Recent Posts

2676

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2007 / Re: My System - Index Card Centric

« Last post by superboyac on March 11, 2011, 12:03 PM »

I think it's a beautiful idea, and I would offer my help if I could in any way.  As I've become busier in recent years, I do feel the need to simplify this kind of thing.  I've realized that no matter how busy I get and how many things i need "to do", the management of all these tasks still works best with very very simple methods; like your index cards.  It just doesn't need to be more complicated than that.  Like you said, the MOST valuable thing is being able to store the idea away so you can free your mind.  No need for tagging, and complex calculations of priority.  Your mind will take care of all that once you see the words on the cards and its time to actually act on it.  We just need to be able to put it away for a while, and trust that we're not going to lose the idea.

So I think it would be a very important and interesting project.  Like I said, I'd love to help if you needed it.

2677

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2007 / Re: My System - Index Card Centric

« Last post by superboyac on March 11, 2011, 10:23 AM »

this is very cool.  very similar to the way I use todo lists.  I'd be interested in the software version, very much so.  I like mylife organized, which I use now, but I'm pretty sure if you did a software version of this card system, it would be much better.  MLO is good, but most of the features are not going to be used by most users.  It's better to have something that focuses on the simplicity of the method, and builds features that enhance that simplicity.  Not the other way around, which is to just add as many features as possible.

2678

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: Clipboard Help+Spell - Top Priority Requests for 2011

« Last post by superboyac on March 11, 2011, 09:00 AM »

i may still take a whack at making a separate app, an unusual and minimalistic notetaking app based on my index card productivity system..

-mouser (March 11, 2011, 06:43 AM)

Sounds great!  What is your index card system?

2679

General Software Discussion / Re: The Bat: Great program, terrible documentation and support

« Last post by superboyac on March 10, 2011, 12:29 PM »

Yeah...I'm not sure if some of you are disagreeing with me or trying to get into a debate or something.  I'm not trying to debate here.  All I'm saying is this (and I think you guys are saying the same):
Most (and when I say most, I mean like 90% of the people around you) people use webmail for their personal use.  Gmail, hotmail, yahoo probably covers 90% of the world.  And they access it through the website.  Once again, I'm not talking to YOU...I mean MOST people.  So please don't counter me with your personal habits, because, well, anyone who is here is likely to be squarely in the computer geek category, and your computing habits are in the extreme minority.  I'm in the same boat.  I know I'm not the norm.
For these people (MOST people) the only email desktop "client" they deal with is probably their work email, which would be in Outlook, and possibly Thunderbird.  but those two probably cover a huge amount (90%) of users.  if you are not using Outlook and Thunderbird, you are probably not using email clients.  Now, some of these people may access work email from home through a client, so I still consider that your workplace FORCING them to use it.  Otherwise they would use the typical webmail.

So, any program not mentioned above (Eudora, Bat, Poco, pegasus, IMAP stuff, etc.) represents a tiny tiny piece of the whole pie, probably an insignificant amount.  With such a small market, it's hard to expect these companies to care that deeply about the complaints and stuff.  I'm in the same boat, just look at this thread.  I have been railing against the Bat.  But what are they going to do?  I'm probably like one user out of a few thousand.

Email clients are just about dead.  I guess I should be thankful that decent ones are even out there.  I sure hope I don't have to go webmail for everything in the future.

2680

Living Room / Re: Should ebook users have any rights?

« Last post by superboyac on March 10, 2011, 12:18 PM »

As Reddit threads are wont to do, the discussion of spendy e-books quickly changes direction as the first commenter asks, "Is it morally wrong to purchase a paper copy of the book and torrent the ebook?"

That's a good question, I think, and one debated not just by a bevvy of Reddit users in the thread, but answered by the ethicist Randy Cohen in The New York Times last year, who (in case you were wondering) said that pirating a copy of an e-book, one that you already own in print format - was not unethical.

Illegal, yes. Unethical, no.

What a frustrating situation to be in as a consumer.  On one hand, you don't want to do anything illegal.  On the other hand, attempting to do something that is ethical so that your needs are met is illegal.  Other than just taking it up the ass by the big companies, what else can we do?  Again, we are not trying to intentionally do something illegal.  I don't know...I can't think of a perfect solution.

2681

Timns Apps / Re: timns Friendly Password Generator

« Last post by superboyac on March 10, 2011, 11:16 AM »

This is cool, but just for my sake...
Could you also make the Asshole Password Generator?  It should do the opposite of what you specify it to do.  If I want uppercase, it gives me lowercase.  If I want random characters, it gives me easy words like "password".  .etc

-superboyac (March 10, 2011, 10:00 AM)

- so an April 01 edition of this thing eh?

-timns (March 10, 2011, 10:15 AM)

It's funny...it wouldn't be too much different than some other programs I am not fond of.  I remember working in Visio and thinking, "Visio!  What is your F--king problem?!   I'm trying to snap a line to this shape and it auto-snaps to EVERY SINGLE POINT other than the one I want!"  Drove me nuts.  It would seriously snap to just about everything except the very obvious and simple place I wanted it to go.  Argh!

2682

Timns Apps / Re: timns Friendly Password Generator

« Last post by superboyac on March 10, 2011, 10:00 AM »

This is cool, but just for my sake...
Could you also make the Asshole Password Generator?  It should do the opposite of what you specify it to do.  If I want uppercase, it gives me lowercase.  If I want random characters, it gives me easy words like "password".  .etc

2683

General Software Discussion / Re: The Bat: Great program, terrible documentation and support

« Last post by superboyac on March 10, 2011, 08:52 AM »

Seems to me that these email applications are not being very customer friendly because there just probably aren't that many customers.  Hardly anyone uses email clients anymore, other than Outlook.  So for me to ask for a lot of feature requests, it's probably a futile effort.  Their profits are probably not very high, so they just sustain the program minimally for existing users.  I'm sure if all the people using the webmail were also using clients, we would notice much better customer support.

But nobody uses email clients anymore.  Just look around.  People use Outlook, probably because they have to for work, but the very large majority of people are using the webmail: gmail, hotmail, yahoo.

2684

General Software Discussion / Re: SQL query newbie: Help me work through my first project?

« Last post by superboyac on March 08, 2011, 04:21 PM »

I'm having a real hard time trying to get a query to return some kind of outline numbering.  So, I've been able to arrange my query results in the proper hierarchical order using the Oracle hierarchical functions like:
Start with
connect by prior

So that's good.  Now I need to add a column showing the outline numbering, such as:
1
1.1
1.2
1.2.1
1.2.2
etc.

How do i do that?  I've tried using this:
SYS_CONNECT_BY_PATH

but the hard part is trying to get it to COUNT the items as it goes through the hierarchy.  The closest I've come to using the connect by path command above is to show the path to of the row in the hierarchy.  So I can get it to show something like:
Parent/Child1/Child2
But I'd like it to do the "1.2.1" kind of numbering instead.  Any thoughts?  I'm missing a way to make it count stuff.

2685

General Software Discussion / Re: Why is my computer hiccuping every few seconds?

« Last post by superboyac on March 07, 2011, 02:38 PM »

At Outertech we've investigated Firefox performance problems several times and in 90% of the cases they were related to SQLite. The number of transactions Firefox is sending to the SQLite handler is simply unbelievable. Even more so if the browser is idle. It starts all kinds of database "optimizations" which cause constant disk activity. This was the reason why we have decided to invest time to create Chrome and Opera Addons for Linkman (which have been released today).

-Outertech Support (March 07, 2011, 12:07 PM)

Very nice.  Thanks for continuing to improve the program.

2686

Site/Forum Features / Re: Shortcomings of DC and How to Improve

« Last post by superboyac on March 06, 2011, 06:40 PM »

This is all I'm going to say...
The reason why this discussion is kind of swirling around with no real end result is because the issue at hand is simply not that big of a deal.  There was a criticism made about the site, which is fine, and a lot of people have thrown ideas about how to "fix" or improve the problem.  But as we can see, there's no good solution or suggestions.  The reason why is because the site is already really really good.  You guys are struggling to find ways to improve something that is already pretty darn good.  Mouser has spent lots of time and thought to make the website interface really nice.  Unless you guys intend on doing a complete overhaul, there aren't that many HUGE issues to fix.
The forum interface is the best I've ever seen.  Given the amount of content here, it's organized in a pretty good way.  Even the seldom visited blog is a really nice, unique type of blog interface.  it links to actual forum posts, but features them in a cool way.  The search on the site is unbelievably well done.

So that's why it's so hard trying to improve the site.  The criticism, even if valid, is a little overblown.  It's not a big enough deal to get all worked up about it on either end.  In my opinion, at best, you could improve the site with a couple of minor tweaks here and there.  One of my suggestions which got implemented very quickly, was to have a way to increase the box where you write posts.  So mouser put that +/- button there.  Very minor.

So this is a situation of if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.  i never liked that saying, but it applies in this case.  I'm all for improving the site, but I'm noticing people struggling with actual good suggestions that don't involve completely overhauling the whole site.  People, it's already a really awesome site and design.  Can't we just enjoy it?  Can't we just thank all the people who have worked on it so hard?  I come here every day and I'm always thankful for how well everything is laid out here.  Sure, I can nitpick...lord knows I can...but to create this much bad blood over something that's already better than just about everything else out there?  I don't know.  it's just a little too overblown.

2687

General Software Discussion / Re: Any XML gui tools out there?

« Last post by superboyac on March 05, 2011, 06:43 PM »

I have a copy of Stylus Studio and would be willing to write some simple stylesheets for you guys.

-timns (March 05, 2011, 10:43 AM)

Could you post a screenshot or pdf of a sample report that you have created using a stylesheet?  I have never seen an end-result with xml.  Everyone always talks about about what you can do, but I've never seen anyone do it and print it out.  So I'd be really interested in something where you've taken an xml file, styled it using Stlyus Studio, and now have a nice-looking report.  Thanks, I'd really appreciate it.

2688

General Software Discussion / Any XML gui tools out there?

« Last post by superboyac on March 02, 2011, 04:10 PM »

A lot of my favorite programs have the ability to export xml files.  These same programs also have very poor printing capabilities.  So, somehow, I need to be able to print GOOD-LOOKING tables from the information in these programs.  I tried dealing with Excel's xml capabilities, but they are very convoluted.  I need a way to take an EXISTING xml file, and quickly be able to print it in a nice looking report.  I don't want to manipulate it in Excel for 15 minutes every time I want to print something.  Is there anything like this?

What I'm looking for is something that will allow me to map the xml elements, as far as what I want shown and what I don't want shown.  I don't want everything shown, usually there's way too much data there.  So I need to be able to hide things. Then, I need to be able to format everything: headers, fonts, background color, etc.  Then, when I do all this once, i need to be able to save it, and every other time I use an export from teh same program, i want it to spit out the nice looking things I set up.

Anything?

2689

General Software Discussion / Re: SQL query newbie: Help me work through my first project?

« Last post by superboyac on March 01, 2011, 10:28 AM »

Ok, I got the above question resolved.  No questions for now.

2690

General Software Discussion / Re: SQL query newbie: Help me work through my first project?

« Last post by superboyac on March 01, 2011, 10:19 AM »

Sure, I just don't know how confidential everything is.  here's an example:

and DESCRIPTION like '%{%}%'

I'm trying to add a way for the query to return matches that only contain the bracket symbols "{" and "}" in the description column.  I have entries that have a code inside brackets like "{something here} some text", and I only want those returned.  So the brackets are the distinguishing feature.  But I just ran the query, and that and statement above didn't do anything.

2691

General Software Discussion / SQL query newbie: Help me work through my first project?

« Last post by superboyac on March 01, 2011, 10:13 AM »

Hi everyone, I've gotten my hands into programming now after not doing anything like this for maybe 10 years now.  I'm working with an Oracle database and I'm just starting to learn how to run SQL queries.  I've gotten the basics so far of the select, where functions.  But I'm trying to do a little more fancy things, and it's becoming difficult.  So I wouldn't mind getting coached throughout this thread.  Yeah?

First challenge:
I've been able to write a simple query using and/or statements.  Now, I want to group everything in a particular way to reflect the hierarchy that the database is representing.  So I need to somehow figure out how to group things according to the proper parents/children.  What I'm doing now is trying to figure out which columns control the hierarchy, because it's not clear, and I can't ask anyone here.

2692

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Block/Unblock all network traffic button (one-click)

« Last post by superboyac on February 28, 2011, 11:00 PM »

Well, it seems to be working.  But it's a little funny.  The first time I ran the new version and clicked it, it made my computer really active for about 30 seconds.  Then the light flashed red, and immediately back to green.  So i clicked it again, and it flashed like that again...also with a lot of computer activity.  The third time, it stayed red, and worked.  So it's a little unstable, and it's doing a whole lot of pretty intense stuff when you click on it (I can hear my hard drive making noises, and all the open programs kind of pause a little, but for 20-30 seconds).

2693

Living Room / Re: Should ebook users have any rights?

« Last post by superboyac on February 28, 2011, 10:55 PM »

Just because ebooks are in a digital format doesn't mean they should be treated with the same restrictions that govern OSX or MS Windows. You can't buy those, only license them. I don't want rent-a-book, I want own-a-book in a format I can take to any device, anytime, anywhere. In other words, the same liberties I have with a paperback.

-zridling (February 28, 2011, 10:39 PM)

This is not necessarily a <good> solution.  But why not buy the hardcover, and download the pdf's for your devices?  I just did that for Calvin and Hobbes collection, which I have every single version including the latest complete one.  But now I can read it on my ipad in a coffee shop (those books are HUGE).

2694

General Software Discussion / Re: Wanna try something weird? A little Outlook 2007 fun.

« Last post by superboyac on February 28, 2011, 12:00 PM »

Just FYI, this thread wasn't a complaint about Outlook.  Just a weird thing I noticed, that's all.
I personally don't prefer Outlook over the Bat, but that's not saying much.  They each have their pros and cons.  Just for me, the pros of the Bat outweight Outlook's.  I bitch about Outlook in other threads, like the one where I curse out the global address book.

2695

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Block/Unblock all network traffic button (one-click)

« Last post by superboyac on February 28, 2011, 08:41 AM »

darn it!  I missed the update.
I'll have to check this out again when I go home.  Thanks 4wd!

2696

Site/Forum Features / Re: Shortcomings of DC and How to Improve

« Last post by superboyac on February 28, 2011, 07:28 AM »

sorry, maybe I'm dim, but I'm still not getting it - just what is the issue here?

-Target (February 28, 2011, 12:58 AM)

Lack of systematic, organized innovation will be the doom of this site... (don't say NANY, NANY is currently a publicity event, not innovation).

One of my ideas is that we need to find a way to encourage people here to work together on big group projects and promote to the public together using the resources we have, like from daily donations and fundraisers.


The current model is that we have everyone developing their own app without much serious support from anyone, and then releasing all the apps together during an event like NANY under the umbrella (or brand?) of DonationCoder.

How did it work out?

After a year of solicitation, preparation and much time and money spent on this "major" event, it enjoyed 3 days of lackluster public attention and then just disappeared from radar... gone.. end of story. Few people outside here know it happened.


Regardless of my idea or the validity of my arguments, something is obviously not right here.

-lotusrootstarch (February 28, 2011, 01:13 AM)

Actually...not bad of an idea.  To somehow be able to work on larger group projects is a very interesting idea.

2697

General Software Discussion / Re: Wanna try something weird? A little Outlook 2007 fun.

« Last post by superboyac on February 28, 2011, 12:08 AM »

I know, I know.  I shouldn't be so overly critical about everything.  believe me, I know.  I've come up with ways to curb my compulsion to criticize, but it needs time to mature, I only started doing it a few months ago.  outlook's not so bad.  Neither is IQ! 

2698

Site/Forum Features / Re: Shortcomings of DC and How to Improve

« Last post by superboyac on February 28, 2011, 12:05 AM »

[unnecessary]

2699

Site/Forum Features / Re: Shortcomings of DC and How to Improve

« Last post by superboyac on February 28, 2011, 12:04 AM »

[unnecessary]

2700

General Software Discussion / Re: The Bat: Great program, terrible documentation and support

« Last post by superboyac on February 27, 2011, 09:32 PM »

It's not really a matter of what can the Bat do that Outlook can't do.  Outlook can't do all the things I described in the particular way that I prefer.  And to get it to do so is a huge pain in the butt.  So whatever my complaints are with the Bat, I have WAAAY more with Outlook.  Outlook's filtering rules are very annoying to me.  It's almost impossible to do certain things.  Most things I'd like to do with Outlook would be much harder than with the Bat.

I don't think it's really a matter of different needs or anything.  I know you are pretty obsessive also!  I think the difference is that I make a bigger deal out of minor things, and most others would just let it go.

But to be specific, Outlook's filtering rules are really annoying to me.  In the Bat, you create filters from scratch.  So you set up the scenario, pick some actions, and you're done.  It's very powerfula nd flexible.  With Outlook, they sort of have these pre-made filter templates which work for 90% of the time, but not for me because I'm always trying to do something a little differently than the expectation.  So I try to somehow get Outlook to do it, but it's always a big pain because it's just not as flexible.  It drives me nuts.  I use Outlook at work, and the Bat at home.
And I'm not willing to get my fingers into the VB scripts to customize it.  I also hesitate to get plugins and third party tools for Outlook which tend to be bloated and overpriced.  Outlook is also just generally slower, bloatier, and not as tweakable as the Bat.