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3326

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2009 / Re: My assignment: The ToDo List of Doom

« Last post by app103 on May 19, 2009, 07:35 AM »

Is the application in the picture one of your own?

-mnemonic (May 19, 2009, 02:29 AM)

Nope. It's 3M's Post-it Software Notes (v2.1), which they renamed Post-it Digital Notes, and current version is v4.7, I think.

3327

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2009 / Re: My assignment: The ToDo List of Doom

« Last post by app103 on May 18, 2009, 08:05 PM »

The tea idea does work, as long as my hubby isn't busy making messes faster than any human can clean them (after all these years, he still isn't house-broken).

I usually do more than the required 4 minutes...about 8.

Perhaps it would be good to have a retry limit theat does something else, rather than raise an alarm, when you meet it - maybe it flashes up in red every 5 minutes (with some kind of penalty to stop it - maybe entering a long string like one of DCs applications whose name I can't remember).  Hmm...a NANY perhaps?

-mnemonic (May 18, 2009, 01:53 PM)

nooooo! Not adding more to the todo list till I have done what is already on there! I am not even going to consider it.

The application I am using, I have had for years and I really like it. It works well for me for what I have used it for thus far. I am just going to try using it to complete the bigger stuff now.

I'd have to say that Mark Forster's AutoFocus System works well for many, including me. The ideas underlying it help a lot of people overcome 'procrastination' - though that's not why I find it helpful. Emphasis on 'little and often', closed lists and dismissing stuff that will never get done.

-Dormouse (May 18, 2009, 02:47 PM)

I am staying away from other people's "systems" for a lot of reasons, but at the top of the list is that is what helped to totally mess me up in the first place. I am playing it by instinct this time.

But if you like Mark Forster, I have a surprise on the list that if I can get to it, you'll enjoy. It's the dreaded task #9, though.

3328

DcUpdater / Re: Installed programs not recognized

« Last post by app103 on May 18, 2009, 09:36 AM »

Oh, ok...I thought there was something wrong.

3329

N.A.N.Y. 2009 / Re: NANY 2009 Release: Trout (audio player)

« Last post by app103 on May 18, 2009, 07:04 AM »

That worked. 

3330

N.A.N.Y. 2009 / Re: NANY 2009 Release: Trout (audio player)

« Last post by app103 on May 18, 2009, 06:54 AM »

Bug: Clicking the toaster popup doesn't change the length of time it takes to disappear, despite having the option to close it immediately selected in the options.

3331

DcUpdater / Re: Installed programs not recognized

« Last post by app103 on May 18, 2009, 06:26 AM »

Similar problem, and an additional one.

LBC isn't showing as installed, and there is nothing on the "available for installation" tab when launching DCU through Trout's menu (only shows Trout & DCU in installed list), but everything shows fine when launching it from shortcut in Start menu.

Shouldn't it always show if it is/isn't installed no matter how it's launched?

3332

General Software Discussion / Re: What the hell is OpenCandy?

« Last post by app103 on May 18, 2009, 12:41 AM »

Second, the standards you guys are asking for would amount to all authors "warning" people about all the DLLs and helper libraries every used in any of their programs and installers.  That is just plain silliness.  There is something inherently bad about programs that silently install background processes/toolbars/etc., but this is *not* anything like that.

-mouser (May 17, 2009, 11:38 PM)

Please do not to mislead people into thinking that everything that is a .dll file is harmless and nothing to worry about.

Not all .dll files are created equal. Not all applications are .exe.

There are a great many things in this world that are "just a DLL" and nothing to worry about.

There are also things that are a .dll that are a lot more than that. Every IE toolbar is a .dll, including my IE clock and the DC Search bar.

I am not saying that OC's .dll is anything evil like an unwanted toolbar, or even a full application capable of doing anything after the install. But if it is harmless and not capable of doing anything, what would be the reason for leaving it and any registry entries related to it on a user's system after the install process is completed, unless it is to activate and/or retrieve other data later, such as the next install of anything containing OC? This could very easily become a system capable of tracking your software in much the same way wakoopa does, only wakoopa's tracking of this nature is completely opt-in, with the user having full knowledge of what is going on and what data is being collected. Even without the .dll file being left on a user's system and just the registry entries, a lot of data can be collected without the user's knowledge or consent.

The data collected this time might not be the same as they collect next time, concerning whether you accept or decline in that one instance.

Let's say I install something containing OC and decline the recommended application. Then the next time because of the stuff they left on a user's system, they know what I previously installed, so they don't offer me that, and they know what I declined and won't offer me that again, either. After awhile, after a sizable portion of the world's developers are using OC in their installers (which is what they are hoping for), it would be possible to gather a pretty large list of what a user has installed on their system and what they are not interested in, in a single shot.

Your software profile grows with every OC enabled installer you use and the amount of data they know about you and your software installing habits also grows. Combine that with the data they can collect from your IP address when it contacts their servers, and they can pretty much know where you live, your connection type, what ISP you use, whether you install software at night more than during the day, on weekends rather than during the week, and a ton of other statistical data about you,too. Even without knowing your actual identity and precise street address, they can know a lot about you. This is what is not told to the user, and it's this type of information collecting the user doesn't know about and hasn't consented to.

This is like placing non-expiring tracking cookies in your registry....the kind that make the old doubleclick look like angels.

3333

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2009 / Re: My assignment: The ToDo List of Doom

« Last post by app103 on May 17, 2009, 10:52 PM »

See, that's the problem...the big list wasn't working at all. Not only was I not doing anything that was on it, I became immune to the presence of it. Plus I usually don't see my desktop, and it was pinned there at the lowest level, covered by all the open windows. Pretty much out of sight, out of mind. The only time i was ever acutely aware of the list was if I rebooted and for some reason it didn't load. But even then, it was the list itself that I thought of and not anything on it.

The memo board with the post-its isn't on my screen all the time, and except for placing the notes on it and choosing the next to set an alarm on, I never have to see it again. I can fill it up and set an alarm on a note, that note appears on my task list in my alarm manager, and the focus of my attention is on whatever caused the alarm to go off at that moment. All I really see is a single task. I don't pay attention to the upper portion of the alarm manager where the whole alarm list is, because there are things there that I won't need to think about for months, like birthdays & stuff.


^{That's a reminder to grab the free stock photo of the day.}

I can trash the note right from the alarm manager when I am finished with something, or click a button to dismiss that instance of it, for something with a repeating alarm.

I can also change the time something rings, if I find myself ignoring the task too often. (maybe I am just not picking the right time of day?)

This is the approach that seems to work well for me, for a lot of small tasks that need to be done or things I need to remember. I was pretty lost without it last year, when I couldn't run the software on the old PC. I felt like I had my brain stored in there and it couldn't work without it.

The index card thing would be great but I'd end up letting it sit there, gathering dust, possibly shoving it in a drawer to get it out of my way and not having it take up valuable space. Plus it doesn't make noise to remind me it exists and has things in it that need to be done.

3334

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2009 / My assignment: The ToDo List of Doom

« Last post by app103 on May 17, 2009, 10:13 PM »

I have this list on my desktop, one of many todo lists I have. Nothing on it has a defined due date or set priority.

The problem is that once something goes on the list, it never seems to get done. It's more like a "don't do" list than a todo list.

My goal is to change that and clear everything off it by actually doing it.

The first thing I did was transfer the items to my Yahoo Notepad widget and remove the todo list widget from my desktop. (I feel better already!)

My next step will be to break down these items into smaller tasks in Post-it boards, and schedule them into my day (one at a time)..a sort of "do this now" approach, with an option to actually do it now, delay it for defined number of minutes (up to 1 hour), or dismiss it till tomorrow. If I manage to complete a task, I'll schedule another to take its place.

The reason why I am going to use the scheduled post-it note approach is because it pretty much works for me with small "do it now" types of tasks.

The way I see it, no matter what option I choose to use when the alarm rings for a task, instead of it being in a big list hidden behind a bunch of open windows and completely ignored all day every day, only seen when I reboot to a clean desktop (which I am rarely actually conscious of seeing the list), the items will be broken down into actionable tasks and brought to my conscious attention every day until they get done.

The list has lost a number of tasks during the transfer from the ToDo List widget to the notepad widget, mainly things that were on there so long that they don't matter any more and aren't even worth considering doing. I also removed the items that are so vague that I can't even begin to think about doing them in the near future, and are better off on my ideas list.

That leaves me with 9 tasks, 8 of which are very doable, and 1 which I may resist doing till death.

Let's see how many of the 8 I can get done, first, then I'll worry about the last one.

One thing you won't hear this year is the state of my home and how much I hate housework. I seem to have that under control now, with the tea approach.

3335

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2009 / Re: Something I want to try this Year.. Daily After-action Reports

« Last post by app103 on May 17, 2009, 08:24 PM »

You know, this was one of the original purposes of Twitter. And there was an application that would pop up on your screen once an hour asking you "what are you doing?" in which you would quickly type it in, in 140 chars or less, what you were doing at that moment.

Maybe a more private text file based version of this would be a good idea. I think rather than the actual log being useful, it would serve as a tool making you more aware of how you are spending your time, as you are doing whatever it is that you are doing.

Of course the logs could serve as a sort of daily diary, too.

The main difference with Twitter would be that it would be 100% private, on your own pc, and not subject to their "fail whale" periods of down time.

Where it would fall short, would be that we aren't always at our PC's and you wouldn't be able to answer the beep while out shopping or doing other things.

I know you stated that you didn't want to do it as the day progressed, but having that log to review at the end of the day when you started to think about how you spent your time might be a powerful thing. And since it's only once an hour reports, and they are very short, it wouldn't be all that time consuming to review it.

3336

Living Room / Re: Wolfram Alpha - Impressions On Launch

« Last post by app103 on May 17, 2009, 07:45 PM »

I tried my husband's name, my name, and my brother-in-law's name.  Google had no problem returning information on all of us, but W.A. didn't know what to do with any of the queries.   

-cyberdiva (May 16, 2009, 08:39 AM)

I tried that too, and it suggested to use only my last name, which returned statistical information from US census reports:

I tried several more queries of a different sort, and ended with "What is Donation Coder?"  All I can say for W.A. is that it's consistent--it consistently didn't know what to do.  By contrast, when I then put "what is Donation Coder?" into Google, its first three hits were to the web site, the forums, and Wikipedia's coverage of DC.  Guess I'll stick with Google.

Instead of asking the same question that you did, I just typed in donationcoder.com and did get results.

From what I understand, you can't enter in any query (beyond mathematical) that it doesn't already know where to get the info from. The less you ask, the more you get. Single words return the most results, although most of what it returns is more or less trivia and not really useful.

It's more of an entertaining toy than a useful tool.

I like it I think it has got a great potential! Maybe it is a first step of full Mathematica port to internet?

-czb (May 16, 2009, 09:05 AM)

webMathmatica is what it's using.

While i was seriously underwhelmed by this thing, I just found this little article at mashable.com ( http://mashable.com/...wolfram-easter-eggs/ ) .  Some of these are rather good, ask it for example, the meaning of life and it will answer 42   

-Grorgy (May 17, 2009, 03:24 PM)

Take a look at some more of the searches people have done with it and the various impressions of users, from Friendfeed. (which incidentally, makes it easy to share the image based results, with their little bookmarklet)

3337

General Software Discussion / Re: What makes an application "useful"?

« Last post by app103 on May 17, 2009, 06:35 PM »

You know you have found a really great useful application when...

• You feel withdrawl symptoms if you are suddenly forced to live without it, even for just a little while.
• You refuse to upgrade your OS till you know for sure that it will work on the new one.
• It's one of the first things you install on a new system.
• It's one of the things you would install on your friend's system when setting up his computer for him, and even pay for it, if necessary.
• You'd be willing to pay twice the price to upgrade, if you had to, with a smile. 
• It's so intuitive that when you run it for the first time, you instinctively know how it works, without taking a course in how to use it, or even reading the help file.
• You begin to forget it didn't come with your system and isn't part of your OS.
• You'd be willing to host the developer's site yourself, than to ever see it be made unavailable.

For me, some examples of these would be any of the following. They fit all (or nearly all¹) of the requirements:

StartPro
FileBox Extender²
PS Tray Factory
Taskbar++
Speedfan
Ad Muncher
Notepad2
DClock2 (mine)
WinRAR
Trout
ColorCop
Process Explorer

¹A few of them do require a quick glance at the help file.
²Hyperionics is no longer developing, supporting, or hosting this GPL licensed application, and I have contacted them for a copy of the source and I'll host it myself if I have to.

3338

General Software Discussion / Re: What the hell is OpenCandy?

« Last post by app103 on May 17, 2009, 04:15 AM »

Here is the install screen from my next version of Instant Boss.

Since advertising in installers is now considered acceptable and not obnoxious, I figured I would recommend some product I like.

I have teamed up with a company with a proven track record of abusing the trust of everyone. But don't worry, the founder of the company says he saw the light and he is all reformed now.

He says he won't use any info collected for evil purposes like he used to.

I trust him, because the guy that he sent to talk to me seems like a likable guy, and that is what is really important. Whatever the nice guy says about him must be true and his motives must be pure & honorable, just because the nice guy says he believes it.

Of course I don't have any proof that the nice guy is telling the truth or that he believes what he is saying, himself, but I am going to just trust him any way, even though I think the founder of the company should have gone to jail for a long time for what he did with people's personal information.

I hope you like my recommendation.



</sarcasm>

3339

General Software Discussion / Re: What the hell is OpenCandy?

« Last post by app103 on May 14, 2009, 10:42 AM »

Yes, you could. But we think the right thing to do is for you (as a publisher) is to ask permission from the developer(s) whose software you want to recommend -- if that developer doesn't already participate in the OpenCandy network. In addition, the EULA of the software being recommended must allow the distribution of its installer.

-drapps (May 14, 2009, 08:43 AM)

So this isn't entirely opt-in from all angles, is it?

Where do I go to opt out, since I never want to see my software promoted in this manner.

3340

General Software Discussion / Re: What the hell is OpenCandy?

« Last post by app103 on May 13, 2009, 09:33 PM »

I have a question that needs clarification, if another developer wants to recommend an application through OpenCandy, without that developer being an OpenCandy member, can he do that?

In other words, if I were an OpenCandy member and wanted to recommend one of mouser's apps in the installer of one of mine, and he wasn't a member, could I do that?

3341

General Software Discussion / Re: What the hell is OpenCandy?

« Last post by app103 on May 13, 2009, 12:42 AM »

Lets be careful about the choice of words for the naming "Open"+"Candy".  They are making it like this stuff is all open and sweet.  app103 is right on the track. These guys are very sneaky.

-kartal (May 13, 2009, 12:36 AM)

OpenCandy was started by founding and early members of DivX, at which we were responsible for distributing hundreds of millions of DivX software downloads, and now we want to use what we've learned to help the software community. Software distribution is of immense value but largely untapped, so we started OpenCandy to democratize this value. Now we're backed by top-tier investors and partnered with some really great software creators.

-http://www.opencandy.com/about/

Do we remember the early days of DivX and its adware/spyware? If that was their idea of partnering with "great software creators", then what do we have to look forward to with this?

3342

General Software Discussion / Re: What the hell is OpenCandy?

« Last post by app103 on May 13, 2009, 12:27 AM »

If the installer is showing ads and collecting information about the users of your software it is both adware and spyware, no matter how you slice it.

If it is offering toolbars it's the same crap we have always seen...no different.

For me, personally, it's not a gray area and it's abusive. There is no difference between showing an ad for some other product by some other developer in the installer of my software, no matter how much I might even like that software myself, and popping up an ad for Viagra on a user's screen during the install process.

An ad is an ad...plain & simple.

Plus OpenCandy is a commercial enterprise backed by venture capitalists that seeks to make money from you doing this to your software, most likely in the toolbars they will be offering to your users.

I don't like it when I am constantly having a Yahoo toolbar offer shoved in my face when installing or upgrading things, and I am sure I am not alone. This OpenCandy crap just seeks to make it happen even more often than it already does, and make a buck off of other people's hard work.

Instead of just big companies like Sun, Opera, and the like making deals with Yahoo, we are going to see predator middle man companies like OpenCandy doing it, without developing any software of their own to push it. They want to use your work to make it easier and more profitable for them to get a chunk of the toolbar cash pie.

The only thing sweet about this candy is the sales pitch to naive developers that might just fall for it.

3343

General Software Discussion / Re: What the hell is OpenCandy?

« Last post by app103 on May 12, 2009, 10:42 PM »

Recommendations are made to users during the installation process. Utilizing the install process creates a user-friendly experience and offers optimal engagement for making a software recommendation. The user is presented with a screen that describes the recommendation, at which time they may choose to install the recommended software.

That makes it adware.

We then provide analytics back to the creators, so they can see how their software and recommendations are performing. This way they can better understand how to build and recommend great applications.

That makes it spyware.

We've also provided our technology as a platform to a handful of software creators who are utilizing an offer screen during the install process as an advertising unit. Some creators are already monetizing their distribution by offering apps like browser toolbars, so we're helping them improve their user experience and optimize the effectiveness of their offers.

That makes it your average commercial adware that we are all already familiar with.

The difference is the sales pitch to developers. Some might just be tricked into seeing it as different, harmless and beneficial. It's not the typical "bundle our nasty crap with your software and make money" pitch. They offer to advertise your stuff in other people's software, instead. (of course they do get to the mentioning of the browser toolbars later on, though.)

3344

Living Room / Re: Tell me what your software DOESN'T do... (a rant)

« Last post by app103 on May 11, 2009, 11:09 PM »

Dear mister generic developer, please tell me what your software does not do. Upfront-like. Thank you.

-tranglos (May 11, 2009, 05:50 PM)

I think it will never happen. No one will ever point out all weaknesses of his software because it violates basic marketing rule: "our product is the best".

-fenixproductions (May 11, 2009, 07:02 PM)

Is this honest enough?  It continues to amaze me how many people download it, and that shellcity actually felt it worthy of featuring on their site about a year ago. (I more or less lost all respect for that site after they did that)

3345

LaunchBar Commander / Feature request: a real Start button?

« Last post by app103 on May 11, 2009, 06:08 AM »

A friend of mine recently asked me if it was possible to code a button for a deskbar that did nothing but mimic/duplicate the start button that is on the Windows taskbar. He wants it to show exactly what he sees when clicking his start button and include all the custom stuff he has added. (this is not program shortcuts added to the top, but non-default commands added to the bottom.) He also wants it to have the run, log off & shut down stuff...basically everything he has on the real one currently.

What he ultimately wants to do is remove the start button from the Windows taskbar, and have only the system tray and running application buttons showing on it.

Then he wants another toolbar to hold his start button and quicklaunch. He also wants to set a custom icon & text label for the start button. (amusing guy he is, he wants a red X and "Stop")

LBC could do exactly what he wants, provided it had an option to include a real start button.

3346

LaunchBar Commander / Text Alignment Suggestion

« Last post by app103 on May 11, 2009, 05:42 AM »

Currently, if I have LBC set to show captions to the right of the icons, it centers the text, which I find quite annoying. It would be nice if one could set it to align the text left/right/center instead of only centered.

I had to add spaces to the ends of all the captions to push it over to the left and the alignment still isn't perfect, and it's really bugging me. 

3347

Living Room / Re: Star Trek 2009 - Discussion [SPOILERS]

« Last post by app103 on May 11, 2009, 02:57 AM »

P.S. I'm fairly sure forum etiquette doesn't need you to use spoiler tags when you have the word [Spoilers] in the title.

-mediaguycouk (May 11, 2009, 02:54 AM)

Since some of us haven't seen the movie yet (and plan to), and some of use tools like PopUp Cody, please do as Ehtyar suggests and hide anything that could spoil it for people that haven't seen it yet (like me).  

Thank you.

3348

Living Room / Re: Who else is sick of difficult word verifications on the web?

« Last post by app103 on May 08, 2009, 01:44 AM »

Here is a different perspective on the problem: Harnessing spammers to advance AI

3349

Living Room / Re: The Geek's "100 things to do before you die" list

« Last post by app103 on May 07, 2009, 09:53 PM »

The most right-handed people I know have watches on left arm.

-fenixproductions (May 07, 2009, 07:01 PM)

Geek 2.0 doesn't wear a watch. It's just the strap from one. He uses his laptop or iPhone to tell what time it is.

3350

Living Room / Re: The Geek's "100 things to do before you die" list

« Last post by app103 on May 07, 2009, 06:24 PM »

But seriously, shortening an URL? Are you kidding?

-Lashiec (May 07, 2009, 05:43 PM)

I think it would only qualify if you wrote your own url shortener, otherwise every dipwit celebrity on Twitter is a geek, and last time I checked, Oprah wasn't a geek.