Recent Posts

2501

General Software Discussion / Re: Strange Windows wallpaper trick

« Last post by Edvard on March 26, 2007, 11:49 AM »

Something's not quite right here...

*gulp* I figured that would happen to somebody, but I think I know what's going on...

cthorpe:
Looks like you got some desktop widgetage going on. That could be what's up.
In my experience, apps that mess with your desktop in any way can sometimes change the desktop look and behavior.

Cool trick Edvard, but it does not work if I choose to hide desktop icons by right clicking on an empty area on your desktop and unticking 'show desktop icons'. Any idea why?

Phil:
As above... For example, when I have PowerPro hiding my desktop Icons it disables my desktop right-click.
Explorer treats your desktop as a directory like any other, albeit a special one that contents get sent to your display, and has some special contexts and properties associated with it. The X folks would tell you it's the "Root display window" which all other windows go on top of.
When you do things to the desktop, you are asking another program to control how Windows interacts with that particular folder.
"Active Desktop" AFAIK asks Internet Explorer to handle desktop duties. (if not, it's Explorer using IE's html rendering facilities...)
So when you hide the desktop icons, some Windows component is no longer handling the desktop, and perhaps that is the problem.

So, try this trick with a "dry" desktop. No Active Desktop or Widgets or hiding stuff, etc.
If it works, then start adding widgets, effects, etc untill you find an app that changes the behavior of the root display.
Whatever the culprit is should have a configuration option to fix it.

If it doesn't work... :shrug:

BTW: Many thanks to Mouser and Veign for blogging this... You really know how to make a guy feel *almost* famous.

2502

General Software Discussion / Re: Strange Windows wallpaper trick

« Last post by Edvard on March 20, 2007, 07:02 PM »

My desktop as pictured is a PowerPro bar at the bottom, JSPager virtual desktop thingummy at the top and I have my taskbar and icons hidden.
Also it's NT4.0 SP6a. (surprise!) so other versions should do as well...

I've found that you get the best effects the less pixels you use (a 1x2 bitmap gets you a nice horizontal gradation), and it's quite a mental exercise to predict the effect you'll get with such a minimal configuration.
I must admit, I have a soft spot for gradated wallpapers and have used a nice little app called "bsetroot" that does all kinds of nice gradation effects (get it here) as well as Amok's GradientDesk (search google, it's floating around...) which is where I got the inspiration for this idea.
I opened one of the GradientDesk-created wallpapers in XnView by accident and was shocked to see a just a 1-pixel line that faded from one color to the other.

I wonder if this could start a trend of people trading 2 and 4 pixel wallpapers with whimsical names.
Here's 'Purple Dawn'
purple dawn.bmp (0.07 kB. 2x2 - viewed 1098 times.)
and 'Hazy Inspiration'
hazy inspiration.bmp (0.09 kB. 3x3 - viewed 991 times.)

2503

General Software Discussion / Re: Strange Windows wallpaper trick

« Last post by Edvard on March 20, 2007, 05:55 PM »

The best part is you get nifty gradation wallpapers that clock in at < 100 bytes (not a typo!) 

2504

General Software Discussion / Strange Windows wallpaper trick

« Last post by Edvard on March 20, 2007, 03:02 PM »

Try this, it's nutty...

Open your Paint program.
Select Image->Attributes and make your image 2 pixels by 2 pixels.
Select View->Zoom->Custom->800%
Now put black in the lower-left corner, dark gray in the lower-right corner, and light grey in the upper-left.
Like so...



Save it somewhere convenient, then in your display properties, select the bitmap you just made, select 'Center' and  Stretch Desktop Wallpaper enabled.

Lovely isn't it?


This works with all kinds of bitmaps, look at this one...



and what it does...

2505

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for 'Open With...' Editor

« Last post by Edvard on March 19, 2007, 01:25 PM »

I must remove the upper checkmark each time, and set a new c heckmark at buttom...

Yeah, it took me a few minutes, too. It's not immediately obvious what to do for custom actions, but it's a nice simple tool.

2506

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for 'Open With...' Editor

« Last post by Edvard on March 19, 2007, 11:39 AM »

I found this here thingy (no home page, so it's a direct download)
http://www.dimaware....nloads/extmanage.zip

2507

Living Room / Re: Living with Linux Ubuntu (ONLY) for 30 days

« Last post by Edvard on March 09, 2007, 01:10 PM »

VERY lengthy article, but it gives the subject the treatment it deserves. I've been living with Xubuntu solo for about 6 months now, and my wife is having no trouble . I agree with almost everything in the article, basically:

1- Linux is stabler than you.
2- Ubuntu has all but beaten the package management nightmare.
3- You may have some problems with some hardware, notably printers and wi-fi. Do your homework first.
4- Unless you're playing Quake 4, hardcore gamers are going to be dissapointed.
5- Gimp is not Photoshop, but it's close enough for 95% of what most folks use photoshop for, and theres GimpShop for those who don't use Gimp because they can't figure out the buttons.

I most fully and heartily disagree with this one:

For example, users of GarageBand or Sony’s ACID will regret the lack of a loop-based audio editor for Linux...

Holy Smokin' Sequencers, ain't he ever heard of Audacity? Rosegarden? Ardour? LMMS? yeesh... How's about a clue-by-four -> RIGHT HERE.

...(though the Jokosher project is heading in that direction.)

I have tried Jokosher and I can say this; It is pointed in that direction. Barely headed, really (but I'll admit it's a really nice looking start).

All in all, nice find Ken.

2508

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Ultrafunk Popcorn full version now freeware

« Last post by Edvard on March 08, 2007, 01:53 PM »

I did try the english version. I also tried it again yesterday and it's not too shabby. I'm still using ultrafunk, because I know the feature set. That doesn't mean nPOP isn't cool, just personal preference. If someday Popcorn crashes, I'll use nPOP, I promise.

2509

Living Room / Re: Extended Character Aascii Art questions

« Last post by Edvard on March 07, 2007, 06:03 PM »

Ok, so I have a solution to my first problem...
First, a2ps from the GnuWin32 tools.
Second, a batch script and a little learnin' about the 'print' command.

[Select]

@echo off
tree %1 | a2ps - -1 -B --encoding=ibm-cp437 --center-title="Directory Listing" -o %temp%\tree
print /D:<insert your printer here> %temp%\tree
pause

and that does it...

BTW-Processing NFO files through a2ps with the 'ibm-cp437' encoding does well also. I'd like to see what it does with the proper 865 codepage.

Thanks all for the help.

2510

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Ultrafunk Popcorn full version now freeware

« Last post by Edvard on March 07, 2007, 11:05 AM »

I tried nPop once. Didn't like it. I can't remember why though... maybe I'll check it out.

I use popcorn to check my personal mail at work. No traces, just like It should be.

2511

Living Room / Re: Drawing with 2 mice

« Last post by Edvard on March 07, 2007, 11:02 AM »

I can foresee a lot of applications becoming confused.

I don't know about that, as long as the OS passed a single mouse event to the app no matter which cursor did the action. But that WOULD limit you to one mouse action at a time. For example, you couldn't nab two corners of a window and stretch it (which I think is a fairly cool idea, btw).
I would be more worried about USERS being confused as to which mouse was moving which cursor.
But if it were possible, you could make dual-mouse aware applications, with corresponding functions.
Hmm... like gui buttons that would act like the current modifier keys. For example, shift-rightclick would be click and hold <some button> while performing action with other cursor; drawing applications that could make lines between two points held by their respective mouse cursors, things like that.
The possibilites could be overwhelming...

2512

Found Deals and Discounts / Ultrafunk Popcorn full version now freeware

« Last post by Edvard on March 06, 2007, 05:13 PM »

What is Popcorn?
----------------
Popcorn is a lightweight and portable e-mail client for Windows.

* Works as a client/server application, reading mail "directly" from POP
  servers.

* Send and receive mail using secure SSL encrypted server connections.
  (More details in the "Send and receive mail using SSL in Popcorn" section).

* Ideally suited for "on the road" mail access, for scanning, reading and
  sending mail over slow connections.

* Supports multiple account profiles, enabling you to read and send mail from
  any number of accounts.

* Requires no installation, no data is saved locally other than a portable
  .INI file containing account information.

* Ideal for cleaning up POP accounts, removing spam, unwanted mail, large
  attachments etc...

* Immune to all forms of e-mail attachment and HTML viruses/scripts/trojans,
  because it does not directly support receiving attachments or viewing HTML.

* Optionally supports viewing/saving attachments and HTML through external
  applications.

* The built-in mail editor and address book enables you to compose and send
  new mail with or without file attachments, reply to, forward and re-direct
  received mail using SMTP or (E)SMTP with authentication.

* Fits easily on a floppy or other portable (even read only) media, making
  it easy to carry around at all times.

* Using the Mail Message (.eml) format, you can easily import mail items
  composed, saved or sent from Popcorn into other popular e-mail clients.

http://www.ultrafunk...om/products/popcorn/

Very minimalisic, no IMAP, but it's portable, fast and now... Free!

2513

Living Room / Re: Extended Character Aascii Art questions

« Last post by Edvard on March 06, 2007, 01:18 PM »

Yes, app that would be the best way and as you can see, that's how I posted the samples. But I think a point is being missed here...

What I WANT is a program that can open a file that contains extended character text, and hit the "Print" button and it prints it as it is displayed. Period. Done.
Specifically the pseudo-graphical output from "tree".
Why?

1- In the business in which I am employed, I find it convenient to give clients a handy list of files I have archived for them. I have an entry in my context menu that when I right click a folder, I select "print folder tree" and it hits a .bat file that looks like this:

[Select]

@echo off
tree /A %1 > "%temp%\dirlist"
start /w notepad /p "%temp%\dirlist"
del "%temp%\dirlist"
exit

And it prints a nice little tree of my files, with "+" signs at the nodes and so on. .
Go ahead, try it, it's fun...
Works, right? So what's the problem, you ask...

2- it bugs me that I can't figure out how to print out the nice little line diagram that 'tree' gives you without the '/A' flag. I can see it in the command box, I can see it when I open in notepad, but it .does.not.print.
I have tried all kind of Directory printing applications, so PLEASE don't go there, I have tried them all, and what I want is this one little simple thing, I can't believe there is NO application that can simply DO it.
I happened upon the idea of using .nfo viewers because they can read those extended characters and HOPEFULLY one of them will also be able to print it. (even more hopefully, automatically when I call it with a '/p' flag like notepad so I don't have to re-invent the wheel I am currently running on...)

I am currently working on the idea to use Autohotkey to parse the output from my little script into .rtf code and replace the node symbols with the cute little folder icons from Wingdings and print it out from Wordpad. That would be neat, eh?

And besides, the .nfo style of ascii art looks like fun...

2514

General Software Discussion / Re: GNU Utilities for Win32 dead?

« Last post by Edvard on March 05, 2007, 06:40 PM »

cygwin is... ick.

Ditto. GnuWin32 rocks...

Hmmm... I wouldn't exactly call 2 updates in as many months in 2007 and Vista testing "dead"
Check it out...
http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/

2515

Living Room / Re: Extended Character Aascii Art questions

« Last post by Edvard on March 05, 2007, 06:34 PM »

I've been digging around the RTF 1.5 spec (for another project I'm brewing) and I noticed you can call codepages within rtf documents in the header (or anywhere else for that matter) with the \cpg tag (865=Norwegian?...). Also there are the \ansi \mac \pc \pca tags to play with. Maybe I can still get this baby to kick...

2516

Living Room / Re: A total eclipse of the Moon this Saturday

« Last post by Edvard on March 05, 2007, 10:18 AM »

Missed it. US PST and all that...

Next one... Aug. 28, right over my time zone - w00t!!

2517

Living Room / Re: SKRBL - Yet another Web2 beta

« Last post by Edvard on March 02, 2007, 01:13 PM »

Wow -  after only one day...

2518

Living Room / SKRBL - Yet another Web2 beta

« Last post by Edvard on March 01, 2007, 06:19 PM »

Ok, so you go there and write or draw on the page and invite others to go there and do the same.

Kinda neat though... See you there!

The complete web whiteboard.
Just start skrbl, give out your URL and instantly share online.
Use skrbl to collaborate with others or, keep it your own private web space.
Write notes, sketch drawings, upload pictures, share files...
Everyone sees the same screen,
Everybody stays on the same page.

http://www.skrbl.com/36699095

from ETTF

2519

General Software Discussion / Re: Simple, freeware, soundcard output recorder?

« Last post by Edvard on March 01, 2007, 01:32 PM »

If you also want to record MIDI output 
Hubi's Loopback Device looks promising.

It's also fairly easy to toss audio data around a Linux (or similar) system with JACK, and a Windows port is apparently in the works. Watch that, JACK is way cool...

There's also Ntonyx but it's a hefty $49.00 USD...

2520

General Software Discussion / Re: Firewalls - please, i can't be bothered.

« Last post by Edvard on February 27, 2007, 11:35 AM »

Just for the record, on my Linux box at home I use FireHOL which is not a firewall, but a language for setting up the  iptables packet filtering ruleset (erm... firewall if you want to call it...). I went googling for "iptables for windows" and came up with this: http://force.coresecurity.com/
It looks to be very powerful, and rumors of Core Security being acquired by Symantec are false. Although I must say it is not for n00bs and I don't know how it works "out of the box", although further investigation may prove very fruitful...

CORE FORCE is the first community oriented security solution for personal computers. CORE FORCE is free and provides a comprehensive endpoint security solution for Windows 2000 and Windows XP systems.

The security framework provided by CORE FORCE is leveraged by a community of security experts that share their security configurations for a growing list of programs. These security profiles can be downloaded by any user of CORE FORCE from the community Web site and they're also completely open so that they can be peer-reviewed to minimize security hazards. The community approach to endpoint security also allows end-users who are not security experts to work in a secure environment.

CORE FORCE can be used to:

    * Protect your computer from compromises by worms, virus and email-borne malware
    * Prevent your computer from being used as a staging point to amplify attacks and compromise others
    * Prevent exploitation of known bugs in the operating system and applications running on your computer
    * Prevent exploitation of unknown bugs (0-day) in the operating system and applications running on your computer
    * Detect and prevent execution of adware, spyware, trojan horses and other malware on you computer

CORE FORCE provides inbound and outbound stateful packet filtering for TCP/IP protocols using a Windows port of OpenBSD's PF firewall, granular file system and registry access control and programs' integrity validation. These capabilities can be configured and enforced system-wide or on a per-application basis for specific programs such as email readers, Web browsers, media players, messaging software, etc.

Take a look at the screenshots: http://force.coresec...amp;page=screenshots
and the comments to go with them.

Apparently, it is suitable for use as a personal firewall:

11.     

How does the personal firewall work?
   

The firewall component of CORE FORCE is a Windows port of OpenBSD's PF, the open source, mature, server-level firewall (PF: The OpenBSD Packet Filter). PF's functionality has been trimmed and tailored to make it suitable for desktop systems and to minimize code complexity.

CORE FORCE support inbound and outbound stateful filtering with advanced settings such as TCP flags and ICMP type/code flags. It works on a per application basis, loading and unloading rules dynamically at application runtime and it can be configured to require runtime user confirmation on certain connections. It is implemented at kernel level as an intermediate driver that mediates communications between the network card drivers and the operating system's TCP/IP protocol stack, making it difficult to bypass.

and there's a ton of HowTo's and Documentation here: http://force.coresec...nc=view&catid=39

If I had W2K on this machine, I'd try it in a heartbeat.

2521

Living Room / Re: Extended Character Aascii Art questions

« Last post by Edvard on February 26, 2007, 04:50 PM »

f0dder: You're right, the text in GetDiz is kinda squished, compared to NFO Scroller.
GetDiz at least prints, but there are white lines running under all the rows, totally ruining the effect.
Oh Well...

2522

Living Room / Re: Extended Character Aascii Art questions

« Last post by Edvard on February 26, 2007, 04:20 PM »

For low-level ascii things like "Figlet" fonts and such, I have used Jave5 (which does all the rendering at AsciiMaps). Free and full-featured, you can even do ascii animations and export to gif! But, sadly it does not use the extended characters in any function.

f0dder, the NFOScroller is way cool, but it doesn't print

2523

Living Room / Re: Poll : What is the most useless key on the keyboard

« Last post by Edvard on February 26, 2007, 03:44 PM »

Quote from: Edvard on February 13, 2007, 10:56:52 AM

I am constantly using 'Insert' because the default behavior for the windows command-line is 'overwrite' mode  Angry Angry Angry

You can change the default setting!

Thank you Ruffnekk, Thank you very much.

The most frustrating thing I've found is the VMware turns off the NumLock key...
Anyone got an app that ensures this baby is always on and can't be turned off?

Poolee: As far as I know, the numlock key is set by the bios, but that's not the whole story...
1-Does VMWare have a virtual bios that you can tweak? The setting is called "BootUp NumLock Status" and can be set on or off.
See here:
http://www.pcguide.c...et/advNumlock-c.html

2-Are you booting Linux in your VMWare? It's not might not be what you think. See here:
http://www.gossamer-.../linux/kernel/733286

According to the lore(1) the reason that the kernel unconditionally
turns off the num lock was so that Linus' laptop came up ready to type.

I've wondered about that for quite a long time... So weird you have to either patch your kernel or use an external program (setleds, numlockx...) to do something that's drop-dead obvious.

7.20. How To Get NUM LOCK to Default to On.

Use the setleds program, for example (in /etc/rc.local or one of the
/etc/rc.d/* files):

for t in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
do
 setleds +num < /dev/tty$t > /dev/null
done

setleds is part of the kbd package ("How do I remap my keyboard to UK,
French, etc.? "). Alternatively, patch your kernel. You need to
arrange for KBD_DEFLEDS to be defined to (1 << VC_NUMLOCK) when
compiling drivers/char/keyboard.c.

2524

Living Room / Re: The Machine Is US

« Last post by Edvard on February 21, 2007, 03:29 PM »

I used to read McLuhan, Chomsky, Mander, et al. and yah, I'd say it's a stretch.
But the one thing that makes this compelling is as app said in her blog, (paraphrasing...) It's the people on the other end of the cat-5 that make it important.
The medium is simply the facilitator for the connections made.
The ham radio folks have gotten a taste of this kind of thing for years, and now it's available in full to everyone with a computer (thank you Intel and Microsoft) and a wire to get past your own four walls (thank you Edison Bell) and that is what is so amazing.
Not the fancy graphics, not the catchy buzzwords, but the connections possible between so many cultures and peoples and the information to feed their interactions is what is boggling.

2525

Living Room / Re: Extended Character Aascii Art questions

« Last post by Edvard on February 19, 2007, 03:29 PM »

Hey man, you got software from AmoK

Yes- the "Find.More" app. Just testing it, it was in Deutsch, so I couldn't figure out the controls.

!!! Big P.S.: AmoK has NOTHING to do with cracking other applications !!!

Right- I just noticed that AmoK's .nfo had a similar look to the .nfo files from those sorts of files.
(I was an unscrupulous man in my time, and DC has already a LONG thread on the ethics of cracking and using cracks, so I'll not continue further on that...)

Any ways, maybe you can use ASCII Art Studio. It full of functionality and supports extended characters.

Wow, that looks like exactly what I'm looking for, but since my interest is really not much more than a lark, the $29.95 price tag is more than I can justify. I might use it twice for fun, if at all.