Recent Posts

3501

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your mouse of choice?

« Last post by app103 on February 22, 2009, 02:17 AM »

Yep, I think the MX Revolution model is the same hence I originally coined it "loose" but after reading app's post, I think she might have a gentler touch and that's the reason it works extra well for her. It could be that the resistance is enough that once she goes past the "zone of tightness" she's not really pushing on the wheel as much as driving it. (The wheel has two phases. The first being a slightly more tighter scroll than I'm used to for when moving in short areas and only once you continue scrolling will smooth scrolling activate)

-Paul Keith (February 22, 2009, 01:53 AM)

I am completely clueless as to what you are talking about. What zone of tightness? What 2 phases?

There is no real difference between my mouse wheel and a normal one other than the fact it doesn't click..it has no bumps*. I don't know what your mouse wheel is like but mine is just as I described in my 2 different tv knobs comparison.

The stuff you are talking about is YOUR mouse, or some other brand & model of mouse I don't own.

Remember, mine is an Evoluent VM2, not a Logitech.

On long pages I have sent it spinning with a quick little flick and it kept going to the bottom of the page (or up as the case may be). 

-steeladept (February 22, 2009, 12:17 AM)

Nope, mine doesn't do that, and to be honest I am really glad it doesn't.


^{*The proper term for it is detents, which my mouse wheel doesn't have, and therefore it's smooth.}

3502

N.A.N.Y. 2009 / Re: NANY 2009 Release: Lacuna Launcher

« Last post by app103 on February 21, 2009, 09:25 PM »

Slight update:

No new features or changes to the application itself, so the version number will not change.

Added Spanish translation of the readme.txt file. (thanks scancode!)

If anyone would like to offer to translate the readme file to other languages, it would be much appreciated.

3503

Developer's Corner / Re: CodeIDE: the online IDE that works in your browser

« Last post by app103 on February 21, 2009, 03:09 PM »

alonweiss just joined this forum today and the post about CodeRun IDE is their first post. This is a thread that is more than a year old.

Within minutes of alonweiss's post being made, someone posted a comment on my blog linking to the same site (coderun.com), on my blog post about CodeIDE, which is also more than 1 year old.

It seems someone may be doing a search for anything mentioning CodeIDE and commenting by linking to coderun.com.

The coincidences are just a bit too unbelievable for me to think otherwise. So, alonweiss may be a spammer affiliated with coderun.com.

I just thought everyone should be aware of this.

3504

Living Room / Re: Why I Avoid Apple Products

« Last post by app103 on February 21, 2009, 11:49 AM »

Up until 1999 I didn't own a computer, and I never really gave much thought to buying one.

Then in the early part of that year, Apple did something that made me sit up and take notice and make me interested in buying one....they came out with one in purple! 

Unlike other smarter people that would shop for a computer based on something that was actually important, the fact that it came in purple was the most compelling reason I would have had for owning any sort of computer at all, at that point in time. And Apple was the only one to tease me with my favorite color.

But I procrastinated about it for about 8 months...just long enough for my dad to decide to give me his old P1 with his OEM Bundle From Hell™ (he downloaded everything he could find on Tucows and installed it all).

It had issues...lots of them, and instead of enjoying a life of "it just works", I was forced to learn a whole lot more than I had anticipated, with all the troubleshooting that had to be done "out-of-the-box". (this isn't a bash against PC's in general, remember that it was a used computer set up by someone that overloaded it worse than any OEM does with a new PC)

I could have been a stupid "happy Mac user" but because my father enticed me with something that appealed to me even more than purple (free!), I was instead forced to learn and tinker with things that most Windows users don't even know exists. That machine, by its very nature, forced me to become a power user....fast. It became a challenge, a competition between me and a machine, and I was determined to win.

For the last 24 hours I have been contemplating what the last 10 years of my life would have been like if I had bought that iMac. Would I be the computer nut I am today? Would I even be coding?

I was a whole different person with a completely different way of thinking, and Apple knew that. "Think Different" isn't a command, it's their target consumer. For a long time they have been very good at making pretty things that appeals to clueless people. I am not saying that all Apple users are clueless, just saying that you are pretty clueless if you consider "pretty" to be the most important or only reason to buy something, and a lot of Apple's customers do think that way. I know because I once thought that way, I almost bought a purple iMac!

Then they hold on to you by using fear to keep you, convincing you that you are happy and don't want to change that by wandering off into the scary world of the unknown. The famous Mac vs PC ads serve a dual purpose: to convince Windows users that they would rather have a Mac than deal with "scary Vista", and to convince Mac owners to stick with their product and not try anything new unless its an Apple product. It's a form of brainwashing. "Stay Clueless" should be their company motto.

Today, the most compelling reasons I have for choosing something else over an Apple product all comes down to choice and freedom. I like being free to choose from many options, and unless Apple decides to give me that, I'll continue to stay away from their products.

I want to choose my hardware, my software, and everything else...not allow a company to tell me what to use, where I can shop, what I am allowed to buy, who I can code for, etc.

3505

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your mouse of choice?

« Last post by app103 on February 21, 2009, 11:35 AM »

I think the closest thing I could compare the feeling to that you might be familiar with is the tuning knobs on an old TV.

The main VHF knob always clicks to each station. The UHF doesn't, and allows you more precision for positioning the knob to the exact spot required to tune in a station.

That's the same kind of feeling of precise control you get with a smooth wheel.

3506

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your mouse of choice?

« Last post by app103 on February 21, 2009, 11:00 AM »

sounds nice
if you spin it does it keep going - is there that little resistance?

-tomos (February 21, 2009, 10:08 AM)

No, not like that, but it does take much less effort and a much lighter touch to move it. After using a smooth wheel for about 2 years, using a normal mouse wheel has a certain "ewwww" factor that feels "cheap" to me.

3507

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your mouse of choice?

« Last post by app103 on February 21, 2009, 09:04 AM »

Er... what's a free-wheel?

-Darwin (February 21, 2009, 09:01 AM)

When you scroll the wheel on your mouse, most have little "bumps" that "click" as you scroll.

Free-wheel (I prefer the term smooth-wheel) doesn't have that. It's smooth, quiet, and you have greater control. But it's one of those things that you either love or hate, and if you love it, it's hard to find a mouse with it.

3508

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your mouse of choice?

« Last post by app103 on February 21, 2009, 08:51 AM »

Thanks app. One final question, does the mouse need proprietary drivers and is it compatible with Linux?

-Paul Keith (February 21, 2009, 03:41 AM)

Windows: comes with drivers, works well, doesn't really need them unless you want to set the more complex features or change the defaults.

Mac: Basic 2 button functionality without drivers, which are not included. They are available from a 3rd party supplier and will enable all 5 button, but the drivers are not free.

UNIX/Linux: no drivers available. It's just a standard 3-button mouse with these OS's...

unless you have the wireless version (only comes in v3). With that one Linux is 5 buttons functional In XFree 4.0.1 or higher, and Knoppix Linux 3.9 or higher without a driver: left click (top), right click (middle), middle click (bottom), middle click (wheel), right click (thumb)

But the wireless one isn't compatible with UNIX at all.

3509

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your mouse of choice?

« Last post by app103 on February 20, 2009, 11:55 PM »

It's like a regular mouse with 2 extra buttons (one is under the thumb)

It took me about a week to get used to it. Now I wouldn't want to use anything else. Any "normal" mouse feels so tiny & awkward (and painful).

I have a problem with a bump that formed on the bony part of my wrist. Most people that use a computer a lot have the same bump. It's a lot like the one that developed on the middle finger of your writing hand from all the homework you did as a kid. Most never notice they have one on their wrist and it doesn't cause them any problems. But for me, the pressure from resting my hand on the desk in the position one holds a normal mouse, was painful. It is like having a heel spur on your hand.


^{(I bet you have a bump too, compare hands and you'll see it...one will be bigger than the other)}

I tried using a padded gel mousepad with a wrist rest, but the "silky smooth satin cover" scratched my skin like sand paper and over the course of time, damaged my skin like scraping your hand on a cement sidewalk....right on the bump I was having problems with.

The vertical mouse allowed me to toss that mousepad and go back to a slicker surface. Because my hand is turned, that bony bump isn't touching anything.

3510

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your mouse of choice?

« Last post by app103 on February 20, 2009, 11:17 PM »

Do you know any mouse that has this 'free rolling' wheel while still having middle click?

-urlwolf (February 20, 2009, 12:15 PM)

The one I use:



The v2 (what I have) has the smooth wheel. The newer v3 doesn't. And it's also a button, so you can middle click with it.

Oh, yeah...it also comes in a left-handed model, in the older v2, which is actually much easier to find than a right-handed v2, these days.


http://www.fentek-ind.com/mvmlbb.htm

3511

General Software Discussion / Re: Dangerous Adobe Reader Vulnerability In the Wild

« Last post by app103 on February 20, 2009, 06:38 PM »

And on the other side of the coin...

(As a comparison) How many times has any systems been penetrated/crashed because of .txt file misuse?!?

-Stoic Joker (February 20, 2009, 06:06 PM)

Plenty of times!

One can open notepad and type up various vbs, js, hta, and bat scripts in plain text. They can even be malicious ones.

If saved as .txt they are more or less harmless and open as text.

But if you name the file something like "funny joke.txt        [insert lots of spaces here]       .vbs" and can manage to get it onto a user's system, they might not see that .vbs part in Explorer if you add enough spaces, or if they have their settings set to hide known file extensions. (and if you write up a .hta you can even disguise the icon as the default .txt icon)

I think that would qualify as .txt file misuse.

I have seen plenty of cases over the years of people having their systems messed up by text files like this. Some got them through emails, some sent through instant messenger clients, lots of them downloaded over P2P.

And yes, technically they are still just plain old text files. But the change of file extension tells the OS to treat them differently. And the right change of file extension can turn them into executable scripts.

3512

General Software Discussion / Re: Dangerous Adobe Reader Vulnerability In the Wild

« Last post by app103 on February 20, 2009, 06:17 PM »

I don't care because i use Foxit reader for my PDF viewing needs, works pretty well.

-gexecuter (February 20, 2009, 11:22 AM)

I use Foxit Reader too, but it could be just as easily prone to lots of Javascript exploits unless you turn that off in the preferences. If you don't see the option to turn it off, you are probably running an older version of Foxit and should upgrade.

3513

Find And Run Robot / Re: URL encoding in aliases?

« Last post by app103 on February 20, 2009, 05:37 PM »

If you can create an alias to launch an application, with the command line parameter of the unencoded url, then you can use a small utility I made to handle stuff like that.

It accepts an unencoded url as the commandline parameter, converts & encodes it, then launches it in the default browser. (I also included the source)

http://cranialsoup.b...-url-containing.html

Oh, one more thing.... If the url has any spaces in it, don't convert them to %20. Just enclose the whole thing, with spaces, within quotes when you pass it as the command line parameter.

So your URL should be passed as "http://www.google.dk/search?q=c# idioms" and the utility will open this in the default browser: http://www.google.dk...arch?q=c%23%20idioms

3514

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by app103 on February 19, 2009, 01:27 PM »

I am back with another one that's off the beaten path...

Close your eyes when you click the link and don't open them till the song is halfway over. Trust me on this. You'll love it even more if you do.

http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=0ZbZRWINje4


and don't read these spoilers till after you come back:

Amazing fact #1

Sungha Jung is only 12

Amazing fact #2

It usually takes The Eagles at least 2 guitarists to play an arrangement like that, live in concert. Compare

More from same artist

More Than Words (The ending is great)
Fight (he was much younger when he did this one, about 9 years old)
He has over 100 videos uploaded

3515

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

« Last post by app103 on February 19, 2009, 09:56 AM »

I am using a .dll plugin that came with my copy of xchat (non-official version)

The other "plugin" that I am using that you could try is Amp2MX, which was originally designed to work with WinMX but works with a number of chat clients, like mIRC and a bunch of others that can handle a /me command. (not xchat though)

Setting the window handle of your chat client is a little weird though.

You have to right click the tray icon and select "Add Room" and then move the message box over the chat input area (right where you type) of the channel you want to use it in and make sure your mouse is directly over that when you click OK. Once you have done that, to display a song playing (on demand) you select "Display Song" from the tray menu, or to automate it to display automatically on song change you would select "Automatic Display".

3516

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

« Last post by app103 on February 19, 2009, 08:37 AM »

Ah, nice to know it works with EvilLyrics, thanks.  I'd assume EvilLyrics sees Trout as a "Winamp", right?  I built in a portion of the WinampAPI into Trout for this very reason...so that it would work with stuff like Samurize, IRC scripts, my own bbLean widgets, etc.

-skwire (February 19, 2009, 08:20 AM)

What exactly does that mean?

Are things that look for info from currently running instance of Winamp supposed to see Trout as an instance of Winamp? If so, it didn't work with the 3 things I tried it with, and crashed 2 of them.

Both xchat (with a winamp plugin) & Amp2MX (winamp automatic chatroom spammer) crashed, and RoboMX (chat client) just gave an error message of "the parameter is incorrect" when using the display current winamp song command.

Was there something I misunderstood about what this is for?

3517

Developer's Corner / Re: Beautiful Code: In your opinion, what makes code Beautiful?

« Last post by app103 on February 19, 2009, 12:15 AM »

A program is just like a recipe...

If it's cryptic the cook (coder) won't understand it and the meal will come out a disaster at some point in time.

Say "peas" when you mean "peas", "carrots" when you mean "carrots", and "eggs" when you mean "eggs". (use good variable names)
Substituting with x, y, and z will not do. How does it make any sense to refer to an "egg" in a recipe as "z"?

It is usually better to break it down into step by step instructions instead of having one giant mega do-it-all-in-one-step (this agrees with mouser)

Plan for getting amnesia (you will) by leaving notes to yourself (comments) to explain why you used what you used, and did what you did. If something doesn't work and you have fixed it, leave a note to yourself not to try that again. Example in recipe talk: soy milk makes instant pudding runny, use real milk only.

The end result is a recipe (program) that you will be able to undersatand like a master chef (master coder).

And if/when the time comes that you have to pass the recipe (code) down to the next generation (coder), they will be able to understand it too.

Now, if what I said doesn't make sense, ask your grandmother to explain it. She is probably a much better hacker than you give her credit for. 

3518

Living Room / Re: The Agreeable Cat - Never be Bound By Online Legal Agreements Again

« Last post by app103 on February 18, 2009, 03:45 PM »

Google says you are not allowed to click the Adsense ads on your own websites, but it's ok if your cat does.

3519

Living Room / Re: eBook readers

« Last post by app103 on February 17, 2009, 03:46 PM »

I don't know a thing about the process of downloading purchased books and where the files go by default, and all the particulars, as I only read free books. And I know nothing about Adobe Digital Editions.

The books I get are either .txt files that I convert to .lit myself, or they are already in .lit format, converted from .txt by someone else. Almost all are public domain works. the rest are various free normal pdf files acquired from various sources.

If you can't find your book files for MS Reader, just do a search of your system for *.lit. That should find them all for you. Then just move them where you want them. If you do not see them in your library the next time you run Reader or if they won't work when selecting through the software, then just find & click the .lit file in Explorer to open it that way and it should stick it in your software's library. (works for me)

And even those with DRM should be able to be moved around. The restrictions is on what PC can open them...not where on a pc they are located. Any device or pc that has a copy of MS Reader registered to the original purchaser of the book should be able to open the book. (you can copy the books from your desktop to your PDA, and read them, provided the copy of MS Reader on both the desktop and PDA are registered to the same person, and that person is the purchaser of the DRM protected book file.)

3520

Living Room / Re: eBook readers

« Last post by app103 on February 17, 2009, 03:11 PM »

You can also read MS Reader .lit books on the desktop, and in some cases you can have the software read it to you. This option is not in the PDA versions of the Reader software, but it is available in the desktop software. The only catch is that if the file is locked with DRM, usually text is your only option and not audio.

3521

General Software Discussion / Re: Overcoming the Cloud’s limits

« Last post by app103 on February 17, 2009, 05:26 AM »

It doesn't matter how much ODF we see, it will not prevent all the data you have in the cloud from disappearing.

It will not prevent censorship, either.

How would ODF have helped those that lost their bookmarks when Magnolia had their disaster?

What about those that had their data deleted by AOL, when they decided to discontinue a ton of different services? Half of their users weren't even properly warned. Some people lost many gigs of photos, baby pictures, wedding pictures, etc,. that were delivered from the photo developers direct to their AOL Pictures account, over the course of almost 10 years. Would ODF have stopped that?

Would ODF prevent sites like facebook from deleting photos of a woman breastfeeding her child? Or Flickr from deleting public domain works, with claims of copyright infringement? Or Blogger deleting music related posts?

No matter how you look at it, placing your data in the cloud puts your data at risk. It's not even a good backup solution.

Zaine, you have repeatedly mentioned ODF as if it is some magical cure all for all the world's needs. It's not and it does not and can not address the most important issues facing people moving to the cloud.

No, I don't embrace Microsoft's latest MS-OOXML crap, but  don't embrace ODF, either.

And even as a document format, ODF still not 100% ideal. Try opening an ODF file in notepad, or your browser (not using some online service), or Wordpad. In terms of compatibility, it still can't beat the classics like plain text, RTF (a standard developed by that "M" company that you hate), and basic HTML.

The truth is that very few people have software on their PC by default, that can handle ODF files, while most OS's come with the capability of displaying the other 3 formats I mentioned, without the need to purchase, download, or install any additional software. (or find software in the cloud to do it)

And of those 3, the one most suited for the cloud, is HTML. If you are going to live in your browser, why not use what was intended for a browser?

After spending the better part of last year on an 11 year old computer, incapable of running a lot of the newer software, I started to gain a greater appreciation of the simple classics like plain text, RTF, and HTML. And based on my experiences, I will never send a document to anyone that isn't in one of those formats, if I have any control over it. (I think you are well aware of the woes I had with software & formats last year, as I did ask for your help locating a cloud based solution to read PDF files, that wouldn't kill my slow, low memory PC)

3522

Living Room / Re: Meme time! Five Things People Don't Know About Me

« Last post by app103 on February 16, 2009, 02:44 PM »

I do have a few accounts where you can see photos, but must caution you that you're likely to wade through a bunch of stuff you don't wanna see in order to see anything worthwhile...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwbrant/

and for a more organized, but older, view:

http://public.fotki.com/dwbrant/  (I recommend the Landscapes and Infrared folders).

-dwbrant (February 16, 2009, 08:32 AM)

I like your ratz...especially this one. 

And you are quite right in recommending the landscape & IR stuff...absolutely breath taking!

3523

Living Room / Re: eBook readers

« Last post by app103 on February 16, 2009, 01:25 PM »

I have an older PocketPC (HP Jornada 540). For me, it's primary use is for reading ebooks. I also use it for IRC chat, playing puzzle games, & very basic web surfing during hot summer months. (There is only 1 room in my home with air conditioning, and my desktop computer is not in that room.)

I have both MS Reader and Pocket Adobe Reader on it, so I can read both .lit and PDF.

I prefer .lit for a few reasons, but the primary reason is file size.

There is an issue with certain PDF files, mainly related to either the age of the file or the software that was used to create it.

Pocket Adobe Reader reformats the files for reading on hand-held devices. To do this, it relies on a tagging system that is embedded in the original file. When you transfer the files from your desktop PC to your device, they are converted. With newer files containing real text, created in Adobe's own pdf creation software, there really aren't too many issues and it works pretty well most of the time.

The problem is really with older files that don't have these special embedded tags, and files created with certain non-Adobe pdf creation software that doesn't add them...and those files that are actually images and no real text can't be converted at all, to anything readable on my handheld device.

When you attempt to transfer a non-tagged, text based pdf file, from your desktop pc to the device (through ActiveSync), the automatic conversion utility will try to add tags to it (by guesswork) and the end result is a file twice the size as when you started (it also isn't always correctly tagged). PDF files are usually much larger than .lit to begin with, and when it's finished converting you could end up with a pdf book that takes up the same amount of space it would have if it were 25-30 copies of the same book in .lit format.

When you only have a 250mb CF card for storage, that can be a real issue to consider.

And I will agree with everyone else about handheld devices being good for reading novels, but not so good for reference books in which you would need to perform searches for info. MS Reader does allow you to create bookmarks, highlight passages, and write page notes (text & color doodles), much the same way you could in a physical book, but you would still have to do that first in order to find something again later. A dictionary in .lit is pretty much useless. As a matter of fact, a dictionary in pdf is also pretty useless on a PocketPC.

3524

Living Room / Re: A free album of music from Edith Frost - one of my favorite singers

« Last post by app103 on February 15, 2009, 07:08 PM »

It's Creative Commons licensed, so you are free to share.

3525

Living Room / Re: DC should be Twittering its new topic posts!

« Last post by app103 on February 15, 2009, 05:51 PM »

Zaine:

Your wish was granted: https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=17049.0