Recent Posts

3701

Finished Programs / Re: DONE: Program to Start another program, and then shut down after xx:xx time.

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 21, 2013, 09:45 AM »

The trouble with a general-purpose program termination routine is knowing particulars of the program to be terminated.  For example, if the target program is an editor, how to make it save febore killing it. If it's writing to the drive, how to detect it and wait until it's done etc...

A pop-up reminder saying "Don't you want to terminate App xyz??" may be simpler.

3702

Unfinished Requests / Re: Daydreaming of a Coding Snack

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 21, 2013, 09:40 AM »

Maybe you need a "brainstorming snack" to aid you in coming up with other snack ideas?  Something like Burroughs cutting the newspaper strips and arranging them.  Categories of software just jumpled with computer-related verbs or something? 

3703

General Software Discussion / Re: browse without hands

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 21, 2013, 09:29 AM »

Heh.  Reminds me.. I had a neighbor with motion detection emergency/spotlight activation in his condo. Pull in the driveway, the lights come on.  Unforutnately, if I sat on his porch at the table and used hand gestures while telling a story, I got the spotlight in the face.  Made me feel like Dragnet 3rd degree was being applied!!  Ok!! I confess! Just turn off the damn spotlight!!!  

3704

Living Room / Re: Messed Up in Miami

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 21, 2013, 09:25 AM »

Hmm, what I can do on these machines is close to Guest account.  Even right click of the mouse is disabled.  No way I could install say AHK_L  executables.  I'm pretty much stuck until I can achieve critical mass.  I'll get there, but each step takes so long it's very frustrating.  Like for the bit about not letting us homeless use laptops they invoke some mumbo/jumbo about the shelfter having some tax exempt status, therefore, it doesn't support the library. It's just another artificial barrier.  Like forcing you to shave out in the street using a hand mirror.

I have to progress like The Heat did last night.  Get 3 points, give up 2.  

3705

Living Room / Re: Messed Up in Miami

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 20, 2013, 09:16 AM »

Now I can avoid chocolate ice cream withdrawal.

-MilesAhead (June 19, 2013, 12:30 PM)

Live and learn, I didn't know you could withdraw chocolate ice cream with an EBT card. What will you have instead?

-cranioscopical (June 20, 2013, 09:03 AM)

Heh heh.  Actually I withdraw the chocolate ice cream from my checking, then deposit it in my pre-paid Visa.  Then the clerk will let me widthraw a pint from the freezer case.     (Nah, EBT is easier.)

Thanks for the sentiments.  It's nice to know I'm still connected to a world where people do more than just dodge the rain.

3706

Living Room / Re: Messed Up in Miami

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 19, 2013, 12:30 PM »

Yay!!  Got my EBT replacement card today.  It works!!  Now I can avoid chocolate ice cream withdrawal.  

As an aside I read an article that San Fran is experimenting with allowing some restaurants to accept EBT.  Of all places to try first, they chose Subway.  Granted I haven't tried them in many years.  But any time I pop in the local one to ask a question I'm met with palpable hostility.  Makes me wish they'd try something more practical like McDonalds type places and diners.  You can often get a full egg breakfast for the price of a 1/4 pounder with cheese, in a diner.

3707

General Software Discussion / Re: browse without hands

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 19, 2013, 12:17 PM »

Perhaps there's an eye tracking peripheral like the fighter pilots use to lock rockets on target?  It should be fast once you learn to control your blinking. 

3708

Living Room / Re: Interview with Philip K. Dick

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 19, 2013, 12:14 PM »

Thanks for posting.  I've been reading some non-SciFi PKD lately. 

3709

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: AutoMaximize Windows

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 18, 2013, 12:39 PM »

It doesn't seem difficult.  As each window has the focus a tray program could check if the handle is in the list of already processed windows.  If not, get the window attribute.  Check if it has maximize button in frame.  If so, and the current state is not maximized, then max it.

Unfortunately I'm on public library computers for the time beaing.  I can't load any programs let alone programming tools like AHK_L.

A simple Object or associative array with the window handle as the key should be fine for keeping track of windows that have already been maxed.

You could also check a program called WinSize2 to see if it already has the feature.

3710

Living Room / Re: Messed Up in Miami

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 17, 2013, 10:22 AM »

So far I still have a USB with my AHK_L source code.

-MilesAhead (June 10, 2013, 01:39 PM)

If you'd like (and are allowed to from the library), you can upload your source to me and I'll back it up here and through CrashPlan.  Or, you can mail it to me to copy and I'll mail it back.

-skwire (June 14, 2013, 08:08 PM)

Thank you. I'll look into the nuts & bolts as I am paranoid about the USB being taken or getting broken.

3711

Living Room / Re: My New Philosophy

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 13, 2013, 12:38 PM »

I always like this one:

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.
 John Lennon

Seems often I "surf" life like surfing the web.  I start out with a specific destination or purpose.  When I find I can't go there or do that, I choose something from what's possible at the time.   

3712

Living Room / Re: Messed Up in Miami

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 12, 2013, 10:19 AM »

I just thought I'd relate one incident that happened to me recently.  With all the people hassling you when you try to do something like shave in the rest room, fill up your water bottle from the bubbler, etc.. it's easy to feel like the majority of humans are a**holes.  But instances like this resotore your faith a bit.

It's raining buckets in downtown. I'm sitting in my spot.  This hot looking black woman age about 27 parks her car.  She sees me sitting there and asks if I want a sandwich.  Apparently she had one on the front seat of the car.  But I was really dying for a coffee (You can't buy a cup of coffee with EBT for reasons I can't fathom.)  So she says, "Ok, I won't be long."  She pulls an umbrella out of the car and walks about 120 yards in driving rain to 7/11 and comes back with a coffee on a tray and hands it to me.

It's nice to see there are some really nice people around.  It sure cheered me up. 

3713

Living Room / Re: Messed Up in Miami

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 12, 2013, 10:11 AM »

have the problem of replacing debit and ebt cards without a safe mail address in Miami

-MilesAhead (June 10, 2013, 01:39 PM)

Can you find an officer in a local bank who'll act as recipient, especially if it's the same bank as the issuer of your card?

PM me if you need something.

-cranioscopical (June 11, 2013, 05:41 PM)

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I have it now. Another homeless guy brought me right to the post office downtown so I'd know how to find it.  According to the woman there, mail just has to be sent to my name with GENERAL DELIVERY, Maini Florida and zip as the address.  You queue up to pick up the mail. As long as the people are will to mail to general delivery I should be ok. I'm going to call them in a few hours.

3714

Living Room / Re: Messed Up in Miami

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 11, 2013, 09:19 AM »

Yikes!

Good luck Miles!

I've been OD'ing on Dr. Who and other SciFi lately, and I'm giggling about a mental image of using your prior software to fix your life!

"Hit control F10 and a special version of BBSS recreates your wallet!"
 

-TaoPhoenix (June 10, 2013, 03:55 PM)

Where's them 3D Printers when you need 'em.

3715

Living Room / Re: Messed Up in Miami

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 11, 2013, 09:18 AM »

Or find a DC friend in Miami, and have the stuff sent over there.

-Ath (June 10, 2013, 04:07 PM)

Dude, if I lived in Miami, you'd totally have a roof over your head to recover at.  That said, I don't, but I'm praying PLEASE some DC'er in Florida lend a hand, hm?

-Edvard (June 10, 2013, 11:05 PM)

May I interest you in some fairly dry swamp land?  heh heh
What's amazing to me is the number of people who could "go home" if they wanted to. But many are getting disability and with no rent to pay they can party quite well.  Me, I'd rather get back to programming.

3716

Living Room / Re: Messed Up in Miami

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 11, 2013, 09:16 AM »

Thanks for the replies and donations.  It's not all bad. Some of the most beautiful women ever walking down the street wearing clothing that should generate an arrest.    It was going pretty well until the wallet hijack. I think what I may have to do is see if the cards can be sent to general delivery. I'm not sure if they'll do that.  Thank God for some of the clerks in 7/11.  I've been buying stuff with the card there for 4 monts and they have been letting me buy food using the numbers(even though technically you're supposed to have the card even when manually entering.)  Good thing I printed the card number out.

I hope to get the cards replaced in the next couple of days.

Thanks again for all the good wishes.  (Even though I have an hour on I feel like I'm typing in panic mode. It will take me a while to acclimate.) 

3717

Living Room / Messed Up in Miami

« Last post by MilesAhead on June 10, 2013, 01:39 PM »

Some of you were wondering why I fell off the face of the Earth.  Simple foreclosure victim. I'm living on the streets of Miami.  Unfortunately a couple weeks ago a pick pocket took my wallet while I was sleeping(they cut your pocket out with a razor so you won't wake up.)  I just got a Miami library card. So I'll be able to get online a couple of hours a day.  But now I have the problem of replacing debit and ebt cards without a safe mail address in Miami.  The shelters aren't the place to have mailed anything containing something that feels like a credit card.

Just thought I'd post to let you all know I'm still alive.  So far I still have a USB with my AHK_L source code.  Hepefully at some point I can get back to a normal life.   The irony is the theif got $2 in cash.  He didn't get anything out of my checking or EBT accounts.  It's just the grief of no access while replacing the cards.

Bruins and Heat are both in the finals but I have to settle for listening on radio.  Sucks when I used to have HDTV.  


ttyl

3718

General Software Discussion / Re: Software that sounded useful, so you bought it, but then...

« Last post by MilesAhead on January 04, 2013, 09:16 PM »

I too try text editors and file managers. But I don't keep many. The text editor may have a feature that is handy only occasionally. If it's not too bulky then it may be worth keeping. Most of the time the File Managers don't last long unless they are portable and take very little space. Too many new hotkeys, buttons and other stuff to remember. I tend to go back to FreeCommander just to save the frustration.

What I find too is that technology moves on. I have no need to encode from (S)VCD anymore.  The system imaging program that worked great on XP doesn't work so well on Vista and later etc..

Also freeware makes great strides. I don't renew paid programs when I find free utilities that work better for me.  One example is Easus ToDo Backup Free.  It works better than any paid program of its sort I've tried so far.

Office Suites tend to be removed after a short trial. I just don't need to do presentations at corporate meetings. They seem to want to throw all that and the kitchen sink in just to get a word processor that can do stuff with word files people insist on posting instead of something portable. 

3719

Living Room / Re: win7 + external HDD

« Last post by MilesAhead on January 03, 2013, 01:38 AM »

I would ask here

From things I'm hearing here and there I don't think W7 64 bit is as solid as Vista64. I did a custom install of 32 bit W7 over Vista 32 bit. It worked out fine. I tried the same thing only with W7 64 bit on top of Vista64. I had to restore from my saved image to put Vista64 back on. The system would boot. But it was too flaky to use like that.

3720

Developer's Corner / Re: Learn C (and other things...) the Hard Way

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 29, 2012, 11:54 AM »

For Linux if you want to jump in the deep end, go Perl.  Perl Regular Expressions. Those substitution statements were what made me rip my hair out.  Ruby you can use them and the overall syntax of the language is a little less arcane. But Perl likely has the larger installed base of programs on Linux.

3721

Developer's Corner / Re: Learn C (and other things...) the Hard Way

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 28, 2012, 04:52 PM »

I found this little RegEx Tester freebie on SourceForge:
http://regextester.sourceforge.net

Not sure how good it is. But it should be helpful for some not very RegEx skilled like myself. Easy to use. From what I can see it saves no settings. Just copy the exe to a directory in the Path.

3722

General Software Discussion / Re: Multi-boot Live USB

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 28, 2012, 01:33 PM »

This is the best resource I've found for all things bootable. But you may have to look around and ask around. There's bound to be any kind of boot from USB you can imagine there or you can find links there.

3723

General Software Discussion / Re: Multi-boot Live USB

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 28, 2012, 12:51 PM »

From what I've seen, multi-boot sticks use iso images for the OS and load av tools as a rescue boot disk.  What you want sounds to me like you need to image a HD that has a multi-boot setup, then "restore" the image to a USB stick. I'm not sure which imaging software will do it.  But some techs on other boards told my they use an external USB HD enclosure with a live OS on the drive, for toolkit. I'd say it's probably possible at least for a single OS. Multi-boot may be more difficult. Also I'm not sure how the licensing goes for something like that.

I would look around on Macrium forums.

3724

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Open Registry by selecting Registry Path

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 26, 2012, 11:33 AM »

RegJump is what I use (along with a simple AHK clipboard script).

-skwire (December 03, 2012, 11:17 AM)

I tried using RegJump but nothing happens when I run it. I suppose I am missing something...Can you provide the steps to get this working along with AHK scripts?

-Nzyme (December 26, 2012, 05:58 AM)

The registry key to jump to should be passed on the command line.
C:>regjump hkey_local_machine\yadda\yadda

I made Selector as a general purpose way to launch a program or batch file with the selected or clipboard text as the command tail.  If I have RegJump in the list of programs, I select the registry key, hit the Selector hotkey, then choose RegJump from the list and hit the Go button. Items may be added to the list by simply dragging batch files, exe files, or their shortcuts onto the list.

You may download from this page

Of course you can set up a macro with any utility that can pass the selected text onto a program as command tail. FARR is one example.  But Selector is specialized to pass command arguments, paste selected text into an editor, open editor with selected text as a tmp file, etc..

3725

General Software Discussion / Re: SrtStrip 1.3.4.0

« Last post by MilesAhead on December 24, 2012, 02:53 PM »

SrtStrip 1.3.4.0 Now displays dialog with count of files stripped on completion.