Recent Posts

2401

General Software Discussion / Re: opera 9.2 is out

« Last post by zridling on April 18, 2007, 05:35 PM »

On second thought, Josh, I don't know what I was thinking. We all get that program that just wants to self-destruct no matter what. Corel products have been tormenting me lately for no reason, so I understand being puzzled over it.

2402

General Software Discussion / Re: RANT: High Software Prices!

« Last post by zridling on April 18, 2007, 05:30 PM »

[mouser]: i want to support companies which balance making a profit with having happy users...
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That's the key: balance. I don't begrudge anyone going to the bank, especially developers. I'm just an end user (Nudel), not a programmer, but in my perfect world, developers are able to make a comfortable living from their work and creations. In the real world, the small developer is killed by piracy. That's why I recommend everyone run out and throw up a PayPal donation link on their software site. Maybe some generous soul will drop by and on impulse transfer a big steaming load of cash in your account to make up for all those lean times.
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My commute is insane (only on weekends, though), however, I've seen too many of my friends lose it all by giving up the stable job only to have their new company be sold to a competitor who promptly lays off all the new hires. And after a certain age, you're not invited to join the club anymore. So when I don't post here for days on end, you'll know I'm in my 12-year old pickup, either singing opera inside or belting out the lyrics to Led Zepp songs (yes, I believe most all the good music was made in the 60s and 70s). ha!!
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Darwin, you make a good point on piracy. However, I figure most folks feel that Microsoft, Adobe, and other big corporate software deserves to be pirated: You're forcing me to steal it! Reminds me of Steve Martin's advice on how to be a millionaire: "First, you get a million dollars...."

2403

General Software Discussion / Re: RANT: High Software Prices!

« Last post by zridling on April 18, 2007, 03:49 AM »

JeffK, you won't be able to travel by rail very much, as our passenger trains here are almost a thing of the past. Start in Atlantic Canada and head west and south down the coast. My best advice would be to travel the 'Blue Highways;' that is, the "state" roads rather than the interstate system. You'll see more, eat better, enjoy yourself. Hit New York City for sure; drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains, but skip Washington DC (it's really a bore, and everything closes early); Route 66 starts in Chicago (where you can see a Cub baseball game!) and runs through the town where I work in the Missouri (you'll want to eat BarBQ in Missouri!) Ozarks, and head north from Kansas City to the Badlands in South Dakota. From there, you can go north across the Border and head across the Canadian Rockies on the way toward Vancouver. You won't go wrong if you just get off the highways — that's where the real America is found.

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Renegade, my question is simply: if this version of Photoshop goes up 33%, what will the next bring? As for Windows, how many more EULA restrictions can they conceive? It's like the RIAA — if you think everyone is ripping you off, then just wait, they're going to start just out of spite.

2404

Living Room / Re: 14 Surefire Ways to Annoy Users

« Last post by zridling on April 18, 2007, 01:28 AM »

Here's one:

• Allow a user to buy version 3.8, and then release 4.0 a couple of months later. Tell same user that they'll have to pay the full upgrade price if they want to move to the new version.

2405

General Software Discussion / Re: RANT: High Software Prices!

« Last post by zridling on April 18, 2007, 01:24 AM »

Jeff, I think the reason I'll never own Photoshop is that, no matter how fast your system is, Photoshop is guaranteed to bring it to a crawl!

2406

General Software Discussion / Re: RANT: High Software Prices!

« Last post by zridling on April 18, 2007, 01:20 AM »

[Carol]: Always makes me laugh when I hear Americans whinge on about expensive gas - simple solution get rid of the 6 litre V8 4x4 SUV and buy a 50cc motorbike   - or even better a pushbike ... that'll get you fit too!
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— Most Americans don't live in big cities, and most of us commute long distances/times to work.
— After WWII, we built all our cities, nay suburbs, for driving "to," not for living "in." (Yes, yes, it's true idiocracy. You should live here!)
— Driving small vehicles and bikes on interstates is illegal.
— Lots of people ditched those 4-wheel drive SUVs (seems I see only the handicapped hopping in and out of them anymore).
— Most self-employed people here buy trucks in order to run their small business.
— Riding a bike 25 miles to work in the mornings on inner-belt freeways is not an option.
— Unlike civilized countries, we never invested in public transportation beyond New York City. And trains, what are those?
— Median US income is around $40k, but the USD is weak, we're taxed to death, and working people receive no benefit whatsoever for their taxes.
— Our jobs suck and pay minimum wage. Meanwhile, we compete daily with illegal aliens from Mexico, whom companies like Wal-Mart hire in droves.
— Finally, our cars suck. While the rest of the world drives Minis and BMWs, those vehicles are prohibitively priced (as is their insurance) here.

Due to the wife's career, I work in Missouri, but actually live in Chicago, a 7.5-hour drive. No train service. I'll go back and forth four times in the next 11 days. Otherwise, I'm the greeter at Wal-Mart. Every dollar counts, because once it's in my pocket, money finds a hole. So I wish it were as simple as you say!  ;-)

2407

General Software Discussion / Re: opera 9.2 is out

« Last post by zridling on April 17, 2007, 10:46 PM »

Something's going on Josh — maybe a driver hanging up? I haven't had any problems with Opera since 9.x hit the scene. Luck on my part I guess.

2408

Living Room / Re: Why Linux is better

« Last post by zridling on April 17, 2007, 09:35 PM »

Oh I honestly can't say that Linux is "better" than say, Vista, especially when you appeal to specific platform applications. AutoHotkey is one. There are a dozen apps that can reproduce GUI scripts and hotkeys in Linux (Ubuntu has one built-in), but not hotstrings, for precisely the reason mentioned Gothi[c] mentioned — Windows API calls. Mac users dream of AutoHotkey, too. Four apps are really why I stuck with Vista for now — UltraEdit, AutoHotkey, XYplorer, and NewsLeecher. Everything else in Windows I can walk away from right now. But those four apps is where I spend my ENTIRE DAY, if you add Opera (which is covered).

You make some great points, so I have to agree that the "Linux is better" site is knocking down a lot of straw men; that is, many old arguments against Windows that no longer apply. One thing is undeniable, and that's the steady encroachment of Linux on the desktop. Don't be surprised if Windows isn't partially assimilated in a couple of versions (check out their Live strategies and all the talk around CloudOS, for example).

2409

General Software Discussion / Re: RANT: High Software Prices!

« Last post by zridling on April 17, 2007, 10:56 AM »

This just in — the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium crack is up on Usenet right now for those not wanting to pay that $1800 tab. Ah the joys of Schadenfreude!

2410

Living Room / 14 Surefire Ways to Annoy Users

« Last post by zridling on April 17, 2007, 10:40 AM »

[via PC World]:
So you're designing a new product and you want to make sure you infuriate as many customers as possible. Be sure to do at least a few of the following things:
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• Force us to reboot our systems any time we install or uninstall your product.
  
• Automatically install into the Windows system tray and launch at startup.
  
• Force us to read the manual just to figure out how to turn on the damned thing.
  
• Pop up little reminders for things we don't want to do.
  
• Make tech-support contact information nearly impossible to find--or, better yet, don't include any.
  
• Install a bunch of extra software nobody asked for or wants.
  
• Automatically sign us up for e-mail newsletters and other announcements.
  
• Charge us $35 per call to speak to "Bob" in Bangalore when we have problems.
  
• Force us to upgrade products to get the same functionality we already had in the old version.
  
• Make us enter the same information (like e-mail addresses) multiple times.
  
• Require us to retype squiggly letters that are virtually impossible for humans to decipher when signing up for new accounts. (Note to Microsoft: This means you.)
  
• Force us to register products and/or nag us until we capitulate.
  
• Promise to remember our log-ins and password, yet still make us enter them every time.
  
• Insist on updating the product when all we want to do is quit it and go home.

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2411

General Software Discussion / Re: RANT: High Software Prices!

« Last post by zridling on April 17, 2007, 10:11 AM »

So right, App103, so right. Look around at other things, too. A quart of oil to put in your car is now $7 here; gas, $3/gallon, hell even macaroni & cheese is a freakin' $1.11 now. I LIVED off that stuff for years. It just seems that if you're not constantly giving them money, i.e., "revenue stream for their stock, etc.," then you can't play with their toys. All the more reason to support open source when you find something you like.

TOMOS, if you haven't seen the movie Network, make sure you rent it. It was released over 30 years ago, but could have been written yesterday. HERE is just one clip from the movie, among its many memorable scenes. The great thing about the internet and blogs is that they are so much better than newspapers and traditional media. Heck, a blogger got the story right about the Virginia Tech shooting yesterday, and every single amerikan network had the story completely wrong. "If you want to the truth, go to the internet."

2412

General Software Discussion / Re: opera 9.2 is out

« Last post by zridling on April 17, 2007, 07:00 AM »

The Firefox Showcase extension is somewhat similar, but Speed Dial is the result of some very creative thinking, a simple "picture-in-picture" function for nine different sites, allowing users to see if they've been updated or not. (Why didn't someone think of this years ago?)

2413

General Software Discussion / RANT: High Software Prices!

« Last post by zridling on April 17, 2007, 05:27 AM »

I've got to get this off my mind. I love software. Software makes the system, to me; hardware always takes a backseat. But as overall software prices have risen over the past three years, some vendors seem to have gone out of their way to raise prices. While one company, such as GPSoft (Directory Opus), holds the line by retaining or lowering their upgrade price, another, such as Adobe, are increasing the price of some of the software by 33% for their most recent upgrade. Between multiple versions which no one wants (Microsoft Vista!) — just give me the BEST program you build, keep that other weak crap to yourself, Mr. Software Vendor — increasingly aggressive activation schemes, falsely marketed "Lifetime licenses," hostile EULAs (one copy per "device"), the encroachment of subscription software (boo!!), and devs who tell devoted users to shutup, pay up, or get lost, I'm getting pissed.


Peter Finch as Howard Beale in Network (1976)
(Relevant YouTube clip #1)
(Relevant YouTube clip #2, longer)

More and more I'm looking for and donating money and feedback to open source and donationware programs where I can find them. I'm just sick of companies like Microsoft and Adobe who all but say: If you want to use our software, you'll tolerate whatever we require you to do, or we'll invalidate your license key. (Then you're stuck on the phone begging.) Better, let's start listing all the companies and software vendors that treat their registered users well!

2414

General Software Discussion / Re: Sumatra PDF Viewer is cool, thin, and open-source

« Last post by zridling on April 17, 2007, 05:11 AM »

Wow, see, this is what I'm talking about — all the great ideas listed here and no one to build them for us — go&$%%#@!!! In my next life, I'll be a programmer, but in this one, I don't have the brainwidth. Sumatra's advantage is its weakness — a simple "viewer." Ah well.

DARWIN: How good is Scansoft PDF Pro 4? I couldn't find a trial version to download. Slow-loading? That's what Acrobat is famous for, although version 8 isn't bad, I'm swearing off software that must be constantly "activated." Those apps make it a real hassle when rebuilding a system, even once a year or so. Like most, all I need it to read a PDF file 99% of the time. I write them most of the time using PDF Factory Pro, which is also great, but pricey.

2415

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 9

« Last post by zridling on April 16, 2007, 05:54 AM »

Nudel, thanks for the great features page for DOpus 9. We're all grateful. It's almost 6a and I don't have the energy to respond to every point, but as I was going down the list of new DOpus features in version 9, I noticed that most of them were already part of XYplorer 5.x. As for speed, file operations are noticeably slower in DOpus than XYplorer, on both XP and Vista. Dual panes are overrated as with tabs, catalog, or a variety of keyboard shortcuts, I can switch among drives and locations in XYplorer within one click or hotkey. While both programs are highly customizable, XYplorer's UI is more so, and can be configured to look and work just about anyway you can imagine. Anyone claiming a "lot of bugs" in XYplorer doesn't use the program full-time as it's one of the tightest jobs of coding I know of, comparable to Nick Bradbury's FeedDemon RSS reader. XYplorer's dev doesn't merely fix bugs, he's constantly adding new features and tweaks, on a weekly basis.

I use and have registered both, but the biggest criticism I have against Directory Opus is its exhorbitant price and upgrade costs. Similarly, the biggest criticism I've had with XYplorer is its lack of customizable keyboard shortcuts, but that's no longer true with XYplorer's latest beta. A major plus is that XYplorer offers a true Lifetime license; Directory Opus does not. With XYplorer you always know where the program is headed, and hey, even XYplorer's dev, Donald Lessau, responded here! But if high price is the only real gripe against a program, then that doesn't take anything away from its quality, which Directory Opus has in abundance.

It's just that GPSoft is going to keep coming back for more money on a regular basis, and I don't feel they offer a substantial enough discount to registered users. On the other hand, XYplorer doesn't ask for a dime after the initial registration (although I find it really cool that XYplorer retains a small donation link on its site for anyone wanting to contribute beyond the cost of the $30 license). Ironically, I'm more than willing to consistently donate to a vendor who offers me a [true] Lifetime license than to continue buying high-priced upgrades. I've sent far more money in donations to open source apps, freeware, and to a lesser extent, XYplorer, than I ever will spend on upgrades for costly upgrades. It's just how I show my gratitude for being appreciated and trusted as a customer. Goodwill can go a lot further in the long run than a few dollars, and XYplorer is in for the long-tailed long haul.

(Comments are re-enabled on my blog. I apologize. I was getting so many porn/spam comments that I shut it down for a long time and forgot to turn them back on. Just deleted over 9,000 this week alone!)

Once again, thanks Nudel, I appreciate your feedback here and all the hard work you did on your site — you do a great service to Directory Opus! I too, am a tweak-freak and share your compulsion.

2416

Official Announcements / Re: Remember: DonationCredits are for Giving

« Last post by zridling on April 16, 2007, 03:39 AM »

So true, and thanks for all the folks here at DC who make this a good place to come back to... over and over. I'm grateful I discovered this place. If not, who would you programmers have to keep you honest?! ha!! No really, whether it's answering a question or curing my ignorance or having someone like KenR share his great software finds, there's nowhere else like it.

2417

General Software Discussion / Re: opera 9.2 is out

« Last post by zridling on April 15, 2007, 01:00 PM »

Love RoboForm, but Opera's worth giving it up for. Besides, Wand passwords (CTRL+Enter) can be specifically defined for any page. Something I've done is move the "Enable JavaScript" checkbox to the right of the address bar. With that, I can quickly click on and off when visiting various sites with lots of ads (usually news sites), rendering them still and quiet. I love using numbers 1 & 2 for back and forth navigation among tabs. But two customized keyboard shortcuts I really like are:

Preferences > Advanced > Shortcuts > (standard keyboard) > Edit; then redefine
(1) ALT+X — Close page and move left (Close page & cycle to previous page,1)  ..........[I call it "Close tab/Move Left]
(2) CTRL+F4 — Close tab (in keyboard shortcuts: F4 ctrl — Close page & cycle to next page,2)  ..........["Close tab/Move Right] (I also have CTRL+F4 defined in AutoHotkey as WIN+Z)

So between ALT+X and WIN+Z, I can close tabs LEFT or RIGHT as needed.

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SETTING FONT TO SANS SERIF IN OPERA
The browser defaults are almost always overriden by author and user stylesheets. Opera even provides you with a way to tweak the defaults. For example, the default margin on the body element is 8px. Why? To ensure that text in an unstyled page does not "run wall-to-wall". If you do not like this, you may change the defaults using browser.css. It isn't provided in the default installation.

(1) Create a new text file with a .css extension, and save it anywhere (yes, anywhere);
(2) Open Preferences > Advanced > Content > Style Options > My Style Sheet, and point Opera to the location of your browser.css file in the [User Prefs] section, browser.css field.
(3) Save. Done!

Style filename: stylez.css
Entire contents of stylez.css:
* {font-family: frutigernext lt regular !important;}o

2418

General Software Discussion / Tweak VI — Don't waste your money

« Last post by zridling on April 15, 2007, 10:13 AM »

Totalidea Software recently came out with Tweak VI, an savvy and attractive Vista tweaking program. However, it’s a waste of money and here’s why.

First, there are already lots of Vista tweaking tips and sites online. Here's a list of Vista tweaking sites. Second, like much software these days, it's subscription software, and I strongly recommend never, ever signing on to subscription software licenses. They are often a ripoff because software development naturally occurs at an uneven pace, and subscription software promotes superfluous features and consistent program bloat. Totalidea offers a free basic version, but turns off half the features, selling you access to them through two 12-month subscription editions: premium ($30) and ultimate ($40). Third, virtually every one of these "tweaks" can be found within Vista's control panel in plain sight.

They're both complete bullhockey designed to separate you from your hard-earned money. Instead, save it and tweak your own system according to your needs. Tweak VI offers nothing you can't easily and safely do yourself. Vista performance needs almost no or very little tweaking. Gamers require more [performance] tweaking than anyone; the rest of us likely will want to tweak Vista's UI more than anything. The best resource I've found so far that gives you the most information and cuts through so much disinformation is Ed Bott's Windows Vista Inside Out book. Besides, Ed's book is a far wider resource than one tweaking program.

2419

General Software Discussion / Re: To cut or not to cut - The lousy MS Office ribbon

« Last post by zridling on April 13, 2007, 01:27 AM »

I wrote about this last August and made a direct side-by-side visual comparison of both toolbars. Microsoft still denied it, but I've no idea what they were looking at. The other thing is that you cannot customize the ribbon unlike the old toolbars. That's just totally a kick in the onions.

2420

General Software Discussion / Re: KMPlayer and GOMPlayer

« Last post by zridling on April 13, 2007, 01:16 AM »

Good tastes, Darwin. You've pinpointed the strengths of each. I fall toward Gom Player because of its setup ease and because it only downloads codecs as you need them. Oh, and I forgot, its high customizability factor (which KMPlayer also shares).

2421

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 9

« Last post by zridling on April 12, 2007, 12:01 AM »

Breadcrumbs were a nice addition to XYplorer in version 5.x. Perhaps the thing I like best about DOpus is being able to assign keyboard shortcuts to specific folders and files if I want. THAT'S just cool, and so handy it makes me say: gigedy, gigedy!

You guys tell me. When I've used xplorer2, for me the big attraction is its apparent simplicity. Yet it has so much power under the hood. It's not intimidating, yet it satisfies the power users. And simple features, like being able to print out a folder list (even indented like your folder tree) is brilliant. I presume its user community came up with such ideas.

2422

General Software Discussion / Re: Don't be fooled, Vista wants new hardware

« Last post by zridling on April 11, 2007, 11:36 PM »

I guess the biggest thing was that in the five years they took to develop Vista, the world done gone and changed in a big way. Microsoft was knocked on its heels by XP's original security problems and thus was born SP2 instead of a full Windows upgrade. Meanwhile, since SP2, the world went all RSS and email all but went Web 2.0. All the while, Microsoft kept quietly removing lurid features like WinFS that MrCrispy writes about, and instead we got stuck with Aero, which frankly, is a joke. If you're going to stay with a 32-bit system, there's no good reason to move to Vista. Instead, just wait for Windows 7 (Fiji, or whatever they change the name to every other month).

2423

Living Room / Re: Why Linux is better

« Last post by zridling on April 11, 2007, 10:24 PM »

Eóin, I'm curious, which parts of the page were dishonest? I'm sure Windows users won't agree with every point (like 'check the weather'). But it reads a lot like the Apple ads against Microsoft (er, 'the pc') — typical anti-Microsoft cliches, but for the most part, they aren't straw men.

2424

General Software Discussion / Re: Don't be fooled, Vista wants new hardware

« Last post by zridling on April 11, 2007, 10:18 PM »

I added more to the fire here. Waiting for Ed Bott to clarify Microsoft's EULA for them, which is sad. As Ed writes: If I have a technical question about Windows, I don't call a lawyer. Likewise, if I have a question about the legal agreement that is the Windows license, I don't call technical support. The issues are completely different, a fact that has confused Microsoft's employees, its customers, and even so-called experts that claim to be Windows insiders....

2425

General Software Discussion / Re: The End of Support for Windows XP Service Pack 1 and 1a

« Last post by zridling on April 11, 2007, 10:14 PM »

What's sad is that Microsoft has already announced they will only support Vista Ultimate for four years. (Business and Enterprise for ten.) They don't intend on letting anyone stay long on any OS anymore.

Meanwhile, Linux continues to lure me.