Recent Posts

3576

Clipboard Help+Spell / Re: Clipboard Help and Spell

« Last post by Ath on June 11, 2010, 06:43 AM »

I'd expect it an issue with the AV, most users just use the Run option when downloading, and the way the self-extracting zip is handled is probably not to the liking of that AV package.
Your suggestion of putting it in another location is most likely going to fix it.

'Real' troubles concerning false positives with Inno Setup installers are usually solved within hours or days after a report to the AV vendor, when they push their next update...

(Been an Inno Setup user/supporter for over 10 years)

3577

Living Room / Re: Linux based E-book reader with two touchscreens about to be released.

« Last post by Ath on June 11, 2010, 02:54 AM »

Finally an e-reader with a large enough screen for us 45+ trying to avoid bi-focal glasses

3578

Living Room / Re: Approaches to computer builds

« Last post by Ath on June 07, 2010, 03:18 PM »

And whatever you buy: Let it be of good quality, as cheap is going to shoot you in the foot somewhere along the road (or when on the road)

3579

Developer's Corner / Re: OCX or API call to control notebook LCD brightness

« Last post by Ath on May 08, 2010, 08:31 AM »

I repeat (haha) the "off/on" toggle option is a great idea for those wanting "sudden privacy" or a goof like me doing long hours of programming and needs to go do *other* things for some minutes and allow processing to continue. In this line of thinking perhaps it would be best to have a password along with the "off"?

-AmericanoInPhils (April 23, 2010, 09:14 PM)

Isn't that what {win}+L combined with the Empty screensaver is for?

3580

General Software Discussion / Re: XML editor

« Last post by Ath on May 08, 2010, 08:27 AM »

Despite all the structured views of the XML managers (editors seems a little too less description) named here, I'm not going to switch from my favorite for handling XML: Notepad++ (aka NPP). None of them handles XML much easier then just like plain text, and the default color settings are sometimes even worst than plain b/w.
NPP handles XML just so nicely, by offering the entire file in the editor window, with all/current nodes (un)collapsible with simple keystrokes, a readable color coding default setting, and what not. And because I use it a lot when handling any text-like files, it is installed on most of my development and test systems, so I usually have it around when I need it

3581

Living Room / Re: Should I swtich from w7 32 bit to w7 64 bit?

« Last post by Ath on April 11, 2010, 07:47 AM »

Been on Vista x64 since November 2007. Just because I bought the Dell system with it, and one of the intentions was to run VMWare on it with several VM's in parallel. Now it's just a pity that there's only 4 GB of RAM in it, in 1 GB modules, and replacing that is rather expensive, as there are no vacant dimm slots.
Mots troubles back then where hardware drivers and AV issues. There was no proper x64 version of what AV package available. Luckily that all changed big time over the last 2 years.
Switched to Windows 7 x64 last September. Now only wait for my PC to get replaced, by the end of this year, so I can have more RAM (I'm aiming for 16 GB ) to finally run more than 3 VM's (2003/2008 server) next to each other, and actually use them/put to work at the same time.

All my new/re-installed PC's (at home as well) get treated with x64 Windows 7 these days, as I haven't found any current software that won't work on 64 bit Windows yet. (The earlier troubles are long gone). And the use of extra memory is a nice benefit for most software.
Sometimes older hardware, like Canon & HP printers and Canon scanners, need to be hooked up directly to get the proper drivers from Windows Update, but after that they can be easily connected through the network.

3582

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows XP to Vista to Windows 7 Upgrade advice

« Last post by Ath on March 04, 2010, 03:12 PM »

Well, you'd better not try to press the current XP installation into XPMode: that's not going to happen.
Get a real virtualization tool like VMWare (Server, Player 3, Workstation) and try to import the XP install into a virtual machine (either local or remote though the network, then both should be same cpu-brand AMD or Intel). If that works (ymmv, did it several times, but not always successfully), run the VM and see if all is well (turn down the memory setting for the VM by about 50% to be able to start it properly) If all still is well, store the VM and enhance the PC to a clean install of Win7, install the VMware product you used earlier, and run the VM if & when needed. Presto! you're done

3583

General Software Discussion / Re: Free Pascal - Lazarus?

« Last post by Ath on February 26, 2010, 04:17 PM »

Hm, I'd wait another 6 weeks or so (April 12 is the planned release date...), and get the VS2010 C# Express edition (but the RC I have installed in a VM is much, much better than the beta 2 of a few months ago). Looks like VS is nearly up to par with Eclipse for an IDE (I still like Eclipse better, and it's always improving ) but VS2010 Express has big potential, and the price is right

3584

General Software Discussion / Re: Should I pay to go from 3.0 to 3.1?

« Last post by Ath on February 26, 2010, 11:00 AM »

The real question ofcourse is: Do the improvements warrant the upgrade-price?

3585

Developer's Corner / Re: Fixing user-sent coding-bugs as "challenges"?

« Last post by Ath on February 26, 2010, 10:53 AM »

Hm, I'm not allowed to show any code I mock up, because my contract explicitly forbids that

3586

Living Room / Re: What's a good giveaway idea?

« Last post by Ath on February 20, 2010, 04:30 AM »

And added to what Stoic Joker says, an extra qualifier could be that the comment has the best/most useful new feature request of all comments posted .

3587

Finished Programs / Re: SOLVED: Run commands on computer remotely via email

« Last post by Ath on February 02, 2010, 05:23 PM »

Isn't this what your average script kiddy is trying to achieve, sending you email with a link of a pretty/nude girl?

3588

Developer's Corner / Re: Regex help, please?

« Last post by Ath on February 02, 2010, 04:58 PM »

I can't comprehend how secret your data is , but dropping it into an online regex tester would reveal any mistakes you can make in one day
I'd either drop it on www.regexlib.com/RETester.aspx or www.regextester.com (but the latter is Java based)

3589

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Final Release: Startup Bully

« Last post by Ath on January 04, 2010, 04:57 PM »

Could this be tweaked to kill the unwanted QuickLaunch entry that Outlook creates every time it is started? Now that would be nice! Or am I missing some point here...

3590

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Release: Piggy Banks

« Last post by Ath on January 04, 2010, 03:21 PM »

The only features that I missed so far are:
- Set a starting date in the past, for the sums I already saved up
- Select a different interval, f.e. every Sunday, or the first or last day of each month
In the last case, then the projected arrival date should be in the same magnitude, I presume.

I may be over-bidding, but I'm saving for a new compiler, and my monthly sum doesn't fit well in a daily accrual  

3591

DonationCoder.com Newsletters / Re: Special Edition Newsletter for January 4th, 2010 - Codename "NANY APPS 2010"

« Last post by Ath on January 04, 2010, 03:06 PM »

Well, congrats to all who made the NANY a success again this year!

I almost entered, but was already pretty sure I couldn't pull this new project off in time, so I never even dared to pledge 
It's still not even halfway finished (20/80 instead of 80/20), but probably I'll publish this one later, and do a fresh retry by the end of this year.

Thanks for giving us this great podium.

3592

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Discrepancy Trainer

« Last post by Ath on December 31, 2009, 09:07 AM »

+1 for Bestimate

3593

Older Newsletters / Re: --> Newsletter for December 9th, 2009 - "The NANY Event Begins"

« Last post by Ath on December 10, 2009, 02:59 PM »

Thanx, it's even starring me

3594

Developer's Corner / Re: Is there such a thing as Rentacoder in reverse?

« Last post by Ath on December 10, 2009, 02:48 PM »

Isn't that what 50% or so (may be even 80%) of all 2-men software-startups are all about, 1 guy with a good idea and some sourcecode, and another guy with commercial skills (and/or funding) to get it sold?

3595

Developer's Corner / Re: Is there such a thing as Rentacoder in reverse?

« Last post by Ath on November 15, 2009, 08:30 AM »

You could create a section of the forum/site, where coders could publish their app, and receive payment by credits. These credits could then be transfered to their creditcard or paypal accounts, so the payment is dealt with. After receiving the payment, the coder would have to release the software to the paying 'customers', similar to the Apple AppStore, with similar prices.

I'm pretty sure this can already be done with the current infrastructure of DC

3596

Developer's Corner / Re: What's your Programming Language?

« Last post by Ath on November 15, 2009, 08:21 AM »

Where does Java provide more functionality? It doesn't even support pointers.

-Tuxman (November 15, 2009, 06:47 AM)

It does, it only hides them from us, mere programmers.

3597

Developer's Corner / Re: What's your Programming Language?

« Last post by Ath on November 15, 2009, 08:18 AM »

Hm, the whole programming language discussion is, as always, very interesting, but imho it boils down to the simple paradigm: "Crap in, Crap out".
If one is trying to write a C style program in Java, or a huge project in i386 assembly, you should really not be surprised the end-result is not what you had hoped for.
The managed environments like the JVM and .NET advertise that they will cleanup after you leave an object-scope, but it sure makes a lot of difference in what state you leave your 'trash' behind. Setting objects to null when no longer needed in your Java or C# programs is just as effective as freeing allocated memory in your C programs, regarding the memory use.

Not every programming language is fit for every job, even if some are fit for more jobs than others. I wouldn't be writing a device driver in Java any day soon, but I would not even consider writing a GUI app in assembly language, or C (the closest thing to assembly language, imo).

For every project, there should be a clear and motivated choice for the language and libraries/frameworks used, and not try to 'fix' things later by adding other languages/libraries if the first choice happens to be 'sub-optimal'. In that case: Redo from start.

/Ath

3598

Living Room / Re: Portable computer

« Last post by Ath on November 14, 2009, 03:10 AM »

You should avoid the Celeron processor if you want to use that laptop for any serious computing, like playing a movie while on the road, these processors have serious performance issues, as in being sloooowwww, any day of the week.

3599

Living Room / Re: How would you improve a standard PC keyboard?

« Last post by Ath on November 12, 2009, 01:59 PM »

Nobody else misses the APP key?

-AndyM (November 12, 2009, 01:25 PM)

++1;

Yes, should have mentioned that in my rant, earlier, on the bad new layout issue. Now I have to hunt for the Shift-F10 combination.
Also have to add the crap descision to regroup the functionkeys by 3 instead of the once common 4 key layout. It gets worst, I guess , can't believe I paid all that money for such a crappy designed keyboard

3600

Living Room / Re: How would you improve a standard PC keyboard?

« Last post by Ath on November 12, 2009, 05:08 AM »

Well, I've been using the Logitech Cordless MX Duo for years, and the best feature, next to standard Insert/Delete/etc keys, is the scrollwheel on the left side. It scrolls exactly like when pressing cursor up and down keys, so is the perfect alternative when scrolling long lists, web pages and comboboxes.
I've been a professional programmer for decades now, and the only thing I didn't like about this keyboard, was that the keys actually wear from the heavy use I've subjected it to. It's not that the impressed characters on top wear off, but the key mechanics have degraded to a point that they sometimes are not properly pressable because of 'tilting', as you don't always put your finger in the middle to hit a key. I've retired it to my home-office, as the 'heavy duty' use is at work (yes, I took my own keyboard there, because the standard 13 in a dozen keyboards cause me RSI ).
It took me just about 4 years to wear it to a point it got really annoying, and now I can't buy a new one, but I'm still searching for a decent alternative...

<rant>
Another feature I'd like to have back, is the correct layout of the Insert/Home/PgUp/Delete/End/PgDn keys. They tend to be regrouped in all modern keyboards, but the reason is totally unclear to me. The Insert key (I regularly use Shift-Ins) in the new layout is way out of reach, next to F12, and I keep hitting PgDn or Delete when I actually wanted End, etc.
Whoever designed that should be fired (at).
</rant>