Recent Posts

36201

Screenshot Captor / Re: Request: Auto print

« Last post by mouser on August 14, 2005, 11:29 AM »

the idea of bringing up a dialog to let user choose what to do is interesting, especially if it showed all the user tools in the menu..

36202

Screenshot Captor / Re: Request: Auto print

« Last post by mouser on August 14, 2005, 11:28 AM »

i can add an auto print checkbox, that seems reasonable.

as for auto save options - i think these already exist - you can tell screenshot captor to automatically always ask you, or never ask you.
let me know if you mean something different.

36203

Screenshot Captor / Re: Make the "Filename prefix" 'stand alone' from the template

« Last post by mouser on August 14, 2005, 11:25 AM »

yes i understand.
i will add the %T% field and an option to make it do what you say.

36204

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: I dream of a non-creepy keystroke logger

« Last post by mouser on August 14, 2005, 09:14 AM »

actually iorange,

if plans for clipboard help+spell continue as we have been discussing,
then there will be addon modules to automatically aid in keeping various information, and an "Activity Logger" addon, which did EXACTLY what you asked for in this thread would be one of the first things i write.  it would basically keep a log of your activity for the reasons you described.

36205

Activation/License/Language Help / Re: Any chinese readers here?

« Last post by mouser on August 14, 2005, 09:11 AM »

thanks - i *think* i just sent him a message.  hehe

36206

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: Spirited Away for Windows

« Last post by mouser on August 14, 2005, 09:06 AM »

brilliant idea - i'd like to see this implemented as well.
(just minimize it on inactivity for a certain amount of time).

this snack needs to be able to take a list of exceptions though - certain programs i don't want minimized no matter how long they've been left idle.

36207

Drag&Drop Robot / Re: CounterSpy flagged files - query

« Last post by mouser on August 14, 2005, 09:04 AM »

the way these install programs work is when they install a program they copy the files onto your computer, along with an UNINSTALLER helper program.  iun6002.exe is the uninstaller helper utility for all programs installed using SetupFactory v6.00.2 (or something like that).

so when you tell windows to uninstall find&run robot, that uninstaller helper program iun6002.exe gets run, it figures out which files it should remove from your computer and removes them.

(different installers put their uninstaller helper utility in different places.  for example the new inno setup installer i use creates a file called:
unins000.exe, and puts it in the application directory when it installs it.  setup factory decided to use c:\windows\ presumably so that you would only have to have this utility once on your hard drive for all programs installed with setup factory.)

36208

Drag&Drop Robot / Re: any drag&drop users?

« Last post by mouser on August 14, 2005, 01:26 AM »

after you spend some time here you will see how verbose i can be so no need for apologies

actually what you are requesting is implemented already - just not well documented in current help file.

see this thread for the fields to grab various parts of the file name:
https://www.donation...ndex.php?topic=666.0

i'd be happy to add more fields if any can be thought of that would be useful.

the return code flagging seems exactly right; next version will include an option to report error return codes if desired.

36209

Drag&Drop Robot / Re: CounterSpy flagged files - query

« Last post by mouser on August 13, 2005, 10:12 PM »

btw - for unrelated reasons i now use the nice freeware installer tools Inno Setup, so this won't be an issue for future versions of drag&drop.

36210

Drag&Drop Robot / Re: CounterSpy flagged files - query

« Last post by mouser on August 13, 2005, 10:10 PM »

what's probably happened, and the way these things tend to happen is that there is some spyware or adward they discover, and they try to pick a piece of it that identifies it, and they end up flagging other similar stuff with the same brush.

you can rest assured i would NEVER put any adware, spyware, etc. in any program i wrote. EVER.

at least its not an antivirus false alarm - occasional an antivirus will flag a program unfairly and its a nightmare because suddenly the author of the program is inundated with people freaking out..

36211

Drag&Drop Robot / Re: any drag&drop users?

« Last post by mouser on August 13, 2005, 10:07 PM »

we were just talking about how d&d should maybe be given an option wrt. return codes, which it currently ignores..
what exactly do you mean that "D&D doesn't offer the option to just manipulate the 1st node of the file so that source and target files are different when converting MP3 to MP3."

there are some very good lame gui tools btw, razorlame is one i think, that you might want to check out.

36212

Living Room / Re: Deluxe/Pro versions: Good or Bad?

« Last post by mouser on August 13, 2005, 06:58 PM »

subscription based pricing is evil, except in the rare case where the very nature of the software makes it require constant content.
(ie i think you might be able to make a case for antivirus programs being subscription based, since the program cannot stand still and must be adding antivirus patterns every day).

36213

Living Room / Re: Deluxe/Pro versions: Good or Bad?

« Last post by mouser on August 13, 2005, 05:17 PM »

a word of advice to people who do not have an abundance of money: write to the companies/authors selling the program you like.
explain your situation whatever it may be.  tell them you love their program, you want to pay for it, but you can't afford the full price, etc. be honest, be real, be friendly.  tell them what you want to use it for and why, etc.  especially if you want to use it for a good purpose.

you'd be surprised at how many companies have real people working for them that are supportive of such things.
and you'll probably also find yourself being able to identify companies that are good vs. bad in terms of responding to users, caring about their users, etc. and you'll get at the minimum some idea of whether there are real humans that answer emails at the company.

36214

Drag&Drop Robot / Re: CounterSpy flagged files - query

« Last post by mouser on August 13, 2005, 05:13 PM »

these are both files related to the installer used in drag&drop robot.
quite harmless, not sure why counterspy is flagging them as risky. 

a good indication that counterspy is be wildly ridiculous is the fact that the irunin.lng is a plain text file which just contains info about captions to show in the setup program, and all you have to do is open it in a text editor to see that it is not only harmless, but devoid of anything that should even suggest a danger.  sometimes these antispyware/virus apps will react to the strangest things..

what exactly does it say?

ps - this is a good opportunity to remind me - be very careful trusting cleaning apps to properly identify spyware and stuff.
i've yet to run a registry cleaner, for example, that didnt want to remove critical entries from my registry thinking they were spyware when they weren't.  and i always wince when i see that because i wonder how many people just hit ok and let these apps mess up their computer in the name of trying to have a clean registry.

36215

Living Room / Re: Deluxe/Pro versions: Good or Bad?

« Last post by mouser on August 13, 2005, 03:38 PM »

i should make something else clear -
i have been very pleasently surprised by how many companies have given me very reduced prices or even free licenses for programming components that i have used in my software - without such discounts and free licenses i would not have been able to produce some of the programs i have.  to those companies i have great respect and appreciation.

also i need to make clear the problem is not just with the company - it is a combined problem with company and consumers.
there is no solution unless consumers would be willing to pay fair amount for software and pay according to what ehy could afford.  if consumers are always trying to find ways to avoid paying anything, then there is no solution.

so i'm not blaming the companies as much as a i am saddened by the system as a whole.
i'd just like to find a better way, but it requires a reasonable sized base of producers and consumers willing to support each other, and it requires a change in goals - if the goal is to make the most money possible - if greed runs the show, then it won't work.  if the object is to make a reasonable living doing something you love, then there is a better way.

36216

Living Room / Re: Deluxe/Pro versions: Good or Bad?

« Last post by mouser on August 13, 2005, 02:25 PM »

yes there are development costs for sure,
and on one hand i agree that offering different versions is a way to make the software available to everyone and get more money from serious users while letting casual users off easier.

but what i am reacting to is the core peversity of the system.
the reason that the lite version has less features is because the author has no other way to force people to buy the pro version.
it doesnt cost more to sell the parts of the pro version.

the reason the lite version has less features is to insure that people who can afford to will pay more for the pro version.
ideally youd like to offere a lite and pro version with same exact features and say, those of you who can/would pay more for pro version send me a bigger payment please.  no one would.  so we have this game of trying to figure out the right number of features to remove in order to nudge the most lite users who can afford to to buy pro version.

or imagine you get a call from a poor doctor in some third world country who wants to use your $10,000 medical program; his hospital has no money to pay for medicine let alone this luxury software.  now what do you lose by giving him a free copy? nothing, he wasn't gonig to buy it anyway so you've lost nothing, and quite possibly gained much in the way of good will.

thats why im loving the new trends to offering the same program with multiple licenses, ie if you are using this for business then you pay this amount, if for personal non-profit use than a lesser amount.

i know its a pipe dream, but part of why i want to do donation software is to get around such games.  if both sellers and consumers could come to a mutual agreement of paying what its worth to the person then there would be no point to play these games.

36217

Official Announcements / Welcome our new blog columnist, Sentinel

« Last post by mouser on August 13, 2005, 01:54 PM »

We have a new blog columnist starting today, Sentinel, who will focus on software (and hardware) from the perspective of larger Enterprise level organizations.

You can see his first blog entries here:
https://www.donation...umns/mts/b_sentinel/

36218

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: mouse location launcher

« Last post by mouser on August 13, 2005, 11:58 AM »

you know i really like this idea -
it's more of a way of working than a new application, as you say.
the existing virtual desktops can already do most of this.

its definitely appealing idea, you switch to "music" desktop and it automatically has your music program opened and any helper programs opened, and arranged where you like them.  i think it makes a lot of sense.

maybe it does call for a slightly customized virtual desktop tool.. that is more like a list of "active" virtual desktops, wish easy way to shut off the programs running on them, and describe the programs you want running on each, along with a custom launch bar on each one.

its interesting to think about what a program would look like that would be combine these purposes.  most of the software already exists.

i'm thinking maybe like a launch bar with different "modes"
each mode would represent a different virtual desktop.
so by selecting a mode you select which apps are available on the launch bar and switch to the different virtual desktop and launch all the apps with the checkmarks enabled in the launch bar.  something like that.

36219

Living Room / Re: How-to: Install OS X x86 natively on your PC!

« Last post by mouser on August 13, 2005, 11:43 AM »

more resources:
http://www.osx86project.org/
http://wiki.osx86pro...ex.php/Vmware_how_to

36220

Living Room / Re: Deluxe/Pro versions: Good or Bad?

« Last post by mouser on August 13, 2005, 09:33 AM »

i definitely agree with you jpfx -
the absurdity is really that software has no cost to reproduce.

so the bizarre nature of capitalism means that it would cost them $0 to give you the pro version; but they sell you the lite version because they need to force you to pay the maximum you will pay.

in other words, if a company KNEW you would never buy the pro version then they should just give it to you for price of lite version (or in fact for whatever price you would be willing to pay for it, even if it was $1).  but because no one can trust each other to pay what they think something is worth, we are in a game of trying to figure out ways to extort the most money from people as possible, and as consumers we are in a game of trying to pay as little as possible, regardless of worth or our financial situation.  it's depressing.

36221

Screenshot Captor / Re: Coming soon.. Arrows, callouts, textboxes

« Last post by mouser on August 13, 2005, 09:29 AM »

thats a qood question about format..

i can load vector art in emf or wmf format, or any raster format.
if its raster format it should probably be pretty high-resolution so that it can be scaled to a large size (say 640x480) and still look good.

i wonder if there is already some simple callout image format already defines that includes info about where text should be placed.. if not i was thinking something very simple like this:

there would be a subdirectory in ScreenshotCaptor directory labeled StampsAndCallouts
in that directory would be images, and with some images a simple text file describing the coordinates of a rectangular box where the text would go.

so we would just have images there that would be useful for adding to screenshots, like maybe a "new!" sticker image.

and also callouts, which would exist like:
BubbleCallout.wmf (the image)
BubbleCallout.textboxinfo (would simply contain a line like "10,10,200,20" specifying the location of the text box that should be created inside the image when placed on the screen).

users will be able to add their own stamps and callouts just by placing files in that directory, i just thought it would be nice to have a few samples.  maybe you can help make some ampa after i get the feature working.

36222

Living Room / How-to: Install OS X x86 natively on your PC!

« Last post by mouser on August 12, 2005, 08:09 PM »

http://www.360hacker...viewtopic.php?p=1108

36223

Living Room / Re: Getting Started with C#

« Last post by mouser on August 12, 2005, 07:57 PM »

D is an attempt to improve C++ by a very skilled programmer (author of the digital mars c++ compiler).
its got some nice stuff - but its still a very small project with very few people working on it, which is going to limit its usefulness.

36224

General Software Discussion / Re: Question- Lost folder view after win2k update

« Last post by mouser on August 12, 2005, 07:54 PM »

omg i've never seen such a thing. not good.
have you tried rebooting?

36225

Living Room / Re: Programming in general...

« Last post by mouser on August 12, 2005, 07:09 PM »

if you want to play with assembly,
we happen to have TWO real assembler pros here: jibz (one of our columnists) + boro.

and they can answer any assembly question you can dream up.

want to see some insanity, check out some of bor0's assembly programs here:
http://www.dcmembers.com/bor0

youll find [ASM Sources] for :

bcrypt.zip // basic crypt algo.
cddisabler.zip // basic API hooking.
google.zip // google search application.
mousepos.zip // reads/sets mouse position and can read asterisks (*) as well.
osinfo.zip // displays basic information about your OS.
strrip.zip // audio stream ripper.