 PM »

There is another topic on this forum about RSS readers (https://www.donation...ndex.php?topic=201.0), but nobody has touched it in several months.  I'm new to using RSS, and it looks like it could change my web-habits substantially.  I've picked up GreatNews on Zaine's recommendation, but I would like to hear opinions and suggestions from others...  What's the best RSS Reader in your opinion?

240

Finished Programs / DONE: Program closer

« Last post by m_s on November 14, 2005, 05:15 PM »

Would it be possible (or does anybody know if somebody has done this already?) to make a program that could sit in the system-tray and which would, on a mouseclick, drop down a list of running processes, so that the user could simple click, say, a red x to close any particular program or process?  Where would this be useful?  Well, I would find it handy for shutting down MS ActiveSync, which runs automatically when I attach my Pocket PC, but which I don't want running all the time (so I have taken it out of my startup progams list); and after ActiveSync has run, it would be useful for shutting down the several stray copies of Outlook that AS spawns...  And I'm sure I would find it useful at many other points in the day.  I know I can do this with Process Explorer - and I do daily - but I'm wondering if there might be a simple, elegant little program that could do it in fewer steps?

241

Mouser's Zone / Re: Ideas i want to bounce off you guys

« Last post by m_s on November 14, 2005, 02:15 PM »

Just one concern: I think many people would eventually buckle and give a donation - so you'd get 5 bucks from 'em - but then they would disappear, except occassionally maybe they would drop by and get an update.  I wonder if there isn't a way to get people to participate more in the life of the site?

242

Living Room / Siemens Amilo Pro memory upgrade

« Last post by m_s on November 12, 2005, 03:35 PM »

Has anyone ever added memory to a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Pro 2010?  It's durned obscure, and I can't find any resources online... I guess I need to get the keyboard up, but I can't figure how to do that, and before I go loosening random screws, I thought I would check in here in case anyone has prior experience...  Help!

243

Best E-mail Client / Re: Pegasus Mail?

« Last post by m_s on November 11, 2005, 05:11 AM »

A lot of people around me use it and swear by it, and I have used it a little - I must say that I find it convoluted and, at times, difficult to work with.  For instance the fact it requires a default reply-to address, which makes it nigh useless when working with multiple accounts - perhaps there is a workaround, but when I discovered this when trying to help a friend about ten days ago, it really led to me losing all faith in PMail.  It seems old-fashioned and clunky to me, and I would certainly choose Thunderbird over it, and possibly even OE. 

244

Living Room / Re: which hierarchical note program?

« Last post by m_s on November 09, 2005, 02:38 AM »

Hey, I would like to bring back to life the topic of hierarchical notes - it's handy that the posting window tells me just how far out of sync with the rest of the world I am: at least 120 days!  I'm new to working this way, and it's making a real difference in my work - I'm mainly using it for to-do lists, and mainly working on my pocket pc with Pocket Informant, which does this very well indeed.  But when I synchronise with Outlook or Calendarscope, my notes are all flattened and not nearly as useful.  Can I gather some views and experiences on using hierarchical notes and to-dos on a Pocket PC and syncing with desktop?  I'm soon going to contribute a mini-review of MyLifeOrganized, but the PPC version of that's in beta and doesn't yet sync....  I've downloaded a trial of Listpro, but I haven't really giving it a proper trial yet.  What do others use?

245

General Software Discussion / Re: Best Personal Translation/Dictionary/Thesaurus Software?

« Last post by m_s on November 08, 2005, 04:42 AM »

I do.  My only reservations are that it is slanted towards US English, and it's a bit of a resource hog - but since I usually have it open while I'm doing a particular job - i.e. writing - and not the rest of the time, that doesn't bother me.  And I should say that I sometimes opne it up and look up words just to watch the cool animations!

246

General Software Discussion / Re: Best Personal Translation/Dictionary/Thesaurus Software?

« Last post by m_s on November 08, 2005, 04:18 AM »

I have it, but not running on the machine I'm on right now - however, here's a link to ThinkMap's press centre, which has some images: http://www.thinkmap.com/vtpresskit/#scr

247

Official DonationCoder.com Reviews / Re: Best Anti-virus

« Last post by m_s on November 08, 2005, 03:32 AM »

I have heard a rumour (perhaps even started it, because I had word of it from an Eset engineer and then posted something about it here and at Wilders) that they are planning to integrate a firewall in the new year... And Kerio's stopping their personal firewall... And I think there's a rumour of Eset and Kerio merging or something like that.  Oh, well, if there wasn't that rumour before, now it'll start running!   

248

General Software Discussion / Re: Best Personal Translation/Dictionary/Thesaurus Software?

« Last post by m_s on November 08, 2005, 03:29 AM »

There is another thread somewhere around here, in which Mouser and I were singing the praises of Visual Thesaurus.  I still love that!  I have used the pc-based Collins English Dictionary and Thesaurus for years - it's dull but dependable.  In the UK you can sometimes pick it up real cheap, as you can a similarly dull but dependable old Oxford digital edition.

249

General Review Discussion / Re: Reviews - syndicating to magazines?

« Last post by m_s on November 08, 2005, 03:25 AM »

That would be great!

250

Official DonationCoder.com Reviews / Re: Best Anti-virus

« Last post by m_s on November 07, 2005, 05:41 PM »

No, there's no free version, unfortunately, though they do have some free tools for cleaning and diagnosis on their website, and you can download a 30 day trial version from www.eset.com.  I find it runs very light - right now, it's using about 15mb memory in total (two components combined).  I'm running it on two Win XP machines, and have run it on two other machines with Win 98 (there are different versions of the program for Win XP and 98) - it's the only antivirus I've used where there seems to be no visible lag on the system.