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426

General Software Discussion / Re: WINRAR free this sunday 30th July 2006

« Last post by db90h on July 30, 2006, 11:27 AM »

Just got the page to respond. It's non-upgradable anyway.. again, easier to pay for it.

427

General Software Discussion / Re: WINRAR free this sunday 30th July 2006

« Last post by db90h on July 30, 2006, 11:21 AM »

Easier to pay for it than to go to all this damn trouble.. hell I could dig a ditch and make enough money to buy it in the time it takes to get this free version .

428

General Software Discussion / Re: WINRAR free this sunday 30th July 2006

« Last post by db90h on July 30, 2006, 11:06 AM »

7-zip vs WinRAR

One of the advancements of 7-zip is that it utilizes some preprocessors to improve the compressibility of certain types of data (i.e. x86 code - BCJ/BCJ2). In theory, an algorithm targetted towards a particular type of data can perform better than general purpose algorithms, provided sufficient effort is put into the targeted algorithm of course. This is the future of compression algorithms, targetting them towards common data types.

One of the reasons WinRAR is still #1 is that the GUI of 7-zip still has a long way to go to catch up to WinRAR. The console version of 7-zip is also less intuitive to use than WinRAR.

7-zip being Open Source isn't such a big deal. It's code is a mess from hell and the comments seem stripped or non-existant to start with. This attitude of many open source developers that documenting the code is less important than releasing the code I disagree with. The code can always be re-created, but the rationale for certain decisions and design takes longer to infer. Documentation should always be the #1 priority in any project where maintainence and extension by others is desirable. LZMA is a bit cleaner than 7-zip and, being a compression algorith, it is important it's open source, though I'd like to see improved documentation with it too.

Compatibility with existing decompression tools.

RAR has been around for many, many years and still people prefer not to distribute their software with it because it causes end users headaches since RAR is less common than ZIP and not natively supported by XP+.

This is why any algorithm that prevents people from using its decomprssion code freely will NEVER catch on (there are a couple good examples of this -- excellent compression software that things it's a good idea to charge for decompression support, preventing wide adoption of their code from ever happening). But, even algorithms with decoders that are free for anyone to use are still slow to catch on.

Of course, there's always self-extracting archives. These are nice, but there is unfortunately a growing trend to avoid distributing executables due to misconceptions by end users about any download or attachment ending with an executable extension.

The answer? There isn't an easy one. But then maybe there's no problem... this brings us to:

People have an attitude that ZIP (or gzip) is 'good enough'.

Bandwidth and storage are constantly increasing and people often feel even an unrealistically high 30% gain in compression is not worth it, much less more marginal gains. This attitude I don't approve of because it's mostly laziness and when everyone thinks this way you end up with A LOT OF WASTED BANDWIDTH AND STORAGE SPACE. I'm not a fan of waste just because 'we can'. I could now rant about this trend with software developers, and the beauty of uTorrent winning people's hearts based on its minimal resource use, but I'll save that for another rant.

So, WinRAR is king. It may be for some time. 7-zip stands a chance, but it'd stand a bigger chance if the code wasn't so damn messy and the project so unfriendly to new developers.

Disclaimer: These are my opinions and I may be wrong in this or that. If I am, please correct me.

429

Mini-Reviews by Members / db90h's best kept secret #1: Command Prompt Explorer Bar (Free OSS)

« Last post by db90h on July 30, 2006, 09:27 AM »

I'm surprised this one has never caught on. I imagine it's only due to a lack of people taking the time to let others know of it. So here it is..

This utility integrates a command prompt window within explorer that stays synchronized with the folder you're viewing in explorer. It includes macro support which is a wonderful extension to the command prompt.

It works through some API hooks combined with normal shell extension interfaces. For the most part, it works well. This project could use a new maintainer though. It doesn't work under x64 at the moment, it needs some modifications in the API hooking code.



Download and source code: http://www.codeproject.com/csharp/CommandBar.asp

430

General Software Discussion / Re: Wow: Microsoft Acquires WinInternals/SysInternals!

« Last post by db90h on July 20, 2006, 07:57 PM »

Oh, I'd also like to point out that JC is right in so many ways.  I'd also like to point out (more importantly) that JC may indeed be in breech of the DCMA so guilty until proven innocent applies.  Let the converging swat teams be a lesson to us alll. 
It still isn't going to make me pay my Bitsum maintence, dammit.  Well, ok, maybe later 

-Sentinel (July 20, 2006, 02:04 PM)

What? I'm in breach of the DCMA? You mean with that reversing of sysinternal's nt eval tool so long ago?

431

General Software Discussion / Re: Wow: Microsoft Acquires WinInternals/SysInternals!

« Last post by db90h on July 20, 2006, 02:58 AM »

It's not like Sys/WinInternals is some outsider and Microsoft came and gobbled them up to squash competition. I'm sure SysInternal's will keep publishing free tools, the only difference is WinInternals commercial software will now be generating revenue for Microsoft.

-db90h (July 18, 2006, 09:53 PM)

I don't think this is any particular effort by MS to squash competition or eliminate a source of sensitive information.

-mwb1100 (July 19, 2006, 09:24 AM)

Yea, that's what I said ;p. Or were you just agreeing and expanding?

432

General Software Discussion / Re: Wow: Microsoft Acquires WinInternals/SysInternals!

« Last post by db90h on July 19, 2006, 03:13 AM »

And btw, here's an example of how tight Mark Russinovich was with Microsoft some 5 years ago:

I reverse engineered one of his utilities that determines how many days are left in an NT (2k/XP/etc..) trial or beta copy (before expiration). He made efforts to conceal the registry key he got the information from by enumerating through all keys, obfuscating each (XOR), and comparing the obfuscated string to the pre-obfuscated name of the registry key he was looking for. This all in an effort to avoid having a plain text copy of the registry key name easily visible AND to prevent RegMon from easily showing what key he had accessed. (Btw: this is a good technique  .. tho it's slow).

So, being proud I reversed this stuff and wrote a similar tool (except published the information), I emailed him and this is the paraphrased conversation:

(db90h): I reversed your expiration tool. Here's how your obfuscation works and the name of the registry key you tried to hide..
(db90h): ..Did you try to hide the name of the registry key becuse of pressure from Microsoft?
(Mark): Yes. Nice reversing.

Now, granted, this was a responsible thing for him to do even if pressure had not came from Microsoft. I support what he did. I am just saying that he was tight enough with Microsoft for them to have made sure he put in some obfuscation of the registry key name before he even released his tool to the public.

I'd say he has A LOT of friends in high places in Microsoft and I'd say this has A LOT to do with the acquisition.

433

General Software Discussion / Re: Wow: Microsoft Acquires WinInternals/SysInternals!

« Last post by db90h on July 19, 2006, 03:05 AM »

//sysinternals.microsoft.com

Update: 19.07.2007
Download: FileMon
Cost: Freeware
Requirements: XP geniue check; valid Passport password; Free online register after 30 days.
Filemon sends an report about found denieds to microsoft server for analysis, this is completly harmless.

-AbteriX (July 19, 2006, 02:11 AM)

^ Of course, he is joking, for those who didn't 'get' it.

434

General Software Discussion / Re: Wow: Microsoft Acquires WinInternals/SysInternals!

« Last post by db90h on July 18, 2006, 09:53 PM »

Ok guys, this isn't that big of a deal to anyone but Russinovich and Cogswell (Sys/Wininternals guys).

Mark Russinovich has been on the inside of Microsoft for many, many years. He's extremely tight with them. He's even got Windows source code access (see Windows 2000 Internals). He publishes with Microsoft Press. He writes articles for MSDN and other MS journals. His tools are mentioned about 10,000 times in MSDN. I'm sure the same is true for Bryce Cogswell, but he has always been a lot less visible.

It's not like Sys/WinInternals is some outsider and Microsoft came and gobbled them up to squash competition. I'm sure SysInternal's will keep publishing free tools, the only difference is WinInternals commercial software will now be generating revenue for Microsoft.

So, chill. It's nice to see good developers being rewarded. Russinovich was already quite rich I'm sure, but all he's ever done is do what he's enjoyed, and he's made the majority of his tools free and open source.

435

Living Room / Re: OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?

« Last post by db90h on July 18, 2006, 03:26 AM »

people!!! go fill out your bio info in your profile!!
even if it's just to link back to the post here in this thread.

-mouser (July 18, 2006, 03:16 AM)

No! I resist assimilation!

436

Living Room / Re: memory faulty? why some programs work on one comp. but not another

« Last post by db90h on July 17, 2006, 10:12 PM »

There are numerous possible reasons why an application will run fine on one computer and not on another. These include the influences from other software that is running, different shared code versions (i.e. system and runtime DLLs and device drivers), and differences in the hardware itself. Let's assume none of these very likely reasons is the cause behind your problem..

As far as hardware instability goes, this is actually more of a concern than many people realize. I learned this when I did extensive testing with Prime95 to determine if my system was stable at a given clock speed. Prime95 showed me that even the system boots fine and seems to run quite ok, small memory (or other) errors can creep in and have unpredictable results. Power fluctuations and interference are also a common causes of similar problems.

Therefore, I suggest using Prime95 in it's "Test" (or is it "Benchmark"..) mode to determine if your system is stable. Leave it running over-night. If Prime95 completes ok for about 12 hours, then I'd say that your system hardware is as reasonably stable and the cause is more likely one that I listed, or implied, in paragraph 1.

437

Living Room / Why Microst is failing

« Last post by db90h on July 06, 2006, 11:04 PM »

As I was surfing through this, I ended up on a page showcasing some Microsoft employees. It then occurred to me why Microsft is faltering on all their new projects: It's a people problem.

Consider, all the geeks in the world hate Microsoft. Nobody wants to go to work for Microsoft. Geeks do want to go to work for Google, and they are in great numbers (that may change someday). For Microsoft, the attraction is not there though.

The thought of going to work for a corporation as rigid as Microsoft is like thinking of spending an eternity in hell. And I imagine most geek's opinions are the same.

The people they do attract are of foreign descent, eager and grateful to have a job. But even this pool is drying up for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that opportunity is everywhere no matter where you are in the world.

Software engineering is one of those disciplines that you just can't throw more people or money at. It takes a certain combination of talent, freedom, and motivation. Talent is not drawn to Microsoft. Freedom is inherently gone in any such corporate environment (despite what the PR people may say), and its hard to be motivated when working on a project that has a release date of 2010, and you are only 1 in 1000 developers working on it.

Microsoft is lost and unless they really re-invent themselves, I can't see them ever regaining their foot-hold. The best thing they can do, and this is what they've been doing, is acquiring small start-ups that have done something innovative. In other words, 'feeding' on the talent that is out there.

438

General Software Discussion / Re: ReactOS

« Last post by db90h on June 20, 2006, 12:05 AM »

Yea, I agree... they'll never be able to catch up with Microsoft.. though they've had an opportunity with this lag between XP and Vista.

While I doubt it'll ever be something that's useful to the majority, I do find it an interesting project and I'm sure that they've had a good time and a lot has been learned about Windows internals that wasn't previously known. Therefore, I totally support their effort.. no matter how futile it may be .

439

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Instant Folder Access (no matter how deep you buried it)

« Last post by db90h on June 17, 2006, 02:27 AM »

AFAIK, the desktop search apps generally work fine with large data sets. I have over 200,000 emails indexed and a half million files.. and NO query takes more than a half second (probably none take that long).

I'm sure some small shareware apps probably do choke on that data set, but Google Desktop Search, Yahoo Desktop Search, or MSN Search.. no way I believe that.

They use the search algorithms used in web search engines, and although you probably don't have as powerful a computer, the web searches are done on a much larger data set than you or I could ever muster, and more searches are done concurrently.

440

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Instant Folder Access (no matter how deep you buried it)

« Last post by db90h on June 17, 2006, 01:56 AM »

I've not had any problems with Google Desktop and Firefox.

Google Destkop (and other modern desktop search software) is completely different from F&RR in that it indexes all the content of supported file formats.. like email, chat logs, web history, and whatever else. It instantly searches your computer as if you did a web search, with no long search process because everything is kept indexed as its modfied. Of course, after you first inatll it, it has to do a complete index of your data, and it does this in the background when you aren't using your computer.

Think of it as a web search for your computer that is as quick as a web search.

441

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Instant Folder Access (no matter how deep you buried it)

« Last post by db90h on June 16, 2006, 01:54 AM »

A solution for you?

Any desktop search application on the planet.

My preference is Google Desktop. Some like Yahoo Desktop Search. And then there's MSN Desktop Search.

With Google Desktop, You type in whatever you want, it'll show you the results.. you can configure it to automatically jump to (or execute) the first found object if you so desire.

442

Living Room / Re: weird notepad bug - creaing a text file with "Bush hid the facts"...

« Last post by db90h on June 16, 2006, 01:20 AM »

If you

This same bug is not specific to Windows Notepad...it is also in Notepad 2.
Oddly though it's not in either of the simple notepad projects I wrote with Delphi and C++ Builder.

-app103 (June 16, 2006, 01:16 AM)

It's probably some standard auto-detection algorithm of Unicode text. If you didn't implement this, or otherwise don't support Unicode, then your notepad clones wouldn't be susceptible.

It actually is quite reasonable that this exists, since with no encoding information in text files, for ease of use there has to be some sort of heuristic to try to figure out the file format.

443

Living Room / weird notepad bug - creating a text file with "Bush hid the facts"...

« Last post by db90h on June 16, 2006, 01:06 AM »

Hehehe...

http://www.shoutwire.com/comments/16341/Bush_Hid_The_Facts

<excerpt>

This isn't really an editorial, but it's cool nonetheless. I'm sure it'll start some interesting discussion.

For those of you using Windows, do the following:

1.) Open an empty notepad file
2.) Type "Bush hid the facts" (without the quotes)
3.) Save it as whatever you want.
4.) Close it, and re-open it.

Is it a cover up? Is it a government conspiracy? Or is it just a really weird bug?

</end>

Yes, this actually works.

.... Stop reading here... Try it out... Be sure not to add a new line (though maybe it works with a new line too).

You conspiracy theorists might be going crazy now, but it seems to be nothing more than a weird bug. It's probably something to do with notepad trying to auto-detect UTF8 or UTF16 (unicode) files, if I had to guess.

Any string in a specific format causes this behavior.

.........

A lesson to not read the shoutwire comments:

Those idiots on shoutwire have some screwy opinions. Some believe its a conspiracy.

One guy called it an easter egg, and was so sure of himself. "Guys, this is what you call an easter egg". No, this is what you call a bug in the auto-detection of the encoding.

One guy who guessed right (the only guy?) wanted encoding information stored in a text file. Nice idea, but it'd break compatibility with a file format (if you want to call it that, since it really has no header) that's been around longer than he has.

The MAC people take this opportunity to say, "Yea, that's why you should use a MAC. You don't have to worry about viruses, trojans, or a generally bad OS".

Then it turns into a discussion on fat americans and obesity.

444

General Software Discussion / Re: soft and hard links in ntfs

« Last post by db90h on June 14, 2006, 05:25 AM »

Yep, they can be used for better organization, or anything else. Without 'hard links', my life would have ended long ago. I'd still be typing long path names, navigating to deep folders, or changing hard coded path configurations right this minute if it weren't for hard links!

Hard links are technically NTFS reparse points.You could think of them as a pointer to (or alias for) another filesystem object, but really they are true alternate mount points for those filesystem objects.

Volumes can be mounted to a folder, like "c:\dev" holds my D: drive. This is a mount type reparse point.
Folders and files can be linked, like "c:\downloads" may reference "f:\this\folder\holds\downloads". This is a junction type reparse point.
Files can be linked in much the same way. This is a junction type reparse point.

Without a program like NTFSLink, if I were to delete c:\downloads in explorer, it would delete f:\this\folder\holds\downloads as well. NTFSLink intercepts deletion operations so that you won't accidentally delete the 'backing' files when you just want to remove a link. This is the #1 problem with reparse points. A soft link, like a shortcut, however can be deleted without deleting the backing folder.

So the way the file system treats the types of links is fundamentally different, particularly in delete, rename, and other operations. A normal file system operation on a soft link (shortcut) acts only on itself, while a hard link acts on the target.

NTFSLink is a great program to adds safe and effective support for junction type reparse points (mount type reparse points are already supported in disk manager). I actually went to code a program to create NTFS reparse junctions (SHJunction I called it), but stopped development when I found NTFSLink. I did release an early version of it, then killed myself when I discovered NTFSLink.

445

Living Room / Re: Recommendations for good external hard drive solutions?

« Last post by db90h on June 06, 2006, 07:12 PM »

A warrany over a year is hardly worth anything since in a year your current drive can probably be replaced for alomst nothing. It'd be more trouble to deal with the warranty submission than the cost of a new hard drive would be worth.

For an external device you want a small hard drive that can be powered over USB2. There are little 20-60gb pocket drives, and maybe larger, that do not require a power adaptor. Usually one comes with them in case you connect them to USB1. But I can't tell you how convienient it is to just connect it to the USB cable it it be powered up. This is the number 1 requirement. There are even larger 3.5" drives that can be powered over USB2 I think.

You can get those generic encloserers that will connect any IDE device via USB. They are cool cuz u can put whatever internal hard drive you want in them. But they typically aren't powered by USB2 alone and require an additional power adaptor.

446

Living Room / Re: PDAs - any use?

« Last post by db90h on June 05, 2006, 11:30 AM »

A few years ago I bought an IPAQ 3360. I used it for a week to show off to friends. I struggled to find a use for it the next week. There-after it sat in a box until the unreplacable li-ion battery  died. And, yes, I know you can replace them if you take the time to do it. But they aren't designed to be replaced is my point. Quit nit-picking! Oh, wait, nobody said that yet ;p.

447

Living Room / Re: Extremely cool visualization of global statistics over time.

« Last post by db90h on June 05, 2006, 11:27 AM »

Nice tool, but please remember that correlation does not equal causation. Like the example the first poster gave, (paraphrasing) "do more doctors per capita increase the average lifespan"? Even if the two are found to be in correlation, that's far from proving causation.

Statistics are evil, evil things designed to kill us all. Oh, wait, I didn't mean to type that.

448

Living Room / Re: time to accept it...

« Last post by db90h on June 05, 2006, 11:21 AM »

Why would you want to get more done? What is wrong with you people?

449

Living Room / Re: Thinking outside the box: very cool simple idea from epson

« Last post by db90h on June 05, 2006, 11:17 AM »

Personally, I remember a sequence of numbers and letters better than any silly fish or flowers!

Printer manufacterers mostly all suck because none seem to realize that device drivers are an important part of development. They are always the last drivers to be updated when a new OS version is released, most likely to be buggy, difficult to find, and otherwise annoying.

If they want to do something helpful for end users, how about at least sticking a label on the box that indicates what for what platforms they've decided to develop drivers for.

But my real beef with printer manufacturers is that paper kills trees. 

450

Post New Requests Here / Re: Google video to AVI, Beta testers needed!

« Last post by db90h on March 04, 2006, 02:10 AM »

I'd be more willing to use the Google video player if it supported more than just it's own formats...

-PhilKC (March 04, 2006, 02:00 AM)

I wouldn't, the player sucks ;p. But it is good to download video for local storage. And the quality of those FLVs sucks anuses. You're right GVI and AVI quality ought to be equal. It's interesting that they have AVIs available of videos, as they aren't exposed elsewhere that I know of. Its also interesting they don't push the higher quality GVIs more.

Where'd you figure out the existance of AVIs from? They might wrap them up as a GVI on-demand.

This is a great tool to swipe them, or to swipe the google videos without having to bother with their shitty player.