Recent Posts

32176

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: Please explain ...

« Last post by mouser on April 09, 2006, 02:50 PM »

So I should trust in an unnamed person, which is not trusting in an identified me?

in the case of a big competition like this, i'm afraid we have to be a little more cautious when it comes to proclaiming a winning program and officially sanctioning it.

My question was meant to learn about all targeted programmers. I am not sure, who is included.

basically i'm saying that if you have a program which is not in english, there are people who will help to make an english version.  the contest is open to people from any region of the world, and if you don't know english we can help you find someone who can make an english translation for your program, so that shouldn't be an obstacle to entering (for judging purposes we need to be able to have an english version to evaluate).

just a personal observation, I would have thought that a programming comptetion shouldn't be just about the final product but also how the quality solution is implemented. The style of code writing and the ability to maintain and develop the project in the future (even if it is not made open source) should (IMHO) be part of the judging process and this can only be done if the source code is made available to the judges at the start.

-carolh

in this case, the competition is not based on coding style.  as important as good programming practices are, this is not a competition to test coding skill per se, but rather an evaluation of how good the finished program is from a usability/usefulness factor.


more thoughts:
the hope is that the contest will result in some useful programs that the authors want help getting some attention and donations from, and that the public will benefit from.  so by all means i encourage entrants to interact with users on the forum for help beta testing, translating, thinking up ideas, etc., during the course of the contest period, for those authors who don't feel like they want to keep their submissions secret until the end.

32177

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: Please explain ...

« Last post by mouser on April 09, 2006, 02:34 PM »

hi smirf!

ok good questions.. let's take them in turn.  philkc had it about right.

a) source code - you do not have to make your source code available to the public.  the reason we require submission of source code is that the winning programs are going to be made available to the public and we need to be able to compile these programs to ensure that no one submits a malicious program (trojan/virus). we could do all testing in a sandbox and so not require source until and if a program is chosen as a winner, if that makes people more comfortable, thought it would make testing more difficult.

but i will repeat what the contest page says - you do not have to open source or reveal source of your program to the public; it's just a security question to make sure we don't officially distribute malware.  perhaps there are alternative ways of assuring ourselves of this if this is a huge issue for someone.

b) freeware/donationware vs. shareware.  our site is about donationware - and so is the contest.  we are not against shareware, but a fun part about this contest is that we are gonig to try hard to help the authors of winning programs get some notice and attention and donations for their freeware/donaitonware program.  if you do not want your program to be donationware then this is not the contest for you

c) english only - this is trickier.  certainly support of additional languages beyond english would be viewed as a positive thing.  but as some of the judges are english language only, it might be hard for us to evaluate programs that have no enlish version.  so it's more of a practical matter.  i'll bet that you would find someone on this forum happy to make an english translation for anyone who needed help with it.

32178

Living Room / Re: TyperA - test your typing skills

« Last post by mouser on April 09, 2006, 03:48 AM »

i like your ideas carol.
somehow i get the feeling that these speedy typers would be just as fast, relatively speaking, at this task, but the changes would make the test more realistic.

32179

General Software Discussion / Re: Suggest an Icon Editor

« Last post by mouser on April 09, 2006, 03:25 AM »

is this a microsoft installer based thing?
(this is one of the reasons i loathe microsoft installer)

yes, it's very important to disable this repair of shortcuts, it makes managing the start menu very difficult.

32180

Post New Requests Here / Re: DONE: a better PowerDimmer screensaver alternative?

« Last post by mouser on April 09, 2006, 12:06 AM »

multimon not working here.

32181

Post New Requests Here / Re: DONE: "Stop Me From Closing It" - prevent easy closing of a program

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 11:18 PM »

while you're tweaking it, may i suggest that the menu actually says "About NoClose.."
rather than just "NoClose", which is not clear what it will do.
(same idea would hold for any other app of course).

32182

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: right-click context menu extension trigger from commandline? possible?

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 11:16 PM »

jazper, your uploader tool looks awesome, and i will definitely be trying it..

my original request still stands though, and could be useful in several instances.

32183

Post New Requests Here / Re: DONE: "Stop Me From Closing It" - prevent easy closing of a program

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 10:31 PM »

skrommel - amazing!

beautiful about box too by the way!

32184

General Software Discussion / Re: Is there anyway to automate the the bat ! i.e. check mail every 15 minutes.

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 09:51 PM »

you can also configure certain accounts to ignore the "check all hotkey" which can be useful as well.

32185

Living Room / Re: TyperA - test your typing skills

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 09:23 PM »

perhaps yet another example of how we tend to believe we are above the average in most things

so so true.  you guys are incredibly fast.  can your mind even keep up with your fingers?

32186

Official Announcements / Re: Contest - Make a new Banner for Website

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 12:27 PM »

yeah we could just cycle each month...

32187

Developer's Corner / Nice programming tool/book reviews from larkware.com

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 10:25 AM »

http://www.larkware....arkware_archives.htm

Book Reviews:
Book Review: ASP.NET 2.0 Developer's Notebook
Book Review: The Best Software Writing I
Book Review: Database In Depth
Book Review: Fit for Developing Software
Book Review: Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality
Book Review: Microsoft Log Parser Toolkit
Book Review: Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Upgrader's Guide: C# Edition
Book Review: .NET Framework Standard Library Annotated Reference Volume 2
Book Review: A Pair of Developer's Notebooks
Book Review: Pragmatic Version Control using Subversion
Book Review: Programming C#
Book Review: Ship It!
Book Review: UML 2.0 In a Nutshell
Book Review: Understanding SOA with Web Services
Book Review: Visual Studio Hacks
Book Review: Windows Server 2003 Security: A Technical Reference
Editorial:
Announcing the How-To-Select™ Guides
Big News from VMware
Half a Loaf...
Larkware Reader Survey #2 Answers
Office 12 XML File Formats: Do They Matter?
Thinking About Groove
VS2005 Pricing and Licensing
Welcome to the New Larkware!
Reviews:
Review: {smartassembly}
Review: Acrylic Technology Preview
Review: ActiveBatch 5
Review: ANTs Data Server
Review: Audiomatic
Review: Backup4all
Briefing: Backup Exec and LiveState Recovery
Review: CodeCharge Studio
Review: CodeSMART 2005 for VS.NET
Review: CodeSmith 3.0
Review: ConceptDraw V Professional
Review: ConceptDraw MINDMAP 4
Review: Constable Authorization Engine
Review: Crossfire
Review: CyberSpire WebDialogs
Review: DBxtra
Review: DBxtra 2005
Review: dbPAL Professional
Review: DemoCharge 2005
Review: DesktopX
Review: DevPartner Studio
Review: DirectSkin 4.5
Review: DMS Clarity Suite 2005
Review: DotNetBar
Review: dotTrace
Review: DXperience Enterprise
Review: Easy Assets .NET
Review: eXamineXT
Review: ExtremePlanner
Review: FinalBuilder 3
Review: FinalBuilder 4
Review: FogBugz 4.0
Briefing: Fortify Application Defense
Review: GFI Network Server Monitor
Review: Heroix Longitude
Review: IdeaBlade-Lite
Briefing: InstallShield 11
Review: JotSpot
Review: Knowledge Base
Review: Lidor Systems.Collector
Review: MindManager Pro
Review: Mindreef Coral
Review: NCache
Review: NCache 2.0
Review: NetLib Encryptionizer for Microsoft SQL Server/MSDE
Review: novaPDF
Review: Omea Pro 2.0
Review: OrgPlus 6
Review: PageMethods
Review: pdDataWatch.NET
Review: PentaSuite-PRO
Review: Portfolio 8
Review: Professional Validation and More
Review: PromptSQL
Review: QIOS.DevSuite
Review: QIOS Pelican
Review: r.a.d. dock 1.0
Review: r.a.d. editor
Review: r.a.d. grid
Review: r.a.d.window 1.0
Review: Refactor! Pro
Review: Rich Chart Server
Review: ScaleOut StateServer
Review: SemanticWorks 2006
Review: Shell MegaPack
Review: Sitefinity
Review: SlickEdit
Review: SmartDraw 7.1
Review: SmartInspect Professional
Review: SoftWIRE
Review: SpreadsheetGear for .NET
Review: StrikeIron Web Services Marketplace
Review: Stylus Studio
Briefing: Sunopsis Active Integration Platform 4.1
Review: Superior SQL Builder 2.0
Review: SurgeMail
Review: Syncfusion Essential Studio
Review: SyntaxEditor
Review: Tableau
Review: Tableau 1.5
Review: TargetProcess
Review: ThreatSentry
Review: Total Visual SourceBook
Review: TreeGX
Review: Ultra Recall
Review: VBWare License DLL
Review: VG.net
Review: ViEmu
Review: VistaDB
Review: Visual Build Professional
Briefing: VMware ESX Server 3
Briefing: VMware Technology Network
Review: VMware Workstation
Review: Wilson UIMapper for .NET
Review: X-develop
Review: xSQL Data Compare
Review: XtraGrid Suite v3
Review: XtraPivotGrid Suite
Review: XtraScheduler Suite

32188

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Help spread the word

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 10:08 AM »

if you know of any programming forums, please let them know about the contest - the more entries the better
here's the official press release we've been using:

      C++ Builder Donationware Programming Contest at DonationCoder.com

Champaign-Urbana, Illinois - April 7, 2006:

DonationCoder.com and Borland announced a donationware programming contest
featuring Borland's C++ Builder Rapid Application Development tool for
Microsoft Windows.

The contest runs for approximately three months, from April 10 to July 14.

Over $15,000 in programming-related prizes will be awarded, including
Enterprise and Professional editions of C++ Builder.

Programs will be judged in a variety of categories including small
utilities, academic tools, web applications, and more.  Judging will be
by members of Borland and DonationCoder.com, with public participation.

A unique aspect of the contest is that winning programs will be
prominently spotlighted on the DonationCoder.com website and be made
available to the public as donationware.  All donations will go
directly to the original authors.

Contest website: http://bcbcontest.donationcoder.com
BDN Article: http://bdn.borland.c...0,1410,33472,00.html


About DonationCoder.com
DonationCoder.com is an online community of developers and software
connoisseurs.  It hosts a 20,000 member discussion forum, a unique
micro-donation system, some of the most comprehensive software
reviews in the industry, and over 100 exclusive donationware programs
available for free public download.

32189

Best Music Service / tech crunch article comparing music services

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 07:33 AM »

http://www.techcrunc...y-some-music-part-1/

We’ve analyzed the services that sell digital music (iTunes and its competitors). This Part 1 focuses on the pay-per-download services. In Part 2 we’ll compare the all-you-can-eat subscription services.

ps. Tech Crunch has been putting out some nice articles lately!

32190

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Re: Learning C++ Builder

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 07:30 AM »

builder 6 is still very usable.
builder 5 is usable.

below that you are probably asking for trouble.

a better experience might be to use the trial version of 2006 edition for now, and i will check more about possible home/student/noncommerical discounts.

32191

Borland C++ Builder Contest / Learning C++ Builder

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 07:02 AM »

As someone who is quite fond of C++ builder, I'm happy to help people out who might want some help using it.
I'll try to post some tutortials and walkthrough throughout the course of the contest.

Feel free to ask any c++ builder (bcb) related questions here, or in the #bcb channel on efnet where I also hang out.

32192

Living Room / Re: 10 minute video of Japanese Rube Goldberg Machines

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 06:14 AM »

History of Rube Goldberg

http://www.mousetrap...s.com/history-4.html

32193

Post New Requests Here / Re: DONE: a better PowerDimmer screensaver alternative?

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 05:43 AM »

DimSaver - that is so damn cool.
sending some credits your way skrommel.

ps.
it only works on the primary monitor-  if you could find a way to do this for both monitors that would be phenomenal.

really really nice smooth effect!
i don't use a screensaver, but if this worked on both primary and secondary display, i would use this as my screensaver.

32194

General Software Discussion / Re: Mobysaurus V2.4 Preview 2

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 01:59 AM »

i'm a big fan for streamlining the interface, as we've talked about in the past.
(and i think 2 downloads for dif versions is also something to do away with).

i like the idea of a simple resizable interface which has a main text edit and maybe checkboxes for what results are wanted.  the commercial program wordweb is absolutely worth checking out - it is as streamlined as can be and it is attractive and very usable.

the idea of having different results from different dictionaries in dif tabs would be one neat idea.

or having all results on one screen would also be nice.

i think in general i like the idea of having a very minimalistic main interface, with other options offscreen or tweakable on demand, so im in favor of the idea of editbox, checkboxes for where to search, and then clean results.

and as someone who is curious about words i really would like to be able to just type a word and click GO and then have all info on the word displayed from the different sources (ie dictionary, web, thesaurus, quotes, etc.).  not sure how practical that is, but it would be fun.

32195

Developer's Corner / The IDE Divide - nice article on ide users vs. non-ide users and what it means

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 01:18 AM »

http://osteele.com/archives/2004/11/ides

The developer world is divided into two camps. Language mavens wax rhapsodic about the power of higher-level programming — first-class functions, staged programming, AOP, MOPs, and reflection. Tool mavens are skilled at the use of integrated build and debug tools, integrated documentation, code completion, refactoring, and code comprehension...

32196

Drag&Drop Robot / Re: Is this Possible in D&DR?

« Last post by mouser on April 08, 2006, 12:24 AM »

here is what i do in cases like you are mentioning - i THINK this will cover your case, but may not if you have multiple files in a dir with same file extension.

but basically what i do is run a file search using a file search tool, and drag and drop the resulting file list into d&d.

32197

Drag&Drop Robot / Re: Is this Possible in D&DR?

« Last post by mouser on April 07, 2006, 11:49 PM »

first suggesting, put the arguments in double quotes in case you have spaces in your filenames

ie
e:\desktop\copy.bat "%A\folder.jpg" "E:\desktop\test\junk.jpg"

see if that helps, if not, put an echo in your bat file to see what it thinks are %1 and %2
and see if you can tell me a little more about where you get stuck.

32198

Living Room / 10 minute video of Japanese Rube Goldberg Machines

« Last post by mouser on April 07, 2006, 11:12 PM »

This is a really lovely collection of tons of videos of rube goldberg machines (elaborate contraptions usually featuring a ball moving through some intricate devices).

Bet you can't watch just 10 - they are addicting.

http://www.youtube.c...arch=Rube%20Goldberg

from lots of sources

32199

Living Room / Re: DIY madness ...

« Last post by mouser on April 07, 2006, 11:02 PM »

What can you do with old Walkmans? Race them!

love it.
serisouly things like this give me faith in humanity.

32200

Drag&Drop Robot / Re: Is this Possible in D&DR?

« Last post by mouser on April 07, 2006, 11:00 PM »

great question -
i think youve got everything right except as you say it wants a real exe filename as the tool.

your best solution might be to use the old XCOPY.exe which might be good for other reasons.
i'm not sure if xcopy.exe comes installed in the windows dir by default?

there is also this freeware program xxcopy which is similar
http://www.xxcopy.com/index.htm

the other option would be for you to make a .bat file which calls copy, and then invoke the bat file from d&d.

let me know if you get your problem solved.