Recent Posts

426

AutoHotkey / Preventing fullscreen and getting back when that's failed

« Last post by oblivion on July 27, 2011, 12:00 PM »

I have a problem.

I've built an autohotkey script that, amongst other things, prevents Alt-Enter from doing anything. That was on purpose...

Thing is, under certain circumstances, a DOS app can force Windows to push it to fullscreen. If that happens, there's no way back...

Is there a way I can detect if that's happened and temporarily re-enable Alt-Enter?

-- tim

427

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: The Humble Indie Bundle #3

« Last post by oblivion on July 27, 2011, 02:02 AM »

Hi
The Humble Indie Bundle #3 Pay what you want

-ha14 (July 26, 2011, 01:01 PM)

Got. I'm on their mailing list since the first bundle. Excellent value, and this bunch is -- in my HUMBLE opinion  -- the best yet!

-- bests, Tim

428

General Software Discussion / Re: Grid Layout software? Does it exist?

« Last post by oblivion on July 12, 2011, 02:27 PM »

I'm sure not too many people are terribly interested in it.

-superboyac (July 12, 2011, 10:26 AM)

That one's new to me -- and I'm definitely interested. I've never found a good planning tool that worked the way my mind does. Not sure this is it but it looks like it's well worth a try -- so thanks, Mahesh2k!

429

General Software Discussion / Re: DOS Batch Functions Tutorial

« Last post by oblivion on July 04, 2011, 05:45 AM »

[
From memory, there was a batch compiler in 4DOS (I referred to 4DOS in a post above), but I never actually needed to use it except to try it out, so cannot comment on it.

-IainB (June 18, 2011, 09:24 PM)

I remember looking into it -- I used and loved 4DOS for years -- but it was a separate license fee, particularly if you wanted to distribute things you'd made with it, I think.

I have now found the source zip for Batchcompiler. If anyone wants it, PM me and I'll email it. (The zipfile is only 14.6k)

430

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sagelight Editor - $39.95 Lifetime Promotion Ending July 1st

« Last post by oblivion on June 26, 2011, 03:08 AM »

Pick it up while it lasts.. 

-Bionic71 (June 15, 2011, 09:04 AM)

Thanks for pointing that one out -- it's an excellent deal!

431

General Software Discussion / Re: Need Help figuring out what personal wiki software fits my needs

« Last post by oblivion on June 23, 2011, 02:16 PM »

http://projects.gnom...mboy/?pagewanted=all

-vinayakjoshi (June 23, 2011, 06:08 AM)

Tomboy's a little odd, for my taste. It behaves like a sticky note app with wiki-ish facilities, it certainly works quite well, but my own preference is for something that'll do documentation with referencing and hyperlinking facilities, rather than something more notes-ish. I use Tomboy on my ubuntu machine but I haven't found it useful enough to want to try its Windows incarnation. The things I use Tomboy for in ubuntu I use CintaNotes for in Windows. Just me, I expect.

432

General Software Discussion / Re: When your word processor begins openly mocking you, it's time to call it a day

« Last post by oblivion on June 21, 2011, 01:19 PM »

I liked WordPerfect too.

-40hz (June 21, 2011, 09:42 AM)

There were two sorts of people in the world, back then. Those who liked WordPerfect, and the more superior sorts who liked WordStar (because you could do everything from the home keys and the function keys were mostly not required.)  Oh, and those who liked Multimate didn't count. They were just weird. 

433

General Software Discussion / Re: DOS Batch Functions Tutorial

« Last post by oblivion on June 18, 2011, 02:31 PM »

I've been using a little freebie called BatchCompiler for some years, as a way to lock down batchfiles against casual modification and ensure maximum portability. (Can't remember where I got it now, and the readme only quotes the author's name -- Ricardo Arias -- but hey, Google is your friend.)

Apparently, I wasn't Google's really good friend today

Obviously I should check these rash statements before I make them.

My copy of BatchCompiler's on a machine I'm not going to be anywhere near for another week, but if you want a look I've definitely got the original distribution zipfile on there, so if you don't find it beforehand, let me know your email privately and I'll get it to you sometime on the 27th. It's quite old, from memory, maybe 2003, so I guess the author decided he wasn't going to carry on supporting it...

434

General Software Discussion / Re: Software recommendations for writers

« Last post by oblivion on June 17, 2011, 02:03 PM »

Now that's an interesting and useful program but which, I'm sure, someone here could rebuild in another way with even more options ...  

-joiwind (June 17, 2011, 12:12 PM)

Reminds me of the way document indices used to be built in WordStar, back in the bad old days... now THERE was a program that could be a fine, visually non-distracting editor.  

435

General Software Discussion / Re: Software recommendations for writers

« Last post by oblivion on June 17, 2011, 11:27 AM »

Another interesting program I use is Notebox Disorganizer (free), "a spreadsheet for text".

-paulobrabo (May 07, 2011, 01:18 PM)

That looked weird enough that I had to take a look.

Oddly, it kills the i-conized addon for VirtuaWin (a graphical navigator for virtual desktops otherwise created and managed by the latter) stone dead.  Perhaps if I was doing proper writing in a distraction-free environment, though, I wouldn't want the other 7 desktops with all their lures and temptations so I wouldn't mind -- but a bug that can kill something normally so reliable might do other nasty things too.

436

General Software Discussion / Re: DOS Batch Functions Tutorial

« Last post by oblivion on June 17, 2011, 07:47 AM »

I was looking to discuss the very same topic ewemoa.

-justice (June 17, 2011, 04:08 AM)

I've been using a little freebie called BatchCompiler for some years, as a way to lock down batchfiles against casual modification and ensure maximum portability. (Can't remember where I got it now, and the readme only quotes the author's name -- Ricardo Arias -- but hey, Google is your friend.)

There are batchy things that it doesn't do well -- can't remember for sure, now, but CALLs might be one of those things -- but there are usually more than one way to skin the relevant cat and I've never found another batch compiler that worked as well.

Add in something like Reshacker so you can plug in your icon of choice and Tah Dahhh!

437

General Software Discussion / Re: Need Help figuring out what personal wiki software fits my needs

« Last post by oblivion on June 13, 2011, 10:23 AM »

I'm wanting to start a personal wiki so all the notes I take and gather online using CintaNotes can have a final resting place.

-Dochappy (June 04, 2011, 06:03 PM)

My favourite is WOAS (Wiki On A Stick).

The thing I absolutely love about it is that it's self-contained, and runs in Your Web Browser Of Choice (given Java, natch.)

The learning curve is, well, next to non-existent -- particularly if you're already familiar with TiddlyWiki -- and although I've played with all the packages you've already named, I keep going back to WOAS.

Oh, and it's free. Get it here.

438

Found Deals and Discounts / Revo Uninstaller Pro at Bits Du Jour

« Last post by oblivion on June 06, 2011, 04:03 AM »

For anyone who wants all the extra features, with a 50% discount...

Revo Pro at Bits Du Jour

I haven't decided yet. I'm tempted, though...

439

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Zentimo upgrade offer $9,- until 2011-05-29

« Last post by oblivion on May 31, 2011, 08:42 AM »

I suspect the real problem is getting significant numbers of people to pay for a function they think they already have in the OS and that will always limit how much anyone is prepared to pay.

-Dormouse (May 31, 2011, 07:36 AM)

Isn't that the problem with almost everything? You want word processing, why not use Wordpad? Disk management -- Windows already has most of that stuff, built in. And so on.

Thing with USBSR and Zentimo both is that they DO have functionality that's not already there -- it's just you don't really know how much you wanted it until you got it! -- and I prefer Zentimo over USBSR both because I like the extra chrome AND because I use TrueCrypt. (The speed test functionality doesn't do anything for me but hey, you don't have to switch it on. Although I used it to test the speed of a shiny new thumbdrive that's supposed to be superquick and, yes, it is, even though the real world never quite meets the stats, so I suppose it's not completely useless.)

I know the extras really don't amount to an awful lot -- the Truecrypt stuff can be done in USBSR after all -- but, like other commenters here, I like to support decent, functional software. I'd miss it if it went away, anyway!

440

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Zentimo upgrade offer $9,- until 2011-05-29

« Last post by oblivion on May 26, 2011, 02:39 PM »

Looks nice IMHO, and might be of interest to others as well.

-Ath (May 26, 2011, 06:00 AM)

In case anyone cares, I've today sent CR a "british-english" language file (had I realised just how much work was involved in translating from "English" to English I might've thought before volunteering   ) so, with a bit of luck, some of the linguistic oddities scattered around Zentimo might become a thing of the past for those of us who care. (I can't guarantee I've sorted everything out -- and of course it's not so UK-centric that US users won't be able to use it. I think.  

441

Living Room / Re: Sound problems

« Last post by oblivion on May 16, 2011, 11:49 AM »

One other option would be to run a version of Linux from a CD.

-Dormouse (May 16, 2011, 04:06 AM)

I don't know why I didn't think of that -- I've got a few Live CDs lying around.

Going away for a few days now, though, so more testing will have to wait for a bit.

442

Living Room / Re: Sound problems

« Last post by oblivion on May 16, 2011, 03:27 AM »

In the meanwhile, does it help if you turn down/off hardware acceleration for various devices?

-worstje (May 15, 2011, 12:22 PM)

Er, not quite sure where to look for that. I'll see if I can find anything relevant. Not something that I'd thought of, though, so thanks!

443

Living Room / Re: Sound problems

« Last post by oblivion on May 16, 2011, 03:22 AM »

What app are you using to play MP3 files?

-40hz (May 15, 2011, 11:52 AM)

Mostly MediaMonkey if I'm using it to play quantities of music, but whatever comes to hand. Obviously if there's games going on, they do their own thing.

I've been playing with Jaangle on the netbook. I like its fetching of artist and album info -- I can be a bit of a music geek sometimes -- but I haven't tried it on the desktop, figuring that all the network activity can only make things worse.

There's been some recent reports of VLC Media Player 'spiking' and using abnormally large amounts of memory and/or CPU on some machines although what I saw was reported under Windows 7 as opposed to Vista.

I use VLC Portable when I'm elsewhere, but I don't like it enough to use it as my player of choice.

Does this happen with every media player on your system, or just a specific one?

Everything I've tried that produces sound. Oh, unless it's .wavs, which don't seem to need so much processing.

Thanks for everyone's help with this, by the way, even if it's not getting me a solution it's helping me narrow down the possibilities and probably saving me spending money unnecessarily!

444

Living Room / Re: Sound problems

« Last post by oblivion on May 16, 2011, 03:12 AM »

Audio drivers are the most likely suspect. There's the possibility that a driver has somehow been updated or changed (without your knowledge) which is causing the problem. A lot of Athlon-based boards use RealTek audio chips and drivers, which can act very flaky.

-40hz (May 15, 2011, 07:41 AM)

Yes, that's what the motherboard has. I saw some issues online with Realtek drivers and tried both updates and rollbacks (before I installed the PCI card) to no obvious effect.

The biggest problems, I should say, occur when video's very busy. Maybe that's just what should be expected.

Check and see if there's a BIOS update available from your PC manufacturer.

The PC's a (Compaq-badged) HP, and both HP Update and manual searches online don't give me anything newer than I have installed. I generally try to keep my systems as updated as possible, sometimes to the point of paranoia... 

Depending on what hardware is in you machine, you might be experiencing a chipset issue. Diagnosing that can get a little hairy so it would be helpful to know the manufacturer of your PC and what chipset is being used. Piriform's Speccy (or any one of a dozen other freeware sysinfo utilities) can provide that information if it's not listed in the documentation that came with your machine.

I'll see what I can dig out, but I because the PC's a major oem I'd be surprised if the update program had missed something that it shouldn't. (I never liked HP PCs but Compaq were another story. I had a hard time when the former bought the latter, and I still haven't quite made my mind up. Printers, now... HP can definitely do printers.  )

Let us know how you make out.

I'm getting close to deciding I should just live with it. The desktop isn't the machine I use most anyway -- I'm on the netbook now, while my wife surfs on the desktop 

445

Living Room / Re: Sound problems

« Last post by oblivion on May 15, 2011, 11:31 AM »

Playing an mp3 file puts almost no load on the hard disk or cpu.

There is absolutely no reason that you should have any trouble whatsoever playing an mp3 file on that computer with that hard disk, with built in sound on your motherboard or a sound card.

So don't even *think* about upgrading any hardware.

-mouser (May 14, 2011, 02:24 PM)

Oh. Okay!

So it's going to be complicated, then.

I've tried a number of things -- killing various background processes (I shut down my firewall -- Outpost -- and let Windows Firewall take over. I stopped Process Lasso (bought before I knew about Process Tamer, I'm afraid!), Zentimo, WinPatrol... not my AV, though, which is NOD32... and put a few other settings back to default (I was loading the entire Windows core to RAM, for instance)

Still didn't make much difference. Maybe some...

I think it would help to just pick one test case and focus on that.  So take playing an mp3 file, using windows media player.

When you say it doesn't play the sound smoothly, what exactly do you mean?

Every so often, it stutters slightly. The smallest hesitation, but -- I guess because it's music -- it's very noticeable.

If I do anything else while the music's playing, anything that increases cpu load at all, it'll get much worse instantly.

If I watch the process in task manager, the mp3 will be taking between 2-6% cpu mostly, with an occasional spike for no good reason. Nothing else seems to be occupying cpu time to any extent.

446

Living Room / Sound problems

« Last post by oblivion on May 14, 2011, 01:50 PM »

I have a problem, and I'm not sure how to fix it.

My desktop PC isn't exactly new -- just over 4 years old, AMD Athlon 64 2.2GHz 3500+ cpu, not exactly storming but okay, 4Gb RAM, running Vista.

The hard disk it came with was 160Gb and, armed with an Amazon voucher I got for my birthday back in February, I replaced it with a WD Green 1Tb drive.

I THINK that might be where things started going wrong. It's a big drive, but it's not the fastest.

Nothing I do sound-wise that involves any sort of processing at all (eg games, playing MP3s) plays the sound smoothly. My netbook (Win7 Starter, 1.6GHz cpu half the RAM) plays everything fine, in comparison.

I've done everything I can think of. I checked the drive was UDMA, I've tweaked all the caches I could find, no difference.

I've even disabled the onboard audio and installed a (admittedly oldish) sound card, to take some of the load off the CPU. Things improved slightly, but only slightly, and the improvement might even be in my imagination.

So... any suggestions? If I upgrade the soundcard to something vaguely respectable (maybe something by Creative, not too expensive but not dirt cheap) might that help? Do the external USB audio processors do a similar job to PCI, or do I need PCI with dedicated hardware to make the difference? Or am I wasting my time and I should either replace the hard disk with something faster (maybe put the original back with the terabyte drive as a secondary unit), or bite the bullet and ditch Vista, or...

Any and all suggestions welcome!

447

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: AllMyNotes Deluxe latest version today on GOTD

« Last post by oblivion on May 13, 2011, 03:03 PM »

Looks okay, seems to have a few fans, but it's a long way from portable by any sensible definition (despite their statements that it can be made to be).

I was going to... but I've been using CintaNotes lately and am beginning to value the tag-based way of doing this sort of stuff, and AMN is definitely tree-based.

It's nice to see GOTD doing more useful stuff right now, though.

448

Timns Apps / Re: timns Friendly Password Generator

« Last post by oblivion on May 11, 2011, 10:26 AM »

[Runnable jar, again signed so it should run happily more-or-less anywhere

-timns (March 10, 2011, 10:03 PM)

Can I make a tiny suggestion?

If I use it to generate a single password, for my own use that I intend to paste straight into a form, the COPY button copies it to the clipboard with a terminal <CR> that I'd prefer wasn't there... or perhaps I could choose to not include.

Of course, if I'm using it to make a list, or phonetic lists, this isn't relevant.

449

General Software Discussion / Re: Playing With UI Design... (Looking for comments)

« Last post by oblivion on May 03, 2011, 02:01 AM »

Still looking for comments as some people have hit on issues I've been wondering about.

-Renegade (May 01, 2011, 11:18 AM)

My two cents: my tiny amount of training in design tells me that the best designs are those that don't appear to be designed at all -- underlining the "highlight what matters" point above, I guess.

The grey screenshot is VERY grey, and perhaps gives a subliminal impression of functionality over excitement.

Personally, I like the shocked smiley for the warning: it DOES draw attention to itself, which is what you want. From that viewpoint, it's worth considering diversions from "standards" when you want to increase the chance that the user might actually read what's onscreen. It's a balancing act, I guess, but isn't everything?

450

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 10

« Last post by oblivion on May 02, 2011, 01:52 PM »

For those that may be interested, Directory Opus 10 has just been released:

-tanis424 (April 30, 2011, 07:18 AM)

For me, a no-brainer.

For the "it's too expensive" crowd, you should know that your desktop licence also allows you to install on a laptop.

Initial impressions: there's more clutter in the menu/toolbar area, and my DO9 toolbar icons have gained text that I had to dig about to get shot of: I think I'd have preferred it if the look had stayed very much the same and allowed me to add the new bits as and when. But hey, I'll get used to it.

I still don't think there's a file manager to touch it.