Recent Posts

3851

General Software Discussion / Re: Photos that spontaneously change

« Last post by tomos on February 13, 2014, 12:06 PM »

I remember you posting about this before - it is a weird one - you were even saying you could see the images change sometimes. Makes me think hardware (monitor) issues.

What are you using to make the changes to the images - some software e.g. Picasa by default only save the changes *within* Picasa AFAIK (unless you actively save the changes to the file as pl5bnsf says.

Here, found it:
Images unexplainably changed

3852

General Software Discussion / Re: It's not a valid windows 32bit application

« Last post by tomos on February 13, 2014, 08:26 AM »

Maybe this might help (?)

Maybe uninstall/reinstall is needed?

-crabby3 (February 06, 2014, 07:29 AM)

Looks like it, plus some rebooting, if you read for instance this forum post:

https://forums.malwa....php?showtopic=63720

-Jibz (February 06, 2014, 09:03 AM)

you're missing the step with mbam-clean.exe

3853

General Software Discussion / Re: K-Meleon anyone?

« Last post by tomos on February 13, 2014, 08:20 AM »

Palemoon was getting good press here on dc - I was considering trying it as FF was struggling a bit here (win7 x64), but havent yet...

I used K-Meleon for a while on earlyish XP, seems like a long time ago now. I know app103 recommends it for older machines. I've been with FF so long - with TabMixPlus and Session-saver - that I just was never really bothered to even try Chrome much. But, FWIW, for the same reason I wouldnt go back to K-Meleon either.

3854

General Software Discussion / Re: It's not a valid windows 32bit application

« Last post by tomos on February 13, 2014, 08:10 AM »

I can't reinstall

-Contro (February 13, 2014, 07:56 AM)

why not?

3855

Post New Requests Here / Re: For Serious Research: Cadillac of "ClipBoard Managers" vs. "Info/Data Manager"

« Last post by tomos on February 13, 2014, 07:27 AM »

ConnectedText, which is a desktop wiki, has such an import function (it calls the 'delimiter' a 'separator'). It also has its own "clipboard catcher", so it can paste text directly into an open "topic" (CT document).

Advantages of CT are that it's a non-hierarchical system and it has a variety of annotating/categorising features and powerful search options, so it's suitable database for a very large number of topics (tens of thousands), which might be challenging to manage in a traditional hierarchical tree-based folder structure.

The main downside is that there is a fairly steep learning curve associated with it (unless one already knows about wiki markup and has an engineer's or programmer's type of mind - as opposed to being a 'poet' ).

-dr_andus (February 11, 2014, 12:20 PM)

Sounds interesting.
I tried but couldnt find any YT videos giving an idea how it might work. I didn't find the homepage very informative, but this review was a help to understand the basics anyways:
http://www.pcworld.c...uested-features.html

(A rigid outline just seems so limiting to me at this stage -- why I find CT interesting as well).

3856

General Software Discussion / Re: Tips for Windows 8 (got any?)

« Last post by tomos on February 12, 2014, 09:50 AM »

Backup / create an image:

-tomos (November 15, 2012, 02:41 PM)

>How to Create a System Image with Windows 8.1 File History<

A previous tip showed how to create a system image in Windows 8. In Windows 8.1, Microsoft changed the procedure and made it [even] harder to find [ ]. In this tip, I will give the new way to make a system image

http://www.techsuppo...-81-file-history.htm

-gizmo

-Curt (February 12, 2014, 09:36 AM)

ftfy there Curt

I wonder if they're actively trying to hide it, or is this just good old incompetence...

3857

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by tomos on February 12, 2014, 06:21 AM »

^ that was good

some banjo jokes (lined up to 1:06) not very PC maybe...
http://www.youtube.c...=hEweOGUTznY#t=1m06s

they make good music too - oldtime and bluegrass even with banjo-player :-)


[edit] from your link app:

A Bluegrass band tells terrible jokes while tuning. An Old Time band tells terrible jokes without bothering to tune. Bluegrass band members never smile. Old Time band members will smile if you give them a drink. A Celtic band is too busy drinking to smile, tune or tell jokes.

there's actually a good explanation of the musical differences there too (I like all those type of music but wouldnt have been able to clearly explain the differences)
-

Except for the guitar, all the instruments in a Celtic band play the melody all the time. In an Old Time band, anyone can play either melody or accompaniment at any time. In Bluegrass bands, one instrument at a time solos, and every else plays accompaniment.

[/edit]

3858

General Software Discussion / Re: Spider Oak Purge

« Last post by tomos on February 12, 2014, 06:11 AM »

I'm not sure if this related - historical version are stored online, arent they?

Anyways, dont think this worthy of a new thread so I'll chance posting here:

until recently I had the original SpiderOak software installed, from sometime in 2012 I think (sorry I didnt keep the version number).
This older version didnt prompt to update, so I didnt

Short version of events:
I discovered a ~27GB file in Users\Roaming:
C:\Users\*****\AppData\Roaming\SpiderOak\tss_external_blocks_snapshot.db\00000007

Apparently this is resolved in more recent versions of their software, (which also prompt to update!)
I deleted the file manually after upgrading. Everything fine now...

3859

General Software Discussion / Re: Veoh crapware - its Web Player installs stealth virus

« Last post by tomos on February 11, 2014, 04:51 PM »

^If I understand correctly, OpenCandy does not install at all - it is, or becomes, part of the installer, and facilitates the installation of something(s)-you-should-probably-avoid ;-)

3860

Post New Requests Here / Re: For Serious Research: Cadillac of "ClipBoard Managers" vs. "Info/Data Manager"

« Last post by tomos on February 11, 2014, 06:20 AM »

For such data management..., I would think an outliner-type program would be best.  The one I presently view as top pick is Scrivener:

Followed by TreeLine

If you know of any better, please speak up.

-nkormanik (February 10, 2014, 08:44 PM)

I think this is going to be based on personal preference, and work methods, and of course what you need/want to do.

I'd say give whatever you want to use a test run. Try importing as Tao suggests. Try organising and maybe exporting (I know exporting is one of Scrivener's big strengths).

I use InfoQube myself -
advantages of being extremely customisable in terms of how you view and organise your content. Entries can be related to multiple other entries; can also be shown in multiple grids/views, and multiple times within a hierarchy.
Also, has a universal clipper where you can dictate which 'fields' are filled for this entry, thereby also allowing them to be shown in different grids/views. (Or you can copy to an inbox grid, and sort later.) See shot below.

Possible disadvantages being:
it is in beta (is very stable; is in active development - to me this is a plus)
has very advanced filtering of items/entries, but this currently requires understanding 'SQL speak'
Tagging not really implemented, but there are easy ways around this
May need more setup/learn time than Tao's or your suggestions (not sure here though)

Universal Clipper:

3861

Living Room / Re: A Point About Grammar

« Last post by tomos on February 11, 2014, 05:15 AM »

On SBS World News here, we sometimes get stories with subtitles for interviews with people in Africa - who are speaking understandable English.  They might then have a news story from somewhere in the UK where, because it's Scotland, Yorkshire, etc, you have to wonder wtf they saying even though it's meant to be English

-4wd (February 10, 2014, 06:44 PM)

Gosh, then the language has become rather like a local dialect. Mind you, American-English is arguably a dialect of received English anyway.

-IainB (February 10, 2014, 05:26 PM)

-
which 'English' was, in turn, a dialect of English which got favoured for use as 'proper' English (London English, I think).
Ironically many of the quirks of American-English (for English speakers from East of the Atlantic) were words and pronunciations that stayed the same -- while English in England changed and evolved. Of course it happened the other way too. (This happens to a lesser extent with Irish-English - more with word pronunciations.)

In Maine the accent is reminiscent of a Yorkshire accent (I found). In Eastern Canada and Newfoundland you can hear accents distinctly derived from *local* Irish accents -- this from people who have lived there for generations.


Edit// Iain, I had missed your post above. Yeah, 'BBC English' was a part of that too.

3862

General Software Discussion / Re: hubiC, DropBox like service with interesting pricing

« Last post by tomos on February 10, 2014, 04:26 PM »

I'm confuzzled:
 (see attachment in previous post)

-Deozaan (February 10, 2014, 04:19 PM)

I never noticed that -
they seem to ignore the info anyways:

" Dear Customer,
Welcome to your OVH hubiC!"

and the next mail starts:

"Your hubiC has been just validated and is now active. Nice one!"

3863

Post New Requests Here / Re: Seeking advice: Cadillac of "ClipBoard Managers" for Serious Research

« Last post by tomos on February 10, 2014, 11:46 AM »

^mightn't be a bad idea, but if he's looking for a clipboard manager, it would be good if any alternative could offer universal clipping and the ability in a dialogue to dictate where the clip goes (no idea if MyInfo offers that).

@Nicholas, what (if anything) are you using to manage the info?

3864

General Software Discussion / Re: Veoh Web Player installs stealth virus

« Last post by tomos on February 09, 2014, 07:05 AM »

I'm not sure whether it qualifies for the title "stealth virus".**
Then I read that Delta Search is "an ad and tracking-loaded search engine" and thought, yeah, "stealth virus" is maybe okay.

.. but then I thought - that's actually a good description of google - ironic innit?


** see http://en.wikipedia....s#Stealth_strategies
no I dont think it qualifies for that description.

Edit/ and, no, I'm not defending it. But do think that (especially in a software community) it's important to be accurate.

3865

General Software Discussion / Re: Veoh Web Player installs stealth virus

« Last post by tomos on February 09, 2014, 07:00 AM »

"Included with recent installations of Veoh is a program called OpenCandy, which some security programs, including Microsoft Security Essentials, classify as adware. It also installs Delta Search, setting all the user's browsers to use an ad and tracking-loaded search engine without prompting for user confirmation."

-bit (February 08, 2014, 11:53 PM)

to be fair, OpenCandy facilitates the installation of additional toolbars/software, but is not in and of itself adware. Lots of very 'respectable' apps use it these days. If the settings are install by default - without asking the user, I dont think that's acceptable, but otherwise it's the price we pay for the freeware craze. See e.g. this post here https://www.donation....msg164027#msg164027. Ren has also posted very positively about it from the developer POV.

As to what Veoh installs and it's settings during install, I have no idea and no comment beyond repeating: If the settings are install [additional software/toolbars] by default - without asking the user, I dont think that's acceptable.

3866

General Software Discussion / Re: Configuring Directory Opus for Fun and Profit

« Last post by tomos on February 08, 2014, 03:59 AM »

Just in case no one's noticed, DOpus 11 is available as a public beta, (and has been for a month or more).

Quite stable, haven't had it crash or cause any damage yet, (been using it since beta 3, I think).

-4wd (February 07, 2014, 08:12 PM)

thanks for the heads up 4wd - it sounds interesting:

Toolbars are now local to each Lister Folder Formats can automatically turn on a toolbar (or a toolbar set) View Modes can automatically turn on a toolbar/set Floating toolbars are independent of Lister toolbars Context Menus can be configured in the same way as Toolbars In a dual display Lister each file display has its own favorites menu and fully-functional breadcrumbs path field

link
-
Now they give us this customisability, I'd love it they made it easier to open lister layouts. And I'd have a few ideas for tab interface (and the viewer, although their response was negative there in the past), must go see if they're still open to requests on this...

3867

Living Room / Re: Interesting funding discussion regarding JayIsGames.com

« Last post by tomos on February 07, 2014, 04:27 AM »

Well,
I enabled adblock on many sites. Unfortunately I have now gotten a popup virus that wanted me to download and install I-know-not-what.
(NewBrowserVersion.org pop-up -- more info here http://malwaretips.c...org-removal/#browser)
I'm not sure even via which site I got it (I had opened a session in Firefox and went through a bunch of tabs to load them) but I reckon I'm probably correct in thinking it came via an ad


Prompted me to finally install malwarebytes at least

3868

General Software Discussion / Re: Why didn't anyone tell me I could make the Windows 7 taskbar height non-obscene?

« Last post by tomos on February 06, 2014, 06:29 PM »

^ I avoid a new OS install like the plague because I spend hours, no, days, trying to get it the way I want it
(but I think I'd prefer to be more productive).

3869

General Software Discussion / Re: Continuing with XP

« Last post by tomos on February 06, 2014, 06:19 PM »

If it's any consolation, I switched my wife's machine from XP to 8.1 and she can't tell the difference.

-cranioscopical (February 06, 2014, 05:50 PM)

well, that gave me a good laugh! Wish I could say the same for myself...
meanwhile wondering if I should give you a multiple-choice on what *exactly* you're saying there about your wife ;-)


On topic:
I dont remember the change from XP to Win7 as being anything big - sure, any kind of change is challenging, on a computer especially for some reason. Even little changes can be frustrating, but in retrospect I'd say it was relatively easy.

3870

General Software Discussion / Re: Why didn't anyone tell me I could make the Windows 7 taskbar height non-obscene?

« Last post by tomos on February 06, 2014, 06:06 PM »

To solve that I install Tclock and configure it to show full textual date+time on the taskbar.

-mouser (February 06, 2014, 05:44 PM)

I didnt know that it could show all that info on a 'small' taskbar.

Eh... have you just upgraded from XP mouser?
Or are you one of those productive people who dont mess around with all the possible UI options on their OS

3871

Screenshot Captor / Re: Resolution of Screenshot Captor

« Last post by tomos on February 06, 2014, 05:45 PM »

On the video tutorials that you make, they are a lot bigger and there are two toolbars.

-James Bizzell (February 06, 2014, 03:18 PM)

The larger icon size in the video could be to do with mouser having a lower pixel-per-inch resolution on his monitor.

As for myself, I still have to check with the tooltips anyways for the majority of them

3872

N.A.N.Y. 2014 / Re: NANY 2014 Release: Blasteroids

« Last post by tomos on February 05, 2014, 09:09 AM »

I increased the max bullet count by 2 and tripled the rotation speed and now the game feels a lot more fast paced and exciting. I actually like it this way, but I'm wondering if I've made it too easy. On my first (and only) try with these changes, I made it to level 16 and got 490,679 points.

-Deozaan (February 05, 2014, 04:22 AM)

I like it a lot this way, I feel like I've got a chance, but more importantly it's also more fun en route

It will stop rotating when it is pointing in the direction of your mouse cursor. Pixel perfect precision right there.

-Deozaan (February 05, 2014, 04:22 AM)

funny, I actually find it much more accurate than formerly, probably because it's quicker, I dont feel I have to keep rotating the mouse to get it there

3873

N.A.N.Y. 2014 / Re: NANY 2014 Release: Blasteroids

« Last post by tomos on February 05, 2014, 03:36 AM »

I'm still playing it online via your site . have been meaning to download actually I'll do that today this week.
But either online or standalone would be fine if you want to do that with the different builds.

Have made it to 34k now, not sure what level that was though.

Still mostly get caught out by not enough bullets;
occasionally by I cant rotate fast enough;
often I dont rotate exactly the right amount, which of course is user error ;-)

-- which would suggest that with a couple more bullets and slightly faster rotation I might do a lot better. If it rotated a *lot* faster though, I think it would be harder to be exact with where you're stopping to shoot.

When I play best, I keep my focus totally on the ship, and then I can see asteroids coming from all directions. Otherwise I eventually focus on some particular asteroids but miss one that gets me.

3874

Living Room / Re: Programmers: What size monitors do you guys prefer?

« Last post by tomos on February 04, 2014, 10:31 AM »

But do have a good test in the shop to view the actual brightness of the screen, that is, IMHO very, important too.

I never appreciated brightness issues until i tried a different monitor one day that was noticeably clearer and brighter than what i was used to.  It was actually labeled a "glossy" monitor when most these days are labeled as "matte".  I have to say i much preferred the glossy one, though they seem to be rare for some reason.

-mouser (February 04, 2014, 09:04 AM)

a lot of matt ones have problems with clearness, best read reviews. Saying that, I mostly have the brightness at 10% on my matt Dell monitor -- and would not change it for an otherwise similar 'glossy' one. Other models from dell have gotten bad press because of the matt coating - depends on the model (mine is no longer available btw).

FWIW I've read that the model you're looking at has the same panel as the Dell 2713

Cant comment on the size, only have a 22" (but it's 16:10 which helps)

3875

General Software Discussion / Re: What is your boot time?

« Last post by tomos on February 04, 2014, 04:41 AM »

^ Hah! well done all round Curt