Recent Posts

3901

General Software Discussion / Re: Finally, a robust keyboard shortcut app!

« Last post by nudone on June 02, 2005, 04:11 AM »

i agree with pointlessness of trying to remember hotkey combos that aren't used often enough so that you can actually remember them - the secret is to just keep them simple and obvious.

i really despise hotkeys utils that expect you to memorise a combination of keys like 'ctrl+alt+X' or 'ctrl+shift+X' or was it 'alt+shift+X', oh sorry, no it was 'ctrl+alt+shift+X' to perform a task.

just make hotkeys like 'winkey+X' - use a letter key that matches the action that is going to be done, i.e.

'winkey+x' to open explorer (or xplorer2)
'winkey+w' to open your browser (the w stands for www)
'winkey+n' for notepad (or whatever you use)
etc, etc.

the point of using the 'winkey' is that is highly unlikely to conflict with other programs that have their own set of hotkey shortcuts. plus it's easier to remember instead of trying to figure out if it was a 'ctrl' or an 'alt' key combo you were meant to be doing.

i'm sure that all sounds very patronising but that's as complicated as it needs to be. i'm also sure everyone on this forum has heard of mnemonics and that is simply how a good hotkey should work. if it isn't obvious and immediate then there is no point to it.

maybe hotkeys are something that have to be forced onto you before you start to use them regularly. like Zaine i had to learn shortcut keys to make the programs i use workable and efficient. when i first started using photoshop there were things that could only be done with key modifiers and key combinations - ties your fingers in knots sometimes.

3902

Living Room / Re: a better favorites manager?

« Last post by nudone on June 02, 2005, 03:40 AM »

i couldn't see any note/comment making ability with 'bookmark buddy' so i didn't get very far with it after that.

'powermarks' i looked at but probably didn't give it enough time so i'll try it again.

'linkstash' i think i used some time ago and will also try again.

i think i was trying to find a clone of 'linkman' so i'll try and avoid doing that this time around.

3903

Living Room / Re: a better favorites manager?

« Last post by nudone on June 01, 2005, 02:01 PM »

never heard about stumbleupon until now - just installed it and have been playing around with it...

...brilliant.

great for idle browsing within a particular field or just as good for a lucky dip (i've just been clicking the stumble! button so far).

making a stumble! auto sync bookmark manager sounds like a good idea to go for - could you also incorporate a secondary (or primary) way of adding notes that isn't related to stumble - some of the notes i make would be pretty meaningless to anyone else, if you know what i mean.

i certainly think there is scope for another 'favorites/links/bookmarks' manager though. i've spent most of the afternoon trying a few out but none of them fit the bill completely.

so far 'Linkman' has the best integration - being able to grab a good amount of information from the meta tags of a page. but you can add plenty more notes and ratings, etc.

'NetMarks Manger' allows keywords and notes to be added (but doesn't grab them automatically) and also will render a small thumbnail of the page. doesn't appear to have a rating system unlike the above.

'NetVisualise' goes for an even more thumbnail preview approach and also allows notes to be added. i thought this would be a good thing but the length of time it takes to generate a thumbnail just takes too long - i don't have that amount of patience.

everything else i've looked at didn't really provide any way of adding your own comments or notes in a particularly useful way - though i'm sure someone will know of something better than what i've mentioned so far (well, here's hoping).

i'll wait a few more days but it looks like 'Linkman' will be forcing me to dust off my wallet.

3904

Living Room / a better favorites manager?

« Last post by nudone on June 01, 2005, 09:30 AM »

i'm on the verge of buying  'Linkman' http://www.outertech...age=product&id=5 but would like to hear any suggestions for either something that is simply better (doesn't matter about the cost) or a freeware equivalent that is similarly powerful.

probably the most important thing i would need such an app to do is to be able to add comments so i know what the link refers to before clicking on it.

any thoughts? 

3905

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: auto move dialog boxes nearer to mouse cursor

« Last post by nudone on June 01, 2005, 09:09 AM »

wr975, that 'squeaky mouse' sounds like a novel take on the idea though i'm sure the sound effect would have become very annoying.

there is another annoying point that my original request would also resolve that evidently wouldn't be addressed by 'squeaky mouse': that of having to keep moving ones focal attention away from what you are doing on screen and instead move your vision to the button on the dialog box that pops up.

at least 'squeaky' understood the problem and would move the cursor back to it's original position but this still isn't anywhere near as good as the dialog box appearing at a position you already had your cursor AND eyes focussed.

i'm surprised more people aren't annoyed by these common centraly opening windows - i really don't see the need or the benefit of the fixed center positioning (especially not on high resolution monitors). i even believe that at some point the intelligently self positioning pop-up window will become the standard way the windows interface works.

i'm going to have to learn how to make this thing myself i think - i'm beginning to wind myself up over it.

3906

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: Hotkey controls for screen brightness.

« Last post by nudone on June 01, 2005, 03:32 AM »

don't you alter the gamma level in the individual games, Scott?

3907

Living Room / Re: photo-editing software

« Last post by nudone on May 31, 2005, 02:56 PM »

i don't think there will be a problem with ebay hosting the images - you are paying them for such an option after all.

it's probably a good idea to resize the images you are going to use before uploading them to your auction page - if they are too big you won't be able to upload them anyway but getting them about the right size in the first place will make things quicker.

3908

Living Room / Re: photo-editing software

« Last post by nudone on May 31, 2005, 11:51 AM »

you could try Paint.NET from http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/

3909

Flash Games and 2XL Simulator / Re: 2xl avatars

« Last post by nudone on May 31, 2005, 07:05 AM »

okay, i've done a few (28) i'll email them so that you can inspect them first.

3910

Flash Games and 2XL Simulator / Re: 2xl avatars

« Last post by nudone on May 31, 2005, 12:17 AM »

i confess i've never owned or experienced the joys of 2xl - i'm not sure if it was available here in the UK?

anyway, if you can mail some images of 2xl to me i'll resize/chop/change/color several avatar sized versions for you to choose from.

of course, if you would rather a true 2xl user do the conversions then that might be more in spirit with the project.

you know where i am if you need me...

3911

Living Room / Re: Ideas for thanking donators?

« Last post by nudone on May 30, 2005, 04:22 PM »

i like it all but the free membership for a friend seems a bit odd to me. sort of devalues the idea of making a donation.

3912

Best ScreenCaster / Re: Next Review Topic - Best Demo Movie apps - 5/30 + 6/6

« Last post by nudone on May 27, 2005, 12:53 PM »

yeah, Camtasia.

i've found it works better for me when i encode direct to xvid at a few fps instead of using the techsmith codec. anyone reviewing it might like to try the same if they find techsmith not too good.

3913

Living Room / Re: New Columns Page

« Last post by nudone on May 27, 2005, 12:49 PM »

looks a lot better.

3914

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: auto move dialog boxes nearer to mouse cursor

« Last post by nudone on May 24, 2005, 05:51 AM »

i apologize for removing my comment (i know it's not the done thing to do). i may be being paranoid but i got the impression from the '.' posts by Scott that i had somehow offended him so i thought it best to delete my words.

3915

Living Room / Re: Cool short videos for the weekend

« Last post by nudone on May 23, 2005, 11:42 AM »

what's the big deal?

i can write notes on the back of my window right now - well, okay the back of my monitor. they do tend to fall off down the back of the desk though.

anyone know which operating system the video was for - i don't think longhorn need worry just yet.

3916

Unfinished Requests / Re: IDEA: auto move dialog boxes nearer to mouse cursor

« Last post by nudone on May 21, 2005, 11:28 AM »

that's great. a tray based program sounds more than reasonable to me and if it works as part of an upgrade with WinFocus then that sounds good also.

i hope you find the time to implement it Dragonrider.

3917

Unfinished Requests / IDEA: auto move dialog boxes nearer to mouse cursor

« Last post by nudone on May 20, 2005, 12:14 PM »

this is something i tried to tempt mouser with a while back but it wasn't really the right place or time...

concept: small confirmation dialog boxes appear several times during the course of a days computing. these are the sort of boxes that just require a simple click to confirm or deny an action.

i'd like to have these little pop-up windows open nearer to my mouse cursor location so that, in effect, they come to me and not me to them.

as an example: you drag a file to delete to the recycle bin which is at the side of you screen and then you get a 'do you want to delete this?' type of box appear in the center of your screen so you have you move the cursor to the center just to click 'yes'.

okay, i must sound petty. but when it's happens over and over again during the day it starts to become tiresome. i'm not just talking about putting files into the recycle bin - i'm annoyed with how all dialog windows appear in the center of your monitor, thereby interrupting your workflow and having to move the cursor back and forth, back and forth, just for a simple click.

wouldn't it make more sense that any dialog box opened up under where your mouse cursor was situated (or near to it without the window opening off screen) so as to reduce the amount of shuffling around like we are all expected to do with windows.

i know there are options to have the mouse cursor jump to the active button but this is equally annoying - you have to waste a few milliseconds trying to figure out where your cursor has suddenly jumped to and you still have to move the cursor back to the original position when you've clicked the box away.

i think this might be possible to sort out with 'AutoIt' but i'm not fluent enough with it to try.

i also hope that someone agrees with this idea at least in principle otherwise i'm going to feel like a right moaning git.

3918

Living Room / Re: which hierarchical note program?

« Last post by nudone on May 20, 2005, 06:12 AM »

okay, i'll keep checking the Bitwise magazine for any updates but could you please post back here when you feel Mentalika is ready for a more general audience - i'm sure i won't be the only person that would like to know.

3919

Living Room / Re: which hierarchical note program?

« Last post by nudone on May 19, 2005, 04:26 PM »

okay, i'm intrigued. is mentalika available to non-mentalists? 

3920

Living Room / Re: which hierarchical note program?

« Last post by nudone on May 19, 2005, 03:08 PM »

yeah, thanks Zaine. i've started using the note feature with ACDSee - never looked under the hood in that section until now but it looks like the best method of keeping notes with images (kind of sad that it's been there all this time and i've been scratching my head on wondering how to make notes).

i've downloaded the trial for TexNotes Pro - not honestly sure if i could put that to use or not.

if OneNote works with photoshop files then that's worth a try - i'll take a look...

3921

Living Room / Re: which hierarchical note program?

« Last post by nudone on May 19, 2005, 02:24 AM »

a special note taking program just for mentalists - that sounds truly bizarre, Bitwise.

as for Derren Brown, i think his act is absolutely fantastic (makes David Blaine look quite silly). if you can do anything similar Bitwise, then i'm well impressed.

3922

Best E-mail Client / Re: TheName!

« Last post by nudone on May 18, 2005, 01:30 PM »

that 'windows RG' is the only computer joke i've found genuinely amusing. except for windows ME itself that is.

3923

Living Room / Re: which hierarchical note program?

« Last post by nudone on May 18, 2005, 07:24 AM »

thanks Jeff, ultra recall looks like it might just do it - depends on what image formats it can handle - downloading it now.

thinking about it a bit more - directory opus could do it in another way.

with it's 'file collections' feature i could group imags and notes (and anything else) together and get previews at the same time. just one thing...

...anyone know if it's possible to add comments to files within directory opus. like in a metadata way that would be searchable?

3924

Living Room / Re: which hierarchical note program?

« Last post by nudone on May 18, 2005, 06:53 AM »

yes, mouser, acdsee does sort of do it (probably picasa will do in some way - i shall have to investigate).

i can adapt to how acdsee wants to categories files. to be honest, it's very good when you make the effort to work it out.

i think i just need to devise a coherent way of making the notes amongst all the images.

3925

Living Room / Re: which hierarchical note program?

« Last post by nudone on May 18, 2005, 06:08 AM »

thanks mouser and kfitting, they all look like decent programs for the text based kind of note taking.

i'll just explain why i was wanting something that would work with common file types but in truth my requirements are more specialised than that.

i'm main pc use is for graphic design, so as projects grow or ideas arrise i tend to have lots of images that are works in progress. the usual image viewers you can get are great for just that - viewing images. i'd find it helpful if i could keep notes about images or groups of images with links between the separate files - something like a hierachical text note program but for image files instead.

it's not just the image display i need it's the ability to keep notes on the images too - something where i can quickly write down ideas and see what comments i've made in the past relating to certain files.

the text style note programs you've both mentioned still look useful to me for other jobs so i'll try those out - i was just sort of wishful thinking that there might be some super duper program that would cater for images too.

(now that i'm thinking about it i can probably get something working with acdsee to a lesser extent.)