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3951

General Software Discussion / Re: How often do you reinstall Windows?

« Last post by app103 on March 30, 2008, 10:31 PM »

I am only going to consider the type of reinstalling in which you wipe it all out and start from scratch, since to me that would be what you were asking for, and not the type of 'repair install' that just refreshes system files.

My XP desktop: Still had original factory install it had when I got it in 2006, when the hardware mishaps killed it near beginning of March .

My daughter's XP laptop: Had to reinstall XP after replacing the hard drive that died. That was about a year ago.

My old long dead P3 (WinMe): Twice, the first day I had it, monthly after that. 

This 11 year old pc with Win98SE (before I wiped it out to install ME): 2 years on a single install, although I probably should have wiped it the day I got it.

This 11 year old pc with WinME: Still going strong and stable on the install from 2002, with only 1 repair install to fix a botched upgrade to IE6, some years back. It's starting to show it's age, though (a bit slower than it should be), so as soon as I have another machine to help with making backups, I am going to wipe it and reinstall ME, keeping the software collection on it kind of lean and get a bit more serious about testing stuff & writing for my long neglected Snailware blog.

3952

General Software Discussion / Re: XP's slow death is approaching, according to Microsoft's timeline

« Last post by app103 on March 30, 2008, 09:12 PM »

Comparing Windows versions and the length of time in which they recieved official support from Microsoft (in days), XP users reallly don't have that much to complain about, especially when you consider the fact that the release of SP3 adds more time to its support life cycle.

The ones that still have the most right to complain are the ones that paid for WinME and devices running some older versions of WinCE.

It's slightly outdated (some of the dates need to be changed for more recent OS's), but I put this together a little while back to show exactly what I was talking about and support some of my views on how WinME users really got the short end of the stick when it came to product support from Microsoft. (it missed the red zone by only 19 days)

http://appsapps.info...Days_of_Support.html

And it doesn't matter how you feel about WinME as an operating system. Love it or hate it, the fact remains that PEOPLE PAID for it just like they did with any other version of Windows, and the numbers say exactly what they got in return for their cash.

And unless there is going to be a few more service packs for Vista, those that buy into that OS are also going to get the short end of the stick, especially those that have bought any of the home versions.

And the idea of a subscription based Windows is just going to further decrease the value you get by choosing Windows as your OS. Microsoft's goal isn't to give users a great value, or make Windows more affordable...their goal is to make as much money as possible and giving as little as they can in return.

For those K.W. Jeter fans out there, keep your eyes open for the future release of "Windows TOAW". 

3953

Living Room / Re: We need to do something about Skrommel.. but what?

« Last post by app103 on March 30, 2008, 08:08 PM »

I thought about this, and remembered something about my own software, that in a way really bothers me about the whole idea of freeware/donationware and the attitudes of most software users when it comes to making a donation...

If I had $1 for every time someone downloaded one of my applications, I wouldn't have a worry in this world when it came to being able to pay my bills.

If skrommel had $1 for each time someone downloaded one of his apps, he would be richer than Bill Gates!

While we can't possibly all make up for the non-donated $1's, we can all donate a $1 now, and let him know how we feel about his hard work. A dollar isn't a lot...we can all afford that, and the message of appreciation that goes with it increases it's value, dramatically.

I know not everyone will donate, but if every member of this forum did, he would have a gift of $114,272.00 (at the time of this post), and that is no small change.

It would more than enough to pay for his transportation to the Scandinavian gathering...and singing nuns...and enough chocolate Cody coins to make him sick.

So let's bomb him with dollars and tell him how we feel! (my $1 and my message has been sent, your turn now)

3954

General Software Discussion / Re: What's the current 'killer app'?

« Last post by app103 on March 30, 2008, 05:40 PM »

Several years ago when they talked of ''Killer Apps" it meant new software that was so desirable that you were forced to upgrade your system because you couldn't live without that software.  I don't know of any program out there right now that would fit that description. 

-oldfart (March 30, 2008, 09:35 AM)

I think being forced back to my old WinME machine has shown me what would be the 'killer apps' in my case:

Windows Live Writer (blogging without it is quite frustrating)
Post-it Software Notes (I am so lost without this, that I can't even remember my name)
AOL Explorer (nicest browser I have ever had the pleasure to use, and part of what fuels my resistance to Vista)
Surfulator (a digital packrat's best friend, when it comes to saving info)
Ad Muncher (being forced to see all the ads again, has given me a greater appreciation for this gem)
Open Pandora (I miss my fav station!)
Newzie (best RSS reader I have ever tried)

...and Pop-Up Cody!

And while I am stuck on this WinME machine, I am developing a greater appreciation for Process Explorer, which grows with each day. (the shortcut has been moved from 'system tools' up to the 'vital necessities' toolbar, right next to 'reboot')

3955

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Portable vs Regular Firefox

« Last post by app103 on March 28, 2008, 09:09 AM »

I had problems installing the shockwave plugin myself, into K-Meleon, which had similar instructions, in case the installer failed to detect the browser for automatic install. There was no option to choose your browser with the installer. I had to reinstall Firefox and swipe the plugins from that folder. (had to do it for flash too, since there is no cool extensions for K-Meleon to install it)

The latest versions of the official plugin installers may be the problem.

3956

General Software Discussion / Re: best copy-paste tool

« Last post by app103 on March 28, 2008, 08:52 AM »

I would say that X-Mouse Button Control is about as close as you can get to my favorite tool...a 5 button mouse with the thumb button for copy and the pinkie for paste. (copy pasta mouse buttons, yay!)

3957

General Software Discussion / Re: Firefox Portable vs Regular Firefox

« Last post by app103 on March 28, 2008, 08:35 AM »

I just had to help someone recently install Flash & Shockwave plugins to his portable Firefox. He didn't have any installed version of Firefox and the installer for the Flash & Shockwave plugins wouldn't place them in the plugins folder like it should have, because it didn't detect an installation of Firefox on the system.

I ended up having to copy my plugins from my pc and let him drop them into the folder for him to get anything to work right.

So if you are going to use this as a full replacement for Firefox on your PC, you might want to do what you have to do to install some of the Flash, Shockwave, etc plugins first, and have something to copy over to the portable version before uninstalling the old installed version of Firefox.

I am also not sure how easy it will be to upgrade those plugins, if it is needed.

This is definitely an issue to keep in mind if you are planning on going the 'portable only' route.

3958

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for Windows Software with Apple like user interface

« Last post by app103 on March 28, 2008, 08:21 AM »

While it is quite complex, feature loaded, and very powerful, Newzie is a great free RSS reader that does have that "iTunes look"

3959

Living Room / Re: Restating Godwin's Law

« Last post by app103 on March 28, 2008, 08:05 AM »

We may have to sooner or later acknowledge that most of life's problems can be solved with FARR, AHK, or...SQLNotes. 

3960

Living Room / Re: So how long IS too long for a thread.

« Last post by app103 on March 25, 2008, 02:55 PM »

How do you know when a thread has gone on too long? When you compare the discussion on page 15 to page 1 and find they are totally unrelated. 

3961

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Stand alone bookmarks toolbar

« Last post by app103 on March 23, 2008, 10:06 AM »

Yes, I know about that, and normally I have a giant toolbar just like my giant taskbar, full of program shortcuts and other stuff. I don't think I could handle a 3rd one. 

Plus it doesn't have the same behavior I am looking for with folders on it. When you click a folder, it will open those folders in explorer rather than giving you a menu to the contents of that folder, unless you set it up to show only the title of the root folder on the toolbar and slide it so nothing that is on the toolbar shows, except the title. (I used to do this with 'desktop' toolbar and could access entire contents of my pc through the 'my computer' menu, if I felt like navigating through the menu maze)

What I would really love is the look & feel of a set of browser toolbars, independent of any browser, that will mimic the behavior found in the bookmarks toolbar but give you a lot more freedom and allow additional rows.

To be totally honest, I think my real wish is that browser developers would just get with it and allow users to have more bookmarks toolbars, and I think any other solution would be just attempting to pacify my cries for that, but never quite hitting the mark.

Maybe some day I will create a deskbar/IE toolbar that will do exactly what I am thinking, and at least give IE users the additional rows, that in my opinion should have already been possible.

3962

Living Room / Re: "Grivitation-like" paradigm would have helped in the interim

« Last post by app103 on March 20, 2008, 12:15 AM »

I seem to remember an unused donationcoder group on stumbleupon, as well as there being an IRC channel.

By the way, the same day this site went down, so did my chatroom and it's still down (my pc died and I can't host it). But it seems that everyone from my chatroom was able to find each other in 3 other rooms on 3 other networks (one of them being donationcoder's irc channel). Part of the reason is because we are pretty close as a group and know each other well, and have communication on a regular basis outside the chatroom...email, instant messages, other communities like this one (I have brought many of my group here). We are more than just people that meet in a chatroom...we are friends.

If we are truly friends here, then we care enough to have contact and find a way to do it outside the forum long before the forum has an issue. It's kind of an automatic thing.

If you were completely cut off from the people here that you care about when this site went down, then take that as a sign that you need to strengthen your friendship bonds a bit more then you have.

It's kind of like the physical workplace where you see and talk to the same people every day. How can you call any of them friends when all the contact you have is only at work? You don't have a phone number, address...never spent any time together outside of work. If your place of employment burns down to the ground in the middle of the night, it's likely you will never see them again. That's not a friend...that's an acquaintance.

Because if they were really your friend, while the place of employment is going up in flames, you know where to find them, and are probably either on the phone with them talking about it or are some place in person with them talking about it....because the bond transcends the place and spills over to elsewhere.

At its core, this forum is no different than things in real life. And online & off, friendship works the same way.

If you were cut off completely, WE don't need to do something...YOU do. And I am pretty sure you know what it is YOU need to do. 

3963

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Specialized anti-idle and 'modem booster'

« Last post by app103 on March 19, 2008, 08:51 PM »

I am glad you can tell how much memory something uses because I don't have anything that can tell me that on a 9x machine...not even process explorer will tell me that info on 9x.

Mostly just have to guess, based on free ram before running something, and while it's running and compare, although that is kind of a bad way to try to figure it out since I always seem to have less then 1mb free before, during, and after...so I usually just go by the green bars in Resource Meter and how things 'feel'.

3964

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Stand alone bookmarks toolbar

« Last post by app103 on March 19, 2008, 07:56 PM »

Here is the link for Bookmark Bridge:

http://bookmarkbridge.sourceforge.net/

From what I can see, that isn't anything like what I wanted. That seems to be a syncronyzing tool. It doesn't add any additional toolbars to any browser, and doesn't act as a substitute for the toolbars.

The idea that you can only have a single toolbar in any browser to hold your bookmarks has irritated me with just about every browser I have ever used. Why can't you have more than 1 for that purpose? Am I the only person that hates when the bookmarks toolbar gets overloaded and you get the button at the end of the row rather than the ability to have a second row?

I put folders on mine in order to have the ability to pack more on there. But there are only so many folders you can add before you run out of space in that single row, any way.

I figured a stand alone set of nice, pretty, slim rows of stuff (that open in whatever the default browser is) would take care of the problem, no matter what browser I choose to use.

3965

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Specialized anti-idle and 'modem booster'

« Last post by app103 on March 19, 2008, 07:12 PM »

I think the thing I am using currently, minimized to a taskbar button, is probably much lighter than that, but I really would just like something that produces that continuous single tone I need, and sit in the tray without me having to run something else to get it to tray would be better.

Like I said...I have something that works and produces the tone, (PC function generator) but I don't feel like manually configuring it every time I reboot, and I don't want to run a 3rd app to do it and another to hide it in the tray.

I only have 64mb of ram here. 

3966

Developer's Corner / Dr. Dobb's Challenge, Game Coding Competition, Win from prize pool of $10,000

« Last post by app103 on March 19, 2008, 06:47 PM »

I just got this alert in my email today:

Here's how to compete:

1) Download our specially created Dr. Dobb's Challenge games for either Windows or Windows Mobile.

2) Modify the games using a trial version of Visual Studio 2008

3) Compete and win from a prize pool of $10,000!

The games star the personification of Dr. Dobbs, alongside the characters from Microsoft's famous 'Defy All Challenges' machinima videos, as you battle to collect Visual Studio icons and complete the levels.

Full source code and images for the games are freely provided for programmers to 'mod' the results and win prizes.

Use your creative side to make fiendish and cool new games - change the mechanics, add new levels, even change the entire game genre - using the power of Visual Studio 2008, and win thousands of dollars doing it! For more information please review the contest guide.

Prizes:

The Dobbs First Month Challenge ($1,000) - Produce the best modded game (of any kind) in the first month.  Can be either a Windows or Windows Mobile game.

Best Windows Game ($4,000) - Produce the best modded Windows game (of any kind) across the challenge.

Best Windows Mobile Game ($2,000) - Produce the best modded Windows Mobile game (of any kind) across the challenge.

Best One Button Game ($1,000) - Produce the best game created with the intention to be accessible to all. The title is expect to use one one form of input - i.e. one button. Can be either a Windows or Windows Mobile game.

Best Game Starring Dr Dobbs And The Defy All Challenges Crew ($1,000)  - Produce the best game that still stars the Dr Dobbs and The Defy All Challenges Crew (though these characters can be redrawn or otherwise used in any way in the title.) Can be either a Windows or Windows Mobile game.

Best Total Conversion ($1,000) - Produce the best game that is completely different from the original Dr. Dobbs Challenge - i.e. uses no design aspects or assets other than the use of Visual Studio icons. Can be either a Windows or Windows Mobile game.

The deadline is June 13th, 2008,
and the deadline for First Month Challenge is April 14th, 2008.

http://dobbschallenge.com/

3967

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Stand alone bookmarks toolbar

« Last post by app103 on March 19, 2008, 02:11 PM »

I still want this. 

3968

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Specialized anti-idle and 'modem booster'

« Last post by app103 on March 19, 2008, 11:25 AM »

OK...I no longer need a file downloader to accomplish what I want to do. I have made one that works and fools my isp. (turns out you can't use the same url repeatedly or they disconnect you any way, so I went with performing different google searches every 10 mins)

Now, I still need the sound part. I have acquired a small app that can generate the sound and it's working quite well, except that I have to change it from the default 500Hz to 25Hz and click a button to start the generation of sound each time, and it takes up space with a taskbar button rather than minimizing to the tray. It won't save settings and I don't want to have to write an app to change the settings, start it, & hide it... and end up having to run 3 things to do the job.

So...if someone could do just the continuous 25Hz tone through soundcard on 9x, sitting in my tray...or point out how I can generate the continuous tone in Delphi (not using Beep() or Windows.Beep()) I would greatly appreciate it.

3969

Living Room / Re: My Taskbar Notification Area Competition (corrected by f0dder)

« Last post by app103 on March 15, 2008, 09:11 AM »

Oh, great! Just when my eyes had stopped bleeding! 
App, I'm surprised nobody on DC has managed to convert you!

-nosh (March 15, 2008, 08:09 AM)

Convert me to what? (I am still trying to convert you guys  )

3970

Developer's Corner / Re: The DC Coders' Breakfast Club

« Last post by app103 on March 15, 2008, 09:02 AM »

I didn't accomplish anything yesterday except installing the new cpu cooler, destroying my motherboard, and a lot of crying (I am not finished with that part, yet)

I feel like I killed my best friend. 

3971

Living Room / Re: the award for most clueless pc user ever - my candidate.

« Last post by app103 on March 15, 2008, 07:53 AM »

This pc isn't booting up though...seems like the motherboard is damaged (probably my own fault, too). 

oh well

3972

Living Room / Re: My Taskbar Notification Area Competition (corrected by f0dder)

« Last post by app103 on March 15, 2008, 06:06 AM »

I can't post a new pic of the taskbar from the other pc, as it currently isn't working and I am stuck on the old P1, but it didn't change that much since those screenshots I posted of it here back in October. (just maybe got a bit crazier on the left side and the addition of DC Search deskbar on the bottom right)

---------------

I have to keep everything under control on the P1 because I only have 64mb of ram.

The taskbar notification area is at the top (not the bottom), and just like always, it autohides:

3973

Developer's Corner / Re: The DC Coders' Breakfast Club

« Last post by app103 on March 14, 2008, 03:30 AM »

As soon as I finish my first cup of tea I have a cpu cooler to install. (my first time ever doing that, and yes, I am very nervous)

As soon as I can use that pc again, I have a little dialup connection keep alive utility to write for this old pc, a new sitemap to create for one of my sites (something I should have done back in January but forgot), a post for the snailware site with a software recommendation that will be of interest to users that still have an old Aztech Sound4 card in use. (tinjaw: it also generates pink noise  )

Got a lot of lost time to make up for...almost 10 days. 

But first...the big cup of tea.

3974

Living Room / Re: the award for most clueless pc user ever - my candidate.

« Last post by app103 on March 14, 2008, 03:25 AM »

I am going to have to now nominate myself as the most clueless pc user because of what happened the other day:

It took a good 2 hours in a chatroom with people showing me pics of various motherboards and telling me where to look, to find out the model number of my motherboard. 

When it was all over, I had to go take a nap because I was all worn out from the stress of it all.

(hardware ain't my thing)

3975

Living Room / Re: Idea: "DC Member Book X - Volume 1" - Request For Volunteers

« Last post by app103 on March 14, 2008, 03:09 AM »

You know, you could submit it to lulu.com and put the pdf priced as a free download, and the print edition at slightly above cost, with any funds generated from the print edition going to help support the site.

This would serve a triple purpose:

1. We all could still have pdf version for free.
2. Generates a little more funds for the site, if someone wants the print edition.
3. Free advertising: introduce people that have never heard of DC but are lulu customers, to our site, in a rather unique way.