Recent Posts

3851

General Software Discussion / Re: List of Color Palette Tools

« Last post by nudone on June 30, 2005, 03:02 AM »

excellent.

3852

Mouser's Zone / Re: recent document timeline

« Last post by nudone on June 29, 2005, 04:19 PM »

crazy.

3853

Mouser's Zone / recent document timeline

« Last post by nudone on June 29, 2005, 01:12 PM »

Note: this is mouser's idea - i just thought it might be worth trying to get the ball rolling on it.

i wonder if maybe it would be interesting to have an app like "Recent Document Timeline" which showed like a timeline of usage of documents so you could see when you used each document and which would help you locate documents based on how long ago it was that you last opened them.

i'm not sure about other programs but 'Adobe Album' has a timeline feature for displaying images which seems a bit strange when you first encounter it but can be quite useful when you get the hang of it.

'ACDSee' has a similar function but works in more of a calendar type of way, so it's probably a common feature of image manager programs.

expanding on mouser's original idea i think something along the 'Adobe Album' timeline approach could work well. as it works in quite a visual way it's very quick to use. i'm sure there are many enhancements that could be incorporated into such a util.

the slider bar mechanism works well in 'Adobe Album' allowing you to easily select start and end dates to constrain which files are displayed. this obviously needs improving a little to include start and end times but i think it would be a good feature to build upon.

i think mouser must have a time machine because i think it's easy to foresee that this type of feature is going to be common place in all kinds of apps in the not too distant future.

3854

Living Room / Re: vmware workstation with agnitum outpost firewall rules?

« Last post by nudone on June 29, 2005, 06:45 AM »

ha, ha, excellent.

works fine now.

i was sort of hoping that you would have figured that one out, mouser, as i knew you used outpost and vmware.

thanks for that - i can carry on with the graphics review now.

3855

Living Room / vmware workstation with agnitum outpost firewall rules?

« Last post by nudone on June 29, 2005, 05:13 AM »

forgive me for not asking the makers of vmware workstation 5 for the solution to this problem - i just thought it might be simpler to ask the users around here that use this virtual operating system prog in conjunction with 'agnitum outpost'.

i thought i knew what i was doing when it came to setting up port access and restrictions with firewalls but it seems not.

the problem is i can get my virtual machines to access the network only if i use 'outpost' in the 'allow most' policy. i would prefer to use it with the 'rules wizard' policy as that is how i normally have things running.

i've pretty much got all the vmware files set to unrestricted access through the firewall and i thought i had the net bios settings set right. i'm obviously missing something or, quite likely, several things that need configuring.

any tips would be greatly appreciated.

3856

General Software Discussion / Re: Google Earth - free tool/toy

« Last post by nudone on June 29, 2005, 04:11 AM »

looks quite good to me. the 3D element certainly makes it nice to play with.

3857

Image Manager Shootout / Re: Future Review (not this week): Graphics Viewers

« Last post by nudone on June 27, 2005, 10:51 AM »

i use photoshop every day and still find it worthwhile looking at the different graphics viewer programs (there may well be a viewer built into photoshop but i still prefer to use ACDSee as in many ways it's better, but i'm not assuming it is the best). i think .psp file support is necessary also.

i didn't mention it before but i was also thinking of excluding graphics viewers that don't support RAW images which would limit the review to even less programs but i think that is going a little bit too far.

i'll see how things progress as i start going through the list of apps and then will probably make a few more comments and queries here.

3858

Image Manager Shootout / Re: Future Review (not this week): Graphics Viewers

« Last post by nudone on June 27, 2005, 07:44 AM »

i'm just preparing to do the graphics viewer review (just downloading all the programs at the moment) but wondered what everyone thinks to this...

how comprehensive a list of image types a 'viewer' can successfully display is obviously important but i can appreciate that many people will not need the ability to read 'Adobe Photoshop' .psd files.

my first inclination was to discard ALL viewer programs that do not support the .psd format as they obviously aren't serious applications. but i'm not sure if this is the right strategy when many people will never come across a single Photoshop file.

the question is: to make things simple, do i exclude all software without .psd viewing capability or do i make allowances for these lesser viewers that may be very useful in other areas?

as i expect the majority of users will simply need a graphics viewing program that works with jpg, gif, png, bmp and tif it seems a shame to be harsh on those programs that can't handle psd.

like i said, my reflex is to keep things 'serious' and exclude the non .psd viewers.

opinions please...

3859

Find And Run Robot / Re: Feature Request Thread

« Last post by nudone on June 27, 2005, 04:34 AM »

good idea.

just wondering if you could implement it so that you wouldn't have to type in the www. and the .com bit?

in other words, it would behave like the address bar features found in browsers when you can simple type "google" and then hit 'ctrl+enter' and the www. and the .com are added automatically.

maybe an override feature would prevent the www. and the .com automatically being added, say, if you typed "go www.google.co.uk" instead of simply "go google".

how lazy am i?

3860

Living Room / Re: The DonationCoder Club - maybe silly idea

« Last post by nudone on June 24, 2005, 02:53 PM »

it might not be considered very exciting but i always liked the look of the the exchange link buttons https://www.donation.../About/presskit.html the 120x60 one would probably make a nice neutral kind of logo - plus as it's going to be out there on the web already on other sites it's already recognisable.

maybe incorporate a mascot with it.

i can see it now... 2-XL superimposed over the exchange link banner.

well, i'd be happy with it.

3861

Living Room / Re: What Programs Run In Your System Tray?

« Last post by nudone on June 24, 2005, 02:43 PM »

msn messenger - chat with the locals
clipcache plus - clipboard monitor (prefer it to 'Clipmate')
ultravnc - just in case i need to access this machine from elsewhere
mbprobe - just in case my cpu decides to burn out
atnotes - makes my wallpaper look pretty with transparent notes placed on top
outpost - firewall
find and run robot - definitely beats clicking through all those menus
avg free - antivirus
samurize - displays calendar, drive space, msn messenger contacts online
file ex - good bye DlgXRSizer
hoekey - quick key shortcuts
ms activsync - pocket pc connection
taskswitchxp - looks pretty when alt+tabbing
ultramon (sometimes) - when dual display is on
directory opus - messing around with files

other programs that i seem to run about every ten minutes so they may as well be in the tray:

maxthon - browser
outlook - email
empty temp folders - clear trash and temp folders
another ultravnc - checking up on the machine in the other room

3862

Living Room / Re: The DonationCoder Club - maybe silly idea

« Last post by nudone on June 24, 2005, 10:41 AM »

have to ask: what's the dog called?

you know i like the t-shirt idea, but what about using some of the graphics that you've been using throughout donationcoder.com (can't remember where you said you got them from now). or would using them be a copyright issue?

or maybe 2-XL can make another appearance?

3863

Best ScreenCaster / Re: Open Source Alternative (CamStudio)

« Last post by nudone on June 24, 2005, 02:34 AM »

great find there, mouser.

can't quite remember where it was now but whilst the screencasting review was being done i arrived a website that had 'CamStudio' on it. the trouble was, every time i tried to download the exe file or visit the 'CamStudio' homepage i got redirected to http://www.macromedi...m/software/robodemo/ which is for 'Macromedia Captivate'.

i gave up trying to obtain the program after that as i assumed Macromedia must have engulfed the project somehow.

the weird thing is that if you click on the 'CamStudio Website' link from the help menu inside the program itself you  are then directed to the Captivate web page again.

anyhow, going to try the program now...

3864

Living Room / Re: Scott Hanselman's 2005 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List

« Last post by nudone on June 23, 2005, 09:12 AM »

just had a look and i think i've already found half a dozen little utils from the list that will be replacing some programs i've already got installed.

3865

Image Manager Shootout / Re: Future Review (not this week): Graphics Viewers

« Last post by nudone on June 22, 2005, 04:19 PM »

a while back i was asking if anyone knew of an image file manager that allowed you to append notes and other useful information to files you were working on.

after a bit of discussion i accepted that ACDSee did enough for the tasks i was thinking of - but it really doesn't do enough in this area for what i was hoping for.

a few minutes ago a came across 'AlienBrain Studio' http://www.alienbrain.com/products/. it's way too serious an application - we are talking stupid money to buy it - but the features it has are more along the lines of what i was after originally.

you can see a good example of this with this screencast they have made. http://www.alienbrai...products/tour/intro/

i really like its ability to 'draw' or 'write' over the top of the thumbnails so you can instantly see what needs doing to specific images (or 3D files). the other features for note making look very handy too and the way it keeps a record of previous images and how they have changed.

i know the program isn't really for home use and is aimed at teams collaborating on projects where they need to allow checking in and out of work files...

i'm wondering has anyone seen anything like it that is geared to wards single users - with these advanced note making abilities, especially the new layer added to the thumbnails with your scribble on top.

anyone?

3866

Living Room / Re: Discount for BB FlashBack Screencasting Tool now available - and commentary

« Last post by nudone on June 22, 2005, 09:57 AM »

yet again, excellent work, mouser. (i was almost beginning to think you were having trouble with the companies this time - oh, ye of little faith.)

hosting screencasts - another good idea.

just one question. is Cheat Sheeter operational enough yet to start getting serious with it? i've been sort of delaying looking at it until you said it was ready to use properly.

3867

Image Manager Shootout / Re: Future Review (not this week): Graphics Viewers

« Last post by nudone on June 22, 2005, 09:37 AM »

i can see the distinction and i can see the need to look at both types. i admit, i would only have looked at the 'proper' database image file managers for the review if the other 'quick' single image viewers hadn't been mentioned so much during this post.

maybe the review should be split between the types?

i was under the impression most people would be using things like ACDSee but now i don't know.

which you use it perhaps down to habit. i use ACDSee for all image viewing - multiple files and single clicks on a jpeg. this definitely isn't the quickest way to view things on my machine but it's the way i work out of habit - that's why i'm prepared to do this review. i'm genuinely curious as to what i'll find and may well conclude that i've been doing things wrong for all these years.

anyway, the intention is to look at both viewer types for the moment. i can sort things out with mouser at a later date as to what should be included. if there are more opinions similar to Scott's then i'll reconsider as i don't want to use time looking at programs that definitely won't be in the review.

3868

Image Manager Shootout / Re: Future Review (not this week): Graphics Viewers

« Last post by nudone on June 22, 2005, 03:11 AM »

that appears to be the definitions, Jibz. i will look at the two categories separately - maybe we need a few more suggestions of the simple 'viewer' type?

3869

Image Manager Shootout / Re: Future Review (not this week): Graphics Viewers

« Last post by nudone on June 21, 2005, 12:50 PM »

anyone want to suggest a few more programs to review before i go off and start searching for such things. probably makes more sense if you've used the graphic viewer and thought it a good product...

3870

General Software Discussion / Re: BeeNut

« Last post by nudone on June 20, 2005, 03:25 PM »

watch out! here i come - well, give me time to download it and sort a few things out first.

3871

General Software Discussion / Re: BeeNut

« Last post by nudone on June 20, 2005, 02:07 PM »

oh right, does that mean i can use one of them to connect to the donationcoder channel?

3872

Best ScreenCaster / Re: Discount coming..

« Last post by nudone on June 20, 2005, 02:06 PM »

excellent.

3873

General Software Discussion / Re: BeeNut

« Last post by nudone on June 20, 2005, 12:09 PM »

do any let you connect to the irc channels?

3874

Image Manager Shootout / Re: Idea for this week, 6/20/05: Graphics Viewers

« Last post by nudone on June 17, 2005, 12:47 PM »

yep, please make all your concerns known.

i'd like to be as thorough as possible but i'll need to know what you consider important to prevent my own bias taking over.

3875

Image Manager Shootout / Re: Idea for this week, 6/20/05: Graphics Viewers

« Last post by nudone on June 17, 2005, 11:29 AM »

okay, i'll begin looking at the programs towards the end of next week - any more suggestions will be appreciated as to which to review.

it might take me more than a week to get it all done but not too long.