Recent Posts

276

General Software Discussion / Re: Microsoft: All your data are belong to us.

« Last post by xtabber on March 28, 2014, 09:34 PM »

News just in...

Microsoft: Let's be clear, WE won't read your email – but the cops will

Today Microsoft's general counsel Brad Smith has announced Microsoft has changed its policy again. From now on, Redmond staff won't probe the email inboxes of its customers, but will outsource the job to law enforcement.

-dr_andus (March 28, 2014, 07:29 PM)

So they won't read your email themselves, but they still reserve the right to rummage through any documents you have stored in their cloud.

277

General Software Discussion / Microsoft: All your data are belong to us.

« Last post by xtabber on March 27, 2014, 03:59 PM »

Last week, it was revealed that Microsoft had examined the Hotmail/Outlook.com emails of a blogger, who was NOT a Microsoft employee, in order to find who had leaked confidential information to that person.

It seems this is legal because, under Microsoft’s terms of use, the company has the right to examine any user’s data for any reason they see fit.

This is very different from data mining user data to sell advertising, and it makes me wonder why anyone in their right mind would consider using Office 365 for any reason at all.

278

Living Room / Re: A three drive system - the sweet spot

« Last post by xtabber on March 23, 2014, 04:56 PM »

What are drive image backups doing staying on the PC itself?

-rgdot (March 23, 2014, 03:59 PM)

In my case, for backup purposes, I only image my system/software partition (which I keep small, as explained earlier) and keep copies of only the most recent images on an external drive, case of drive failure.

But I also keep locally a good number of images created at various intervals since a system was initially set up. This allows me to go back to an earlier state, or to mount an image as a drive to retrieve something that I might have overwritten or deleted.  Keeping images on the system itself makes this much faster than searching offline backups.

279

Living Room / Re: A three drive system - the sweet spot

« Last post by xtabber on March 23, 2014, 04:24 PM »

I used to use multiple drives on my working desktop system, but after moving to smaller form factors in the past five years or so, have used a single 2TB drive with 3 partitions.  C: is under 100GB, and has system, software and critical or frequently used data (work/accounting/correspondence, etc.).   The remainder of the drive is divided roughly equally between two data partitions, with D: used for multimedia, reference materials and VMs, and E: reserved for longer term storage, including software libraries and backup images.

On my working laptop, I have the same sized C: partition, roughly mirroring my desktop C: drive, and a single data partition, where the essential folder trees from the two data partitions on the desktop are mirrored.

Keeping the C: partitions small allows me to image them regularly, while most of what is on the data drives is backed up on external drives.

Earlier this year, I added 120GB SSDs to both desktop and laptop and moved C: to them while keeping the hard drives for the data partitions. This was possible on the laptop because it has an mSata slot, and on the desktop by wedging a 2.5" bracket into space under its single drive cage. 

The difference was more dramatic than I had expected and after a couple of months, I have become a believer in using an SSD for one's system drive.  If you spend a lot of time in front of a computer, it makes day-to-day work much more pleasant:  Programs load almost instantaneously and, perhaps surprisingly, browsing is also faster and smoother, which I attribute to the browser's caching to the SSD.

280

General Software Discussion / Re: What the Heck is Happening to Windows? Article on Windows 8 Disaster

« Last post by xtabber on March 19, 2014, 09:21 PM »

The problem with the tiled interface is that it imposes an unnecessary cognitive burden that makes it harder to accomplish what you want to do.  Without delving too deeply into cognitive neuroscience. the human brain operates by recognizing patterns.  If the needed information can't be immediately determined, it switches from "fast" (subconscious) to "slow" (conscious) processing in order to figure things out.

In the case of the Windows "Modern" interface, the dominant pattern consists of the tiles themselves, which appear identical until one deciphers the ideogram on each one.  This slows the process by which the user recognizes the function of each tile, if only by milliseconds, but enough disrupt thinking and distract from the intended task.

I actually like the look of the Windows tiled interface which reminds me of the conceptual art of Sol Lewitt.  But Lewitt wanted to force the viewer to take time to figure out the patterns in his designs. That's not what you want from a user interface.

And there are other usability problems.  The ideograms are too stylized to be immediately recognizable -- a problem that some people have also found with the "flat" look adopted by the latest version of iOS.  A more important criticism is that there is no consistent way to navigate the interface, let alone between "Modern" apps and Windows programs.

So even if you personally find the tiled interface to be aesthetically pleasing and it meets your personal needs, it generally provides a less productive environment than alternative mobile or PC operating systems, which is why it has met such determined resistance.

281

General Software Discussion / Re: What the Heck is Happening to Windows? Article on Windows 8 Disaster

« Last post by xtabber on March 19, 2014, 05:21 PM »

I can't help but think Windows-RT will eventually go the way of Windows CE (now CE was one cool and fast little OS!) and Surface the way of Zune.

-40hz (March 19, 2014, 12:36 AM)

Don't forget the Windows Tablet PC.  That's where I got bitten.

-wraith808 (March 19, 2014, 10:41 AM)

RT is dead because it does not provide any of the advantages of Windows and the interface is simply not as usable as either Android or iOS on either phones or tablets.  With all due respect to johnk for his personal experience, "Tile World" as David Pogue refers to it is a usability disaster.

See this post for a description of my my recent experience with a Windows 8.1 tablet.  It's not quite there yet, but clearly, the future of Windows (not RT), is probably going to be running on tablets.  The ability to use a single device on the go and also as a desktop PC, just by docking it with a keyboard/mouse/monitor, is a huge advantage over Android and iOS devices.  The biggest stumbling block may well be the nearly unusable tiled interface.

What on earth were the executives at Microsoft thinking when they signed off on that ridiculous design?

That said, x86 Windows tablets are not going to replace ARM based devices running Android or iOS for consumer mobile devices because they do not use power as efficiently. The fact that run times for both kinds of devices are similar is deceptive, because most of that depends on the display, not the processor.  It's when the display is off that you really see the difference. The battery in a Windows PC will run down quickly if you don't actually shut the system down, whereas ARM devices can last a very long time on battery power in sleep mode while still keeping essential processes going.

282

General Software Discussion / Re: Raymond.cc compares 20 Drive Imaging Tools

« Last post by xtabber on March 18, 2014, 10:49 AM »

+1w/mouser on reliability. If you don't have confidence in them in that regard, everything else becomes moot.

-40hz (March 18, 2014, 05:50 AM)

That's why I don't find this kind of superficial comparison very useful.  Saving a couple of minutes up front doesn't do you much good if you can't restore something when you need it.

I have used imaging as my main backup strategy going back to MS-DOS days, starting with the original Ghost (before it was acquired by Norton).  I also image and restore frequently, particularly when installing software, and keep selected images going back several years in case I need to retrieve stuff that has been deleted or lost.  I always verify images immediately after creating them.

I used Acronis for many years but gave up on it some 5 years ago because of reliability problems, and I know from postings on various forums (including DC) that others had similar experiences.  Problems I personally encountered were corruption in images made from a running Windows system (as opposed to cold booting from an external device) and problems mounting images as drives under Windows.  Acronis may have gotten their act together since then, but I'm not interested in spending my time testing it.

I now rely exclusively on Paragon, which I had previously been using for disk management, for backup imaging.  In literally hundreds of restores, I have never had a failure with their products.  

Note that Paragon has a wide variety of program versions at different price ranges (including free) with different combinations of features, but the underlying technology is the same.  I personally use Hard Disk Manager Pro because it gives me everything I might need in a single package, including P2V and V2P. 

283

General Software Discussion / Windows 8.1 and the future of PCs

« Last post by xtabber on March 15, 2014, 10:47 PM »

A couple of weeks ago, Best Buy had a quickie online sale of the 32 GB Lenovo Miix 2 8 tablet for $199.99.  That was cheap enough for me buy one just to see for myself how Windows 8.1 works on a tablet, particularly since it came with a full copy of MS Office 2013 H&S.

The quick answer is that the Windows 8.1 Modern interface is no better on a tablet touchscreen than on a desktop PC, meaning that it is close to unusable, but what really surprised me was how well the tablet runs the full Windows desktop environment.

The Miix 2 8 has a quad-core x64 Atom processor, 2 GB of RAM and runs 32-bit Windows 8.1, so I am not going to be loading Adobe Lightroom on it or doing MCMC simulations. But it runs Word, Excel and Internet Explorer just fine, as well as the other 32-bit Windows programs I have tried so far.

While It has less than 8GB of storage left after Windows, one can add a 32GB micro-SD card, so that isn’t a problem for me.  Bluetooth keyboard and mouse work beautifully with it.  The only thing keeping it from being used as a full blown desktop system is that it has no video out, and its 8” display is too small for serious work.

It does however, have a micro-USB port that supports OTG, and Plugable has a USB dock that can be used to provides video from a Dell Venue 8 Pro, which is almost identical to the Miix 2 8. Unlike the Dell, Lenovo does not require a shorted data line to initiate charging through the USB port, so it is possible to use a Y-OTG cable to charge and connect a USB device at the same time. I have a Plugable dock on order and by next week should be able to test how well my Miix 2 8 can function as a full desktop computer.

The Miix 2 8 is roughly the same size as the Nexus 7 and weighs just 12 oz.  In the next couple of months, Lenovo should be introducing the ThinkPad Tablet 2, which is similar in size and weighs just a couple of ounces more, but with a 1920x1080 display instead of 1280x800, USB 3.0 support and HDMI out, meaning it can substitute for a low-end desktop PC out of the box, although it will cost considerably more.

This really changes a lot of things. I expect Android and iOS tablets to remain the devices of choice for things like reading, watching videos, browsing, games, etc., if only because the Windows tiled UI is just too clumsy, and the desktop environment too complicated, for that kind of activity.  But I can see Windows tablets replacing laptop and desktop PCs for many users in the not too distant future.

284

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by xtabber on March 12, 2014, 10:23 PM »

The economist Nouriel Roubini tweeted the following analysis of Bitcoin this past weekend:

Apart from a base 4 criminal activities, Bitcoin is not a currency as it is not a unit of account or a means of payments or store of value
Bitcoin is not a unit of account as no price of goods and services is set in Bitcoin unit nor it ever will. So it isn't a currency
Bitcoin isn't means of payment as few transactions in Bitcoin. And given its volatility all who accept it convert it right back into $/€/¥
Bitcoin isn't a store of value as little wealth is in Bitcoin and no assets in it. Also given price volatility it is a lousy store of value
So Bitcoin isn't a currency. It is btw a Ponzi game and a conduit for criminal/illegal activities. And it isn't safe given hacking of it.

Pretty much my own feelings on the topic.

285

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 11 Released!

« Last post by xtabber on March 07, 2014, 06:30 PM »

Another interesting point is the licensing. DO is the only one that limits the number of computers you can use the software on.

-Jibz (March 07, 2014, 03:13 AM)

As a matter of principle, I decided some years ago that I would avoid software that places arbitrary restrictions on how I can use it on my own computer(s).  In some cases, I have purchased "family" licenses for some programs that I need on multiple systems, but unless there really is no other reasonable choice, I will always take software that offers per-user licensing over those that license per computer.

286

General Software Discussion / Re: Beyond Compare v4 Open Beta

« Last post by xtabber on March 01, 2014, 10:05 AM »

Beyond Compare is an amazing tool.

-mouser (February 28, 2014, 01:39 PM)

Beyond that, I'd like to say that Scooter Software, has long been a model for what a good software developer should be, IMHO, providing exceptional value at a reasonable cost, excellent support and without any form of arbitrary restrictions on how the software is used.

As noted here, I've been using Beyond Compare every day for over 16 years now, and can't imagine doing without it.

287

General Software Discussion / Software longevity

« Last post by xtabber on March 01, 2014, 09:46 AM »

The arrival of Beyond Compare 4 made me look back to see how long I have been using that software.  It would seem to be at least 16 years, since I found an email from Tim Thousand from February 1998 concerning a suggestion I had made for adding some features to BC 1.

That, in turn, made me wonder just how many programs that I still rely on have I been using on a regular basis for that long.  It's a pretty short list.

I've used Kedit and Opttech Sort since the 1980s, and while neither has been updated for years, they both remain essential in my work and are still maintained and sold by their developers.

I've relied on Quicken and Turbotax for financial matters since at least 1990, and probably started using them earlier than that.

I converted to Microsoft Word and Excel in 1994 and have stayed with them ever since.

My earliest licenses for the Opera browser (it didn't become free until several years later) and Treesize Pro date from 1999, and I may have used them before that.  I still use both on a daily basis.  I purchased Adobe Acrobat in 1999, and I guess that might count since, while I haven't used Acrobat in years, I do still use Adobe Reader.

I may have missed something, but looking at the dozens of programs I use regularly, no others have been around that long.

288

Living Room / Re: Dropbox and privacy (or lack of)

« Last post by xtabber on March 01, 2014, 08:39 AM »

I think you are mis-interpreting this.

If something is uploaded to any Dropbox account and made available to others for download, it is perfectly reasonable for the poster to be able to know who has downloaded the file. 

I don't see anything nefarious about that or any kind of invasion of privacy.

289

Living Room / Re: Jazz Recommendation Thread

« Last post by xtabber on February 24, 2014, 07:49 PM »

That's from a 1963 live TV show in Baden, Germany. 

The whole 22 minute concert broadcast is also on YouTube and well worth listening to.

290

Living Room / ASUS routers hacked

« Last post by xtabber on February 18, 2014, 02:33 PM »

Hot on the heels of the Linksys router malware revelation, comes news that ASUS routers have been hacked, making the content of any attached drives available across the Internet, among other things. 

Supposedly, this has been known for a number of months, but ASUS has just admitted to the breach and has posted new firmware for the affected models.

291

Living Room / Constant C adjustment to Moore's law

« Last post by xtabber on February 16, 2014, 10:51 AM »

This is so true!

292

Living Room / What Google Plus is all about

« Last post by xtabber on February 15, 2014, 09:36 AM »

A fascinating article in today's NY Times explains why Google is trying to force everyone to join Google Plus and Hangouts, even though the company has no interest in competing with Facebook as a social media site and is perfectly content to be derided as an also-ran in that area.

Needless to say, it ain't out of the goodness of Sergey and Larry's hearts.

293

Found Deals and Discounts / VMware Valentine's Day Sale

« Last post by xtabber on February 13, 2014, 02:42 PM »

VMware's annual Valentine's Day sale started today (2/13/2014) and will run through tomorrow.

Workstation 10 is 20% off for both new licenses ($199.20) and upgrades ($95.20). 

It's still overpriced, given that VirtualBox is available for free, but I personally find Workstation the far better experience.

294

Living Room / Re: Facebook D.O.A.

« Last post by xtabber on January 24, 2014, 01:41 PM »

Here's a wonderful debunking, by a Facebook data scientist, of the study by wannabee researchers at Princeton University that started this silly story.

295

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of ... reasonable backup software

« Last post by xtabber on January 13, 2014, 06:36 AM »

Acronis True Image certainly had problems imaging an open OS, just one of the reasons I gave up on Acronis about 5 years ago and have used Paragon exclusively ever since.

I use Paragon Hard Disk Manager Pro (about $100), which includes most of their disk management and virtualization features, but they make a number of more limited programs available free for personal use.

I've never had any problems restoring from, or mounting Paragon images as virtual drives, both of which I do on a regular basis, particularly when installing or updating systems

296

Living Room / Re: Best note-taking setup with tablet and keyboard?

« Last post by xtabber on January 08, 2014, 09:58 PM »

Although I set out looking for a tablet + keyboard + app combination, I'm starting to lean towards the Chromebook idea. The new HP Chromebook 14 seems interesting. Bigger screen, bigger keyboard, more memory, faster processor (than the Samsung 303), and people are reporting 9+ hr battery life. There is a fan to cool the processor, but supposedly it's not too loud. Plus there is 2 yrs free (though limited) mobile internet access with one of the models.

The key benefits are the speed, half the price of the iPad Air + ZAGGKeys keyboard combo, instant on from sleep, battery life, integrated keyboard, not as heavy as a netbook/laptop.

-dr_andus (January 08, 2014, 06:51 PM)

Check the specs: The HP Chromebook 14 weighs over 4 lbs, nearly twice the weight of the Asus T100, which is a full Windows 8.1 device and includes a full version of MS Office 2013 in the $349 price of the 32GB version.  The HP has a bigger screen, but the same measly 1366x768 resolution, meaning that it is considerably less sharp visually. By comparison, the Nexus 7 has 1980x1200, the Nexus 10 has 2560x1600 resolution. The T100 also has better battery life (over 11 hours, supposedly).

297

General Software Discussion / Re: Too many programs in my start menu!

« Last post by xtabber on January 04, 2014, 07:39 AM »

Organize your Start Menu into folders.

298

Living Room / Re: Best note-taking setup with tablet and keyboard?

« Last post by xtabber on January 04, 2014, 07:22 AM »

Please note that I'm not just looking for a writing machine in general. For that there is my P (where I also use WriteMonkey, Outline 4D, Gingko app, Scrivener or Dragon NS for various writing tasks).

I want a portable and cordless note-taking/writing solution that I can use when I expressly do not want to turn on my PC or my netbook. It might be the weekend when I don't want to turn on my work machine, or the middle of the night, when I just had an idea before falling asleep, or sitting on the couch, or being out and about, or at a business meeting.

Originally I bought my Asus eee PC exactly for this reason. However, eventually the ever-increasing booting or waking-up time with Win machines just put me off from using them. The competition to what I am looking for is pen and paper, which are instantly on.

-dr_andus (January 03, 2014, 07:59 AM)

Professional photographers will tell you that the best camera is the one you have with you.

You seem to have plenty of devices that you can use in the comfort of your home, so I would suggest looking for something that will always be on you and you can use anywhere.  Unless you wear Harpo Marx's topcoat, to me, that means the smallest form factor device you can live with.

I use both  a Nexus 10 and a Nexus 7 (2013), and while the 10 is unbeatable for reading large format documents, the 7 is what I use most of the time, because its portability means that I almost always have it at hand. The 7 is also faster and more responsive than the 10. even though it is, in theory, less powerful.

A keyboard is nice, but removes the "always with you" factor. Logitech makes a backlit Android keyboard that you can keep nearby to use with the tablet when convenient (e.g., at your bedside), but for quick and ever-present access, I'd suggest learning to work effectively with the tablet alone so that you can do so when you need to.

Finally, while I don't use an Android editor with your requirements, and so can't give you any recommendations, here is a place to start looking.

299

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Code Sector software 50% off through January 7, 2014

« Last post by xtabber on January 02, 2014, 09:59 AM »

Code Sector has some really great software, but is somewhat inconsistent in terms of support and development.

They also make a superb GPS app for Android called Maverick, which I could never use because of a flickering display problem on many devices (including mine).  They seem to have fixed it finally, so I purchased the Pro version, which is listed on the site 50% off page for $4.95, but is available on the Play Store for 50% off at $3.45.  As I said, inconsistent.

300

General Software Discussion / Re: text file editor personalyzable

« Last post by xtabber on January 01, 2014, 07:07 PM »

I would like to find a text editor where I can personalyze the background colour of the lines.

By example each four lines change the colour.

-Contro (December 30, 2013, 02:42 PM)

You can do that in Kedit if you are sufficiently proficient in REXX (which I am not). 

I knew someone many years ago who did just that to make printouts look like they came off a mainframe on old-fashioned green bar computer paper.